Here's my experience so far:
Played ED since release. Took, maybe a year away, then got into it in spurts of a few months here and there. Recently tried Arena / CQC for the first time three days ago. (Not unfamiliar with piloting sims -- been gaming since the 1980s. Played the original Elite on C64. Using a HOTAS setup, very customized. No stranger to space combat games, and I adore Elite's flight model.) So, how did CQC go?
Day 1:
Absolutely fun! I was able to dive in using the default Condor, and everything felt great. Played against people from rank 1-50. Even won 3 matches. Was going about 1:1 KDR in standard Deathmatch. (Tried to get into a Team Deathmatch, but there were none. Waited over 10 minutes at one point, then just gave up.) Came in 2nd a number of times! And that was in busy matches with 5-8 people. Felt good, especially for someone that appreciates the flying mechanics and knows how to take advantage of them.
Day 2:
Couldn't initially find any matches at all. Then, a few hours later, I started getting matches with the same few people. Let me simply say: the experience had turned 180° since the previous day. People would insta-kill out of nowhere (less than 5 full seconds time-to-kill in several cases). People could have their shields hammered by either my pulse lasers (Condor default) or burts lasers (Gu-97 default) without ever losing a ring. Nailed one dude in another Gu-97 repeatedly for a good 10-12 solid, consecutive hits. His shields' outer ring never even went into red. One player in a match of 6 people won in under 90 seconds with an 8-0 score flying either a Condor or Gu-97 -- couldn't even tell. I never actually found him and he never killed me. No one else even got an assist.
Day 3:
That's today. Logged on, found only a handful of matches, and these same few people were back. Insta-killing, no damage being taken (or it's wildly reduced), and I had a guy in an Eagle outmaneuver my Gu-97 repeatedly. He simply sat there and tracked me by just spinning in place. And I was moving tight-in on him using lateral thrusters. (I wish I had a video of that one...but I decided to start recording immediately after that happened.)
So, I fired up my recording software, and got a 23 minute vid of what was going on today. Thing is, I'm not sure it's worth sending in. Nothing that I've ever taken the time to address in the past has ever received more than a "Thank you -- we're looking into it." Then: absolutely nothing.
One of two things must be the case:
1.) We have players abusing the system like crazy.
2.) There are valid ship builds that are wildly imbalanced against new players.
If the former -- how? The population for Arena is almost non-existent from what I've seen. I'll often wait over 3 muinutes for a normal Deathmatch, and then log in with only 2 players. How can even potential cheating not be seen and dealt with? I'm tempted to say this is the case simply because of my experience on Day 1. We're talking night-and-day difference within 24 hours. I've not seen a match like I had on Day 1, nor ANY of the players I encountered then -- except for those unnamed few I see all the time. Totally curious...and totally a coincidence...absolutely...I know.
If the latter -- really??? People think it's a good idea to "challenge" new players by landing them in matches to face shields they literally cannot shoot through...ships that they literally cannot keep in their sights for more than a second at a time (because maneuverability specs make it impossible)...and facing weapons that can cut through their shields and bring their hull to zero in <5 seconds. Before they even notice the almost invisible hit indicators? Not that that matters much, because when these ships are encountered, seeing it simply means you watch it drop in under 5 seconds, and there's still nothing you can do if you're not already headed behind cover.
Is the goal to make any, potential player base feel so frustrated and trolled that they're driven off in only days?
Is it to discourage people with questionable play, followed by almost universally toxic chat? (That's the only chat I've ever seen appear in three days.)
Is this mode designed to be simply ignored and discarded?
Played ED since release. Took, maybe a year away, then got into it in spurts of a few months here and there. Recently tried Arena / CQC for the first time three days ago. (Not unfamiliar with piloting sims -- been gaming since the 1980s. Played the original Elite on C64. Using a HOTAS setup, very customized. No stranger to space combat games, and I adore Elite's flight model.) So, how did CQC go?
Day 1:
Absolutely fun! I was able to dive in using the default Condor, and everything felt great. Played against people from rank 1-50. Even won 3 matches. Was going about 1:1 KDR in standard Deathmatch. (Tried to get into a Team Deathmatch, but there were none. Waited over 10 minutes at one point, then just gave up.) Came in 2nd a number of times! And that was in busy matches with 5-8 people. Felt good, especially for someone that appreciates the flying mechanics and knows how to take advantage of them.
Day 2:
Couldn't initially find any matches at all. Then, a few hours later, I started getting matches with the same few people. Let me simply say: the experience had turned 180° since the previous day. People would insta-kill out of nowhere (less than 5 full seconds time-to-kill in several cases). People could have their shields hammered by either my pulse lasers (Condor default) or burts lasers (Gu-97 default) without ever losing a ring. Nailed one dude in another Gu-97 repeatedly for a good 10-12 solid, consecutive hits. His shields' outer ring never even went into red. One player in a match of 6 people won in under 90 seconds with an 8-0 score flying either a Condor or Gu-97 -- couldn't even tell. I never actually found him and he never killed me. No one else even got an assist.
Day 3:
That's today. Logged on, found only a handful of matches, and these same few people were back. Insta-killing, no damage being taken (or it's wildly reduced), and I had a guy in an Eagle outmaneuver my Gu-97 repeatedly. He simply sat there and tracked me by just spinning in place. And I was moving tight-in on him using lateral thrusters. (I wish I had a video of that one...but I decided to start recording immediately after that happened.)
So, I fired up my recording software, and got a 23 minute vid of what was going on today. Thing is, I'm not sure it's worth sending in. Nothing that I've ever taken the time to address in the past has ever received more than a "Thank you -- we're looking into it." Then: absolutely nothing.
One of two things must be the case:
1.) We have players abusing the system like crazy.
2.) There are valid ship builds that are wildly imbalanced against new players.
If the former -- how? The population for Arena is almost non-existent from what I've seen. I'll often wait over 3 muinutes for a normal Deathmatch, and then log in with only 2 players. How can even potential cheating not be seen and dealt with? I'm tempted to say this is the case simply because of my experience on Day 1. We're talking night-and-day difference within 24 hours. I've not seen a match like I had on Day 1, nor ANY of the players I encountered then -- except for those unnamed few I see all the time. Totally curious...and totally a coincidence...absolutely...I know.
If the latter -- really??? People think it's a good idea to "challenge" new players by landing them in matches to face shields they literally cannot shoot through...ships that they literally cannot keep in their sights for more than a second at a time (because maneuverability specs make it impossible)...and facing weapons that can cut through their shields and bring their hull to zero in <5 seconds. Before they even notice the almost invisible hit indicators? Not that that matters much, because when these ships are encountered, seeing it simply means you watch it drop in under 5 seconds, and there's still nothing you can do if you're not already headed behind cover.
Is the goal to make any, potential player base feel so frustrated and trolled that they're driven off in only days?
Is it to discourage people with questionable play, followed by almost universally toxic chat? (That's the only chat I've ever seen appear in three days.)
Is this mode designed to be simply ignored and discarded?
