Active Discords?

Hey guys, I was just wondering if there's any good active discord channels that run content like Ambuscade, Dynamis, etc. that are new/returning player friendly as well.

I am also looking for an LS like this.

TeamCarryMe is generally very new/returning player friendly, so check it out: TeamCarryMe Discord

I've modified this invitation so that it expires after 5 uses, with no time limit. So if someone wanders upon this thread and wants an invitation, feel free to DM me.

Do they give cookies?

Most players from that LS are new/returning player friendly, but there is also vocal minority of "wannabeelite" obsessed with "+8 COR or bust" mindset etc.. i've suggested twice to returning/new players worried about how to get party invites initially (or how to build their alts) to build a +7 COR with regal neck, then su4hq, nice savage blade set + fomahault etc, and some ppl got mad literally, telling me stuffs from "stop suggesting people to build gimp cors", to even worse bs like "with all due respect, (when they start like this, you know respect is already out of the window) you got no cue what you're talking about, you don't understand the game" etc etc.
All cause i suggested a guy gearing his COR alt to start from +7, sb set and build from there.
Hopefully you won't get the same experience.

You were specifically talking about building a budget CORs (+7 rolls), in the context of Sheol C. Almost everyone agreed that in this context of Sheol C, a +7 roll COR is hurting the party's performance. Each Roll+1 is visible here. You did not agree with this assessment.

In my opinion, this is not elitist. There is a huge problem in PUG groups for Sheol C where many participants are woefully unprepared. (Tanks try to over-pull because they assume DDs are stronger than they are. Healers pull hate with Cures, no Emnity-minus in their sets. Many DDs, even ML40-50 will die on Floor 1 because they don't have (any or enough) DT in their TP sets. Etc. Etc. This list goes on and on... ).

Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience, but this is not the topic of this thread, so I'm not going to entertain this conversation further.

My offer to renew the Discord invitation still stands if anyone needs it. Feel free to DM me.

You’re saying the second-best roll+ that’s available in the game is “hurting the party’s performance” as if it’s griefing to not have the absolute best possible buffs in the game at all times. You must get really mad when the COR doesn’t immediately roll double XIs like the spreadsheet one does.

If your C run depends on the 3.1% atk or 4 stp extra from having +8 rolls over +7 you were probably already cooked.

It is completely obtuse to say -3% attack and -4 STP is tanking your Sheol C run, especially if you were aware of it ahead of time. It might not be the most optimal run, but if your run hinged on that +1 roll it was a tenuous group in the first place. If your desire is to have an optimal run, then more power too you, but don't act like that isn't "elitist" when that is the core definition of the term.

People lying about their gearing level and experience is another problem altogether, but it is not the same thing as someone running a Lanun Knife/Regal neck in segments.

I'm not going to share the entirety of LS chat logs and I've obfuscated some names, minus Ayahuasca to make a point.

Those of you with your pitchforks aimed at me (or Ayahuasca), should stop, think, and put them down. Both Ayahuasca and myself are only telling a part of the whole conversation, that took took place over many hours and several days between January and February.


The takeaway for the above, is that:

1. Ayahuasca meant well in asserting that budget CORs are viable in some end game content, but probably was a little too emphatic with how low or little effort could (or should) be put into jobs like COR, WHM, PLD.
   

2. Some folks disagreed on what "budget" vs "gimp" meant in this context/debate.
   

3. In a linkshell for new/returning players we should be advocating that folks pull their weight and do what is expected of them.
   

Others were not happy about the level of emphasis being put on short-changing performance. (Of course, 3% Attack before or after all buffs are said and done is not insignificant in either situation. If a BRD does this with his/her Soul Voice and Song+ set, and then a WHM does this with their Cure Potency/Enmity-Minus, you can see how the these cumulative shortcuts everyone takes becomes problematic for the entire party).

More generally, we shouldn't be espousing the idea of taking too many shortcuts in FFXI, because for every party member taking a shortcut, other members will have to overcompensate. This is where elitism and player-resentment starts to grow. It's hard to come off as an elitist when everyone is perceived to be pulling their weight.

If you want to do away with elitism altogether, squash it at the source. Bring your A-game. Put in the effort. Take notes, be coachable and amenable to new information. If you make a mistake, learn from it. Make improvements. Come back for the next run, even better than before. (Yes, even if it's where Alts are concerned. If you're just trying to squeeze your Alt into a run, say you're only aiming for 9-10k segments in the Sheol C run).

Again, Ayahuasca meant well (and so do I), but I think his message was a little too emphatic for an audience of new/returning players and the people who want to help them.

I hope this clears anything up. TeamCarryMe is still a great place for new or returning players and the people who want to help them, alike.

Idk...there's a fine line between asking people to bring their A game and elitism. I think even mentioning Rostam, an 80m knife which requires dynamis RP, in a new player context is pretty far off from welcoming.

I'm not saying a COR shouldn't aspire to having a Rostam or 3, but I also don't think there's any problem with a brand new COR rolling with lanun knife for a while as they work on their character. I think his advice was solid and he caught a lot of (imo) pretty elitist blowback. Asking people to optimize their gear to the tune of 25 ATK buffs before going to an event that is routinely full cleared with minutes to spare is a bit much, for me.

Am I crazy or is this not defending what you think its defending....

I'm trying to take a centrist, middle-ground approach. It might not be possible...perhaps.

Weren’t you using BLM Su5 staff for nuking in sortie? I doubt you’d notice the difference between roll +7 or roll +8.

On topic: I’ve heard good things about HelpNewPlayers. Honestly I’d suggest grabbing some pearls from the linkshell concierge and seeing if any of them have discords that are active around the same time as you.

I use a Treat Staff...but nobody uses a staff. Ask around, you'll see. We're talking about nukes. My sortie runs have the best nukes. Everyone loves them. You'll see. Sometimes I don't even wait for rolls. I just dual-wield Warp Cudgels. The Best Nukes. Believe me.

Glad you brought a part of the convo up, but that is onlya little part indeed.. and the discussion happened because someone took my words out of context. The context was that one player in the LS was asking to gear his ALT COR, not a COR for hardcore statics or v25s..
I'm also one of those thinking that if 3% more atk and 4stp makes or breaks ur sheol c run for example, you're already done and there's something wrong.

I'll take a good player who knows how to dd and play with +7 cor ANYDAY over a +8 cor who is bad at the game but bought gil n gear to get invites (only to underperform) (edit: got nothing against those who do buy gil and gear, but if once they get gear, ml etc they still suck, that's when i don't like it :p)

What i consider "budget cor +7 with decent sb sets etc" for others might be gimp (might maybe agree for hardest content), while for others might be amazing n more than enough (returners, new players etc).. but "+8 or bust" mindset is elitist unless you're going for the hardest things in the game, maybe. Cause i'm 100% sure what ultimately matters is player's skill instead of +8 rather than +7. Sure a godlike COR will have +8 already, but i can see a good player gearing a +7 cor as an alt job with nice sb and tp sets still doing pretty well,

I think we should all be able to discuss different opinions in a civil manner, but at the same time this kind of generalized absolute elitism such as "+8 cor or bust" mentality, ultimately doesn't help anyone.
If you got an elite endgame team and you require +8 COR more power to you, but this must not mean that all groups must require +8 CORs everytime.
Being a good player > having BiS generally (for 99% of content), getting the gear is relatively the easier part (specially since so many just merc/buy it), it's learning and improving, putting the efforts and preparation/setup in to perform really well that is harder to see (cause these credit card WoLs can buy gear, but they can't buy skills and experience to be seriously good at the game).

Some ppl are so obsessed with gear before anything else that this is what happens in the end.

In general, i think that parroting stuffs like "+8 cor or bust" isn't good for the community, cause indeed most of the time ppl say that but don't even know the difference between +7/8, and this is just an example but there would be so much more to say about thia topic.. we got tools like Kastra and dps/gear spreadsheets to improve our awareness and itemization knowledge, that ppl should use to figure out which upgrades to go for etc. Cause guides shows you BiS and mid-tier stuffs at best.. but won't tell you ALL situationally better choices.

We should be able to have different opinions without being labeled in various ways, and without ppl jumping to conclusions regarding someone just becauss of 1 opinion taken out of context (cause indeed the part of LS conversation that you posted is only partial, there was more.. but i don't care about bringing it up, this is not a witch hunt, it's a videogame afterall and ppl must be free to do whatever they want, but i for sure won't ask for +8 cor or bust for 99% of my pugs etc.)

Same, i've been helping helpnewplayers1 and 3, in general those are very beginner friendly LS for sure where you'll also find bored veterans helping ppl from time to time!
Don't get me wrong, also TeamCarryMe is good, just not as focused towards returning/new players like HNP LSs are

Random Thoughts.

Everyone is so obsessed with doing things quick and perfectly.

But how many fights in games do you remember after a boring flawless victory?

The battles where I struggle and clutch the win are what I live for. Especially when it comes down to your own skill, wits, and reflexes.

I will always remember the later and how satisfying the wins were. Even when I lose by a very close margin I felt like I gained something from that.

I'll take a gamble on that +7 COR for most stuff. God forbid we make a new friend along the way.

This whole topic feels like Blacksmith propaganda.

I disagree. I think elitism comes from players who think their performance is top notch because they have the highest ML, the best gear, and a gearswap that someone else made and all they did was swap in their gear, while anyone else not on that same level is a filthy casual/scrub who is holding the group back. The reality is, most of those players are average-at-best. I've partied with many of these types who obsess over colored boxes and max stats, and I promise you the vast majority of them cannot even clear V20 Gaol bosses without at least one "good" player carrying them through the strat and particulars of the fight. They completely avoid Master Trials because it is beyond their ability. They don't bother doing Ambuscade if it's not an ezpz faceroll month. They would have no idea how to tackle any of the Sortie bosses if not for a select few people creating the meta strats and detailing them.

Those people claiming to be "top" are really terrible players, sorry, just nobody is telling it to their faces. Most of them don't know game mechanics well or even at all, can't gear their way out of a paperbag unless someone posts a sim saying what the top gearset is (which is why they lose their ***every time the guide isn't 100000% up to date), and simply follow the trends set by other players who are actually decent. They mostly use all of the third party tools to increase their movement speed, reaction time, etc, but if those things went away overnight, they would quit ffxi immediately because they cannot perform without them.

I can't tell you how many times I have joined a random Sheol C PUG from some ultrascrub who thinks he understands the game, and scoffs at people who don't meet his standards. "Please come WAR and use Savage Blade". "SVCC on first floor please". "Pull 2-3 groups of mobs please tank". Then I check and I have a goddamn 3-min haste from his WHM because he's invested zero effort into an enhancing duration build. Or I hear "hey can you stop blinking?" because the guy literally doesn't know what <stpt> is. The same players demanding top gear/MLs from others are in fact, absolutely terrible players themselves, and I have not seen an exception to this yet.

you guys still looking for returning players? im looking for a gmt timed ls atm. Can do anything, just need to relearn some stuff and redo my lua's :)

I respect your opinion and I agree with the virtue of your argument. I think you're right that there are ultra-scrubs who flash the best gear and don't fully understand some of the most important mechanics of their jobs, why some macro pieces are a must-have, or simply just the order of operations in some key situations. There will always be a smooth-brained try-hard. This is a given.

However, I think it is much, more common to see people pass off a mule as a fully-fledged character, especially in PUG shouts. In the past, I got the sense that players are skipping Omen and Dyna-D and going straight to Odyssey, even if just to farm segments for a later date. Omen cards are now reduced but KIs remain the same. Dyna-D offers a 20% return on time for a second entry. However, Odyssey still has a true daily, without the ability to store KIs.

So, it seems like the opportunity-cost and reward for entry versus time is driving players to Odyssey. It only makes sense. Maybe Limbus and +4 gear will provide an stop-gap? I guess we shall see soon....