> > > I’d prefer if there were only one utility weapon that everyone would need to learn to use (e.g. The BR). That weapon would be the one people spawn with in ‘Team BRs’ gametypes. What i’m saying is that i would like to see personal loadouts disappear.
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> > And why can’t this be a separate game variant or a separate playlist? Having loadouts eliminates the BR starts vs AR starts ordeal. During my time in Halo 3 or Reach people usually vote for BRs or DMR starts because simply people who get the precision weapons ended up being advantageous. The dislike for AR starts also carried onto halo 4 with Legendary Slayer. As for you second paragraph what does that have to do with anything ? It is the same away for any game , but the reason the weapons are “easy to kill with” is because of 343 decided to put plenty of bullet magnesium and aim assist.
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> > As for weapons being easier to use in halo 4 because they were designed to be easier in their intended range , well no duh. It was the same way in pretty much in every FPS in existence , the BR in halo 3 is easier to use at mid range… its intended range , so was the AR , shotgun , maular , PP , CC , pretty much every weapon was easier to use at their intended range. Making them map picks is not going to change anything besides bring back old complaints of having people getting easily killed while playing AR starts like there was in halo 3 or maybe legendary slayer.
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> Halo must offer a single system that goes for all playlists. If we give the competitive (read: ranked) playlists BR starts only and the social playlists custom loadouts, then we will separate the community, like now in Halo 4. This separation is really bad for the longevity of the game because social players will never be inclined to try their luck in the competitive playlists if they first have to adjust to different settings, and for other reasons.
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> So in my opinion, we either return to equal starts, or we continue with custom loadouts. If we want to continue with custom loadouts, we must balance them first for competitive multiplayer since we want a homogenous experience: magnum secondaries only, no armor abilities, frag grenades only, no perks. So the only thing that is really able to be balanced for loadouts, if we base ourselves off what happened in Halo 4, are the primary weapons. We’d end up with a system that is in between fair, equal starts and ultimate customisation. A system that does neither of them properly. So I would invest heavily in one side; the equal starts side. Which is why i’m advocating the return of AR-BR starts.
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> And errm yes, i’m fully aware of how you are ‘helpless’ if you don’t have a precision rifle in AR starts. I’ve been frustrated by it too in Halo 3. There was a huge emphasis on finding a BR because it dominated the AR, even in close range. On the other hand, when we look at Legendary Slayer, we see a different effect. H4’s AR is more effective than the BR at close range and sometimes even medium range, because it has been balanced in the context of custom loadouts: for custom loadouts, the AR needs to be a valid choice over the BR, or nobody will choose it. Because the AR is so powerful, few go out of their way to actually picking up the BR. Because once you have your BR, you have a hard time killing an AR player, even at medium range. And when you die, you lose it again. It simply wasn’t worth picking up and thus it turned into an AR game.
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> So, for our universal AR starts gametype for Halo 5, a fine balance must be struck between being able to defend yourself from spawn, and making it rewarding to go out of your way to pick up a precision rifle. And I think this is one of the few things Halo Reach did a really great job at. The Reach AR was weak compared to the DMR, even at very close ranges since you could spam the DMR for fast kills. You really wanted to pick up a DMR to win. Despite us having a weak primary, Bungie gave us a powerful secondary , the pistol, which could effectively compete with the DMR at all ranges except long range. The Reach pistol allowed you to engage other players at all ranges from spawn, which makes it resemble BR starts more. It potentially had the fastest killtime, however was very difficult to use because of its reticle and extensive bloom. Sure, you COULD run around with a pistol the entire match, but there’s no way you could outpistol DMR wielders every time. In this way, Reach made AR starts fun, because you were never helpless and it was still well worth picking up the utility weapon.
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> And the utility weapon itsself needs to be useable at all ranges, that’s the point of having one. You want it so you never get an encounter where you feel entirely helpless. And if everyone uses it, that’s not a bad thing, that’s something that brings consistency to the game. H5 would have the pistol as a utility weapon (powerful but shallow clip) off spawn, and the BR as a better utility weapon as a pickup (or on spawn in BR starts).
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> Though I agree you’re right, the only way of balancing the single shot primary rifles is by making some easier to use in their niche than others. However, H4 exaggerates this and in case of the DMR, it’s just easy for all ranges except really close range. 343i needs to make them more difficult to use in general. Or experiment with lowering bullet damage with range as an extra balancing mechanic, while keeping all rifles difficult to use. In any case, balancing will be easier in a non-custom loadouts context.