Let noobs be noobs - lvl cap

[Hoja Lateralus]

Howard said that moving the cap to lvl10 might be a good idea but they are interested in how people progress from lvl1 to lvl7 and want to check this out. So I count it as "Maybe, probably, not entirely rejected"

[Nietzsche's Mustache]

I'm still trying to understand how the novice cap works. Is the matchmaker supposed to stop novices from joining more advanced games? Or stop me from joining advanced lobbies? If that's the case, it's not working. Most of the games I've played as of late look like this:

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/43110509151312429/199B27B7B192497B9552DC53BBA8044D3CA082CF/

[Hoja Lateralus]

Basically novice players can choose to search for novice lobby or not-novice lobby. I think it's good for both, novice players won't be crushed and experienced players won't be annoyed.

Of course in theory level cap is not needed because matchmaking will choose people with similar skill anyway... I guess we see the difference between theory and life

[ShadedExalt]

Basically novice players can choose to search for novice lobby or not-novice lobby. I think it's good for both, novice players won't be crushed and experienced players won't be annoyed.

Of course in theory level cap is not needed because matchmaking will choose people with similar skill anyway... I guess we see the difference between theory and life

OK, my noob is showing here, but how do I search in a non-novice lobby?  Sorry if this isn't the place to ask that.

[Schwalbe]

The fact is, that since the introduction of this opus diabolicum called matchmaker - you can't.

You are BEING PUT into lobby, unlike it was before 1.3.8 Patch, when you had match list, from which you could choose a match, have a glimpse on the lobby and decide whether to stay or leave. But now it's impossible if you use matchmaker.

There are also custom lobbies, but as far as I know they are mostly used by more experienced players to avoid using matchmaker and play in they own company.

[Mezhu]

You actually can. Just go to matchmaking options and uncheck the box that says "Novice?".

[Schwalbe]

...Oh. Pardon then.

[ShadedExalt]

Thanks.  I kinda figured that it would be there, but I hadn't any time to check.  By the way, that was a beautiful rant there Schwalbe.  Just beautiful.  Especially liked the 'opus diabolicum' bit.

[Kamoba]

I think perhaps level is a poor indicator of skill level.
Time in game =/= good at game necessarily.

Maybe trackable achievements?

• Can hit with a hades
• Can prevent fires with chem spray
• Will accept recommended loadouts
• Understands damage system etc.

Cos that's what un novice means to me

I'm going to reiterate this point as not too long ago I had the pleasure of a level 5 gunner who put many level 20+ gunners to shame in his perfect ammo use and his usefulness aboard the ship! Not only did the guy perform perfect heatsink reloads but he repaired the balloon in the reload! Among other things.

Level is just an indicator of time played, even terrible players reach high levels if they hang around loosing enough...

That's not to say the problem does not need addressing, it needs looking at, but making newbies feel like 'yeah your new you suck as we're going to avoid you like the gray blight until you're level X!' Will result in more people not going further than novice, they'll just give up ad then the rare individuals who do excel at the game will have no lobbies whiles they try to level up...


Maybe just novice cap the same as it is, but no option to opt out of novice...

[Schwalbe]

Level is just an indicator of time played, even terrible players reach high levels if they hang around loosing enough...

This occured after introduction of experience-points-based leveling. Before the 1.3.7 patch you had to earn achievements to level up. It was more or less difficult, but it promoted actual skill, and prolonged time of getting acheivements could get you experience, indeed. DIDN'T HAVE TO - but mostly it did.

Of course, it was generating situations of achievement hunting, but well, no system is perfect...

[Kamoba]

Wish I was around to see the old system, though I can also imagine achievement hunting being an issue, every third game the main engineer lettin engines die because he needs rebuild, add convenience of timing and you have a big problem :/

[Schwalbe]

Nah, not exactly. Rather crazy builds for crazy ammos for achievements.

Well, honestly? In the old system it took me at least 120 matches to get on levels 3-3-3. In new system my friend Hordex, who bought this game on sale did 1-7-1... in 20 matches.

I mean - seriously.

[Indreams]

Or just a blunt refusal to go for achievements.

My early refusal to not use the third dimension (I flew a pyramidion with kero-claw-moonshine in my early days) stuck me to level 4 until the new system.

Still, it's taking me a while to go from level 17 to 18. Actually, I spent the past weeks going from 15 to 17.

[Mean Machine]

Nah, not exactly. Rather crazy builds for crazy ammos for achievements.

Well, honestly? In the old system it took me at least 120 matches to get on levels 3-3-3. In new system my friend Hordex, who bought this game on sale did 1-7-1... in 20 matches.

I mean - seriously.

You shouldn't compare old and new leveling system. In old system you could see bad high level players or good low level players.
So if someone was high level before, doesn't mean he was skilled player. Achievements =/= skill. New system is bit more realistic. It forces you to actually care about your ship, crew, loadouts etc if you want to win match and earn max XP. Sadly tho, matchmaking is not working as we hoped it would and another issue is, that we all carried our "levels" from old system and converted it into new numbers. So mixing old levels with new ones makes it .... well not that realistic anymore, because most of levels you have now are still from old system. If levels would reset (i'm not saying they should, just giving an example here), then we would all start from scratch and only earn levels by doing well in game and winning battles.

[RedRoach]

Why can't we have both?

Reaaalllllyy slow exp gain for playing normally (like just add a huge-ass x.05 multiplier on normal exp earned from matches so 20 matches turns into 1000 matches) and give Achivements high amounts of exp in addition to their current rewards.

That way, if you really, really, REALLY care about this game, but can't get achiveos because you have no skills, you have a slow way of crawiling up top, and at the same time, promotes actually earning skills for achiveos to get your levels.