I, too, like personal loadouts. But I disagree with some posters about the AAs.
Acceptable AAs (in my opinion)
Hardlight, Hologram, and Thruster provide a small advantage to the player, but also require some degree of skill to use effectively. I have not found too many (if any) players who consider them to be “game breaking”. Not much rage over the mics about a hardlight user. Thruster has the additional potential to become the sprint replacement. Just design maps for the normal movement speed, give everyone TP, and now sprint is no longer required. Maps will be designed for the actual speed of combat, and those players who feel that a “sprint” feature is a standard FPS feature will also be satisfied. Hologram is cool because it auto-teabags, so it’s a must-have :).
Sentry requires only the tiny skill required to know that placing it in a room where no one will ever go is useless. On the other hand, it doesn’t do much. Still, I don’t really see that adding an AA that shoots for you is a good idea. I would prefer it be removed on principle . . . but honestly haven’t had many issues with it (I could just see it being “upgraded” in H5, though, and becoming a nightmare).
Active Camo
AC, on the other hand, requires no skill to use. It’s maximum effectiveness comes when the player using it is crouched or still and completely outside the actual combat area. On some maps (Ragnarok, Longbow, Meltdown, Vortex), there are areas which are rarely traversed, but have good LOS to important locations. Grab sniper, move to spot, crouch, activate . . . and presto! Best K/D of the match!
The fact that the camo snipers almost always have the best K/D (especially CTF) speaks to the fact that - while a few players may not see the issue - this particular AA grants a very large advantage to those who are happy doing nothing for most of a match. Since most of us did not buy Halo to sit in a corner and press the right trigger every 30 seconds or so, it is likely that much of the fanbase does not find this fun - either doing it or being on the receiving end of it.
Jetpack
I don’t really care whether this was nerfed from Reach; that argument holds no water with me. The problem with Jetpack is twofold:
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It allows access to map points and travel routes unavailable to players without it; and,
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If used properly, it can be almost unstoppable in 1v1 situations due to the lack of vertical sensitivity of the controller.
#1 is the biggest issue. It makes some maps completely unfun to play because it ruins the flow for which the map was designed. It’s supposed to be risky to get the incineration cannon on Exile, but with jetpack, you can run around to the protected edge of the tent, pop up, grab it, and drop back down with far less risk than the designed, exposed route on top of the tent between the sniper platforms. On Ragnarok you can get on top of rocks such that you are almost impossible to shoot without a sniper rifle. On Solace you can blast up on either side of the bases and be completely protected from enemy fire by the glass. On Scythe you can get to the upper walkways without having to go up the ramps and risk being shot by someone in the adjacent room.
#2 is significant as well. The most effective jetpack users are ones who use it to pop up from behind cover (Solace and Abandon are very jetpack-friendly in this respect because they are so cluttered) for that final HS at a high enough angular speed that it is impossible for your opponent to keep his reticule on target - regardless of the sensitivity used. This is because the vertical sensitivity is significantly less than the horizontal sensitivity.
Moreover, Jetpack + explosive ordnance is a terrible combination if you are on the receiving end. Without jetpack, you actually have to think about aiming the incineration cannon or rockets on flat ground, and you can’t use them in certain situations (from behind the hill on Ragnarok, for example). You actually have to walk up the hill and get your Spartan high enough on the ridge to prevent hitting the ground in front of you. But with Jetpack, these weapons become nearly unstoppable. Crouch-walk up the hill, grossly aim at the Mantis based on your radar, jump, activate Jetpack, shoot. Mantis destroyer +1. And against infantry, it’s even easier. Aim down, pull trigger.
It doesn’t help that Jetpackers can use frags while popping up, but others can’t use frags against them. Frag + HS from above vs. 4-shot. The winner is not hard to determine.
Jetpack can be utterly game-breaking. While it does require some skill to use well (many players just turn themselves into sitting flying ducks), the advantage received is not commensurate with the skill required to use. It’s just plain unfun to play against.
And lest anyone misunderstand, I actually do pretty well against jetpackers. I don’t even use it in Rock & Rail . . . I just run around on the ground and shoot them out of the air with the railgun. I do better in Rock & Rail (by far) than any other Action Sack gametype, and regularly do better than players whose CSR is well above mine in that playlist (I just suck at the other games in there). So I can and I do shoot them out of the sky. But I don’t like being forced to do it.
Promethean Vision
Many people keep saying that PV isn’t bad because it lets you know where the player using it is. This is true for close-quarters, and I don’t have too much of an issue with it there. But it is entirely untrue for distances greater than the motion tracker range.
Those who use PV well use it to make callouts and line up long shots before the opponent can see them. Think of trying to take the hill on Ragnarok with a PV user on the other side calling out your attack routes to his buddies defending the hill. You can see all the way to the other base with that crap. Or guys calling out locations for the defenders in the bases on Solace (or any other map). Or guys seeing through the gentle hills on Settler lining up shots as you come around the cover, or just using it to spawn-kill. It is impossible to land the first shot when they are already pulling the trigger as soon as you come around cover when all you have is a radar blip and an expanding red circle . . . and if you’re far enough away, you don’t even have that.
This is not fun to play against.
Again, like Jetpack, it does take some skill to use well. However, the skill required is in no way commensurate with the advantage received.
At the end of the day, fun is the actual requirement: does the inclusion of an AA enhance or detract from the enjoyment of the game’s fanbase? If someone designed a sniper game that included AC from the start - and those who bought the game enjoyed it - then there is nothing wrong with AC in that game. But most of us who bought Halo were not expecting X-Ray Vision Camo Sky Snipers 3000, and it detracts from the enjoyment. That is what makes it wrong for Halo.