Guild Wars 2

Let me preface this by saying that I played WoW for about 6 years off an on. I played a mage for the majority of that time, and was competent enough to play very well in both early and later year raiding. So I chose the elementalist profession thinking it would suit my playstyle.

I just did my first dungeon in GW2 (AC story), and let me tell you, what a disaster. I guess I don’t fully understand my role, or anyone else’s role in dungeons, and am looking for a little help figuring it out. The group was pretty terrible last night, and it seemed so dysfunctional. It really did seem like an “everybody for themselves” mentality, and it’s just not what I am used to.

So what I’m asking is, how am I supposed to effectively play an elementalist (I like to shoot things) in a PvE group setting? Am I going to have to get used to playing a more nontraditional ranged dps class that pops in and out of auras to heal the group? Should I really be kiting mobs the entire dungeon? Am I failing at my class because our group killed a boss by dying and running back from a waypoint countless times until his health bar reached 0?

tl;dr: How do I play a primarily damage dealing elementalist (if that is such a thing in this game) in a group PvE setting?

Thanks