So I decided to make this thread based on my experience in Big Team Battle, from playing in and against teams of 8, to being a lone wolf and playing as a vehicle user to playing defense at base. I’d like to think have a pretty good view on what is good and what is bad in this playlist.
Starting with an issue before we even get into the game, I’d like to talk about the voting system and matchmaking. As we all know, you get 3 options to vote for. The problem with Big Team is that these options normally consist of 2 maps, instead of utilizing 3 maps. We normally see something like this:
Map A slayer
Map A objective
Map B slayer/objective.
There are plenty of maps to choose from, so why not make use of them, especially with the influx of maps thanks to Heavy settings!
Another issue, something I consider to be massive, is that teams of 6-8 are able to match against teams of singles. This almost always leads to the team of singles being beaten so bad, most players will quit out or hide the whole game. We also know that most teams of 8 like to abuse the fact they will match against singles, and pad stats. Adding big party restrictions on the playlist will make it much more enjoyable for the majority, and actually make BTB competitive for teams.
Continuing onward, we now get into gametypes, and maps of BTB. The current gametypes in BTB are : Heavies, 2 flag, assault, neutral assault, one bomb, one flag, snipers and slayer.
Heavies, being the most recent addition is what I will start with. Heavies is actually a welcome change to what was becoming a stale and boring playlist that was revolving more around who could cross map DMR more, rather than is being an epic clash of vehicular action backed by troops. Heavies has enabled, for the most part, vehicles to get back in actions and do some serious damage on the battlefield.
My main issue is how many power weapons there are compared to how many vehicles there are. Bear in mind, the DMR and grenades are extremely effective against lighter vehicles, and that there should only really be heavy weapons to counter the heavy vehicles. What I feel the authors of Cragmire, Graveyard and Breakout have done is have weapons available to counter all types of vehicle. Personally I disagree with this, and think that the numbers of heavy weapons need reducing as it is pretty overkill at the moment.
Asphalt being, in my opinion, the best thing to happen to BTB has done a great job in balancing the weaponry and vehicles. My only issue is the “light Speed” glitch that occurs on it at least twice a game. If you do not know about this glitch, it is where a covenant vehicle is flung away at rapid speeds, normally resulting in death, or vehicle destruction. Both teams wraiths do this off spawn, as they are placed on top of a join between two coliseum walls.
Delta Facility was a great mix of vehicular and Troop action, although I thought the middle walkway was extremely overpowering, especially with laser being up there. Vehicles had little chance of stopping the laser user, and the person with laser could easily retreat off the walkway to sniper spawn and then to base. I hope to see it return though.
Boneyard. Now this is a map that disappoints me. Not because it plays badly, but because the full map isn’t used properly. Graveyard attempts to take a stab at populating the elite invasion spawn by adding some incentive to go there in the form of a Gauss warthog, but it generally ends up not being noticed, used or even known in most games due to its location. A nice way for someone like me to pick up a free heavy weapon. I feel that one sided objective on Boneyard plays out to long, and that the area the flag is located in makes it ridiculously tough to capture without having to sacrifice a few deaths until you manage to throw the flag off the staircase. Only then are you truly able to get the flag scored. Slayer on this map is pretty unbalanced also. The team that spawns staircase almost always wins simply because they have better spawns. A team with a tank behind the other teams initial spawn can spawn kill at both initial, and phase 2 base. Same with banshee. The only time blues get any sort of edge is with the sniper/rocket spawn. But even then reds get the walkway from banshee from which they can pound the enemies constantly before the even get near rockets.
I also feel that the scorpion at the start needs to be moved. The elite invasion spawn would work well, and cause some movement on that side for once. As it stands, the scorpion usually ends up destroyed within 20 seconds. Mainly because people can just drop on to it from the surrounding walkway, wall or jet pack from banshee.
On to Spire. That silly map with the massive tower that ends up being the main play space for most the game. Cragmire had it right. I think normal Spire needs to also have the top blocked off. It encourages camping and slow gameplay. I would also suggest either moving BFG initial spawn or moving Banshee spawn. At the moment BFG initial spawn is guaranteed Banshee as long as someone goes to it in a vehicle. I would also like to see this map play with the far side (area behind BFG Falcon) blocked off also. Not saying it would be good, but I would like to see if it works.
Now Boardwalk. A map I’d like to see removed. It is too small for BTB, and has no vehicular action what so ever. It’s pretty poor as a map also, even in 4 v 4 situations. I don’t see why it is in BTB, and I hope it isn’t in the future. It needs to be replaced by a map (forged) that allows a ghost/revenant movement around a map that is troop based. So players on there feet will be the main force, but a ghost or two can move about and cause some trouble. Think longshore.
Wayont is a nice map, but the frame rate when looking from on base to another is pretty poor. An easy fix is to delete the lights in them and try to reduce item count. I’m pretty sure removing the lights should do the trick as they are well known for causing frame rate issues. The map plays pretty well and is a favorite in objective. Slayer isn’t so great as most people just camp the bases. I think more incentive is needed outside the bases to move about the map. Revenant/s or Ghost/s at each satellite dish should do the job.
Renegade, a map based in the canyon, is another map that I feel could be replaced. It is barely voted, at least in all the lobbies I am in. This is probably because the map doesn’t play to well. The banshees normally end up dead pretty fast thanks to the snipers at base, and the lack of cover they have. Ground vehicles feel pretty useless as the ground troops can do all they need from center map, which they can’t get to. Most end up being used as transport. Sometimes vehicles can trap people in the base after a successful laser rush, but the sniper, plasma pistol, stickies and grenade launcher quite those attacks pretty sharpish.