Hey there.

I do agree matchmaking requires tweaking. I also think that on a separate note, a new player experience cannot be integrated properly into a PvP only environment. Like in EVE, a new player has to be guided through in a controlled way, teaching him the UI, shooting basics, hacking, vehicles, etc. but this can only be done in a controlled manner through a PvE environment, for which there is none. Until then, whatever they try to code together is a stop-gap measure only and new players that get brutally proto-stomped (as you describe quite well) and leave will sadly be a feature for some time to come.

I think they did fix match making, but donGÇÖt have enough people in the system to make it work properly on off hours, so they had to relax all the settings to prevent really long que times.

I think that as you alluded to, PVE will be part of the fix. Partly because it will give new players something to do other than getting proto stomped, and partly because if new players have something to do other than getting proto stomped DUST will have a higher player retention, leading to a higher player count, which will lead to there being enough players on for CCP to crank up the settings on the match maker system again.

I'm a great believer in PVE saving newberries from the stompfest, but I'm afraid I disagree with your assessment that matchmaking has been fixed.

I regularly see teams with multiple squads and proto gear against complete newbies. These are not isolated incidents, they are extremely common, and I see it almost every time I play.

I'm a great believer in PVE saving newberries from the stompfest, but I'm afraid I disagree with your assessment that matchmaking has been fixed.

I regularly see teams with multiple squads and proto gear against complete newbies. These are not isolated incidents, they are extremely common, and I see it almost every time I play.

Exactly ... if the matchmaking was constantly putting 6 v 15 then okay thats due to a lack of players but when the teams are 16 v 16 and there are 2 squads of people with 15m sp + on 1 side and 16 randoms of guys with 2m sp and below then that is a matchmaking issue not seperating players in a balanced manner

it really shouldn;t be that difficult to stick the 2 squads of guys with 15m sp + on DIFFERENT teams and then fill the other spots with randoms .. that would make the matches alot more balanced

Sadly CCP don't seem to be able to understand that logic lol

The example in my OP is a rare occurance just like when you have 1 team full of players v 0 enemies .. the real issue is putting 2 squads of proto's on 1 team v none on the other

Hey there.

I do agree matchmaking requires tweaking. I also think that on a separate note, a new player experience cannot be integrated properly into a PvP only environment. Like in EVE, a new player has to be guided through in a controlled way, teaching him the UI, shooting basics, hacking, vehicles, etc. but this can only be done in a controlled manner through a PvE environment, for which there is none. Until then, whatever they try to code together is a stop-gap measure only and new players that get brutally proto-stomped (as you describe quite well) and leave will sadly be a feature for some time to come.

Academy needs to be much MUCH longer. To the tune of 100,000 WP. CCP was experimenting and communicating they were going to keep tweaking the numbers, where did they settle? I built an alt when academy first came out and I heard about vets trolling the academy with tanks.

I built an AV alt to troll the trolls. So many tank kills that week:)

The WP requirement was 10k at that point and way too short.

But the fear of trolls in academy due to the high WP requirement shouldn't be a deterrent. On top of that, reward them for completing with 500k SP. By then they may know enough about the skill tree to correct some early mistakes. It also makes them starting over to correct their mistakes more appealing.

I don't think a merc should hit the real pub matches until they have upwards of 2mil SP.

Maybe additional checkpoint audio tool tips at different WP milestones also.

"You now have 50k WP are are halfway through your training. Are you working together with your team? Are you constantly running in a squad? Remember, battle will get much tougher when you get out of training"