> Regarding the usage of any weapon it does have a connection between usage and power since a weapon’s power translates into how much the majority is willing to use it, it’s simply the nature of things when talking about the majority of players. When referring to the op’ness or up’ness between the DMR and BR its mainly targeted at the DMR being too effective in zones where other weapons supposedly excel at(just like the dmr is supposed to excel at long range supposedly).
But you see, taking your stats and comparing your deaths to BR with your DMR isn’t sufficient nor does it prove anything. Assuming the DMR is actually the most used weapon in matchmaking (no one has concrete proof it actually is), it would of course result in more deaths from DMR than BR. However, it should be noted that the latter is caused by the former,a not by the fact that having DMR would be beneficial over having a BR. If you want to prove anything statistically, you better go asking 343i for the global DMR versus BR usage rates and compare them to the global kill counts for both weapons. Spouting random numbers simply because they seemingly support your point doesn’t help as they are merely a fraction of the total.
> As for your example on missing shots, from personal experience against dmr users it tends to end in either both dying even if the DMR does miss due to the fire rate, and if it doesn’t the faster fire rate and allowance to miss 2 more shots over the BR favor it in any combat engagement (this is also considering the BR’s burst actually hits with all 3 bullets)
I can’t speak for your gameplay experience, but assuming the DMR misses a single shot, that small mistakes extends the kill time so much that unless the BR also misses one shot worth of bullets, it’s impossible for them to lose unless the BR user is very slow with their aim. In most scenarios, you are going to start the encounter with full magazine, so the extra two shots don’t matter a lot in many cases. In the end, it’s merely a matter of player choice do they miss the shots. You should only encounter an opponent if you know you have enough shots left to kill them. So, that two shot difference doesn’t really matter unless in special 2v1 encounters.
> As for the maps, they have always played a huge factor in gun balance in a game. Yes in an controlled test maps don’t matter, but since most problems are best viewed in real scenarios it is therefore beneficial to tackle the problem while considering real scenario gameplay. What I mean is that guns perform differently on different maps, A sniper excels on maps which are wide open maps just like a shotgun excels in closed up maps and their effectiveness drops from those points. The DMR simply does not have that drop, it excels on every map in almost every situations unless its within a scattershot/shotgun kill range and other 1 shot kill weapons.
Map being designed for long range combat is doesn’t equal bad weapon balance. The map doesn’t make the weapon balance any worse or better. Maps are simply designed for different kinds of weapons. Now, a whole another debate is does Halo 4 have too many long range maps.
> The DMR having bloom is arguable, bluntly speaking it has none. The reason I said this is because even though it has a tiny bloom on it the muzzle instant reset and virtually no recoil doesn’t give bloom a chance to affect the gun in any way.
You are probably right at this. The only times the bloom has screwed me has been when my aim was absolutely horrible.
> As for the stagnant engagements and faster kill times. This is what I can tell you with certainty, yes the faster kill times drop players faster, does it translate to faster match time? mostly no. This is due to encountering different players in MM. Mostly when people are pinned down with DMRs they simply stop giving the enemy team a chance to shred em by constantly hiding and runnin when shields are low which translates to long games. On the other hand you have groups that simply don’t care and run around in the open field basically saying "hey look at me! shoot me!
In my regular matchmaking match, the people whom I encounter either don’t manage to escape, or I encounter them from a very bad position which lets them escape, which makes it my fault. If players are hiding and running without even attempting to engage, that has absolutely nothing to do with the kill times. Chances are, those people would be hiding and running even if the kill times were significantly slower. Kill times themselves always has a positive effect on gameplay speed as long as the map design allows for movement. This is due to the simple fact that the faster a kill happens, the less chances there are for one of the player escaping from the encounter. There is zero rationality and evidence behind the claim that faster kill times would slow gameplay down. When gameplay is slowed down in a game with fast kill times, the problem is always something else than the kill times (for example: movement speed, map design, lack of incentive to move, et cetera).
> The BR in halo 2 + 3 might seem like they were effective at killing at long range because a gun like the DMR wasn’t in those games. <mark>Even though it was the go to weapon back then for medium to long range it still lost to the AR 50% of the time at medium and almost always at close.</mark> This can still be seen in Halo 4 since the AR has finally been fixed. The point is like it has been stated previously the DMR is too easy to kill with because of its universal application in the game which is made possibly by the way the gun works and contribution from maps which favor it which atm is ever map.
The bolded part is completely incorrect. Never has the BR lost to an AR at medium, not even mentioning long, range in any game unless the BR user absolutely screws up. I am not sure what the case in Halo 4 is, but I don’t expect a decent BR user to lose to an AR. At close range, in both Halo 2 and 3 the BR usually won the AR if the BR user was decent with their weapon. Only in matches of lower skill levels did the AR win BR at close range.
Ultimately, the DMR works exactly as a utility weapon such as it should: it’s the dominant weapon at both long and medium ranges and has a chance to beat an AR at close range. It fulfills its purpose as well as it can. The BR on the other hand, apparently doesn’t. I personally haven’t been in an AR encounter with it yet, but as far as I know, the BR user is going to have very hard time beating an AR. At the same time, it struggles to compete with other utility weapons such as the DMR and LR.
I can’t say the DMR works as intended as I can’t speak for 343i. However, it currently works in a manner most beneficial to the gameplay sandbox, serving as an accurate single shot utility weapon with a fast kill time little accuracy hindering elements. If there is anything to fix about that weapons, it’s the amount of aim assistance. Then again, that applies to every weapon in the game.