It’s the middle of the night. You’re alone, and there are no signs of anyone else from your Free Company around. This is it, this is your moment - it’s time to leave!

I’ve left my fair share of Free Companies in the past, Eorzea, and I’ll admit it - that’s how I used to do things. Usually, I slipped out in the middle of the night because the FC I joined had sent me a random invite, and I had this idea in my head that leaving when no one was around would avoid drama.

You leave as quickly as you arrived, after all!

However, looking back, the truth is that no one cares, especially in those big blind-invite Free Companies. You see it on the other side, too - when someone leaves one of those FCs randomly, you might hear a “rip” or “whelp” from fellow members, but otherwise people have their own things going on. Trees to be chopped! Mogsticks to gather! It only gets awkward if you were a prominent member of the FC, but at that point, things were probably boiling under the surface for a while, anyway.

I’ve also left FCs more openly, for reasons both neutral and dramatic. In one, I’d only been a part of it for maybe a week, and decided I wanted to go solo for a bit. I said so, then ran off into the woods. No one cared.

In another, one of my friends was actually booted from the Free Company for - get this! - a typo. It was a bad typo, don’t get me wrong, but accidents do happen. Not long after, I exploded my FC room right in front of everyone there and left with a final “good luck!” Some of us regrouped after the drama, and are still friends to this day!

Long story short, I’ve left FCs plenty of times, and seen people leave FCs plenty of times. I’ve watched people leave because they felt like they were being ignored, or their personality wasn’t meshing with other members, or they didn’t like how things were being run. Usually you can see the reason, even if the person doesn’t say so. But sometimes, it remains a mystery.

My own point of view these days is that you only leave a group without saying anything if you’re truly ready for that story to end, because there’s really no coming back afterwards, not usually. I’ve seen that happen (or try to happen) a few times, too. People will return after months away, which can often feel like years here in Eorzea, and try to put the pieces back together. But trust lost is almost impossible to get back! If you want to leave a Free Company but stay friends, you have to communicate.

But what if you really want to get out and don’t care about the social ramifications of it all, but are like me and prefer to avoid making a scene or (worse) getting a follow-up tell from one of the FC officers wanting you to fill out some kind of weird FC feedback survey?

There’s only one thing to do, and that’s to…

Leave The Free Company Under the Cloak Of Darkness And With Great Shame

Step One: Wait For Some Kind Of Justification to Leave

Maybe you saw an officer treat another member poorly, or an FC event was just terribly mismanaged and left you feeling cold and alone. Maybe you’ve contributed a ton, but your efforts have been completely ignored, and instead everyone’s busy fawning over some Lalafell who made their FC room look like the Gold Saucer.

Whatever it is, this would be your final straw, a kind of rationalization for why you’re just sort of leaving without saying anything. This leads us to…

Step Two: Wait until no one is around (preferably in the middle of the night or early morning)

This one’s self explanatory: The best way to avoid social drama is to just not have other people around at all ever. It’s true. Wait until everyone’s gone. If you have an FC Chamber, blow it up, then punch that “Leave Company” button and run until you can run no more.

This will depend on your FC’s usual activity hours, though, so you’ll need to get it right.

Why? Because things might get awkward if other members show up while you’re blowing your room to pieces, especially if it’s a smaller group you’ve been with for several months. I’ve seen this happen, too. It’s one thing to leave an FC - they’re just FCs, and actual friends would understand if you want to try something different - but it’s another to sneakily demolish your room while you think no one’s looking. Especially if you do so without ever letting them know you planned to leave in the first place.

At that point, it’s pretty clear you don’t want to talk to them about it, and don’t really value what they think. So if you want to avoid that conversation - and who wouldn’t! - make sure no one’s around, and make extra sure no one’s going to be around while you’re making your exit!

Step Three: /busy

After you run off from your FC like a ninja diving through the shadows, it might be a good idea to /busy for a while, maybe even a few days, to avoid those followup questions. This will prevent tells and other attempts at communication while you have it up, and eventually they’ll either forget or move on.

Of course, you probably won’t receive a tell, anyway, and there’s a good chance most members won’t even notice you’re gone, but this isn’t about them, is it?

Anyway, congratulations, you’ve just left another Free Company!

Leaving an FC is not the biggest deal in the world. Most adventurers probably won’t find the right one on the first try, especially if they just join the first one that happens to send them an invitation. Some might never find the right Free Company at all!

But there are a lot of people in Eorzea, and a lot of different ways to communicate or join groups without those kinds of long-term commitments. Linkshells, Party Finders, Novice Networks, and even just shouting madly in your favorite city-state can often be enough to get a group together to tackle whatever you need. The important thing is to make sure you’re comfortable and having fun! But also try not to burn too many bridges while you’re at it.

Don’t be afraid to make friends! Just remember that to keep them, you need to let them know before you start detonating parts of their estate!