How REACH Can Be Perfect

Games Other Halo
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Note: This post was originally made on HaloCharts over here, if you’d like to see it in it’s full glory. It was recommended I post it here, where the majority of feedback is being reviewed.

Purpose:

The purpose of this topic is to explain that how, with the changes currently being tested in the TU Beta playlist, Halo: Reach can become the game that it was intended to be - a perfect blend between competitive and casual gameplay.

When replying to this topic, please only due so if it’s for the sake of discussion. Do not start a flame war and also do not make suggestions that have not yet been implemented into the TU Beta playlist. Assume that those changes put into effect are the only changes possible. This means do not discuss the damage of individual weapons or the rate of fire. If you’d like to discuss damage, please provide currently possible changes such as damage modification in the Game Options.

Please keep all responses polite and constructive!

Why Reach Was Bad:

Before you get your shorts in a bunch, accept one fact - Reach was the most un-Halo Halo game ever created, aside from Halo Wars (obviously). Core mechanics were changed that fundamentally altered the way the game was played. Simply compare Halo:CE to Halo 2, or Halo 2 to Halo 3. Then compare Halo 3 to Halo: Reach, and you’ll find that although the changes between CE and 3 were vast, Halo 3 to Halo: Reach creates a whole different playing experience. Why is this?

Bungie stated that they wanted Reach to be the best Halo. They wanted it to be fun and enjoyable for years to come, as it would be their last time with the franchise. They designed Reach in a manner that anyone would be able to put the disc in and jump into matchmaking and walk away with a kill or two. An admirable goal, but with one significant flaw - this aspects does not change later in the game. Players at higher levels are now forced to compete against other high level players with the same mechanics in place that allow low level players to get a few kills here or there. I first noticed this when playing my friend’s little brother in a 1v1. In Halo 3, he loved to challenge me and always lost with a score anywhere from 25-0 to 25-3. After Reach had been out for a few months, we played again, this time the scores varying from 25-5 to 25-10.

Why? Did he improve? In such a short time frame, no, not likely. Did I get worse? Again, not likely. The issue here was the game. I was playing a game that was designed to level the playing field between me and David. Not completely, but slightly. Now, I still won the games… so you might ask what’s the point? Say there are two pro teams playing Team Slayer. The score is now 49-49. Two players find themselves locked in a 1v1 to decide the fate of the game. In all of Halo 3, Player A beat Player B in 1v1 battles such as this 25 times, while Player B won only 3 times. But this isn’t Halo 3 - It’s Reach. Where Player B used to have a 10.7% chance of winning this fight, because the playing field has been evened a bit, he now has a 20-40% chance - nearly QUADRUPLING his chances of success. In one game, Player A would more then likely win. In the other, the result is very nearly a coin toss.

This is why Halo: Reach was bad.
So how could it now be perfect?

The Problem:

Bloom is arguably the most important and crucial change that needed to come to Reach as it was the largest cause of randomness within the game. First, what is bloom? Bloom is the term given to the expansion of the reticle based on how fast you’re pulling the trigger. The faster you pull the trigger, the larger the reticle. The reticle is the surface area in which it’s possible for your bullet to land. The larger the reticle, the greater the surface area where your bullet can land and thus, the more likely it is to land somewhere other then the center of your cross-hair.

So what mathematically formula is in place to ensure that your bullets land accurately within your reticle? There isn’t one. It’s 100% random luck that your bullet lands dead center. This is the “leveling of the playing field” I mentioned earlier, but before I explain why, let’s look at how we, as a player, were supposed to adapt to this random factor by examining our logic train.

Faster Fire -> Bigger Reticle -> Bigger Surface Area -> Less Accuracy
So if we want to improve our accuracy, we need a smaller surface area. If we want a smaller surface area, we need a smaller reticle. If we want a smaller reticle, we need to shoot slower. This is called “pacing”. Rather then shoot as fast as we can, we show self-control and wait for our bloom to shrink back to it’s initial point of accuracy. So it became widely accepted that in order to get the “perfect 5 shot kill”, we had to pace our shots and shoot slower to be more accurate. It was assumed that lower skilled players would just spam their shots while higher skilled players would pace and would thus win because they’re more accurate. This, however, was not the case. Due to the randomness of the spread and the amount of time it took to accurately pace shots, many players would just spam their gone to get shots in faster and either get a lucky kill, or at least do far more damage then they would have if they were pacing.

Let’s look at some numbers. First off, it takes 5 bullets to get a kill with the DMR in Reach, regardless of bloom. 4 to take the shields, and one headshot. So how long does it take to get these 5 bullets?

It Takes (roughly)…
1.9 Seconds to get out 5 shots as fast as you can. That’s an average of .38 seconds per shot.
3.7 Seconds to get out 5 shots waiting for the bloom to reset. That’s an average of 0.74 seconds per shots.
2.3 Seconds to get out 5 shots waiting for the bloom to reset under 85% Bloom Settings. That’s an average of 0.46 SPS.
1.4 Seconds to get out 4 shots in Halo 2 with the BR. That’s an average of 0.28 SPS. <- Reference Point

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Notice how spamming gets your bullets out nearly TWICE as fast as when you pace your shots with full bloom?
Notice how the “most accurate” kill times between Halo 2 and Reach are 2.3 seconds apart?
Notice how the “fastest” kill times between Halo 2 and Reach TU are 0.9 seconds apart?

The big factor here is the time between pacing and spamming in Halo: Reach. However, spamming is not always that accurate. In fact, while spamming, you’re likely to get the kill between 7 and 8 shots at medium-long range, which averages out to 2.66 and 3.04 seconds, both of which are still faster then the time required to pace your shots and THAT is the primary issue - that, on average, SPAMMING is more effective the PACING.

So how does the title update fix this issue? Max surface area remains the same size. The reduction is the fact that the speed with which the bloom resets is reduced by 85%, hence why the difference between pacing (post-TU) and spamming is measured (with my timings, anyways) at 82.6% - almost perfect. So what does this change mean? It means that the difference in time between pacing and spamming is nerfed from 0.36 seconds per shot to a mere 0.8 seconds per shot.

So now you might think that spamming and pacing are the same thing, and we previously established spamming was for “lower skilled players”. However, you’re looking at it backwards - pacing did not become spamming, but rather spamming became pacing. In Reach, there are two aspects that decide how many shots it takes to get the kill - your aim, and the kill time. With the kill times between pacing and spamming made equal, there is only one variable - your aim. Simply put, the player who aims better will win the fight. So if this is the core change that must happen to Reach, what else needs to be done, and why?

The Solution:

85% Bloom or Zero Bloom
If you feel I need to explain this, please reread the last section.

110% or 120% Speed
This is needed to balance the faster kill times and the shift of emphasis from pacing to aiming. The increased speed will allow you to traverse parts of maps that are too exposed to normally traverse without bloom and also give a much needed boost to strafing speed.

110% Shield Recharge Rate
Again, this is put into place to counter the faster kill times. If you can manage to escape the fire fight, you should get your shields back a bit more quickly.

110% Damage Resistance
This is needed because of the change in the shield system to allow damage to bleed through. Currently, shields simply reduce you to 0% shields. With the addition of TU, they now reduce you to 0% shields and roughly 50% health. The extra damage resistance puts the damage you take from sitting on a grenade to only 4 bars of health lost (2 on either side) instead of 8, which allows it to recharge back to max. This does, however, slightly impact the DMR and Magnum. The DMR goes from being a 5/7shot kill (headshot/body) to a 5/8. The Magnum goes from being a 4/7 shot kill to a 5/8, the same as the DMR. However, the Magnum has a kill time of roughly 1.4 seconds, which means it willstill kill faster then the DMR, but should still only be used for closer ranges.

Starting Weapons
The two starting weapons should be either AR/Magnum or DMR/AR. Currently, the magnum is better then the DMR at medium to close range if used properly, although it becomes noticeably less effective with 85% Bloom instead of Zero Bloom. With AR/Magnum, it can become much like Slayer BRs in Halo 3 - higher level players will opt to use the BR (Magnum) and the lower level players will opt to use the AR. This is mirrored in the DMR/AR start as well.

Suggested Settings for Standard Play:
85% Bloom Settings
110% Speed
110% Damage Resistance
110% Shield Recharge Rate
AR/Magnum or DMR/AR starting loadouts.

Closing Notes:
The section for suggested MLG settings has been removed as none of you probably care about that. Also, ideally, Zero Bloom would be used instead of the 85% Bloom Reduction Settings, but I have absolutely zero faith in 343i choosing the more competitive option as that may be too drastic a change for most of the casual community. Also, as I’ve stated on HaloCharts in response, this will by no stretch of the imagination make Halo: Reach into the “perfect” Halo title. There are indeed other things that should both come and go to further make Reach better, but these are opinions of mine that I know simply will NEVER be implemented, so I’m keeping my mouth shut about them.

Also, this post was originally made at 4am. I apologize for any mistakes/typos that were made. If something is flat out incomprehensible, let me know and I’ll edit this post.

Thanks for reading!
-Katastrophe

Edit #1: Apparently, the SRR option only effects the time it takes from the point your shields start recovering, to the point they end - not the entire time from shield pop to full recharge as I expected. At default, it takes roughly 9 seconds to fully recover your shields from having them broken, with about 6 of those going to the time waiting tostart recovery. This time, imo, should be reduced from 9 seconds to about 5, cutting all current times in half.

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> />110% Damage Resistance
> This is needed because of the change in the shield system to allow damage to bleed through. Currently, shields simply reduce you to 0% shields. With the addition of TU, they now reduce you to 0% shields and roughly 50% health. The extra damage resistance puts the damage you take from sitting on a grenade to only 4 bars of health lost (2 on either side) instead of 8, which allows it to recharge back to max. This does, however, slightly impact the DMR and Magnum. The DMR goes from being a 5/7shot kill (headshot/body) to a 5/8. The Magnum goes from being a 4/7 shot kill to a 5/8, the same as the DMR. However, the Magnum has a kill time of roughly 1.4 seconds, which means it willstill kill faster then the DMR, but should still only be used for closer ranges.

This a thousand times!

The game plays much more balanced under this setting when there is 85% or zero bloom.

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Best settings to be used with 85% bloom:
110% speed, 110% jump, 110% resistance, 110% shield/health, 200% gravity (nerfs the jetpack) and default AAs.

Best settings to be used with zero bloom:
120% speed, 125% jump, 110% resistance, 200% shield/health, 200% gravity (removes the skating feel) and no AAs.

I’ve had the best Reach experieces when playing under those settings.

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I agree with most of these changes. Keep this thread alive.

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> Best settings to be used with 85% bloom:
> 110% speed, 110% jump, 110% resistance, 110% shield/health, 200% gravity (nerfs the jetpack) and default AAs.
>
> Best settings to be used with zero bloom:
> 120% speed, 125% jump, 110% resistance, 200% shield/health, 200% gravity (removes the skating feel) and no AAs.
>
>
> I’ve had the best Reach experieces when playing under those settings.

While I entirely agree with your settings, you’re altering things that don’t need to be altered from 343i’s perspective.
To them, things like the jump height and gravity aren’t an issue as the only real voice for those changes comes from MLG, who want to entirely recreate the previous Halo experience.

And while I 100% agree with that standpoint, as I’m a competitive player, 343i simply won’t make those changes because it’s too drastic of a change from the current mechanics of Halo: Reach.

However, if you’re interested in testing these settings further, I recommend your settings except add 125% damage mod and 150% resistance. This gives you a 4/6shot kill DMR and also further reduces grenade damage, I think, to 0 damage done to Health. I believe them to be the best, for a competitive standpoint, but I accept that I won’t see them in any playlist other then MLG.

Edit: Also, if it’s true that 343i isn’t making any changes to Reach and instead only adding Classic playlists with H:CEA, I will rage so incredibly hard…

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Anyone else feel as if the Shield Recharge Rate option does not do anything? It still takes probably 5-7 seconds for your shields to start recharging after yous top getting shot at.

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> Anyone else feel as if the Shield Recharge Rate option does not do anything? It still takes probably 5-7 seconds for your shields to start recharging after yous top getting shot at.

You know, I didn’t actually test the timings for this, but since you brought it up, I did.

Regardless of what the “Shield Recharge Rate” is set to, it takes roughly 6.5 seconds from the pop of your shields until it starts recharging.
Shield Recharge Rate only effects how fast you get the shields back, ranging from about 2-2.5 seconds at 100% to 1-1.5 seconds at 200%.

It would appear that the time required for your shields to begin to recharge is currently out of our hands.

I’d like it if 343i could make the Shield Recharge Rate option effect the timing as a whole, the other rate at which shields begin to recharge, or if they could release a new set of gametypes that feature a shield that recharges in… maybe 4 seconds?

Good find though, thanks.

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This was posted as a counter-argument to my suggestions on HaloCharts, so I thought I’d post it along with my response. Thoughts? And yes, I was wrong - there were 3 BR spawns on bit, but I feel like my point is still the same.

> BloomSo you want to implement ZB or 85% to every playlist right? Let’s think about the consequences to this. As from my playtime in the TU Beta, the smaller maps tend to turn into more camping due to people being able to be killed in 4-5 shots. Ok…this is fine, Halo has always had this problem.Now the really problem comes up, BTB & Premium Battle. Has anyone in here tried ZB or 85% in BTB or any of the larger, long distance maps. It turns into stalemates every game due to being a 4-5 shot kill. It totally removes the sniper from it due to the DMR being over accurate. We have tested it many times and it ends in stalemates in all gametypes, be it Slayer, flag, or territories.This will RUIN all large scale maps.

A valid point, as there is a wide scale of map size, from Zealot to Blood Gulch.I actually have played some ZB BTB matches and found them rather enjoyable, compared to regular BTB.In Halo 3, it was more then possible for me to BR someone accurately halfway across Valhalla, and that was without hitscan.
Snipers have never been meant to scope in one someone who is actively shooting them. With full bloom, you had to wait nearly 4 seconds between shots to accurately keep the sniper out of scope. But really, if someone has a sniper and can’t quick scope you in 4 seconds, they shouldn’t have the sniper in the first place.
The reason it becomes a stalemate situation is because both teams have successfully learned that poor decision and positioning will be punished with a pretty respawn. You should be holding the line and waiting for vehicles/power weapons as you should, or co-ordinate with your team to make a push.
It does not remove the sniper. It just means that the sniper needs to move better around the map, to get angles on people who are off guard… as snipers are designed.

> Speed IncreaseThis I’m on the fence on. It would be nice to be able to get away from a battle, but I think it would go back to ruining small & big maps. You would be able to cover distances that weren’t meant to be covered at a faster speed. If tested and implemented correctly…maybe. But from Bungie’s past track-record of implementing…I’m iffy on it.

I completely agree that some maps would play slightly differently with altered speeds, although the difference up to 120% is hardly noticeable, in my opinion. It’s enough to allow strafing to be more effective, as well as being able to walk around a corner, get shot once, say “oh crap”, and run back before your shields pop, without having to use sprint. I’d have to insist that 110% speed is mandatory.

> 110% Shield Recharge RateThis I support again, if tested CORRECTLY. But again, the past comes back to bite ya.

I discussed that the current SRR option isn’t what I wanted - I was hoping for a decrease in the time between shields popping and shields starting to recharge.

> 110% Damage ResistanceI’m totally against this. Why change something that’s not broken. Damage setting are actually really good in Reach.(Except for the Sniper & Focus Rifle). Why not fix the damage bleed through system instead? I think a lot of the players out there were under the assumption that the bleed through system was only going to apply to the melee system. I was. With this new system, most deaths come from too many grenade explosions. I don’t blame the spamming, that’s nothing new. But the ridiculousness of the bleed through is just too much to deal with. If they could somehow change the system to just do bleed through for melee, that would be great. Right now its broken, and it ruins the gameplay.

True. If bleed through was only set for melee, there really wouldn’t be an issue. The DMR would remain a 5/7 shot kill weapon. That is, however, assuming that that is a change that they can make. If it’s not, then the 110% damage resistance is required.

> Starting WeaponsDMR starts are good, but it sometimes kills map control. Sometimes you need AR starts to balance the maps out. It makes players think more than just rushing in. You are at a disadvantage, you have to beat your opponent with better tactics, not just a Weapon Match. You say DMR starts = Skill. I say DMR starts = band-aid for lack of player skill with other weapons.

This is the same argument that people have been using since the dawn of Halo - that starting with this versatile weapon lessens the need to pick up other weapons and thus decreases the use of the majority of the sandbox. However, at everything other then melee range, the AR is entirely useless against every other weapon, even with full bloom. This means that the instant the other team is decked out with ranged weapons, it is impossible to regain map control.
Recall Pit in Halo 3 for AR start. Game starts, and both the first and second BRs are taken on either team, the sniper, and the rockets. The team that gets rockets establishes control of the middle and kills the other three players there. Now it’s just one sniper and 3 ARs against one sniper and at least 2 BRs. Considering the distance between the spawns and the center, so long as the team with the range advantage doesn’t throw it away, there’s no possible way for the other team to fight back until the first BR respawns, unless the sniper goes big.

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yes!

Its funny, I have 2 gametypes saved called “reyaweks 85 dmrs” and “reyaweks 85 default” with IDENTICAL settings that you described

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> I agree with most of these changes. Keep this thread alive.

This

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I agree with some of this, but saying Halo: Reach isn’t a Halo game is as dumb as saying Snickers peanut butter aren’t Snickers. I love Snickers, I hate Snickers peanut butter, they are both Snickers. If you mean that it is different, than every Halo game after CE isn’t Halo. Being “more different” doesn’t change the fact that the word Halo is in front of it. Halo Wars was a Halo game, a fun Halo game. You know how I can tell? I read the box.

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I just really wish the SRR option reduced the time it takes for the shields to start recharging, not the time it takes to finish charging. With reduced bloom, the 6.5 seconds is kind of nuts.

But as I’ve said, I definitely feel like at the <u>absolute bare minimum</u>, the 110% damage resistance needs to go through. Otherwise, if 343i wants to fix it all with more adjusted gametypes, the grenades need to lose power or bleed through need to be utilized for melee only.

As it stands, one grenade causes you to be put to about half health, which is just stupidly insane amounts of damage.

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> I agree with some of this, but saying Halo: Reach isn’t a Halo game is as dumb as saying Snickers peanut butter aren’t Snickers. I love Snickers, I hate Snickers peanut butter, they are both Snickers. If you mean that it is different, than every Halo game after CE isn’t Halo. Being “more different” doesn’t change the fact that the word Halo is in front of it. Halo Wars was a Halo game, a fun Halo game. You know how I can tell? I read the box.

this too ^

My friends and I lul hard at these posts where people say “HALO REACH ISNT TRUE HALO! JUST COMPARE HALO 2 TO HALO REACH AND YOU CAN SEE”

When 7 years ago, people posted same thing, different nouns: “HALO 2 ISNT TRUE HALO! IT IS RUINING THE FRANCHISE! COMPARE HALO 2 TO HALO CE AND YOU CAN SEE THAT HALO 2 HAS STUPID ELITES IN MATCH MAKNIG! AND STUPID GUNS LIKE THE BR! AND THE PISTOL IS SO WEAK! IT TAKES 20 BULLETS TO GET ONE KILL! AND YOU CAN HOLD 2 WEAPONS AT ONCE! AND THERE IS NO ASSAULT RIFLE! THE SMG IS SO INCOSISTANT AND SUCKS BIG ONES!!!”

And im sure we can all agree that h2 was a great halo game.

Its too bad that forums like this will one day come to fruition:

OP post: “THIS GAME MAKES ME SICK” 07/15/19
"I have been playing halo 6 for almost 8 months now, and ive concluded this game is garbage.
Every time I get on I get BS’d so bad my blood boils. The stupid forerunner kids always -Yoink!- all the dumb forerunner classes with emps and cryo’s and sheild killers while thier spartan butt buddies clean up all the kills. I HATE THIS GAME.
Back in halo 4 you couldnt BS people like you can now. Guns used to actually be accurate and fun to use, and it wasnt about who shot first, it was about who could get the most consistant shots. Back in halo 5 there werent cryo nades or emp rods. I hate this damn game. Plust the campaign sucks big ones.
Back in christmas 2011 I got halo reach. THAT GAME WAS SICK!!!@! all the playlists were fun and the weapons were balanced, and even though I wasnt very good that was the BEST HALO GAME OF ALL TIME.
Halo 6 isnt halo. Halo reach was.
Screw you 343: Im getting BF6."

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> I agree with some of this, but saying Halo: Reach isn’t a Halo game is as dumb as saying Snickers peanut butter aren’t Snickers. I love Snickers, I hate Snickers peanut butter, they are both Snickers. If you mean that it is different, than every Halo game after CE isn’t Halo. Being “more different” doesn’t change the fact that the word Halo is in front of it. Halo Wars was a Halo game, a fun Halo game. You know how I can tell? I read the box.

^^This. I like the majority of your suggestions, although I would prefer 200% gravity. Nobody wastes time arguing that ODST ‘wasn’t a real Halo’ because it didn’t have MM. ODST is accepted as a variation from the norm, but not discredited because of it’s variation. If anything it’s enjoyed even more so for it’s distinct tone and it’s singular atmosphere.
It’s fine to point out that Reach has some significant differences from Halo 3, but all that means is it isn’t Halo 3.

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> > I agree with some of this, but saying Halo: Reach isn’t a Halo game is as dumb as saying Snickers peanut butter aren’t Snickers. I love Snickers, I hate Snickers peanut butter, they are both Snickers. If you mean that it is different, than every Halo game after CE isn’t Halo. Being “more different” doesn’t change the fact that the word Halo is in front of it. Halo Wars was a Halo game, a fun Halo game. You know how I can tell? I read the box.
>
> ^^This. I like the majority of your suggestions, although I would prefer 200% gravity. Nobody wastes time arguing that ODST ‘wasn’t a real Halo’ because it didn’t have MM. ODST is accepted as a variation from the norm, but not discredited because of it’s variation. If anything it’s enjoyed even more so for it’s distinct tone and it’s singular atmosphere.
> It’s fine to point out that Reach has some significant differences from Halo 3, but all that means is it isn’t Halo 3.

I pretty much completely agree with the OP, and I think you people are taking the “this isn’t halo” thing way out of line. it’s not like the game isn’t part of the franchise. The OP already said it, unless you were to lazy to read, “the core game mechanics were changed”. the idea of the game is map control, which means each player has an even playing field. AA’s did not change the whole map control thing, having them as part of your standard load out did. the game doesn’t play like the rest of the franchise. it’s the “odd one out” you could say, and because Halo’s MM is what people continue to play if for, you can’t blame “competative” players for saying “this isn’t like the other halo games were”.

that said, it’s okay to address the fact the Multiplayer core mechanics change the experience, and make it different. most of it is still like the other halo games, but the simple things that changed core mechanics that halo has built itself around make this game feel like a spin off rather than a sequel. good thing they didn’t call it halo 4 then right?

halo reach worked for what it was, but it was flawed, as most games are in some way or another, but that doesn’t make well tested updates bad. we need a old school feel for a playlist option, especially if the Halo: CE maps are gonna work, so you need to help them keep the TU playlist as traditional feeling to halo 1/2 as possible, and suggest corrections where competative play might be at risk due to imbalances. nuff said.

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> > > I agree with some of this, but saying Halo: Reach isn’t a Halo game is as dumb as saying Snickers peanut butter aren’t Snickers. I love Snickers, I hate Snickers peanut butter, they are both Snickers. If you mean that it is different, than every Halo game after CE isn’t Halo. Being “more different” doesn’t change the fact that the word Halo is in front of it. Halo Wars was a Halo game, a fun Halo game. You know how I can tell? I read the box.
> >
> > ^^This. I like the majority of your suggestions, although I would prefer 200% gravity. Nobody wastes time arguing that ODST ‘wasn’t a real Halo’ because it didn’t have MM. ODST is accepted as a variation from the norm, but not discredited because of it’s variation. If anything it’s enjoyed even more so for it’s distinct tone and it’s singular atmosphere.
> > It’s fine to point out that Reach has some significant differences from Halo 3, but all that means is it isn’t Halo 3.
>
> I pretty much completely agree with the OP, and I think you people are taking the “this isn’t halo” thing way out of line. it’s not like the game isn’t part of the franchise. The OP already said it, unless you were to lazy to read, “the core game mechanics were changed”. the idea of the game is map control, which means each player has an even playing field. AA’s did not change the whole map control thing, having them as part of your standard load out did. the game doesn’t play like the rest of the franchise. it’s the “odd one out” you could say, and because Halo’s MM is what people continue to play if for, you can’t blame “competative” players for saying “this isn’t like the other halo games were”.
>
> that said, it’s okay to address the fact the Multiplayer core mechanics change the experience, and make it different. most of it is still like the other halo games, but the simple things that changed core mechanics that halo has built itself around make this game feel like a spin off rather than a sequel. good thing they didn’t call it halo 4 then right?
>
> halo reach worked for what it was, but it was flawed, as most games are in some way or another, but that doesn’t make well tested updates bad. we need a old school feel for a playlist option, especially if the Halo: CE maps are gonna work, so you need to help them keep the TU playlist as traditional feeling to halo 1/2 as possible, and suggest corrections where competative play might be at risk due to imbalances. nuff said.

I wasn’t “too lazy to read.” I actually made it clear that saying “reach is different” is not the same as saying it isn’t a halo game. No wall of text can change that. Choosing your words to fit what you want to communicate to other people is always a good idea.

Halo isn’t based on “game mechanics.” If it was Halo Wars and Halo:ODST would have been nearly un-designable.

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You can polish a turd all you want but at the end of the day it is still a turd.

Reach will never be balanced because randomness doesn’t equal balance.

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The semantics of my post are irrelevant to the discussion, first of all.
However, for those picking apart my phrasing, Halo: Reach is the successor to Halo 3, regardless of the fact that it does not belong in the trilogy or that it is out of chronological order. ODST was never intended to be the successor - it was a small side-project that, in my personal opinion, was a test on Bungie’s ability to tell stories. And it was an epic success, if I do say so myself, as both ODST and Reach have superb campaigns. However, in ODST, we are not Spartans. Therefore, I went into the game knowing that it would play differently. I would have been surprised if it didn’t. In Reach, we’re Spartans.

Between Halo:CE and Halo 3, the core mechanics of the game did not drastically changed. Sure, we were given dual-wielding. Sure, we were given equipment. However, none of these changes were enough to drastically change the way the game was played at any equally skilled level. Halo was a “run and gone” type of game, that allowed you to just blaze trails of epic destruction like the walking tank that you are. Other high profile shooters, such as GoW and CoD, are not “run and gun”.

Due to the current mechanics in Reach, primarily bloom, the “run and gun” playstyle is damn near useless because now, in order to be accurate, you’re forced to stop moving and, preferably, crouch. Strafing is removed. Playing Arena and Doubles, I consistently get into DMR fights where my opponent does not strafe - he simply crouches for more accurate shots. Now suddenly the pulse-pounding 1v1 fights of previous Halo games are gone and replaced with two people sitting down, seeing who can “pace” better… also known as who can spam more accurately.

People told me when Reach first came out and I was raging on the HaloCharts forums that it’s a new and different game. That I should adapt. You cannot “adapt” to bloom, because bloom forces you to play a certain play-style. For me, that became a very ranged play-style. I simply refuse to get close to people and engage in spam-offs. I’ll spend entire matches on Sword Base sitting top yellow and crouching around to “pow pow pow” the guy across the bridge before my bullets might as well be shooting sideways, or because the rate of fire to pace is so slow, he’s already back in cover. Charge over the map with grenades and guns blazing? Screw that. Tried it. You know what happens? The center of my crosshair is aimed at my targets head and my bullets are hitting the wall 3 feet to his left. Meanwhile, his magically zero in on my brain matter and splatter it across the walls while he’s aiming somewhere around my kneecaps. Uh derp.

Bloom cannot be adapted to - it can only be accepted.

85% bloom, while still random, is a vast improvement, and one I can live with. Although bloom is still a concept that should never have been introduced to the Halo series, I don’t see how anyone can deny the fact that the current rate of fire for pacing shots with 85% bloom just looks, feels, and sounds right for the DMR.

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How REACH can be perfect?

  1. Make separate playlists: Reach and ZB Reach (or 85%), so one can play whatever he/she wants.

  2. Make Arena more versatile so all hardcore ultra top of the world players stay and play arena and leave “social” playlist to casuals (maybe by putting some kind of restriction: if you have higher K/D over 1.4; 1.5 you can’t play social). So if you’re so “Godly” player stay on the Olympus.

It is funny that even with the TU Beta playlist, Team Slayer population is higher (almost doubled).

Just my thoughts.