Novice matches are still very much a thing. However the system changed somewhat because a lot of new players would uncheck Novice because they thought they knew better, or they felt offended that their mlg 360no scope skills were defined as novice. So the Novice system was changed to be more fluid, you start as a Novice player, all default matches searched for are novice matches. However novice is only till level 7, once you reach level 8 on a single class (which does not take long for people who hit achievements) you'll no longer be considered a novice, and you can easily turn off novice in a variety of ways, such as editing the ship loadout, or "unlocking" one of the locked ships... (Galleon for example.) when unlocking these, you're given a pop up to ask if you're sure you want to unlock from novice status, most people will click accept without second thought about it, especially if they've been told a suggested ship loadout by a friend.
My opinion on 4v4...
Yes it can be tough and long going, but more often than not I find a player who quits mid 4v4 will be smart enough to search for games of their own preferences, and as Blackenedpies said, I too have had great fun in 4v4 matches and lobbies, I've also seen commendable attempts to fill 4v4 lobbies by players! Sending messages in global, asking other lobby members to join invite their friends etc and not impatiently but a level 3 guy saying "Come on everyone, invite your friends! Its not fair he has AI on his ship!"
Then getting into the match, 4v4 death matches always prove themselves more than just a brawl, any who impatiently storm in without allies find themselves in difficult situations.
Encourage communication with the captains, coerce them to charge at the same time, send the faster ships through the sides and the tankier ships in position with less cover to draw fire for some nice flanking. Or play defensive, a line of ships not separating is a very tough opponent to take on and requires strong communication to have a shot at getting past.
Yes you make a point that it can be daunting for new players to end up in larger lobbies, but equally newer players going to a large battle with a lot of other players helps silence the un-just statements that the game is "dead" simply because there are not 10,000 players online at one time.
