what would be the best way to make the "experience" better?Follow

By experience Im referring to the community. My friend is on the verge of quitting because hes tired of the fact that everytime he runs a dungeon he has to deal with at least one person whos "gods gift to ffxiv" spending the entire dungeon either complaining about his performance (hes a tank) or complaining about the performance of the pt in general (i.e "this dps is too week for demon wall" or "my shoulders hurt from carrying you guys through xxxx fight". TO which I tell h im "yeah thats why we have a blacklist feature" but his excuse then is "I play this to relax after a long day at work. I shouldnt have to deal with frustration or have my stress ever increased by dealing with people who wanna be ***s everday, I also shouldnt have to blist people EVERY time I log on, surely the list would get full well before I get em all"

So then I point out the fact that everytime we played any other online multiplayer game we had to deal with people like that. Citing the multiplayer modes of Uncharted 2 and 3 for example. To which he says in those games its the "OTHER team talking crap, thats normal, No one on our team is doing it amongst eachother. FFXIV is a co op based game thus non of the crap talking should be happening as everyone is on the same team and supposed to be working together/helping eachother out" He just wants to play with people who dont mind taking 30-45 mins clearing a dungeon that the last group they were in did in 15-20 mins and only cares about at the end of the day the goal/objective was met (i.e the dungeon was cleared) and no ones time was wasted (i.e the dungeon WASNT cleared and you just spent 120 mins for the time to run out and accomplished nothing) even if it wasnt done in the most fastest/efficient way youve seen. Which makes SOME sense to me I mean if I wanted a 20 minute wrecking crew where everyone was geared like bosses and played like experts. I wouldnt have the common sense to NOT queue up for DF and just play soley with people in my FC or ppl I know in game personally who are geared well enough and have the skill to do just that. But I guess people with Royal attitudes lack Royal intellect. lol

long story short he wants to play with people to have fun not people who take the game to seriously (i myself couldnt care less as this isnt my first mmo i know dealing with idiots is normal and can easily ignore them.. especially through texts.. its not like i have to physically listen to them screaming in my ear on a mic lol). I can only think of three solutions to the problem but they all come with forseeable problems:

1) Make friends.

Well the random and solo nature of this game makes making friends kind ahard. I mean DF matches you with random peole who may or may not be on your server than youll most likely only see that one time. Then there's FATEs which I wouldnt exactly call a player bonding experience lol. SO what is one to do to make friends? RUn up and down uldah shouting "anyone wanna be my friend?" lol

2) Join a FC

Most the FCs I see advertised are way past relic procurement and DL and are mainly on Coil, thus even if you joined said FC while you may get help 20% of the time the remaining 80% may require you to get it done in DF or make your own party with randoms if you wanna get the stuff done when YOU want it done or get it done as fast as youd like as opposed to waiting til your FC is available/willing to help you.

3) Make an FC

Would you get enough members who are in that stage of the game (i.e just finished stoy and no w starting endgame) who arent already IN a FC? Id dont think Ive seen a level 50 yet who isnt in a FC so recruiting would be hard would it not?


tl;dr How would you suggest one should go about making th player interaction/community aspect pf the game more enjoyable?

No condom...sorry, didn't read all of it.

Not to be a jerk but I have been playing since EA and I am a tank as well and I have never got that type of response, not even once (well once but I was drunk and deserved it). And I am on a Legacy server which tend to be more elitist than most. And I am FAR from the best out there.

If he is experiencing that kind of comments then he might want to look at himself and see if his playing is on par. Especially if he is being "harassed" by these comments on a regular basis.

When dealing with a MMO like FFXIV with limited content like we have at the moment then you are seeing casual players (us) being forced to play with more hard core players with higher standards. IDK, maybe it will get better for him when 2.1 launches and the more hardcore have more content to move on to instead of the same old stuff? But I can understand when I am grinding for Myth and you are used to going kind of fast and then you are having to double your time in the dungeon. But I only really expect a quick run if I am with my FC, outside of that I plan on a full run if I used the DF.

thats my point exactly.. if someone is expecting a super 1337 run with teh best tank on the planet why the **** are they using DF? I mean if anyone THEYRE the idiots for putting themselves in that situation


As for him getting harassing comments like that ALL the time.. that t hing they dont harrass HIM ALL the time, if it snot him that h arassed its someone else in the pt.. "i.e the healer sucks" or "the dps is too weak" neither of which is directed at him because healing or dps's isnt his job. But even if its not directed at him he just doesnt like putting up with it period, regardless of who it directed at.

that is how my friends list has grown, literally if I see someone out somewhere I tend to help. But most has come from running dungeons and helping people out, just through CONSTRUCTIVE guidance and the like. Very seldom do I have to DF anymore just based off people asking if I want to run a WP SR because we "friended" each other based on a run we had earlier

what you said makes perfect sense however those things takes time and working 40 hours a week plus other outside forces that lmit your playtime (i e being married) would make training a group of lvl 30 peasants to a group that can do AK take until March. which would be ok with me (just like id be ok with running df with dbags 100% of the time as long as i get my tomes.

however this isnt about me this about HIS gaming experience being enjoyable. and im sure hes not willing to wait/stick around til March waiting for thatto happen

As a tank, ive learned just to ignore them. Its not worth the hassle. People make mistakes, runs arent going to be perfect, and theres usually going to be one ******* in a group of 8 whos going to flip out and call people names. I just ignore them, if someone asks me a question then I am helpful and answer it, but if some random damage dealer wants to complain when all they do is stand back and press a couple buttons while I do my best to lead the group then so be it. The silence they get in return is more effective than responding in my opinion.

This is pretty interesting to me. I am working on getting to 50 solely through PUGS for dungeons and it takes a LOT of dungeon runs to level up. I have been in a bunch of crappy groups, but for the most part people aren't attacking each other. Is it just the higher level dungeons where people act like jerks? Plenty of groups that split because the healer or tank is unhappy with something, but they usually just leave and that's that.

I remember when the game first came out and I was doing Copperbell for the first time. I failed miserably as a tank, I'm not afraid to say. We wiped so many times my equipment broke and you can't hold hate with a broken sword. I had to equip older gear just to finish the last boss. So many times, that group could've just left but they didn't and we stuck it out to finish with like 15 minutes on the clock. You never know, I guess.

Albiet this topic comes up countless times, in various forms, the best advice I can give is to simply learn and understand your role (heal/dps/tank) and the encounter, including boss mechanics. Once you have cleared content a few times, your knowledge grows, and that is real power when dealing with D-bags. Why? Because you then have the power to take control.

I get thrown into the same DF mess that you speak of, but I take initiative and start giving directions. You would be suprised just how effective persuasion can be when you correct other peoples mistakes and by doing so, enable the party to succeed.

Wether I queue DF as tank or dps I always start off with a polite greeting. Then ask who knows the dungeon. I'll go on to explain what we are going to encounter, how to deal with it, who should be doing what, and always refer to players by name.

Why does this work? Because I always get comments on how some of these D-bags change thier tune and thank me after a successful run because someone (me) clearly defined what needed to be done.

I'm sure you have been in many parties where everyone just goes into it, not saying a word, then mobs start going everywhere, pulls go wrong, and people keep dying at the same boss encouters. There was a time when I thought to myself, "another $hit party, I should just bail." But after so many of those, I decided to do something about it.

The short of it is this: take it upon yourself to familiarize with how the classes work, learn how the dungeons work and how to deal with boss mechanics. As long as someone knows, and is willing to step up and explain things, any crap party can turn it around. However, it is also important to realize when your advice and leadership is not being heeded and make a personal descision on staying or bailing. For example, if you mark targets and dps refuse comply to the kill order, causing unneeded stress on the healer and tank, then they deserve the repeated wipes, while you move on to the next group.

Edited, Nov 28th 2013 8:50am by SistinasAria

Edited, Nov 28th 2013 8:51am by SistinasAria

I find the best approach is a combination of three factors. Most of my main LS are shut ins, of a sort. We've all been playing games together as a close knit group going on thirteen years, and they never like partying outside the static. I prefer to go adventuring all over the place and end up doing a ton of DFs and shout runs and everything else when they aren't on.

Factor 1: Be genuinely nice to everyone. Many players I've met, especially on the SE forums, don't understand that there is a difference between "not being a jerk" and "actually being nice." Being too polite borders on being curt, and that still puts people on the defensive. Especially strangers in the DF. You might think that:

"{Hello!}. Has anyone done this dungeon before?" is a good greeting. On paper, maybe it should be. But I find that:
"Heya! What's going on, ladies and gents? Who's the new guy? Let's eat him! >.>" works a lot better. A little bit of ham handed quirkiness breaks the ice and lets everyone relax. Especially if you're the tank or healer. Show some personality and just... be a friendly guy. My favorite response to a wipe when I'm playing WAR is "OMFG YOU GODDAMN LOSERS, I AM SOOO OUT OF HERE ENJOY UR 96hr QUEUE YOU FA...................Oh, wait a sec. I forgot, I'm not an *******! Sorry about that! :p Protect plz!" Usually while I hop up and down a couple times.

Be so friendly that everyone around you can relax. Relaxed people don't tend to turn jerk at the slightest little thing like tense people do.

Factor 2: Good old fashioned SHAME. If you're the nice guy who breaks the ice in the party, and someone starts giving you a hard time, you have some good leverage. If they're being so nasty that you have to leave, then do so. But tell your audience - the two remaining players - why via shaming the jerk. "Alright, fine. You can pick up a different <job>. I'm going to go eat the 15 minute penalty for you, but I hope treating another real person like this was worth your miserable 100 tomes. So long you guys.... Good luck on the run. /bow" I can almost guarantee you, the second you're out of the party two things are going to happen. The other 2 members are going to look at the jerk and start getting irritated, because he just chased off the nice guy, and the jerk is going to feel at least a little bit like crap and maybe not do it again.

Factor 3: As someone else already said, go adventuring! Help people for free. Talk to them. They appreciate it, and they'll eventually be level 50 and needing friends too.

Wombats! lots of wombats! Wombats as far as the eye could see!!! Then you would have a really epic game