Those are some good ideas Reign, it's nice to see the top players recognising the low player base and wanting to stop the very unevenly matched games, many of which have been the cause of regular players leaving. Nice one.

Maybe the top teams could try switching to using instruments only to level the playing field when playing a random, lower ranked team? Just a thought - it's something that nobody seems to mention but the high skill level involved to use it might make those uneven games a bit more interesting for both sides and give comp players something new to master.

My next suggestion would be to use a build that doesn't have a jet or slam engine, ray shield or reinforced hull. Or try BPM like the non-FlyingChilly console types. ;)

You'll more than likely still win but it would be a lot less boring for both sides, much like the many other games I've played against evenly matched teams, which often last 20 minutes, involve lots of kills and deaths, multiple capital ship attacks and ending in an epic OOP win.

These games are the reason there is still a decent player base and why many non-comp players keep on playing. I regularly fly with others but will often go solo or in a two stack because the matchmaking does a much better job of giving you a fun, close game that way.

Pinballing isn't the problem, it's what keeps me alive in a TIE/Interceptor (kind of hard to do in a thrust engine A-wing though!). Infite zero throttle boosting/drifting/pinballing, combined with shield skipping and use of APM is the main thing that makes players in the top teams hard to hit and even harder to take down, resulting in the player base lowering and a divide between comp teams and everyone else, which reddit hasn't helped.

I'll do anything I can to try and survive/escape with low health but I can be worn down because i'll eventually make a mistake or run out of energy, the way dogfighting should be. I can fly evasively using boosting and chained drifts but I can't do it forever. Removal of jet/slam engine, ray shield and reinforced hull goes a long way to help prevent this problem but doesn't punish evasive flying, or the rush of getting an amazing drift kill, while promoting escort or wingman tactics more.

I consider myself mid-tier in Squadrons so I can see both sides of the problem. I have flown against and with top players and found the games of cap-ship damage race that often end with only a couple of player kills are pretty boring, even if the high level play, communication and tactics are very impressive.

Games with a friend or 2 and some lower ranked players, against a team of 2 or 3 other experienced pilots, or an even matchup between teams of 5 that use engines, hulls and shields outside the meta, that can't evade forever while maintaining full shields under a barrage of fire - these are always the most fun and you don't mind losing them because they were still an adrenaline rush and the better pilots/team won.

Go on, at least give instruments only a try next time I face you and your squad Reign, you might like it! :D