Quote Originally Posted by Zevox View Post
Again, the underlined is something I was arguing against before, but since that's getting off-track lets set that to the side for now and cut to the chase.

Yes, it is theoretically possible for a level 1 not-Soldier to load up on heavy weapons and ignore their powers. But as I said before, no, I am not going to assume that they're going to do that. My assumption is that if they wanted to do that, they'd be playing a class better suited to it - i.e. Soldier.
I'm with you on this, and it goes back to the fact that I'm rather cynical on skill in multiplayer until I actually see a player in action.

Sure, some people can and will top the charts on Silver, perhaps even Gold, with a level 1. Sure, some people will play every level 1 like a Soldier. But, that's not really the point.

It might be unfair to players like Siuis to kick them if they are level 1, but I don't know if that random player at level 1 in Silver is as good as Siuis or barely functional (it could even be a good player that just sucks with weapons) and, in my experience, they tend to be more on the 'less functional' side. So, my choices are be unfair to the less common players who can handle it or be unfair to myself by keeping the more common players who can't (and thus make my job more difficult). With those choices, I'll always be unfair to the less common player who isn't me. It's unfortunate for the better players, but it's not an insult to them or their skill, it's just a side effect of most people being unable to contribute at Silver+ while level 1. There is no way to judge your skill until we are in the game, and then it is too late to kick you.

I rarely start a vote to kick (unless it's someone who just won't hit ready), but if someone else has started it, I won't hesitate to kick a <level 5 unless they have very good equipment (and sometimes even then, especially with not-Soldiers).