If you are talking about Brenner then I disagree. I dont know maybe you were not talking about Brenner, but that is the only, like you say, forced teaming that I know of in Final Fantasy XI. I dont think it is forced because you can play Ballista, that is the older type of player versus player, but you can do it on your own. Brenner is a newer type and you dont have to play it if you dont. And the whole purpose is to have fun, nothing else. You might not believe it, but there are a couple of people out there who like Brenner and they would be unhappy if it stopped existing.