Hard to get a match

[CrossFyre]

I finally got around to trying this game out a couple days ago, and I've yet to even get into a match. I don't want to give up on trying for a novice match just yet, with all I've seen on the forums about newbies in the matchmaker. Is every newbie out there going for advanced matches, or am I just missing a narrow window when novices get on?
Also, any advice you could give to get into the flow of the game would be appreciated. Should I be looking for a clan?

[TeddyBearMafia]

First of all, I would encourage you not to be scared to jump into any match, novice or not, if you are having trouble finding a game otherwise. As long as you are willing to listen and get involved with the teamwork on the ship, you'll likely be fine. GoIO's community can be somewhat daunting to break into, as a number of us have been playing for a long-time, but there are plenty of newer clans and players that still wreck our faces on any given Sunday.

When it comes to looking for a novice match, it would depend heavily on when you are playing - if you're in the off hours, it would be far better to just join a regular match and embrace the imminent chaos even though it'll likely be a little faster paced than a novice match might be. I would say a lot of novices join regular matches - I had one or two tonight playing their first match. Just keep your eyes open and keep asking questions, and it shouldn't take many games for you to get in the hang of things; the ones I encountered did just fine.

Don't feel pressed to join a clan, but do add players that you enjoy playing with and hang around them when you see them online. Some clans, like SAC for instance, are pretty static and slow when it comes to recruitment, while others are very very open and excited to see new faces. That said, no one would likely turn away an eager new face, so don't worry about being rejected despite us being all grumpy on the forums. GoIO truly has one of the best communities of any game I've ever played, and we'd be happy to have you.

[BlackenedPies]

Here's some helpful advice for crewing in guns of icarus

As engineer start off with bringing spanner mallet extinguisher. Eventually you will be bringing chem spray instead of the extinguisher. The other possible loadout is wrench buff.
If you have a relatively easy job like the left gun on a Pyramidion, bring chem spray. Chem spray is superior because it provides you with 25 seconds of immunity.

Gunners should always bring pipe wrenches. It is the most efficient multi tool.

Know what ammos are good for each gun. There's a good forum post about that somewhere...

When you are shooting or rebuilding broken things, click fast.

It's a good tactic to get off your gun every time you reload to chem/repair. If you notice that your gun is damaged immediately get off and repair. There is no point in being on a gun while it reloads especially if you have chem spray or a buff hammer.

Always spot before you shoot. Spotting can be a little laggy so practice bringing up your spyglass, pointing at the ship, and clicking fast. This should all take less than a second. Never shoot an unspotted ship unless they are behind a cloud (spots won't work except if the cloud is flared).

Speaking of spyglasses, always bring a spyglass. Rangefinders are generally useless.

Ask your captain where you will be stationed on the ship. Find a captain who has a plan and gives you a recommended loadout.

It's a lot more fun to play with captains who communicate and have a plan so I'll invite you if I see you're on.

Having a microphone is incredibly useful. Mine was $3 on eBay and works well.

Being pilot is a bit more complicated but if you need any advice we are always happy to help.

[Kamoba]

Match Maker can take time to get people into matches during the non-peak times (10am-3pm GMT) as there will often be about 60-100 players online.
The best thing to do is make friends with the regular players during these times, Myself, Enoch, Erya, Lieutenant Noir are just a few you'll likely bump into during these times add people to your friends list, when you log on check who's online, it'll show their status next to their name, if they're in Lobby they are not waiting for a match. If they're (waiting) try joining their game see if there are space on their ship! if they're (running) do the same, you may just be the stroke of luck between two AI in a lost match and the fire fighter with Chem to save the day!
Another thing you can do, from the main screen press Play then Custom Matches, it'll show lobbies friends are inside allowing you to join if there is room! Do this during off peak times and you'll find matches almost instantly. (though you may need to un-novice to do that.)

Failing all of that, start your own 2v2 custom lobby this gives you some options of maps to play on then open the lobby upto to people waiting in the queue, I find this is often faster than waiting for match maker and will bring people your own level to you before higher levels.

Keep doing this, be friendly and chatty l, but also play the game (too much talk often leads to more explosions and broken components:( ) and you'll soon find yourself making friends who will start inviting you to games as soon as you log in

Another tip, if it truly is too hard to find a game, take a ship into practice mode and practice shooting on guns you don't often use, practice shooting training dummies with a Hades and a Lumberjack and when you've got the hang of using these two advanced guns and know what damage they do start requesting higher level pilots if you can use that gun, if you play as a gunner and request a Hades it shows you're either good, or willing to be good.
As said before as well, read about ammos, infact don't be scared to read about it all!

Lastly..

Welcome to the community!