Quote Originally Posted by Amarande View Post
The big difference is I remember PF used to be a heck of a lot more chill.

Stormblood? Watch the MTQ or Happy vid. Toss up a PF. Join a PF if you could. Didn't get much more annoying than a wall of Duty Complete Farm if you didn't manage to set aside time to clear in what, in retrospect, was an eyeblink even then but still.

Nowadays?

Assuming you grok the strat, welp, now if you want to get anywhere with PF you are virtually forced to interact with TOS-infringing third party tools or with players that do, because if you aren't logged guess what buddy? As far as your raiding progression is concerned IT NEVER HAPPENED. PF players' inability to trust is off the charts to virtual "not okay. seriously, you're not okay" degrees and somehow this is fine (yes prog liars ya ya ... if you show this level of inability to trust people IRL your friends are gonna get concerned and tell you to go get help, and that's even if you got lied to a lot with actual IRL consequences, not merely "I couldn't progress in an MMORPG because somebody claimed they were better than they were").

And people that raise any kind of a ruckus about this, or even just aren't quick enough studies are given a very palpable aura of "we're going to put you on a dodge list" with the distinct impression that your days of using PF in the future usefully might be over as well.

The vibe is so bad that one wonders how anyone even enjoys using PF at all. No wonder it is no longer considered a valid option and we are back to "welp, if you're employed and it's not a 9-5, forget about ... really, most of the content SE offers you this xpac, actually."
I agree that PF has gotten incredibly hostile and gatekeepey in Dawntrail. I don't know what it was like before Endwalker but it's been so bad lately that I straight up won't even try Chaotic, even though I'd really like the gear. There are a lot of PFs are locked behind people checking your logs and requiring X amount of clears. Everyone cites "prog lying" because apparently, you can't have an off night and screw up a mechanic you are usually able to do? That and there's some disagreement on whether it's "I can do this mechanic reliably" or "I have seen this mechanic." Leaves/kicks/disbands after 1 or 2 bad pulls have become extremely common, even in learning parties. As a very mediocre player, the only way I get to do Extreme/Savage is with my FC or static these days. It's sad. In Endwalker, I used to hop into PF to help prog high end fights. Now it's no longer fun or rewarding to do so.