Basics of Grouping, Etiquette, etc.

I picked up Prophecies a few weeks back, and after playing around in RAs and questing with henchies a bit in post-searing, I just did my first group mission across the wall last night. Enjoyed it greatly, but I've got a few questions regarding grouping as a result.

Is there any particular etiquette to follow when inviting people to a group, or inviting yourself to one? When using the party search window I would often whisper people to ask what they're doing (since no one uses the description field), but never really get responses.

Should you have a build ready and waiting when you look to join a group, or should you have a basic idea but then work with groupmates to customize it after the group forms?

How on earth do you self-invite yourself to a group? I've looked in the manual and all over the interface but can't figure it out.

When someone spams into general chat that they're looking for a group, how do you find them in the sea of people milling around? Do you just have to type their name into the add member field in the party window or is there some shortcut? Is there a way to tell what class/level someone is without seeing them directly?

If anyone has any other tips or general points of etiquette, please lay 'em on me. I really want to play GW with other people as much as possible, and I'm sure my chances of doing so will go up if I don't project "I AM NEWB" at every opportunity when trying to get a group... I'll wait to tell people I'm newb 'til after I've saved them with some good heals.

Thanks in advance!

1. Congratulations on joining Guild Wars Guru

2. Don't invite everyone in sight when you do a mission or a quest; it usually does't help. Say that you are looking for a party for this quest or that mission in the local channel, but just don't invite random people.

3. Usually, try to get the main part of your build done, and then discuss with the rest of your party about issues such as "Do we bring Resurection Signet" etc.

4. On your party window, type the name of the person into the add member field and press the [+] button or hit enter. Technically, you're inviting them into your party, but we call it self-inviting. Unfortunately, you can't see what level/profession etc. they are until you have attempted to invite them.

5. Go heal! (I am n00b at Monk )

if you press ctrl and hold it down you can see all the char names in that area if you click on there names you will have a red text box apear at the top of the screen which tells you the name of the char, there lvl, and there proffession.

Yes, to self-invite you type the name into the add member space.

To speak to someone LFG or GLF, whisper them, by clicking on their name in chat window, this will open your Whisper chat with their name already listed.

You can check on guildwiki.org for information on quest area or mission monsters and adjust your build to suit. If you are joining a group, you can ask if the leader has any preferences in Team chat.

But as you seem to be playing a monk at the beginning of the game, check out the available healing spells for the most efficient and go with those. The players you meet won't be expecting much more at this stage.

Here is a link to the wiki main page http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Main_Page which will lead you to great gameplay info.

If you want to join group quickly, use ctrl+c and ctrl+v to copy/paste the name in the add member space. Its fast and simple.

Before you do that, click on the name in the chat window so it shows up in whisper. Hightlight, then copy and paste.

When joining a party, try to have a few different build options available. This isn't always necessary, especially in the early stages of the game when skill choices are more limited, but when you're playing as a niche profession like a Mesmer or Ritualist you should be prepared for anything (these professions can adapt to fill virtually any role in a party, and your job will be identifying which role is most needed in the group and then adjusting your build to suit the situation). I have 3 or 4 different basic builds for each character saved as templates so I can quickly pull them up and fine tune them as required. You can save a build as a template from your Skills/Attributes panel, after which the template will be saved on your PC.

Also, if you're not the party leader and are unsure of any mission-specific tactics or want to clarify anything, ask the team before the mission starts. It's better to ask beforehand than to try to work everything out in the field (especially for the missions that are timed)

New player or not, if it is the first time you do a mission. It is a good idea to let the party know. Checking if there is anything you should know about the mission before entering.
That's one of the best indication of someone who might be new to this mission, but is not a noob. Something that will end you up with a lot more respect from the good players, than anything else you could do.

Welcome to GWGuru! Hope you enjoy yourself here.

One thing that I think is quite proper etiquette is stating your profession(s) and level when advertising that you're Looking for a Group, and be specific in regards to what you're wanting to do, especially in towns which are the starting point of several quests. Like this: "Mo/E 12 LFG for Super happy fun quest." If you want to do the bonus/masters while doing a mission, be sure to say so [i]before[/b] starting the mission.

Thanks for all the great replies, everyone! I think you've answered all my questions and more.

I've actually been posting here and there on the forums here, and reading the wiki to try to get some basic info, but this sort of wisdom, like clicking the name in chat to whisper and then cut/pasting from the whisper window to the invite box is hard to find just browsing through articles on the wiki.

As one poster mentioned, I'll have to be more upfront about my newness to the game. To be honest, I'm still very uncomfortable with the Guild Wars community - I think I've read too many negative forum posts from jaded vets about elitism.

Thanks again for all the info!