Can you guys use gear score in matchmaking? That'd be great.

The problem with the notion of "move him up on the ladder if he's skilled" is that being good gets punished, not rewarded. Because I played really well in my first 100 games, I'm now stuck at an inflated infamy level where sniper cannons oneshot me, i'm being matched with ships three marks above mine, etc. The point is that it's a really stupid system because I literally get punished for doing well.

 

Wow... so you honestly don't care about the new player experience? I'm willing to bet the devs do whether or not you do. Me personally? I want new players in the game so I'd like to make the new player experience at least somewhat less horrific. What limits the popularity of the game is new players having a bunch of fun battling bots and pretty much the moment they get out of bot land they are faced with what OP (and I) saw.

Insofar as the pace of progression, I found it just about right. This is a deep-skills game and I didn't (and don't) want to be showered with gear beyond what my skills allow. I'm level 32-ish right now in a M5 speeder and I'm in no particular rush to progress. I don't think a bunch of new gear would change my infamy nearly as much as a bunch of new skills.