[cidbahamut]

So tonight I spent the better part of 3 hours attempting to form, gather and maintain an experience party in the Dunes. I've never done this before, but given the fact that both our warriors left and were left scrambling to find replacements along with the bat massacring the entire party that I botched something along the way.

To put it simply: What does being a good party leader entail?

[Kimani]

Congratulations on your first leader experience.
Firstly, I highly doubt those events were 100% your fault, things like those just happen sometimes. What I think is necessary for a leader to have are these three things: Patience, Determination and some understanding of low level parties.

Low level partying can be fun. The dunes suck. You need to understand that.

You have gotta be patient with those players that still haven't gotten the hang of "provoke" and other abilities/spells. You really gotta be patient when your party all start wanting to leave, cause that means you gotta find reps.

You have to be determined to leave the dunes, other wise your gonna get stuck there.. (Like my goddamn BLM).

[Rothy]

Originally Posted by cidbahamut

To put it simply: What does being a good party leader entail?

Having the patience of a saint, knowing that no mage will be good by default, assuming no one has the required items or quests to access the area you want to EXP in.

Knowing that 1-2 people WILL die on the way to camp, someone will disconnect after that death and someone will accuse you of being a noob..

But thats about it, Good Luck!

edit: my quote screwed up.

[Kimani]

Lol, I love you rothy <3.
Cidbahumut, this man is a genius. He speaks truths.

[cidbahamut]

Wow, that actually sounds pretty close to home seeing as how we spent about an hour just getting everyone to the camp. There must be an art to keeping the party running at a fast pace though, because that outing just felt very sluggish compared to other parties I've been in. While other parties I've been with sometimes don't have enough downtime I felt like this one had too much downtime. Then again that might have had something to do with the fact that I ended up being our puller, another role I've never attempted before, which would incidentally also lead to the bat massacre at the end of the night. I suppose I'm just trying to work out how to keep things running smoothly so people don't get bored and just leave like our tanks did.

[Kimani]

Oh, I remember my first pulling experience..

[DakAttack]

Originally Posted by Kimani

Oh, I remember my first pulling experience..

Do continue!

Oh, and only invite people who are rank five or above. They should know their way around the dunes.

[Yellow Mage]

Originally Posted by DakAttack

Oh, and only invite people who are rank five or above. They should know their way around the dunes.

You would think so.

Also, the Dunes don't suck. Qufim does.

[Evion]

I disagree, Qufim>Dunes anyday. Lv 20/21 on worms and crabs is some of the best/hr experience until birds. I would suggest soloing in one of the 11-18 areas (areas the crags are in) while LFP. You'll get decent xp/hr and will likely get a pt invite in not-too-long a time. Getting into plenty of parties will give you a very good idea of what good and bad parties look like. It will also show you what good and bad leaders are like. It will also show you were the good camps are and what levels they are good for. You may need to know these things well before you could lead your own pt well. When making a pt, I'd suggest these things:

1. Know what lv pt you are shooting for. (most likely up to and including the level you are at) You may need to drop a few levels to get that 1 member you need for a good setup. (Healer/tank/LOLBRD)
2. Once you know what lv your party will be syncing to, you will need to know the most effective camp. Try THIS.
3. Once you know you have a good pt setup and know what level and know what camp, you'll just need to figure out how to get everyone to that location. Before Qufim, this step is a bit difficult. Once you hit lv 19/20 for Qufim, I'd suggest setting up your pt in either Jeuno or Whitegate. Have everyone meet there and then move to camp together.
4. As the leader, make sure everyone knows their roles. Backup healers need to know they ARE going to backup heal. Backup Vokers need to know they ARE going to voke the mob off the main tank if he is in trouble. The puller needs to know if he is going too fast or too slow.
5. As the leader, make sure everyone is playing their role. If they are not, you may need to ask why or replace them if they won't. I have had to drop a horrible tank or two for another before. I have had to drop people that keep going AFK. I have had to drop healers that let the tank die while having plenty of MP. Its something a leader will have to do eventually.

Good Luck!
Evion