Hey all, first posting! WooHoo!
Anyways, I've been playing this game for over a year now, and I'm finding it to be increasingly difficult to find players at my level that know what they're doing. I don't know if it's because there's been an onslaught of n00bs since the release of the expansion pack, but I have to go through 3-4 parties a night to find one that knows what it's doing.
Now if this was just a once and a while happening, I'd just call it the occasional bit of bad luck. The problem is that it's happening four or five times a week when I go on. Now I may not be one of the higher ups yet (just wait til after Christmas break :) but I should think that people in their 30's at least understand the concepts of Skillchains, Magic Bursts, and proper mp management. I could understand if this was Valkrum or Qufim, but by the time you get to Garlaige and Crawler's Nest you should know what you're doing.
Last bit of my rant- why is it that American players (I'm an American, but I try not to display this tendency) have NO PATIENCE?! I'm the kind of player that, if asked to join a party, will stick around until the leader calls it quits, or I die more than 3 times (it's happened more often than I can count). But in the last month or so, I've had players drop out of parties I've been a part of left and right. People can't seem to wait more than five minutes, and if the action doesn't start going quick, they bail. THIS IS AN RPG, PEOPLE! If you're looking for quick-fix action, go play Halo 2. This game requires loads of time-investment, but people don't seem to realize that.
I love this game, but the people that play it are really starting to bug me. It's getting to the point where the best parties I seem to be in are comprised of 5 other Japanese players (yes, I do play during their primetime quite often, 5am-9am). AND I CAN'T EVEN COMMUNICATE WITH THEM! I've accomplished 2 levels in 3 hours with them, but with American players, on average, it takes 3 hours for 1 level.
All I want to know is, am I the only one seeing this? Most the guys on my LS are great, and I run into a few others that are great to party with, but that's about it. What's happening to my favorite game?