CTF: Changed for Good or Bad?

Games Other Halo
1

Has anyone noticed the fundamental change in CTF?

Gone are the days where you slip in and make off with the flag; now only you inexplicably pick up the flag the moment you are near it and and have a giant waypoint on you to be shot at while having a magnum that seems to glitch up sometimes and doesn’t fire properly.

But the thing I’m getting at is, when I play the game, it seems to be whoever gets the first cap, camps and the game normally ends 1-0, no matter what, that seems to be a constant when facing evenly matched teams. Yes I’ve had games where we’ve stomped on them big time, but more often than that, the games I play end up where the winning team locks down their base and camps.

And for me, the two main maps I play on seems to be Ragnarok and Adrift, both of which normally ends in a 1-0 or +1 flag cap with the time running out, and I blame this on poor map design. There are no real consistent power weapon spawns that encourages map movement, to force the winning team to move from a tactical advantageous location to secure a relatively poor area just to make sure the enemy doesn’t get rockets or something.

And that really bothers me, because it’s FREAKING BORING, even when winning.

I have changed my title so don’t get gnarly with me.

But as I was saying previously in this thread. On say a map like adrift. If you get ahead of the enemy, it’s pointless to try and cap again in most cases because of how easy it is to lock down a flag area.

I’ll give an example. A game I had a few weeks earlier, both teams grabbed each others flags within the first 20 seconds and capped within 30 seconds; the enemy seemed to be a fair bit better than our group but we got VERY lucky and they lost the flag to a glitch and we walked theirs to our base. with a 2-1 lead, all 5 of us pop out an autosentry (I pestered everyone into trying this tactic for defense.

For the rest of the game they could do absolutely positively nothing to our flag 5 defensive players + 5 autosentries made it nearly impossible for them to gain ground.

<mark>Below</mark> are that have been mentioned in my thread that seem bad for CTF.

> -Flag is auto-pickup
> -You cannot drop it
> -You have a waypoint over your head at all times
> -You can use a pistol while holding the flag and move at normal speed
> -You cannot disable any of the above in custom games

2

Tis broken :frowning:

ESPECIALLY on Complex. 1 side can never win. Forget which.

3

That might be just you but I find it fun. I played a game where it was 4-2 on Adrift and my team came back and won 5-4. You just need a good team, coordination and communication. I think CTF is the ultimate test of teamwork and is the hardest to win at. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.

Broken implies it doesn’t work at all, but CTF in halo 4 definitely works. I would suggest running with a full team of people you know. Lastly, you can still slip in and take their flag. While your flag is away and you’re defending it, more often than not the entire enemy team is trying to get your flag, leaving their flag wide open for the taking.

4

Not really broken. It is more chaotic though.

It just needs better maps like Hemmorrahge on Reach.

5

> Not really broken. It is more chaotic though.
>
> It just needs better maps like Hemmorrahge on Reach.

Oh god no. Hemmorhage would be ridiculous to play on. It’s so easy to defend on that map, even worse DMRs, PP and stickies.

6

> That might be just you but I find it fun. I played a game where it was 4-2 on Adrift and my team came back and won 5-4. You just need a good team, coordination and communication. I think CTF is the ultimate test of teamwork and is the hardest to win at. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
>
> Broken implies it doesn’t work at all, but CTF in halo 4 definitely works. I would suggest running with a full team of people you know. Lastly, you can still slip in and take their flag. While your flag is away and you’re defending it, more often than not the entire enemy team is trying to get your flag, leaving their flag wide open for the taking.

I meant broken compared to previous Halo games.

7

Well if you couldnt camp with boltshots on adrift and camp your base with cross map DMRs. It might be a little harder to camp your base and would give you incentive to push out of your base to stop them from reaching your base.

8

> > That might be just you but I find it fun. I played a game where it was 4-2 on Adrift and my team came back and won 5-4. You just need a good team, coordination and communication. I think CTF is the ultimate test of teamwork and is the hardest to win at. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
> >
> > Broken implies it doesn’t work at all, but CTF in halo 4 definitely works. I would suggest running with a full team of people you know. Lastly, you can still slip in and take their flag. While your flag is away and you’re defending it, more often than not the entire enemy team is trying to get your flag, leaving their flag wide open for the taking.
>
> I meant broken compared to previous Halo games.

I think you’re confusing the word “different” or “changed” with broken. The way you’re using it doesn’t seem right.

9

Sir boobington,

Dude you are right on with that pistol glitch. I find that if I fire a shot then reload I can fire that thing when I need it later negating the glitch.

CTF now relies heavily on a team dynamic that frustratingly enough not everyone is able to grasp. This week especially considering it is the Infinity Challenge pick of the week.

I find myself screaming at the TV set in CTF, because the game is so heavily based on your team play. You do need strong defense and a sneaky offense, but when the flags are moving or in play the team mates need to be aware at where the flags are. If both flags are down in the center of the map and your team is scattered all around the map doing guardians know what it is extremely upsetting.

the waypoint should help with this, showing where the flags are down, but as great a studio as 343 is they have yet to program all my teammates to think like me.

The best way to “fix” CTF is to only play with a strong team, to stay together, and to be smart enough to dynamically change your plans when things go to plasma.

10

It’s nice that it has it’s own playlist but in terms of quality it’s probably the worst CTF mode I’ve played in a first person shooter.

11

Red Base on complex is so handicapped compared to blue. That elevator near red base is so unfair.

12

> Red Base on complex is so handicapped compared to blue. That elevator near red base is so unfair.

agreed. Some of the maps havent been completely balanced for CTF yet.

13

> > > That might be just you but I find it fun. I played a game where it was 4-2 on Adrift and my team came back and won 5-4. You just need a good team, coordination and communication. I think CTF is the ultimate test of teamwork and is the hardest to win at. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
> > >
> > > Broken implies it doesn’t work at all, but CTF in halo 4 definitely works. I would suggest running with a full team of people you know. Lastly, you can still slip in and take their flag. While your flag is away and you’re defending it, more often than not the entire enemy team is trying to get your flag, leaving their flag wide open for the taking.
> >
> > I meant broken compared to previous Halo games.
>
> I think you’re confusing the word “different” or “changed” with broken. The way you’re using it doesn’t seem right.

Indeed, I was forced to change my title, so I just went with it.

The main point is, I don’t like the change. Playing adrift, the best tactic once you get the lead is to camp at your flag, because it’s nearly absolutely impossible to break their defenses I’ve found.

FYI to all, I’m short of time and will return later in the evening.

14

CTF is broken because of how much camping is promoted.

Theres no longer weapons on the map to promote map movement. This also makes it to where teams are constantly on an even ground rather than one being above the other at certain times.

Another problem is the spawns. In past halos, the spawns were 10 sec in objective. If you kill someone, they are just going to spawn right by you and block your path. The dominant strategy is almost to not kill them at all, and just let them stay all over the map. Cuz if u kill them the terrible spawn system makes em spawn right by you almost instantly.

Boltshot, camo, dmr, etc dont help either.

Spawns are the main reason though. The timer needs to be increased to 10.

15

I wonder, that since we do not receive ordnance if weapon placement on the map would be better? it seems there is not much of it after the initial spawn. It may change the dynamics a bit?

16

It’s not broken, it’s working exactly how 343 intended it to…but the way it plays is not as fun as it was in the past.

17

While I will admit nostalgia may have the best of me, I seem to have more fond memories with CTF on earlier titles. However, I do not think that this is a correlation that CTF is broken. There are some features that leave a bad taste in my mouth: the marker over the flag carrier’s head, the ease of coming by power weapons, and the ease to camp your flag to defend it. At the same time, there are some great additions to CTF including the team mate who you make sit on defense now gets rewarded for keeping your flag safe rather than having him walk away with a 3-2 K/D while the rest of the team is in the high teens. While I miss many features of the old CTF game style, I still remember many 1-0 games where the other team won by camping a base, timed-out games at 0-0, and maps that were much more difficult to capture on 1 side and not the other (Ivory Tower, anyone?)

In time, I think we’ll get a better feeling CTF.

Until then,
Tripod

18

> > > > That might be just you but I find it fun. I played a game where it was 4-2 on Adrift and my team came back and won 5-4. You just need a good team, coordination and communication. I think CTF is the ultimate test of teamwork and is the hardest to win at. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
> > > >
> > > > Broken implies it doesn’t work at all, but CTF in halo 4 definitely works. I would suggest running with a full team of people you know. Lastly, you can still slip in and take their flag. While your flag is away and you’re defending it, more often than not the entire enemy team is trying to get your flag, leaving their flag wide open for the taking.
> > >
> > > I meant broken compared to previous Halo games.
> >
> > I think you’re confusing the word “different” or “changed” with broken. The way you’re using it doesn’t seem right.
>
> Indeed, I was forced to change my title, so I just went with it.
>
> The main point is, I don’t like the change. Playing adrift, the best tactic once you get the lead is to camp at your flag, because it’s nearly absolutely impossible to break their defenses I’ve found.
>
> FYI to all, I’m short of time and will return later in the evening.

For Adrift, if the enemy team is in the lead, have your entire team go offense. If you’re killed you’ll respawn on defense.

19

> > > > > That might be just you but I find it fun. I played a game where it was 4-2 on Adrift and my team came back and won 5-4. You just need a good team, coordination and communication. I think CTF is the ultimate test of teamwork and is the hardest to win at. That doesn’t mean it’s broken.
> > > > >
> > > > > Broken implies it doesn’t work at all, but CTF in halo 4 definitely works. I would suggest running with a full team of people you know. Lastly, you can still slip in and take their flag. While your flag is away and you’re defending it, more often than not the entire enemy team is trying to get your flag, leaving their flag wide open for the taking.
> > > >
> > > > I meant broken compared to previous Halo games.
> > >
> > > I think you’re confusing the word “different” or “changed” with broken. The way you’re using it doesn’t seem right.
> >
> > Indeed, I was forced to change my title, so I just went with it.
> >
> > The main point is, I don’t like the change. Playing adrift, the best tactic once you get the lead is to camp at your flag, because it’s nearly absolutely impossible to break their defenses I’ve found.
> >
> > FYI to all, I’m short of time and will return later in the evening.
>
> For Adrift, if the enemy team is in the lead, have your entire team go offense. If you’re killed you’ll respawn on defense.

I find when we do this, we normally end up killing someone first, we normally are fairly coordinated, come from both lifts and in the middle and normally assault with a cheap needler kill, and what normally happens next for them is: Spawn in mid> go to our base>grab our flag>get it part way to their base.

In that, we obviously respawn and kill their carrier, but the thing is, if you need a full team to make a successful assault, they will have the advantage if you kill someone before you die.

My problem is partly the weapon spawns, in other games they encouraged map movement, if you were in the lead, you either left your objective to secure them leaving you with weaker defenses, and if you were losing, you try and 'nab them before the enemy for a strong offense.

And to my knowledge, power weapons do spawn, but rarely and not consistently. I seem to recall rockets spawning on Adrift CTF up top in a random base side’s hallway.

20

I really didn’t think CTF was all that bad until the challenge started… Now more and more people are trying to get points by either camping with DMR/BS/AC, or betraying to take the flag in. I find it almost amazing at where people hide with the AC/BS/DMR combo alone, that I have seen on maps from Adrift to Rag. to Complex. I don’t think its broke, I think people are just desperate… but i’m anti-BS so please forgive me.