I dont mean remove hot join altogether, what i mean is with numerous Empty servers available why on earth are hot join matches still 8v8. i could imagine that it was originally to allow more players to play hot join matches without a queue time, but that obviously isnt an issue. the community will probably tell me to go play free tournaments, and that is valid. but with the game and SPVP in general being balanced around the top tier games and tournaments why make hot joins 8v8 ? i believe that if you make hot joins 5v5 you will see a decrease in zergs, a more suitable place to test builds, a more casual friendly environment and a way for entry level players to get there feet wet and see what structured PvP is all about.
if you have never played PVP or MMO PVP at all before and you joined the hot join matches, i believe that :
A: New player will be completely distraught and avoid PVP entirely
B: New player finds the zerg style highly enjoyable and creates and learns a build that performs very well in 8v8 zerg style. enters tournaments when he feels good enough and gets destroyed.
C: New player goes to the forums researches and looks to see what is viable and what isnt. follows said advice and wants to practice in hot joins and gets destroyed, believing that the build has been nerfed or he just sucks, not realizing that the build would be perfectly good in tournaments.
this isnt a Post about casuals who are experienced although they are affected as well, this is about entry level PVP and what it teaches new players what Spvp is all about.
there will come a point where Spvp tournaments paid or free will become smaller and smaller as teams move on to other games over time, or simply get bored facing the same teams over and over. This will increase queue times longer and longer until they will just stop. the solution to this is to teach or provide a place where New players can learn.
hot join matches are the suggested place for this to occur but hot join matches are not even close to what tournament level of play is like. even IF a new player learns his class and many others, the zerg beats skill everytime. it becomes frustrating and ruins his experience. this essentially stops players from wanting to get better or maybe avoid PVP altogether. creating a smaller player base willing to go the extra mile and start his progression to tougher challenges.
AS a Strong PVPer from other games, I personally feel that new blood into the PvP community is required for a PVP community to flourish. with this current system in place it is a barrier and will diminish new, potentially strong PVPers from ever going further due to frustration.
Before my fellow PVPers say they can join free tournaments or they can join a PVP guild, imagine this:
you have never PVPed before, you finally have the courage to enter in this new environment completely different from PVE or any other game mode available, you know you need to learn and you know that it wont be easy. So a tournament isnt even in your mind as a place to learn. thats a higher level of competition than you are ready for. Why would a PvP guild want you if you dont know what you are doing yet?
these are the thoughts that most people associate with guilds. high end PVE guilds dont accept new players to high end PVE why would a PVP guild want a new PVPer.
so you are left with hot join.
the worst part about it, is that new players and most players in general do not go to the forums, they dont research, and they dont bother to learn any other way accept through in game methods(tutorial zones).
they wont read this post or any other post here.
Arena Net should change 8v8 to 5v5 to allow easier access for new players to learn, experiment and develop into stronger players. increasing the accessability of PVP and encouraging growth within the PVP community.