Few words of warning/education:
#1) With your level of experience, you may not want to get too much into group drops just yet.
#2) With group drops in Quick Play, the match maker uses the average skill tier of everyone in the group. This is going to pretty much guarantee going up against better opponents than you are used to yet. This is pretty much the reason for #1.
#3) If you have a group of friends who play MWO, you can be in a Quick Play group without belonging to a unit.
#4) To do group drops in Faction Play does require a unit, and requires that your group mates be in the same unit. At least this is how it works for Mercs, if it is different for Loyalists someone please correct me.
#5) Faction play has NO match maker by skill at all. IT IS HARD MODE (and warns you that it is the first time you go there), and you really don't want to go in there without a drop deck of elited or mastered mechs that you have a lot of experience with.
Now the good news:
#6) Dropping with people you know does make the game much more fun!!
#7) Get a headset with a mic (I use a cheap $15 one from Walmart and it does great). Even in solo matches comms are IMPORTANT!! In lower tiers most people are afraid to speak up, but don't be. A lot of the time once 1-2 people break the ice, your team will start talking and coordinating more.
#8) Then get Team Speak 3, Discord, Steam chat, etc. All these can be used free if the group you drop with has a server setup already. Most units or even groups of friends that drop on a regular basis will have something to communicate as a group outside of the in match VOIP that's built into the game. This will increase both combat effectiveness and fun.
#9) There are many "hiring hall" or recruitment" threads on the forum. Both for groups looking for people and people looking for groups. Here is the main one for Mercs
http://mwomercs.com/...94-hiring-hall/
Each Faction tends to have one as well. The general guide on how to find them in the forum is
Forums -> MWO Universe -> Faction Play -> IS/Clans -> Specific Faction -> there is almost always a recruiting thread pinned at the top of that sub forum.
#10) If you join a unit and/or get involved in Faction Play, i recommend STRONGLY that you go Mercenary for a while. This leaves you much more flexibility to jump from Faction to Faction (and IS to Clan and back) as week long contracts expire. This way you can get a taste for things before committing to a given faction as a loyalist and getting hit with a penalty when you decide to leave.
#11) Loyalty/Reputation (for Mercs) ranks in Faction will earn you Mech bays. Even with the penalty for leaving going to rank 6 in each Faction around the map is a good way to earn 2 mech bays (rank 2 and then 6, then more at 10/14/18/...) without having to deal with MC for them. Mercs earn bays even faster, but get fewer other rewards (rank 2/4/6/8/...) There is no penalty for leaving the Merc career and declaring loyalty to a given Faction either.
#12) There are a few units out there (mainly Mercs, but not entirely) that are dedicated to helping teach new players how to get better at the game. On the other end of the spectrum there are heavily competitive units very active in the comp scene with very strict rules too.
#13) Last but not least, the forums are a great place to come with questions or for help. We have a great user community in this game. Several users have very good YouTube channels as well. Kanajashi and Spike Brave both have GREAT channels on YouTube for tutorials and how tos in the game.
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