This is a thread to discuss lag issues affecting specific game mechanics. I don’t care if you’ve had 1 game out of 20 where lag teleports people around and you couldn’t do anything. It’s easy to quit and queue up again. The issues addressed in this thread appear in 50% of my competitively matched games. This is addressed to people who say there is too much magnetism, too much auto aim, etc. I’m here to tell you the people you are aiming at do not have the same advantages as you.
Preface: Halo will always be the #1 FPS series in my book. For those truly great teams that have stellar teamwork/communication and can overcome connection adversity, you are truly spartans and deserve praise. For those who get 30 ft shotgun kills and talk smack, eh, you have your own issues.
The only way I’ll touch the next halo is if the connectivity is overhauled with dedicated servers. I’ve been honing my combat abilities for a long time now and I’ve finally come to realize the game is 50% skill 50% connection. I have a decent 20 mbps up/down and only about 30% of my games have a level playing field in terms of connectivity. Sometimes I have huge advantage and go on absolute rampages (10%). Other times I can’t do a thing (10%). This thread is to discuss the other percentage not dilineated Sometimes it helps me, but most of the time it hurts me.
I’ve tried for ages to bear with the fact that the majority of matches are decided by connectivity, but I started to play against people with such superior connections that there are certain things I am incapable of. I manned up for months, but there are other games that don’t deal with these issues.
I don’t believe in “host advantage” b/c sometimes as host my connection is still iffy. I think it’s something much deeper than that - like lag correction or something botched in the networking. Ever notice in a game - say, swat - where its impossible to get headshots, they kill you before you even see them? - and as the game goes on, the lag situation gets vastly better. But by the time the connection is on an even playing field, the other team is already up 500-250. There is some lag correction algorithm at play and if it was made better before the game even started, many players would be happy to return to H4.
For me, it’s not the getting owned, or the game mechanics (like people complaining about AA’s, sprint, player speed, loadouts, ordinance - I accept the game for what it is), I wasn’t put off by the game until I realized against some players w(ith mysterious connective advantages) certain things are IMPOSSIBLE TO PULL OFF.
Things like:
Railgun kills - even with perfect aim, it will go right through them. So I stopped picking up one of my favorite weapons
Getting headshots or even body shots when they use thruster pack. It is literally a moving armor lock. When seen in theater, upon use, their body will teleport back 1-5 feet and then give them a thrust that is 3 times the length of a normal thrust.
Snipes. I consider myself great at snapshots, aim assist (when I have the better connection) or no aim assist (foggy connection) I can nail them. But when it is impossible to nail normal sniper shots when they strafe horizontally at x3 speed and even well placed shots are irrelevant (I go duck hunting IRL and I am a good shooter) I feel helpless. The only way to land a shot is if I’m at an angle where their connection cannot save them. i.e. crouched, standing still, moving directly at me.
Grenades - What I’ve noticed with these god-like connections is that they will bunny hop when nailed - and I mean nailed - by a grenade. The kind of hop when you tap jetpack, and the damage dealt is about 1/4 of what it should be. This is not due to the explosives perk, its like they have explosive immunity and will kill you 1v1 even if you use rockets.
Splatters - god-mode connectivity grants people immunity to splatters, and will either be dragged along with you for a hijack, or send your ghost tumbling over for an inevitable grenade death.
Headshots when their back is turned to me. It shouldn’t be impossible, and they aren’t aiming down while running away aka strong siding, so why is this impossible against some players?
Sword vs sword. The first will cancel out as it should, and then they will teleport forward to kill me no matter what slick move I can pull off. This is not a lunge, it is a teleport.
UNSC Shotgun kills. I am money with how I place my scattershot, I realize it has some randomness involved, so I can deal with b/c rapid fire. But I’ve been able to kill people 15 feet away with 1-2 UNSC shotgun shots (normal-ish), and I’ve barely broken shields from 5 feet away (WTF mate?). What seems like a random roll of the dice is clearly connectivity advantage. Nothing hurts more than getting one-shotted from 20 ft away with a shotgun and then tea bagged by 4 spartans for a game-losing death.
Honorable mentions: an additional 10 shots with saw and warthog turret required to kill god-mode people.
Also, picking up weapons. Sometimes I sprint up, and if I don’t stand still there for ~.5 seconds I cannot pick up the weapon.
Good connections mean more sticky aim, more player movement acceleration and velocity, better shot magnetism, slower and inaccurately depicted opponents and their positions, headshot invincibility etc. These have been minor issues in other halos, but this is a gamebreaker in H4.
For instance, Reach’s bloom. A better connection meant larger hitboxes and therefore vastly easier headshots at higher levels of bloom. Whatever, I still have enough time to sprint away b/c kill times were reasonable.
H3 had shot registration issues. But map design and thrilling 2v2 action far and away made up for connectivity issues. Lan parties were better than frat parties.
H2 had such great matchmaking that I never really had issues with it. 90% of the time matches were neck and neck.
I could think of ALOT more for H4 but these stand out the most.
For those who have great k/d’s I’m going to outright say that its 50% due to connection. I am quitting h4 because some of my greatest games were not due to entirely skill, and some degree of connectivity gave me an advantage. It felt great, but I feel like I am no longer honing a skill, I am simply at the connectivity wizard’s whim.
This is a game of connectivity. This isn’t about teleporting lag from a bad host - -Yoink-, you don’t even need host - some people have a connection where it is impossible to accomplish certain things.
So I am finished. For everyone else, keep halo going strong. It is a great game with more promise in the future. 343 made a fantastic game but execution could have been much, much better.
