What made Halo multiplayer define 1st person shooters as we know them today? Simple. Playing competitiveness. If you played Halo CE which was all about the pistol and map control you understand that the better player usually won. If you played Halo 2 MP you understand the same thing except it was a lot more weapon balanced. You actually had a reason to use just about every weapon except maybe the Bruteshot. 
So whatâs the problem you say. Well the problem is not everyone is on the same level and if you want to sell a game to 10 million kids you want them to think the can play and be competitive with all other players. This is what creates huge sales. Huge sales motivate companies. Unfortunately what creates those huge sales are the very thing that kill longevity, aka the diehard fans that play after the coolness wears off. Letâs go over some examples of past, present and what looks like future examples.
In Halo CE and Halo 2 better teams tried to control an area of the map for 3 main reasons: weapons, power ups and location usually meaning elevation or view. So strategy and teamwork went a long way. The problem with this is that youâre average flash in the pan fan just wants to spawn, run and gun. So with Halo 3 and Reach maps were built so that everyone met in a small area and mayhem ensued. Again, this is what the younger player who jumps from game to game wants. Strategy and teamwork are boring. Will halo 4 follow this same pattern? We simply donât know.
Bungie also wanted to force people to âuse all of the mapâ. I donât know about you folks but I enjoy having to control a part of a map. Itâs a lot more fun than just running and running. This also leads to the better team actually winning.
This weapon drop thing is a huge concern. This again is so ânewâ players, you can also read in this lesser skilled, can compete with veteran players. One of the things Halo 2 really got right was the ranking system. Yes it had itâs flaws like derankers but overall it served itâs purpose. I donât want to play with pros nor do I want to play with people I am a lot better than. I want to play with people that are about in the same skill level as I am. Everybody is not created equal.
This also gets in to the question of whatâs wrong with the better player winning. With Reach Bungie added bloom. Thereâs one reason and one reason only. The more skilled players couldnât kill as quickly giving someone like me a chance against a pro. Leveling the playing field. Thatâs what I feel this weapon drop thing is doing. Itâs taking away the competitiveness of the game. Now it will be hey I found a rocket launcher by pure luck so I can get kills too against people who are way better than me.
In Halo 4 there will be no penalty for dying. You are going to get a huge amount of medals and not have to wait to respawn when you die. This is going to lead to absolutely no teamwork.
Run and gun is great for sales but 4 months later people will go back to MW or what ever new game comes out at the time. I could be wrong but Iâm pretty sure Halo 2 led the XBL charts for some thing like 2 years? Halo 3 or Reach didnât and thatâs for sure.
TLDR Basically all players are not the same. Use the ranking system to separate players and youâll see people keep playing way on down the road. If you make everyone equal, well, that pretty much makes you like every other game out there.