Days without a party...

[Spinnthrift]

Ok... It's been three days since my last invite. I'm sitting at lvl 49 - hoping, wishing and praying for a party... nada.

My gear's not sub par, and people have always been happy with the job I've done in experience in the past... but, alas - no more can I get exp.

I'm getting irritable with strangers now, green eyed with jealousy that they would get an invite within minutes if they wanted one. I'm relegated to being a TH wench for others. Come get us this Genkai items, come help get coffer keys, come get us to ToAU... etc.

Do they want me for exp? Hell no.

I thought.. hey! Let's try farming EP's for cash and some tiny exp... Somehow now, these Easy Prey have 100% accuracy when my Utsusemi is down (My Evasion is a couple of points off max). Oh.. and spam me with crit after crit after crit, so that even bloody bolts won't save me. From 3k to level, to 7k, one more death and the whole level is gone.

I think my mistake was getting my limit break items early. Hell, helping others out did that for me. Get someone a papyrus, and others are willing to help you get yours... I bet it was a good laugh, knowing I'd never see the other side
of 50 to use them.

Do I quit? I don't know.. I love this job. I love pulling and making sure the tank is tanking and not the Whm. I love being the one asked to help do stuff. I'm just so very tired of being picked last after everything... it's like I'm back at school again - and bad at sports - except this time, they don't have to pick me last... they don't pick me at all.

I know... make my own parties. I've tried. People don't want to play with Thf in the party any more... we're just there to help *them* advance.

I don't know yet whether I'll quit this job before I make level 50. At this rate... I might well do. Might even quit the game completely... Not much of a protest - but my own one nonetheless.

- Saeriel.

p.s. I'm sorry for the weird rant/trail of thought thing... I just needed somewhere to vent/voice... it's been a bad bad few days for getting anywhere as a Thief.

[JeanRC]

Re: Days without a party...

you aleady know the answer, make your own party.
That is the best. As long as there are a decent pt set up which get decent exp, most people will not say no.

[Jei]

Re: Days without a party...

I can understand this frustration. Sometimes getting invite can be very rare and few between.

I know not everyone wants to lead a party. But I suggest you start one whenever possible. My old character was a Rdm back in the days that no one wanted Rdm in a party at all. I level from 10 to 60 leading like 99% of the party. It's hard, but it's the best bet. And it can even be fun. (Altho personally I HATE dealings with replacement. Seriously.)

[Minimee]

Re: Days without a party...

i can feel your pain. i can say this dont give up and quit. i went thru the very same thing as a taru drk. sometimes feeling race envy thinking i wasnt getting party's because of my being a taru. i spent all of my time helping others and getting nothing in return. this went on for nearly 3 mos. spent 16 hours lfp on weekends and still no luck. i was on the verge of quitting, then decided to do some different jobs, level up subs to take a break from no partying. i even made a mule that i leveled of a different race. one night out of the blue some ls friends made a party near my level and needed a DD. they asked if i would join them and i said yes. needless to say i got exp, got my level and felt good about being a drk again. next time i was lfp i got an invite and before i knew it i was gaining levels once again. yes there were days i still didnt get invites, but they were now easier to take. i am now lvl 74 and feeling uber and that i have accomplished something great. also very few jobs can solo in the 50's even ep's. try the chocobo return quest from sandy to bastok or bastok to sandy. it gives you an exp scroll if you make it under the time limit. ive gained several levels with these. besides the hardest part of going past 50 is already done getting your G-1 items. this only took me 2 mos to complete. good luck and hang in there.

[Jarre]

Re: Days without a party...

I hate having to wait in teh dunes, Kazham etc for parties sometimes you just have to be patient. 1 good idea is to set a search message for when people search advertise your lvl, special job traits that are useful and what your lookign for, its amazing how many people do ask you to join when you prove you are worth inviting, having it blank means you could be hiding something.

As Jei said try creating your own party, but don't anoy people by randomly inviting, send a tell first using language toolexplaining what your looking for. There will be many in your position but some are just to affraid to take the bull by the horns and start a party themselves.

[Sir_Spork]

Re: Days without a party...

I know where you're coming from, not getting PTs really sucks. I remember on my Monk, in the 50s, I would go weeks (as in playing for 7-8 hours a day, 7 days straight while seeking) without getting a single party. When things like that happen it's best to build your own party if you can, farm and continue seeking, or just put that job on hold and level another one. I would usually try to form my own party but I had trouble with it because most of the Bards and Red Mages were in statics or already in parties by the time I got on, but sometimes you'll get lucky. Just hang in there, you'll get a party eventually.

[Shadowofamn]

Re: Days without a party...

Farming is your friend, nothing bad about earning a few coins to help your budget on future gears. And here is a little tip that I think it got me most of my party, seek when there are ninja seeking, around 90% of my thf xp party is with ninja because they just love our SATA and there will be a high chance of you getting pick. Also, check the level range around you to see if it is a good time for party, if you see 10 thf around your level all in xp area then you know its prolly too crowd to go party. Good luck with invites!

[Perrin]

Re: Days without a party...

the reason I have the gear I do is not because I hunt NMs a lot, its because I'm constantly farming while lfp. Besides I find I usually get a PT when I finally set my mind to going some where and I'm halfway to where I want to be... then BAM! {Party, Do you need it?}. Of course if I sit in Jeuno all day nothing happens, so at least make some gil.

[Gawaine]

Re: Days without a party...

I have noticed that takeing a break from that job is usually the best way to go. When leveling my samurai I got to level 40 and couldnt get moving again the invites stopped. But then I went off and leveled up my RNG a bit and went back and got invites like crazy. I think that at times the server was just over crowded with DD and not enough mages. By taking that break it gave time for the DD to level up and move on and some mages to come into my level range. So mix it up dont get burned out cause that can happen as well. GL and thf rocks.

[METDeath]

Re: Days without a party...

Friend of mine went a whole month without a single invite, just left her char on seeking, or while farming, etc. She did LS events and stuff, but not a single invite when she was seeking... so yeah, you may have a while to wait...

[Sethe]

Re: Days without a party...

The joys of having a few static members ^^

[Eauijhkuu]

Re: Days without a party...

you aleady know the answer, make your own party.
That is the best. As long as there are a decent pt set up which get decent exp, most people will not say no.

Amen.

This is the implied skill that all THF players should familiarize themselves with....To a serious fault. We are probably the most underestimated of all DDs in FFXI, therefore, people don't really understand the essentiality of THF being a key player in their groups, which results in the long periods of LFG.

Know how to setup a decent party. Don't wait 3 days LFG!! (Cuz God knows I would of up and quit too had I done that. =P) Ask those who are LFG, and ask those who aren't LFG. Most people will take up your offer unless they're busy or figure they're wasting their time.

Don't let FFXI society beat you down. You learn to manipulate it to work in your own favor.

[Tirocupidus]

Re: Days without a party...

I've recently made my way through the Dunes with THF, so I know I've seen only the tip of the iceberg, but here is some advice I have.

While I was /inv waiting for a party invite, I'd solo EP-DC in La Theine. But while I did this, I would search Valkurm for party leaders. Suppose I'm level 17. I would /sea valkurm 15-19, and look for party leaders (yellow names). I sent them a tell, such as "Hello! Do you have any room for a 17 THF?". Usually they don't have room, but they'll tell me they'll let me know if someone leaves. But last night, I was an 18 THF, and sent a 19 MNK leader a tell, and I got an invite in less than 5 seconds. And it was a really good party, too. (Note: You can /search only in areas that you have been to before.)

Or you could simply ask them the first time if any DD in their party is leaving soon, and if they'll have a spot available. Even if someone is leaving in 30 minutes, that gives you time to get to the party. That saves the leader of having to look for a replacment, and the party won't have any downtime of waiting for someone else to get there. Of course, some people, even when you provide them with convenience, still won't want to party with a thief.

Best thing you can do aside from making your own party, is letting party leaders know that you're ready to go, and can be wherever they need you to be in a short amount of time. If you convey these messages in an appropriate manner, it also lets the leader know that you're not just some random retard that he/she runs the risk of ruining their party with.

[Corthaemus]

Re: Days without a party...

Well Saeriel...if it gets to the point that you want to quit...migrate to Midgardsormr and come be the static thf for my nin. ^^ I'm tired of joining pts without a thf. I also have a static rdm, so that's half the battle.

[Raydeus]

Re: Days without a party...

Almost everyone I know has gone through a period of time where they didn't get any invites for a day or two sometimes more, regardless of the job.

Just hang in there, you can farm while you look for a party and if you get tired of waiting go do some quests or craft. Sometimes you just wont be able to xp as much as you'd want to, but there are many other things you can do to enjoy the game while xp picks up again.


The one thing I'm sure of is that you'll get invites eventually. Just gotta be patient, and don't let it bother you.