I honestly think you should be able to group up no matter what ranks you are, and without a penalty. If someone rank 1 is grouping up with r30 freinds - first of all congratulations for having so many cool friends. Second of all, why should there be a penalty for wanting to be with your friends in the game? I've had so many times a party of r40's was going on in my guild, and being in my 20's or 30's they wouldn't let me join. Usually in a game if someone is low level, they might die faster and not be as strong starting out, but they should level up rapidly until they taper off as they get closer to the higher ranks. There is still plenty of story quests and items to craft and places to explore. Seems like it's a chore going through all the motions to rank up and that gets in the way of enjoying the rest of the game.