Would skill based match making be good for FFXIV?

[Artemiz]

Ok, so ignoring the elephant in the room, queue times, this idea still has many flaws, and honestly comes off as you having some problem with people who raid.

The main issue here is that for the content you are requesting to have skill based matchmaking for has no real skill requirement. The only time any dungeon has ever required a disband was if a player d/c'd and the party got tired of waiting. People can literally afk for minutes at a time during boss fights, and the run will still go smoothly.

Also I don't know how this will help give newer players better advice. If people are matched based on skill, then lower skilled newer player will be matched together. If I get matched with newer players under such a system then according to the matchmaking I am just as low of skill as them, and won't be giving them any better advice.

This is getting a bit tiresome now, earlier in the thread it was being insinuated that I was elitist and didn't want to play with low skilled players, now your accusing me of the opposite. Neither is true. Its a very simple thought experiment, would players be happier if they got paired with others of a similar skill level? That's it.

You also seem to be vastly overstating how effective a SBMM system can be to stawman the argument. Its not only possible, but more effective to learn from your peer group than getting carried.

I think letting sprouts be confined to sprout parties would only work at times like now, when there are lots of sprouts to go around. But duty finder's primary purpose is just to get people into content faster. Cause if there's one thing that kills a new player's experience the fastest, it's having to do a dungeon and being unable to even find a group.

Maybe if it were an optional thing, with a convenient check-box. Then people could choose to be matched with a more similar party or just have a faster queue. I have a feeling that new DPS players would never be able to use the SBMM though. The queues are long enough as-is, and they're heavily supported by veterans who want the adventurer-in-need bonus.

I think just throwing everyone into the same pot actually sorta works for the community anyways. Because everyone quickly learns/accepts that parties are variable. If you give people the power to choose their teammates (and make it more convenient than PF), then many of them will loathe the idea of leaving their bubble and playing with different kinds of players. And taking that first step out of sprouthood and into end-game content might be extra tough. If I were still a sprout, I'd prefer to have veterans helping so I wouldn't get stuck on anything, and I'd have a good example to learn from. Maybe that's a little pretentious though...

TL;DR: Convenience and stable queues are more important than comfort. And SBMM could lead to an echo chamber effect and harsher learning curve. So I'm still skeptical. The devs would have to put extra work into the surrounding systems to deal with those issues. It's possible though.

Edit: To be clear, I admit that it would be nice for sprouts to have the option for a more chill experience. Being able to spend more time exploring a dungeon for the first time, not feeling rushed, getting to see more boss mechanics before it's over, etc. It's just tough to create a system that allows for that, while also promoting personal/community growth AND being convenient enough that it doesn't feel like a waste of time.

This is a great post, thank you for focusing on the core of the debate and providing a well thought out and eloquent opposition to it. I won't reply to any points you've made as I've already made my position clear and I can tell you've read them and thought about them.