[2021] As a new player it sucks that Aethersparks have created an unnecessary hostility between new players and veterans

I just picked up the game about a week ago and boy howdy does it seem like the worst time in the game's history to be a new player.

I'll skip over the crashes and jank and talk about the difficulty new players have just learning (and progressing) the game while not f*cking up the progress of veteran players. I'm not personally a great twitchy gamer and it takes me longer to learn monster patterns and "git gud." In games like Monster Hunter, I'd do solo quests to learn the monster and then join in a group event once I could contribute. Unfortunately, this isn't an option in Dauntless until some undetermined time near March. And there is no indication that doing solo quests will yield Aethersparks (the progression currency). So, here's what a new player has to deal with for the next month to be a somewhat valuable contribution to the community while also trying to progress themselves.

Several hours into the game (or in my case a forum post since I missed the in game information), you realize that every time you die the Behemoth's danger meter goes up. You then realize that by merely existing and trying to learn to play that you are making all content harder for everyone else and by extension reducing any potential rewards they might get. An even worse epiphany comes when you realize that apparently optimal gameplay for a newbie is to go to an event...die...AND STAY DEAD. Literally stay dead and try to move the camera around to learn the new Behemoth's attack pattern. Amazing gameplay. I can't imagine why I haven't opened my wallet to buy into this gameplay loop.

Sure, you say. Just don't go to events until you learn the Behemoth from other areas. Sweet. Now, I don't get any Aethersparks and when I'm 20, I can't reforge once. Awesome.

It seems like the gameplay now incentivizes community hostility and non-cooperation. It is unironically better (for both parties) to let someone lie in the mud dead than it is to pick them up and let them play the game. Hell, I understand the veterans who don't want to carry yet another person like me, who is still learning the game. Every thread now includes sh*tting on new players because the devs have tied their rewards to some random person simply trying to learn the game.

It might be best to put the game down (after only playing a few days) until the game is in a place where as a new player I don't feel like I'm fighting against the veteran players who would otherwise help and encourage me.