Dear 343i,
Reach was a huge step backwards for competitive Halo play, due largely to the removal of the ranked/social playlist distinction which existed in Halo 2 and 3. While we all know that such a ranking system brought problems (boosters, foul-mouthed braggers), it also provided people with multiple ways to enjoy multiplayer. You could play competitively and try your best to win, knowing that your teammates and opponents would be at least somewhat near you in skill level, or you could just go play for fun.
In Reach, this distinction was lost. Yes, TrueSkill supposedly operates in the background, but appears to do so only loosely as it is rare to get a match with even evenly matched opponents and teammates throughout. Without a distinction between ranked and social lists, casual players are stuck playing with skilled tryhards, and skilled players become frustrated getting players on their team who don’t really care what’s going on or are simply not of a similar skill.
While it’s far from unanimous, I think it’s fair to say that there’s a consensus among longtime Halo players that the removal of such a ranked/social distinction was a misstep in Reach which contributed in the long haul to making Reach an inferior experience to Halo 2/Halo 3.
I propose a very simple solution: Bring back Halo 3’s ranked lists and ranking system (perhaps slightly tweaked/improved if needed), but make a player’s skill # visible only to him/herself. This should substantially if not entirely remove the problems of boosting etc, while maintaining both the competitive and social integrity of the game.
In the long run, having ranked lists will only benefit your game. Please address this.
Sincerely,
-A longtime semi-competitive player and concerned fan
You do realize that Halo 3 was Trueskill aswell just with a number slapped on? So technically I think we are getting the same thing with Halo 4 just not visible.
Well I hope so (that H4 will implement H3’s TS system), but I have two concerns
Reach supposedly did this, but my experience (and that of many others) is that whatever TrueSkill was there was implemented very loosely. In my experience, it’s even looser than Halo 2 or 3’s social matchmaking was with TrueSkill. It’s exceptionally rare in Reach to have two teams get matched with all players around a similar skill level.
Even if TrueSkill operates properly and tightly in the background for Halo 4, this doesn’t address the issue that there are some players who enjoy playing competitively and some who just want to play for fun (and some who want to do both).
What harm does it do to implement a ranked/social distinction if the rank isn’t public (and therefore an object to be bragged about and an object of temptation for cheaters)?
1)343i has said somewhere that with Reach the game prioritized a good connection over skil in matchmaking. This is not going to be the case with Halo 4 aswell as making the Trueskill more tight.
2)The players that play for fun will eventually get matched with there peers around the same Trueskill level and since you can’t see the Trueskill I doubt people will have any problems with it.
> Dear 343i,
> <mark>Reach was a huge step backwards for competitive Halo play, due largely to the removal of the ranked/social playlist distinction which existed in Halo 2 and 3.</mark> While we all know that such a ranking system brought problems (boosters, foul-mouthed braggers), it also provided people with multiple ways to enjoy multiplayer. You could play competitively and try your best to win, knowing that your teammates and opponents would be at least somewhat near you in skill level, or you could just go play for fun.
>
> In Reach, this distinction was lost. Yes, TrueSkill supposedly operates in the background, but appears to do so only loosely as it is rare to get a match with even evenly matched opponents and teammates throughout. Without a distinction between ranked and social lists, casual players are stuck playing with skilled tryhards, and skilled players become frustrated getting players on their team who don’t really care what’s going on or are simply not of a similar skill.
>
> While it’s far from unanimous, I think it’s fair to say that there’s a consensus among longtime Halo players that the removal of such a ranked/social distinction was a misstep in Reach which contributed in the long haul to making Reach an inferior experience to Halo 2/Halo 3.
>
> I propose a very simple solution: Bring back Halo 3’s ranked lists and ranking system (perhaps slightly tweaked/improved if needed), but make a player’s skill # visible only to him/herself. This should substantially if not entirely remove the problems of boosting etc, while maintaining both the competitive and social integrity of the game.
>
> In the long run, having ranked lists will only benefit your game. Please address this.
>
> Sincerely,
> -A longtime semi-competitive player and concerned fan
Competitive players didn’t leave Halo Reach because they removed the 1-50 system, they left reach because it downright sucked in every way in concern to gameplay. Only the players that played the game out of vanity left because there was no 1-50. Let me be clear. A competitive player plays to win! Not to get a rank. People who play for a rank play out of vanity.
To appease those who play out of vanity, how about Halo 4 goes with the progression system, matching people up with the invisible number. When you go into a ranked match though, you can see the number. This way, casuals have the progression system, and the vanity players will have the 1-50 number. The numbers would have no connection to the rank.
The true competitive players should be happy that they get close, grueling games because everyone is matched properly. I am a competitive player, I want to win in everything I do.
> 2)The players that play for fun will eventually get matched with there peers around the same Trueskill level and since you can’t see the Trueskill I doubt people will have any problems with it.
This assumes that all players who play competitively are good and all who play for fun are bad. Neither is true.
And I disagree about not needing more threads (obviously?)… this is a big deal for a decent chunk of the community including myself and I’m not going to keep my mouth shut about it.
If there’s invisible ranking and there’s tight matchmaking, I agree that at least some of the problem will go away, but why would it be a negative thing to include a distinction between ranked and social lists?
Also @SolarSabre - I never said or meant to imply that the only problem with Reach’s competitive play was the lack of a ranked/social distinction; only that it was one factor in Reach not being a fun competitive game. Of course there were other problems (too much bloom, bad maps, clunky armor ability implementation, etc), but Halo 4 is a different game and I can’t comment on gameplay yet.
