I was thinking the other night about how we introduce new players into AH...Think of this like the ever-present "student driver" sticker seen on cars, only in this case, we're talking about "student flier" badges!
Over the past months, I've seen commentary about how newbies are relentlessly killed, have no idea how to fly, etc. But how do we identify a newbie? How do we know who's on the other side of that red target/icon? We typically don't. Now if I see an F4U-1A or F4U-1C killin' all my squaddies, I know it's probably Rud3Boi - a skilled player. But if I see some dude continually upping in an F4U to be vulched seconds later...I'll bet it's someone who doesn't know the game or is just not savvy to the mechanics. Could be a new player who gets frustrated and leaves.
In many other games, there are ways to distinguish skill levels or to identify areas which are safer than others. Take Clash of Clans for example. When you enter a match, you're paired with someone close to your level. You don't take a Level 6 castle with a player rank of 1200 and pair them against a Level 11 castle with 3600 ranking. Just wouldn't be fair at all. For another more complex example, look at Eve Online. Snowflakes and cargo ships can stay in the High Security (Hi-Sec) space with a rating between 0.5-1.0, and in those zones, there's a police protective force that will intervene if one players aggros/attacks another. Below 0.5 it becomes less safe, and in 0.0 you're in null-sec, no-man/woman's land. Spoiler alert, it takes a lot more experience to survive in low-sec or null-sec space.
In AH we have none of that. We have a ranking system accessible through the roster, which is pretty much good for 2 things: 1) bragging rights, and 2) looking up the guy who killed you 'after' it happened, to see how well-ranked they are.
Which brings me to the Wishlist/Suggestion. This is not perfect and I welcome community [strikethrough]flaming[/strikethrough], I mean "input."
How about a change to the AH icons system (*audible gasp!*). Instead of just seeing 190 at 2.5K... what if it showed some signifier of skill. For example, if your in-game rank is between 1 - 300 it shows a special star or dollar sign or something, like *190* or $190$ This would denote a skilled player. And perhaps if you're a new/unskilled player, there could be a set of arrows to bracket it like <190>. Additionally, it could be applied to any player who's only been an active in-game ID for 30 days or 60 days. Or maybe just even the free 14 day trial period. Better yet, now that I think of it, maybe the 14-day trial folks get a special icon like T-190-T to denote a trial period player
This proposal would also have to come with some etiquette reminder. Almost like the message of the day. It would NOT PROHIBIT a green engaging a red player, but it would encourage the skilled/well-ranked players from continually vulching or pillaging someone who's been in the game just a month or 2. In fact, it could even encourage cooperation from the veterans who see a friendly with T-190-T. Perhaps this provides the "social" tool we need to quickly identify new players and bring them up to speed. Instead of seeing them in a seemingly endless ball of flaming, hulking metal and then they rage quit when it's just not worth trying any more.
Ok, so that's the outline of the idea: provide a way to identify trial players to all, and perhaps provide a way to show who the real sharks are?! I can hear the arguments now - "what are we? snowflakes?!" and "trial by fire is the best, I prefer them charred and crispy, not medium rare."
My point is: this game is amazing, but it is a steep cliff to learn to play, stick with it, and find a good squad to enjoy the experience all the more. Let's come up with ideas for how to HELP new folks get their feet under them and stick with it. This community is amazing, but it can't afford to keep letting folks walk off in droves when they can't even get up in the air. Ok, grievances are open! FIGHT!
