That is the submission process for the screenshots, yes, but they also specify specific terms and restrictions to abide by in the formatting of said screenshots as well, not to mention that the theme of the contest is centered around "your character going on an adventure".
Yeah, I know, which is why I'm (foolishly) hoping that this was a honeypot.
No one really gets toxic with MSQ stuff. If all you do is just queue basic duty finder content the most you get is some annoying assholes and turbo shitters say some dumb crap.
you will only find shit if you dig for it.
Yeah, I'm a simple Hrothgar main; I play for fun, not to deal with some toxic poz bitch. I only ask, because I've had to deal with a shit-ton of toxicity on Reddit; apparently, wanting to try and get some tips on how to play the game better means that I'm a lazy shit that won't bother ever trying to improve.
FFXIV has a pretty strong wall between normal content and high-end content. If you're casual and your endgame mostly consists of grinding out your tome gear, relics, crafters, gatherers, hunts, mounts, mogs, titles etc then there's not really much toxicity to encounter. If you go into the high-end (extreme, savage, and ultimate), you'll probably experience more of it. The sweats are well-conditioned to keep their autism to the high-end because they know (consciously and unconsciously) that they need the casuals to stick around in order to give their raiding achievements meaning.
Oh, hell; I remember grinding Samurai on POTD; that shit gave me PTSD.FFXIV has a pretty strong wall between normal content and high-end content. If you're casual and your endgame mostly consists of grinding out your tome gear, relics, crafters, gatherers, hunts, mounts, mogs, titles etc then there's not really much toxicity to encounter. If you go into the high-end (extreme, savage, and ultimate), you'll probably experience more of it. The sweats are well-conditioned to keep their autism to the high-end because they know (consciously and unconsciously) that they need the casuals to stick around in order to give their raiding achievements meaning.
In terms of difficulty, Shadowbringers and Endwalker will probably feel like a noticeable jump in difficulty just because those expacs are what the game's current systems are 'tuned' around (you probably experienced this moving from HW to SB). That being said, if you manage expectations (typing "Hey everyone, new to this instance" when you first load in), you probably won't experience any toxicity. Even 'tough' normal-mode content in ShB and EW is designed to be easily completed by randos in 1-2 wipes at worst.
As for the leveling grind, here are my suggestions in no particular order:
1) Run your best daily roulettes every day - leveling, main scenario, trials, alliance raids, and frontlines. These have the best xp rewards for your time.
2) Eat your food. All food gives the same +3% XP buff regardless of value so even cheap 1 gil food is fine.
3) Join a free company. Most FCs run the various Heat of Battle buffs which boost experience gain.
4) Under level 50, complete each guildhest at least once on each of the ARR classes. The first-time completion bonus is very generous and these are very quick to run.
5) Palace of the Dead and Heaven on High are highly efficient xp-wise but they're soul-crushing to grind unless you have terminal autism.
6) Highest-level dungeon you can run that isn't an endgame dungeon (so dungeons that are not level 50, 60, 70, or 80) are the most efficient way to level once you're out of roulettes.
7) Daily hunts can give you almost whole level. There are HW hunts (50-60), SB hunts (60-70), ShB hunts (70-80) and EW hunts (80-90). I like to do these while waiting on my queues or if I just need a break from dungeon runs and want some chill content to do while watching a movie or something.
Beast tribes. These are repeatable daily quests for reputation that you might be familiar with if you've played other MMOs (especially WoW). HW has the Vath and the Vanu Vanu, SB has the Ananta and Kojin, Shadowbringers has the Pixies, and Endwalker will have the Arkasodora in a few weeks. These quests will level sync to any level in their xpac's range (so stormblood quests will sync anywhere from level 60 to 70) and give a lot of XP as well as the reps gating glamours and mounts. There are also beast tribes for crafters and gatherers but leveling those is an entirely different discussion (mostly revolving around how much gil you're willing to spend).
Oh, I'm aware we're in the middle of the contest. I was just wondering if really bad ones cropped up.
Eh, it's more of the same. As for leveling, Fcret didn't mention Wondrous Tails, which gives you exp, cash and other potential prizes. I know you said you don't want to do PvP but doing the Frontlines daily can give you a guaranteed level up. You can swap jobs too so you don't actually have to play as the job you're trying to level up. I recommend seeing if there are any PvP prizes you want so you can put up with it. The toxicity is pretty mild but I think it's because it's so chaotic that you aren't sure who the shitter is.
While I'd agree it's worth doing for the completion bonuses and glams, the combat beast tribe quests seem to give pretty lackluster exp before shadowbringers. While doing my own leveling I once compared ananta exp on a level 69 job compared to pixie exp on level 70 and it was a HUGE increase. I would've liked it if they went back and buffed it.
Mostly depends on whether people take the time to report you. Ime most people just blacklist and move on, so it's just down to who you call a retard.
Are you the leader?
Keep your head down, your mic muted, and develop a taste for schadenfreude as you get to kick back and enjoy frankenstein's monster taking out all that uggo angst on his handmaidens.
If they're not gone within the week on their own or by another's intervention then start making an exit strategy. Could be fine, could be a hilarious housefire like @Rich Evans Ayypologist said. Really depends on the FC culture you're looking at but that's getting into powerlevel.
The only reason I queue for roulette is to get exp on a lower level job and then move on to the next roulette, which is probably the same for most people. Why would I not want my daily exp grind to be quick and easy so I can have more time for extremes and savages?
crafting is trivial to level now
