War points is a good starting point, but I think allocated SP will need to be used as well. The reasoning behind this is that a veteran could easily let an avatar sit for some time just to accrue SP, then go Proto, while technically having acquired no WP. They would still deeply unbalance the new player experience.

Good news ! Especially the part regarding working on a more strict matchmaking based on SP.

Until then, a tighten playerbase for new players doesnt sound like a bad idea. Just be very informative about it in game ! Maybe add a new screen tutorial when first launching the battle finder. And an auto in game email when a player is over the WP limit for playing this Instant Battle Academy.

Oh and another question,may have been asked already though : A new player can join a squad of vets and go into regular instant battles. Does it work the other way around ? Can a 100% noob create a squad, invite 5 proto and take them into Academy fights ? IF yes, then this is not going to work.... Worse it could end up with even worse stomping than we have now.

Good news ! Especially the part regarding working on a more strict matchmaking based on SP.

Until then, a tighten playerbase for new players doesnt sound like a bad idea. Just be very informative about it in game ! Maybe add a new screen tutorial when first launching the battle finder. And an auto in game email when a player is over the WP limit for playing this Instant Battle Academy.

Oh and another question,may have been asked already though : A new player can join a squad of vets and go into regular instant battles. Does it work the other way around ? Can a 100% noob create a squad, invite 5 proto and take them into Academy fights ? IF yes, then this is not going to work.... Worse it could end up with even worse stomping than we have now.

New players can play with veterans in the normal queues using squads but it does not work the other way around. Veterans players will not be able to join the academy queue battles at all.

After reading soooo many posts I am more for a dual qualifier as some have suggested. Meaning that Gear is limited to basic in one setting and Advanced in another setting.

While the skill gaps will still be there. At least so will the gear limit. Skills add a buff so perhaps a gear and SP level.

Basic/5mil
ADV/10mil

and just a Basic gear for fun.

I like these ideas, I think some very great posts are here with a lot of information to comb through. Good luck CCP, I hope you find a solution to address so many points.

To go proto through only passive SP would take roughly 7 months of waiting using passive boosters the entire time. That's almost a year without boosters.

After reading soooo many posts I am more for a dual qualifier as some have suggested. Meaning that Gear is limited to basic in one setting and Advanced in another setting.

While the skill gaps will still be there. At least so will the gear limit. Skills add a buff so perhaps a gear and SP level.

Basic/5mil
ADV/10mil

and just a Basic gear for fun.

I like these ideas, I think some very great posts are here with a lot of information to comb through. Good luck CCP, I hope you find a solution to address so many points.

So? It's completely free. Also, they don't have wait all the way to Proto to be disruptive, and don't underestimate the desire of the internet scum to grief on new players.

Awesome idea guys. I think anything over 3 million sp should have given them enough time for learning the game and have a decent suit too.

On the subject of matchmaking, I have 2 suggestions.

Match squads against other squads: sometimes you just want to just play by yourself and relax, in those cases being matched against squads provides too much of a challenge to be fun, and too little challenge for the squad. If I'm just playing by myself, don't match me against a full squad of some elite corp.

Match players based on ALLOCATED SP: 1 million (allocated) SP or below players get thrown in one battle, 2 million SP and below players get thrown in another battle, etc. Right now I'm saving my SP before specializing so I'm still using militia starter fits, and I keep getting matched with people with prototype weapons and prototype specialized dropsuits; not a pleasant experience at all. Playing against these highly specialized players is too much of a challenge for most, and not enough of a challenge to the proto wearers.

The instant battle academy is a good start, but I really think basing it off allocated SP would be a really good way to put new players against other new players, and work as a good system for everyone else.

On Tuesday 14th of May we will be enabling a special instant battle queue for new players called the Instant Battle Academy. Entry to these battles will be limited by total war points earned per character and will prevent older players from joining. New players will not be presented with the existing instant battle queues however they can join a squad with veteran players and be pulled into other battles. Faction warfare and planetary conquest battles will also still be available to new players.

This is a first step at improving the new player experience. We are also working on a vastly improved matchmaking system which is designed to better separate players based on their actual skill level instead of just isolating new players. We will hopefully be rolling that out in an expansion later this year.

You may notice I have not mentioned the exact criteria for being a new player and I am very interested in hearing how many skill points, war points, battles or any other metric you would use to determine what constitutes a "newbie". Remember the goal is to give new players enough time to understand the game not necessarily become proficient at it. So if you have any thoughts on that please reply here.