Well by reading this thread it's good to know I'm not the only one who can't take any more astro/gap.
So for the moment, if I summarize, the most common reasons mentioned are :
- Lack of map diversity in lobby games/can't play other maps if you don't want to spend 20min in a lobby.
--> This is starting to get solved with 2vs2 TMM (that really lacks communication towards it for the functionnality that it is) and planned 4vs4 TMM. 4vs4 TMM will allow more maps, that will still be more forgiving for individual mistakes (so new players can hide) and attractive for new players because you can often build the "big stuff" in those games. If you tell people they can get in a 4vs4 match quickly, with people with similar level, I think they will naturally leave their beloved Astro to save 10mins spend in the lobby. So the matchmaking instead of custom lobby could solve both maps diversity and time spent in a lobby problems.
-
The learning curve/community aspect
**-->**By reading this thread, the ressources are there. They are just unknown from the average new guy. It should be the easiest to fix. You're 100% sure that the guy will end up on the landing page after launching the client so might as well use it to it's fullest. Currently there's 8 differents news on the landing page + the various links on the right. It's just my opinion but I would divide it in 3 or 4 big windows instead :-One BIG ass discord icon with a catching phrase like "need help to get better, join the FAF discord to meet experienced players blabla". The discord icon is on the top right (away from the rest of the menus that are on the left) I think a lot of people are missing it. Could also link the forum there.
-One big news related window like, "download the new client and play TMM now".
-And a third for the streaming/youtube content community aspect. Who even knows Nexus has a youtube channel with POV commentary ? And he's the number one player in FAF. If you say to a new guy that keeps losing "here watch #1 ranked player Nexus POV in the last tourney", he will click to see how the man plays. It just has to be catchy. Even a link to the replays section auto-filtered on top players could work.
It's just another example but when I finally downloaded the last client, I can see that there's a BO tutorials from Heaven in the tutorial section that could be useful to any new players. Why not put it in the landing page ? You're 100% sure they will at least see that it's available, you don't even know if 10% of them will click on the tutorials tab.
Well those are just ideas out of my head but you get the point. Ressources are already there to help new players to get better. I know it may sound dumb but a big part is just a matter of using big shining windows and catch phrases on the landing page (that currently seems overloaded to me) to improve the chance they click on it and see that help is available.