I enjoy gathering so I'm with you on that. You also realize that if they are farming on dino island they will not have enough dps to get credit for gold chests from rank 5s or stars? So it is frustrating when someone kicks out up front as it is a loss until the 2 hour timer runs down.

My compromise is if the group runs down and people leave then I switch to miner/botanists. Or I wait until last ten minutes on the timer. Thats the acceptable answer when using the DF.

You could also try to put up a linkshell for like minded gathers to get these groups together. Put a shout out at the popular hang out spots (like the adamantine hill). Try to put one together through that.