Best way to use Party Finder?

[CodeCass]

Side note: I have 2 step-kids, 5 cats, 2 bearded dragons, and a parrot that doesn't shut up. I work 9-12 hours a day, when I get home it is chaos. I may sit down intending to play for a few solid hours, 15 minutes in all hell breaks loose. When you join/start a party is there an expected amount of time you are supposed to play? Is it rude to start a party then have to unexpectedly leave? While I don't anticipate it happening ALL the time, I know it will happen every now and again.

While my plate isn't NEARLY as full as Dagger's, I'm curious about this as well. With 9-10 hour daily work schedule, not to mention optional duties (DM'ing tabletop games with friends, working out, and general tomfoolery) I'd like to know what's considered an appropriate amount of time to spend with a party made in PF

[Dagger_32]

No don't be, the reason why I switched to PF is because I had quite a few nightmare-ish runs with parties done in DF and feel like it only gets worse as the dungeons/trials get harder. Through PF, I'm recruiting like-minded players, or players who are looking for the same kind of atmosphere that I look for in a party, and I did! my best runs were done through PF but thats just my personal experience. ^_^

I also just based PF off my experience with Duty Finder, which has been VERY mixed and you are correct, the higher level you are, the more people loose their "nice and willing to help" exterior.

Ok, I will just take the plunge and try it out tonight. I will update tomorrow on how it goes.

[ruinedmirage]

Every action you do and every party you make will have a reaction by everyone else who's in it. The intimidating thing can be if you're new to the content, you have to show improvement along with everyone else, and be open to sharing what you've learned, no matter how obscure. The other thing is resolve. As long as there is someone new to your group that wants to learn, feel obligated to stay with them the whole duration of the timer (unless gear breaks). Of course, there are exceptions to that rule, but it shows how true your intentions are and you pick up friends VERY quickly and get asked to help out again.

There's no RULE for how long to stay in a PF group, but be ready to show a lot of patience! The longer you practice with a single group instead of ragequiting and picking up a new group, the more development and understanding you'll see.

[Nephele]

This was an extremely helpful thread. I think I'll be giving PF a try now. I honestly had no idea what it really entailed and, until now, sort of ignored it XD

[munkt0r]

I'm curious about the major difference between the two.

PF vs DF

As I understand it, duty finder and the roulette pushes you into a guildhest with others randomly (around same level) and you just go do the mission.

With PF does it find a group and then everyone has to run to the location of the quest, or will it also push you into the instance with a group of people?

Am I misunderstanding it altogether? I'm new =)

[CodeCass]

This was an extremely helpful thread. I think I'll be giving PF a try now. I honestly had no idea what it really entailed and, until now, sort of ignored it XD

Agreed! Thanks to all who have responded and helped! I'll be testing this out tonight as well!

[Dagger_32]

I'm curious about the major difference between the two.

PF vs DF

As I understand it, duty finder and the roulette pushes you into a guildhest with others randomly (around same level) and you just go do the mission.

With PF does it find a group and then everyone has to run to the location of the quest, or will it also push you into the instance with a group of people?

Am I misunderstanding it altogether? I'm new =)

I am curious about this as well. Does every person in the party have to be in the same location? Who chooses what we do? Does it work the same for dungeons/fates/guildhests?

[ruinedmirage]

When you open the PF and you meet the requirements set by the person who set it up (minimum ilevel, role opening), you can join their party no matter where you are in the world. It will be just like any other party invite, and you can communicate with every other like-minded player interested in the PF listing via party chat (/p).

Typically, the PF listings will tell you what they intend to run, such as trials, a dungeon, Atma, treasure hunts, etc. But sometimes you can put up a PF listing for "Farming HM primals for vanity gear, will decide when party is formed" or "Learning party for coil, let leader know what turn you're on". After you get a group of players, the leader (the one who put up the PF listing) decides which content they will run, and when he/she queue's up for the content, the rest of the party is automatically queue'd up as well so all they have to do is confirm going into a dungeon.

This means you don't have to wait on queue times like the DF. If you have a party of 8 (or 4 for the 4-person content), you'll be instantly put into the instance without having to wait no matter where you are, but everyone must have the ability to queue for the intended content. For example, if you want to do a Garuda Extreme learning party, everyone in your party must have Garuda extreme unlocked and able to queue it in their own DF.

It's best to get to know your party first before you queue up as the leader. Ask what they're intentions are for joining, if they have any experience, decide on how loot will be distributed (I've mostly seen Need only if it's an upgrade, Greed or Pass for vanity/not your class, but it's up to the party to decide. Sometimes the leader even says he has full rights to anything that drops since he set up the PF, which I think is a bit conceited, so make sure you talk first).

Having a Linkshell and being in an FC help fill up your PF faster with people you know already sometimes. Just say, "Hey guys, I have a PF up, anyone wanna join?" And a little common sense, always thank everyone you run with after the dungeon run, no matter how it goes!

[Dagger_32]

AHHHH why have I not taken advantage of this system!?

[CodeCass]

I can't believe I haven't asked these questions before! This has been soooo informative and helpful!