"difficulty for new players to get started"....I think you just hit on exactly what the issue is with any Battlefield game. It doesn't matter whether you've been playing FPS's for decades or 10 minutes...when you first log on to the game as a new player, you are so far behind the curve that it's a grind to get caught up. I've played since Battlefield 1942 (actually even before that) and just recently started playing 5. I have about a 25% chance (at best) of killing a player that has been playing 5 for any extended amount of time.
In trying to determine why, I have come to the conclusion that it's 2 things: 1) it's the learning required for new maps, guns, etc. and 2) it's that those players who have been playing for awhile have perks (OP) that you don't have. I'm sure people will say that I should "get good", but it's more than just getting good. It's the attachments and guns that someone that has been playing for awhile get that a new player doesn't get. So, not only are you handicapped by trying to learn the maps and the guns, etc., you're handicapped by others have over-powered weaponry. It doesn't matter that the M16 has a knockdown ratio that's supremely high if it only has a 3 shot burst while an m4 has auto with virtually no recoil and 1/2 of the knockdown ratio (btw, I happen to love games that use the M16 because I'm pretty decent at keeping all 3 burst shots on target...it's truly a gun for a more seasoned player).
My case in point, to reiterate the above, is that I played the beta of 6 for the last couple of weekends and was able to hold my own on many occasions. Enough so that I didn't feel like a complete newb while playing. Did I always have a positive KDR? No. However, I was able to at least compete against others.
I truly wish EA would change this aspect of the game so that a seasoned gamer new to the game wouldn't be at such a disadvantage compared to someone who's been playing that game for awhile.