We don’t need them, when engaging an opponent in battle you should’t have to worry if he is going to -
A) Put on his magic blue shield for 3 seconds while you and your enemy have a nice chat.
B) Send a fake copy of himself from the rock he is taking cover behind.
C) Worry about him pulling a Buzz Lightyear and fly in to the air.
D) Sprint at you like Usain Bolt.
E) Do a barrel roll 20 feet across the ground like he’s playing Starfox on the ground.
We shouldn’t have to worry about 5 possible scenarios every time we engage an enemy. Every person on the map should have the same exact set of skills at all times. This makes combat simple, more enjoyable, and more skill dependent. You should be more frustrated with the weapon you’ve been killed with instead of the ability your opponent decided to use this time he spawned.
Not at all, it was a part of the map, everyone had a opportunity to obtain it equally from the beginning of the match, you could use it once and then it was gone, its use had a LIMIT, essentially you could say it had ammo with a clip size of 1. Equipment did not change the skill set of your spartan. AA’s don’t have a LIMIT, they have a downtime.
Equipment DID change the skill set of your Spartan. I don’t see how you can claim otherwise. Spartan can fire weapon and throw grenades. Now Spartan can fire weapon, throw grenades and now ALSO deploy equipment.
Regardless of that little mistake we have now gotten deeper into the issue. It’s not what Armor Abilities do but the fact that players spawn with them and that they recharge. So your problem is not with AAs themselves but the fact that they recharge and loadouts which allow players to spawn with AAs.
If Armor Abilities were map pick ups only and did NOT recharge, how would feel about them versus Halo 3 Equipment?
They wouldn’t be Armor Abilities then. They would be equipment, which is fine when it’s use has a limit.
You could avoid a trip mine, benefit from your opponent’s re-generator, enter or not enter a bubble shield, shoot a power drainer, or walk around a grav lift. The circumstances changes but the skill set of the spartan did not.
You can still benefit from your enemy’s deployed Dropshield. How is that any different from Halo 3’s Bubble shield besides being rechargeable and spawning with it?
I agree with what DBEY is saying, Halo Reach went in an entirely different direction. Though it’s not because of what Halo 3 was. It is because it is what the story called for. Spartan 3s weren’t like Johns generation. They didn’t run and gun and destroy everything in their path. They were less modified and thus had to rely more on equipment and armament. Think of like the infantry of the Spartan units.
I agree with both of you, it’s nice for the change to happen, but it is one thing when you have to reach something on the map to obtain it rather than have it in the beginning. It adds a lot of unexpected events in the game. Think about it like this, people had to run to the trip mines to use them, so was that part of their strategy? No, they would use them if the need arised.
You start the match with armor abilities. Therefore there is no restriction in their use. This is the reason they changed the Armor Lock with the Title Update. It’s the reason in Competitive MLG play that there is a Jetpack on each side of the map and Active Camo in the middle. Or one Evade on the side of the map. It adds to the strategy and team play. Nothings more annoying than being in a DMR battle on the entire other side of a map then their teammate just flies up in the air and kills you then gets away clean cause no one sees the guy flying 50 feet in the air.
Like I said, they’re both good, it’s the application on the map that makes the difference. You should have to work for it. Imagine how much people would complain if you started the game with Rockets instead of ARs or DMRs. Big difference.
:: EDIT ::
I would like to clarify, that it’s not that it shouldn’t be in the game that you start with Armor Abilities, it’s just that you should start with the same Armor Ability, Sprint. This isn’t Call of Duty, the point isn’t to run around and shoot as much as possible. It’s to overcome your adversary. Who hasn’t been in a game where people hide with Camo as soon as they get the lead. Problem? They started with it and can constantly use it then crouch around until it refills. ( I know this is one example of many abilities, but you get what I’m saying.)
The difference spawning with unlimited ammo vs depleting ammo. One lets you run around care free knowing you don’t have to worry about ammo. The other makes you more conscious about what you use and when you would like to use it. One promotes carelessness, the other promotes thoughtfulness.
> Jump and Crouch are also unnecessary. Remove them immediately.
Oh please. It’s not about what’s necessary here, it’s about what benefits gameplay. Anyway I completely hate AA’s. But I am willing to compromise. This is pretty much what I say in every AA thread. Just bring back equipment from Halo 3, then add a custom game option switching them between bieng single use or having a recharge.
> How does Equipment benefit gameplay while AA pickups do not?
Equipment promotes map flow, and grabbing them is often a risk v reward scenario, you have to think about the best time to use them not just use them in every fight. They seem to encourage teamwork more than AAs as your whole team benifits from the effects of a gravity lift or regenerator. They offer uses which wouldn’t work as an AA (for example I doubt you could have a tripmine or flare AA). You have to think of where and when they will spawn and adapt to the game accordingly. Would you want players to spawn with power weapons or unlimited ammo in competitive play? (Don’t answer that)
I’m not saying they don’t benifit gameplay. They just seem to have more drawbacks than benifits IMO. And the number of benifits of AAs is swamped by the number of benifits of equipment. However they still have uses in some places, particulary custom game modes, Hence my idea.
It isn’t that equipment benefits the game more than AA’s. It’s that their overall affect on the result of a battle or even an entire game is much less than that of a AA. Player A can still kill player B when player B drops a bubble shield, Player A could not kill player B during armor lock pre-TU.
> How does Equipment benefit gameplay while AA pickups do not?
They’re basically the samething. The problem comes in when people are able to start off with AA’s. Just think if halo 3 started off with equipment, everyone would most likly choose sheild Drain . No type of Fun. I agree that everyone should start out on the same footing and be able to pickup AA’s or equipment on certain maps.
> How does Equipment benefit gameplay while AA pickups do not?
You must of misread my intentions in that post. I never was implying that equipment was more beneficial to game play. Nor did I say armor abilities are less beneficial. The difference is in the game play by having to run to them to pick them up and use them versus starting with them and being able to use them at any time.
Imagine Halo 3 if you could start with a bag full of trip mines and throw them down when people ran at you whenever you liked. Or the same with any equipment. What I’m saying is their addition and use as far as Community play is simply aesthetic as to what the Spartan 3s were. Thus why in Competitive game play this was changed.
Simply put, from my experience of seeing what experienced players do with armor abilities in Community game play. We might as well bring back the Halo 2 super bounces.
> So if everyone spawned able to Sprint and Jetpack that would be fine because everyone could do it?
Yes, as long as every one starts out with the same skill set. It would radically change game play, but the point i’m trying to get across is the same exact abilities when you spawn for everyone and you pick up what you can along the way.
> So if everyone spawned able to Sprint and Jetpack that would be fine because everyone could do it?
No. I suggested everyone start with Sprint. I think this is a good option as in Halo 3, a big part of surviving was knowing if you could win or lose that battle then making sure you ran away and confused the opponent as necessary for a team pick-up. This was easier in Halo 3 as the Spartans moved faster ( Goes back to the Spartan 2s vs 3s argument.) So Sprint is a nice adjustment to this change in speed in Reach.
What I’m saying is, no one should start with Armor Abilities other than Sprint. As far as Slayer-esque game play is concerned. This adds much more flavor and diversity to the overall turn out of the game rather than simplifying it and expanding on the run and gun scenario the reintroduction of the Assault Rifle in Halo 3 caused.
Some are more skilled than others, this is just a fact. Armor Abilities were meant to offset this. Imagine this, if you wanted to play Slayer, everyone started with ARs or DMRs and Sprint but there were various power weapons and armor abilities throughout the map. This changes entirely rather than some using Camo, some Armor Lock, and some Jetpack, just because they can but they don’t know how to use it effectively. Then turn your intention to games that should start with other Armor Abilities. Imagine a Stickys / Grenades only match with an Armor Lock start. Or such as Grifball with Jetpacks. These are scenarios in which everyone should start with the same armor ability to make game play more fun.