Exile, Ragnarok and Settler just came up for voting… and Settler won. I mean, I’ve never seen another map beat those two before. Exile and Ragarok usually have the most votes within seconds, but that seems to have changed.
Settler pretty much wins all the time now. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it only happening to me?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the map. Anything that resembles Blood Gulch is an instant classic in my opinion.
People choose maps that they can abuse, plain and simple. It is an awful map, made more awful by ordinance.
That is why voting data in MM is not a good indicator of real popularity. When Complex had that hole in the geometry that could be exploited in oddball, it was voted for every time it came up, that doesn’t make it the greatest oddball map in the game.
It is the maps themselves that are the deciding factor in the pace of play and the degree of movement. Which is why I laugh and laugh when people try and blame all of BTB’s problems on the DMR.
I see(mostly used to see) the amount of movement BTB players on the forum want all the time, just not on the maps that get voted for the most.
One such example is Vortex(which is incredibly underrated). Even without consistent ordinance and with pods in play, players move around the map because there are few places that you could set up where you cannot be flanked, it also has a wide variety of areas that reward all different playstyles. Despite this it almost never gets picked. Why? It is much easier to sit back in a map like Ragnarok or Longbow or Settler and have power weapons delivered to you with next to no threat of theft by the other team.
Other maps that would otherwise be good maps are also ruined by easily abused equipment(like the Gauss on Exile) or cause stalemates(like the Mantis on Meltdown).
TL;DR: The general population picks maps they can exploit with the least effort, not the ones that are the most dynamic or interesting.
What the person said above me. Exile is one of my most hated maps while Vortex is one of my favorites. I like Settler but if we are being honest, just about everyone goes up to the hill/ledge on the side of the map and it becomes a nade fest. Not much strategy involved there…
Basically what it comes down to is people pick maps that don’t take much strategy to take advantage of the map.
> Other maps that would otherwise be good maps are also ruined by easily abused equipment(like the Gauss on Exile) or cause stalemates(like the Mantis on Meltdown).
>
> TL;DR: The general population picks maps they can exploit with the least effort, not the ones that are the most dynamic or interesting.
Have you played Exile after the nerfing of the Gauss? It is much weaker and imho not a problem any more. And the Mantis on Meltdown is also, imho, not a problem. I always see them get destroyed instantly, mostly because of the tunnels, and of course, the plasma pistol.
As for Settler, I prefer every other BTB-map. 80% runs to the hills in a AR and nade party, 15% stand on the buildings trying to dmr down the weak ones (before they hide), and 5% camp with the shotgun in the building.
Its the first new map in months and the DLC maps dont show up any more.
Point being, any new map is welcome at this point, more for BTB could not hurt.
It’s pretty popular right now…but playing it without the DMR is absolute suicide.
> It’s pretty popular right now…but playing it without the DMR is absolute suicide.
Obviously, Settler is an “Open-Map”. Best for Long ranged weapons. I still do not understand, why the Shotgun is even on that map, b/c all players are gonna do is sit in that little spot and camp out. It should be replaced with the Sniper Rifle. Or at least remove it and give both teams Sniper Rifles.
HINT: I don’t know if its been fixed, but has anyone experienced the Spawn problem, or was it fixed.
No it hasn’t been fixed yet, expect 2-3 deaths a game minimum if you are on blue team
> > Other maps that would otherwise be good maps are also ruined by easily abused equipment(like the Gauss on Exile) or cause stalemates(like the Mantis on Meltdown).
> >
> > TL;DR: The general population picks maps they can exploit with the least effort, not the ones that are the most dynamic or interesting.
>
> Have you played Exile after the nerfing of the Gauss? It is much weaker and imho not a problem any more. And the Mantis on Meltdown is also, imho, not a problem. I always see them get destroyed instantly, mostly because of the tunnels, and of course, the plasma pistol.
>
> As for Settler, I prefer every other BTB-map. 80% runs to the hills in a AR and nade party, 15% stand on the buildings trying to dmr down the weak ones (before they hide), and 5% camp with the shotgun in the building.
And notice how the rate at which Exile gets voted for has dropped down quite a bit. As for the the Mantis on Meltdown, it isn’t as much of a problem after they are initially taken down. However, until then most sane pilots will barely move from the Mantis spawn area as moving to far away means an easy flank, EMP, and Sticky.
It doesn’t change the fact that the Mantis(or any heavy vehicle really) has no place on a Map like Meltdown, as it is a map meant to be played at a fast pace. Meaning lots of infantry combat and Warthog/Ghost hit and runs taking advantage of the figure 8. Actually, the Mantis has no place on any very symmetrical BTB map.
Ragnarok and Meltdown are probably the worst possible places to show of the Mantis. All it does is lead to the pilots sticking to their ‘side’ of the map or risk getting melted by cresting the hill or crossing the bridge. Contributing to very dull static gameplay. Vortex would have been a much better choice as it is does not allow easy setups for infantry or vehicles while still being open enough to make the Mantis useful. Even Longbow would be a more interesting setting for the Mantis.
Don’t misunderstand me these are good maps in theory(except for Settler, which is awful), but they have setup issues.
I can’t stand Settler. The map heavily favors the blue team (IMO worse than Exile) with the location of their base and spawn points, both markedly closer to the center of the ridge than red’s. The ridge, thanks to the rail gun spawn up top and near total control over the incineration cannon spawn below, is the only part of the map that see much combat. Everywhere else is fairly vulnerable to fire from the ridge. The path up the ridge isn’t wide enough for the warthog to be much good for clearing out an entrenched enemy, and we have no banshees to do what the warthog can’t. And then we have the shotgun, which is of zero value on Settler. Each base could use a sniper and the incineration cannon could be moved to the shotgun spawn and the map would feel more balanced. But the place is not as symmetrical as 343 claims. Not by a long shot.
Settler is terrible, yet comes up so often I find myself being afraid to vote for a map I would enjoy just so I can back out of a game once it becomes obvious they are going to play Settler. It is not a good BTB map. Serious changes are necessary to fix Settler, to the point that it is likely more practical to remove it from the rotation than to keep forcing a broken piece of crap upon players.
Settler is horrendous. I mean, come on. It’s Ravine with two bases on either end and a building in the middle that barely blocks LoS.
The upper area? No comment, I don’t want to get suspended by mods.
Everyone votes for Exile as well, and that map is horrid.
I am so glad that I am not the only one who things Settler is junk. It gets voted pretty much every time and I was having a hard time trying to see why so many people like such a lame map. Seriously, at least have a sniper on both bases or perhaps a banshee in the middle to fight over. Something, anything to make the map “ok.” And the spawns really need help.
I also think the maps that have the mantis should only have one located in the middle of the map. Like Ragnarok, instead of the SL in the middle, that would be perfect for the Mantis. I feel that would greatly increase the flow of the game IMO.
And I agree that Vortex is a beast of a map that really should get picked more often. When I first started playing, I played so many games on Wreckage and haven’t seen that map picked so far this year, where has the diversity gone? I don’t personally like the map, but it at least gave diversity.
> I also think the maps that have the mantis should only have one located in the middle of the map. Like Ragnarok, instead of the SL in the middle, that would be perfect for the Mantis. I feel that would greatly increase the flow of the game IMO.
I disagree. The first Mantis would never, ever get used, as both teams can PP it without opening LOS to the other team, both Snipers would have eyes on it, and both Banshees can bomb it before they’re seen. The second Mantis would be given to the controlling team, but seeing as how pushing with it will get it destroyed, it’s not much of a reward. Also, removing the Laser removes the best anti-Banshee weapon on the map.
I get that it would reward players for controlling top-mid, and punish the team who loses it, but a 180s respawning Laser would do that job better (much better no less). A respawning Laser doesn’t prevent a team who has lost top-mid staying close in score simply by sitting back and DMRing guys on Pelican, Turret and top-mid, but it does prevent that team from using their respawned vehicles, and thus gives incentive to push out, causing a risk/reward scenario.
Why it’s even necessary for me to state that power weapons/vehicles create map movement on a Halo game is a touch saddening. Oh, Halo 4.
> No it hasn’t been fixed yet, expect 2-3
> deaths a game minimum if you are on blue team
Oh man…guess its not fixed. Thanks though. Now I gotta try to avoid it.