343 You’re our last hope…
This means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to you too. This is going to be long but it needs to be said. I just want someone from 343 to read it. Please just one person is enough that’s all I ask.
Before I get to my point, let me explain how I got into Halo so you can understand where I’m coming from. I’ll try to keep it brief.
Way back when I was just a kid everyone from my neighborhood used to play N64 shooters like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Turok etc. and I loved those games. Against my friends I was the best, so being a kid I believed that I was the best in the world… I mean when you’re young and you’re the best on your block, you feel like the best! Then along came PC online gaming. Yep I sucked! Big time. Quake, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield… Not being able to see the other player’s screens was a big reality check. But there was one game that really stuck out. This game was called Delta Force 2.
I started playing Delta Force 2 and I actually got pretty good. I even made a name for myself amongst highly skilled players on a few servers. Remembering Sever/Hosts names and joining clans telling yourself “yeah this is where the good people play”. This is how you fount your competition. It became easy to find servers with highly skilled players in it but it was always the same players, with the odd noob sneaking in just to make the numbers for a full game. But it still was nothing compared to Halo 2.
When I got Halo 2 after still being the best out of my handful of friends I went online on XBL. I knew what I wasn’t the best but I still went in gunz blaz’n baby! As I played in team slayer I wondered “what is that number beside our names” Seeing the “1” jump to a “3” after one game had me confused but after 2 -3 games I quickly learned what it was… our level. I still didn’t value it just thought it was cool, I thought to myself “I wonder how long it takes to reach the top” around level 10 I came across another player who clearly made a new account. But back then I didn’t know, finishing the team slayer game with 25 kills and everyone else having around 10-5 I thought this guy was some kind of god. I was only level 10 though.
As I leveled I realized what the matchmaking system was actually doing, it was matching players of the same skill level together. As I reached level 20 this is where it became harder. I realized I was stuck, I couldn’t get any further for about a whole two months I was level 20. Within this period I came across level 25s and saw one or two level 30’s. I respected them as players. When you see them in the lobby and nobody has been put on teams yet you’re praying, “please put the level 30 on my team pleeease” They was always better than me. I wondered “WTF do they do that makes them sooooo good” but at the same time I was more interested in what it’s like when they go into matchmaking and everyone is level 30. Man that must be though.
The leveling system
Being able to play with your skill level and test you’re might is great but having something to show and something to lose makes it that much more valuable.
Nowadays the leveling system is too soft. Back in Halo 2 I remember getting a level 33 in Team slayer winning three games on it then losing 1 game and BAM! I’m level 32 again. Yea I was pissed but that’s what made me value my level and other people’s. In Halo 3 everyone and their mother had a level 50. It was a very good leveling system still but in the end it didn’t mean anything. It was too easy to get. And Halo: Reach… Arena was clever but it really was not that good. Please Bring back that unforgiving leveling system.
Yea their was no legit 50s in Halo 2 but the fact that everyone had one in Halo 3 really didn’t solve the problem. Getting to a level 40 in Halo 2 was God Like. It meant you overcame being Modded, Standby, Super Bounced, De-levelers and quitters to get to that level. Halo 3 may have been solid but the fact that players can lose ten games yet still maintain their level makes no sense. Where’s the sense of achievement? The leveling system in Halo 3 is way too soft. It needs to be more unforgiving!
Importance of solid matchmaking
Not all of us are competitive I know this and not all of us are in the tournament scene (I’m not) BUT that does not mean everyone cannot appreciate a solid leveling and matchmaking system. I am not in the tournament scene so I know that not all Halo players are competitive, but to play a decent game with players who are genuinely at the same skill level now means finding clans or entering tournaments. For players like me it’s a pain. In H2 (Halo 2) If you brought a low level into matchmaking it would try to math you up with the same odds and it was pretty good at it if I remember. Now I don’t have to find clans or get into the tournament scene to have decent games. It makes it easier for everyone and the casual players still get to play with each other. I was quite oblivious to what goes on at the higher levels when I was stuck at level 20. But if it were not for Halo 2 strict matchmaking I would not have the skill I have today on shooters.
Problems of today
When I play reach you have nothing to lose I mean arena has too much nonsense and cheap ways to play it such as camo & sniper camping. So arena is a no go. Plus getting to Onyx was the easiest thing ever it was pretty much a joke.
So MLG has its only playlist… why is it not ranked? You know it didn’t matter at first it has it had it’s pros and cons. But the big problem was the amount of quitting that goes on. Here is a number of reasons people quit in the first 2 mins of the game in Halo: Reach MLG playlist….
• Whole team gets killed
• Opposing teams controls all weapons
• One person on your team lagged out
• Someone is idle for 30 secs after the match began.
• Your team is losing 10-0
I could go on but my point is on Halo 2 people stayed because you didn’t lose until you lost. Remember when you was down 10 kills it’s 49-39 to the opposing team, everyone is screaming at each other “Don’t Die, DON’T DIE!” that little voice in the background… “I have the sniper” you all play your hardest and pull the win. At the end of the match in the end game lobby everyone is quite and that one guy says… “GET RAPED!” And then leaves LOL oh man Halo 2 those where the days.
You see people stayed because they valued their level very rarely people quit.
Allow me to touch on COD for two seconds… how often do you get to play in a room where 90% of the players in the game have the same skill as each other and its ranked… Yea not often. You might be luck if you come across 3 people on the opposing team that’s better than you other than that your playing with the consol owners 10 yr old kids. You don’t get to test your skill constantly like you did in Halo 2 nowadays. It’s starting to happen on Halo reach too, just jump in MLG right now.