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

[Swishytail]

I also get a lot of the concerns now after reading these posts. I've personally made my FC very laid back, no rules really, no applications, job requirements, etc.
It's not hardcore per se, we do want to do end-game but not beast it up like freaks 4 nights a week or anything. So far it's working out really well.

Company Chest is open to everyone, things like that. Makes being in an FC less stressful. Having a blast so far.

[Gilraen]

I no, I'm not getting buffs to my exp and whatever else gets buffed, whatever shall I do?!... who cares? I'm not in any rush to any kind of end game, being Legacy I could have been all over that scene Day 1. I'm not, because I want to enjoy the game. Yes, it's pretty quiet alot of the time but then you get the /shout conversations and it stops being so quiet. I've had alot of fun in /shouts. And I AM part of a Linkshell, mainly it's just people from my XI linkshell who started on Selbina/Ridill then moved to Balmung. We talk sometimes, but they're in Free Companies and don't have the same intent as I. Socializing can be done without a Free Company and only those who wish to 'maximize the game' need worry about losing the bonuses of being in one.

[Whizawk]

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

I was rejected from three of them.
Two said I was "too hardcore" and wouldn't mix well with the casual crowd.
One said I was too weak-willed or "simplistic" to be of any benefit to the FC.

So I don't see any reason to make an effort to join one at the moment.

[Idrael]

I just keep getting invites from the four same FC all the time, and I don't find myself planning on staying on the valefor serer for, hopefully, much longer. It's usually hard for me to find a guild/free company/whatever other games call it that I can stick with for a long time also.

[TasOgie]

Usually I refuse the blind offers because as a rule anyone that blind invites masses of people is not a group you want to hang out with. Not to mention the drama of guilds an the teenagers generally make it unpleasant place.
As for being told your too weak willed? LOL see that is case in point. Children thinking they are something special in a computer game. I would have laughed my arse off if someone told me I was too weak willed to play.

[Ri_ri]

I like to play alone for the first levels, but I'd join if I found a casual one.

[ruinedmirage]

I live in the US and get home from work at 3 am on weekdays, which means no one would be online.

From my experience, guilds are toxic by nature, and the politics will always get in the way at some point.

I'm sure there are some exceptions, though. I saw someone advertising their FC devoted to only fishing. Something like that sounds like FUN to me; the reason I started playing. I mean, there's nothing really to gain at this point by just being a DoL and completing logs (maybe selling some mats), but there's something about just being in a fishing or botany FC that sounds more appealing than "HARDCORE LV50 ONLY SPEED RUN ENDLESS AK LOOTZ"

Sure, call me a casual player, but if I wanted to be the best there ever was, I'd go play Pokemon. Gear and dungeons are negligible compared to just playing for fun, for me at least.