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> I too have played Halo since Combat Evolved’s release.
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> I understand the sentiment, but allow my to give you some additional reasoning for some of the decisions.
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> - Ranked BTB only launching recentlyBTB originally launched within Halo 5 as a ranked playlist and it suffered all kinds of problems. At the time, the Skill-Based Match-Making wasn’t nearly as capable as it is now which caused less than ideal balance for many matches. Imbalanced matches lead to higher quit rates and quitting took a serious toll on the playlist’s long-term outlook. Not to mention, 8v8 playlists inherently carry a higher quit rate than standard 4v4 playlists, so moving the playlist over to the social environment where it could benefit from the JiP service made a ton of sense. Though, with the addition of the Big Team Super Fiesta and Castle Wars playlists there’s been more socially orientated Big Team experiences that have taken away a good chunk of the mid-tier population that had been sustaining the BTB playlist. While it took 343i way too long to properly refresh the BTB playlist which it badly needed, it’s worth noting that most “competitive” playlists see population boosts when featured within the ranked environment. BTB was considered to be more competitive than those other big team experiences therefore it was given the opportunity to be moved back to the ranked environment. Ideally, that would also mean some small accommodations to help alleviate some of the past issues with quitters. Currently, the BTB playlist is the only ranked playlists that allows for the JiP service; except, it’s only active for an extremely brief period of time. The service was suppose to be activated with new policy changes meant to curb the frustrating annoyances associated with a JiP service in the ranked environment, but it seems as if those are delayed – and maybe indefinitely?
> - No objective ONLY playlists since launchThat’s not exactly true, but I fully understand and sympathize with the complaint. Why that’s not exactly true is because after the post-season the ranked Breakout playlist essentially was converted into a Neutral Flag mode, but the primary objective was still to eliminate the opposing team so it kind of falls into a grey area. However, the community created Castle Wars and Roaming Kings playlists are objective only. Also, 343i acknowledged that non-slayer based objective only modes draw a ton less interest than when mixed with slayer modes. It’s apparently a primary reason why they rarely release objective only playlists.
> - Removal of most maps in (Team) Arena just because they’re not used/preferred in competitions.Well, I wouldn’t expect them to adopt maps that don’t play well for the competitive environment. And it just makes sense that the playlist represents the HCS tournament settings since it went through a rigorous evolution over the years to best represent ideal competitive tourney play in Halo 5.
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> Not sure what you’re getting at by saying, “If 343 doesn’t learn from the decline in community and making the game feel like a call of duty / battlefield clone where reactions beat call outs and time for strategy, then you are doomed.”
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> 343i is constantly learning from their decisions. Community feedback is constantly made available to them. But, what makes you think that the community is in decline? There’s a reason why Halo Infinite was the most hyped game at E3. And, what makes you think a particular perspective from a faction of the community is a clear representation of the full community?
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> I wish people would stop with the CoD & Battlefield clone comments. While some ideas were borrowed and tried out that doesn’t automatically make Halo a CoD or Battlefield clone. All of these FPS titles share some similarities, but there are still many critical differences separating the franchises even when they overlap a little more or a little less.
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> Lastly, 343i is always looking to improve Halo 5’s matchmaking experience for the majority. Most times that comes at the cost of those towards the ends of the skill spectrum. However, some times they try something and find out it causes more of an adverse effect than intended and have to reverse or change the decision. Plus, do realize that Halo 5 is a pretty old game now that’s receiving limited attention which means that population numbers are impacting the vast majority of playlists.
Thanks for your well worded and argued reply. I was really trying to express my general unhappiness about the lack of ranked, Objective only playlists… and the lack of map variation in Arena; plus the lack of game variation ie what ever happened to one flag, one bomb, two bombs etc.
in regard to my CoD and BF references, i understand your point. I actually like the innovation of the thruster pack, however, the overall pace of the game (mainly due to sprint) has made the entire experience less strategic in my view. If you are in a gun battle there is little time to call out. In old Halos, team mates could communicate and plan. Yes, this still happens (and I call out all the time)…but… the nature of such call outs has changed, and certainly has become generally less strategic/thoughtful… hence my generalisations and comparisons to the other games ie where in general players run around and go for kills only etc.
Finally, as others have commented on in a seperate topic, it now seems impossible to find a ranked game. So unless we know why, it seems the community has finally deserted Halo (i Dont count social games, especially Warzone). And ps, it is clear why there is is no community/current gamer count