There have been several threads (and a couple of tweets from 343i employees to which other posters provided links) that refer to a “default Halo” experience for MP. Most of the discussions with “default” have been focused on AAs/perks/loadouts/sprint. But there are other aspects that are important as well. So this thread might be a place to discuss the other aspects of “default”.
Items Already Discussed in Detail Elsewhere
- Descope
- No sprint (some kind of boost function that does not disable combat actions or is very temporary like Evade is acceptable)
- No perks
- Limited AAs with a preference for them being map pickups or universal for a particular gametype
- Static ordnance drops (perhaps with randomized timers in some cases)
- Absolutely no POD
- Friendly fire ON
- Betrayal and final kill cams
- Loadouts either fixed, or limited to medium/short range weapon classes such that all possible personal loadout combinations would also be acceptable fixed loadout combinations
Some of the above I linked if there are currently active threads discussing them. If you wish to add your comments, consider adding them in the linked thread rather than here. For the unlinked ones above, there are plenty of slightly older threads that can be found via search. Please leave commments there rather than here.
Items Not Discussed in Detail Elsewhere
1. Ranked is default
2. No exact duplication of ranked games in unranked form
3. Limited number of ranked game variants
4. Party size limited to team size and no guests in ranked (splitscreen with signed-in players is fine)
5. Scoring for skill ranking excludes bonuses
6. Commendations only accumulate in playlists where that activity supports winning
7. Unlocks are for aesthetic items only
Ranked vs. Unranked:
Halo has a long tradition of valuing skilled play. It is even inherent in the design of gametypes, as most of them require some minimal amount of competitive mindset to be playable.
In spite of this, once you give players the ability to choose between a ranked game and exactly the same game but unranked, the majority will choose unranked. Why? Because anyone who has played Halo for any length of time knows that there are some players who are very good, and they do not want to play against those players. The ranked list is assumed to be the tryhard list, while the unranked list is assumed to be the “normal person” list. So even if they fully intend to play with a competitive mindset, the unranked list is less intimidating. And once the unranked list attains the greatest population, then the impression develops that casual play is the “default” Halo*, and ranked play is “tryhard” Halo.
*This is despite the fact that casual play is actually ranked for matching purposes, and they would be matched against the same skill level of players if the casual list was eliminated and only the ranked list was available.
If, on the other hand, you have “Regular Playlists” (all of which are ranked) and then “Action Sack Playlists” (all of which are unranked), the ranked lists immediately feel like the default playing mode rather than a more intimidating version of the default playing mode. However, if you include exactly the same gametype in Action Sack as you have in ranked, the labeling benefit is lost. This is why I feel that unranked lists should never exactly duplicate ranked lists. They can be close - but not the same.
So how does a new player gain experience, or an existing player try to experiment with new things? I propose two ways:
1. The player could just play a similar Action Sack list (note the deliberate avoidance of “social” or “casual”). This is fine for brand-new players to get used to the controls and weapons. But it’s not fine for experienced players, as the differences in settings may render the warm-up or experimentation moot. So that moves us to #2.
2. The ability to select between “Normal” and “Warm-Up” modes when searching. Let’s say you’ve got 30 minutes or so to play. You’ve got no time to warm up and play, and you don’t want to ruin your ranked stats. You just want to get a quick game together to pass the time until you have to do something else. Why not allow players to choose “Warm-Up” when going into the search screen, match them against other players choosing “Warm-Up” (using looser search criteria for matching speed), and simply ignore the resulting statistics (both for ranking and commendations to avoid people using the option simply to boost)?
Both #1 and #2 combined eliminate the need to split populations by having two separate lists, give new players a way to learn, and give experienced players a way to warm up and experiment without ruining rankings/stats.
Game Variants:
There are simply too many in H4. There should be a standard way to play CTF, KoTH, or whatever, with the potential for one or two variants (so 2-flag and 1-flag). But variants with different player settings (like Infinity and Team and Legendary) should be avoided. Keep the default play settings so players don’t have to constantly adjust how they play. Relegate non-default play settings to Action Sack. Someone once said that Infinity would be a good Action Sack game. I agree.
Parties:
This should be self-explanatory. I don’t like playing Rumble Pit as 4v2v1v1. I don’t like playing 4v4 where two of my teammates are AFK scrub accounts logged in with a 6-person party. If you have more in your party than the team size of the game you want to play . . . that’s what customs are for.
And guests . . . if you want to play with people who do not play frequently enough to justify having their own GT, then Action Sack or customs should suit you just fine. Guests mess up matching and ranking quite significantly.
If a Warm-Up mode is included, these requirements can be ignored for that mode.
Scoring / commendations:
No skill ranking system can properly evaluate skill if information not relevant to the ability to win is included. No commendation should be achievable in a playlist if a player must choose between an action that promotes winning or one that achieves the commendation. There are some thoughts on the effect on ranking here.
Unlocks:
Halo is either a class shooter or an arena shooter. It is not both. Survey says arena is what is desired. Functional unlocks are antithetical to an arena shooter. They need to go away.
Thoughts on these, or other things you think belong as the Halo MP “default”?