Medals.. Medals Everywhere.

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I’ve noticed the steady increase in the sheer volume of available medals from Halo 2 to Halo 4. By medals, I’m referring to the in-game medals you get for things like Double Kill, Flag Kill, etc. Quick rundown -
Halo 2 - 23 Medals
Halo 3 - 56 Medals
Halo Reach - 120 Medals
Halo 4 - 170+ Medals

I honestly don’t feel special getting medals for simple things like a kill, killing someone while they’re reloading, surviving an encounter with low shields, using teamwork, etc. These are extremely basic game concepts that don’t need medals, and I argue that the vast majority of these medals are simply visual clutter. Medals should be difficult to obtain, and make you feel great when you get them. I’ll use Halo 4 as an example since it’s the most recent game, and talk about some of the medals that I feel are totally redundant.

Kill Medals - I know I got a hammer kill. I was there. Same for splaser, rocket, sniper, railgun, grenade, sword, fuel rod, beam rifle, basically every frickin weapon in the game. We just simply don’t need these medals, especially the generic “kill” medal… really?

Assist - Things like Assist Spree are fine by me, even going so far as to stretch the sprees into the 20+, similar to the kill spree medals like Invincible. I just can’t get excited about a single assist, though. Again, it’s just a normal function of the game that doesn’t need a medal representation.

Bonus Medals - Most of the bonus medals I could, and would prefer to, go without. Examples - Busted, Close Call, Comeback Kill, Relaod this, Avenger, Retribution, First/last Strike, Snapshot, Vehicle Destroyed, etc. There are a few that I like, though, like Bulltrue, Revenge, Killjoy, and Skyjack.

Objective Medals - Some of the objective medals totally belong imo, such as Flag Capture and Hail To The King. Others, however, just clutter the screen up with medals most players don’t understand how they’ve achieved. Again, medals should signify a special occasion. For example, a medal for having most seconds in the hill on your team or just in the game altogether, a medal for killing an enemy flag carrier just inches from their capture point, a medal for getting a killing spree while holding the oddball, etc. Just all around more rare and meaningful objective medals.

Simply put, we don’t need most of the medals that are cluttering Halo 4. I don’t want to see this trend continue to the point where we recieve a “Walker!” medal for stepping off of our spawn. Medals should return to their Halo 2/3 significance levels, in that they should be rare, meaningful, and even sought after. I hope 343 severely cuts back on the number of medals in Halo 5. I don’t know how to add a poll with this new site layout, but I would have if I knew how.

2

Yes. Medals used to actually mean something most of the time because you only got them for doing something somewhat “rare”. In halo 4 there is a “Generic Kill” medal that you get when you don’t get any other medals for the kill. You get a medal for 100% of kills in that game. Why? Completely useless and it gets rid of the fun in getting medals.

3

Reach had the right amount, I think Halo 4 went a little overboard in some places.

4

I think in between reach and Halo 3 is the perfect amount.

5

I agree, there are WAY too many medals in Halo 4. I want them to cut medals in HALF! Medals to me should mean something.

The one thing i think Halo 4 did right with medals was the assist ones.

6

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com hago para saber de que hablan ustedes :c alquien habla español

7

The reason there are so many medals in Halo: Reach and Halo 4 is because they are directly tied to commendations. Commendations increment by obtaining medals. If medals were to given less frequently and for more difficult accomplishments, they would have to not be tied to commendations, meaning commendations would have to be either reworked or removed.

8

I think that if there was a medal count that sits between Halo 3’s and Reach’s, I’ll be happy.

9

I dont give a damn about some “medal” popping out at the side of my screen, its fun when it displays all the cool things you do, but if you just concentrate on the gameplay, medals are basically non-existent.

If you cry about the “amount” of medals…well thats just silly. Its just a cosmetic thing and can be ignored completely, but if you hate it sooooo much you can disable them in the MCC. :slight_smile:

10

> 2533274805712917;7:
> The reason there are so many medals in Halo: Reach and Halo 4 is because they are directly tied to commendations. Commendations increment by obtaining medals. If medals were to given less frequently and for more difficult accomplishments, they would have to not be tied to commendations, meaning commendations would have to be either reworked or removed.

I agree, and this is part of the issue regarding properly implementing new features into future titles. Commendations for me weren’t too big of a deal, as they were too time consuming and meticulous to concern myself with. I would much rather see in-game currency rewarded for simply completing matchmaking games/campaign missions then getting a medal for an AR kill. Proper medal balance > commendation depth imo.

> 2533274925159248;9:
> I dont give a damn about some “medal” popping out at the side of my screen, its fun when it displays all the cool things you do, but if you just concentrate on the gameplay, medals are basically non-existent.
>
> If you cry about the “amount” of medals…well thats just silly. Its just a cosmetic thing and can be ignored completely, but if you hate it sooooo much you can disable them in the MCC. :slight_smile:

I’ve been playing since CE, and the medal implementation in H2 was an enormous upgrade for my friends and I. They were rare enough to appreciate, common enough that they weren’t a pain to achieve, and their color schemes/insignias were simple enough that they didn’t clutter the screen when they rolled around. They were unique, and were part of what made Halo Halo to myself and others. How long have you been playing Halo? I would find it hard to believe that if you played during the CE/H2 transition phase, that you wouldn’t get all excited when you got a triple kill+. Perhaps you’re just different than me, but getting anything over a triple kill was very rewarding, and sort of made the heart race a bit as you searched for more targets. If you started playing during Reach, I could understand, as the sheer number of available medals made the playerbase care less about them, in my opinion.

Nobody’s crying. I’m a grown man who has a fulfilling enough life that I wouldn’t get emotional over a video game. It’s not just cosmetic, though, as the medals themselves (used to) represent a feat. Now they represent any and every decision you make on the battlefield, which completely disconnects the audience from their former significance.

11

Halo 4 went way to overboard. With the anouncer and the medals.

12

> 2533274853386208;11:
> Halo 4 went way to overboard. With the anouncer and the medals.

YES!!! The announcer was way annoying in H4. I don’t like how they modified his voice in contrast to the H2/H3 voice, and how he announces redundant things all the time.

13

> 2533274847370776;3:
> Reach had the right amount, I think Halo 4 went a little overboard in some places.

I would agree that some of the Halo 4 medals were a little excessive. I don’t really need further clarification that I got a kill.

> 2533274815533909;5:
> I agree, there are WAY too many medals in Halo 4. I want them to cut medals in HALF! Medals to me should mean something.
>
> The one thing i think Halo 4 did right with medals was the assist ones.

I disagree somewhat, though. Halo 4 had a lot of fluff medals, sure, but does it really matter? People don’t judge you or team with you based on these little graphics. Neither should you base your performance on what medals you received. Halo, above all else, should be fun. Medals just kind of add to the fun. They serve as flare and recognition of playing the game, sometimes in unique ways. I don’t want medals for switching weapons, running for 5 seconds, or anything like that, but getting a ‘Snapshot’ medal or recognition for playing the objective is just kind of… nice.

Also, for the record, I have played Halo from the get-go and would classify myself as a “casual player.” I play for fun and try to not take it all too seriously (some nights I do better than others). Medals aren’t status symbols to me, nor are they collectibles - they’re just there for fun.

14

I SHALL GET ALL OF THE MEDALS!!!

15

> 2533274797052661;2:
> Yes. Medals used to actually mean something most of the time because you only got them for doing something somewhat “rare”. In halo 4 there is a “Generic Kill” medal that you get when you don’t get any other medals for the kill. You get a medal for 100% of kills in that game. Why? Completely useless and it gets rid of the fun in getting medals.

You got 1000 medals… so what? They are there not to only dont let people play and get totally blank… the generic kill medal means nothing to an regular player, when you finish a game and look to your most relevant rival on the game and surely dont count generic kill medals, you look at the most used weapon and another medals like FRG, sniper rifle, beam rifle, rocket launcher medals for example, you can identify or understand why this or that player got kills, if you see just vehicle kills you know that the player must not be so good on foot, or may be there are just sword kill medals and you’ll try to fight that player from a good distance, etc, etc, etc… the other medals IMO are there for you to have more chances next time, for you to identify your weak points or the weak points of others, besides the obvious utility… as a reward for the earner.

16

> 2541987111115424;13:
> Halo 4 had a lot of fluff medals, sure, but does it really matter?

It does matter. For two reasons.

  1. Visual clutter - Most people have an opinion on how many medals should be in the game. Seems that people in this thread say between H3 and Reach. Let’s take that to the extreme in two hypothetical situations.
    First situation - There is only one medal in the game. You need to get the most kills in the game, the most assists in the game, at least an overkill’s worth of chain kills, and not die the entire game.
    Second situation - There is a medal for everything. Walking out of base, reloading weapon, swapping weapon, throwing a grenade, missing a shot, jumping, crouching, dying, etc.

Which extreme would you rather deal with? Personally, I’d rather deal with the first one. The second extreme would literally make he game unplayable due to visual clutter. Every other step you take a medal is rolling around, pushing back the dozens of other medals that have popped up on your screen. It would be maddening, and it would make me feel like I’m being babyed. The first extreme is great in comparison. The severe lack of medals means a smoother gameplay experience, and you would feel like a pro if you ever got that medal. Sure, it would be a huge buzzkill that they got rid of all the medals we know and love, but I’d much rather suffer from a lack of medals than an over abundance of them.

  1. Degradation of a core Halo theme - Medals were a pretty unique feature when it was first implemented in H2 in comparison to the other FPS’s of that time. They were intelligently applied bonuses that made the game appealing to both the competitive and casual sides of the game. Think of all the multi-kill montages on youtube, or all of the times one of the announcers went crazy in an MLG game when someone got an overkill. Same thing for the casual side. I am willing to bet that the majority of Halo players (during H2) were thrilled when a bundle of medals rolled across the screen. It was a good feeling. It was rewarding. It was unique to Halo.

This aspect of the game has diminished severely within Reach and H4 due to an over abundance of medals. Nobody really cares anymore that medals are popping up… because they’re always popping up. Imagine if the announcer announced everything you did. “Assault Rifle!” when you picked up and AR. “Death!” when you died. “Respawned!” when you respawn. You would grow numb to his voice… it would lose it’s touch. This is what has happened with the medals imo.

And I’m not a super competitive player either. The game for me is about fun first, competition second. I ranked 47 in H2, forgot my H3 rank, and stopped being competitive in Reach and H4. I play mostly BTB and objective with a group of IRL friends, love forging mongoose/ninja maps, and always searched through the campaign for easter eggs. My admiration of the medal system is not derived from my competitive side. It’s derived from my fun-loving side.

17

Never got medals for getting a kill with a power weapon, that is their entire purpose isn’t it?

And “Comeback Kill” can go into a fire.

18

Now that is a lot of medals!

19

Totally agree. Earning medals has no points if you earn them for everything

20

Just have Halo 3 medals, I hope 343 is not trying to be superior to Bungie Halo games. More things are sometimes not better. As well don’t make the armor look like plastic.