I feel so bad for non-subs

[Jordansc]

I decided to level a pub alt and work on my strike fighter skills at the same time.

 

I keep getting matched against pub teams full of the SAME people I fly with on my tier 4/5 upgraded main.

 

I seriously feel like the practice squad going against the first string team.

 

I get into head to head with anything and I just get torn apart while I do zero dmg. Now some of this could be a learning curve with transitioning from scout to strike. But seriously...they can't be THAT different.

 

If this is what it feels like after only a week of playing. I feel really bad for those who are going to check it out for the first time in Feb.

[DEATHICIDE]

I got real sick 2 days before GSF came out, couldn't play for about 2 weeks, when I finally got on, I found just what I had expected, all the diehards had been playing GSF non stop since launch in an effort to trick out their fav ship with advanced blasters and shields, just to be sure that you got the experience you did.

 

The same can be said for a new FTP, hitting lvl 55 and deciding to go for the sub and dive into warzones, they are going to run into diehards in head to toe augmented endgame PvP gear and get used for target practice.

 

After playing for just a few days, I have earned enough req on my fighter to go from crashing and burning in 2 seconds to being able to get on the top of the scoreboard with said diehards fueled by skills alone.

So it's really not THAT bad, nowhere near as bad as it is to claw your way up the PvP ladder, or get ops gear, and that is something I like about it, and contrary to your experience, I have to give bioware props for this one.

[Itkovian]

Personally I don't really have that issue, both with my Alt or when I fly in my completely unupgraded ships compared to my main tricked out fighter.

 

Sure, I generally don't perform as well as I would if I were in my main ride, but I'll usually still score near the top anyway. This tells me that a big part of our successes are due to practice and skills, rather than the equipment we are using and their upgrades.

 

Granted, it can be painful if I get focused while flying something totally unupgraded.

[Sentryx]

We will see if matchmaking is any better by then. I hear you though. I end up playing pub vs pub on my server most of the time as well and end up against the same people for most matches. Even in a somewhat leveled ship I am completely outclassed by some of these people. I'm far from the worst pilot, in matches where these guys are absent I usually top the charts. But if they show up it's game over, I just get destroyed on a whole new level.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset by it. There are some extremely skilled pilots out there, my hats off to them. It just sucks the joy out of playing when there is that much of a mismatch in skill level.

[rbl_holmes]

It's probably the ship transition for you.

 

I popped a new alt last night and flew with my usual choice of a scout. While I wasn't at the very top of the list I held my ground quite well even for a level 0 ship heheh, and I was flying against folks with upgrades.

 

Like others have said it's probably going to favor practice and skill more than the upgrades.

 

I would chalk it up to learning a new ship. I suck at the strike fighter as I've always played a scout, I just haven't spent enough time learning the strike yet.

[DEATHICIDE]

We will see if matchmaking is any better by then. I hear you though. I end up playing pub vs pub on my server most of the time as well and end up against the same people for most matches. Even in a somewhat leveled ship I am completely outclassed by some of these people. I'm far from the worst pilot, in matches where these guys are absent I usually top the charts. But if they show up it's game over, I just get destroyed on a whole new level.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset by it. There are some extremely skilled pilots out there, my hats off to them. It just sucks the joy out of playing when there is that much of a mismatch in skill level.

 

I totally hear you on this one, but if you aren't an "ace pilot", some things you can keep in mind is that it doesn't take an Ace to do the most important thing in GSF at the moment, capping and holding those bases.

 

Every time you take out a turret, the enemy team scrambles with distraction, your team cheers for you and awesomeness is had by all thanks to mr.bad pilot. Another thing to keep in mind is the best pilots are useless when it becomes a numbers game, so keep your eyes on your MVP's and try and be a good wingman

[SawneyRath]

Personally I don't really have that issue, both with my Alt or when I fly in my completely unupgraded ships compared to my main tricked out fighter.

 

Sure, I generally don't perform as well as I would if I were in my main ride, but I'll usually still score near the top anyway. This tells me that a big part of our successes are due to practice and skills, rather than the equipment we are using and their upgrades.

 

Granted, it can be painful if I get focused while flying something totally unupgraded.

 

This. I am the same way. When I use my stock fighters, I still do fairly well. Of course not as good as my tricked out scout, but my skill as a pilot is much better than on day 1.

 

So yeah, the new people will be at a disadvantage of NOT having had the same length of practice as the rest of us.

[needalight]

As one of the die-hards that bum rushed a fully upgraded first ship, now that I am starting upgrading my second ship I can definitely feel your pain. However it is worth noting that players like me are starting to upgrade our second (or hell even third) ships. Sure there are some players who will only fly one, but imo what I love about mmos (and GSF in particular) is the gear/upgrades progression. The beginning is always rough and challenging, but once you get on par it is quite gratifying.

 

Bit of a digression, might still lightweight apply to the topic though.

 

 

edit:

 

The post above also nails it. GSF certainly has a higher learning curve than ground play and those of us who have logged 100+ matches have a playing advantage because we understand the mechanics and tricks of the trade. In addition we also are experienced with the different components and know which ones are better for respective ships. I wasted a good amount of req on different components for my first ship before I figured out which load out works the best for my play style.

Edited December 13, 2013 by needalight

[Cashal]

I wouldn't worry to much about the "Tricked out" Ships. . . Bioware has already announced that come the February launch date there will be a total of 24 ships to select from.

 

Will this stop the early access from tricking out their existing ships? No. . .

 

But if they want to level their new ships that have no upgrades, the fastest way is to play them.

 

It won't eliminate the problem completely, but I think it will lessen it's impact. I am currently one of the "Die hards" playing and come launch, I will probably be leveling my newer ship as opposed to using my already tricked out one.

 

*Edit* This same arguement was made about PVP and the warzones. . . I think it's just a "Rite of passage" for anyone entering new territory. You will take a few beatings before you can work through it. I know when I Returned from a year absence to pvp, my gear was trash. Got my butt kicked plenty.

Edited December 13, 2013 by Cashal

[AlrikFassbauer]

Matchmaking should imho consider the already spent play time in GSF as well.

[GalacticKegger]

I got real sick 2 days before GSF came out, couldn't play for about 2 weeks, when I finally got on, I found just what I had expected, all the diehards had been playing GSF non stop since launch in an effort to trick out their fav ship with advanced blasters and shields, just to be sure that you got the experience you did.

 

The same can be said for a new FTP, hitting lvl 55 and deciding to go for the sub and dive into warzones, they are going to run into diehards in head to toe augmented endgame PvP gear and get used for target practice.

 

After playing for just a few days, I have earned enough req on my fighter to go from crashing and burning in 2 seconds to being able to get on the top of the scoreboard with said diehards fueled by skills alone.

So it's really not THAT bad, nowhere near as bad as it is to claw your way up the PvP ladder, or get ops gear, and that is something I like about it, and contrary to your experience, I have to give bioware props for this one.

Agreed. Though personally, I think the expansion would have been better served had the release delta between Sub>Preferred>F2P been a week and a half instead of a month. This way everyone could have been mixing it up over the Holidays.

 

GSF is far from perfect or complete as it will see plenty of additions and upgrades in the not too distant future. However while I can't speak to potential server loading concerns, imho it's stable and balanced enough to be playable by all hands as it stands right now.

Edited December 13, 2013 by GalacticKegger

[sentawan]

On thing to remember is that the matchmaking system will work when there is an abundance of both old and new players. So when it goes live for preferred, if there is a bunch of new preferred players... they should get que'd together. Same for when it hits F2P.

[DEATHICIDE]

On thing to remember is that the matchmaking system will work when there is an abundance of both old and new players. So when it goes live for preferred, if there is a bunch of new preferred players... they should get que'd together. Same for when it hits F2P.

 

Currently the wait between pops on the GSF Q is longer than I would like, which tells me one thing, there aren't THAT many of us crazy pilots on at any given time, so when GSF goes to open season, I think you'll find that having a team stacked with aces from early access won't be as common as you'd think

[reclipsed]

On thing to remember is that the matchmaking system will work when there is an abundance of both old and new players. So when it goes live for preferred, if there is a bunch of new preferred players... they should get que'd together. Same for when it hits F2P.

 

unless they do the lame only 5 matches per week junk the ground warzones players have to deal with..

[renegadeimp]

unless they do the lame only 5 matches per week junk the ground warzones players have to deal with..

 

Doubtful. Bw said theyre doing away with the WZ cap in the new year.

[JimG]

By the time Jan. and Feb. releases to preferred and F2P hit, there should be a lot more players with upgraded ships to match against each other. Matchmaking isn't very useful right now as you don't have as many people with maxed out upgrades, so the people with weaker ships are getting mixed in with them for now.