After all my complaining about the Arena I want to thank 343 for making the 39000 super jackpot and removing jetpack!
It`s awesome to come online and see 8000 people in the Arena!
Take home message… Credit jackpot and they will come. You could make it Armor lock only, 500% gravity, spiker starts- they’d still come.
343 could have kept the Jetpack in, not have a jackpot, not change any one thing.
Being negative even concerning a positive development is a little disheartening.
Took them a whopping 8 months to do something that wasn’t going to happen anyways (adding in the TU), but no doubt it is better than nothing.
I can only hope the population count remains higher after the jackpot is finished on Monday.
I doubt it will- numbers dropped after the last Arena Jackpot in Season 8. If they kept the jackpot or offered some sort of credit bonus as a permanent fix, it’d be fantastic.
People should just remember this next time they start grilling 343 over shoddy gameplay settings. Jetpack was removed- numbers didn’t budge. You add a jackpot- you see a 10-fold jump. Not doubled, but 10-fold. That’s ridiculous. 10 players would rather play for jackpots for every 1 that plays “competitive” matchmaking. It’s no wonder Arena hasn’t seen the same sort of attention that many posters on Waypoint would like.
I’m not happy about it, but the numbers don’t lie- we have to accept that the population is to blame for the death of competitive/ranked gameplay- not 343/Bungie.
> 343 could have kept the Jetpack in, not have a jackpot, not change any one thing.
>
> Being negative even concerning a positive development is a little disheartening.
Please don’t think I’m criticizing 343 here. My gripes have nothing to do with them. They have a mostly thankless job and they’ll never please everyone.
I just know this population jump isn’t permanent. After the jackpot it will drop to sub-1000 again. And it’s a shame. The low population has nothing to do with jetpacks, blue spawns on Sword Base, bloom. The only thing it has to do with is you can’t easily boost to a high rank. And if you can’t be the best in the list, even if it’s by the most illegitimate of means, then why bother playing.
I think it’s great 343 added the jackpot. The only thing I’d like more is if they kept it there until Reach dies. The majority who don’t care what the hell they are playing will get their credits, and those of us dying alive waiting in the lobby to find an Arena game will finally have some peace.
> > 343 could have kept the Jetpack in, not have a jackpot, not change any one thing.
> >
> > Being negative even concerning a positive development is a little disheartening.
>
> Please don’t think I’m criticizing 343 here. My gripes have nothing to do with them. They have a mostly thankless job and they’ll never please everyone.
>
> I just know this population jump isn’t permanent. After the jackpot it will drop to sub-1000 again. And it’s a shame. The low population has nothing to do with jetpacks, blue spawns on Sword Base, bloom. The only thing it has to do with is you can’t easily boost to a high rank. And if you can’t be the best in the list, even if it’s by the most illegitimate of means, then why bother playing.
>
> I think it’s great 343 added the jackpot. The only thing I’d like more is if they kept it there until Reach dies. The majority who don’t care what the hell they are playing will get their credits, and those of us dying alive waiting in the lobby to find an Arena game will finally have some peace.
Respectfully, I don`t agree with you.
A lot more people play Star Craft II. That`s even harder to rank up in than Reach!
More people play if there is a reward (credits, bragging rights). The problem is, you have to click 16 times to access your Arena rank, i.e. your bragging rights.
Taking into account the matchmaking side of things like the 2 2s trick and on the interface side that the game doesnt promote your Arena rank openly, 343 should fix these things because it makes the game more fun and it ensures a high probability of player retention.
Chief, don’t think I’m being combative here- I’m just not sure what part you are disagreeing with- I completely believe the jackpots work because it does give most players the incentive they are looking for.
SC2 doesn’t give you as many social options, and I’d also argue their demographic is probably more mature.
Rating systems worked in SC2, H3, etc. because it was crammed down your throat. Reach’s problem is there are all of these social options, and people can still “progress” playing them. The incentive to play ranked is incredibly diminished.
If the Arena = Team Slayer, I’m sure the population would be much higher. But your average players are going to play social that rather than be rated silver. An unbelievable number of people still think that the cR ranking system is somehow proportional to skill, even 1.5 years after release… whether it’s due to delusion or ignorance, I don’t know.
I’ve heard “don’t worry guys, I’m an inheritor” more than once, which is laughable.
So again, it’s great 343 added the jackpot. I still hope it’s a permanent thing. With the disproportional number of social to competitive playlists, there has to be some incentive to bring more people in. More people has a trickle down effect, like quicker matchmaking times, which is something the Arena desperately needs for Arena junkies like us.