Whats up guys, i’ve been playing Halo Reach for a while now (I have more than one account before you say thats not true because of my rank) and i’ve also been a long time Halo fan, playing both Halo 2 and 3 matchmaking. Overall I think a majority of us think that something needs to change with the Halo 4 matchmaking. After thinking about it for a while here is what i’ve come up with:
I. Problems with Reach matchmaking
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The lack of a competitive enviornment. This is by far the biggest problem with Halo Reach for me, it now has become an all ‘social playlist’ style of play. Plus along with this the rank you are in the game actually doesnt reflect how good you are in the game (obviously), so, the more time you play online with this game the high rank you are. That in my opinion took out half the fun in Halo right away, essentially we now have the same leveling system as the COD games.
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The weapon blooms. This isnt actually a problem for me, I could honestly care less, but a majority of people dont think so, in fact, i would say the frustration in learning to use the DMR has caused alot of people to leave Halo all together.
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The matchmaking perks. With this I think its good and bad, it adds another element to the game to add a little bit of extra depth, but overall its not necessary. If anything, the reason i dont like this perk system is because it removes alot of the feel of a classic halo matchmaking.
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Differances between the races. I dont understand why when the game was made they thought it would be a good idea to have a normal slayer (spartans) and an elite slayer, with totally different characteristics. I definately think elites should remain in the game, but shouldnt have different characterists than spartans. If i want to play as an elite i should be able to in every game type.
With the problems i saw in Halo Reach here is some of the solutions 343 should atleast consider for when making the Halo 4 matchmaking system, not because my opinion is more important but because alot of the public also has come to the same conclusions as me after reading around these forums.
II. Possible solutions
- Two matchmaking systems. This is basically the same as the Halo 3 system but with some different changes. The solution would of course be two different playlist sets; Competitve (ranked) and Social (unranked). In the competitive there would be the level system from halo 2/3, and this level system is unique only to ranked. (you cant level in social). And in the social playlist its exactly the same as the Halo 3 social, its used for getting XP or cR without worrying about leveling up or down. Along with this this XP/cR system is also incorperated in the ranked system.
Ex: If i were to be level 40 in the ranked system, i would have earned it by leveling, NOT by credits, HOWEVER, if i wanted to be the rank of Colonel i would also need a base of X universally earned credits. So; i could be level 40, but if i wanted to be a level 40 colonel i would need the two requirements: level 40, and X amount of XP/cR universaly built up.
- By universal cR system im refering to this; when you earn cR there are two counters to look at, a universal cR system, and a current cR system. The current cR system is used to buy gear and all that crap, while the universal cR system is there to show the amount of accumulative cR you have ever earned.
Ex: If i had been playing Halo 4 for some time now i would have (for example sake) 1,000,000 cR UNIVERSALLY built up (i cannot spend universal cR). I would also have a second counter of cR, the current cR (the amount of cR i would have either saved up, or after buying gear) now say i would have a current cR number of 500. I then play a MM game and earn 500 cR from playing that game. I would now have 1,000,500 universal cR, and 1000 current cR. Then i bought a new chest piece for 500 cR. I would now have the same static number of 1,000,500 cR universally, and i would now have 500 cR currently.
Reasoning behind the system: With this new system it is essentially halo 3, i know. But that isnt such a bad thing, why? Because with this new system it allows for both competitive play, social play, a leveling system, and a cR system to buy gear. This system is possibly the best of all the worlds.
- There are two reasons to change the weapon bloom for my point of view; one is a logical point of view, and the other is a lore point of view. First, logically it would more sense to have a BR type weapon (by that i dont mean 3 round burst, i mean non-bloom) and this is because you need to keep it simple. There are far to many situations where the outcome of a DMR battle frankly makes absolutely no sense. The BR system was much more streight forward, you shoot the gun and it goes where it is supposed to, unless of course its from a range, but thats a different topic of game programming in of itself. Secondly, lore wise it would make sense for the DMR to be inferior to the BR, after all reach takes place before any other Halo game. So i think of it more as a predicessor rather than a generally new weapon all together.
Reasoning behind the system: As mentioned earlier the DMR bloom and other weapon blooms just isnt a necassary component to Halo, it isnt needed, keep it simple and keep it with what we know and love. It was a nice try, but it just didnt fit with Halo, sorry.
- Remove matchmaking perk and replace it with equipment OR keep the matchmaking perks and use it in a similar mannor has halo 3 equipment. By this i mean it needs to be obtainable, you should not spawn with it. You should spawn as a base character such as Halo 1,2, and 3 and then go find the modifications in the map, rather it be a gun, equipment, or perk. Now i realize this is already in the game in some playlists, but in a sense that is only half true, you still spawn with the ability to sprint. This shouldnt be the case, it should be a basic character, then you find the perks in EVERY playlist, UNLESS there is a implamented Halo reach type playlist in Halo 4, and if they do this, i pray they would make it social only.
Reasoning behind the change: I think this way because the perk system is changing Halo at its core, its playstyle. That is the last place Halo should change, in the past its formula for Matchmaking was virtually unrivaled, it was genius because it was simple, smooth and classic. Having perks just complicates the matter and upsets the game balance in general. As i said earlier, if perks are kept they should alteast need to be obtainable, not spawned with.
- Have no race differances, this is pretty simple, i dont really need to explain this one, spartans should be equal to elites. No special treatments. Thats it
Well thats basically all i have to say and i know its quite a read for just a video game forum but still id appreciate it if you guys read it and post a comment to let me know what you guys think, or flame me i dont really care. The reason i made this post is because instead of just playing the cards were delt we should atleast voice our opinion on how we want Halo 4 to turn out instead of crying about it when its out and to late to change. Its a game made by gamers, they’ll probably listen if you go about it the right way.
Peace, -Cast