You know what FFXI had that was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT? Cutscenes that you can view without initiating the instance. Honestly I've been thinking of that every time people bitch about the cutscenes. As neat as the full-party cutscenes are, it would be so much cleaner if they could be initiated without starting the battle. Then you can have players watch it while the leader gathers members.

I make it a rule of my parties that if someone is new to something they're entitled to see the cutscene with a full party (first round only). If they decide to decline this rather rare privilege, then it's their own fault. Of course, if the party has had to rebuild or has been at it for a while already, I'll stop offering unless someone asks. Even I lose patience with it sometimes.

Normally if it's me who is the first-timer, I don't give the party a choice. Either I get to see it just once with a full party in it, or I force them to find another member (which can honestly take longer than restarting a run sometimes). So far I don't have to be too unpleasant about it, which I'm grateful for (thanks, guys!) "Save it for the Inn" is not a good enough answer. It irks me enough that it sometimes feels like I'm the only one who cares about the lore in this game, but if they try to take away my right to enjoy it then they can join my blacklist.