Leveling in Prophecies PvE: Henchie fest?

So I just picked up Prophecies about a week ago, and I've dabbled with both RP and PvP characters - I've got a fairly decent Shock Axe warrior I can RA with, and a level 8 Monk who just moved into post-searing.

The problem is, I can't find a group to do PvE quests with to save my life. I'll find another person to run with here or there, but at least half of the group is gonna be Henchies, and frankly, it's really turning me off. If I wanted to run around in AI populated instances with a bunch of AI allies, I'd go play FF XII or something. I need to be interacting with actual players or I get bored really fast.

I've talked to a bunch of people in game about joining their guilds, but they can never offer me a reliable group of people to play with at my level - sure they're willing to help, but I hate having higher level people 'help' me with quests, it's boring as hell. And I really don't like the idea of joining a guild and then that being the extent of the community I interact with...

Anyway, I really want to enjoy Guild Wars and give it a chance, but I don't think I'll be able to force myself to play through the campaign with Henchies... do I have a chance of finding actual people to play with?

What I love about this game is its versatility. You can find/have the experience you want for the most part. Obviously not everyone will like the same game, but there are those who always go with henchies and those who almost always play with friends.

I know for myself, it took a few weeks of pugging before I found a guild I was happy with. A group of us get together regularly to do missions, pvp, etc. My advice is to hang in there. Once you find the right group of friends, you'll be hooked...forever.

Good luck and have fun!

Most experienced players (in guilds) simply do not have a level 8 to play at your level for very long. When I start a new character, within say a weekend to a week Ive gotten level 20 and am significantly on my way to having most good elites for the character. By many folks standards I'm slow as well. It's not that those of us who've been around never start new characters (I do occaisionally so I assume others do as well) nor that we're 'super 1337' (some may think they are) it's just that for us the characters are only interesting once they ARE level 20.
My advice, don't get too hung up on the numbers, better to find people you actually enjoy playing with.

You generally won't find a lot of lower levels wanting to group as much as you will at higher levels. Especially as it's Prophecies and everyone gets run through the game.

Once you get to LA, it'll open right up.

I only wish Prophecies Characters could get Heroes earlier in the game, by the time you reach Lion's Arch, a lot of the game is behind you or at the very least a lot of time has passed assuming you aren't getting "ran" everywhere.

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I guess I'll just run some missions with henchies and keep plugging away at the guild search for now.

well if you want help, you can always message me, add me to friends, etc. ive been the type to always use henchies when i can, but when i am done with an area (just doing it for fun, not actually trying to progress), I come back to help folks. Just message me and if I have a few, I will definitely come help.