This is a weird thing that they created the mentor system. It somehow means the FC don't play their role. On one hand, that's nice thing we can play alone and clear dugeons with the DF, it solves the time sync problem between players (I mean we are not always avaialable in the same time) but on the other hand it makes we can play without FC.
There is another thread about recruitment and that's a part of the problem in the game. I've seen a lot of FC dying because of both drama or people leaving the game for IRL reasons (the main is lost of interest/lack of time).
Statics are often a reason to create FCs but people realize to late it is not enough. FCs need something that make people play together and find some kind of entertainment. As long as the static is up, that's fine but if someone starts to lose interest, both the static and the FC run out of steam.