I posted this in the RSI forums as well, but I feel like you guys will have a more mature conversation about it
With the release of the dog fighting module in December, everyone here will begin to learn the flight control systems and dog fighting styles of SC. Over the course of a year, we will be honing our skills in the simulator and eventually the PU with the different ships our pledges have earned us.
Come December 2014 (hopefully) the game will be released to the General Public for purchase, and they will be showing up in their brand new Auroras', learning the ins and outs of their ship, practicing flying, etc.
Meanwhile, all the backers have been flying in SC for about a year and have gained experience with the twitch style of the game, and we will be in bigger and better ships than the Aurora from our pledges, as well as any new ships we've earned while in beta.
Do people think new players will be discouraged coming in at the start of a game, and finding themselves extremely under experienced?
An argument for this can be this has happened with all MMO's and the new players just catch up, but this is a bit different. With something like WoW or GW2, you learn a set of buttons to hit so you make the right attacks at the right time (not a lot of skill) and there are areas for new players. Whereas with SC there is no starting zone, and the fighting is completely skill based.
I'm not arguing that the backers shouldn't get in early. We pledged our hard earned money to help develop this game and we earned our spot in the alpha and betas, I'm just curious to what people think about the scenario.
**CSC PART ONLY**
I personally plan on helping out newer players when I see them in a state where they are just learning things and have older players attacking them, whether or not they're in the guild. If they're doing something stupid, that's their fault and they'll learn but if two cutlasses are bearing down on a new Aurora ship transporting some goods, I'll definitely jump in and help the poor guy out to try and get the pirates off his tail. Flying in a flight or squadron though, I wouldn't be only risking my ship, so I'm curious to what others plan on doing (if whoever I'm flying with doesn't want to risk it I'd either do it on my own or leave it be)