Auto-Balance; We Need To Talk About This.

I have seen many topics on Join in Progress and whether it is core to the Halo experience. Some have said that JiP is an awful idea. Some say it is great because, come on, no one likes their entire team to quit only to be left with a 1v4 situation.

That is where auto-balance teams comes in. With auto-balance, the need for JiP would be greatly diminished. Instead of playing a 1v4 game, you could be playing a 2v2 game with auto-balance. 4v8 turns into a 6v6 game.

Speak your mind and tell me what you think, sound off in the comments.

What happens when I’m playing with a group of friends and we get “auto-balanced” onto different teams? Or what about the fact that I am on the winning team and all of sudden I’m switched to the losing side because some kid couldn’t stay in the match. Games that have auto balance like Team Fortress 2 or Counter Strike rarely auto balance correctly.

I’m sorry but, are you trying to debate over a compromise with ‘Join In Progress’ With ‘Join In Progress’ ? that simply does not work.

Auto-Balance will simply not work in Halo, you’re giving up your team because some kid left the game.

I think the problem is that there is no perfect system, but I think some sort of auto balance would be better than nothing. 1v4 is never fun.

> I think the problem is that there is no perfect system, but I think some sort of auto balance would be better than nothing. 1v4 is never fun.

Challenge yourself, it’ll pay off in the long run.

> 1v4 is never fun.

Neither is getting switched to the other team against your will.

Having the game force you to switch your team half way through I match? No way that belongs in Halo, if that was very introduced I wouldn’t even touch the multiplayer.

What if your on the winning team but get switched because someone quit on the losing team? Why should that count as a loss for you?

What if you get split from your party? That goes against the whole point of parties.

No way auto-balance belongs in Halo, I say have a short JIP window at the start of the game, auto-balance will not work in Halo.

> Some say it is great

When did anyone say that?

> > Some say it is great
>
> When did anyone say that?

Some of my friends prefer it to unbalanced teams.

I’d prefer if 343 gave players more incentive to stay in a match than add a feature that will just cause more problems.

I would hate being split up from my party due to auto-balance.

> I would hate being split up from my party due to auto-balance.

Then auto-balance could be tweaked in that you wouldn’t get spit up if you joined with a party.

Why is there no “neither” option?

> Why is there no “neither” option?

“Both should not be included”.

Join in Progress is good because it allows games to continue balanced and fair.
While some may find it fun to play at a disadvantage or advantage, it’s generally not an enjoyable experience.

However, it needs to be implemented correctly. It was not quite implemented correctly in Halo 4.

There needs to be specific, unavoidable restrictions. Such as you can’t join a match that’s passed the half-way point in time, or reached a certain score. Perhaps have a restriction based on how far apart the scores are. No one wants to join in a game 20 to 2, even if 3/4ths of the time limit is still left.

This puts JIP more in a position to help when players quit in the lobby or directly as the game starts, to make sure you don’t have an unfair game from the start. If it fulfills this role, and doesn’t place you in games where there is no hope, then it will be great.

NO JIP, it was never in H2 or H3. It is not needed. People act like every game ends 2v4 or 1 v4. There really aren’t enough rounds in a game of CTF or Assault to warrant JIP. As for BTB it could maybe work but then again I do not know. I just remember though when Halo 4 came out and I started playing I wasn’t a fan of JIP. Also, 343 needs to implement quitting as a negative hit to your rank. That would be a deterrent to quitting and would make it less prevalent.

> NO JIP, it was never in H2 or H3. It is not needed. People act like every game ends 2v4 or 1 v4. There really aren’t enough rounds in a game of CTF or Assault to warrant JIP. As for BTB it could maybe work but then again I do not know. I just remember though when Halo 4 came out and I started playing I wasn’t a fan of JIP. Also, 343 needs to implement quitting as a negative hit to your rank. That would be a deterrent to quitting and would make it less prevalent.

Dual wielding and boarding weren’t in CE.

how about make join in progress an option for players who just want a fast match but don’t require people to join in progress?

JIP simply can’t work in any ranked play list, it’s fine for social and I would welcome it for social. For ranked play lists if they punish you for leaving people will be less likely to leave if it’s an almost certain loss of rank. For H4 there is zero penalty for leaving so people often leave. In fact there is an incentive to quit in H4 because if you do it doesn’t effect CSR.

Or we could have a “Sudden Death” system where the remaining players on a team that’s down by a certain number of players can choose to concede a one sided match.