Mahjong is the most depressing mini game you've added to XIV

[0xReki]

I would offer lessons in video conferences... but I'd like some more people to sit in before I actually do it again. It's like 3-4 hours just basics, interactive problem solving. But after those, it's all just practise.

[Hen-Hen]

I definitely agree with the title of the thread.

Here's my experience: I decided I was going to learn how the game works and try to get the orchestrion roll. I spent most of a day reading up and getting the hang of the basics, and felt like I was having fun and enjoying the game itself, but the PvP novice rooms are basically empty and I assume the advanced room must be too, because and I keep getting rolled up next to the same 4-5th Dan people with ratings over 1800 who have obviously been playing for ages and should be in an advanced room absolutely destroying barely 9th Kyu players who are still learning how to play the game. People shouldn't have to learn how to compete at a high-level just to get the very first achievement on the ladder (for the orchestrion roll), and because I'm always matched against the same people who keep winning I'm not having fun and giving up on the game even though I kinda enjoy it because it's just not fun or sustainable to keep losing and put in a whole lot of work and still not make any progress.

It's utterly demoralising and frustrating. I've got up to 1650, thankfully, and I'm giving up on the game because even though I enjoy the game itself there's no division of players who know what they're doing and those that don't. My partner isn't so lucky. They haven't been able to break 1550, because every match they end up with the same high-level players just wiping the floor with them, even though they're trying their best. They keep resetting their score, because they keep being pushed down to 1400, losing points from their rating despite the fact that everyone else around the table has 100s of points more than them. They're a beginner and they keep losing, so of course they're giving up on the game too.

I'd love to play more and get better at it, but I'm just so frustrated with the matchmaking and rating system that I don't want to play any more at all. It's just not worth my time and that's the saddest thing for a game that is such a classic.

[Naizakane]

It would definitely help to have some restrictions on dan-ranked players in the Novice queue. I lost all of last night's progress in 2 games, and the top 2 spots were taken by players at 1st dan and above. There's a seperate queue for players at 1st dan and above, give them a push over there. Here are some ideas that I thought up in like 15 seconds: being completely barred from the Novice queue at 1st dan and above, match results in the Novice queue having no effect on the rank and rating of all 4 players if someone in the game is at 1st dan and above, and 1st dan and above players gaining no rank/rating in the Novice queue but having rank/rating loss doubled. I'd prefer a mix of the last two, if the Advanced queue is somehow so bad that preventing 1st dan and above players from queueing for Novice prevents them from getting any games at all.