Oh aye, totally - we've had about 15-17 years to grow our group's bonds, something that can't be whipped up in hurry. We've seen the worst side of the game and the best. Granted its not been 15 years of continual development but we have had the luxury of time to screw up, forgive and forget and move on.
On the flip side, the lessons we've learnt, especially with regards to interpersonal communication between members of small teams, has carried us through our respective careers.
If you are forced to choose a table among peers with whom you can't communicate with, it's an entirely different kettle of fish. Though, just to be clear, we're not prone to dancing around, holding hands and singing sweet love to one another. We bicker, there's misunderstanding and folks get frustrated. The key to success, for us at least, has been to keep at it -and to recongise the difference between a person's choice of behaviour and their intent. In other words, we have a tacit agreement that none of us mean the other any ill will and that we all want to enjoy a good game together.
When we extend this philosophy to newcomer, things work out well. But then again, said new comers are free to walk away if they so choose to. If you don't have that choice…. yeah. Rough ride dude.
Hope it works out for the best.