Questions about Dungeon..

Daisama - Lost City wrote: »

So... I'm still new to dungeons. When I first go in.. do I click on the first pillar?
...
I already know that once I get close to the boss. I'm changed to captain and I have to activate the pillar by the boss, lol.

There are always two pillars for the same thing. One is at the start. The other is at the boss. You can "tab" at either one. People will give you reasons to do it early or later, but it really does not matter. Just be aware that this starts an additional quest to kill the boss. You may still need to kill other things first for your main quest to kill him (especially in the first dungeon, FB19). Confusion on this point has put lots of people in a bad situation. Also, as you seem to know, you have to remain the squad leader from start to finish of this "tab" quest.

Daisama - Lost City wrote: »

But anyway the real question is, once everyone leaves the squad, they stop in their tracks, and they slowly fade away.
... why do they fade out?

Because each party accesses a unique instance of the dungeon, you have to be in the party to be there. When people drop out of the squad, the game begins a process of automatically kicking them out of that instance. It gives a short timer for them to get back into the squad in case of mistakes, but if they stay out, they have to leave. Essentially, people are using this aspect of the game's rules to get a free town teleport.

Daisama - Lost City wrote: »

But I'm left behind. How do I get out? Do I teleport out by using my town portal? Does it automatically get me out? Or what?

Previous poster discussed the most polite option. One of your former squad-mates invites you to their squad (which the game sees as putting you outside the now empty squad that "owns" the instance) and letting you get a free teleport out. Town teleport is the most common choice. Personally, I like to just leave all the drops on the ground, so the person whose FB it is can take their time collecting things they want once we are done. You will not be pushed out by the game, but it can be difficult sometimes finding your own way out.

Daisama - Lost City wrote: »

And at what dungeon lvl can I actually start fighting instead of staying back?

This is really an issue of how much higher than you are the rest of the people in your squad. The higher they are relative to you (and the monsters), the more likely they are doing the FB sloppy. If they are being sloppy, you are likely to die if you join in. Not having to worry about that is why they ask you not to participate. If the average level is not more than, say, 20 above the mob level, the group should be going more slowly and carefully. That actually makes it easier for you to participate without fear of dying (or without more fear than your class should ordinarily have). You won't truly be missing anything if you don't get that experience in FB19 and maybe even FB29. But, by FB39 or FB51, you will want to have started doiing some non-sloppy runs so you learn your role and how to play your part in a squad.

FitHitDShan - Sanctuary wrote: »

There are always two pillars for the same thing. One is at the start. The other is at the boss. You can "tab" at either one. People will give you reasons to do it early or later, but it really does not matter. Just be aware that this starts an additional quest to kill the boss. You may still need to kill other things first for your main quest to kill him (especially in the first dungeon, FB19). Confusion on this point has put lots of people in a bad situation. Also, as you seem to know, you have to remain the squad leader from start to finish of this "tab" quest.

And if for any reason you fail -- if your squad changes leaders or you leave (or log out) or you trash the quest or you take longer than eight hours, or whatever... you get your tab back. But you can not get your tab back until your inventory has an empty space for your tab. So if your inventory was full you will need to do something before you can try again.