I think all of the suggestions for the community to do a better job of looking after new players would work, but won't happen.
New players quit because it is too hard, and takes too long for them to have success, any success. People will only put up with futility for so long. The training arena doesn't work as a learning tool because it does not create the thrill of success. People coming to a game, to discover it, want it to be fun right away. Yes folks could learn in the training arena, but they're not going to forgo action for training, that feels too much like work. The MA provides the action and thrill they are looking for, but it doesn't satisfy their desire for success and victory, because they get pounded by the overwhelming number of veteran players.
So how do you combine the thrill and fun of the MA, with the learning experience of the TA, in an environment where newbs can actually win and have the success that will keep them interested?
I think a New Player arena would help.
The New Player arena would be a small map and would have good action if anywhere from 6-30 folks where logged on it. The newb arena locks out veterans except for certified trainers. The trainers are there to fly around and explain how things work. The trainers guns are like TA guns [hits but no damage]. Newb's guns are live.
Keeping it staffed with 2 to three trainers is all that would be required. Trainers fly around with/against 6 to 30 players shooting and getting hits, giving tips on the fly, etc. The trainers get a new radio function: Enemy Range Channel. This would let the trainers talk to enemies in Icon range.
In the newb arena, newbs fight each other. Early success would now be attainable for all. Trainers will teach them the basics and explain how the game works, how a base is captured, etc.
Whether a newb would have to go through the newb arena is a matter to discuss. I can see it as another arena on the main clipboard. New players can go to the MA, where they would see what playing at a high level looks like. But after getting pounded there, they could opt to go back and start the process against other green pilots with trainers on hand to help. Veteran players would be locked out from the "New Player" arena. Newbs would have score and rank in the New Player arena, just like MA keeps veteran player's scores.
The newbs will learn how to master the view system, basic gunnery, and ACM by fighting each other. And they will have success because the folks they are playing against will make many of the same mistakes they do. They will learn from each other, and the trainers. They will play in an environment where their skill development will lead directly to better success. This will inspire and encourage them, unlike the MA where everything is futile in the beginning, leading to discouragement and quitting.
It's different from the training arena because the training arena is missing the element of success. No one wins in the Training arena, there is no competition. This leads to disinterest and boredom.
It's different from the MA because while the MA creates competition and action, but it denies them success for too long a period of time, so they lose the motivation to keep playing.
When a person reaches a certain point they are no longer newbs, and are locked out of the Newb arena. What that point is can be experimented with, like a time period, a certain rank, completion of set criteria [drop troops and capture a base, kill x-number of AAA guns, shoot down y-number of planes etc, z-number of bombing points]
I've heard the argument before that you only learn from playing against better players. But that only works as an advanced concept for folks looking to move from good to expert. It is a terrible concept for folks with no skill, trying to play a very complex game. Would you teach your son to play football by suiting him up, sending him to Baltimore Raven's training camp and putting him in at QB in a live scrimmage against Ray Lewis.? Of course not. You might want to let him play with folks at his own level for a while.
A New Player arena would work better than the current methods because it would provide a more optimized combination of Action, Learning, and Practicing, attributes over what is currently available in the TA or MA. Think of it as little league baseball of fighter pilots.
