Yep, getting real sick of endgame PF groups not allowing anyone who hasn't already won the thing once before join.

Well that's just great, how do you expect people to get experience in an event if you never let them do it? And no, having an FC is not the magic be-all end-all answer (I do have one but it's not overly large and we're not all always doing the same thing - god forbid I be able to just try something with other people.)