Why is it so difficult to form a party post burn?

I have had to level up twice on my own using henchmen and its really starting to irritate me. The only thing the other players seem to do is dance or chat spam their overpriced vials of dye.

Thats kind of the way it goes. Occasionally (hopefully more often than that) you'll find people that will add you to their parties, no questions asked. Lots tend to wait on guild mates (I know I do sometimes) and that may be why you get the cold shoulder too. It happens to me frequently as well.

If you'd like to have someone to run with you please look for me, Rushing Wind, in-game. I'll be more than happy to help where I can.

When you get further in the game, the need for partying grows.

It will be more fun by then, too.

Basically once you get to Yak's Bend (with the exception of Lion's Arch) it get better. Right off the bat your up to 6 party members... groups can be picky when they are close to the maximum number of players and may not pick you if you are not the type that they are looking for... but that being said if you click to party up with someone with a group of three or lower usually they will take you what ever your class is... if you happen to be a monk you'll never have a problem looking for a group.
Take heart it will get better

i use the NPC party members alot
they're fair good...and one of ems a healer, so it's hard to die

i've done bout 4 quests with them

I beat all my ascalon quests with minions, the majority of players in ascalon city are idiots anyway. Party is pretty easy to get later on, monks are rare though

I'm a monk. I prefer to quest with henchies, though. =p

PUG's are more fun in general, but I enjoy the way henchman actually focus fire unlike 70% or so of PUG's. Most quests I've partied up for we could finish it on the first try, but there have also been a few times when it has taken 2 or more tries to complete an hour long mission, which we should've easily beaten the first time. Usually because people run head on into too large of a group, or because people are focusing on 2 or more monsters, rather than 1 even when someone is target calling.

I get tired of relying on luck of the draw, and the occasional uncooperative party member. Me and my henchman will see how far we can get, and by that point I imagine most people that far in the game will be more intelligent or successful players.

Another advantage to henchmen is you can take a break whenever you want. You're not always in a rush for an hour or more. You can clear out a couple areas, run for awhile, and take a break if you feel like it. Really nice for those longer missions.

LOL... The best is when you are the only Warrior in the group (hence, the tank) and the silly necros and monks start charging the hordes. Makes me smile inside... until I've used my res signet and the stupid monk dies again.

When used effectively a necro/elem can survive in melee against a horde..I know this from experience.

*hugs my blood magic*

i don't group for pve...the henchmen have been more than adequate to successfully complete every mission and quest up to frost gate (as a level 13 monk) so far.

if you want group invites create a monk...whenever i'm in a town it's a non-stop barrage of invites...i adopted the strategy of not rejecting any invites because i'd be doing nothing but clicking 'reject' the whole time i'm in a town.

i do like grouping, but i consider 95% of all pve encounters to be trivial, and i don't really like pick up groups either. i find in most pick up groups there are usually 3 out of 6 that perform worse than the npc henchmen.

dont worry once u get past lions arch most of the ppl who rush hordes of mobs are weeded out (unlike my 2 monks who thought it would be good to rush the watch tower full of fire resistant warriors (no aoe ><))

Ok so it appears (from the majority ofthe posts above)that most of the people here play an online Multiplayer Game with the Bots rather than real people?

I tend to play with friends I know from RL, with bots to flesh out the group. A lot of players can be very annoying, it's just more fun to play with people you already know.

Usually it will be ee, my girlfriend, and another friend plus a monk bot since none of us play monks, and my warrior/monk is usually the tank.

Just convince a few of your RL friends to play. Grouping is a MILLION times better with people you know. Especially in these nice 'instanced' zones where it's like your own private playground.

Don't get discouraged though. Remember that most of the people playing aggressively in the early stages are sometimes anti-social and focused solely on advancement and getting as much equipment as possible. Once they max out, they'll likely relax and play more friendly-like. Also, later on you'll get more casual people (i.e. less hardcore) buy the game who may tend to be a bit more laid back and social.

Couple of things that make it difficult.

1) Lowbies in areas they should not be in. Hmm lvl 6s in Yak's Bend? These people die instantly when they zone out to the area. Why do people even bother with people this lowbies? Persoanlly I will not group with anyone that is not within a few levels of me.

2)You can disconnect and your avatar is gone from the game immediately. Combine that with no permanent death penalty and you create a situation where people will just leave at any whim.

3)Lots of people are followers and not leaders. Start your own group and just start inviting.

mmo doesn't mean i have to group with you...there's waaay more to social interraction in mmo's than grouping with people i don't want to group with to defeat trivial npc's that can be more easily defeated with henchmen.

I am very socially active ingame, yet i rarely ever group with real people for quests.

Rock_Viper one other option is to change districts (the diferences are amazing at times believe it or not) and block the trade speak I have also found that if you want to group send a whisper to a party you are interested in. The other Despoiler hit on certain areas just require certain levels during the first half of the game. I have seen level six parties trying to group to tackle the Ashes quest and that type stuff can leave a bad taste for PUGS afterwards believe me.

Missions I have no trouble.

But random area quests you'll always have that trouble because people won't have that quest or already have done it. Best thing is get in a guild and then you can guild chat and usually have more helpful people to form random groups here and there with.

I usually group with my BF. But even then about 50% of the time I use the NPCs. Last night I got screwed out of a quest reward because I was in a group with my BF. We were doing the supplies for the duke and he got to the group of men carrying supplies before I did so when we got to the duke in Pike's the duke didn't give me the reward, just my BF got it so now I have to go back and do that quest again. Little things like that will keep me using the NPC's. But if someone is looking for something and I'm around I'll group with them to take them to a location.

Hi,

Every game has its players who just spam stuff in chat. Thats why alot of people have a hard time finding groups as the players who dont spam, usualy turn off all the chat boxes to avoid the irritating spam except for Guild or Team if there in one.
Id advise looking for a good guild, not a guild who recruites just for numbers as that will get you no where.
If you ever need a hand in game, send a whisper to Oaken Wave.

I'm of the opposite mind, whereby I enjoy playing with just about anyone as long as they aren't a total jerk. This is true in either pre or post searing worlds. Certainly, soloing brings max experience gain and items; and I can see how henchmen can help out with the more complex missions. But for me, I bought this game to play with other people, and so that's what I'm in it for. If I wanted to play solo or party with AI controlled bots, I'd have waited for Dungeon Siege II.

I'm not overly concerned about gaining all the experience that I can as quickly as possible through solo playing, as that will naturally come with time and through building different characters from scratch. And who really cares if the PUG has some new people or unskilled players? I'm much more interested in having a fun time with others, win or lose, rather than creating the most efficient uber-elite team. Of course, finding the best of both worlds is ideal; and there's nothing like hooking up with some good players and having an awesome strategic experience. But even when it's kinda messy or loose, it's still a lot of fun. We all learn from our mistakes, and sometimes the best insights come from unplanned scenarios or happy accidents.

If you see a dark skinned ranger, mesmer or elementalist with the name 'Zhen Jou' in it, then that's likely me. I'd be happy to join up.