Thy Random, Why Dost Thou Bother Me So?

[Altiea]

It's time to field more opinions!

So, in Quick Questions, a particular rant popped up about not being able to randomly join parties without the Party Leader kicking you. This got me thinking. Almost no one plays this game with other people they run across. Most people run either by themselves, or with friends or Team members. What's with the stigma against randoms? I personally enjoy randoms, since they give me someone to party up with. But,

Solo players, why do you dislike randoms?

[millefeuille]

Fewer problems if you solo. Also less awkward.

[ArcaneTechs]

1. I generally prefer to play with friends or team mates only
2. Most randoms want a "free ride"
3. I don't want randoms joining me period
4. The game is literally piss easy when your end game or for "experienced" players that soloing everything doesn't take long (at any level)
5. I may or may not be able to respond if the random is a JP player
6. Most randoms that join generally leave IMMEDIATELY after the quest is over so why bother even joining
7. Person is usually poorly geared and I don't feel like picking up their slack get triggered
8. The person will join the room and decides to be a complete mute
9. They don't keep up at my pace when I'm going through the Quest (I.e. taking too long to kill one thing or just wandering off on their own)
10. They decide to start "Gathering" when we're here to clear Daily Field CO's, do this on your own time

All I can think of at the top of my head, I like playing with people but the game is so easy its almost not necessary
flame shield on

[Shiyo]

Enemies don't scale with players so adding more people makes the game easier thus less fun. If you play a melee and invite a FO you basically don't get to play the game outside of EQ's and bosses.

[Bellion]

They join my party and don't even say hi!

[SteveCZ]

why do you dislike randoms?

I don't. As for me, I've said it many times, these poor souls are part of the game difficulty for me. Locking my party doesn't mean I hate them.

Regarding to party issue, I don't let anyone join my party either. I'm a solo player, lool. But by experience, all I can suggest is never ever join a random party. BE the party leader.

[Xaeris]

When I play this game outside of an EQ, I'm rarely playing it intensively. I alt tab frequently to my browser, I watch videos, tinker with outfits and accessories and am basically not in any real hurry to get done what I want to get done. Playing at a languid pace like that, I prefer to be alone so I don't feel like I have to put my srsface on.

[otakun]

The only reason I am bothered by randoms is cause they generally only join when I am half way or almost done with the mission so I have to wait to get them enough kills so they get S/A rank. That has been my only problem with randoms ever. Outside the low level person joining in a SH/XH mission while we were waiting in campship for EQ but that only happened to me twice in the almost 2 years I've been playing.

[AnikaSteinberg]

I usually don't even prefer partying with friends and teammates if we are not running EQs (since we're like, always together for any scheduled EQ), much less partying with completely random players.

My solo play time is usually my 'performance calibration' time. Outside of external DPS calculators like ACT and Parser, you can't really gauge how efficient your character is in multiple (random) situations when you are in a party. So yes, even during TAs and XQs I typically run completely solo.

Also, there is the distinct awkwardness that since you are essentially the party leader when players join your quest, you need to like interact with them at least at some basic level. Maybe it's just me, but just the thought of having to deal with that much random players every single time I do regular field quests already exhausts my mind.

[SteveCZ]

They join my party and don't even say hi!

Well, unless it's an organized MPA with randoms, this was definitely the number one issue for me though. No greet = I'll kick.

I had a funny story though, me and my friend are so fed up that he told me to make a party description with rules. 1. Say hi. 2. Say "<any random word written, I forgot>". Of course, no randoms ever read it. So I kick them all cause no one read.

That was a troll (and a test) so I guess that doesn't count.

But ever since then we just lock it, and well now since I'm a solo player for like years, this party thing is not even my issue anymore.