Halo 4 facts

Games Other Halo
1

PART ONE

Skill Gap:

Those who post about Skill Gap and, write about how it has lessened in Halo 4, are wrong, IMO.There are two types of fact to consider.

The first is the technical facts that the group above write about. On face value, much of what they write about is correct. I have no dispute with the technical facts presented by them. One can, however, either agree with the changes called for or disagree. Essentially, skill gap is where a particular weapon should be difficult to use and master and only the very best (skilled) players (very extreme small group) should do so and the rest of the Halo players (the vast majority) be owned (destroyed/killed) by the said players

The second set of facts is the evidence of the skill levels of players in Halo 4. It is this set of facts that show, that despite what ever the technical facts about particular weapons or bullet/shot mechanics might be, that the skill gap is wider in Halo 4 than any other Halo title as far as MM is concerned.

The facts is the evidence available on Waypoint and, at the end of every single match, which can be viewed in the Carnage Report as well as each players Service Record. I have played over 6000 Halo 4 MM games and, after every single match I look at the post game stats and the Carnage Report.

Game after game, if one view the stats/carnage report, two facts emerge.

First, the majority of players go negative in each game; if one looks at each players in-game tabbed Service Record, one would find that the vast majority of players have more deaths than kills over their Halo 4 career (ie negative KDs). On the other hand, those who have positive KDs, the simple fact is that takes a degree of skill. Therefore, we do see a skill gap between those with negative and positive KDs.

Secondly, you will find that with the majority of people with negative KDs and, even some with positive KDs, that when you look at the carnage report of each individual, that is, the Medals earned, it is obvious that the majority do not use power weapons effectively. If most players are lucky enough, they might get one kill with a Railgun, or one or two kills with the Fuel Rod Canon and so on and so forth. On the other hand, the smallish group of Halo veteran players with skill, who largely speak about skill gap, might instead have three or four kills with the Railgun or 10 or more kills with the Fuel Rod Canon; that takes skill and thus there is a skill gap.

Based on the above facts, Halo 4 has a higher skill gap than past Halo MM titles. This is based upon the fact that it is Halo veterans who have a high degree of skill coming into Halo 4 (and new players who bring good shooter MM skills from other games to Halo) that do very well and dominate in games. It is because of their skill/abilities that they can take the toys provided to us in Halo 4 and dominate more than they did in prior Halo MM titles. Because they dominate more in Halo 4, they state that the game is easier. For this very small group of players, Halo 4 is very easy for them and that is why they want the weapons to be made more difficult to use, to create a skill gap that in fact already exists, based on the majority of people having negative KDs and inability to use the so-called easy weapons more effectively.

The average gamer has changed since the days of Halo 3. Back then, there as very little competition in terms of other Ranked games/good shooters. In a way then, Halo 3 MM was a novelty, something new and as there was very little else to play, the game had huge numbers and numbers that lasted for some time. In 2013, there are hundreds and hundreds of games to play. People buy a new game, play it for a very short while and move onto the next game. These numbers will move onto a new game even more quickly if the current game in the tray (ie Halo 4) is too hard. Halo 4 is very hard for most players to do well at! Hence why the playing population is small!

Despite all the weapons in Halo 4, and AAs, ODs and map pickups, it is only the Halo veteran who has a degree of skill and experience (or some new player with a skill set from other shooters), which does well at Halo 4; they simply dominate each (most) games and thus say it is easy. But, the facts show otherwise, the game is not easy for the majority as the skill of these veterans ensure that lesser players have little to no chance; the skill gap!

The weapon tweaks will actually increase the already large skill go even further and, IMO, cause the population to drastically decrease. For the vast majority, Halo 4 is already hard and the tweaks to weapons will make it almost impossible to bear.

Ranks

With little to no competition to Halo 3, ranks too were a new thing and a novelty for most, serious stuff for others. However, removing ones rose tinted glasses, the fact is that Halo 3 ranking was a failed experiment. Fact is something new was attempted with Arena ranks in Halo Reach which also failed and was very low in population numbers. Fact is CSR was never going to work for Halo 4 either. There should be no ranking system as it is not what the majority wants anymore, as the facts show; Team Throwdown and Team Objective population! Social play lists and game modes is all that the vast majority care about and, the facts show that the new style of Halo is what was preferred since day one until this very post; not ranks (nor weapon mechanics and skill gap).

The same people, that very small group of Halo veterans that seek a skill gap which will but drive the final nail in Halo 4’s coffin (due to their demanded weapon tweaks being made), is the same small group that cares about ranks.

2

PART TWO

Opinion and facts

IMO, future Halo titles must not have competitive ranks across the board for all play lists. The fact is ranks failed in Halo 3, Halo Reach and are failing in Halo 4.

The facts are that the vast majority of Halo 4 players, whether on launch day or today (as of this post) prefer the new style of Halo. Just look at the number one, two and three ranking of sixteen play lists; all social! On the other hand, the competitive Halo 3 style are ranked last and second last, and generally have been since they were introduced! 343i actually got it right with their new version of Halo MM; the ranking of individual play lists/modes since launch day up until today, show this to be fact. Thus,343i should continue on their visionary journey and cater for the causal player but,having something in place for the small band of Halo veterans who want ranks and difficult play lists which will for ever more be very thinly populated

Facts:

Ranking is dead; the majority do not care anymore.

The true Halo 3 style of competitive play is dead; the majority don’t care anymore.

The argument for skill gap is wrong, it exists but; the majority don’t care any more.

Skill gap ties hand in hand with ranking systems. Therefor, if one is unpopular and almost dead in term of player numbers, then the sill gap argument is not going to work and all of a sudden bring back player numbers. The weapon tweak to achieve a harder skill gap is the final nail in Halo 4’s coffin.

Player populations will never be what they once were for Halo 3; the completion in terms of the multitude of games to play and choose from makes it impossible. Halo is now a niche game, still popular and will always sell millions but, its about the Halo campaign, not MM.

3

How on earth has ranks failed in Halo 3? Halo 3 had the perfect formula called Social and Ranked it´s easy. Halo 4 population will never beat Halo 3 population but can improve alot if some major changes are made to the game.

PS: Halo 4 lessened the skill gap that´s a fact.

4

lol they did say a skill gap threw players off so the lowered it to none

5

sigh

> The first is the technical facts that the group above write about. On face value, much of what they write about is correct. I have no dispute with the technical facts presented by them. One can, however, either agree with the changes called for or disagree. Essentially, <mark>skill gap is where a particular weapon should be difficult to use and master and only the very best (skilled) players (very extreme small group) should do so and the rest of the Halo players (the vast majority) be owned (destroyed/killed) by the said players</mark>

Nope, it’s not tied to a single weapon. It is the mechanics in the entire game that allows a player to excell and outplay their opponents. The mechanics in this game allow beginners to do better against good players than they would without some mechanics, such as Ordnance and Sprint.

Getting an Inc Canon and then wait in a base against someone passing by, or sprinting away from recklessness.

> First, the majority of players go negative in each game; if one looks at each players in-game tabbed Service Record, one would find that the vast majority of players have more deaths than kills over their Halo 4 career (ie negative KDs). On the other hand, those who have positive KDs, the simple fact is that takes a degree of skill. Therefore, we do see a skill gap between those with negative and positive KDs.

And what are you comparing with? You say that this game has a wider skill gap, and then only pull some statistics only from one game?

Once again, good statistical analysis on your part.

> Based on the above facts, Halo 4 has a higher skill gap than past Halo MM titles.

Based on statistics pulled from one single game you proclaim it having a wider skill gap than games you’ve barely played, Halo 2 and 3.

If there’s nothing to compare with, you’ve got nothing to draw conclusion from.

> The average gamer has changed since the days of Halo 3. Back then, there as very little competition in terms of other Ranked games/good shooters.

There were plenty of good shooters present during Halo’s “reign”. Halo just proved to be better.

> People buy a new game, play it for a very short while and move onto the next game. These numbers will move onto a new game even more quickly if the current game in the tray (ie Halo 4) is too hard. Halo 4 is very hard for most players to do well at! Hence why the playing population is small!

No, Halo 4 is not too hard, it’s bland. That’s the problem.

Casuals play LoL and DotA, games far more difficult to do well in than any Halo ever.

Population is small because Halo 4 isn’t on par with other games in terms of playability. People got tired of it fast.

> The weapon tweaks will actually increase the already large skill go even further and, IMO, cause the population to drastically decrease. For the vast majority, Halo 4 is already hard and the tweaks to weapons will make it almost impossible to bear.

Right, let’s just all hope you’re wrong then, time traveler.

> The fact is that Halo 3 ranking was a failed experiment.

Fact based on what? Exactly?

> Fact is something new was attempted with Arena ranks in Halo Reach which also failed and was very low in population numbers.

Reach’s Arena’s population wasn’t because it was ranked, but the gameplay within it, and the ranking system itself.

It wasn’t considered competitive and the ranking system promoted selfish gameplay, in a team playlist. Don’t proclaim that ranking overall is dead when the whole foundation Reach’s ranking system was rotten.

> Fact is CSR was never going to work for Halo 4 either.

I don’t know the workings of the CSR, but it won’t work properly because of the current implementation of Ordnance and JiP.

I can rank up in Team games I join 10 second before the end, have no input in and still win.

I can play to my best effort and still lose because the other team got lucky.

> There should be no ranking system as it is not what the majority wants anymore, as the facts show; Team Throwdown and Team Objective population! Social play lists and game modes is all that the <mark>vast majority</mark> care about and, the facts show that the new style of Halo is what was preferred since day one until this very post; not ranks (nor weapon mechanics and skill gap).

Oh look, we’re back to population analysis.

Which “vast majority” are you talking about? The one that left at the initial massive drop? Or are you talking about the “vast majority” that is left playing that is overshadowed by the “true majority” that left Halo 4?

As before, you are contradicting yourself.

If overall population and it’s initial drop doesn’t warrant popularity, as you keep ignoring it, then playlist population isn’t improtant either, which you keep bringing up.

IS was tested first days, then droped in population while BTIS rose in population, only to experience a similair drop. Proper data analysis says that players tested these two game modes, decided that they didn’t like the overall Halo 4 experience and left.

If action sack had been present from day one and Halo 4 had dropped from 400 000 peak population to 1000 daily in a matter of days, while keeping action sack the most played playlist. It doesn’t mean the “majority” wants action sack. It means the majority didn’t like Halo 4.

It’s not difficult to read data and draw conclusions from it.

The more “competitive” aspects introduced now at later dates are way late as well as most competitive players who could’ve enjoyed these playlists left in the initial population drop.

This is however something that you don’t seem to understand.

> IMO, future Halo titles must not have competitive ranks across the board for all play lists. The fact is ranks failed in Halo 3, Halo Reach and are failing in Halo 4.

“Facts” based on what again?

Your what? 12 played Halo 3 matches from late 2011 and early 2012?

Reach’s bad ranking system coupled with bad choice of gameplay mechanics for said ranking system? Small variety in ranked playlists?

Halo 4’s late adition of a non-ingame ranking system which is both individual and team based? Couple with JiP free wins and losses (mostly losses) as well as the game deciding the winner instead of the players themselves?

> The facts are that the vast majority of Halo 4 players, whether on launch day or today (as of this post) prefer the new style of Halo. Just look at the number one, two and three ranking of sixteen play lists; all social!

Or you could just take a look at what I wrote about it. People left when they had tried IS and BTIS. The small group left playing is a minority compared to the group that left.

6

As far as trying to argue that the skill gap is wider or that people who say it has been lowered are wrong…anyone remember GDC? I thought 343i were quite clear about them lowering the skill gap and making the game more accessible.

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> As far as trying to argue that the skill gap is wider or that people who say it has been lowered are wrong…anyone remember GDC? I thought 343i were quite clear about them lowering the skill gap and making the game more accessible.

This as well. This so much.

8

@Naqser, sorry I can’t quote you (Too many characters!), but I absolutely 1,000% agree with you. The majority aren’t those who are here, they are those who left.

Also, I hate to be the one to say this, but you misspelled “Analysis”.

9

> @Naqser, sorry I can’t quote you (Too many characters!), but I absolutely 1,000% agree with you. The majority aren’t those who are here, they are those who left.

I ran out of characters too, so it’s a shorter version. Not that much shorter though.

> Also, I hate to be the one to say this, but you misspelled “Analysis”.

It’s ok.

I thought something was wrong with the word. Then again, English is not my native language and it’s 3:00 AM.

Excuses excuses…

10

> How on earth has ranks failed in Halo 3? Halo 3 had the perfect formula called Social and Ranked it´s easy. Halo 4 population will never beat Halo 3 population but can improve alot if some major changes are made to the game.
>
> PS: Halo 4 lessened the skill gap that´s a fact.

Halo 3 ranks failed due to its design which caused rank locking, boosting, account selling and generally bad behavior, amongst other things.

And,you proved my point about population. Halo 3 had a strong population, nt due to the ranks, not due to skill gap and so on.It was popular because it was new, a novelty, almost the only shooter on Xbox and so on. It had little to almost no competition. Everyone (almost) had no other shooter to play but Halo 3. That is why quoting Halo 3 numbers is not valid in todays gaming market.

SciFi generally, is not the most popular genre when it comes to shooters. When Halo 3 came out, people did not flock to it because everyone loved SciFi, but rather because it was the available shooter. Now, in 2013,with hundreds of games being available and a good chunk of those being shooters, and non scifi shooters at that, Halo is really a niche shooter MM game that people play. IMO, had many of the shooters available today been available when Halo 3 was launched, Halo 3 most likely would never had the numbers playing MM it did! 343i and Halo 3 were at the right place at the right time and took advantage of that. If Halo 3 was released today and there was no Halo game between Halo 2 and Halo 3 being launched today, Halo 3 would not have been able to make a dint in terms of having an impact on other modern era shooters.

As for your claim that major changes will improve Halo 4, that is simply wrong. I wish it would but,it won’t. I posted long ago that introducing competitive style Halo 3 play lists would not improve Halo 4 population.; when Team Throwdown etc were introduced, a small spike occurred which quickly dissipated and the competitive play lists such as Team Objective and Team Thrwodown have been at the bottom of the sixteen play lists almost daily. The vast majority do not care about competitive play lists; a fact you fail to see and/or acknowledge, or perhaps you choose to ignore.

I have long posted that ranks would not improve Halo 4 but cause more problems. And, that has proven true. Again, having ranks attached to completive play list has not increased player numbers.

I have long predicted that in-game CSR would not change anything. Based upon the above facts, that would come to pass too.

I have long predicted that messing with weapons would be bad. The forthcoming weapon tweaks will see a further reduction in the Halo 4 playing population. Why? On a small group of Halo 3 veterans and others wanted the increased skill gap and weapons made harder. The majority don’t; they are having fun with Infinity Slayer, BTIS, SWAT etc. The changes will not be welcome by them. Most don’t l know they are coming as they don’t waste their time on these forums complaining but instead play Halo 4!

Having said, that, you don’t want to face reality so, I can’t change your mind and don’t intend trying to. That’s a fact!

11

This post has been edited by a moderator. Please refrain from making non-constructive posts.

*Original post. Click at your own discretion.

sigh Not another mislead forum goer trying to convince everyone that everything is fine.

One thing you can’t deny is that this game has a pitiful population. Threads like these, saying everything about this game is fine, and that it would have the population it does right now no matter what they did, helps absolutely nothing. Please, please, PLEASE stop making threads like these. This goes for everybody out there who also wants to make yet another “everything’s fine” thread, as I know there’s inevitably going to be more, even though all they do is get in the way of progress. Please. I beg you.

It’s nice being positive and all, but it’s just not going to encourage them to improve this game in any way, when they see these threads popping up in different places. When thinking and speaking positively gets in the way of progress (as depressing as this sounds), it’s probably best to not think positively. Sorry to sound like a downer, but it’s true.

Just… stop stopping change. Please.

12

Here is my response to something similar you stated in another thread. I don’t know if you read

> > Ranks in Halo 3 failed.
>
> IIRC, you were never part of the Halo 3 community. All you’ve got to go by is anecdotal evidence. Ranked playlists - albeit not as populated as social - was one of the cores of the competitive community. Taking it away is like taking away theater and campaign scoring from campaign players (oh wait…) Games should attempt to cater to as many communities as possible, and in a lot of instances, those communities should be kept separate, rather than mingled into a single, random, social playlist (which how I currently see Halo 4.)
>
> Every system has manipulators of some kind and every system also acts as a motive for flaming - but yet we keep progression systems, K/Ds, commendations and post-game carnage reports. The primary reason ranks spread across playlists were removed is because people didn’t like an autonomic, non-biased, computer to tell them that they were not as good as they thought they were.
>
>
>
> > CSR in Halo 4 is failing too.
>
> Important note: CSR was implemented approximately 6 months after release and is not even within the game.

It’s also important to know that the majority or players are the silent majority. Not those that stick around to play a playlist which has a 90% lowered peak when compared to its realise. It’s looking like an decreasing exponential graph where all that’ll be left is the few who enjoyed it from the start.

13

Well,I have been right about CSR, competitive play lists nd I feel that I will be about future things to I have talked about. I wish I wasn’t but, oh well.

You can quote me after the weapon tweaking and the population continues to decline. The more Halo 4 resembles the communities vision on this forum, the more the population heads south. And, if 343i decides to follow this communities version of old Halo, watch how bad Halo 5 will be…remember to quote me after Halo 5 has been released and I am yet again, right.

I want Halo to succeed but,I know the reality of the current gaming environment; the days of Halo 3 are long gone, done and buried. A small group is finding it hard to deal with the loss!

Over 8 million purchased Halo 4; only a fraction of that numberer actually played MM; most,as 343i indicated, played the campaign and don’t care for MM. I don’t blame them as Hal MM is hard compared to other shooters. And a small group wants to make it harder. Well done!

14

My friends are very casual gamers, they thought the game was easy. After I told them about GDC they claimed the news upset them because 343 was ruining Halo by making it easier.

That is the opinion I’ve heard from casual players, people that aren’t great at the game but still good enough to win and have fun. When they think the game has been made too easy there’s a serious problem.

15

Going to keep it short and sweet;

I found that Halo2, was the hardest game out of all the MM online experiences.

For me CSR has improved the Halo4 experience, people started to try harder when it was released, making more interesting games.

16

> My friends are very casual gamers, they thought the game was easy. After I told them about GDC they claimed the news upset them because 343 was ruining Halo by making it easier.
>
> That is the opinion I’ve heard from casual players, people that aren’t great at the game but still good enough to win and have fun. When they think the game has been made too easy there’s a serious problem.

To go off of that, I’m going to quote a fellow forum goer, whose name I’ve forgotten:

“Competitive games can be fun for casual players, but casual games can’t be fun for competitive players.”

Proof: Halo 2 and 3.

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> Halo 3 ranks failed due to its design which caused rank locking, boosting, account selling and generally bad behavior, amongst other things.

Rank locking? More like “This is where you belong rank wise, if you don’t improve and do better, then you won’t rank up”.

Ranking in Halo 3 did what it was supposed to do.
Anything besides that is side stuff that can be worked around.

> And,you proved my point about population. Halo 3 had a strong population, nt due to the ranks, not due to skill gap and so on.It was popular because it was new, a novelty, <mark>almost the only shooter on Xbox and so on.</mark> It had little to almost no competition. Everyone (almost) had no other shooter to play but Halo 3. That is why quoting Halo 3 numbers is not valid in todays gaming market.

Counting 15 shooters on 2007 alone other than Halo 3, then there are of course more before and after. No competition? There was plenty of it.

> SciFi generally, is not the most popular genre when it comes to shooters. When Halo 3 came out, people did not flock to it because everyone loved SciFi, but rather because it was the available shooter.

Right, because 15 other shooters 2007 alone doesn’t count.

> IMO, had many of the shooters available today been available when Halo 3 was launched, Halo 3 most likely would never had the numbers playing MM it did!

A lot of shooters were available 2007 and 2008 and 2009.

2007
2008
2009

Oh so many shooters, yet Halo 3 was standing ground.

> 343i and Halo 3 were at the right place at the right time and took advantage of that. If Halo 3 was released today and there was no Halo game between Halo 2 and Halo 3 being launched today, Halo 3 would not have been able to make a dint in terms of having an impact on other modern era shooters.

Because it’d be a long forgotten game?

> As for your claim that major changes will improve Halo 4, that is simply wrong. I wish it would but,it won’t. I posted long ago that introducing competitive style Halo 3 play lists would not improve Halo 4 population.; when Team Throwdown etc were introduced, a small spike occurred which quickly dissipated and the competitive play lists such as Team Objective and Team Thrwodown have been at the bottom of the sixteen play lists almost daily. The vast majority do not care about competitive play lists; a fact you fail to see and/or acknowledge, or perhaps you choose to ignore.

Oh, back to this again.

Please continue to ignore the initial population drop that most likely contained most competitive players that would perhaps have immensly enjoyed the more competitive settings of Halo 4.

If all that is left in the player population is mostly non-competitive gamers, do you expect more competitive playlists to have a big population?

> I have long posted that ranks would not improve Halo 4 but cause more problems. And, that has proven true. Again, having ranks attached to completive play list has not increased player numbers.
>
> I have long predicted that in-game CSR would not change anything. Based upon the above facts, that would come to pass too.

Ranks are complementary, not there to improve the actual gameplay. What problems did they even cause? Headache going to Waypoint? Not a Halo 4 problem.

It hasn’t been advertised, and the ranking is useless if the gameplay is lacking.

“Fact!!1!”

> I have long predicted that messing with weapons would be bad. The forthcoming weapon tweaks will see a further reduction in the Halo 4 playing population. Why? On a small group of Halo 3 veterans and others wanted the increased skill gap and weapons made harder. <mark>The majority don’t; they are having fun with Infinity Slayer, BTIS, SWAT etc. The changes will not be welcome by them.</mark> Most don’t l know they are coming as they don’t waste their time on these forums complaining but instead play Halo 4!
>
> Having said, that, you don’t want to face reality so, I can’t change your mind and don’t intend trying to. That’s a fact!

I don’t remember players leaving Halo 2 because of the weapon balance it made.

I don’t remember players leaving Halo 3 because of weapon balances.

Are you now speaking for a large majority of players? Remember, what’s repated so many times on this forum.

“You speak only for yourself”. I can’t imagine that this would be any different.

Fun fact: My nephew didn’t know of the weapon balance, he’s been playing Halo 4 and he’s excited.

18

I love the smell of false facts and oxymorons in the morning, especially when they’re shown to be just that.

According to the OP, someone can’t compare Halo 4 to Halo 3’s population, but you can compare the effects of CSR and Throwdown on the population despite them being released months after Halo 4 and the major population drop.

19

> Well,I have been right about CSR, competitive play lists nd I feel that I will be about future things to I have talked about. I wish I wasn’t but, oh well.

Oh great Prophet, whence will thy realise that the data thy speaketh off is only nitpicked by the Prophet’s own hands and resembles not any proper analytic data, neither does it in any way reflect the sheep’s desire to have Halo continue down the path of modernistic shooting.

> You can quote me after the weapon tweaking and the population continues to decline. The more Halo 4 resembles the communities vision on this forum, the more the population heads south. And, if 343i decides to follow this communities version of old Halo, watch how bad Halo 5 will be…remember to quote me after Halo 5 has been released and I am yet again, right.

Population is declining allready, that’s basicly the only thing you’ve gotten right so far.

> I want Halo to succeed but,<mark>I know the reality of the current gaming environment</mark>; the days of Halo 3 are long gone, done and buried. A small group is finding it hard to deal with the loss!

Let’s recap some of the more popular things you’ve written, shall we?

-In the CSR ranking system, players will not rank up after winning against players their own rank.
-Overall population does not matter at all, but playlist population does. As overall population does not matter, neither does the big population drop at the start of Halo 4’s career.
-Active Camo radar jammer not appearing on the radar for the enemy is not a glitch.
-Gamers love easy games over quality games.
-Halo 4 has a wider skill gap than other Halo games you really haven’t played. Much less at the start of Halo 3.
-Halo 3 being one of the few shooters available in 2007 and later.

> Over 8 million purchased Halo 4; only a fraction of that numberer actually played MM

Where’s your data to back that up?

Halocharts that only display peak population and not UU?

> most,as 343i indicated, played the campaign and don’t care for MM.

Never heard, care to link?

> I don’t blame them as Hal MM is hard compared to other shooters. And a small group wants to make it harder. Well done!

Halo isn’t hard, it’s bad compared to other shooters, therefore players won’t return.

What was that you said in a thread a while ago? Oh right.

> There is a difference between posting facts and out rightrubbish…

20

This post has been edited by a moderator. Please refrain from making non-constructive posts.

*Original post. Click at your own discretion.

Facts? look at the population. boy, what a shame to waste all that time typing a research paper to try and defend halo 4…