Commendations and Rank

Games Other Halo
1

Alright, I don’t know about you guys, but I found that Halo 4’s replay value doesn’t have that much longevity. Here’s why:

I’m sure many people play Halo 4 to reach the highest rank in the game, which is SR130. As many of you know, SR130 does not take that long to reach, at all. This is a little disappointing simply because the max ranks in Halo: Reach (Inheritor), Halo 3 (5 Star General), and even Halo Wars (TruSkill Level 50 General) took a very long time to achieve. In Halo 4, however, SR130 is easily obtainable.

To be honest, though, easily achieving SR130 isn’t the issue. The issue is the imbalanced correlation between ranking up and mastering commendations. First off, let me admit that commendations in Halo 4 are A LOT more reasonable than the ones in Halo: Reach. The difference, though, is the fact that reaching Inheritor took a LONG time, so the unreasonable commendations didn’t seem as bad because you could pick at them each and every day while ranking up to Inheritor. With Halo 4, we’re looking at the exact opposite scenario. SR130 takes a small fraction of the time to rank up in comparison to 5 Star General, but mastering commendations in Halo 4 will take a considerable amount of time. Commendations, in theory, are supposed to make ranking up that much more fun and rewarding. In reality, though, you can effortlessly obtain SR130 and have over 50% of commendations left to master. That doesn’t seem very rewarding - to have that much a percentage left when you hit the max rank.

Let me put this in perspective. I, currently, have ALL of the achievements. I have completed the game on Legendary, solo. I have completed ALL of the Spartan Ops chapters on Legendary, solo. I have been SR130 for quite a while, now. What is there to do with this game? Customs are fun, but none of my friends play customs. There still isn’t a classic/competitive playlist, yet. Do I really need to grind out my commendations to 100% in order to broaden this game’s lifespan? It wouldn’t be that burdensome if ranking up took a long time, but that’s just the idea, it doesn’t.

FYI, I’ve only completed 43% of my commendations. The Halo 4 Stats App may say I’ve completed 60-something percent, but that’s whack since my service record in-game points out that I’ve only completed 43%. I’m going by the in-game record since it’s far more detailed than the app record.

Any thoughts, you guys? This has been gnawing at me, recently, since Halo 4 was my most anticipated title. Food for thought, I guess. No flaming, please. Be civil.

P.S. I wasn’t like a lot of people and boosted the insanity out of Spartan Ops, nor did I EVER equip Fast Track. War Games all the way, baby.

2

Nobody?

:frowning:

3

I do agree, on reach I was at about 60% commendations and was a legend, which is a nice balance and took long to get to. In halo 4 I’m a 99 with 36%, that did not take long at all and is unbalanced. They could’ve lengthened it by like 5 months at least. And make the two easier to balance as well.

4

> I do agree, on reach I was at about 60% commendations and was a legend, which is a nice balance and took long to get to. In halo 4 I’m a 99 with 36%, that did not take long at all and is unbalanced. They could’ve lengthened it by like 5 months at least. And make the two easier to balance as well.

What really worries me is whether or not I will continue to play. I am so bored with this game unless I’m playing with friends. Going for 100% commendations in this game is just ridiculous. The only unlock that interests me is the Breach / Believe Stance. Going for challenges is also pointless once you reach the highest rank. Maybe I’ll go back and play Halo 3 / Halo Wars when I’m done :confused:

5

I used lots of my Double XP because I knew I wouldn’t have much time to play this month. I wanted to get to SR 130 fast and start working on Commendations, but Commendations is just so boring and time-consuming to get to. I really do not enjoy Halo 4 without playing with friends :frowning:

6

> I used lots of my Double XP because I knew I wouldn’t have much time to play this month. I wanted to get to SR 130 fast and start working on Commendations, but Commendations is just so boring and time-consuming to get to. I really do not enjoy Halo 4 without playing with friends :frowning:

My thoughts, exactly.

7

> > I used lots of my Double XP because I knew I wouldn’t have much time to play this month. I wanted to get to SR 130 fast and start working on Commendations, but Commendations is just so boring and time-consuming to get to. I really do not enjoy Halo 4 without playing with friends :frowning:
>
> My thoughts, exactly.

I tried going back to Reach because I’m only a General Gr.3 and have a long way to go into Commendations. The game, however, is unplayable for me. Way too slow-paced. I tried playing Halo 3 but since I just borrowed it from a friend - the matching system takes FOREVER to get somebody around my skill level.

I think I need to get Borderlands 2 :stuck_out_tongue:

8

I say bohoo… I’m in Europe, got the -Yoink!- halo 4 as a xmas gift. Been playing for a while and caped lvl 70. As I got the game I had no choice to go for the unlimited version. And as I got it for xmas, I was unable to play it to get the codes to unlock the rest of specializations. Played 2 rounds online and the game is dead, nothing to strive for, nothing to gain. Now I’m just mad I bought all map packs ahead for 2000 ms credits. I’Ve played the Crimson maps, but I can’t see I’ll ever play the rest. As you say, getting every commendation to 100% seems pointless.

I’ve followed all of the Halo series except halo wars, I pre-paid all the map packs for halo 4, still I can’t get what the rest in the states got. This sux and time will tell if i’m going to follow upcoming games. The Halo experience I looked forward to was shatterd to peices.

9

> I say bohoo… I’m in Europe, got the -Yoink!- halo 4 as a xmas gift. Been playing for a while and caped lvl 70. As I got the game I had no choice to go for the unlimited version. And as I got it for xmas, I was unable to play it to get the codes to unlock the rest of specializations. Played 2 rounds online and the game is dead, nothing to strive for, nothing to gain. Now I’m just mad I bought all map packs ahead for 2000 ms credits. I’Ve played the Crimson maps, but I can’t see I’ll ever play the rest. As you say, getting every commendation to 100% seems pointless.
>
> I’ve followed all of the Halo series except halo wars, I pre-paid all the map packs for halo 4, still I can’t get what the rest in the states got. This sux and time will tell if i’m going to follow upcoming games. The Halo experience I looked forward to was shatterd to peices.

I’m an American, and I have to admit that Europeans definitely got the short end of the stick. Fortunately, the rest of the Specializations will be available to you, soon enough. It shouldn’t have taken this long, at all.

Bad management is what it comes down to.

10

halo reach i hit 89% commendations at forerunner and stopped playing
halo 4 i hit 130 at 32% commendations. wut? i’m only at 40% now

11

on the line of commendations, im after the weapon mastery, someone please explain how the concussion rifle one is possible, its super rare to ever get, and hard ot get any kills with, if anyone knows any tips i’d be happy to listen

12

I agree with you man. I’m 130 also and have been for little while now. Now every time I earn a commendation of any sort it just really feels more like a waste of XP to me. I would love to see them add more ranks in the Title Update. Even if its just increasing the number from 130 to something like 300, at least then it would add some replay value to those of us who are already 130. But what I would really like is skill based ranks. I doubt those would really tie in with xp earned from commendations, but they DEFINITELY add replay value

13

I find it to be significantly easier than the Fuel Rod Cannon or even the Hammer. Make a point to play specific maps that have it as part of the ordnance rotation. Its actually fairly common on Complex and Haven in personal ordnances, and I’ve actually seen it spawn on Adrift. Abandon and Adrift are decent for getting in personal ordinances also, but I have the most luck with Haven and Complex. I would recommend using Ordnance Priority and Requisition, that way you get ordnances faster, and you can request a new one if you don’t get the Concussion Rifle in your first attempt. Good luck

14

Most of my games were in War Games too. The only time i used Fast Track was to get through the Rogue Specialization and see how much exp could be earned in Spartan OPs (experiments). Otherwise, WG all the time :P.

Though if you grind Ops all day, it won’t take long to level up.

15

The shortsightedness of maxing out the ranking system so quickly is grossly understated. They tried to copy Reach but failed. At least with Reach it took forever to max out to Inheritor. In Halo 4, with XP tied to ranks, commendations, specializations, and challenges, it’s stupid that you can hit 130 so quickly (there were 130s in the game 3 weeks after the release).

So now we wait until late February for the title update and there’s been no mention so far that they’ll expand the XP ranking system. Even though we can expect a skill rank system it won’t be like Halo 3 and ranks will only be displayed in Waypoint.

16

I reached 130 within 5 weeks. With exception to 9 laggy spartan ops games, all of my games were matchmaking. I never used double XP or fast-tracked Pioneer. Pretty lame way to set up a ranking system.

17

Honestly mate just quit.

Halo: Reach 96% Commendations and then I got Inheritor. Safe to say all the exp for commendations counted for something.

Halo 4. Level 130, 40% commendations. Less then Half of the Exp for commendations counted and I’m not going to play when there is no incentive to do so.

Halo 4 is just boring without your friends list players. Out of 7 odd other folks that I played with All Halo’s together, seriously none of them want to play and I don’t blame them.

I bit the bullet and quit, never looked back. Can’t wait for Dead Space 3 and Crysis 3. Screw this this mess.

18

I was planning on waiting until the TU to see if they expanded the ranks but now they announced the TU won’t be out until late Feb. That’s too long to wait when you’re at 130 and nothing to do since XP doesn’t count.

19

> I was planning on waiting until the TU to see if they expanded the ranks but now they announced the TU won’t be out until late Feb. That’s too long to wait when you’re at 130 and nothing to do since XP doesn’t count.

I mean, what is there to do with this game once you hit 130? Play customs is the only thing I can think of.

B-o-r-i-n-g.

20

I didn’t really focus on commendations in Reach until I was about halfway, so although I hit Inheritor after about 14 months, I still had only maxed out a handful of the commendations (and had no real shot at things like vehicle kills in FF…)

I hit 130 in Halo 4 in just about 2 months. Yes, I did us Fast track a bit, and a couple of dozen Mt Dew caps that were laying around, but did not “farm” Spartan Ops.

Spartan Ops Legendary Sol & Co-op. Campaign Solo completed, but Co-Op is only halfway. Waiting on the New SpOps Episodes, so right now I’m focusing on the objective commendations.