In every single-player video-game, one structural element remains the same: the game is easiest at the beginning, and hardest at the end. In Quake, it is the exact opposite. Other games like CoD and CS have already fixed the problem (to some extent), while Quake has essentially left it untouched.

You might say the skill-matching system was an effort to address and correct the problem, but if so, it clearly failed. How can you match beginners with other beginners, when there are no beginners? The solution is to make a mode where everyone is effectively a beginner, and cannot be anything else.

There are many game modes in Quake, such as FFA, CA and TDM, but there are no beginner, intermediate and expert modes. If we were to make such things, Quake multi-player structure would mirror standard single-player video-game structure. It would also achieve such a goal without ruining the highest level of play.

Where our competition has gained ground, is in how they appeal to beginner and intermediate players. Where they have made no progress, is at the highest-level. As a result, we still have the advantage when it comes to pro-gaming. Their exclusive pro-gaming 'advantage' comes from the number of people who play their games. Those numbers come from beginner and intermediate players. In other words, their success is a farce.

So yes, the game needs to be easiest at the beginning, and hardest at the end. It also must become progressively more difficult as players go from beginning to end. And because each person improves at a different rate, the player must have some personal choice in when they move from one level of difficulty to the next. By ensuring each difficulty level will truly be what it claims, the system must not match people based on people. The game-mode itself must be easier or harder, no matter the skill or experience of the player's involved. Furthermore, each level of difficulty should prepare the players for what they will face in the following levels (e.g.: beginner duel, intermediate duel and expert duel). Each level of duel does not necessarily contain different players, but does contain a different level of difficulty.

In addition, it could be good to have a sort of 'gateway-mode', which has the sole function of bringing people into the world of Quake.