Rift: Parties, Raids and Public Groups

Rift is full of various types of groups you may create or join.  Parties are groups of 5 players or less created to go through dungeons or PvP encounters together.  (See page 32 of online manual below.)

Public groups are rift or invasion fights that you can join.   (See below, page 33.)  If you are a party or raid leader, you can make your party a public group.  (Also page 33.)   It looks like public groups are also sometimes called public parties but I am not 100% sure these are identical things.

A raid is larger than a party.  It consists of 6-20 players.  You can't create or join a raid until you are Level 10.  You can turn your party into a raid.  To see how to create and manage raids, look at page 22 of the online manual.
http://www.riftgame.com/en/docs/RIFT_Manual_EN.pdf

Here is further information about raids.
http://telarapedia.com/wiki/Raid

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How Not To Make Your Healer Mad

If you are in a pick-up group, you might want to avoid doing anything that makes the healer who is keeping you alive mad.  Here's a list.  Note that there are interesting tips such as why any DPS character should avoid using knockback spells in a raid, etc.
http://www.isheepthings.com/blog/5ways/

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Is Puggernaut the Answer to Finding Decent PUGS?

Solo players who need a group to raid with might be interested in exploring Puggernaut which according to the WOWHead blog is a "community of PUG raiders who use the Puggernaut site to arrange runs together."
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=164633

Scroll down to the bottom of this page on the Puggernaut website to read how PUGs are organized.
http://puggernaut.guildlaunch.com/custom.php?page_id=44745&gid=87302

Then scroll down to the bottom of this page and read the last article for even more details.
http://puggernaut.guildlaunch.com/index.php?gid=87302&page_id=44745

PUGChecker, which is used to rank players, is located here.
http://www.pugchecker.com/

If Puggernaut doesn't work for you, try Pug Raid Organizer.
http://pugplug.com/

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ICC Raid Buff Now 30%

Per WOW Insider.
http://www.wow.com/2010/07/20/icecrown-raid-buff-now-at-30/

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Basics of Grouping

A useful summary of the various ways one can join or set up a group in WOW.
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/13/wow-rookie-grouping-101-thurs/

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DPS Meters Are a Tool of the Devil

Or words to that effect from Arcane Brilliance, who explains why they are useless in PUG raiding here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/23/arcane-brilliance-why-i-hate-dps-meters/

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WOW Videos of Raids and Instances

If you are one of the folks who learns best from watching, not reading, you need to bookmark two sites. Project Lore has extensive written and filmed guides. Click on any thumbnail and you will find the walkthrough, the videos, etc.

http://projectlore.com/wow-game-guides/

Tankspot also films raids and instances for Project Marmot, but is a bit harder to navigate to get to the videos. Choose the forum title you are interested in. Click on it if there is a hyperlink and you'll go to the video and written walkthrough.

These are both good sources for mid- to higher level raid and instance walkthroughs, both written and in videos.

http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f206/

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Gallery of Raids and Dungeon Layouts from BlizzCon

http://www.wow.com/gallery/blizzcon-2009-wow-dungeons-and-raids-gallery/

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