I posted this earlier over on 343’s forums, but I wanted to hear what people here had to say as well.
So tonight I went onto Halo 4 to test out the new maps and Infinity rumble playlist, and I noticed that there were only about 40,000 people online at 9:30 EST. This disappoints me, as it seems like every day more and more people are leaving the game, and the community itself. I got to thinking, what is it about Halo 4 that is making these people not want to play, and what could be changed to help to bring them back. My answer to the first question is that the game has branched too far out from what originally made Halo a great FPS, and my answer to the second is as follows:
What Needs to Change:
A. A 1-50 TruSkill Ranking system must be implemented
B. Ranked Playlists must be added with the 1-50 ranking system. The playlists I would like to see are:
- Lone Wolves (6 Player FFA) Gametypes include Slayer, Infinity Slayer, Oddball, and King of the Hill
- Team Slayer (4v4) Gametypes include Slayer and Infinity Slayer
- Team Objective (4v4) Gametypes include Capture the Flag, Oddball, Extraction, and King of the Hill
- Team Swat (4v4)
- Team Snipers (4v4)
- Team Doubles (2v2) Gametypes include Slayer, Infinity Slayer, Oddball, and King of the Hill
- AGL (4v4) Gametypes include AGL Settings Slayer, Capture the Flag, Extraction, Oddball, and King of the Hill
- Squad Battle (6v6) Gametypes include Slayer, Infinity Slayer, Dominion, Extraction, Capture the Flag
C. Social Playlists need to be distinctly separate from Ranked, with random matchmaking instead of skill based. Social Playlists I would like to see are:
- Rumble Pit (8 Player FFA) Gametypes include Slayer, Infinity Slayer, Oddball, King of the Hill
- Social Slayer (5v5) Gametypes include Slayer and Infinity Slayer
- Social Skirmish (5v5) Gametypes include Capture the Flag, Oddball, Extraction, and King of the Hill
- Multi-Team (6 Teams of 2) Gametypes include Slayer, Infinity Slayer, Oddball, and King of the Hill
- Big Team Battle (8v8) Gametypes include Slayer, Infinity Slayer, Dominion, Extraction, Capture the Flag
- Action Sack (4v4)
- Grifball (4v4)
- Flood (6v6)
D. In order for the above playlists to work, Dominion, Regicide, and Infinity Slayer must all become gametypes (as opposed to the playlists they are now) to be voted on with all other gametypes available in each playlist. Only Infinity Slayer would have personal ordnance and instant spawn, all other gametypes would have their normal settings. Join in progress would be enabled for Social, disabled for Ranked. Killcams would be dependent on the playlist settings. Loadouts would be allowed based on the particular playlist settings.
E. No more random weapon spawns. Weapons should spawn how they have in every other Halo, in a particular place on a timer. Making weapon spawns random removed one of the two biggest facets of Halo gameplay, power weapon control. Besides skill itself, weapon control and map control were two of the most important aspects of all Halo games, and I believe it imbalances the game to have random weapon spawns.
F. Remove bloom and recoil. I feel like bloom was a failed experiment in Halo Reach, and it should not have been brought over to Halo 4. There may need to be some changes made to the fire rate of the DMR, Magnum, AR, etc. The BR has recoil, but it is small and almost unnoticeable anyways, so might as well just remove it. No bloom worked fine in MLG, and the previous Halos, with some tweaking it should work fine here as well.
G.Remove flinch, bring back being knocked out of scope. I don’t know why they changed this in the first place, but I feel like getting rid of flinch and adding back in being knocked out of scope when shot is the way to go. The game would feel more like Halo I believe.
H. Remove Invisibility as an Armor Ability, make it a powerup like Damage Boost, Speed Boost, and Overshield. Have these placed around the map like in previous Halo titles, able to be picked up by a player.
That is pretty much it, everything I think could be changed to help make the game feel more like Halo, less like a mishmash of other stuff. Let me know what you think about it!
Mercules
