The Queue of Tranqulity

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As you may know (and if you don't I'm telling you now), I think Smite is an awesome game, a real creative achievement, and so I genuinely want it to be a huge success. A key to that success is the quality of the culture surrounding the game. Though I am new to gaming, I am given to understand that Smite's cultured compared to other games of the kind isn't all that bad, but if that is so, then it must mean some of those other games must be vicious.
I do not like seeing players verbally harassed by others or being threatened with being reported simply because they are not playing well. I do not like seeing players quit games or queues as soon as they realize their teammates are inexperienced. So whenever I have an idea that I think might help, I want to put it out there for discussion. Not long ago, I posted a thread called The Noob Solution. I want to thank those who take the time to comment constructively and/or humorously. I want to know what you think, whether you like my idea or not. Feel free to trash it, adjust it, add a wrinkle, or elaborate a different idea you think is better. My thoughts are are not carved in stone. They are,hopefully, food for thought.

The Queue of Tranquility: I think a better queue system could solve a lot of the irritations better players, or those who think they are, feel when thrown into a game or even into a queue with inexperienced players. Despite what some people think, new, less experienced, and even just plain bad players are not only an inevitability but also quite valuable to the success of Smite and so to the whole community. Such players ought to feel welcomed, and everything that can reasonably be done to help them have fun, learn the game, and gain skill should be done. A smart queue system should go a long way to achieving that end.

I have two ideas in this regard. 1) Make 3 cue levels: one for novice to intermediate players; one for intermediate to expert players; one for expert players only. I do not think it would be a good thing to segregate novices entirely. They need to be mixed in with somewhat better players so they can learn. I think keeping what I am here calling "expert" players away from novices is a good idea, though. If highly skilled players want to get their jollies off pummeling players less skilled than themselves, let them do it in the intermediate queue. Intermediate players can learn from them, but novices would only be frustrated.

Intermediate players entering the lower queue would have no reason to throw salt at the novices there. For all intents and purposes this is the novice queue. If an intermediate does not like the quality of play there, they can go to the intermediate queue. I think this puts an end to a lot of the harassment that occurs. Moreover, novices need something more than just practice modes in order to improve. They have to play. I think this tiered queue system is the way to go.

Obviously, some way of rating is required. Maybe the rating system that is in place could be used or modified? It should not be impossible to move from novice to intermediate or from intermediate to expert, but it should not be too easy either. A novice should pretty much have the basics down before qualifying for intermediate. They should know the etiquette of the game, be reasonably familiar with the meta, be able to put a half decent build together. In novice, one should expect that someone new might queue up and lock in his god without ever saying a word. It may be the only god they feel comfortable with at that point. In intermediate, though, wouldn't it be nice if they knew enough to discuss things with teammates first? Notice I did not say they should know enough to call the lane they want or the jungle. That leads me to my second idea.

2) If there is an assignment you really want, say, solo lane, wouldn't it be good if you could click a box placing you in that assignment automatically before your team is put together? Can it be done? Should it be done? I don't know, but it seems like a good idea to me. It would not force you to pick an assignment, but if you do not select one you would be taking whatever assignment was available. I for one can understand that some feel most comfortable or simply enjoy playing one role more than another. I do not see why they shouldn't be able to. [Note: one thing they should not do is limit the gods that can be chosen for a certain role. You could list by popularity the gods currently most played in those roles as an aid. Do not decide for them, but by all means guide them. Which brings me to my final thought.]

In The Noob Solution, I had some suggestions about what I thought would help new players. One was a comprehensive, Player's Reference Guide (PRG). The PRG would have a glossary of official and nonofficial terms commonly used in Smite and by Smiters, so that thorough and accurate definitions can be easily found. The PRG would explain everything from the basic workings of the game, the etiquette, what things like "critical damage" and "physical penetration" are and how they work and interrelate, as well as the difference between "straight" penetration, "passive" penetration, and percentage penetration. It could also include a description of the current meta (as someone else suggested to me), and even a history of past meta, outlining how and why the meta changed. Then they can look up in the glossary that "meta" means! Basically, the PRG should answer any question a casual novice or a technically oriented person seeking to improve might ask.

HighRez needs to do more for new players. Maybe that is not their focus right now. Smite is still a work in progress, but it is almost incomprehensible to me that an official guidebook of this sort is not available. Of course, it would need to be updated as frequently as required, and with all the changes the busy folks at HighRez make all the time that seems a task in itself. If it isn't in the works already, I hope it is on the agenda. This game has the potential to be huge on a whole new scale, but you can't do it without the noobs!

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All good ideas except for number 2. There is no way to force players to actually pick champions appropriate for there roll for example Kali cant support and yet under your system a player that had marked himself as support could still choose her. There would also be no way to force players to go to the lane that they had signed up for without completely ruining the mechanics of the game.

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I don't think they should force players to pick gods appropriate for their roles or to go to the assignments they chose. The idea is to try to make people aware that there are such things, to inform them, direct them. Experience will teach them to select effective gods and the importance of teamwork. If they select mid and then proceed to right lane, at least then someone could say, "Hey, Dude, you picked mid lane. We need you over there." I will bet you 9 time out of 10 that the problem is they just do not know what they are doing, not that they are being jerks. Not that you won't run into jerks, but most people are not out to sabotage their team. When the people I know play basketball or baseball or football or any other teams sport, they go to their position and they do they best they can to win. If the problem is juvenile behavior, well, that's what the queue levels are for. You can't move up to the next level unless you play to win, so hopefully all that kind of thing will remain in the low level.

As it is right now it seems to me that HighRez and experienced players expect new players to know more than the do. Maybe if someone is transitioning from other moba and dota games, or if they have the assistance of friends who already play, then maybe it is not so tough to get a handle on Smite. But if you totally new to this type of game or to gaming in general and trying to learn on your own, it is fairly difficult.

I knew nothing at all, zero, zilch, nada; so I speak from experience when I say, it isn't easy. I don't think people are getting how lost noobs can be. I didn't know how to move a character with the keyboard keys. It felt incredibly awkward. I was fat fingering everything. I found it hard to keep my character moving and activate abilities. I didn't know you could communicate at all at first, and when I realized I didn't know how to. I didn't know there where voice commands or what those commands were. People comnplain when someone doesn't call an MIA as if it they fail to because they don't care. Sometimes they just don't know how.

That 3 people insta-locked phyical gods (were they assassins?) was something you found irratating. Dude, when I first started there was only one god I felt half comfortable playing, and all I was thinking was I had to make my pick and lock it in so no one would get my Kali! I had no idea the etiquette was to talk about who wanted what assignment. I didn't know there were different roles to play. I didn't know there were gods better suited to certain roles. I didn't know there was a meta or what "meta" referred to. I could go on and on and on. I knew nothing. It was like being from growing up in Backwater, Maine and being taken to New York City to learn to drive.

People grumbled, called me Noob, chewed me out, threaten to report me for sucking (and I was shaking in my boots over that...NOT!), told me to go practice before playing. As bad as I was (and still am quite honestly; the game is still new to me), I saw that there were people as bad and worse. I totally get how bad player can wreck a game for better players, but what is their point? Bad player have no right to play? This free game is just for them, huh? Bullfeathers!

I think it is a NO BRAINER that you have to separate players to some extent according to skill level between multiple queues. The practice modes are good to teach a few basics, but not challenging enough to make a player out of you. You have to play games. When I enter a queue it isn't with the intention or desire to ruin the game for others. It is to learn and to win. It is not a great experience for a noob, especially on that is trying to learn everything from scratch and alone. It is not a welcoming environment. That is not to say most people are not understanding. I think most are, but there is a high enough percentage of perfectly miserable jerks to make it challenging.

Anyway, I think 2 is a good idea. It will, if nothing else, help make people aware, but High Rez really needs to provide noobs with the things they need to succeed. I think if I had a working conquest map I could enter, and I could walk my character around inside it getting familiar with where everything is it would help a lot. I think it would help me get better with mini map awareness as well. They could have the buff camps up and you could practice taking them out, picking the best routes, timing out when the respond, etc. I think I would become a very decent jungler in short order.

There needs to be a comprehensive reference guide, a queue level that welcomes novices, and better practice modes, like the just mentioned conquest map. I think it is in the interest of noobs and of the community as a whole, and so, for the success of this amazing game. It's late...forgive typos. Happy Smiting.

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Well.... why play an MOBA game if they don't know how to play it...?

It's like going to KFC to order Chinese.

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KrispyKritter is on to something here. I don't like the idea of preassigned roles, but I do like the idea of making SMITE a bit more beginner-friendly. I hate those elitists who think that their years of experience make them entitled to doing whatever the hell they want.

And yes, MOBA terms can be incredibly confusing.

I greatly like the idea of multiple queues based on skill rating. The problem is, where do ranked matches come into this? And how will you separate the noobs from the pros? Level isn't the best indicator of skill level, especially if you are trying a new god.

A tidbit on preassigned rules: Never stop people from trying to mix things up a little. That's one of my rules, and as a person who tries to jungle as Artemis, I get pissed when people tell me, "Oh, don't do that, or I'll report/leave/trollololol." If Kali wants to play support, let her try. If Ymir wants to jungle, let him try. If Guan Yu wants to mid, then let him try. As long as they have some experience in playing their chosen god, and don't intend to troll, then its fine.

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Well, MadDanny, people often do not know how to do things they are unfamiliar with, but on discovering a thing they do not know how to do, they sometimes decide they might enjoy learning to do it. Let me see if I can think of a good example...oh, I have it...EVERYTHING!

Seriously, dude. No one was born knowing how to play MOBA games, or how to walk or talk for that matter.

And your KFC/Chinese example is misguided. What you are saying is people should not go into KFC and order chicken if they have never had chicken before. No chicken for you!

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Subzero, thanks for your constructive comments. I do not know how to judge who belongs in what queue level, BUT I do not see why the current ranking system could not be utilized somehow. I totally hear what you are saying, though. It is not a good indicator of playing skill. Two ideas: either you start in the low queue when trying out a new god and work your way up, which should not take too long because you are a higher skilled player, or you are allowed to enter the top queue you qualify for with any god, or perhaps the level below, so that if you are an expert queue player with, say, Thor, you would begin in the intermediate queue with a God you have not ranked up yet? There has to be a reasonable way of doing it.

I agree with your rule of never preventing people from mixing things up. I actually said above that you should neither be forced to pick and assigned role or a god deemed appropriate to that role....and that you should never "decide" such things for people but only "guide," them. As MrNoob rightly commented, people could select a role and then nothing prevents them from doing as they please once the game has begun. So true. You can't prevent them, and I don't think you should, just like you should not prevent people experimenting with different gods in different roles. As people gain experience, test things out for themselves, and so on, they will learn what is effective and what isn't, and that will shape there future choices. Multiple level queues could help in that regard. Say you are an expert queue player with Artemis, but you want to try her out in jungle as an experiment. Why not test that out in intermediate first? Your generally better skills should get you by without being a drag on your team, and you may be able to judge if it worth a try in the expert queue, instead of jumping into an expert level game with jungle Artemis only to find out it is not such a good idea, and messing up that game. Not that you should be prevented from doing so, but at least you have the option of being considerate.

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You and I agree that there should be systems in place to help new people learn the game but if your system doesn't make the player play the roll he selected then whats the point? Lets say a new player who has no prior knowledge of moba mechanics selects "support" as his roll and then proceeds to pick Kali(a terrible support for those just learning the game). Despite the bad pick the person gets lucky and ends up doing really well in that game. So thanks to that scenario the player in question has now "learned" that Kali is a good support. As someone experienced at the game would know Kali is indeed not a good support.

Now let's look at a scenario with the same system but now the same player can only pick gods that fill the support roll. The player will then only be able to choose gods that are support and then no matter what when he gets in the game he will have a god who has a bunch of abilitys that are well support oriented. From there it falls to the more experienced players and plain old practice to teach them how to effectively use those skills but with this system the player picks support then gets forced to pick a god with the ability to actually support as a result the player learns a basic lineup of the support gods and by being forced to pick gods that heal and buff they also learn what it is supports are supposed to be doing.

That being said i believe it should be a choice rather or not to use this system and i think it really only needs to be implemented in Conquest. So there could be normal conquest mode for those who would rather play that and conquest mode with forced roll select for those who would like that. And for those of you worried about que times useing a system like this i got an easy fix for that just add a random roll button and the game can just assign you a roll based on what people arn't playing much at the time.

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Yeah, I get what you are saying, but I think I have already responded to it. I am NOT an advocate of "making" or "forcing" people to do anything. Pick the god you want. Pick the role you want. Play it in any way you want. I am about "directing" people, not "deciding" for them. What is the point, you ask? The point is to inform them of the choices. To make aware that there are choices. To point them in the right direction. I say again, it is EXPERIENCE that will ultimately get them to make reasonable choices. My thought is to think the best, not the worst, of people. I think it is natural for people to want to win, to want not to lose. To win, you have to conform BY CHOICE to what works.

The idea is to confine all the experimentation, bad, noobish, ignorant, silly, stupid choices to a lower queue, where such bad decisions can be EXPECTED. If I am in the novice queue, I am making ignorant decisions, stupid choices, doing all the wrong things, I cannot be blamed by some with more experience BECAUSE I'M A NOVICE IN THE NOVICE QUEUE AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN PLAY IN A MORE ADVANCED QUEUE IF YOU ARE SO GOOD.

I do not know how many ways I can say it. I am not about a system that decides for people but one that directs, teaches, encourages the right choices. If you chose to play a support role and then chose a god that is not suited to the role, go right ahead. My assumption is that you will not succeed very well. If my assumption is right, then you will not progress, you will be "stuck" in the low queue level, which is were all truly bad idea rightly belong. If is a queue in which to learn how to play, to learn what does not work. Hopefully, your failure will encourage you to change your behavior, listen to the good advice being offered to you, and play gods viable in your chosen role.

See where I am coming from? No forcing, only informing, encouraging, directing, giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. Yes, there are incorrigible trolls. So what? There is no such thing as a troll proof system. I think authentic trolls are the exception to the rule. I think the frustrations are caused by people who do not know any better...yet! And by people who are frustrated by people who do not know better. Solution? Have a system in place that teaches, directs, encourages, and makes it possible for people to know better...to have a system that welcomes novices and protects them from the ridicule of those more experienced...to have a system that keeps the more experienced free of the frustrations of dealing with the inexperienced.

I don't see any other possible solution. If you do, offer it. Put it out there to be scrutinized. I do not need to be right. All I really want is for the problem to be solved as well as it may be.

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