I work well in groups

I used to group up with my friend a lot on my first character, making our way through the various quests together, and it was fun and a lot easier than trying to go it alone. He quit a while ago, but I stuck with it and have been pretty much a solo player ever since, occasionally finding a group for those elite quests you run into every so often. It's not really that I don't enjoy the help I get from having that second player there, I just don't usually focus fully on the game when I'm playing. I have other distractions going on at the same time with the TV on, food cooking, other stuff that slows my progress already. Now I don't mind playing like that if I'm the one causing the slowdown, but I've grouped with those types of players that seem to be in the same situation before and being on the other side of that isn't fun.

Here's why I have a problem with it. You're going along and getting some quests done when another player sees you doing the same thing as him and offers to group up, so you agree thinking it will be a piece of cake and go a lot faster than doing it on your own. Little do you know this guy is easily distracted, loves to tell you "brb" a lot, and even if he doesn't you find yourself fighting mobs with no help at all because he's not paying his full attention to the game. It goes a little faster than if you had done it on your own, but not by much, and you're getting half the XP for each kill, not to mention all the hard work you're putting into it is benefitting him, who isn't even doing anything half the time.

When I played a lot, was in a guild, and actually gave my full attention to the game, these types of players really frustrated me. Here I was giving this guy free XP, a finished quest that he didn't even work for, and I'm progressing slower along my XP bar because of it. Now that I'm in the opposite situation, I normally will warn players when they group with me that this might happen, and normally they won't mind much, but there are a few that decide to solo instead and I really don't blame them. If I was selfish I would group with anyone I could and use them to get stuff done while I just give the game 25% of my attention, but I know how it is to be on the other side and I don't want to detract from the fun everyone else is having just because I'm not as committed as they are.

Having said all that, I have had more luck finding people to knock out tough quests with. They seemed to have the same take on the game as me and only looked for groups if it was something they couldn't do solo. There are more than a few elite mobs that need killing in Outland for quests, and since the rewards are pretty good there are a lot of people that want to do them. Usually I will try them out solo to see if it can be done, and even if I die the first time I can tell whether I would even have a chance if I gave it another shot. I wasn't having much luck with one such elite mob, but when I went back there was another player there, probably contemplating how to take the thing out solo. I told him I was doing the same quest and we should do it together, to which he agreed and we proceeded to kill the thing without much trouble. After killing the thing we thanked each other and parted ways, and thats the way I wanted it. I wasn't looking for a partner to run around with, just help with that one mob and then back to soloing, and it seemed he wanted the same thing so it worked out perfectly. I always find it awkward when they ask afterwards if I want to continue on together, and usually I just tell them I have to log out after turning in the quest, which I most of the time I don't, but telling someone you don't want to stay in their group just makes you sound like you used them, which I suppose is the case, but I think if they knew what staying in a group with me would mean for them I think they'd understand.

This same situation has popped up a few more times along the way as well, and lucky for me it's turning out the same way most of the time. I have a bunch of other elite quests I need to get out of the way, and it's looking like I might actually try out the LFG channel to see if I can find some players to take them out and then continue on our separate ways. I've had some bad experiences searching for groups that way, but once you get to Outland it seems you're much more likely to find competent players that won't waste your time getting the quest done and moving on.