Okay, a few things here. Bear in mind they're reactions and opinions, and I'm not stating most of them as facts. I respect your right to not group if you see fit.
When I brought this whole thing up on a MUD years ago, here is, in essence, what I was told:
1. Don't worry quite so much about responsibility, particularly if you're new to grouping. Get into groups that are a bit more experienced, and if you're even a little lucky, they'll teach you the ropes while not expecting a whole ton of you. They know what they're in for, so don't worry overmuch if you make a mistake and someone gets killed. Use that experience, if it happens, to learn for next time. If you run around being afraid to screw up, you'll never get the chance to succeed either, and will be cutting yourself off from an important facet of gameplay.
2. Vet any group you join, particularly if you're new to the experience. Most groups are at least halfway decent, but some are made up of jerks or rookies who can and will get you killed. As such, take whatever reasonable precautions you can, and be willing to bolt if things get nasty (in AA's case, this means recall, in particular). If a group isn't working for you, feel free to leave it.
3. Don't use grouping as a means of substituting for the rest of your gameplay. You don't have to make it a full-time part of the MUD experience, by any means. Use it when you want to run exp, and don't worry if it's a high-level area that you can't solo yet. When you're stronger, you can come back and get more info on your own if you prefer. If you don't like questing in groups - a bit more on this later - then just use groups to run exp, get stronger and, by extension, open up the potential to do more quests.
4. Concurrently, questing in a group can be great fun, particularly if it's a good group. And I know that in your case, Dark, you want to be the one doing important deeds, but many of the best tales both real and fantastic involve groups of heroes, not just the lone wolf doing it all by himself. I suppose this one comes down to preference, but I can say from experience that there's actually a lot of fun in having done a quest myself, then leading a group of others to do it. You still get to be the hero, instead of someone along for the ride.
Most of the objections to grouping I've seen seem to boil down to one notion: "I don't want to get dragged, and grouping takes me out of the single-player experience I want". Well, okay, I can't argue with that. But it's also an excellent way to gain exp, particularly on AA, so were it me, I'd consider using the system judiciously in order to get stronger and be able to safely solo more of the world.
I dunno. I used to hate grouping as well, but nowadays I don't mind it. It's by no means my first go-to, but it can be all kinds of fun if it sets up well.
Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1