Instead of altering the game, have you tried altering how you play it?

Wait until your friend is on before you do your M1-4 and than make a PF group together. 'Running M1 until everyone has their drop'. It's 2-8 runs max. (Yeah yeah, people get their own and drop. It happens. But in my experience people tend to stay)
Yeah, that is exactly what I am considering. I have been feeling lately that maybe I should stop using the duty fidner all together. That could make things better.

I always wait for the friends, unfortunately not all are on at the same time, so you can't really do it all together. Real life schedules and stuff...