Before, jumping in and giving a hand was fine, rewards were had for everyone. Now, unless you painstakingly tag everything around you don't get credit.
If doing an objective-based side-mission (see Mine 99), unless you do the whole set of objectives by yourself, you won't get full reward. If it normally rewards keys, you won't be getting any (or maybe 1 if you've done most of the work), just some scrip (not even enough to cover a death cost), and less experience than normal.
Ya, stay away from strangers, because right now you'll both be happier for it. Maybe when they decide they failed miserably with their anti-idler anti-cooperation anti-group-play measures and revert them, you'll be welcome to join in on the "fun" once again.
I'm all for jumping in. If I see someone surrounded by mobs, I'll try to take some of the heat off them and watch their back. I enjoy the fact that someone can just dive in and help out, even when I'm doing pursuits. I tend to focus on the journey and not the destination.
The only down side is when I'm trying to rack up bolt action sniper kills and someone runs in guns blazing and aggros all the mobs that had been just standing around waiting for my head shot, but I've got other things to level and they've got stuff they need to do too, so it's no big deal either way.
as long as you aren't killing the skitterlings or killing the mongrels in the events that "depend" on them remaining alive, the general consensus is jump in.
Your Challenger won't drive? You're probably in the passenger seat.
Can't sell/delete an item? Check all of your loadouts, it's likely still equipped.
Auction house? Why? It'll just render bits purchased lock boxes pointless, and weapons are mostly equal anyway.
Gear/enemy progression? No thanks, it'll only render 90% of the content trivial when you reach the highest zone.
I pop tops on any mobs I choose to but I generally will only aim for body shots if its a contract mob so that everyone gets a chance to tag it. I like to believe I'm a benevolent savior that sits back and levels his sniper proficiencies while speeding up the kills/protecting the frontline ever so slightly.
If I am roaming aimlessly, I will always stop to help and appreciate folks that do the same.
EDIT: Just don't send me a party invite. I tend to drift in-game and out and can't promise my undivided attention.
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GT: BleakPanther007
In-Game: Bleak
Always interested in Assassin and Stalker Sniper Mods!
Just Private Message me if you want to sell.
Even with increased xp with party size, tag team seems easier and more fun than solo.
I think one reason people dont groups up is because they dont feel they need any help. If certain areas had a higher difficulty spike, maybe we would see people groups up specifically for those areas.