So, today on T’noah, I got to the part of the MSQ (main story quest) where you go into your first dungeon. This is the part of MMOs that a lot of people struggle with since, especially when dealing with content that hasn’t been new for many years, there’s a lot of anxiety about grouping up with other people and not knowing exactly what to do.
I will say that, on average, FFXIV’s community is about a half a hojillion times less toxic than WoW’s. When you’re a new player (or even just a new character), you have this adorable little sprout icon next to your name until you reach a certain level + days played + point in the MSQ that lets everyone know “this person may not know what to do.” FFXIV players tend to take some extra time to explain things like mechanics to newbies (also called “sprouts” after the aforementioned icon) instead of being like “OMFG n00b git gud” which is the usual WoW method of dealing with new players.
However, the trust system they just put in eliminates the need to group with other players at all until you are absolutely ready to do so on your own terms. Instead, you can choose to run the dungeons with well-programmed NPCs who will fill out the roles you need (so if you are playing a DPS, the NPCs will take care of tanking or healing). The additional bonus to this is that if you are playing a DPS, you don’t have to sit waiting for up to an hour while the system looks for a tank and a healer to put you in with. You can also try new roles (such as tanking and healing) that make a lot of people nervous since some tanks will do “balls to the wall, pull it ALL” pulls and not use mitigation which makes a newbie healer in less than top-notch gear want to cry. Or healers who have done this dungeon ten bazillion times will be like “hurry up” to a person who is tanking for the very first time and barely knows how to hold aggro.
I just hope that it doesn’t wind up turning out top-level players who are never willing to group with others. Part of playing an MMO is the social aspect of grouping up with complete strangers and discovering a whole new set of friends. 🙂
Also, bonus material: Yoshi-P gave an interview with Game Informer that is worth a read.
— G.K.