hmmmmm.
yesterday I flew in a match that had a level 45 pilot and a level 1 pilot (that had only played a couple matches) together, and a couple of level 20-30 pilots on the other team.
and you know what? the match was balanced. it was actually a very long deathmatch - a close game. the matchmaker seemed to do its job.
...but I'm not sure the situation served the novice very well, and I was on the ship with the level 45 captain - I
know he was frustrated. and while I'm not one to get frustrated easily at someone else learning something new, I understand when other people do. some people just want to sit down and play - and in a teamwork-based game, they don't want to carry the whole match with half the team falling behind. it did happen some with the old system too...but not like this. this isn't the only time that someone's vented their frustration to me with very similar circumstances within the last couple of days, not by a long shot.
so I'm hoping fixing the cap for novices will bring more novice matches and give them a bit of experience.
the other part about that too - as a CA, it's more effective to jump into a lobby full of novices and be able to support them all. they may not get the same kind of help scattered, especially if the rest of the playerbase is as frustrated as those that have vented to me.
oh, one more point Wundsalz, I don't see novice matches dividing the player pool. well, it does, but it doesn't hinder anything. if there's enough novices for a novice match, then there's a lobby for them. they'll get placed into a lobby with other players either way; I don't see the difference if it's in an all-novice lobby or a lobby that's largely more experienced players, just as long as the lobbies are getting filled.