Sounds good man

Sounds good, though I would like to suggest just writing out "Less than 150 wins" and "Greater than 150 wins" so there isn't any confusion about the symbol. Also, thank you, Bandit, for continuing to explain the situation more eloquently than I have been able to.

Ah, thanks for pointing this out, Kree. It may be easier to write 'under 150 wins' and 'over 150 wins' on the channel as I've just noticed in Fallen's post and in the TS channel that the symbol is backwards.

>150 wins, as far as I can remember, means *greater than* 150 wins. And conversely, <150 wins means less than 150 wins.

If it's also possible (though again, I have no idea about the intricacies of Teamspeak Management), could this <150 wins channel be just below the lobby (near to the 'low skill inhouse' play channel? As Kree suggested, for new Doobs, having their channel right where they log in may be easier than missing it in the scroll down. I know we've had people sit in the lobby channel for hours before they'll think to move (if at all). And having the more common channels further down the list won't impact upon regular TS3 members so much, since most of us are familiar with the set-up.

I'll make these changes when I get home in a few minutes. Sorry, I wasn't super paying attention when I was making the channel. People were asking me to play!

Edit: Changes made

So is the new concept, that people will sit in their appropriate skill brackets while looking for games?
If so...would we want to add a Looking For Group option within those channels? Or could that possibly cause it to become too fragmented?

I have found many times that people will sit in the lobby while in their own MM games. Then you have the people in the MM and In-house channels playing games. While I don't want to interrupt people playing the games in their respective channels, I do have to tend to hop around and ask/spam (sorry Bandit) if I want to have a chance of getting a game going.

I would say my flow most of the time is to:
1) Hop on.
2) Each individual in the Lobby is in their own MM game.
3) Hit up the other channels that have more then 5 people to see if anyone wants to play.
4) Solo Q because noone is around.

I do apologize if that is super annoying, but I really feel as though I do not have a chance of getting a group with people from the lobby.

Not annoying at all. My general rule of thumb is to jump into every channel and say hey. If everyone is in a game, I know I jumped on at a weird time and will probably watch a game that's being played or ask if a spot will open when their game is over. Unfortunately, with DotA, games can last a long time and you can't just jump into a match with people. I end up just hanging around and talking with people until a game opens up, but I'm usually not in a rush. Zap, you ever need someone to play with just let me know and I'll play with you...once my game is over .

Thanks for the response Zap, it's nice to have a new voice on the thread

I wasn't intending that we segment the group into skill brackets and have everyone wait in their respective lobbies until games can be found, as I know many of the community will want to play with friends across a range of skill brackets.

As I mentioned before, I was suggesting an area where new Doobs (in particular, new players) can find an area in their skill level with which to find games at their level. As I'm sure you've seen, Zap, many new Doobs will sit in the lobby too frightened (or unaware) to come down into busier channels to get a game going. Having a channel for matchmaking directly under the lobby makes finding somewhere to sit a little easier if they don't wish to bug the busier channels (which happens). This also alerts the rest of the channels that might need one more player that there's a low-skilled player looking for a match - which they'll have to take into account if they're going to grab them for a 500+ wins game.

And don't apologise to me for spamming channels, Zap! That's what we all do, it's just some of the newer Doobs that either don't know the norms for the TS channel, or are a little shy at first, don't often do that.

Why don't we just make a Greenhorn lobby then. No need to make a bunch of higher tiered channels if we're just trying to find a place where extremely green players and go and not be expected to know anything about Dota.

Yeah, I guess it all goes back to what you would consider a noob.

I have ~80 wins, and most of the time I feel pretty good about myself (I am out of non-noob status!)...Then I play with Kree, Shane, ect. and I realize I still have alot to learn (back to being a noob/just bad at the game). On the other-hand I recently started to try and get my friend to play, and he only has about 5 bot games under his belt. It was hard to watch him play, to put it kindly. I would consider him a noob, but I am sure that pretty much everyone that has posted to this thread probably considers me a noob. I kind of do appreciate it being broken up by win counts, as for me that is what I use to compare myself with other players at this time.

I just wanted to express that i do find it hard sometimes to get a group of people going, so I can only imagine how a new person feels. As Fallen was stating earlier, it is an hour game so it is hard to time, maybe I am just impatient. I want to play now dammit! At the same time, there are still alot of people that seem to play together all the time, and that may just be due to time of day/timezone/comfort/ect.....Anything we do that would mix in the new people would only be a positive.

I know that we are trying a new Lobbying format now, so hell, we can just see how that goes before we change anything else up. Just wanted to give my opinion.

Always give your opinion. It's how we get feedback to make things better for everyone.

This is definitely one of the most frustrating aspects of not having a visible MMR, and unfortunately I don't think there is an ideal solution. It is natural that as you improve the mistakes that you used to make become obvious in less skilled players. The effect that this has depends on the specific person, but can range from frustration to teaching (and eventual burnout). One of our goals in Dota Noobs is to be that place that people can learn, but we do have to respect the reality that our players are also interested in having fun and relaxing during the games.

The only hope that I see on the horizon is the (eventual) addition of the in-game coaching system. At that point we can have experienced people available to teach others in a way that does not put a burden on their own gaming because if they are in a teaching mood they can coach, if they want to play then they focus on playing. Adding additional MM channels may help a bit, but it definitely isn't the silver bullet.

I agree with Zap that the real issue is new players (both new to the game and new to the community) are likely intimidated to enter a filled TS3 channel and ask to get into the next game, and making the transition from "New" to "Doob" easier should be a major priority.

I think putting a "Looking for Group" channel immediately below the lobby with a sub-channel for "New" or "Under 200 Wins" or w/e is a good idea for right now. It creates a place where you can sit and wait, and somewhere you don't feel weird about interrupting because you know those people are not in game.

+1 to this idea!

You can literally +1 posts now (the upper right corner of each post box). Hey thread derailing is fun I should do it more. - Also, commence karma wars.

I really like the LFG channel idea! Will be good for newer doobs!

I like the LFG channel idea!

OK I can make them if they've not been done yet.

As a new Doob this thread was incredibly helpful. Is there anyway we can summarize some these points into a stickied post to serve as a FAQ for new Doobs? Perhaps a list of tips to get into a match that is best suited for your skill level?

Last night, I experienced being left out on an In-House, and it wasn't even sure why or if I was even in the correct room. Sometimes the rooms in TS can appear daunting, especially knowing there are people who have grouped together for a while now. I know it's silly, but I have felt like a lost child trying to find an adult a few times while trying to find matches. hahah.

Also, to the newer DOTA players that may see this, please friend me on Steam, and feel free to hit me up to play a MM or just a bot match. I am wanting to get as much experience under my belt my schedule will allow me.

I like this idea. I cam on during the tournament (just to watch) and found it a little difficult to find out where to go. Probably because all of the team groups were up, which cluttered the TS3 a little bit, but I think a 'LFG' channel would be awesome for people to jump in, find four other doobs to play, and just go for it. A channel like that could also help people find other members to make a group for that league I keep hearing about, since it'll allow people to see everyone who doesn't have one yet.

And bioenglish, I'll try looking you up on steam when I get home from work tonight and see if you want to play a MM match! My steam id is 'blooom_', btw

I think that's a great idea and we'll look into putting up a F.A.Q. about getting on TeamSpeak and the best ways to get involved in games (including the new LFG channels). We have also been throwing around ideas for including STEAM_ID's in either the TS3 or this forum to make it easier for Doobs to find each other and play.

The BitF Tournament practice rooms definitely clutter up the server unnecessarily, I'll clean that up when I get home and just add a few "Practice Lobbies" down below for the upcoming League teams to practice on.