"Noob Servers" for new players?

[thefinnishguy]

I started playing this game roughly two weeks ago. I have played it now for 50 hours, mostly as an archer, and I have some feedback.

I think there is one MAJOR issue: new players like me are getting absolutely destroyed in melee.

I know many will say "learn to play, noob!" and I am doing that, but they have to realize that Mordhau was much easier during launch when (almost) nobody knew how to play. Starting from scratch today is completely different.

Skill level in this game is insane. There are people who, I assume, have played this game non-stop since release, and who usually kill me in 2 seconds. I don't mind getting killed but I'd like to at least put up a fight. Matching me with someone who is 100+ levels higher is just silly.

To me there is one very obvious solution for this problem. All you need to do is make "noob server" with a level cap (for example 1-30). This way new players could have fun with people of similar skill level while they learn how the game works.

Is there any reason why something like this has not been implemented?

People buy games because they want to have FUN. Most people do not want to spend 100 hours sparring against AI and watching YouTube tutorials so that they can survive for longer than a second and finally have fun in pvp.

If nothing is done about this problem, I am worried that the player count will slowly decline and the game will die.

I don't know what the stats are, but I am guessing many casual gamers quit the game pretty much instantly as soon as they see what the skill level is. I almost did that myself but luckily I did not.

So developers, please make this game more accessible to new players. Mordhau is an awesome game and deserves more players.

[WHOPPER WHOPPER WHOPPER]

Seems reasonable to me

[Comrade Pickles]

If it makes you feel any better I have 122 hours and typically am the laughing stock of every Frontline/Invasion match I join.

[Wub]

I think that's a good idea. Though the explanation kinda ticks me off for reasons I can't quite articulate.

[Potable Water]

Yeah
Matchmaking should be oriented towards that, although having 64 player games makes that somewhat difficult.
Once you get a hang of drags/accels and feints you're set

[stoneyoda]

you know i don't own this game (yet,waiting for sale) but from video's iv watched, there are custom community fighting servers where they plop in 20 people in an arena with random weapons and fight
to me, this seems like the best place to learn
thats how i learned way backin the chivalry days

[Void]

It is known that Mordhau has a steep learning curve and it feels unforgiving to a new player.
What you suggest has been suggested many times before. Also Chivalry had these low level servers (1-16), so the idea was actually tested.
It looks good at first, but there are some major problems with it.
The biggest problem is that the beginners will form a completely different (and false) idea on how this game is played and after they pass the "beginner" levels they will be out in a world of hurt. They'll see a totally different game and it will be very hard for them to understand it and adapt.
At least now you know how it is from the beginning. It's hard but you slowly get better as you play.
The other issue is smurf accounts. Lot's of guys will be invading the beginner servers to stomp the newbies.
Chivalry had those problems with its low level servers and that's why it's considered a bad idea.
It would be ideal if there was a matchmaking system that takes your skill level into account, but when we have servers with 60 players and not a huge playerbase, it's not very realistic.

[Void]

Originally posted by 604 C4ExplosiveCharge:

you know i don't own this game (yet,waiting for sale) but from video's iv watched, there are custom community fighting servers where they plop in 20 people in an arena with random weapons and fight
to me, this seems like the best place to learn
thats how i learned way backin the chivalry days

Duelyards are also a nice way to learn. You can meet people, ask questions and test things.

[stoneyoda]

Originally posted by Void:

It is known that Mordhau has a steep learning curve and it feels unforgiving to a new player.
What you suggest has been suggested many times before. Also Chivalry had these low level servers (1-16), so the idea was actually tested.
It looks good at first, but there are some major problems with it.
The biggest problem is that the beginners will form a completely different (and false) idea on how this game is played and after they pass the "beginner" levels they will be out in a world of hurt. They'll see a totally different game and it will be very hard for them to understand it and adapt.
At least now you know how it is from the beginning. It's hard but you slowly get better as you play.
The other issue is smurf accounts. Lot's of guys will be invading the beginner servers to stomp the newbies.
Chivalry had those problems with its low level servers and that's why it's considered a bad idea.
It would be ideal if there was a matchmaking system that takes your skill level into account, but when we have servers with 60 players and not a huge playerbase, it's not very realistic.

i agree 100% the "noob/beginner" servers in chiv where not an indicator of how the actual game was.

[Mumblez]

Try going to a duel server, being polite, asking for pointers / someone going easy. usually, you can find someone to mentor you, and a good mentor REALLY helps. Also, watch guide videos on drags, morphs, general dueling tips, they help

[Deaner]

It took me at least 100+ hours to actually learn what I was doing and even then there are still guys that I cannot beat in a fight.

I found the best thing that helped me learn was during a play session I would practice one skill each time. For example I would go into a match and only practice doing drags to get my hand used to doing it, and then the next day or even week later I would practice doing morphs.

Which then eventually I was able to start putting it all together to start being near the top of the leaderboards. It is a very steep learning curve and it does take time to practice but once you do get it down it can be a lot of fun.

[Pepsu]

I have lvl 109 right now and I agree Mordhau is not very casual friendly there needs to be some kind of begginers servers or something like that, like in Chilvary

[charun]

frontline is quite noob friendly and better suited than invasion imo for beginners.

I never played on duel servers ( never played chivalry ) ever and learn enough from flt/inv modes to be top 3 in public 64 servers regularly enough to enjoy my time in mordhau. I acccept to be a small/modest fry compared to duelling sharks out there.

[thefinnishguy]

Originally posted by Void:

It is known that Mordhau has a steep learning curve and it feels unforgiving to a new player.
What you suggest has been suggested many times before. Also Chivalry had these low level servers (1-16), so the idea was actually tested.
It looks good at first, but there are some major problems with it.
The biggest problem is that the beginners will form a completely different (and false) idea on how this game is played and after they pass the "beginner" levels they will be out in a world of hurt. They'll see a totally different game and it will be very hard for them to understand it and adapt.
At least now you know how it is from the beginning. It's hard but you slowly get better as you play.
The other issue is smurf accounts. Lot's of guys will be invading the beginner servers to stomp the newbies.
Chivalry had those problems with its low level servers and that's why it's considered a bad idea.
It would be ideal if there was a matchmaking system that takes your skill level into account, but when we have servers with 60 players and not a huge playerbase, it's not very realistic.

I know what you are saying but I have to disagree. Lets take a sport analogy.

We don't put 10-year-old kids against adults in sports just so that these kids don't "form false ideas on how the game is played". If we did that, the kids would be destroyed, they wouldn't learn anything because they were so outclassed, and most of them would quit.

We put kids against other kids because that way they get a good challenge, have fun and get feelings of achievement and progress. These kids slowly build up their confidence and skills until one day they are ready to join adults.

In Mordhau there would of course be some culture shock when going from noob server to a regular one, but it's nothing compared to the current culture shock of going from 15 minute tutorial to being insta-killed by a level 150+ pro gamer.

I don't know what happened with Chivalry, but if they failed it doesn't mean everyone will fail. It's all about how you implement things.

Smurf-accounts are a good point though. They could be an issue, but there are ways to deal with that, like banning you from noob server when you're kill-death-ratio is too high. Makes sense even if you are not using a smurf account because that would prove you are skilled enough to join the big boys.

Thanks everyone for tips on how to improve melee skills. Just to clarify, I'm not really talking about my situation here, I'm just brainstorming on how to get more players to stay (and not rage-quit) Mordhau. The more players there are, the more money developers get, and the more content we get.

[Vermilion Knight]

My advice, just don't play the game. There are people here who defend every broken thing in it because they abuse it and don't want their precious instant killing tactics taken away. If you can't learn how to fight people as is, you'll never enjoy the game. I barely enjoy it myself because of the mad amounts of sheer stupidity with the accels, drags, and One Hit Weaps + Bloodlust. It completely takes the fun out of the game when you are being spawn killed by horses every single match. So have fun with all that.

[Flashbang0147]

Hey man, I figure you're your best bet is to put in some practice on a duel sever and lean towards melee combat as much as your can, Mordhau is like 95% melee and 5% bows and all that, I'm level 59 and I'm kinda bad, best thing to keep in mind is to keep trying and keep your brain open to learning new stuff, if you're having it rough some hoard can be fun and some duels too.