It's not the same...

Games Other Halo
1

First things first: CTF looks like it plays AMAZINGLY, contrary to all the supposed “competitive” players on this forum badmouthing the changes to it. It works well, and even the pros (arguably the most picky of the competitive player group) seem to really like it, albeit still adjusting to it (which is expected of any new Halo game).

Secondly, with regards to CSR: I’ve seen everyone here comparing it to BRP and saying it’s still not good enough.

Look: You first wanted skill-based matchmaking, and said Halo 4 would fail without it: well, it’s in there. Check.

Then, you wanted a 1-50 skill rank, not a 1-100 rank, and you wanted it to be like Halo 3 were it’s specific to each playlist, allowing for a different rank for each playlist so that you’re not screwed over (like with your BRP score) due to bad games in CTF if you’re not a CTF fan but play it for challenges or whatever: well, now you have a 1-50 skill-based rank that is indeed specific to each playlist, allowing someone who is good at, say, SWAT to have a 50 without being screwed over because of a handful of bad CTF or Slayer Pro games, or visa versa. Check.

Then you said you wanted a skill-based rank, and have it be visible: well, it’s not available at launch (only because they’re testing it extensively in a real-life, live environment, which is the smartest thing to do), but it WILL be visible on Waypoint. Check.

Now, the complaint is that you can’t see it in-game? Really? In a world with smartphones, laptops, and tablets/iPads, you mean to tell me that tapping the “Waypoint” icon on your device and occasionally refreshing it is too much of an inconvenience for you? Can you not just be happy that you can get your XBOX, play Halo for a couple of hours, and then check your CSR afterwards? Are you kiddling me?!

I can STILL see people complainging, saying 343i doesn’t deserve to make Halo games, saying they ruined Halo 4, blah blah blah. The best one is “343i has done nothing for us competetive players!” That one is pretty ridiculous and only stands to show how unappreciative and spoiled those people can be.

And let’s not forget how different and how much BETTER CSR is compared to BRP:

  1. It’s not an overall-rank, like BRP is; you get a 1-50 number for each playlist, not for the entire game.

  2. It’s 1-50, not 1-100.

  3. It’s not calculated the same way; we don’t know specifics, but it CERTAINLY isn’t the same algorithm that BRP used, ESPECIALLY since you now get acknowledgement for things like assists, which CAN be a good indicator of skill. Example: someone who has a low K/D and/or low W/L but has a history of getting TONS of assists consistently, is not necessarily a bad player. They’re likely just a really great “support” player, helping a flag carrier get to the goal, or helping save his/her teammates during encounters, etc. Simply using W/L is NOT an absolute indication of skill, no matter what anyone says, because the fact is: you can be a GREAT player, but still lose a game. Period.

  4. Halo 4 monitors more data, and monitors it more accurately than Halo: Reach did. Again, we don’t know specifics, but the fact that it monitors more data, and the fact that they are testing and tweaking it in a real-world environment AFTER the game launches, and tweaking it appropriately, allows for more accurate control and thus representation of one’s skill.

  5. You don’t even know exactly how it works yet, nor have you even played the game! Why is it so hard for some people to just wait and see? What does always being so pessimistic accomplish? That is a terrible and frankly, fairly pathetic way to live your life. Who are you, Dr. House?!

I for one, as a semi-competitive player (on my other account anyway) am very happy. It’s the best of both worlds, without being completely “casual” or completely gear toward “competitive” either, but that’s just me. All I’m saying is: it’s not the same as BRP, and you haven’t seen it yet or (most of you) played the game itself yet, so why not keep an open mind? Stay neutral, but open-minded, and look at it objectively once you’ve had some real, consistent play-time with it, THEN voice your opinion? It’s okay to be a bit cautious, but being flat-out negative about it? That’s ridiculous.

Just my two cents. Thanks and see you all online in a couple of days!

-B

2

TL;DR

3

Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.

That said, expecting someone to use a device unrelated to a game to view information about a game is folly at best.

4

> TL;DR

Wonderful. Your point?

5

> Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.

Sales of iPhones alone would suggest otherwise.

4 our ot 5 households today own at least ONE laptop/computer.

Not to mention: the majority of people who REALLY care about a 1-50 skill rank are people on message board forums like this, proving that they indeed have regular internet access.

You’re REALLY going to try to convince me, with ZERO proof or facts, that a large majority of competitive Halo players DON’T have regular internet access in their homes? Give me a break…

6

> > Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.
>
> Sales of iPhones alone would suggest otherwise.
>
> 4 our ot 5 households today own at least ONE laptop/computer.
>
> Not to mention: the majority of people who REALLY care about a 1-50 skill rank are people on message board forums like this, proving that they indeed have regular internet access.
>
> You’re REALLY going to try to convince me, with ZERO proof or facts, that a large majority of competitive Halo players DON’T have regular internet access in their homes? Give me a break…

I’m not trying to convince you of anything. I work in the industry and i know the facts. Next you are going to tell me is that all of the US has access to high speed internet when in actuality less than half does.

7

> Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.
>
> That said, expecting someone to use a device unrelated to a game to view information about a game is folly at best.

You don’t have to use a device, waypoint is directly intergrated into halo 4 so you don’t have to dashboard and it takes you back to halo 4 when you’re done using waypoint. The reason people want it ingame is so they can see other players’ ranks while in a lobby to know who they’re up against. Creates a more competitive environment I guess.

8

> > > Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.
> >
> > Sales of iPhones alone would suggest otherwise.
> >
> > 4 our ot 5 households today own at least ONE laptop/computer.
> >
> > Not to mention: the majority of people who REALLY care about a 1-50 skill rank are people on message board forums like this, proving that they indeed have regular internet access.
> >
> > You’re REALLY going to try to convince me, with ZERO proof or facts, that a large majority of competitive Halo players DON’T have regular internet access in their homes? Give me a break…
>
> I’m not trying to convince you of anything. I work in the industry and i know the facts. Next you are going to tell me is that all of the US has access to high speed internet when in actuality less than half does.

No, next I’m going to tell you that if you DON’T have high-speed internet, visible skill-based rank doesn’t apply to you, therefore those people are not part of this equation.

Chances are: if you have an XBOX, and you play online, you have decent-enough internet. It’s also a high likelihood that you also have SOME sort of computer device. Even if you don’t, you still have an XBOX with Waypoint.

Ergo, if you play online, you have access to Waypoint. Period.

The only argument left is “wah, I have to go ALL the way to Waypoint to see my CSR? WAH!”

Which is a ridiculously spoiled complaint. You don’t need to have an up-to-the-second, always-visible number next to your name to enjoy the game, even IF rank matters to you. You van view it anytime you want, and it only takes a minute. This idea that someone can’t INSTANTLY have a number showing how good they are at all times is absurd and childish.

9

> > Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.
> >
> > That said, expecting someone to use a device unrelated to a game to view information about a game is folly at best.
>
> You don’t have to use a device, waypoint is directly intergrated into halo 4 so you don’t have to dashboard and it takes you back to halo 4 when you’re done using waypoint. The reason people want it ingame is so they can see other players’ ranks while in a lobby to know who they’re up against. Creates a more competitive environment I guess.

Exactly. And not being able to see someone’s CSR in the lobby is a point negated by the fact that matchmaking is skill-based. Ergo, you’ll be matched up against people who are similar in CSR to you. Does it really matter if they’re 1 point higher or lower? Not really. That one point doesn’t mean they’re automatically going to beat you or lose against you. The fact that they’re similar in skill is enough. The only reason to have that number visible in-lobby is to smack-talk. Simple as that. I can see why 343i left it out in that regard.

10

> > > Don’t assume that everyone is a privileged adult/child. Despite such devices seemingly being common, only a small percent owns such luxuries.
> > >
> > > That said, expecting someone to use a device unrelated to a game to view information about a game is folly at best.
> >
> > You don’t have to use a device, waypoint is directly intergrated into halo 4 so you don’t have to dashboard and it takes you back to halo 4 when you’re done using waypoint. The reason people want it ingame is so they can see other players’ ranks while in a lobby to know who they’re up against. Creates a more competitive environment I guess.
>
> Exactly. And not being able to see someone’s CSR in the lobby is a point negated by the fact that matchmaking is skill-based. Ergo, you’ll be matched up against people who are similar in CSR to you. Does it really matter if they’re 1 point higher or lower? Not really. That one point doesn’t mean they’re automatically going to beat you or lose against you. The fact that they’re similar in skill is enough. The only reason to have that number visible in-lobby is to smack-talk. Simple as that. I can see why 343i left it out in that regard.

Yes thankyou someone else sees the issues surrounding this rank problem. Theres enough trash talk with online gaming why add fuel to a fire

11

the fact they have a skill based ranking system to begin with is enough for me, I dont need a visual representation of my skill level (I let my skill do the talking) nor do I need one at launch, all I really care about is being matched up with people at my same level.

12

The only reason people want a visible rank is so that other people can see it, its kind of pathetic to be honest.

13

Let me spit some truth. There is a gentlemen on these forum named pharmassist (i apologize for calling you out buddy) he is a highly skilled player, humble and knows what hes talking about, if not being in game is good enough for him, knowing he is going to matched properly and can still have access to view it somewhere, its good enough for the whole community.

Using this number as a form of dominance over others, most people who dont care about in the first place, is only going to get it hidden or completely taken away from the community if such things become rampant. If you are skilled, good for you, but what defines you as a great player is being humble and respectful to your peers, look at Dave Walsh.

14

Actually, one of the reasons people like to have a number associated with their playlist ranks is to identify whether or not they will rank up, or make as much progress towards their next rank up. The sigma and mu formula in H3 was successful in this regard (despite boosters). You were much more likely to rank up if you were to beat a team of players with higher rank than yours than you would if you beat a team of players with a lower rank than yours…

Another is to have a handy reference to which rank you are in an indiviual playlist.
Although I can appreciate Halo Waypoint being integrated into H4 negating the need to dashboard to access ranks.

I think it should be in there, if you don’t like it, play social. Simple.

15

> I can STILL see people complainging, saying 343i doesn’t deserve to make Halo games, saying they ruined Halo 4, blah blah blah. The best one is “343i has done nothing for us competetive players!” That one is pretty ridiculous and only stands to show how unappreciative and spoiled those people can be.

I stopped reading at this point because it is true.

Bungie did bend over backwards for them and 343i is already starting to do so by caving in AGAINST the vision and direction they had for Halo 4. Why do that? There is no benefit in doing so.

If the cough cough competitive folks were a huge majority in the Halo games, I could see why there be a reason to cave in to their complaints and whinning. But their NOT!!! The population of their hoppers prove that.

Halo has turned to and became a casual game to have fun. Halo is a social game now. Get. Over. It. People.

If you want competitive, go play COD. That game is competitive. Its all about reflexes and fast thinking on the fly. Can not get anymore competitive then that. Think and act fast or dead.

Lets recap this post:

Halo IS NOW a social game. Halo is NOT a major, super, competitive game anymore. Those days ARE NOW long gone.

Get. Over. It.

16

> Actually, one of the reasons people like to have a number associated with their playlist ranks is to identify whether or not they will rank up, or make as much progress towards their next rank up. The sigma and mu formula in H3 was successful in this regard (despite boosters). You were much more likely to rank up if you were to beat a team of players with higher rank than yours than you would if you beat a team of players with a lower rank than yours…
>
> Another is to have a handy reference to which rank you are in an indiviual playlist.
> Although I can appreciate Halo Waypoint being integrated into H4 negating the need to dashboard to access ranks.
>
> I think it should be in there, if you don’t like it, play social. Simple.

A social playlist was never in the works, as was the CSR. Playing a “social playlist” is impossible for it wont exist. Get more information on the topic next time before giving out ultimatums, since its all the same, and the ranking system being implemented after the game went gold.