Well you don’t need to set a password but you’ll run the risk of having random people join your session although to be fair I found most people just search for S.O.S. flares. Plus you can have 16 players per session so you can have random people doing their own thing while you and your buddies are doing your own quests. Still though having you and your friends set up one online session that you all join makes doing quests together much better then one of you sending up an S.O.S. flare and then trying to join that quest. The S.O.S. flare system was designed for random player joins.
I don't know what the hell went wrong, but it sure managed to dampen my hunter spirits... 
robio said:Yeah that's annoying. Happened to me multiple times. I don't remember if you have to go back and actively accept the quest or just go back to get it registered.
I did travel back afterwards, but that grymalkine just smirked at me like it didn't recognize me. Bloody cats, think they can get away with anything...
We're currently stuck on the Nergigante. This amalgation of bony spikes and horns certainly hits hard. Every time we think we're close to taking it down, and every time it gets us first. First fight ever where I'm happy to have a shield on me for those handful of times an evade just won't cut it.
Thanks for the pro advice 
We're not getting desperate yet though. I haven't upgraded any of my gear yet with armorspheres, so might be time to start doing that and see where it gets us. And if we can't take it anymore we can always just check the internet to see what its weaknesses are.
Nergigante is my favourite monster to fight, I just find him to be the most fun.
We've downed Nergigante and took down Kirin and Deviljho. Once we had upgraded our gear Nergigante went down fairly easily. Biggest difference is my mate stopped dieing.
I usually don't play this game on my own, by lack of time, but I managed to squeeze in some quests yesterday. What struck me is how much easier these monsters are in solo play. I had Nergigante limping before he could run to another area for the second time. Deviljho also seems quite the pushover.
I kind of remember reading somewhere that there are only 2 difficulties in MH, being solo or co-op and that it doesn't matter if you're playing with 2, 3 , or 4. That would explain why these monsters seem much more daunting while playing with only 2. either way, solo play is a piece of cake.
I encountered the First Wiverian in the Elders Recess, who told me that my weapon class, the switch blade, is the 4th most popular weapon. Apparently te Greatsword is the most popular, and the hunting horn the least popular.
Why on earth would you settle for something as boring as a greatsword when you have so many over the top weapons to your disposal? As for the hunting horn, I played it for a fair bit in MH4 and while the buffs are cool, it's basically a Hammer with less interesting attacks. It's cool to be able to buff your party, but the buffs don't play a big enough part in the game for it to be satisfying to play the role of a support class character.
I also finally looked up how to charge my shield and why I would bother with it. I had noticed my shield icon would sometimes glow pink, but had no clue how to trigger it. Apparently you can even charge up your sword as well, but I haven't been able to pull that one off yet.
robio said:Solo is easier until the post game (the real post-game after the Xeno Jiiva battle). After that you will definitely want to start grouping up again.
We recently completed the double berserk Bazelgeuse quest and find ourselves left with little to do. Not sure how that happened. The Behemoth is clearly still far out of our league. I'm currently struggling with the Lunastra, which I haven't been able to repel so far. We found how to do the Kulve Taroth missions (we never went to the multiplayer area in the hub before, which is where you need to go to launch it ). We then played it for maybe 7 times before concluding you probably need to be with a party of 4 to make any meaningfull progress.
I've been playing with a Switch Blade the whole game, but I'm currently massacring Kusha Daora's in hopes of amassing enough rare material to make a kick-ass hammer. Perhaps I should once turn on the damage display so I can see how much damage I'm actually doing in fights. I'm kind of reluctant though, as it'll only serve to highlight how much less I'm contributing when compared to my co-op companion.
As for armor, I have a build focused very much on staying alive, but perhaps I should turn it around in favor for more affinity and critical hit damage...
I need to get back to this game again soon and try tackling Arch Tempered Nergigante while he’s available. I also want to prepare for the upcoming dlc as well.
The game is now under $20 and since GameStop is having their pro sale this weekend, it make it even lower. Definitely the time to jump back on I think.
robio said:We all play on different platforms right?
Yeah I think so. I’m on Xbox One, I think Supreme is on the PC version, and I’m assuming you’re on the PS4. This game would really benefit from crossplay.
That's marginally less of a fuss. Although, because I am playing the PC version, but away from my PC with only an Xbox360 controller within reach, I can not enter passwords, as it requires use of the keyboard.