Confessions from a noob ball group player, and my lowly opinions on rewarding players for learning

cdobratz

So as you can see from the title, I am a pretty new player. I started towards the back end of 1.6 and had my first v16 the second or third week of IC. When I first entered cyrodiil at v4, I typed my first lfg and promptly received an invite. Not knowing what the hell to do, I was told by the group leader to stay on crown and to spam sap essence on my magic nightblade and steel tornado on my stam sorc, and the various group oriented ultimates to use respectively, and you can tell where this led me. In the latter stages of IC I was introduced to dueling, and in my first duel I died in about 3 seconds. I literally knew nothing except how to follow directions and hit a couple buttons in a row to keep my buffs up, and how to spam one ability. I know that pvp arenas are sadly only a discussion at this point, but that would really help new players to learn more about pvp and make us more effective in cyrodiil. Thankfully a couple guild mates showed me around with small scale pvp (taking a team of four into cyrodiil and picking off smaller chunks of zergs, or pvp in the IC sewers), but I didn't realize that for the first 90% of my time in this game, I really didn't learn much. Without dueling I wouldn't have learned how to counter wrecking blow spam, or what combo to use for single target dps against a certain class. I know with the AOE cap discussion, ways to break up ball groups are getting some momentum and that is fantastic. There is nothing wrong in my book with a large group that knows what they are doing and using their skill and numbers to conquer in cyrodiil, but with the current meta in cyrodiil it is "ball group or get ball grouped," and for a new player that won't teach them about the fun combat system in place.

My lack of skill was further highlighted when Orsinium came and I took my talents to vet Maelstrom. There are no words for the ass kicking that was given to me by those ***, and I loved every second of it. At the time I had 180 cp so reasonably there was no chance for me in the first place, but I was forced to learn the game. Even as someone who has never beat vMA (only made it to round 5 on my best run), I hope it doesn't get nerfed because it's one of the few meaningful learning experiences in the game. I would never have learned about how useful of a skill arrow barrage is and how I can use it while putting single target dps on an enemy. I would have never learned how to perfect my cp layouts without it. It is an invaluable experience.

Now with regards to gear, I get it 100% that you wanted us all to put on our big boy pants and get new mats for v16 gear instead of just using the stockpiled mats we've stored since launch, and to make your armor actually mean something, but 940 mats for armor and 130-220 for armor is just another grind. You don't get to make a lot of different armor sets and experiment with them to see which is the best and learn what are the great combinations in creating your own build. You just save them up and make a set that you read about on the internet or what your guild mates say and that's what you'll use until you create another large stockpile. I spent so much time when IC came out just grinding for mats for my first set, that I felt like I missed experiencing some of the small group pvp instances while IC was popular.

Now most of the issues described above are of course l2p issues, but the problem is that this game doesn't promote a new player to learn. Most of what I learned up until the last two weeks are how to grind tv stones or experience, and to stick my ass near crown and hit barrier when it's needed. On top of it all, the grinds to hit v16 (which won't be a problem soon thanks guys) and get your gear prevent you from spending your time doing meaningful experiences. A lot of these problems might seem stupid to someone that's been playing since launch, but for a new player who wants to compete in a high level in PVP and PVE, I don't want an easy button or a cushion to prevent me from getting my ass handed to me and deservedly so, I want something that will help me catch up to those day one players in terms of skill and game knowledge.