We are already bored to tears, and playing each other over and over. I think reducing the skill curve would just make it even more miserable for everyone.
You've already learned the game, you're already over the curve; a reduced skill curve wouldn't apply to you anyway. You're playing each other over and over because new blood isn't coming into the game, and those that DO come, for the most part, get scared off.
Also, if you're bored to tears, quit and go play something else, and come back once the game's out of beta.
What point are you trying to make here? All I got out of that was tutorials, we need tutorials! In game and out apparently. I'm all for tutorials, tutorials don't reduce the skill curve. In fact they have nothing to do with changing the skill curve.
I used the term "skill curve" because that's the phrase that was originally used, but I meant "learning curve," and yes, tutorials DO help the learning curve. Sorry for not being clear at first; when I bang out replies, sometimes what I mean gets lost.
Tutorials aren't the only things that can help learning curves; you could also have things like loading screen tips ("Llamaing the flag means grabbing it at low speed, and is generally discouraged. Try picking up speed on your way to the enemy base so you can get in and get out in a flash!"), in-game text hints ("You're low on health! Pass the flag to a teammate by pressing Q!"), and class descriptions on a loadout screen ("Sentinels are brutish warriors that move slow, but can take plenty of damage to compensate. They can instantly enter Overdrive for short bursts whenever they like, which can be useful for knocking incoming cappers out of the way.").
What do you need to be taught in order to play COD? My point was that, unlike Legions, you don't have to learn anything to play COD, that's why people like it. I assume all you're trying to say here is that we need tutorials? Which is redundant, and does not have anything to do with the skill curve. Add tutorials, don't make the game easier.
YOU don't need to be taught anything to play COD, because you're a hardcore gamer -- for the most part, all of us here are. COD didn't sell the millions of copies it sold to hardcore gamers; it sold to gamers of all kinds, including fairly casual players that might not have been entirely comfortable with shooters. The reason any triple-A title retains those players is because it teaches them the game.
If you notice, few games have tutorial levels anymore; they introduce gameplay concepts slowly in Single Player, showing each weapon to the player in turn and gradually requiring more and more advanced skills to get through levels. We don't have SP, so we don't have that luxury, but the requirement still exists -- we have to introduce concepts to players slowly, without letting them get bored.
What does this mean for gameplay? It means you need to be able to be moderately effective while still only learning the game. It means you need to be able to
contribute to your team in some way, even if you're still figuring out how to ski and aren't all that great with routes. That doesn't mean it has to be easy for every single player to be a master capper; it just means there have to be easy things new players can do to help their team out. Deployable turrets, for instance, are a way for players to get kills without needing good aim; it taps into a different, strategic skillset that suits some players better (and is one of the reasons I really hope we implement deployable turrets in the future). Splash weapons allow players to at least injure cappers as they grab a flag, making it easier for experienced chainwhores to chase and get the return.
Grenades are advanced weaponry that can pack a hell of a punch when used in combos. But most new players can't perform combos. That's another reason having splash on the grenades makes sense: it gives new players another opportunity to at least do SOME damage to enemies, even if it's not a whole lot.
It's easy for us to get annoyed at newblood splashiness, because we see it as an inconvenience. I would argue that it's
supposed to be an inconvenience. At least they're able to impact the game!
[Edit: Booya, Seymour!]