BTB is honestly the worst Halo experience I have ever had. Way too much camping. This whole idea that you can take what was a good map, blow it up massively, and make it still good is severely flawed. The games play incredibly slowly, and the only time they do not is when one team is getting wrecked. CTF BTB is the worst idea ever considering how long it takes to return the flag and the number of players. if the flag makes it halfway back, it’s almost always a cap, as all that needs to be done is to have everyone but one guy hang back, keep killing the enemy team, and have the one person rush the flag and just touch it. You automatically have earned another 10 seconds before you have to touch the flag, so the game type is pointless. Recurve and Guillotine easily cater to one team more than the other. Whoever wins the battle for the tank/mantis is immediately in a position to dominate as the tank/mantis cannot get caught out in the open without being able to destroy everything in its path. The asymmetrical weapon spawns on maps are a problem too. One team is immediately with an advantage for a certain type of gun. If you play Strongholds on Recurve, rocket spawn is right next to the Cargo point, and the rockets will guarantee the capture for that team. Last major issue is that the maps promote far too much close quarters fighting and only hallway paths for movement around the map. Basically, the only support you have is the people that follow you. You cannot call out for help to a teammate and expect to receive it in under 30 seconds. BTB has always been about having the map filled with players close together fighting frantically to win the engagement and hold territory. Under the current setup, it’s not even remotely necessarily. The maps have a single high point with site lines over the entire map with way too much cover. All that is necessary to win the game is to control a single point, and the victory goes to your team. Overall, I’d have to say that BTB is pathetic. I played 10 matches and not a single one left me with the impression that I was having fun. This is a major blemish in an otherwise excellent multiplayer experience. I seriously don’t understand how you dropped the ball so completely on this mode, but you did 343. Before this, I’d have rated the game a 9/10. Afterwards, I’d have to drop it to a 7/10 as BTB is one of the cornerstone playlists of any Halo game.
CTF is the best BTB gamemode. You know you can get it a warthog or mongoose with the flag and be back in your base in seconds? the mantis and the scorpion are not hard to destroy even without the splaser.
Everyone has their separate rant about the following: BTB, Aiming, Spartan Abilities, Maps, Lack of Maps, Warzone and Campaign. Is that all? I think so, anyway I think the BTB maps play well and I haven’t noticed any camping. I would just add maybe one more power weapon on each map.
You and I want some very different things out of a BTB map, but that said, apparently neither of us was really wowed by these maps. Issues of balance… that’s the one thing I pulled out of your commentary that I can get behind. On the other hand, the only truly egregious offender was Recurve. Deadlock is supposed to be unbalanced in the conventional sense of the word, just as the original was. Basin may not be a CTF player’s dream, but I didn’t find it impossible to play, and I didn’t find it to be a camper’s paradise, except in the sense of base defense, which is simply a feature of the game type. The observation that you can’t count on support in under 30 seconds is also, I would say, a feature of BTB across the board, and not a particular deficiency of these maps in particular. Does that knowledge not encourage good team work? On your observation concerning the slow pace of play on these maps… that was not my experience. Bigger maps + motion mechanics which encourage movement = just about the right balance of risk/reward for traversing a map or staying in one place. Just my opinion. I kind of get the feeling that you would be happiest if they had just put sixteen players on 4v4 maps and called it a day. Oversimplification?
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> You and I want some very different things out of a BTB map, but that said, apparently neither of us was really wowed by these maps. Issues of balance… that’s the one thing I pulled out of your commentary that I can get behind. On the other hand, the only truly egregious offender was Recurve. Deadlock is supposed to be unbalanced in the conventional sense of the word, just as the original was. Basin may not be a CTF player’s dream, but I didn’t find it impossible to play, and I didn’t find it to be a camper’s paradise, except in the sense of base defense, which is simply a feature of the game type. The observation that you can’t count on support in under 30 seconds is also, I would say, a feature of BTB across the board, and not a particular deficiency of these maps in particular. Does that knowledge not encourage good team work? On your observation concerning the slow pace of play on these maps… that was not my experience. Bigger maps + motion mechanics which encourage movement = just about the right balance of risk/reward for traversing a map or staying in one place. Just my opinion. I kind of get the feeling that you would be happiest if they had just put sixteen players on 4v4 maps and called it a day. Oversimplification
Am I the weirdo for always thinking that maps like basin and Valhalla are the greatest maps ever? So good to get with the flag in the warthog and quickly go through all the enemies to your base.
Valhalla sometimes take a lot of hate for not being a clone of blood gulch, but I really loved it back in the halo 3 days. Never was a blood gulch fan, too much space for a 4v4.
Seriously? These are your reasonings behind hating Big Team Battle?
> CTF BTB is the worst idea ever considering how long it takes to return the flag and the number of players. if the flag makes it halfway back, it’s almost always a cap, as all that needs to be done is to have everyone but one guy hang back, keep killing the enemy team, and have the one person rush the flag and just touch it. You automatically have earned another 10 seconds before you have to touch the flag, so the game type is pointless
The glory of BTB CTF was that you had to coordinate as many players as possible to somehow both converge on the flag, defend your own, and defend the carrier. Be it in a vehicle or on foot. - I remember a lot of ranked BTB games in Halo 2 going on for 30 minutes to an hour because we were tied at sudden death and, at the time, no games ever ended in a tie. These were some of the most hard-fought CTF or Assault games. 4v4 didn’t compare to teams twice that size somehow. Having more people made it more difficult for one person to clear out a base and run in or out with the objective. - Why is the “hang back and kill the rushing enemy” somehow unique to BTB? I know I’ve personally made sure to clear the downed flag to make sure I don’t get melted whilst trying to return or pick up and move the flag. Map and objective control will always be a huge part of Halo.
> Whoever wins the battle for the tank/mantis is immediately in a position to dominate as the tank/mantis cannot get caught out in the open without being able to destroy everything in its path. The asymmetrical weapon spawns on maps are a problem too. One team is immediately with an advantage for a certain type of gun.
I liked the idea of maps like Headlong (now Guillotine) being “one sided” and asymmetrical as far as weapons are concerned. This made the attacking/defending teams set up differently and forced rushes for one sides power weapons or vehicles. - How is a tank/mantis out in the open wrecking shop any differently than someone burning through REQ cards to get these steamroller vehicles in Warzone? Killing or taking the enemy’s tank always rallied teams in BTB. For some reason, one or two dominate vehicles should always be in BTB to really turn the tides of any BTB game. - I guarantee a well-coordinated team can team shoot someone holding the rockets faster than he’s going to be able to get off all four rockets.
> Last major issue is that the maps promote far too much close quarters fighting and only hallway paths for movement around the map. Basically, the only support you have is the people that follow you. You cannot call out for help to a teammate and expect to receive it in under 30 seconds. BTB has always been about having the map filled with players close together fighting frantically to win the engagement and hold territory. Under the current setup, it’s not even remotely necessarily.
I don’t know where to begin here. Have you never played any other BTB playlists or maps? Waterworks from Halo 2 or really any of the Halo 4 BTB maps? How is it that you’ve arrived that a big team battle map should have them all in close quarters? And honestly, dealing with the enemies in CQB is pretty much all on you. Know how to use your BR and control the fight and you’ll never have to hit the melee button. - If you’re calling for help in any combat situation and the enemy doesn’t kill you in under 30 seconds then the team you’re playing against is garbage. What other Halo game let you fight it out with an enemy for 30 seconds or more?
> The maps have a single high point with site lines over the entire map with way too much cover. All that is necessary to win the game is to control a single point, and the victory goes to your team.
This can’t be a real complaint. How is it that a single high point can control the map if all of those site lines have way too much cover? And I believe that pretty much any map, any gametype, even any game has the element of map control to it. Hold the center of the map and you can control the enemy team to a huge extent.
> Overall, I’d have to say that BTB is pathetic. I played 10 matches and not a single one left me with the impression that I was having fun. This is a major blemish in an otherwise excellent multiplayer experience. I seriously don’t understand how you dropped the ball so completely on this mode, but you did 343. Before this, I’d have rated the game a 9/10. Afterwards, I’d have to drop it to a 7/10 as BTB is one of the cornerstone playlists of any Halo game.
And with that, I’ll say we’ll see you later. A huge problem may be that you’re trying to be a hotshot cowboy and play alone only to realize that you can’t take on a team of 8. Teamwork is huge in any objective or competitive slayer gametype and even more critical, it seems, in bringing a flag back so far to your base as in BTB.
I’m not even sure why I’m responding to these threads of people who complain that something is wrong or broken when they themselves are just doing poorly or don’t have a grasp on the game itself.
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> CTF is the best BTB gamemode. You know you can get it a warthog or mongoose with the flag and be back in your base in seconds? the mantis and the scorpion are not hard to destroy even without the splaser.
Exactly just grab a plasma pistol and well stop it from doing anything
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> > 2533274823925528;2:
> > CTF is the best BTB gamemode. You know you can get it a warthog or mongoose with the flag and be back in your base in seconds? the mantis and the scorpion are not hard to destroy even without the splaser.
>
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> Exactly just grab a plasma pistol and well stop it from doing anything
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> > 2533274873843883;4:
> > You and I want some very different things out of a BTB map, but that said, apparently neither of us was really wowed by these maps. Issues of balance… that’s the one thing I pulled out of your commentary that I can get behind. On the other hand, the only truly egregious offender was Recurve. Deadlock is supposed to be unbalanced in the conventional sense of the word, just as the original was. Basin may not be a CTF player’s dream, but I didn’t find it impossible to play, and I didn’t find it to be a camper’s paradise, except in the sense of base defense, which is simply a feature of the game type. The observation that you can’t count on support in under 30 seconds is also, I would say, a feature of BTB across the board, and not a particular deficiency of these maps in particular. Does that knowledge not encourage good team work? On your observation concerning the slow pace of play on these maps… that was not my experience. Bigger maps + motion mechanics which encourage movement = just about the right balance of risk/reward for traversing a map or staying in one place. Just my opinion. I kind of get the feeling that you would be happiest if they had just put sixteen players on 4v4 maps and called it a day. Oversimplification
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> Am I the weirdo for always thinking that maps like basin and Valhalla are the greatest maps ever? So good to get with the flag in the warthog and quickly go through all the enemies to your base.
Interesting to me that you like Basin, which is pretty big, but then coupled it with Valhalla instead of Ragnarok (which was both bigger and, imo, better than Valhalla). Just not a Halo 4 kinda guy?
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> > > 2533274873843883;4:
> > > You and I want some very different things out of a BTB map, but that said, apparently neither of us was really wowed by these maps. Issues of balance… that’s the one thing I pulled out of your commentary that I can get behind. On the other hand, the only truly egregious offender was Recurve. Deadlock is supposed to be unbalanced in the conventional sense of the word, just as the original was. Basin may not be a CTF player’s dream, but I didn’t find it impossible to play, and I didn’t find it to be a camper’s paradise, except in the sense of base defense, which is simply a feature of the game type. The observation that you can’t count on support in under 30 seconds is also, I would say, a feature of BTB across the board, and not a particular deficiency of these maps in particular. Does that knowledge not encourage good team work? On your observation concerning the slow pace of play on these maps… that was not my experience. Bigger maps + motion mechanics which encourage movement = just about the right balance of risk/reward for traversing a map or staying in one place. Just my opinion. I kind of get the feeling that you would be happiest if they had just put sixteen players on 4v4 maps and called it a day. Oversimplification
> >
> >
> > Am I the weirdo for always thinking that maps like basin and Valhalla are the greatest maps ever? So good to get with the flag in the warthog and quickly go through all the enemies to your base.
>
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> Interesting to me that you like Basin, which is pretty big, but then coupled it with Valhalla instead of Ragnarok (which was both bigger and, imo, better than Valhalla). Just not a Halo 4 kinda guy?
Ragnarok was NOT better then Valhalla. Period. It was a complete copy but was worse because of the halo 4-ness of it.
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> > 2533274823925528;2:
> > CTF is the best BTB gamemode. You know you can get it a warthog or mongoose with the flag and be back in your base in seconds? the mantis and the scorpion are not hard to destroy even without the splaser.
>
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> Exactly just grab a plasma pistol and well stop it from doing anything
You just bum rush the mantis. Those heavy vehicles that were powerhouses back in the day need a movement buff or something because my god, it is SO easy to just run up and blow it up with a nade.