I am begging, please add minimum level requirements to pilot...

[DJ Logicalia]

Hey, I'm too lazy to write a big response to everythibg, but I thought I'd leak some insider info from muse, as I think it's relevant

Muse is indeed planning major, much needed improvements to the tutorial system and making the tutorial mandatory before jumping right into public matches. With any luck, that'll help some of these issues

[Lianxiang Ban]

I am still a novice. I have had fine matches with fellow novices as captains and less fine ones. The hardest part, assuming no one is conducting themselves in a morally repugnant way, was simply waiting round for ages in the matchmaker and the case of uncommunicative shipmates (especially the pilot, of course). Losing didn't really matter to me if everyone was communicating and trying; after all, we were all newbies. (If my experience is representative, it's just over 50/50 anyway, not an endless morass of defeat.)

I'm very confused by the post by Maximilian Jazzhand about novice matches not being default for new players. I am pretty sure my game defaulted to novice matches, although I won't refuse to consider the possibility that I ticked a box myself. (Actually, I don't know what's meant by "server browse" at all, which means I've completely missed something!)

[Hypnopotamus Rex]

I don't really mind novice captains much - I mean, as long as they've done the tutorial.
With or without veteran help, it's pretty much trial and error. You've all gone through the same thing, put yourself in their shoes and think about how they'd feel about being stigmatised as new pilots.

[nanoduckling]

No matter how many in here complain about novices flying, acting entitled to wreck novices, stack them, and not teach them is inapprorpriate at any time.

Dilley'B your heart is in the right place, but you haven't made an argument for this position, and lecturing people about their obligations without actually providing a compelling argument for those obligations is really, really likely to piss them off.

Where does this obligation come from? The game will have problems if experienced players don't teach novices, sure. That doesn't mean there is an obligation on more experienced players. Obligations can be created in various ways, for example Muse could be paying people to teach novices, that would certainly imply an obligation. Is Muse paying more experienced players to teach? Have more experienced players given some commitment to teach? Why was I not invited to that super secret meeting? Were there doughnuts at this super secret meeting?

When I created a clan specifically for teaching novices you could certainly argue I created an obligation for myself to teach them as long as I kept it going, but that is hardly the universal obligation you are talking about. I would suggest it is in most experienced players best interest to teach novices as best we can, but again that isn't an obligation.

As for stacking, a few things would help there. One is not splitting ships when they are returned to matchmaker. Another would be the option to have a lobby without scramble. If I'm playing with 6 friends then I want to play with those six friends. I'm happy for the MM to throw me into a tough game, but I want to play with my friends. Given my win/loss statistics in competitive I don't think the accusation that I'm playing the game for the winning high is going to stick.

Otherwise, some folks have said that locking pilot for 100 matches is excessive. If it were a hard lock (one which couldn't be unlocked with minimal effort) I would agree. In fact I think any hard lock would be excessive and as I suggested, unfair on people who buy the 4-packs. The point is to establish the idea in the novices mind that being a pilot is taking on responsibilities. I've flown under pilots with 60 matches that were more fun to fly with than ones with 600 because they embraced that responsibility, but at the moment you are asking Joe Q. Public to think unprompted and while entertaining fantasies of sky pirating, good luck with that.

Blackened has said that novice behaviour isn't as bad as some make out, I think that depends on where we are talking. I rarely have problems with novice engineers. Most seem to pick that role because they figure it will be the best one to start out with. Novice gunners are usually okay so long as you only get one of them, generally because most of the time the only thing a novice gunner needs to do to not irritate me is shoot the thing I tell them to with the gun I tell them to. Novice pilots on the other hand, I'd say 70% are a problem. To test this I made a note of what players irritated me and in what positions for an evening play session. 7 games total so not the greatest sample size. One novice engineer ignored their pilot, one novice gunner ignored their pilot, and six out of ten novice pilots ignored the advice they were given by co-pilots or experienced crew. Of course there is a bit of selection bias here, I was engineering and it hard to act like a idiot ignoring orders if the pilot isn't giving any as was often the case, but I really think that is beside the point.

So Blackened may have a point, maybe we don't have an asshat novice problem. Maybe, and I say this as a pilot and noted asshat myself, the pilots slot attracts asshats and that distorts our view of the novices. I still don't think that changes the fact that there is a problem here which could do with addressing.

[Schwalbe]

(Actually, I don't know what's meant by "server browse" at all, which means I've completely missed something!)

Seek the Custom Matches button in menu you use to enter the hell of matchmaker. Since some time it actually shows quite a few matches, instead of only those your friends or CAs are in, as it used to be for a looooong, looooong time.

Muse is indeed planning major, much needed improvements to the tutorial system and making the tutorial mandatory before jumping right into public matches. With any luck, that'll help some of these issues

Gullible me would say "Thank fuck for that!". I'm not gullible, so I'll just sit by the river, and watch the bodies flow.

[DoubleMDownie]

I am still a novice.

Sorry but you are actually not considered a Novice. Once a player surpasses level 7 on any class you are not a Novice any more.  You may have many low levels but you arnt a Novice.   

[Red-Xiii]

My argument on obligation to teach instead of wreck novice pilots goes only to those that want to expand the player base and elongate the game itself for as long as possible.  And seeing as most high level folks enjoy the game and keep coming back, it seems that is just the next logical step that needs to be taken in such a small player base.  Playing the same people over and over cant be the future of the game can it?  You may not have signed up to be the handy helper, but is it not implied by your participation in this game? 

The same people that want to play this game hardcore can also be killing it by getting tired of helping.  Take a break.  Step away.  But come back and try and help a few times here and there.  I find way too much stacking.  I know this.  Doesnt matter that Im writing this when I saw 3 games earlier 3v3 with every high level on one side and the highest on the other was 14.  Its gonna happen sometimes.  I'm just saying it shouldnt.  Helping in chat isnt the same as helping during the game.  Ill get off my soapbox now.  I see these things in game and I guess I want badly for this game to be above the rest of the garbage out there.  There's a certain feeling you get when you are behind the wheel and in the skies with your crew that denotes extreme responsibility in a game.  I like the idea of that responsibility to be with the community as well. 

[BlackenedPies]

Stacked lobbies are the biggest problem in pub matches and I know only a handful of captains who actively try to balance lobbies. Lobbies are intimidating and there's a lot of pressure on captains. The norm is to avoid challenge because of the fear of defeat.

I've heard complaints about Rydr stacking matches. I can't attest to the past but in my experience Rydr is the single best clan at balancing matches. It comes down to confidence and accepting defeat which I hope more players will do.

A partial solution might be a balance lobby button like the Ready button for captains. If half of the captains press it the lobby is balanced based on MMR. In the meantime use the Swap Ship button and show that you mean business.

[Solidusbucket]

Part of the problem with the swap ship button is the other captains do not accept it.

I cannot remember the last time I successfully swapped ships.

I personally like a challenge and unless I am trying to practice my teamwork capabilities I will happily swap ships.

[Ightrril]

If you private message whoever you are trying to swap with and explain to them why you're swapping (balance reasons) and how to accept it (notifications tab, upper left) then they are far, far more likely to accept. If that doesn't get a response you can also talk to them in whole lobby chat and explain. Mentioning that they stay with their crew as well helps.
I've found that, trying all of the above, swaps are successful almost all the time. Usually a request and them PM is all you need though.

[BlackenedPies]

Swaps are usually successful if you explain it. Players often don't notice the notification so one idea is a pop-up message similar to recommended loadouts. There's currently no limit for spamming swap requests so it should work like recommended loadouts with Accept/Decline and a 30 second timer.

[Lu Lu]

Well, as a mid-level pilot, i must say there is a critical lacking in the tutorial, and in reality, the only way to get better is to get actual in game practice, but frankly, no amount of in game experience as a pilot will compensate for ignorance of how the component systems work. There is little skill required (relatively) in moving a ship, but a lot of skill required in understanding when to charge, when to flee, hold back and etc.  You simply as just a pilot cannot hope to understand weapon arcs component durability  and how to save/destroy just by flying around.

My 2 cents at least.

[Arturo Sanchez]

My argument on obligation to teach instead of wreck novice pilots goes only to those that want to expand the player base and elongate the game itself for as long as possible.  And seeing as most high level folks enjoy the game and keep coming back, it seems that is just the next logical step that needs to be taken in such a small player base.  Playing the same people over and over cant be the future of the game can it?  You may not have signed up to be the handy helper, but is it not implied by your participation in this game? 

The same people that want to play this game hardcore can also be killing it by getting tired of helping.  Take a break.  Step away.  But come back and try and help a few times here and there.  I find way too much stacking.  I know this.  Doesnt matter that Im writing this when I saw 3 games earlier 3v3 with every high level on one side and the highest on the other was 14.  Its gonna happen sometimes.  I'm just saying it shouldnt.  Helping in chat isnt the same as helping during the game.  Ill get off my soapbox now.  I see these things in game and I guess I want badly for this game to be above the rest of the garbage out there.  There's a certain feeling you get when you are behind the wheel and in the skies with your crew that denotes extreme responsibility in a game.  I like the idea of that responsibility to be with the community as well.

Anyone consider the fact that veteran retention goes down with every sale? You know the people that LOVE this game? Why is this whole thing catering to a bunch of nobodies that are nothing more than extra pocket change for muse?

[Squidslinger Gilder]

My argument on obligation to teach instead of wreck novice pilots goes only to those that want to expand the player base and elongate the game itself for as long as possible.  And seeing as most high level folks enjoy the game and keep coming back, it seems that is just the next logical step that needs to be taken in such a small player base.  Playing the same people over and over cant be the future of the game can it?  You may not have signed up to be the handy helper, but is it not implied by your participation in this game? 

The same people that want to play this game hardcore can also be killing it by getting tired of helping.  Take a break.  Step away.  But come back and try and help a few times here and there.  I find way too much stacking.  I know this.  Doesnt matter that Im writing this when I saw 3 games earlier 3v3 with every high level on one side and the highest on the other was 14.  Its gonna happen sometimes.  I'm just saying it shouldnt.  Helping in chat isnt the same as helping during the game.  Ill get off my soapbox now.  I see these things in game and I guess I want badly for this game to be above the rest of the garbage out there.  There's a certain feeling you get when you are behind the wheel and in the skies with your crew that denotes extreme responsibility in a game.  I like the idea of that responsibility to be with the community as well.

Anyone consider the fact that veteran retention goes down with every sale? You know the people that LOVE this game? Why is this whole thing catering to a bunch of nobodies that are nothing more than extra pocket change for muse?

More like with every sale comes a huge patch that either breaks or adds something that veterans hate. Although I do know a few who refuse to play during sales because they can't stand the clientele that the game gets.

[Byron Cavendish]

My argument on obligation to teach instead of wreck novice pilots goes only to those that want to expand the player base and elongate the game itself for as long as possible.  And seeing as most high level folks enjoy the game and keep coming back, it seems that is just the next logical step that needs to be taken in such a small player base.  Playing the same people over and over cant be the future of the game can it?  You may not have signed up to be the handy helper, but is it not implied by your participation in this game? 

The same people that want to play this game hardcore can also be killing it by getting tired of helping.  Take a break.  Step away.  But come back and try and help a few times here and there.  I find way too much stacking.  I know this.  Doesnt matter that Im writing this when I saw 3 games earlier 3v3 with every high level on one side and the highest on the other was 14.  Its gonna happen sometimes.  I'm just saying it shouldnt.  Helping in chat isnt the same as helping during the game.  Ill get off my soapbox now.  I see these things in game and I guess I want badly for this game to be above the rest of the garbage out there.  There's a certain feeling you get when you are behind the wheel and in the skies with your crew that denotes extreme responsibility in a game.  I like the idea of that responsibility to be with the community as well.

Anyone consider the fact that veteran retention goes down with every sale? You know the people that LOVE this game? Why is this whole thing catering to a bunch of nobodies that are nothing more than extra pocket change for muse?

More like with every sale comes a huge patch that either breaks or adds something that veterans hate. Although I do know a few who refuse to play during sales because they can't stand the clientele that the game gets.