Hello, this post is meant to be a way for me to convey an idea of mine to 343. Whether they take this idea and implement it to Halo: 5 or Halo: 6, I think this would greatly improve matchmaking multiplayer, and the game as a whole. As I am sure many people have noticed, Halo: 5 is missing one key element that helped improve matchmaking by leagues in previous Halo games, and that is a voting system for maps.
I believe leaving this feature out of H5 was a huge mistake. Not only should the system have stayed, it should have been improved, and here is how. The traditional voting system allowed players to pick which maps and gamemodes they did, and did not, want to play on. The system allowed players to avoid maps that were unbalanced, gametypes that were bad. This could be improved by implementing a system that records map and gametype picks. The system would work by giving two match options for map and gametype and a single use “veto” option that would bring up two entirely new match choices to all players in the lobby. The choices of those players would then be recorded in a point value system. Maps/gametypes that were picked would raise in value, while the ones that weren’t picked would lower in value.
Once you have this data recorded, you can use it to drastically improve matchmaking. The higher a map/gametype’s point value is, the more likely it should show up. The lower a map/gametype’s point value is, the less likely it should be to show up. Once a map/gametype drops below a certain point, it should be taken out of matchmaking entirely until modified and improved by the 343 team. Modifications to maps/gametypes could be anything from a change in player spawns, weapon spawns, objective placement, or objects around the map. Gametypes would also be modified through the in game settings for player traits, game mode options, etc. Once a map/gametype is “fixed” re-insert it into matchmaking at the original point value.
The menus in general were a major letdown in Halo 5. Not being able to choose maps, not seeing the player roster (e.g. gamertags, Spartan avatars, ranks, who’s speaking, etc.) in the pre-game lobby and other issues made the game rather insufferable at times. Hopefully we can see a return to the classic Halo pre-game menus, complete with viewing file shares before the game. That’s how pictures, maps and game modes went viral in Halo 3 and it did nothing to hurt the game, yet Bungie removed it and 343 didn’t bring it back…
What do you mean Bungie removed it?
> 2533274990914232;3:
> What do you mean Bungie removed it?
In Halo Reach, you couldn’t view file shares in the pre-game lobby, only post-game. This meant that you could perv through everyone’s service records, look around the Xbox menus and such, but file sharing? No, that detracted from the pre-game voting process somehow, so it was removed…
Halo 5 doesn’t have enough maps to veto because most of them are the same map with minor tweeks you would just end up playing a map you just vetoed with minor changes believe id love 20-30 maps to play on that are all different with very little in common and there own style of play not the same old thing over and over and over again
I’d love to have a limited Veto, not choosing between a couple of maps like in Halo 4. That way you still get to try some maps more often, and you aren’t stuck on playing ONLY Valhalla six matches in a row. Just a one-time veto right where the game loads a map. If that map gets a majority Veto-rule by the players in the lobby the game automatically randomises a new map from the map-pool, excluding the one that just got vetoed. After that first Veto the players don’t get to vote anymore. This way you aren’t stuck on the “popular” maps, and you still get to play on the more unpopular maps. This way you also enable 343i to gather information of what maps are REALLY unpopular (and should be removed), which overall would make for a better game experience.
On a side-note:
With the ability to veto maps, Pegasus, Orion and White Cell would be on my constant blacklist! (Same with Battle of Noctus)
We don’t have veto because it also has its downsides and is only marginally better than straight voting.
Vetoing increases the chances that less popular maps are skipped, and indirectly increase the chances that the same map are picked over and over again.
If you actually wanted to play a game on a specific map (Overgrowth for example), it gets increasingly harder and harder to obtain that map as the population tries to phase it out because there’s always a chance a “better” (AKA the overplayed map) comes up.
Of course this only goes to a limit because the second chosen map can’t be changed and that could be a map like Overgrowth.
And then there’s the fact that if you are in a party that is half the game, you can heavily influence the outcome almost as much as actual voting can. In voting, if your full party chooses one map, the other team has to agree on another map to just tie the vote, and it still won’t go their way depending on the list layout.
Honestly, I didn’t like the voting system in Reach, TMCC and especially Halo 4. I have no issue with veto type system of Halo 3 or the current system that is in Halo 5. Those systems would be my preference.
I do agree with others that the pre game lobby UI in general is terrible in Halo 5 (still can’t mute individual players in the lobby, something we could do 10+ years ago lol) The set up, how it looks, what we can and can not view, Everything!!! We need a combination of Halo Reach, 3 and H2A UI for pre game lobby set up I feel.
Voting and Veto were mentioned by Josh in his matchmaking feedback threads, check the matchmaking forums for more info (pinned archives thread)
Not in favor of voting, or veto, and I agree with 343’s reasoning for not having it.
I prefer not to have veto. Everyone just keeps voting for the same map like countdown on Halo reach, not cool.