"Competitive" community, your opinion?

Thought I’d start a thread up to see how others similar to my “choice of play style” (although I use this term loosely because the labelling is a little annoying, there are many many communities that make up this game, it’s not as simple as being competitive of casual) But for the sakes of ease of understanding, I’m going to use the label.

<mark>This thread is dedicated to the views of us “competitive” players. It’s not for people to bash our opinions and dismiss them as “mindless complaining” If you have nothing constructive to post about our opinion/s then refrain from posting.</mark>

What is your opinion on the state of the game? Such as the auto aim, instant respawns, Power weapon makers, Sprint, Slayer pro ect.

I’m personally enjoying Slayer Pro the most because it’s the closest we’ll get to the original Halo core play style. Haven is definitely the best map, really enjoying the different routes and means of flanking ect.

In saying that, I think the map is ruined by the instant respawn system. I personally think that the flow of the game is altered way too much with this system. That and the fact that once you kill 2 (or even the whole team) instead of being rewarded with the time of recovery, what usually happens is that they usually spawn behind/in front of you, or just around the corner. This posses many issues, one being that being"cleaned up" is common. It also really messes up with having good positioning, having good position isn’t worth nearly what it was in the previous games because your position is usually changed just because of the spawning system.

I personally feel that weapon markers are unnecessary. Especially in a “Pro” playlist. Previously, timings and knowledge of the location of weapons mattered, whilst it wasn’t particularly difficult to learn and be aware of these factors, it added a basic form of skill that set people and teams apart. It created things such as the need for preparation ect.

The auto aim on the weapons seems quite high, something I’m not too happy about really. I don’t like using the BR because it simply has too much Aim assist, it makes the weapon feel clunky and heavy handed, I feel like I have less control over it. The DMR has lower auto aim than the BR but it still seems a little high, but because of the lower Aim assist, I’ve taken to using the DMR over the BR.

I’m not too sure on the current state of the Hit boxes, but I know I’m getting some kills that I shouldn’t be getting, perhaps they need toning down?

While I think sprint works better in this than Reach, people running away mid combat is a little annoying and seems quite common.

Bleedthrough! Thankgod this mechanic is back, it makes the combat have a much better flow, Double pummelling seems rare now too, So I really appreciate it being added back.

The lack of Bloom is also greatly appreciated, the DMR feels much better suited without it and the randomization is thus gone. A huge plus.

I’ve got my strong views on the Infinity playlists so I think I’ll refrain from making them, but feel free to make them yourself. I might add them later.

Edit:

Not getting knocked out of scope is also something I’m not fond of, long range fights were once about out scoping your opponent while maintaining accuracy and precision. Long range fights feel too different and easy now, the flinching isn’t very hard to control and feels some what sloppy in this style of game. They really need to re implement knocking out of scope, the current system is absurd.

Flinching simply doesn’t work and should be replaced with the thing that has always balanced, descoping.

Kill cams are broken and laggy, and are another unnecessary edition that I feel Halo could do without. The previous games played great without Killcams,the game didn’t need them back then and it doesn’t need them now. The camera panning towards the direction where you were killed from is more than enough.

I have to agree with you on the hitboxes. There is either something really wrong with the kill cams or the hitboxes are obnoxiously large. I, also, won’t voice my opinions on infinity slayer, although I have been playing that quite abit.

To be totally honest, I think most of us that enjoy more competetive playlists and the like are going to be left out in the cold. Not saying we have to like that fact, but we should probably just get used to it. To say I am unhappy with the lack of competetive playlist(s) is a large understatement.

I guess this is the new Halo and it’s either lead, follow or get left behind.

Would like to add that I disagree that the Grenades are useless/underpowered. I think they sit close to Halo 3’s, just wish the physics were similar to CE’s. I’m glad they’ve toned them down, Reaches grenades were very inconsistent, the Radius was too large, and the power was too high. I’ve had a fair few successful kills with the current grenades in this game, especially rebounding them off walls and corners when you retreat. It’s always nice getting those kind of kills.

> I have to agree with you on the hitboxes. There is either something really wrong with the kill cams or the hitboxes are obnoxiously large. I, also, won’t voice my opinions on infinity slayer, although I have been playing that quite abit.
>
> To be totally honest, I think most of us that enjoy more competetive playlists and the like are going to be left out in the cold. Not saying we have to like that fact, but we should probably just get used to it. To say I am unhappy with the lack of competetive playlist(s) is a large understatement.
>
> I guess this is the new Halo and it’s either lead, follow or get left behind.

It’s a damn shame really, Slayer Pro is definitely a step up from Reach, but it’s nothing compared to the CE/3 days. One can only hope for them to add classic playlists.

And I agree, the Killcams seem very strange and off, and personally feel that they don’t fit in Halo. They don’t seem to even show up sometimes?

I have had that happen sometimes as well. Killcam just doesn’t show. My all time personal favorite is it showing that the weapon of the person who killed me is facing over 90 degrees away from me. So, either there are a lot of people with Jtags, and other nefarious things or that killcam is broken beyond belief.

In someways this game plays similar to H3/CE in others it’s an exercise in frustration. I also agree that insta-spawn breaks flow of maps, negates having a setup and also is controller throw inducing. I mean, when you are moments from mopping up and the guy you just killed spawns behind you and kills you? Well, that’s just bogus.

I mean, I get that they were trying to get a faster paced game in comparison to Reach, and the game does indeed play faster, just not in the right ways.

First I want to say there are lots of things I like about the game, but I can’t get past that it seems to handhold everyone into getting kills, eliminating any kind of skill gap and just making it a right trigger mashing fest. If there’s two people on you, you essentially have no shot as long as they’re capable of using their index finger where as in previous halos (2 and 3) if you were significantly better than them and clever enough you’d be able to take them out. This halo doesn’t have a competitive edge, which is going to ruin its replay value and make it a desolate wasteland like reach in a couple months, or at least that’s what I fear. And for god’s sake does the radar even have to tell you if they’re above and below you? Flanking people, or any tactic for that matter becomes impossible with this radar, and Promethean vision combined. Knowing how to use a map to your advantage is a non existent factor now.

[deleted]

> I have had that happen sometimes as well. Killcam just doesn’t show. My all time personal favorite is it showing that the weapon of the person who killed me is facing over 90 degrees away from me. So, either there are a lot of people with Jtags, and other nefarious things or that killcam is broken beyond belief.
>
> In someways this game plays similar to H3/CE in others it’s an exercise in frustration. I also agree that insta-spawn breaks flow of maps, negates having a setup and also is controller throw inducing. I mean, when you are moments from mopping up and the guy you just killed spawns behind you and kills you? Well, that’s just bogus.
>
> I mean, I get that they were trying to get a faster paced game in comparison to Reach, and the game does indeed play faster, just not in the right ways.

A flaw with the spawn system became apparent when I lost CQB duel, I instantly respawned and proceeded to moving forward. I didn’t get past 2 seconds of travel time and I was at the site to where I died, I bumped into the guy that killed me still without his shield and I took to finishing him off and getting the “Revenge” notification. This was on Haven.

I do agree that the game play is much more reminiscent of CE/3 but it’s lacking many of the fundamental aspects of what made Halo whilst including elements from another game that I feel makes the game too similar to the very stale genre that is the FPS zone.

Not getting knocked out of zoom when taking damage is the worst thing in my opinion. Where’s the challenge in using sniper rifles now, who needs to quick scope!

the general view from comeptitive community:

  • sandbox is well balance
  • personal ordinance breaks gameplay
  • instant repsawn ruins map control, reduces the skill gap and damages map design
  • loadouts aren’t bad
  • not being able to drop the flag ruins capture the flag
  • kill cams are useless
  • join in progress is horrible
  • anxious for the ranking system to arrive

thats as much as i can remember at the moment.

Infinity Slayer is a joke, and I can’t help but worry 343 are only going to try and expand on it more in future games. They evidently wanted it to be the staple gametype of H4; why else would they have perks dedicated to it?

Instant respawn is awful. Countless times I have spawned and been able to quickly finish off the person that killed me, and countless times have I turned around after killing someone just to watch them respawn in front of me.

Random weapon spawns are as silly and stupid as I thought they were going to be. Whoever thought up the idea should honestly be fired, and everyone that allowed the idea to actually get implemented needs to seriously look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are cut out for working on this franchise.

I really dislike the DMR as a starting weapon, especially on maps as open as these. Any semi-decent player will just use the DMR and since it’s a hitscan mini-sniper with strong zoom they can accurately land shots on you from across the map. Ragnarok matches devolve into camping a select few locations, with the DMR easily being able to pick players off in and around their own base.

The maps themselves are all pretty bad. All too big for 4v4, and even Haven can play slowly sometimes. The only open map we have, Ragnarok, is ruined by snipers (esp binary rifle) and DMR spawns, and all the other big team maps don’t feel open enough for decent vehicle gameplay.

Killcams are so glitchy they are seriously lol worthy.

Auto-aim and hitboxes are a mess and dumb the game down too much.

Sprint doesn’t speed the game up at all, if anything it slows the pace down when you’re up against good players.

Snipers are still far too easy to use.

Binary rifle shouldn’t even be in multiplayer.

‘Flinching’ simply doesn’t work and should be replaced with the thing that has always balanced snipers, descoping.

Bloom changes are good. There are always better ways to balance a weapon than randomness.

JiP simply does not work and I feel it should be removed. If they won’t remove this awfully implemented feature, they need to give us the option of disabling it.

Dislike the playlist selection completely and 343 should not be experimenting around with people’s first impressions like they are now. I want proper TS added, along with Team Doubles, proper BTB, Team Snipers, etc.

The AAs are still, at their core, awful. You should not be able to spawn with Camo under any circumstances. Jetpack is still annoying and powerful when used by a decent player. Hardlight Shield is probably better and more powerful than armor lock when it comes to gunfights.

Overall, the game feels far too easy, which I think is generally intentional. 343 want to attract and keep new players and they feel the only way they can do that is to make the game easier for them.

My main problem is, to simply put it, if I wanted loadouts, killstreaks, perks, etc, I would play one of the countless games that already have them, and have had them for years. One of the things that has always kept me playing and coming back to Halo has been the fact that it hasn’t had these things, and by implementing them I feel 343 have sacrificed one of Halo’s main traits: its uniqueness. Halo used to offer us an experience we couldn’t get anywhere else; now 343 are trying to offer us an experience i’ve been getting from countless other games since 2007.

I’m trying to be optimistic and look forward to title updates and playlist updates, though. If 343 support this game as much as they said they were going to then we may see some drastic improvements.

Their argument for adding random weapon drops was to “even the playing field”, why didn’t they just have set weapon spawns with the icons showing their location? I find this to be an excuse really, it doesn’t even anything and adds way too much chance. imo

Let me voice my opinion like this…On my second day of playing, if I join a game and it’s not 0-0 I will quit.

> Infinity Slayer is a joke, and I can’t help but worry 343 are only going to try and expand on it more in future games. They evidently wanted it to be the staple gametype of H4; why else would they have perks dedicated to it?
>
> Instant respawn is awful. Countless times I have spawned and been able to quickly finish off the person that killed me, and countless times have I turned around after killing someone just to watch them respawn in front of me.
>
> Random weapon spawns are as silly and stupid as I thought they were going to be. Whoever thought up the idea should honestly be fired, and everyone that allowed the idea to actually get implemented needs to seriously look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are cut out for working on this franchise.
>
> I really dislike the DMR as a starting weapon, especially on maps as open as these. Any semi-decent player will just use the DMR and since it’s a hitscan mini-sniper with strong zoom they can accurately land shots on you from across the map. Ragnarok matches devolve into camping a select few locations, with the DMR easily being able to pick players off in and around their own base.
>
> The maps themselves are all pretty bad. All too big for 4v4, and even Haven can play slowly sometimes. The only open map we have, Ragnarok, is ruined by snipers (esp binary rifle) and DMR spawns, and all the other big team maps don’t feel open enough for decent vehicle gameplay.
>
> Killcams are so glitchy they are seriously lol worthy.
>
> Auto-aim and hitboxes are a mess and dumb the game down too much.
>
> Sprint doesn’t speed the game up at all, if anything it slows the pace down when you’re up against good players.
>
> Snipers are still far too easy to use.
>
> Binary rifle shouldn’t even be in multiplayer.
>
> ‘Flinching’ simply doesn’t work and should be replaced with the thing that has always balanced snipers, descoping.
>
> Bloom changes are good. There are always better ways to balance a weapon than randomness.
>
> JiP simply does not work and I feel it should be removed. If they won’t remove this awfully implemented feature, they need to give us the option of disabling it.
>
> Dislike the playlist selection completely and 343 should not be experimenting around with people’s first impressions like they are now. I want proper TS added, along with Team Doubles, proper BTB, Team Snipers, etc.
>
> The AAs are still, at their core, awful. You should not be able to spawn with Camo under any circumstances. Jetpack is still annoying and powerful when used by a decent player. Hardlight Shield is probably better and more powerful than armor lock when it comes to gunfights.
>
> Overall, the game feels far too easy, which I think is generally intentional. 343 want to attract and keep new players and they feel the only way they can do that is to make the game easier for them.
>
> My main problem is, to simply put it, if I wanted loadouts, killstreaks, perks, etc, I would play one of the countless games that already have them, and have had them for years. One of the things that has always kept me playing and coming back to Halo has been the fact that it hasn’t had these things, and by implementing them I feel 343 have sacrificed one of Halo’s main traits: its uniqueness. Halo used to offer us an experience we couldn’t get anywhere else; now 343 are trying to offer us an experience i’ve been getting from countless other games since 2007.
>
> I’m trying to be optimistic and look forward to title updates and playlist updates, though. If 343 support this game as much as they said they were going to then we may see some drastic improvements.

I whole heartedly agree with all your points and I’m going to add them to the list. I didn’t want to go over board on the negative points because we all know what happens when we say we don’t like something. We get called mindless complainers, ignorant, or try hards ect. I feel the way you’ve worded your points are acceptable and thus I totally agree with everything you’ve stated.

I think we’re at a point in this generation where “Competitive” is synonymous with “Often Whiny and Always Unsatisfied”.

From a competitive stand point -

love the aiming, the weapons, the general gunplay. I love how fast paced and adrenaline pumping the game can get, and some of the ‘clutch’ ninja moves that can be pulled off.I actually like that the nades require quite a bit of skill to use now.

The main thing I dislike is sprint, and the subsquent effect its had on the size and layout of the maps. I am also not keen on the random weapons on the call-ins. I would much prefer the old halo style of picking up weapons of the map.

I hear a lot of talk about the game being too easy, but when up against people of equal or higher skill, I have found some seriously intense, halo style rifle standoffs. I keep hearing a lot of talk about the DMR being too powerful?? All I can do is cringe when I hear that - we have been needing a decently ranged, quick-killing starting weapon since halo 1’s pistol, and now we have it, suddenly loads of people say its TOO good? What a joke. All I can imagine is that these kids are butthurt from being destroyed with it all the time. The DMR is what makes this game half decent imo - intense long distance rifle battles in which you have to land practically every shot or be severly punished. It promotes competition and increases the skill gap between good and bad players.

Overall I would say this game is much more competetive [and fun for that matter] than reach or halo 3. I would say it is the closest thing to the golden days of halo 2 - I am having such a blast playing this game compared with reach. The just-one-more-game syndrome is ridiculously strong.

> I think we’re at a point in this generation where “Competitive” is synonymous with “Often Whiny and Always Unsatisfied”.

I was expecting comments like these to be made eventually. I think it’d be easier to say, don’t post anything if you aren’t going to provide any useful or viable form of discussion.

And to add to your “quote” it should be more on the lines of

> I think we’re at a point in this generation where “Competitive” is synonymous with “Often Whiny and Always Unsatisfied when the game is made easier for the sake of attaining more players that don’t want to learn how to play a game with use of a basic level of knowledge.”

You’re unable to accept that there are people with different opinions than your own. This thread is dedicated to the views of us “competitive” players. It’s not for people like you to bash our opinions.

> I think we’re at a point in this generation where “Competitive” is synonymous with “Often Whiny and Always Unsatisfied”.

I think we’re at a point in this generation where people like to label negative criticisms as whining because they can’t handle someone having a different opinion on their beloved game.

I hope the forums get an abundance of posts like these so we can get Halo back.

I might be beating a dead horse here, but those instant re-spawns are not for Halo. I can’t hold an area or turn a corner or get into a decent BR battle without someone re-spawning right next to them, it’s ridiculous. As well as holding a location no longer exists, because you have NO down time for set up. This is what made Halo great, “I killed you, girl… Now I’m taking your -Yoink- and your spot to destroy your team’s set up.”

Weapon spawns and timing the re-spawns or winning them back was the CORE of competitive Halo. Along with timing and controlling power-ups like camouflage and over shield, not getting a care package, it’s a damn joke.

Halo: Reach really upset me because of this load out -Yoink-. First thing I thought when I saw you can start with camo was… “Halo is dying”. All I could think of is spawning on The Pit and 'nading camo and rocket spawn to keep the other team from picking it up or getting into a good BR battle to back them up off of it, it’s all -Yoink- now. It’s nothing but -Yoinks!- running around not calling out anything or working as a team. Most people I join in randomly with, I try and shadow them for back up, but it doesn’t work. They get one kill then keep moving like there’s a damn Forerunner artifact to find or some -Yoink-. Not once do I notice my teammates look around to see if an enemy player is stalking sniper or about to assassinate another teammate, they all have tunnel vision because of the -Yoink- instant respawn and ordinace drop bull.

Thanks for the great campaign 343i, I’m being honest when I say I liked it. But this online multi-player you’ve created is not Halo… It’s Call of Duty: Halo.

> I keep hearing a lot of talk about the DMR being too powerful?? All I can do is cringe when I hear that - we have been needing a decently ranged, quick-killing starting weapon since halo 1’s pistol, and now we have it, suddenly loads of people say its TOO good? What a joke. All I can imagine is that these kids are butthurt from being destroyed with it all the time. The DMR is what makes this game half decent imo - intense long distance rifle battles in which you have to land practically every shot or be severly punished. It promotes competition and increases the skill gap between good and bad players.

The issue is the DMR is simply too ease to cross-map with, to the point that no one semi-competent has any trouble doing it. It’s hitscan, has incredibly strong zoom, is pinpoint accurate and players have huge headshot hitboxes.

Take the H1 pistol for example; from what I can remember, it didn’t have as strong a zoom as the DMR and it was not hitscan, meaning players had to actually lead their shots. The hitboxes were tight and accurate too, meaning players had to be truly accurate with their shots.

To accurately use the pistol at range you had to have great accuracy and you had to be able to lead your shots well. To accurately use the DMR at range you simply need to zoom in and let the game’s exessive auto-aim and huge hitboxes do a lot of the work for you.