It's kind of like out in the real world though, if you think about it. Â There are always 'events' and what not to go to, but the big places to meet new folks outside of 'events' tends to be the taverns/bars/clubs. Â Outside of events, that (and the internet) tends to be where you get introduced to other social circles and find other things to do and make new friends at. Â Also like in the real world, a lot of people are timid about approaching other people. Â We've, as a people, kind of social engineered ourselves into a corner with that, but that's a soapbox I don't need to get on.
I do really love the concept of a living, breathing, world, but without some incentive, it's hard to create a need to just be between places. Â This is especially true with the mechanics of FFXIV where we just teleport everywhere. Â The only ways to really counteract stuff like this is to grab a friend, and go out in the world, RP tag on, and vocally RP. Â Not just with each other, but RP at other people. Â (The friend is important, you need someone to RP off of when other's aren't biting.)
You'll probably be surprised at who responds instead of just running off.
Nefzen and I had a lot of luck with this on our alts. Â We -walked- everywhere, and RP'd at just about anyone who crossed our paths. Â We asked players about where quest mobs we were looking for, or what was over that next hill. Â We feigned ignorance about most of what we, as players, knew of the game world to give people something to do/contribute when interacting with us. Â It was a lot of fun seeing everyone who'd drop their quest grinding to talk to us about trivial things like "where the best place to find limestone deposits" were.
I do really love the concept of a living, breathing, world, but without some incentive, it's hard to create a need to just be between places. Â This is especially true with the mechanics of FFXIV where we just teleport everywhere. Â The only ways to really counteract stuff like this is to grab a friend, and go out in the world, RP tag on, and vocally RP. Â Not just with each other, but RP at other people. Â (The friend is important, you need someone to RP off of when other's aren't biting.)
You'll probably be surprised at who responds instead of just running off.
Nefzen and I had a lot of luck with this on our alts. Â We -walked- everywhere, and RP'd at just about anyone who crossed our paths. Â We asked players about where quest mobs we were looking for, or what was over that next hill. Â We feigned ignorance about most of what we, as players, knew of the game world to give people something to do/contribute when interacting with us. Â It was a lot of fun seeing everyone who'd drop their quest grinding to talk to us about trivial things like "where the best place to find limestone deposits" were.