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Exactly. Halo needs to become as pure of an arena shooter as possible.
One thing as well, make arena style maps. Everything is about the gameplay of the map and NOTHING is about the “theme” of the map or making it look realistic.
> Halo is an arena shooter. Arena shooters:
>
> -Do not take realism into consideration.
> -Do whatever they can to eliminate random factors.
> -Do whatever they can to increase the skill gap and competitiveness.
> -Are SUPPOSED to have huge skill gaps. When you suck at an arena shooter, the solution isn’t for the developer to make the game easier for you. The solution is for you to get better at the game.
>
> All of these factors led to a successful trilogy of Halo.
>
> Are there any questions?
What led to a successful trilogy was the game being extremely fun to play in a LAN setting IMO. You WANTED to get a LAN party setup and just frag each other for hours, online was fun but lacked that human element
No radar, BRs only, final destination is not automatically the most fun. I like playing MLG and I don’t want that aspect to get hurt by casualization, but the game needs to be a blast for LANing (which somehow Reach screwed up too).
Honestly, one of my favorite maps is High Ground. That map was just a riot when you’re playing with your buddies. It has BRs, carbines, and snipers, but it also has fun stuff like maulers, needlers, and ghosts that make the map a huge bag of fun while LAN’ing. 8v8 1 flag on that map… oh man, that just gets insane.
Nope.
The children here might say other wise.
> No radar, BRs only, final destination is not automatically the most fun.
Hahaha, you know, I’ve been meaning to start that meme extension in response to Halo. Except my saying is, “No AAs, DMR only, Final Destination”.
That’s what made Halo so popular in the first place. It simplified arena shooters, but Reach is just a mess of useless gimmicks.
No, Quake and UT are arena shooters. Halo is a more casual, accessible FPS experience. You will no doubt have an MLG playlist dedicated to those who share that belief. The rest of us will be playing Halo. And enjoying every random, crazy moment of it.
> No, Quake and UT are arena shooters. Halo is a more casual, accessible FPS experience. You will no doubt have an MLG playlist dedicated to those who share that belief. The rest of us will be playing Halo. And enjoying every random, crazy moment of it.
I’d actually say that UT3 courts crazy fun more so than Halo Reach. I mean the only signficant developments we had in our vehicle sandbox, for example, were the -Yoinking!- dull revenant and falcon. Unreal Tournament got War of the Worlds brand walkers, mine-laying camo tanks, and hover boards.
But generally yes, even though Halo has it’s roots in the arena shooter (see the gametypes and map layouts that we started with)it’s developed in a different direction. And we should respect what Halo is, and not pump it full of misplaced competitive idealism to bring it to a confused mid-point which services no one (see Reach.)
> [
> But generally yes, even though Halo has it’s roots in the arena shooter (see the gametypes and map layouts that we started with)it’s developed in a different direction. And we should respect what Halo is, and not pump it full of misplaced competitive idealism to bring it to a confused mid-point which services no one (see Reach.)
Reach is not a product of competitive ideas gone wrong. It failed because it tried to appeal to other audiences instead of the actual Halo fanbase. It was casualized at the core and the direction it took Halo in killed the population.
> Reach is not a product of competitive ideas gone wrong. It failed because it tried to appeal to other audiences instead of the actual Halo fanbase. It was casualized at the core and the direction it took Halo in killed the population.
Suuure, giving the game over to the DMR and sniper rifle was one mighty stab at the casual audiences.
Halo Reach was a bastardization but it was a bastardization on many counts. It failed to meet competitive expectations because it tried to replace the easily passable equipment with more deeply integrated armor abilities. Likewise it failed casual audiences because it gutted the sandbox in order to favor those few weapons that were most popular with the competitive demographic. It also eliminated what fun and spontenaeity there was to be had from the campaign in favor of a more “conservative” experience which was more ammenable to the angsty interests of the hardcore gamer. You can even see that in the writing. Further in Reach you had an absolute lack of fun and original maps and an overabundance of Halo 2 remakes or similar that played to hardcore fan service but got nothing because with a skewed gameplay balance between the combined effect of AA’s, melee, overpowered grenades, and the previously mentioned gutted sandbox which left only a strained dichotomy between one-shot power weapons and the 5 shot DMR/Pistol it was harder to be competitive about a -Yoink- game. And likewise with that -Yoink- balance and no redemptive sandbox we fun-loving types could enjoy what little was done in our interests, either.
In essence, everyone’s pissed, but I will argue that your niche’s interest played a bigger part than mine in making Reach -Yoink- (but that’s just my own point of view.) In any case you may not see what you’d like out of it but don’t pass the full responsibility onto others when they are at least just as likely to be alienated by the mess as you.
> Exactly. Halo needs to become as <mark>pure</mark> of an arena shooter as possible.
>
> One thing as well, make arena style maps. Everything is about the gameplay of the map and NOTHING is about the “theme” of the map or making it look realistic.
Isn’t that kind of an exaggeration? I mean, sure Halo has always been an arena shooter, but never pure. If the game has always been semi-realistic, you can’t just suddenly make it a pure arena shooter. While that could make the multiplayer aspect better, it would ruin the story and the campaign and every other aspects.
Therefore, Halo should continue what it does best, being a semi-realistic FPS and keeping true to it’s arena FPS roots. Simply put, it should be like CE with some changes to make the gameplay a little bit more skill demanding.
And I disagree with your opinion on map design. I have never seen a single game, not even an arena shooter, that would have not considered the theme of the map. Of course it has never been about realism in arena shooters and shouldn’t be, but the look is still important. I couldn’t stand a map for a second, no matter how well designed, if it only had placeholder textures everywhere.
> Halo is an arena shooter.
Wut.
> Arena shooters:
>
> -Do not take realism into consideration.
> -Do whatever they can to eliminate random factors.
> -Do whatever they can to increase the skill gap and competitiveness.
> -Are SUPPOSED to have huge skill gaps. When you suck at an arena shooter, the solution isn’t for the developer to make the game easier for you. The solution is for you to get better at the game.
Also have blistering fast movement speeds.
Also allow you to carry the entire weapon sandbox on your back.
Also do not feature regenerating health or shields.
Also have weapons that can and do kill at their intended ranges better than weapons being utilized outside of theirs.
> All of these factors led to a successful trilogy of Halo.
Debatable.
If Halo is an Arena Shooter than what is UT3? An Ultra Hyper Mega Super Arena Shooter?
> > Exactly. Halo needs to become as <mark>pure</mark> of an arena shooter <mark>as possible</mark>.
> >
> > One thing as well, make arena style maps. Everything is about the gameplay of the map and NOTHING is about the “theme” of the map or making it look realistic.
>
> Isn’t that kind of an exaggeration? I mean, sure Halo has always been an arena shooter, but never pure. If the game has always been semi-realistic, you can’t just suddenly make it a pure arena shooter. While that could make the multiplayer aspect better, it would ruin the story and the campaign and every other aspects.
Let me explain opinions to you, they are a lot like -Yoink- holes, everybody has them, but some stink more than others. That being said, I think Halo should still try to be as “grounded” and realistic as it can, not off the wall but not too crazy.
Part of me agrees. But what initially made Halo so successful in my eyes was it’s ease to pick and play for a new player and the skill gap that differentiated between a new player and one who plays at the highest level of competition.
OP you seem to imply that Halo is difficult to pick up and play. It’s not.
Look at Halo 2 for example when the series peaked in terms of popularity. It was probably easiest game in the series to play, but the skill gap was extensive. Mastery was a difficult step.
> Part of me agrees. But what initially made Halo so successful in my eyes was it’s ease to pick and play for a new player and the skill gap that differentiated between a new player and one who plays at the highest level of competition.
>
> OP you seem to imply that Halo is difficult to pick up and play. It’s not.
>
> Look at Halo 2 for example when the series peaked in terms of popularity. It was probably easiest game in the series to play, but the skill gap was extensive. Mastery was a difficult step.
YES
Classic Halo is kind of a slowed down more strategic Arena shooter where your plotting moves and anticipating enemies much slower in a sense than you are in a traditional Arena FPS, allowing things like setups and precision weapons to play a larger part in the game combining tactical elements as well. Headshots for example are very important and abundant in competitive Halo just like CS, whereas in a Arena FPS like Quake headshots are much harder to achieve due to the super fast moving enemies and lack of headshot focused weapons(As well as smaller avatars lolz). Grenades also play a large role in the game and are used in a tactical sense and intricately, something that would not be effective if Halo was a true Arena FPS. Positioning and cover is also emphasized much more than in a true Arena FPS due to slower movement speeds not allowing a player to escape and re-engage as often as you can in a classic Arena shooter. As you can see Halo is not a pure Arena FPS but is certainly Arena styled in many elements of the game, but in my mind posesses many tactical elements that really make the game shine in a team setting and combine with the Arena elements to make Halo’s distinctive and unique gameplay. Halo to me as always been the perfect blend of the Arena and tactical shooter bringing the best of both worlds and combining them seamlessly to make truly unique and diverse gameplay that cant be replicated. Its The Sandbox FPS(Sandbox layout,Arena styled maps, sci-fi weapons,map control, power weapons,power-ups,everything is pick-up, intense duals, crazy movements,cat and mouse game between players) combined with tactical elements(Headshot weapons playing large role in the game, slower strategic movement,tactical grenades,tactical equipment(H3+Reach),Positioning is still key)