Junior Member
I posted this in another thread in general discussion, was thinking about it, and decided I should maybe put this up in Suggestions as well.
Currently there is a big hurdle for newer and/or just bad players like myself getting into the game. And that is simply at this point there are a lot of experienced players in the game.
Now, I'm not really complaining, nor is this necessarily about being salty for losing. I'm new-ish, I'm bad, I expect to lose a lot of the time. This is fine if it gives me a chance to learn something, adapt, and in general improve. And I'll give props to 90% of the people I've faced in Duel for being cool, sharing tips and whatnot while they destroy me. I've been having a lot of fun with those even when getting wrecked.
The problem comes up more in 4v4s, however. Now, I know I don't have to play these modes, and could just focus on Duels, and probably will, but who doesn't like those sweet steel and xp rewards, and getting prettier armor and swords for my characters?
Here's the problem though: A number of times, I've been put in teams with all of us are rep 10 or less, and an entire team of high reps. I'm talking that literally their lowest rep player had almost triple the rep of our entire team put together. That's an extreme example of course, but it highlights the trend. In a 4v4, that's not even learning anything, that's just a 1000 - 50 match that's disappointing and frustrating for us lowbies. And look, I know someone will say that rep doesn't always mean skill, and I know that. But let's be honest: If someone has played enough to get to Rep 100, even if they're bad they're gonna have a massive experience advantage over someone who's had it long enough to get Rep 5
That isn't the worst match though. It sucks, but at least it's over quick and you don't feel too bad about it. The worst is when I, as a fresh Rep 5, am put on a team of good players, facing other good players. This is the worst, because not only am I entirely outclassed, I know that I am actively ruining the game for everyone else on my team. If I stay in a match like that, I'm simply there to feed points to the other team, and that isn't a good feeling at all. I'm not just getting taunted by the other team, but I know my own team is actively hoping I keel over and die so they get someone else who might not be awful. This isn't a situation that is fun for anyone except the opposite team.
Again, I'm not trying to be salty about losing. Losing is part of the game. I can easily accept that. But I really, REALLY don't like feeling like I basically screwed up a game for 3 other people. That's all my point is. So that's why I'm suggestion an option for low-rep matches. Give newer players a chance to learn with each other instead of just getting curb stomped by experienced players, or ruin their enjoyment of the game too.
Senior Member
Community Manager
Thanks. I believe I may have responded to your other thread, but I do totally empathize with your point about sometimes being the obviously weaker link in a game. We're working on matchmaking improvements, so hopefully this becomes less of a problem over time as we work towards making games more fair and balanced between players - that way it's more fun too!
As for your suggestion for a queue for low-rep players, I'll make note of it, but I wouldn't be too discouraged even when you don't feel your among peers of your skill level. The best times to grow and learn are when you're out of your comfort zone and you're being pushed to improve - as long as you aren't feeding your face off, a bit of underperformance usually won't be the sole determining factor for deciding a match.Hopefully that makes you feel a bit better when you feel like you've been matched out of your league.
Junior Member
Oh I definitely agree with that. Like I said, I'm not exactly discouraged, and in Duels I honestly don't mind when I'm outclassed. That is a situation you can learn in. You get your butt kicked, but most of the people I've faced on Duel were either cool with at least chatting between rounds and a lot have given good tips. I'm all for that. Being out of my comfort zone and fighting people better than me is exactly how you learn.
It's sort of why I was specifically mentioning the 4v4 games. The 'arn't feeding your face off' line is the problem. Even if I'm not intentionally doing it, I am doing it when I'm thrown into games with people that much more experienced than me. Like even if I try to avoid the group fights and just cap points in Dominion or something, that's still leaving my team at a massive disadvantage if the teams are otherwise balanced other than me, because I'm either not there for team fights, so we're always at a 3v4 in them, or I'm trying to help and getting sideswiped during the ruck and not helping anyways. It's sort of a catch-22 in the 4v4 modes, damned if I do and damned if I don't. And let's also face it: Dominion especially basically turns into a gank-squadding very quickly, there isn't much you can learn from having 4 people significantly better at the game kicking your head open in a few seconds, every time. Heck, I don't even know if theres much you can do about that in games with people around your own skill, but I feel at least there might be some small chance of getting out alive in that situation.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every match is like this. But it's happened often enough that I am getting discouraged away from those game modes, which isn't necessarily a bad thing I admit, Duel is a lot of fun. But Dominion rewards are better, and while I know Rep isn't the be-all-end-all of the game, I do like the pretty armor and weapons we get at higher reps. I'm all about fashion.And maybe that is the point, and I should be considering that more, that Dominion is supposed to be a more advanced game-mode or something and I should be spending more time in duels getting all the basics and some advanced stuff down before I jump in, but... Eh. I don't know. This paragraph is basically all just random thoughts,
Thank you for the response UbiNoty. I realize there are a lot of things being worked on, so I do really appreciate the time you took to read this. I just wanted to make the suggestion. I think a lot of us less-experienced players really wouldn't mind waiting around a little longer for games if it meant we would be put in ones closer to our skill level, because hey, as much as I don't mind losing, winning every now and then wouldn't hurt nothin' either for the ol' ego, y'know?
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