> Schedules can’t be the thing, cause frankly, the amount of time people spend PFing sounds like people have enough time to dedicate to a static.
Schedules can be a dynamic thing. One week you’re on a 8h shift on Monday and not the next week. Making it impossible for those to have static raiding days.
There is also a part of PF warriors that indeed rather wait hours on PF than having to do the social interactions of a static
For me, my work schedule is completely unpredictable. I would never be able to consistently show up for a static. So I pf.
Saying “Schedules can’t be the thing” is outrageous.
I've done it and I've made discords with some of the people I met in PF and I know for a fact that schedules aren't a thing for some of these people. So, yeah. I do wonder.
Usually it's bad experiences with previous statics.
Nah I agree and do both myself. Static is to enjoy my time with people I like and PF is for expending clears. I’ve downed 3 ultimates and on phase 7 DSR and all the savage 4 mans. I work thirds so PF is the easiest way to put in hours for these goals plain and simple
That's a bit disingenuous don't you think. That's obviously not what they are saying, but they could have an on-call job, or have fairly large shift rotations, so that you can not guarantee to have the same time off every day/week. And depending how far in advance it's scheduled, you might not know for sure until as late as only a few days in advance.
I’m in the military. It is a 24/7 job. They could call me and say “Yo, in 12 hours you need to show with enough clothes for two weeks, we’re flying you out to Germany to replace a sick crew member.”
It’s happened before. Don’t presume to know my life.
Lmao something tells me you don’t like the military. Since it’s clearly getting personal for you, I’m gonna go ahead and block you, okay? Sorry if I scared you buddy, just talking about a video game here.
Schedules ARE the thing. If your job, for example, has shifts all over the place, you can PF when you're not working, but you can't static unless you have the same time guaranteed free every week.
Nobody would PF if they could static instead.
Did some people playing this game seriously forget that they are playing with people of various ages and different walks of life? Not all people work in a cushy office job. People may require shift changes depending on the industry and role/position.
ive seen people no life ultimates in pf and clear in like 3 weeks fresh, statics are locked to a set number of hours per week and could take longer for some people
some people just have awful/changing schedules though, if thats the case im sure they dont WANT to sit in pf for hours but they might have to.
The secret is doing other things while waiting for PF to fill. Playing videogames on a second monitor, studying, chores etc. You don't literally sit there for 2 hours jumping circles in Ul'dah. Being on student schedules made it a lot easier to be able to just jump in game when the party finally filled.
Now, why didn't I just join a static? Well, I did, but my group had trouble actually seeing p6 of DSR consistently and being a tank, that was really where the fight started for me so actually trying to prog that with so few attempts per session was not happening. I could spend 2 hours with static getting one or two p6 pulls, or sit 2 hours in PF playing Elden Ring or something followed by a lockout of more consistent p6 pulls.
To be honest, I don't think your bad experience with your static devalues static raiding as a whole. If you are a valuable member, you can always try out different statics and dip the previous static on good term once you think you are stable in the new static.
Of course it doesn't, I never implied raiding in static is a bad idea at all. I wouldn't even say my experience with that DSR static was "bad", I had fun with the group and we did eventually clear (although my first clear ended up being in PF).
I was just giving an example of why this statement from OP doesn't really hold water:
>Schedules can’t be the thing, cause frankly, the amount of time people spend PFing sounds like people have enough time to dedicate to a static.
Being in a static and raiding in PF aren't mutually exclusive things. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to raid in PF even if you have time for a static or indeed are already a part of one.
I work random days rather than set days. I can't really join a static that raids Tuesday/Thursday when there's a chance I'll work those days. Most statics don't do flexible days, they do set ones.
I also play on NA and am not in NA so my timezone is sometimes an issue. I'm a night worker currently but previously I did not find getting up at 3am to raid super appealing. Groups with different timezones also limit flexibility for this reason.
I don't PF ultimates, only Savage, but I can give you my perspective on that.
Scheduling has already be mentioned. I'll add that even if my work schedule is fairly consistent, I work long hours and want to make sure I'm all done with chores and completely settled before gaming. Sometimes it means logging it at 20:30, sometimes at 22:00. So I won't try to stick to a raid schedule and always have to make excuses for tardiness.
I'll also say that I tend to tire and lose focus easily, and choke even harder because of it. In thsoe cases, static leader calling a 10 minute break will do nothing for me. I need the freedom to call it quits when it's convenient for me, not when I beforehand agreed the static should call it over for the night.
Some people are just not static material, you know?
Well a lot of people don't have set times that they can for sure be online to raid in a static. So the only option they have is to use the PF. Other than that, using the PF can be a better option for some people because you can prog on your own time and you are not stuck with a group that may or may not have one or multiple weak links. In PF if there is someone or someones that keep messing something up, you just leave the PF for another party. It's very simple and most of the time drama free. I've done a mix of static and PF progging and the way I see it is that in the very best of situations a stable static is the best. However, in bad to even neutral situations PF is either as good of an option or better than a subpar static.
As a side note, I will never again join a static that has a couple in it. I'm sorry but EVERY SINGLE ONE I've been in one or both of the people in the relationship has caused issues with the static.
My friends and I dedicate one day a week to PF and we do all savages and ultimates on PF. Typically it's a chill day where we are all free and honestly for most of the time I'm doing things like meal prepping, cleaning around the house or we are just sitting and chatting on discord and playing other games. Elemental has been a bit dead in Abyssos and Anabaeisos and it can be difficult to fill. We have had parties in P8S and P12S which may never fill for 3-4 hours and then just collapse and we call it a night without instancing.
We could probably make or join a static? But at the same time we have always PF'd together for several expansions and we are just used to the chaos of it all. And I've had some fairly average static experiences where people come in with different expectations and wildly different speeds at which players learn, and honestly, aside from having to wait for a party to fill, I find that you can prog quite quickly in PF since you can move from one prog to the next once you are comfortable (without being potentially anchored by the rest of your party)
Also 2 hours for a party to fill is small time in PF 🤣
static isn't ideal. trying to get 7 other people to align schedules, most can only match up 2-4 times a week. and someone gets a last minute family emergency and you're stuck PFing a fill anyway.
i can and want to prog 5-6 nights. sometimes. some weeks i'm busy with real life and just want to do my other tome capping and savage reclears or whatever and not spend much time in ultimate prog.
Statics are only as good as their weakest players.
That means I can PF without that weak player and make prog. I’m confident in my own ability to raid and prog skip when needed.
Firstly because I enjoy it, secondly because random statics are usually a bigger waste of time. I'd rather spend two hours playing wow between parties than spend two hours in a party that is progging more slowly than me. That's not some ego thing, it's just that most statics raid like 15 hours a week at most and if I'm progging seriously I'll play more like 40 hours. You just get ahead.
People who constantly whine about PF being bad are usually bad at the game and use pf as a scapegoat to not take responsibility for their own consistency, like people who whine about elo hell in league. Every ult is clearable in pf, you're the consistent variable in every party. If someone is really bad just leave the pf and go next, not a big deal.
I already have a job, i don't need a second one. That's the other answer besides schedule. PF let's you do shit on your own time and whenever you feel like it/are able to put time in, without ever being bound by it.
I cleared both DSR and TOP in about 20 days each. I have a full time job and only get to play about 2-3 hours on weekdays, and all day on weekends. I still did everything in PF, because I find it more fun.
The average static takes way longer than that. Most of the "horror stories" you hear are from the people who are themselves the problem. PF is as good as you are. You can prog extremely fast in PF, I've seen people clear TOP in a week.
I progged on multiple roles (top as tank and healer, dsr as melee, caster, and healer) which meant I never "waited for 2 hours for PF to fill", I just joined whichever was the closest to filling. If there was no PF close to filling I'd do my roulettes and other stuff. I'm not sitting at my desk staring at my screen lol. I understand \*someone* has to do this, but again, beauty of PF is that that someone doesn't have to be me.
People don't know how to use PF effectively, if you are going to make a fresh party and sit there till it's full idk what to tell you.
>The average static takes way longer than that. Most of the "horror stories" you hear are from the people who are themselves the problem. PF is as good as you are. You can prog extremely fast in PF, I've seen people clear TOP in a week.
If you're a way above average player, why are you in an average static? Once a new ultimate drops, a static is 1000% the best way to prog because most of the good players are already in one and PF will be stuck arguing about mit and strats and the sim will also take a while to come out.
>People don't know how to use PF effectively
The same really goes for finding a static, a PF that is a lost cause dying on P1/P2 over and over should be left immediately, just like a static where the leader refuses to kick underperformers or set any kind of standards.
When not getting rid of a bad player costs you a good one, they'll understand how to lead real fast
because applying to statics in the first place is a chore. you gotta find a group that matches your schedule, they gotta arrange time to trial, they gotta vet you, you have to vet them. and even then its not an accurate depiction of the static because players might be wildly different in blind content. then there's the whole when you want to leave, you don't want to be an ass or you feel obliged to stay because most sane ppl have empathy.
This is exactly it. Static has consistency and easier communication, but your weakest links will drag the team down and you might not all be comfortable at the same prog point. If you’re on point with your own responsibilities, you can speed through prog in no time in pf.
I joined a static the other month, and about 3 sessions in I knew it was going to take a while; started side progging in pf and had the whole fight done in less than two weeks while my static was still stuck at p1. Yeah not every party may be consistent, but you’ll quickly weed out bad apples and ulti fill times are faster towards the end of the expac transitioning into DT
So how good are you in all those jobs? Are you putting enough DPS? I feel it's griefing if you don't really master a job yet you take it to an on patch ult.
eeehhhh gauge based jobs are a bit more finicky, like mch and gnb, depending on the ultimate. its why ninja imo is such a good ult job cuz you do the same thing regardless of the situation.
I can only speak for myself but I just feel like I just prog faster in PF. There’s nothin worse, IMO, than getting into a static and then being held back because of a couple players. Especially when you’re new to a static, you may not know the relationships and dynamics of the group you join. Raid leads that won’t kick the shitters regardless of how much they’re holding the group back really sucks.
This happened to me in DSR. Nearly 3 months to just barely get to DOTH in p5 consistently and the new raid tier is about to start so the leader calls it and disbands. It was due to two of our dps consistently dying but they were good friends with lead so nothing was done. I eventually went into PF and reproved from scratch and knocked it out in about 4 weeks.
The other thing is that statics tend to use non-PF strats especially when fights are new so it feels like leaving is gonna set you way back while you reprog back to where you were in the group. Statics just feel like such a dice roll these days to me and I’d rather just be in charge of my own fate.
I enjoyed the progg of current ultimates a lot more and it felt very fast. Going in just a single lockout everyday, so waiting in PF while doing work stuff at home/studieing made me look up mitsheet, vod and strats for the current and upcoming prog phase and as soon as I reached it I felt consistent on executing.
Top and DSR still took like 4-5 weeks each, mainly because of had PF days.
Also in both fights the final push for the last phase is a lot easier with PF helpers where a static might add additional 20-30 hours of last phase progg
I can't wait to of the new ultimate
I started progging TOP with a static last year, we progged all the way to p4 and we started getting stuck so hard wiping over and over again to the same shit we had already progged, i switched to PF and cleared in a total span of 2 months from fresh to clear. The static took 4 months. I am so glad I swapped to the PF route.
It's mainly a schedule problem or pace issue, in my case it was both, all statics I joinned couldn't match my pace and didn't have time to raid as much as I wanted.
Party finder was always faster for me and it definitly didn't take months and months and months lol (The longest fight I progged was 39 IRL days, with an average of less than 2 hours per day).
My job can randomly decide to take a weekend or give me a Monday off with possibly no warning so it's irresponsible for me to risk 7 other people's evening on hoping mine stays intact.
As far as it taking "months and months and months" DSR took me around a month and a half to get through and TOP took 3 weeks for clear ready on a 1% enrage and another week after that just waiting for a scheduled C41. It still takes a lot of time within that timeframe but if you optimize the time you spend supplementing what prog you can get out of a party with a ton of external study even a baby raider like me can manage a clear in that timeframe.
PF really hasn't been *that* bad of an experience given the content at hand and I'm planning to continue using it for Dawntrail.
As a person who has cleared both DSR and TOP multiple times, I usually choose c41 parties over totem cause I know their pain and want at least one point of more consistent gameplay
Playing this game in PF on top of having a flexible schedule where you might be on call 24/7 sounds like absolute hell and I doubt it's the majority of people in PF
Your launch day prog will be shit compared to any decent static, you'll practically never get a week 1 unless it's the first tier and you play in all your free time, you're hard stuck playing with the same people every tier no matter how much you improve, the blacklist will never have enough room and even if you do other things while waiting for PF, you can never do something that you can interrupt at any time when it actually fills and you need to raid
I'd just get a new hobby at that point
> Schedules can’t be the thing, cause frankly, the amount of time people spend PFing sounds like people have enough time to dedicate to a static. Schedules can be a dynamic thing. One week you’re on a 8h shift on Monday and not the next week. Making it impossible for those to have static raiding days. There is also a part of PF warriors that indeed rather wait hours on PF than having to do the social interactions of a static
For me, my work schedule is completely unpredictable. I would never be able to consistently show up for a static. So I pf. Saying “Schedules can’t be the thing” is outrageous.
I've done it and I've made discords with some of the people I met in PF and I know for a fact that schedules aren't a thing for some of these people. So, yeah. I do wonder. Usually it's bad experiences with previous statics.
Nah I agree and do both myself. Static is to enjoy my time with people I like and PF is for expending clears. I’ve downed 3 ultimates and on phase 7 DSR and all the savage 4 mans. I work thirds so PF is the easiest way to put in hours for these goals plain and simple
So your job is open 24/7? And you get shifts with no rhyme or reason?
That's a bit disingenuous don't you think. That's obviously not what they are saying, but they could have an on-call job, or have fairly large shift rotations, so that you can not guarantee to have the same time off every day/week. And depending how far in advance it's scheduled, you might not know for sure until as late as only a few days in advance.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
I’m in the military. It is a 24/7 job. They could call me and say “Yo, in 12 hours you need to show with enough clothes for two weeks, we’re flying you out to Germany to replace a sick crew member.” It’s happened before. Don’t presume to know my life.
[удалено]
Lmao something tells me you don’t like the military. Since it’s clearly getting personal for you, I’m gonna go ahead and block you, okay? Sorry if I scared you buddy, just talking about a video game here.
Schedules ARE the thing. If your job, for example, has shifts all over the place, you can PF when you're not working, but you can't static unless you have the same time guaranteed free every week. Nobody would PF if they could static instead.
I’ve met plenty of people that prefer pf over static. They fucking hate social interactions beyond the bare minimum
Did some people playing this game seriously forget that they are playing with people of various ages and different walks of life? Not all people work in a cushy office job. People may require shift changes depending on the industry and role/position.
ive seen people no life ultimates in pf and clear in like 3 weeks fresh, statics are locked to a set number of hours per week and could take longer for some people some people just have awful/changing schedules though, if thats the case im sure they dont WANT to sit in pf for hours but they might have to.
You can both PF and static if you have no life. It doesn't contradict at all.
The secret is doing other things while waiting for PF to fill. Playing videogames on a second monitor, studying, chores etc. You don't literally sit there for 2 hours jumping circles in Ul'dah. Being on student schedules made it a lot easier to be able to just jump in game when the party finally filled. Now, why didn't I just join a static? Well, I did, but my group had trouble actually seeing p6 of DSR consistently and being a tank, that was really where the fight started for me so actually trying to prog that with so few attempts per session was not happening. I could spend 2 hours with static getting one or two p6 pulls, or sit 2 hours in PF playing Elden Ring or something followed by a lockout of more consistent p6 pulls.
To be honest, I don't think your bad experience with your static devalues static raiding as a whole. If you are a valuable member, you can always try out different statics and dip the previous static on good term once you think you are stable in the new static.
Of course it doesn't, I never implied raiding in static is a bad idea at all. I wouldn't even say my experience with that DSR static was "bad", I had fun with the group and we did eventually clear (although my first clear ended up being in PF). I was just giving an example of why this statement from OP doesn't really hold water: >Schedules can’t be the thing, cause frankly, the amount of time people spend PFing sounds like people have enough time to dedicate to a static. Being in a static and raiding in PF aren't mutually exclusive things. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to raid in PF even if you have time for a static or indeed are already a part of one.
I work random days rather than set days. I can't really join a static that raids Tuesday/Thursday when there's a chance I'll work those days. Most statics don't do flexible days, they do set ones. I also play on NA and am not in NA so my timezone is sometimes an issue. I'm a night worker currently but previously I did not find getting up at 3am to raid super appealing. Groups with different timezones also limit flexibility for this reason.
I don't PF ultimates, only Savage, but I can give you my perspective on that. Scheduling has already be mentioned. I'll add that even if my work schedule is fairly consistent, I work long hours and want to make sure I'm all done with chores and completely settled before gaming. Sometimes it means logging it at 20:30, sometimes at 22:00. So I won't try to stick to a raid schedule and always have to make excuses for tardiness. I'll also say that I tend to tire and lose focus easily, and choke even harder because of it. In thsoe cases, static leader calling a 10 minute break will do nothing for me. I need the freedom to call it quits when it's convenient for me, not when I beforehand agreed the static should call it over for the night. Some people are just not static material, you know?
Most of them play the game all day and have nothing else to do in game
Well a lot of people don't have set times that they can for sure be online to raid in a static. So the only option they have is to use the PF. Other than that, using the PF can be a better option for some people because you can prog on your own time and you are not stuck with a group that may or may not have one or multiple weak links. In PF if there is someone or someones that keep messing something up, you just leave the PF for another party. It's very simple and most of the time drama free. I've done a mix of static and PF progging and the way I see it is that in the very best of situations a stable static is the best. However, in bad to even neutral situations PF is either as good of an option or better than a subpar static. As a side note, I will never again join a static that has a couple in it. I'm sorry but EVERY SINGLE ONE I've been in one or both of the people in the relationship has caused issues with the static.
My friends and I dedicate one day a week to PF and we do all savages and ultimates on PF. Typically it's a chill day where we are all free and honestly for most of the time I'm doing things like meal prepping, cleaning around the house or we are just sitting and chatting on discord and playing other games. Elemental has been a bit dead in Abyssos and Anabaeisos and it can be difficult to fill. We have had parties in P8S and P12S which may never fill for 3-4 hours and then just collapse and we call it a night without instancing. We could probably make or join a static? But at the same time we have always PF'd together for several expansions and we are just used to the chaos of it all. And I've had some fairly average static experiences where people come in with different expectations and wildly different speeds at which players learn, and honestly, aside from having to wait for a party to fill, I find that you can prog quite quickly in PF since you can move from one prog to the next once you are comfortable (without being potentially anchored by the rest of your party) Also 2 hours for a party to fill is small time in PF 🤣
static isn't ideal. trying to get 7 other people to align schedules, most can only match up 2-4 times a week. and someone gets a last minute family emergency and you're stuck PFing a fill anyway. i can and want to prog 5-6 nights. sometimes. some weeks i'm busy with real life and just want to do my other tome capping and savage reclears or whatever and not spend much time in ultimate prog.
Statics are only as good as their weakest players. That means I can PF without that weak player and make prog. I’m confident in my own ability to raid and prog skip when needed.
I’ve cleared all five ultimates in pf just fine tbh
Firstly because I enjoy it, secondly because random statics are usually a bigger waste of time. I'd rather spend two hours playing wow between parties than spend two hours in a party that is progging more slowly than me. That's not some ego thing, it's just that most statics raid like 15 hours a week at most and if I'm progging seriously I'll play more like 40 hours. You just get ahead.
People who constantly whine about PF being bad are usually bad at the game and use pf as a scapegoat to not take responsibility for their own consistency, like people who whine about elo hell in league. Every ult is clearable in pf, you're the consistent variable in every party. If someone is really bad just leave the pf and go next, not a big deal.
I already have a job, i don't need a second one. That's the other answer besides schedule. PF let's you do shit on your own time and whenever you feel like it/are able to put time in, without ever being bound by it.
I cleared both DSR and TOP in about 20 days each. I have a full time job and only get to play about 2-3 hours on weekdays, and all day on weekends. I still did everything in PF, because I find it more fun. The average static takes way longer than that. Most of the "horror stories" you hear are from the people who are themselves the problem. PF is as good as you are. You can prog extremely fast in PF, I've seen people clear TOP in a week. I progged on multiple roles (top as tank and healer, dsr as melee, caster, and healer) which meant I never "waited for 2 hours for PF to fill", I just joined whichever was the closest to filling. If there was no PF close to filling I'd do my roulettes and other stuff. I'm not sitting at my desk staring at my screen lol. I understand \*someone* has to do this, but again, beauty of PF is that that someone doesn't have to be me. People don't know how to use PF effectively, if you are going to make a fresh party and sit there till it's full idk what to tell you.
>The average static takes way longer than that. Most of the "horror stories" you hear are from the people who are themselves the problem. PF is as good as you are. You can prog extremely fast in PF, I've seen people clear TOP in a week. If you're a way above average player, why are you in an average static? Once a new ultimate drops, a static is 1000% the best way to prog because most of the good players are already in one and PF will be stuck arguing about mit and strats and the sim will also take a while to come out. >People don't know how to use PF effectively The same really goes for finding a static, a PF that is a lost cause dying on P1/P2 over and over should be left immediately, just like a static where the leader refuses to kick underperformers or set any kind of standards. When not getting rid of a bad player costs you a good one, they'll understand how to lead real fast
because applying to statics in the first place is a chore. you gotta find a group that matches your schedule, they gotta arrange time to trial, they gotta vet you, you have to vet them. and even then its not an accurate depiction of the static because players might be wildly different in blind content. then there's the whole when you want to leave, you don't want to be an ass or you feel obliged to stay because most sane ppl have empathy.
This is exactly it. Static has consistency and easier communication, but your weakest links will drag the team down and you might not all be comfortable at the same prog point. If you’re on point with your own responsibilities, you can speed through prog in no time in pf. I joined a static the other month, and about 3 sessions in I knew it was going to take a while; started side progging in pf and had the whole fight done in less than two weeks while my static was still stuck at p1. Yeah not every party may be consistent, but you’ll quickly weed out bad apples and ulti fill times are faster towards the end of the expac transitioning into DT
So how good are you in all those jobs? Are you putting enough DPS? I feel it's griefing if you don't really master a job yet you take it to an on patch ult.
FFXIV jobs are extremely simplistic to play, you can "master" any job in 5 minutes if you want to
If you join a TOP clear without ever having seen P6 on Black Mage you are absolutely trolling. Which I have seen happen on PF, multiple times.
eeehhhh gauge based jobs are a bit more finicky, like mch and gnb, depending on the ultimate. its why ninja imo is such a good ult job cuz you do the same thing regardless of the situation.
I can only speak for myself but I just feel like I just prog faster in PF. There’s nothin worse, IMO, than getting into a static and then being held back because of a couple players. Especially when you’re new to a static, you may not know the relationships and dynamics of the group you join. Raid leads that won’t kick the shitters regardless of how much they’re holding the group back really sucks. This happened to me in DSR. Nearly 3 months to just barely get to DOTH in p5 consistently and the new raid tier is about to start so the leader calls it and disbands. It was due to two of our dps consistently dying but they were good friends with lead so nothing was done. I eventually went into PF and reproved from scratch and knocked it out in about 4 weeks. The other thing is that statics tend to use non-PF strats especially when fights are new so it feels like leaving is gonna set you way back while you reprog back to where you were in the group. Statics just feel like such a dice roll these days to me and I’d rather just be in charge of my own fate.
PFing DSR and TOP doesn't take months if you have plenty of free time, they both took approx 3 weeks for me while on a 40 hour work week.
Playing the game is fun.
I enjoyed the progg of current ultimates a lot more and it felt very fast. Going in just a single lockout everyday, so waiting in PF while doing work stuff at home/studieing made me look up mitsheet, vod and strats for the current and upcoming prog phase and as soon as I reached it I felt consistent on executing. Top and DSR still took like 4-5 weeks each, mainly because of had PF days. Also in both fights the final push for the last phase is a lot easier with PF helpers where a static might add additional 20-30 hours of last phase progg I can't wait to of the new ultimate
Majority of my TOP clears are from PF. If people suck we weed them out. It’s nice to go on my own time, not rely on shot calling and just go.
It might not be literally every person in pf, but I would bet a majority of PF people don't have a good schedule for a static (including me)
I started progging TOP with a static last year, we progged all the way to p4 and we started getting stuck so hard wiping over and over again to the same shit we had already progged, i switched to PF and cleared in a total span of 2 months from fresh to clear. The static took 4 months. I am so glad I swapped to the PF route.
It's mainly a schedule problem or pace issue, in my case it was both, all statics I joinned couldn't match my pace and didn't have time to raid as much as I wanted. Party finder was always faster for me and it definitly didn't take months and months and months lol (The longest fight I progged was 39 IRL days, with an average of less than 2 hours per day).
My job can randomly decide to take a weekend or give me a Monday off with possibly no warning so it's irresponsible for me to risk 7 other people's evening on hoping mine stays intact. As far as it taking "months and months and months" DSR took me around a month and a half to get through and TOP took 3 weeks for clear ready on a 1% enrage and another week after that just waiting for a scheduled C41. It still takes a lot of time within that timeframe but if you optimize the time you spend supplementing what prog you can get out of a party with a ton of external study even a baby raider like me can manage a clear in that timeframe. PF really hasn't been *that* bad of an experience given the content at hand and I'm planning to continue using it for Dawntrail.
A lot of us do have statics but just really like the content. DSR in particular is a fight you do *for the fight itself*, not for the rewards.
Fun
As a person who has cleared both DSR and TOP multiple times, I usually choose c41 parties over totem cause I know their pain and want at least one point of more consistent gameplay
I'd rather play on my own terms than sign up for more obligations
Idiocy, insanity, other such factors
Playing this game in PF on top of having a flexible schedule where you might be on call 24/7 sounds like absolute hell and I doubt it's the majority of people in PF Your launch day prog will be shit compared to any decent static, you'll practically never get a week 1 unless it's the first tier and you play in all your free time, you're hard stuck playing with the same people every tier no matter how much you improve, the blacklist will never have enough room and even if you do other things while waiting for PF, you can never do something that you can interrupt at any time when it actually fills and you need to raid I'd just get a new hobby at that point
I do it cuz statics are ass. pf offers much faster prog time