Simple fact of the matter is that while there are plenty of good people out there in FFXIV, most of them are going in with groups of friends rather than relying purely on DF groups. The only real advice I can give you is to have a thick skin when dealing with the random people out there who want to rush everything and complain about every little thing that goes wrong or that they don't like. Other than that, try joining a good Free Company that feels the same way about the game as you do......

I've been playing since about the same time as you, (started in early February), and never had an MMO hold my interest for long prior to XIV. On the other hand, I consider myself more of a Vet than half the people out there who've been playing MMOs or even XIV in general longer, because most of them only play the game to experience one aspect of it such as DPSing or Raids, and will only look at other content as "a means to an end". I'm by no means an "actual vet", but I find that often times I'm explaining simple concepts to players with a lot more play time than me, just because I took the time to learn it while they bypassed it because it wasn't relevant to them at the time. To me, someone who is a veteran of something isn't just "experienced", but is someone who knows how to put that experience to use....