What happened to the community

[Hallarem]

You post hot takes every week in new threads and comments. I doubt you are afraid of anykind of backlash. So lets stop with the act.
Nobody should be harrassed though, that much I agree to.

The drama of FFXIV is peanuts compared to what I've seen in WoW. From the raiding scene, guild scene to the rp scene to the pvp scene.

Ffxiv does a better job at regulating that kind of behavior. Therefore ending up in a healthier community.
But theres some personal responsibility too. Raiding is EVERYONES TIME so you should go well prepared if you are going with randoms. Dont expect to be coddled, not everyone has unlimited free time and its random people with random attitudes.

If you cant handle that, get into a static / fc / group whatever. Where you can catch the vibes and get to know people.

I dont raid, but I did in WoW. I doubt the raiding etiquette changes much. Anyone raging on dungeons just has an attitude problem. You can do that with your eyes closed and it takes so little time to do its not even an issue. And most people who are unsure or fail on mechanics can be taught on the spot / carried with kindness and understanding.

Buuuuut if someone is being an a-hole unreasonably and without any provocation. The report function exists, blacklist exists.

[Luluna]

I have played almost 15 years and I have seen the change in the community over that time. I played 1.0 loved it and the community had the odd bad egg but for the most part it was pretty nice. I have screens of half of the server going to fight a tree for over two hours because we just thought it would be fun, I remember when characters used to have their shops like in FFXI so you could buy from them and it was great you got to know the nice traders. I know that it is a lot of nostalgia but it seems like last week for me.

I always say Hello and thank you at the end of a duty or PVP anywhere I interact with others it is just the way I am.

I came from FFXI and it was always polite to speak and to work together. I have never used any 3rd party tools or mods and never will, I used a controller on my PC and now I am PS5 I admire KB players lol as even though I am older I am really bad on kb mouse lol.

The community seems nice in parts but it is sad I do not see people saying hello or goodbye or even trying to work together especially in PVP where team play is so important.

[Ardeth]

That's about it.... But strangely, some people will still say it smell like roses even when you put their nose in dog poop.

I don't know for sure if it's covid or just doubling the number of console players, but somewhere around the end of Endwalker, the community got nasty. Then, all of a sudden, it was absolutely dead silent. And then back to nasty. I'm just happy people are actually responding back at this point. It got to a point during the Dawntrail launch that I was honestly debating on seriously just quitting the game because of the dead silent 25 to 30 minute Praetorium runs. The other day, my buddy and I went into a run as Cyclops and Wolverine and got a nice pop and some conversations. So I don't want to say it's completely in the dumpster, but it's definitely not what it was years ago. I told my friend I missed the ARR days when people were openly toxic and it was indistinguishable from World of Warcraft because at least being rude, they're communicating, lol.

[SongOfTheWind]

The community changed.
the last 3 month, because i was bored, i did 5 alt. 3 that got past SB and 2 past HW on the two EU DC.... And, seriously, until DT release i rarely saw what i listed in the post above.

And it has nothing to do with WoW exodus, and i never implied it. But the change in the community behavior is real.

I didn’t reply to your post as I didn’t quote you. So your opinion is just that - an opinion, same as mine.
But to your post in particular - I experienced everything listed no less or more than before. I have alts too. It only shows how subjective that impression is.

[Shougun]

I was going to say years of toxic positivity is wearing off. People once quick to jump down the throats of even the slightest criticism and defend the game at all costs are becoming burnt out. It's becoming harder to defend it as the cracks are getting larger and larger and larger. But maybe rose coloured glasses is a better and more polite way of saying it.


In contrast I've always held the opposite view. Content being so easy and dumbed down is the guild breaker as there's no reason to wait for others or build those bonds MMOs were once renowned for.

Overcoming difficult challenges or hurdles together tends to build bonds and a sense of team work / camaraderie amongst players. But I also think super strick compositions has been a big guild breaker for many years. 4 8 or gtfo. No content for 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 players to participate in

Means you either leave someone out or rely on pug outsiders that wont allign with your objectives.

The more you push single player experiences the less you promote community, bonds and teamwork.

I think you will establish strong connections through fire, but no I doubt it being overly painful could be sustainable without community impact in large groups of players (in the way I described it). I do agree too easy is also probably not great (game could be a bit harder without almost losing anyone, I think.. maybe keeping some more). I also agree strict composition does not help.


I imagine it would help to keep the rewards enticing enough in their own space to prevent cross talk between entirely unlike people. Like with WoW empowering delves, some people who hated mythic but did it because they felt compelled are doing that instead. Quality scaling, where possible, would be nice..



I do recall more white knighting in the forums in the past, it feels less positive here now, some of that might be good, but some of it feels a paint is starting to peel vibe.


Game is in no way going to die tomorrow though.

[Lorika]

I didn’t reply to your post as I didn’t quote you. So your opinion is just that - an opinion, same as mine.
But to your post in particular - I experienced everything listed no less or more than before. I have alts too. It only shows how subjective that impression is.

Oh subjective huh?
I started a character on Light 3 days ago.... You know what?
All the Boss fight started while i was in CS (except for the normal trial), again i didn't participate in Totorak boss fight, and no apologies, i can count on the fingers of my 2 hands the number of people that said hi/ggty (guild operation included), no tank asked if i was okay with big pull, not once, DPS doing big pull on a newbie undergeared tank and undergeared CNJ/WHM (ofc wipe and ofc toxic comment from this DPS).... Well the usual since DT release in fact.

This is the kind of behavior you're getting for the past 7 month.... this kind of behavior existed before, but were quite rare, now it's just common.

So, sorry, but no, it's not subjective anymore at this point when what was a rare occurence before become almost the default behavior.

[Menriq]

Oh subjective huh?
I started a character on Light 3 days ago.... You know what?
All the Boss fight started while i was in CS (except for the normal trial), again i didn't participate in Totorak boss fight, and no apologies, i can count on the fingers of my 2 hands the number of people that said hi/ggty (guild operation included), no tank asked if i was okay with big pull, not once, DPS doing big pull on a newbie undergeared tank and undergeared CNJ/WHM (ofc wipe and ofc toxic comment from this DPS).... Well the usual since DT release in fact.

This is the kind of behavior you're getting for the past 7 month.... this kind of behavior existed before, but were quite rare, now it's just common.

So, sorry, but no, it's not subjective anymore at this point when what was a rare occurence before become almost the default behavior.

That would be called anecdotal.

[Lorika]

That would be called anecdotal.

So, high frequency repeat of an occurence, in this case toxic behavior, is anecdotal?
Hmmm.... i think a lot of mathematician and scientist would beg to differ.

[AvoSturmfaust]

You post hot takes every week in new threads and comments. I doubt you are afraid of anykind of backlash. So lets stop with the act.
Nobody should be harrassed though, that much I agree to.

The drama of FFXIV is peanuts compared to what I've seen in WoW. From the raiding scene, guild scene to the rp scene to the pvp scene.

Ffxiv does a better job at regulating that kind of behavior. Therefore ending up in a healthier community.
But theres some personal responsibility too. Raiding is EVERYONES TIME so you should go well prepared if you are going with randoms. Dont expect to be coddled, not everyone has unlimited free time and its random people with random attitudes.

If you cant handle that, get into a static / fc / group whatever. Where you can catch the vibes and get to know people.

I dont raid, but I did in WoW. I doubt the raiding etiquette changes much. Anyone raging on dungeons just has an attitude problem. You can do that with your eyes closed and it takes so little time to do its not even an issue. And most people who are unsure or fail on mechanics can be taught on the spot / carried with kindness and understanding.

Buuuuut if someone is being an a-hole unreasonably and without any provocation. The report function exists, blacklist exists.

This exactly this is it.

If i open a reclear group for xyz content then i expect people to be comfy within the role they play and the mechanic, i dont have unlimited time and if you are not comfy enough join another prog groups and practice until you are 95% comfy with every mech, but stop wasting other peoples time

Take a example today Alliance Raid, people died in every corner left and right (and no there were no first timer) the healer with 50% boss hp left revives at the start we literally needed 20!! min for ONE BOSS in a alliance raid which usually is done in 20min now people expect that nobody is toxic and nobody is saying something ? Sorry this isnt working anymore if someone is wasting my time i will say something if im then toxic im fine with it

[Menriq]

So, high frequency repeat of an occurence, in this case toxic behavior, is anecdotal?
Hmmm.... i think a lot of mathematician and scientist would beg to differ.

Both scientists and mathematicians deal in facts, not personal experiences. Besides your personal experience, can you show me the numbers to support your claim?