Usually I went with some of my fc members/friends and join a pf after doing a little research on the fight. The videos and tips only do so much, of course; I learned pretty much everything else through the practice parties. At least that's how I did it for the primals (up until ramuh ex).

For coil, I joined a static in the fc. I did my research and did my learning wipes. Eventually the clear happens.

When ramuh ex happened, we tried using party finder, but it became apparent that we were just too nice. Yeah... eventually we had to start making stricter requirements for our pf and replacing people that were clearly holding us back. There was only so much you could learn about the fight when you never get past the add phase...

So yeah, it was pretty much always watch a vid, take a group of friends, use party finder, wipe repeatedly.