Hello friends. It’s not the first time I come around here to discuss this issue, but this time, I’m hoping for it to be the last. At this point, it will either make or break it.
As I’m sure you have heard, Halo 4 War Games will NOT support a visible ranking system upon release. It was confirmed by David Ellis via the pre-launch live stream on Oct. 31 and it caused a massive upset / disappointment among a lot of Halo fans, whether it’s Campaign players, hardcore Matchmaking players, Forgers, Grifballers (I think I made this word up) or even MLG players.
A visible ranking system will help sustaining the online population for a VERY LONG time. Halo 3 is a prime example of it. Halo 2 would be too if Microsoft didn’t pull the plug on Xbox v1 online. It keeps people coming back. Allow me to explain. And please bear with me, for there are multiple reasons and things might get confusing as I attempt to get as much as information out as possible. I’ll do what I can to keep it nice and clean.
HISTORICAL STANDPOINT
Halo has evolved and changed over the years, there is no doubt about it. But it remains, at the core, a COMPETITIVE FPS, because players are pitted against one another and are doing their best to come out of top! At the VERY core, it’s all about winning and doing better than your opponents. Of course, for some, it’s about relaxing and just chilling, and that’s fine! Visible ranks do not force people to ALWAYS give their best at all times and DO NOT exclude casual matches. Look at Halo 3’s Social / Ranked Matchmaking. It allowed the best of both worlds, no complaints.
And we are almost reverting to Halo CE in terms of skill comparison. Like during LAN parties. You get to face a small group of more or less similar skilled people. You win. But how good are you? You’ll never know, because you don’t get to compare with other, stronger groups. And that’s the whole point of being able to face other people online; comparing your skill with the rest of the world. You can’t even do it in the Matchmaking mode of the 5th full installment one of the most competitive console FPSes in the world? This makes little sense.
FAIR MATCHES
People do care about close and accurate matchups, because they want to face (and team with) similar kinds of players. First off, it’s not fun to obliterate a team of players who have never touched the game before. And it’s even worse to be on the receiving end. It’s not all there is to it. One of the main reasons that people care about close matchups, is because PLAYERS WANT TO PROVE THEY ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS. But does that mean that everyone should face every single person in the world to do so? That’s impossible, and therefore, will leave some confusion among players who are seeking to prove their skill. I mean in Halo 3, I did not, as a General, need to face a Staff Captain to prove I was higher-skilled. But I did against another General. But in Halo 4, how do I know that I am a General, and that the other person is a Staff Captain? I don’t. I need to face him in a TS game and go 35 and 2 to prove I belong in a higher tier? There’s no point and no one comes out satisfied.
If you (343) have REALLY made matches fair, as opposed to Reach, then what stops you from just making the levels visible?
INACCURATE MEASURES OF SKILL
On this note, in Halo 2 or 3, if someone asked me to 1v1 them and their skill was nowhere within my range, I wouldn’t bother. Now in Reach (and Halo 4 at this rate), what, I have to look up their K/D? It’s so irrelevant. 8 K/D ratio? Cool, I’m sure you love these Living Dead matches. 1.02 K/D ratio? I’m not even sure what to think, because I know how easy it is to get a high K/D without accurate matchups, but then again, this person could be a 100% MLG player who makes selfless plays for the good of his team and who is VERY GOOD at the game.
If the point was to sugarcoat less skilled players’ true skill, then it doesn’t work either way. Elitism still happens, and always will, because Halo, is, like I said earlier, a COMPETITIVE FPS. People want to come out on top and prove that they are able to. Bad K/D? You’re still getting called out. Bad win percentage? Still are. If you’re going to remove the ranks so that elitism doesn’t happen, might as well remove ANY measure that has to do with players’ skill in-game. But that would be another step backwards and we’re trying to evolve here.
And what is wrong with being less skilled than someone else? It’s OK. It gives people something to go for, a reason to improve. But how can they know they’re improving if there’s no way to measure their skill? It’s impossible. Clear, simple, visible ranks are also needed for this reason.
CHEATING
This said, let’s elaborate a little on the rare event that a “measure of skill” becomes inaccurate. As I’ve explained, no visible ranks force people to fall back on the next measure of skill available in-game (K/D ratio) and it turns out that, as it is, this measure is EASILY manipulated, far more than visible ranks. It gives people a reason NOT to win to boost their stats. It incentivizes grouping up in Rumble Pit or Grifball and feeding kills for hours at a time. Plus it’ll make them level up faster and it’s not fair for others. It’s TWO issues while attempting to fix ONE problem that never really was one to begin with.
Of course, cheating was the main issue that made 343 removed visible ranks. But let’s face it. You did not get rid of cheating itself, you could rid of one of the reasons to cheat for. And it turns out that the said reason was one of the most important features that kept people coming back. On top of that, people don’t cheat less, but just cheat for other reasons, and the methods are a lot more accessible too.
And looking bad, cheating wasn’t ALL THAT BAD. Maybe in Halo 2, back when the detection systems were horrible and bans never happened or so. But things have evolved since then. Cheating won’t be rampant. And if I had to pick, I’d rather get cheated a few games during the lifetime of Halo 4, as opposed to losing interest before its lifetime is over because I have no reason to come back. I’m sure people will agree.
To sum things up, it’s clear. We need visible ranks back. The positives outweigh the negatives in a mind-blowing manner. Just compare Halo 3 to Halo: Reach’s online population over the years. Halo 3 lasted for a year more than Reach did, sold less copies, and had more people online on average. Was Reach bad compared to it? Debatable. But did having visible ranks hurt when it came to people coming back, day after day? It sure did not.
People need a reason. A progression system does not make the cut. I don’t need to compare my hours spent on the game to someone else. It means nothing to most people. But I, among dozens of thousands of others, want to be able to compare my skill to the whole world, without having to face EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the world.
We need a visible ranking system, 343.
We are supporting you and will not let you down.
We will be buying the game on November 6th.
We will make Halo 4 the best-selling game in the entire series.
But is it too much to ask for you guys not to let us down on this one?
Thanks for reading, and please, post or thank this to show support. Let us be heard.
