Now that Halo 5 has reached the beginning of the second Arena season, I have seen enough to chime in with my perspective. Full disclosure: I am an exceedingly mediocre Halo competitor. My slayer-based K/D hovers around 1.0, and during the January Season I won 51% of my Arena Slayer matches while my CSR peaked at Gold 2 .
The bottom line as follows: the Arena seasons should either be much longer (such as three months) or eliminated completely. As much as I enjoy 4v4 Slayer matches, every time a new season begins I spend an inordinate amount of time providing target practice for the genuinely talented Halo players. Even during the latter days/weeks of the season, we still encounter great opponents on a semi-regular basis who simply haven’t qualified in Arena Slayer yet, and as a result they face our team and might go 24-3 during our match.
This entire scenario has been repeated within previous versions of the game. When Halo 4 matchmaking featured CSR that didn’t reset, my friends and I could typically enjoy a 4v4 slayer match and find relatively even opponents almost every time. It remained our favorite playlist throughout that era. After they implemented a regular CSR reset, we found ourselves on the receiving end of a rout fairly regularly.
I appreciate all of the time and effort that 343i has devoted towards matchmaking updates, but the frequent CSR reset schedule within the Arena playlists genuinely benefits the best players, while the mainstream population is much more inclined to stay away. Please lengthen the seasons, or simply stop the CSR resets altogether!
This is a valid argument. I myself am mediocre with a -Yoink- KD, but play for the lols so the ranks dont really bother me, even though it is a nice to know I am doing well.
But this is a good and valid point to make them longer or take them out, if taken out it would not be very competitive. But who knows something may work out.
Agreed. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Halo 5 and will continue to enjoy the game one way or another! But now that the matchmaking population is a bit smaller, constantly resetting the CSR in the 4v4 Arena playlists will become too frustrating for the majority of competitors who simply aren’t Platinum (or above) skill level.
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> 5-6 weeks like January. 2 months feels kinda long IMO, like the preseason too.
I wouldn’t mind 6 weeks either, just as long as there’s a clear in-game indication of how long of the season is remaining since it won’t simply be the end of the month (or the end of every other month if it was bimonthly).
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> 5-6 weeks like January. 2 months feels kinda long IMO, like the preseason too.
GoysGrimoire, I can certainly understand your perspective, but at the same time your opinion helps validate what I am saying.
Your service record says that you were ranking Diamond in Arena Slayer during the season that just finished. Nicely done, that is definitely something to be proud of! But the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of us will never be Diamond/Onyx/Champion in the Arena Slayer playlist. When the CSR reset occurs, mainstream mediocre players like me will get matched up against much better competitors like you and get crushed. The current reset schedule benefits the top players, but really hurts the majority of us.
Ultimately, the CSR system is designed to match up people with relatively even skill sets. Constantly resetting the CSR essentially breaks the system on a regular basis.
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> > 2535457892133665;5:
> > 5-6 weeks like January. 2 months feels kinda long IMO, like the preseason too.
>
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> I wouldn’t mind 6 weeks either, just as long as there’s a clear in-game indication of how long of the season is remaining since it won’t simply be the end of the month (or the end of every other month if it was bimonthly).
Yeah six weeks is perfect ;honestly, two months would be too long and 4 can be short at least for those who aren’t hardcore halo players and or can’t find the time to qualify for their CSR in a short amount of time.
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> > 2535457892133665;5:
> > 5-6 weeks like January. 2 months feels kinda long IMO, like the preseason too.
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> GoysGrimoire, I can certainly understand your perspective, but at the same time your opinion helps validate what I am saying.
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> Your service record says that you were ranking Diamond in Arena Slayer during the season that just finished. Nicely done, that is definitely something to be proud of! But the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of us will never be Diamond/Onyx/Champion in the Arena Slayer playlist. When the CSR reset occurs, mainstream mediocre players like me will get matched up against much better competitors like you and get crushed. The current reset schedule benefits the top players, but really hurts the majority of us.
>
> Ultimately, the CSR system is designed to match up people with relatively even skill sets. Constantly resetting the CSR essentially breaks the system on a regular basis.
Sounds more like you’d be more of a Social Slayer fan without ranks at all?
I get your concerns for the first 10 matches but honestly, those aren’t as random as you might think they are. I’m never gonna be put against a bronze player, even in the first unranked plays. Even in those the games are fairly made and only if the team works well together a big difference points/ the score happens. As well as people dropping out being a big factor, which is absolutely random.
The CSR still kinda works and remembers your last placement (it’s more probable for me to be put in Plat/Dia than Bronze/Silver/Gold because of last season), there’s a hidden MMR that makes sure things aren’t too inbalanced, so even if you have to place every 4 or 5-6 weeks, you won’t be put to a huge disadvantage ever.
At least that’s been my, and the people I talked to, experience so far.
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> I appreciate all of the time and effort that 343i has devoted towards matchmaking updates, but the frequent CSR reset schedule within the Arena playlists genuinely benefits the best players, while the mainstream population is much more inclined to stay away. Please lengthen the seasons, or simply stop the CSR resets altogether!
This is absolutely true!
The pattern of replies within this discussion helps verify it. Everybody who has said that we should keep 6-weeks seasons is Diamond or better in Team Arena or Slayer. That’s great for them, but most people will never reach that level. The possibility of enjoying the 4-player Arena game types is being ruined for the rest of us.
Like the OP says, if CSR is designed to indicate your skill level, why reset it? The best players will like that, but most of us won’t.
> 2535457892133665;5:
> Sounds more like you’d be more of a Social Slayer fan without ranks at all?
> …
> At least that’s been my, and the people I talked to, experience so far.
No, not necessarily. If I am a “Gold 2” in Arena Slayer for months on end, I can live with that. However, as you implied, you mileage may vary. This scenario isn’t only prevalent during the 10-game placement series. Even after the season has been going for a few weeks (or more), my team will still encounter “Unranked” opponent players who finish with 20-28 kills and 3-6 deaths! That indicates that should be ranked much higher than us, but the aftermath of the CSR reset hasn’t properly placed them yet.
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> I agree with your post. One month I can barely get 10 games in, before I have to get another 10 games in. It should be longer.
Didn’t know it takes ~31 days to play 10 games of slayer.
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> > 2533274875982754;12:
> > I agree with your post. One month I can barely get 10 games in, before I have to get another 10 games in. It should be longer.
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> Didn’t know it takes ~31 days to play 10 games of slayer.
But what if you wanted to get ranked in more than one playlist, and then try to improve your rank in each of them? It takes a long time.
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> But what if you wanted to get ranked in more than one playlist, and then try to improve your rank in each of them? It takes a long time.
This is another valid point.
Thinking along those same lines, remember trying to earn level 45 or level 50 within the classic Halo ranking systems? It wasn’t a fast process by any measure! The time and effort that it took to achieve those top-tier ranks were a crucial part of what made them so satisfying.
Now, imagine how those old-school competitors would feel if the Halo powers-that-be told them that they were going to reset that level 50 in less than six weeks, as well as every subsequent month afterwards. How well do you think that piece of news would be received?