Dear 343, 7 points to consider (Halo 4)

Games Other Halo
1

(I hope you understand my english)

Dear 343 Studios and developper of Halo 4

here are some points I would like you to consider in the making of Halo 4 to make it a better game:

i) don’t invent/create unnecessary new weapons. Often less is more. Like the Plasma Repeater in Reach. This weapon was just a waste of code. It’s in no situation a usable weapon. Remember Halo CE were all weapons were of usage in specific situations.

ii) give us the option of a “observer-mode”. I don’t mean in the way of observing matchmaking games, but in custom games. And I know it’s probably hard to do a first-person view but I think it’s easily possibly to give them the option to fly around like an invisible camera (like in theater)

iii) keep the playlists the same. I liked the playlists in Halo 3, they were more or less the same game options, the only differences were the size of the teams and the maps that were played. In Reach every playlist is very special on their own. Like we have zero bloom there, 85% there, 100% there. And I know this will hurt most of the casual players but I’d like to see the revival of “double exp weekends”, where there are playlists like griffball and living dead.

iv) Although you will divide the playlists into “social” and “competetive” playlists you want to make sure that both teams are fair. (In Reach I hade the feeling that in every playlist (beside arena) the teams were random). And this is not too hard to do. Just give every player a hidden number which reflects the overall skill level of the player (like the BPR value at the moment). But this number may not include the amount of games you played, only how good you played in the games you’ve played. And then you create the matchmaking system like the system in ranked playlist in halo 3. Example: My friend and me are playing Team Doubles (2vs2) with him having a 55 BPR and me having a 85 BPR => together we have 140 BPR => the system should be looking for two other players with 140 BPR as well and lower the requierements from time to time, like after 10 seconds (when no other team has been found) the system should be looking for a team with a BPR between 135 and 145 and so on with the time.

v) Don’t disadvantage “custom-parties”. In halo 3 there were so many custom parties were they played Jenga-towers or ghostbusters. But in Reach is this hardly the case because they don’t get (or very few) credits for doing that. I don’t know a proper solution at the moment but I hope you will take that in your considerations.

vi) In my opinion the best maps in Halo were not the maps which looked the best. If you remember narrows or construct from halo 3, everything was more or less grey and with some touches of blue and gold or even lockout from halo 2 was all angled and blue/grey but they were the best maps and everyone (noobs and pros) like to play on them. I mean look at Halo Reach, all Maps look great from outside, but everyone loves to play on those forged maps from the community, because they play well (not because they look well). My proposal: Take your favorite forge-maps from Halo Reach / Halo 3 and remake them with colors and environment. That is easy to do and everyone would be satisfied with that.

vii) Keep the games simple. Don’t try to get everything into Halo 4 (there will be Halo 5 and Halo 6 according to yourself).

Love, your Allenwinden

2

> ii) give us the option of a “observer-mode”. I don’t mean in the way of observing matchmaking games, but in custom games. And I know it’s probably hard to do a first-person view but I think it’s easily possibly to give them the option to fly around like an invisible camera (like in theater)

Commonly referred to as “Spectator Mode”. 343 announced it would not be in Halo 4. sadface

3

For your #7, 343i has said that they are designing Halo 4 to be the first part of a trilogy. Which means it will act like a trilogy and won’t be overloaded like you said.

4

> For your #7, 343i has said that they are designing Halo 4 to be the first part of a trilogy. Which means it will act like a trilogy and won’t be overloaded like you said.

Yes, I know, that’s what I meant with Halo 5 and 6

> Commonly referred to as “Spectator Mode”. 343 announced it would not be in Halo 4. sadface

Oh, I didn’t know that, :(,
Did 343 explain why it won’t be in the game?

5

The Plasma Repeater is a very effective rifle, particularly within short range. Maybe you should take some time to learn how to use it.

6

> The Plasma Repeater is a very effective rifle, particularly within short range. Maybe you should take some time to learn how to use it.

In close rang situations weapons like the plasma pistol, the shotgun, the assault rifle, the human pistol, the plasma rifle (but I think the plasma rifle does not spawn on matchmaking maps) and I won’t mention the sword.
If you and I would met in a matchmaking game within close range and you are having the plasma repeater and me having one of these weapons you’ll lose this fight nine times out of ten, because the plasma repeater is just too weak.

7

> > Commonly referred to as “Spectator Mode”. 343 announced it would not be in Halo 4. sadface
>
> Oh, I didn’t know that, :(,
> Did 343 explain why it won’t be in the game?

Yeah, they said that it was a waste of bandwidth, and would make the games lag a lot more than they should, which is a perfectly reasonable explanation if you ask me.

8

> The Plasma Repeater is a very effective rifle, particularly within short range. Maybe you should take some time to learn how to use it.

I loved to kill DMR’s with a Repeater, they would rage XD

9

> > The Plasma Repeater is a very effective rifle, particularly within short range. Maybe you should take some time to learn how to use it.
>
> In close rang situations weapons like the plasma pistol, the shotgun, the assault rifle, the human pistol, the plasma rifle (but I think the plasma rifle does not spawn on matchmaking maps) and I won’t mention the sword.
> If you and I would met in a matchmaking game within close range and you are having the plasma repeater and me having one of these weapons you’ll lose this fight nine times out of ten, because the plasma repeater is just too weak.

Alright, let’s do this.
If we meet at medium range and try to close the distance into close range, then the AR has a better chance at winning, so long if you manage to pace your shots at medium range and keep steady aim. If you don’t pace your shots then I’ll most likely win, granted there’s no cover or a chance for me to vent my heat. But the second you need to reload I’ll win.
The PP will win, but only with a melee. The PP will most likely take too long to damage my health before I can kill you. If we meet at medium range then I can reduce the amount of damage by dodging your plasma bolts while I move into close range and fire the Repeater. If I can dodge several bolts and you try to kill me as fast as you can then you’ll most likely overheat your PP and I’ll get a huge chance to kill you.
The Pistol will only win if you’re lucky enough to get a headshot while spamming. Turn off headshots and you’ll need to be more accurate.
Shotgun is a short range power weapon, unfair comparison.
The Plasma Rifle is similar to the PP and will need a melee at close range. It has lower spread and can be just as effective at close range as it is at medium range. But it overheats really quickly and unless you’re 100% accurate you’ll need to pace your shots. The second you overheat I’ll win.

10

> Alright, let’s do this.

Ok let’s do this:

  1. Pistol vs PR: I just spam on your body and beatdown you. => I win
  2. AR vs PR: I just run backwards because the PR kills health points way slower than the AR => I win
  3. Plasma Pistol vs PR: I just shot your body and the moment your shields are down I pummel you => I win
  4. Plasma Rifle vs PR: like number 3. => I win
  5. Shotgun vs PR: no matter how bad I am => I win

I’m not saying that the Plasma repeater is completely useless. It’s just one of the weaker weapons in the game and I hope that 343 balances the weapons so there won’t be very weak/useless weapons an no overpowered weapons, even the rockets are not overpowered, cause they don’t work very well in long or very close range.

11

Allenwinden360.

You make some excellent points that should definitely be taken. I think that most of them are past the point where they can make changes, but some of the matchmaking things are really important to overall game play and need to be addressed. I’d like to add my own little list, that highlights what I consider the “core” elements that make up the halo experience(matchmaking in particular) that need to be protected.

1.Simple but competitive gameplay. Simple as is, keep the AAs and specializations to a bare minimum. They are cool and should be added in small bits by experimenting, but dont take it overboard, and shut it off in core playlists. Competitive meaning bring back ranked in full force, I personally am partial to halo 2s 1-50 style ranking.

2.Balanced sanbox- another reason why AA’s get some much attention. Because its hard to balance. But the main thing here is the weapons. People loved the BR and DMR for all the wrong reasons. They shouldn’t be one weapon to rule them all like the DMR in reach or the pistol in CE. The BR was at its best when it was a good versatile weapon, but was best at medium-long range. It should be beaten at long range by sniper type weapons, and beaten consistently at short-medium range by automatic weapons, and at short range by shotguns.

3. Playlists- Not too many and stop changing the settings all the time. Pick the settings you think are best and stick to your guns. The old halo games did a patch or two at the beginning to fix major bugs and then they let it be! That doesn’t mean that playlists have to get stale. Change maps and gametypes(for objective playlists)frequently to keep the experience fresh. Back to the “not too many” comment. Whats too many you ask? REACH has too many. These are the core playlists of halo Team Slayer. Team Objective. Big Team Battle. Rumble Pit. Multi-team. Doubles. Focus on making these awesome, and that’s all you’ll need. Something highly strategic and different like invasion might have its place, but dont get carried away. Mini-games and other varients like swat, snipers, grifball, race are for mainly customs. I think a rotating playlist like reach had for a while with grab bag could be of use to satisfy the people who like these games but are too lazy to host customs. So that brings the total to like 7-8 playlists TOPS. Stop fragmenting the players so much.

4.MapsI like what Allenwinden360 said about gameplay over graphics. Its not all about making the maps pretty, and im not sure 343 gets that. Almost all their maps in reach and CE remake are over saturated with color and have far too many shiny or animated objects, shield doors and complex textures. The maps can look as cool as you can make them, WITHOUT taking away from game play. Dont make a game full of Backwashes.

5. Level playing field My last and most important point. Lots of people argue about what exactly makes halo different from other shooters. Its a combination of things, but one thing over all else is the way it plays more like a sport than a game, by putting everyone on level ground at the start. Things that attribute to this include:

a. Even number of each team. Games must start full and quitting must be minimized AMAP. Two ideas for this that are EASY TO IMPLEMENT are remove the quit option from most playlists so that players have shut off their XBOX to quit. OR if player quit, they have to wait till the game they quit finished to start a new match.

b. NO JOINING MID GAME. You start every game at 0-0. DUH

c. SAME STARTING WEAPONS and ABILITIES. holy muther of god, how simple is it to see that this is the biggest difference that halo brings to the table. Different AA’s and weapons are cool… but you can start EVERYONE with same set in different gamestypes(slayer pro was BRs, there could be Slayer Flight with jet packs) OR you can have them as equipment picks ups or powerup orbs on MAP. These two options allow for innovation and pushing the boundaries of the halo universe WITHOUT AFFECTING WHAT MAKES HALO SO DAMN GOOD TO BEGIN WITH.

Or not

12

> > > The Plasma Repeater is a very effective rifle, particularly within short range. Maybe you should take some time to learn how to use it.
> >
> > In close rang situations weapons like the plasma pistol, the shotgun, the assault rifle, the human pistol, the plasma rifle (but I think the plasma rifle does not spawn on matchmaking maps) and I won’t mention the sword.
> > If you and I would met in a matchmaking game within close range and you are having the plasma repeater and me having one of these weapons you’ll lose this fight nine times out of ten, because the plasma repeater is just too weak.
>
> Alright, let’s do this.
> If we meet at medium range and try to close the distance into close range, then the AR has a better chance at winning, so long if you manage to pace your shots at medium range and keep steady aim. If you don’t pace your shots then I’ll most likely win, granted there’s no cover or a chance for me to vent my heat. But the second you need to reload I’ll win.
> The PP will win, but only with a melee. The PP will most likely take too long to damage my health before I can kill you. If we meet at medium range then I can reduce the amount of damage by dodging your plasma bolts while I move into close range and fire the Repeater. If I can dodge several bolts and you try to kill me as fast as you can then you’ll most likely overheat your PP and I’ll get a huge chance to kill you.
> The Pistol will only win if you’re lucky enough to get a headshot while spamming. Turn off headshots and you’ll need to be more accurate.
> Shotgun is a short range power weapon, unfair comparison.
> The Plasma Rifle is similar to the PP and will need a melee at close range. It has lower spread and can be just as effective at close range as it is at medium range. But it overheats really quickly and unless you’re 100% accurate you’ll need to pace your shots. The second you overheat I’ll win.

You are so wrong it gives me cancer , more so on the bolded .

Automatic weapons will always be useless until they give them kill times similar to precision weapons .

Auto Vs. Auto is fine but they still need to kill faster .

13

I like that list very much. I think every Halo veteran who played Halo CE, Halo 2 and or Halo 3 would make a similar list.

I very much like the point, where you are explaining why Halo Reach has too many Playlists.
-> A concrete suggestion from my side:
Divide the playlists in 3 groups:
1: Social: Playlists like Griffball, Living Dead, Action Sack
=> For these playlists should be a minimum “searching-time”, that is to say the system should just pick the first players it can find and add them together to play a game.
These playlists are only there to have fun. (perhaps a playlist like social slayer with slayer and objective gametypes mixed)
2: Competetive playlists: Playlists like Rumble Pit, Doubles, Multi-Team, Teams Slayer, Big Team Battle (maybe even team swat, team snipers)
=> For these playlists the system should try to get the most balanced teams it can so that more or less every match is close (mostly depends on the player’s daily condition then)
3: Ranked playlists: MLG, Teams Slayer, Lone Wolf, Doubles
=> In these playlists the players fight for fame and glory. Those playlists should be ranked like in Halo 2, Halo 3 or I personally liked the Halo Reach division rankings or somehow a new ranking system. But these ranks need seen very fast if you click on a player. That’s one of the main problems of Reach, nobody cares about your division and it takes almost half a second (if you know how) to find what divison they’re in.

Allenwinden

14

> (I hope you understand my english)
>
> Dear 343 Studios and developper of Halo 4
>
> here are some points I would like you to consider in the making of Halo 4 to make it a better game:
>
> i) don’t invent/create unnecessary new weapons. Often less is more. Like the Plasma Repeater in Reach. This weapon was just a waste of code. It’s in no situation a usable weapon. Remember Halo CE were all weapons were of usage in specific situations.
>
> ii) give us the option of a “observer-mode”. I don’t mean in the way of observing matchmaking games, but in custom games. And I know it’s probably hard to do a first-person view but I think it’s easily possibly to give them the option to fly around like an invisible camera (like in theater)
>
> iii) keep the playlists the same. I liked the playlists in Halo 3, they were more or less the same game options, the only differences were the size of the teams and the maps that were played. In Reach every playlist is very special on their own. Like we have zero bloom there, 85% there, 100% there. And I know this will hurt most of the casual players but I’d like to see the revival of “double exp weekends”, where there are playlists like griffball and living dead.
>
> iv) Although you will divide the playlists into “social” and “competetive” playlists you want to make sure that both teams are fair. (In Reach I hade the feeling that in every playlist (beside arena) the teams were random). And this is not too hard to do. Just give every player a hidden number which reflects the overall skill level of the player (like the BPR value at the moment). But this number may not include the amount of games you played, only how good you played in the games you’ve played. And then you create the matchmaking system like the system in ranked playlist in halo 3. Example: My friend and me are playing Team Doubles (2vs2) with him having a 55 BPR and me having a 85 BPR => together we have 140 BPR => the system should be looking for two other players with 140 BPR as well and lower the requierements from time to time, like after 10 seconds (when no other team has been found) the system should be looking for a team with a BPR between 135 and 145 and so on with the time.
>
> v) Don’t disadvantage “custom-parties”. In halo 3 there were so many custom parties were they played Jenga-towers or ghostbusters. But in Reach is this hardly the case because they don’t get (or very few) credits for doing that. I don’t know a proper solution at the moment but I hope you will take that in your considerations.
>
> vi) In my opinion the best maps in Halo were not the maps which looked the best. If you remember narrows or construct from halo 3, everything was more or less grey and with some touches of blue and gold or even lockout from halo 2 was all angled and blue/grey but they were the best maps and everyone (noobs and pros) like to play on them. I mean look at Halo Reach, all Maps look great from outside, but everyone loves to play on those forged maps from the community, because they play well (not because they look well). My proposal: Take your favorite forge-maps from Halo Reach / Halo 3 and remake them with colors and environment. That is easy to do and everyone would be satisfied with that.
>
> vii) Keep the games simple. Don’t try to get everything into Halo 4 (there will be Halo 5 and Halo 6 according to yourself).
>
> Love, your Allenwinden

I have yet to see any un useful weapons. spectator mode i believe will not be returning. Im not worried about playlists TBH im more worried about useless gametypes. a great example was how many flag related objective game modes in reach. they need to keep a few good ones. i hope they don’t reward lots of credits for customs. they are supposed to be fun. not a way to rank up. its not the games fault in this case more then the community. i HATED narrows. if they would take anything from h3 it should be guardian and make similar things to sand trap and sand box for BTB. if they introduce forge made maps from 343 as long as they actually flow good i don’t care what they look like.

15

> > Alright, let’s do this.
>
> Ok let’s do this:
> 1. Pistol vs PR: I just spam on your body and beatdown you. => I win
> 2. AR vs PR: I just run backwards because the PR kills health points way slower than the AR => I win
> 3. Plasma Pistol vs PR: I just shot your body and the moment your shields are down I pummel you => I win
> 4. Plasma Rifle vs PR: like number 3. => I win
> 5. Shotgun vs PR: no matter how bad I am => I win
>
> I’m not saying that the Plasma repeater is completely useless. It’s just one of the weaker weapons in the game and I hope that 343 balances the weapons so there won’t be very weak/useless weapons an no overpowered weapons, even the rockets are not overpowered, cause they don’t work very well in long or very close range.

What you’re talking about is outplaying, not using an underpowered weapon, which I also addressed in my reply. It’s still possible for me to extend the distance so your melee misses or dodge your melee so you will end up losing, or even just get the jump on you first. If you’re talking about outplaying then the Shotgun can lose at close range since I can easily Jetpack away while firing.

16

> What you’re talking about is outplaying, not using an underpowered weapon, which I also addressed in my reply. It’s still possible for me to extend the distance so your melee misses or dodge your melee so you will end up losing, or even just get the jump on you first. If you’re talking about outplaying then the Shotgun can lose at close range since I can easily Jetpack away while firing.

Well, Of course I’m talking about a situation in a game where you can move and use the weapon to get the best out of it.
And if we stay at close range (and don’t look at a situation where we two met on Blood Gulch with PR and Shotgun) then you have to assume that a pummel is possilbe (even if you keep on walking back). Then all my points are true only the battle AR vs. PR will end up in a tie.

I played some Invasion games on blood gulch where most of the opponent team took armor lock - Plasma repeater… I went +30 because PR is just not usefull on such a lagre map.

And I really think (and 343 said "we want a more classic halo experience since it were announced that 343 is making halo 4) in the majority of the gametypes all players should start with the same weapons, aa’s, amount of grenades etc.