Just delete this

[Aldotsk]

I've just been left with a lot of dismay that perhaps if I needed to... and actually had all these things I may consider just leaving the FC I made. At this point it's a 50/50 I'm unhappy anyway.

 

If you do that, I will personally buy a plane ticket to visit you and []Limit Break 3: Final Heaven[] on your new place. >=|

[Kage]

............

[Warren Castille]

It's easy. Gosling's dark rum and ginger beer. Rum goes on the bottom, ginger on top. Makes for a cool looking glass before stirring.

 

I'd suggest putting together a run, but the burden of leadership can be a pain in the ass. Unfortunately, I don't know how else to advise in this situation. PF will always be a miss of people wanting to get carried, people lying about their experience and people just wanting a win. I know tanking T6 is fun and pretty painless, but again you have to learn to accept that you can be God's Gift to Tanking and still wipe in less than a minute if people don't know how to coordinate the rest of the fight.

[Drifter]

I'm in the same boat really Kage. Hells I can't even get a group to kill turn 5, or any EX Primal

[Kage]

........

[Warren Castille]

I lied. It should be on top. It'll look like this when done "properly."

 

 

 

 

I've never been one for leading, either. I make an alright officer, I think, but I'm rubbish at actually coordinating a group. I feel for you being stuck and spinning your wheels, though. That's why I was relieved when hunts/CT2 allowed progression past i100. It's not as glamorous as Coil armor, and I'm way overcompensating for accuracy right now, but I can still make my Number Go Up.

 

I'm not going to worry about Coil2 until I have to, which is to say... Well, who knows. I like to story so far, but it's not "for me" since I'm not on the cutting edge, so who knows.

[Kage]

.......

[Aya]

I've just been left with a lot of dismay that perhaps if I needed to... and actually had all these things I may consider just leaving the FC I made. At this point it's a 50/50 I'm unhappy anyway.

Kage, sweetie, this is a game - its meant to be fun.  If you do run any of these things you should do so with people looking to have fun too :-]

 

I haven't set foot into T6 yet, and I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything, but I would like to go with a group that was fun and liked working on something challenging (which is how I did T4 and T5).  I don't know if I'll ever do T6 either, but at least we can be in the same boat!

[Warren Castille]

That's the ginger beer. Then you stir it together to make a delicious treat. Or you drink the rum off of the top and then just sip ginger beer, because it's delicious.

 

Trust me, I know what it's like to have trouble letting go. Eventually though, I just reached a point where my career, real life and in-game contacts all conspired to make sure I'd never have the manpower or window of opportunity to make raiding fit back into my life. And honestly, I'm happier this way. I'm content to grind away on other things and not worry too much about 1) the hours of investment to learning how to win a fight and 2) hoping the RNG drops relevant loot.

 

My initial forays into Coil1 only last 3 months or so, and we were only clearing Turns 1/2. Despite that, I emerged with two pieces of gear for my efforts. Yeah, no. Eff that. Token systems will always be superior for my time and effort.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I lied. It should be on top. It'll look like this when done "properly."

 

 

 

 

I've never been one for leading, either. I make an alright officer, I think, but I'm rubbish at actually coordinating a group. I feel for you being stuck and spinning your wheels, though. That's why I was relieved when hunts/CT2 allowed progression past i100. It's not as glamorous as Coil armor, and I'm way overcompensating for accuracy right now, but I can still make my Number Go Up.

 

I'm not going to worry about Coil2 until I have to, which is to say... Well, who knows. I like to story so far, but it's not "for me" since I'm not on the cutting edge, so who knows.

Why is it so... yellow and lightish on the bottom

 

I wish I could say I won't worry about it but I know I'd be lying when I do :c

 

 

 

That drink looks amazing...

and it's probably just a different kind of ginger beer. I had one like that.

 

And I agree with what Warren said on the other stuff. I think I'm a casual raider. (do it for the community, not the progression, even if I WANT those cutscenes/story).

 

I guess the important question I'd have to ask is: Are you willing to pretty much stop playing the game outside of raids? Because that's what a progression-oriented group is going to do. It might happen slowly at first, but it'll turn the game into a grind if progression is the #1 priority. Since to progress, you'll need to have the "best" gear, and to have that, you'll have to obtain it, which just repeats the weekly login cycle of "farm for this, get that, obtain new gear, throw body at raid".

 

I'm gonna use a past FC as example. Half the players stopped playing the game after they cleared T5. THe other half, which are active, either left the FC to join new raid progression groups, or otherwise just farm the same raid over and over trying to progress in it to the point that it is actually making some of the irritated they can't win. It's gotten past being "fun with hard content" and become "work". "Work" in a video game. Meant to be enjoyed when not at you know, a real-life job.

 

All to you if you wanna make the game a job. I'd just be sad to see that happen because stress from raids on top of stress from RL things is not fun.

 

Edit: And yes, I'd agree that progression-based raiding can be fun. It's not for me. I'll support your decisions because each person has their own definition of fun Kage, just don't let any hasty decisions break up things that are actively fun for you now, for the possibility of fun later.

[ArmachiA]

On the subject of statics vs put togethers. Even statics are iffy. On our end, we've had a lot of people leave that we've consistently had to replace, which put us behind on progression. Alas, our SMN in one of our teams just left a few weeks ago, and our healer on another team is thinking about leaving the game entirely. Progression gets super stressful when you have to try to keep everyone together, that is for true. We were stuck on T7 for MONTHS (T6 is pretty easily carriable at this point) because we had to keep taking in new people and they would have to learn it then someone else would leave then we'de have to take in a new person and they would have to learn the fight and etc etc. We got lucky that we found some very quality replacements very quickly and were able to clear T7 within two weeks with those new people, but now I have to look around for a replacement dps because one went on deployment for 10 months and the other went to a different static and uugghh.

 

I understand the frustration of trying to keep people together and I have a bunch of people I can in the FC who can be replacements. I can only imagine trying to do that without the resources or with a bunch of strangers every week, it would be painful.

 

Endgame is a stressful thing, man.

 

The thing is you really have to sit down and decide how important it really is to you and how comfortable you are with doing certain things to achieve it. To ME, I'll never go outside my FC - even though I learned the fights very quickly - I just won't compromise that. I'm way more comfortable running endgame with people I vaguely know and have pugged SCOB once ever (T6 - one shot it, though ). Figure out what you want, then do it. It's really THAT simple. Do what makes you happy. YOU. personally. Not anyone else. YOU. Because you are never going to have fun on this game and get where you want to go by sacrificing your own happiness. Ever.

 

Figure out what you want, then figure out the options to get it. Then pick one of THOSE options. Make beleive what-if scenarios aren't solutions. Look at the actual solutions you can do, then pick the one you think is the most realistic to you. Then do it. Then pray you'll be happy once you do.

[Kage]

........

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Oh and fun people. People who can realize they made a mistake, laugh about it and then improve...not just go "omgawd not me" and not fix it. :c

 

A raiding FC isn't needed for that. Just consistent, awesome people. (Yes, a FC can help on that end, but it doesn't guarantee it) Community building can be hard. and it's certainly not a quick thing to do.

 

Wish I could say more on the above, but I can't. I've exhausted the things I can say. Just do what makes you happy.

[111]

Same Kage,

 

The Kage rank will always be waiting for you if you leave though.

[Kage]

..........

[Melkire]

I don't -want- to leave my FC and I said I was considering it if it was an absolute must into being able to even raid at this point.

 

All my PF attempts have been such a failure that I can't even find a group that would clear T6. They all break up within 30 min because of 1-2 wipes and then take hours+ to even form. Not to mention if I can't find a group that is for t6 that isn't a learning party, it's a group that does not want a blm.

 

Even when I send them a tell telling them that the only gear I would roll on is the neck piece since I have the others.

 

Honestly? Quit thinking about DFing and PFing SCoB. Balmung doesn't quite have the average player skill for that. Get yourself into linkshells that are interested and engaged in clearing the content you want to clear, instead.

 

Linkshells are more definitive gateway into statics and coil clears than anything else in this game. I know for a fact that this is true on Gilgamesh, which has been the hardcore PvE server for a while now. Friend of mine I used to play with cleared T9 the other week for the first time... and while his static started out as a bunch of FC mates, he filled it out with folks from his LS and others' LS's. Now it's a competent, dedicated group that has T6 through T8 "on farm". And before anyone asks, yes, it's his static, he organizes, runs it, etc.

 

...and, for your own sake, if clearing this content matters to you so much that you're in literal tears whenever you fail to, then you need to step back, take a deep breath, and remind yourself that the game you're playing is supposed to be fun, not stressful. If that means opting out of SCoB, then opt out.

 

And look on the bright side: you cleared the first Coil. I'm still banging my head against the wall that is T5 and have been for months now, and this has been post-nerf and post-echo.

[Kage]

........

[Aya]

I'm such a scrub, I had to look up what SCoB meant

[Melkire]

Honestly? Quit thinking about DFing and PFing SCoB. Balmung doesn't quite have the average player skill for that. Get yourself into linkshells that are interested and engaged in clearing the content you want to clear, instead.

 

Linkshells are the more definitive gateway into statics and coil clears than anything else in this game.

I don't even know how to go about doing this. I haven't even found any Hunts Linkshells so I could get at least 1 sands for my i100 weapon

 

Same way you do RP walk-ups: talk to folks out of the blue.

 

Ask around in the linkshells you're already in.

 

Ask your friends, and ask them to ask their friends for you.

 

Keep an eye out for PvE FCs, note their guildmasters, and throw those people or their company members some tells, something like, "hey, I was wondering if your FC is raiding SCoB, do you guys have any statics that are looking for fills/subs/more permanent fixtures? Do they a need a ___?"

 

Go sit in Fallgourd Float and listen to shouts for a while. Sometimes folks advertise there in order to recruit folks for SCoB, the way they used to in Mor Dhona for FCoB. Hell, sit in Revenant's Toll for a while, too.

 

Keep an eye on PF for advertisements for statics.

 

As for hunts, that's harder. I haven't done this yet, but I was planning on asking about and seeing if I could get any word on what THE Hunt LS's are on Balmung, and then tracking down someone with a silver star for an invite once I'm ready to get into hardcore Hunting. As an example, American Steaktheory was the dominant Hunt LS on Gilg for a while (not sure if it still is).  

 

If that means opting out of SCoB, then opt out.

I've tried. I go 1-3 days and then go back to being even more sad trying to again. It hasn't worked.

 

Step away from it longer. I'm talking weeks to months, not mere days.

[Warren Castille]

Sometimes it's hard to put that distance between you and it, though. I remember when I was at my worst on Titan that I'd go to bed Sunday all pissed off I wasted my weekend hours dying for nothing but repair bills but by Monday after work I'd be peeking into PF to see if there were any more groups looking. The big difference is, though, I was only looking for one clear. I couldn't begin to imagine trying to do that every week for each primal.

 

Melkire's got the right of it, though. Ask around. Make noise. You're impossible to recruit if you're invisible.

[Eva]

Your post makes me realize that the static to which I belong is a rare and beautiful gem, even if somewhat unpolished.

 

It seems like more casual raiding groups are something of a hard sell. Even in our own group I think there's 2-3 who wish our schedules allowed us to grind at it a little more, but most of us are happy with the casual pace (we average twice a week for maybe two hours each time). And we have fun! And mistakes happen and it can be easy to blame someone, and we do sometimes (but playfully so!) and shake it off and keep trying. There's no animosity or lingering resentment. I think most of us are genuinely happy to lift each other up rather than feel any sort of selfish grind for gear and increasing our own individual iLv.

 

A little over a month ago we had a sort of hiccup and stopped raiding for awhile. There are a number of reasons this happened and in retrospect it's not even really all that important. After resorting individually to PF to do T6 a couple times just for the sake of continuity, I realized I missed it. We had been raiding together since first coil T1 for almost an entire year, and we had a couple members bow out for various reasons, but otherwise the entire group has remained intact, occasionally having to replace someone if there were circumstances preventing them from making a raid time. I think we're mostly adults with vastly differing job schedules so trying to find two evenings a week for all 8 planets to align is our first greatest obstacle.

 

When I was left to solo for a month or so, my last PF group invited me into their static. It would have been a bit more demanding, but fit with my schedule. I wasn't sure what was happening with the long-term one, if it was disbanding entirely. Someone suggested putting it back together and the configuration changed a little bit so in a way we were having to re-learn T6 (a couple new members, and one fellow on a different job than before). While it was flattering to be invited based on PF, I'm happy I decided to stick it out with my current group. They're fun people and I don't think the promise of faster progression or better gear can really replace that experience, where you're smiling and laughing with friends, even when something gets borked up. I recently learned that the other group I was invited to had blitzed through T7 and T8 and was working on T9 now, and while I'm happy for them I do not regret my decision to stay with my friends at all! We will get there when we get there, after all.

 

I hope that you find a group that brings you this same sort of satisfaction and enjoyment. As others have said, it's a game and it's supposed to be fun. When it stops being that, you should take a good hard look at the underlying reasons and root causes and see if there's any way to enact some change. I think that there are a lot of good people here and I hope that you find your niche or a good static group that brings you smiles and laughs instead of upset and frustration.

[Kage]

........

[Melkire]

Honestly the upset and frustration stems from wanting something that I keep failing to attain.

 

>.> Like a rotten child. <.<

 

I know how you feel. I want Allagan Cuirass of Striking for vanity purposes. Some a$$hole at Square-Enix decided it should go into the T5 loot table, unlike every other Allagan chestpiece.

 

At the end of every failed raiding session, I tell myself: next time, and if not next time, then the next next time, and so on and so forth. It'll happen eventually.

 

Kind of like that Atma that refused to drop for me in Upper La Noscea. Spent a few hours a day on it, then blitzed it for 8 hours on a Sunday. Lo and behold... >_>

[Kage]

.......

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Spent a few hours a day on it, then blitzed it for 8 hours on a Sunday. Lo and behold... >_>

 

...it...never showed, did it?