So, Halo 5 launched rather successfully. It’s a great game that’s fun, competitive and enjoyable from many perspectives for many types of players. While the complete lack of social playlists in general is an issue all its own, my main issue is with free-for-all which I hope others will agree with.
First off, 8 players in ranked FFA is unacceptable. This isn’t a social playlist, because it’s a fact there are unfortunately no social playlists for those who just want to play arena without fear of rank. This is a high-stakes, intense game mode where the top player reigns supreme. 8 players on these maps simply doesn’t work, I can’t count on both hands how many times I’ve spawned where I’ve died which isn’t unfair to just me, but the player who just killed me because now his or her back is to me. I’ve seen others agree with this sentiment on other sites. The most simple solution to this is limiting FFA to 5 or 6 players, a fair amount that is still highly competitive.
The second issue is wins. Now, if I come in second or third, I don’t expect to be counted a victor on my Career and stats page. But what we don’t know is if players who get second or third gain or lose ELO in those places. Because in an 8 player playlist, if second and third place isn’t counted a victor, that’s ridiculous. It’s a cluster as it is with that amount, and the lack of notification if a top-3 finish is counted as positive is absurd, it’s lead me and many close friends to a degree of otherwise justified disappointment. We don’t know if we’ve “won” or lost, it’s not really up to us because there is an objective answer 343i hasn’t given us on the subject when they talked about rankings. If the player count was lowered to something more suitable for a ranked playlist, it would be easy to understand why 1st place would be the only rank that counts as a victory.
This is just something I’ve had on my mind and wanted to see what others think about this. I hope this doesn’t come off as too abrasive, yet still firm.