I don't want to join a Free Company because...

[Swishytail]

I'm asking this as a serious question, not to start a flame war.

I have an FC on Malboro, and I have asked people from time-to-time if they would like to join. People I may have run a dungeon with that are also on Malboro, or that I ended up FATE grouping with that I chatted with and had a good time, or whatever the case may be.

Some people tell me "No thanks". I've never really gotten a straight answer as to exactly why people do not want to join FCs.

FCs provide buffs (assuming they are rank 5), they provide people to ineract with socially, they provide people who will dungeon with you, grind, fate, whatever. What is there to lose?

I see people complain about Duty Finder and such, which is going to happen, but some of these same people absolutely will not join an FC and have opportunities to put groups together within them, to make all their activities faster and easier.

So what gives? For anyone out there NOT in an FC, how come?

[Talis]

When I use my tongue to clean myself in public, it appears to offend a lot of people. Thus I learned to hide my cleanliness from the world... and FCs.

[SpiritedMare]

As someone who is taking a break from years of WoW to play this game (I know I know, boo hiss etc.), two staple terms come to mind: "guild drama" and "guild politics".

In that game, there are so bloody many guild perks that you really can't afford to not be in one. Whereas in this game, the perks are still too few and negligible to be worth giving up the breath of fresh air that is not having to deal with anybody else's hypersensitive butthurt drama. If I'm not in the mood to chat, I don't like having to give the "it's not you, it's me" spiel to twenty different guildies who think my silence must mean I suddenly hate them.

Or at least that's my personal take on it.

[Hawklaser]

Not in one yet myself. Haven't joined one yet because all I ever see are the shouts and random invites out of the blue. I'm picky about things like FCs because I need to like the people in them, as well as find one that meshes well with my playtimes. Also more often than not, usually only a handful get assistance on any regular basis.

Have considered starting my own, but yet to come up with a name I like enough to start it.

[Solanthus]

I am the type who usually only joins 1 Guild/Clan/Free Company per game, and stay until the end.

But, past experience has shown me that a lot of Company's might start early with a big bang, but fizzle out due to poor leadership and organisational structure, inadequate/incorrect recruiting, or just plain abandonment.

So unless a Leader or Officer particularly impresses me with their tactical decision making, charisma, or adherence to principles and ideals, I usually wait a while to see the dust settle before applying.

I also like to play with members of the Company to see what sort of culture or player preferences they have/want before throwing myself in.

[Laume]

Well, yes and no. My wife and I made our own FC. But before then, we declined any invitations to other FC's (it's just us 2. No one else.). The down side to joining a FC are intangible, but still relevant, imo. As a member, your exp/fate/seals will be contributing to that FC's stats. You will obviously, be supporting a FC without prejudice after joining. It also implies a commitment/duty that might no be there in a LS via the blog, message of the day, mission, message board, etc. A lot of people prefer to have their individual freedom. Some people prefer to play alone. Some people would rather not someone chatting in their ear as they're solo'ing stuff while other's would. And that's fine, imo. I know it feels like a snuff for them not to join with no solid reason, but it's their choice. And despite how it seems, it's just what they prefer.

Heck, in 1.0, I didn't join a LS until I got one of my characters to level 50 (solo'ed it all the way). It wasn't until I feel that I have something I can provide or that I have a certain amount of aptitude that I decided on joining. Maybe it's that way for them?

[Alyndri]

I have a FC of about 13 members. I'm amazed at the size of some of the FC's out there as it seems so difficult to get anyone to join up!

[Vid]

The FC I'm in currently is comprised of close friends I've kept in touch with over the years of my gaming, and my brother of course. However I know all to well the fear of joining a new FC, Guild, Linkshell, etc. You don't know the members, so there's no way of telling if it's a more mature crowd, if you have little kids running around, or any number of things. If you aren't really social you probably won't end up talking to a lot of them, so you just kind of collect dust on the roster.

Late game though people will be joining more and more FC's to try and get their relic weapons and best in slot type gear. However early on, for just leveling purposes, most people stay away from them.

[kemikal]

I'm FC-less, because I'm waiting to find one with the same goals in the game as I do. I want to know that the members of the FC are good people and good players, and that they are in it for the long haul. I want an FC that I can be proud of, and I want to stay loyal to one FC without people questioning my reasoning.

Also, I've yet to come across a mass-invite FC that keeps the teleportation fee decrease perk active.

[Neviskio]

I can't find one that suits my playstyle, and I don't enjoy being bothered by people most of the times with questions they can answers themselves on xivdb/quick search on any site, even google.Since right now most of the players are new, they spam everychat with the same question over, and over, and over, being that i had to teach newbies in wow for 9 years, I'm a tad tired.Also dkp systems in 2013 make me cringe, so half my server FC's are to be excluded <.<

I also raid in other games so what's the point for me joining one if I can't partecipate since the events are streamlined all at the same hour at the same day of all ls's? Or why would I join a ls where I'm the only lvl 50?

I'm guessing most people could relate to this <.<

also: the next damn fc that asks me to register to their website that is empty and will cause me only grief since it's just a damn waste of time the forum, I'm going to start blacklisting people <.< seriously, why all the damn need of a useless thing no one in game cares or ever cared? In 15 years of gaming I had 2 guilds that actually used the site for anything besides spam.Stop with the unique snowflakes thing, most people play the game for playing the game, not for chatting in the damn FC forums <.< and those who do can easily make their forums themselves <.< argh.Hate.