Here's the story of my first ever exp party in FFXI:

I was in the dunes at level 12 and I had my flag up. I got invited to a party, no tell first, just an invite. When I joined I saw the party had 3 other members. One level 14, one level 15, one level 16. They were all melees I think. I was told that you should only have +/- 2 levels in a party but I figured I was new so maybe these guys knew what they were doing. I used the map to find where they were. They were all in some open area by the entrance to La Theine (not a very popular camp I've noticed). When I got there nobody really said anything. I asked what the battle plan was, and then one of them went and provoked a goblin. I was like, ok I guess we're starting, and went to engage the goblin. It proceeded to massacre me (only the two of us were fighting). I quickly warped back to Selbina and tried to run back so I could help out with the battle, which I assumed was what I was supposed to do. On my way another goblin saw me and killed me again. So that was two deaths within 10 minutes of my first party. I began to rethink my choice to play this game, but decided to give it another shot. The next party I got had 1 level differece, a full party with all necessary jobs, and we fought Hill Lizards at a reasonable spot. I'm glad I stuck around.