I could go into so much detail as to why navpoints bring Halo’s replay value down. There was a time where maps were designed to be “fair and competitive” without forcing players to fight over power weapons and equipment and also keeping players unfamiliar with the maps so they can play it more to understand where everything is and when things spawned. Asymmetrical maps were balanced well because they had a side that played more aggressively and a side that played more defensively(Lockout and Guardian for example). You add a navpoint to a sniper then all players know the exact location and respawn settings for it, which makes maps stale before they are even played on. The original trilogy did great with balancing symmetrical maps to where both sides had defensive and offensive power weapons(The Pit, Valhalla, Narrows)
“We have to use the ship’s maintenance access ways. Follow the navpoint, it will lead you to an opening.”
- Halo CE, 2001
Campaign features in multiplayer are a no go, sorry…
I don’t see the issue with nav points. They’re pretty helpful with memorizing callouts.
Thus leaving players to fight over the sandbox more. On paper it sounds good and makes it sound easier to access but it isn’t. Just makes it more competitive. It actually makes maps less memorizable. Players that played more were at more of an advantage because they knew where items where and when they spawned before others. This makes players want to play more because others knew where these sandbox items before them.
I could memorize the entirety of the Bazaar map without markers. The nav points simply made it easier to do.
Players used to have to gain map knowledge and a ton of play time to learn weapon timers back during the original trilogy.
Now you can just Google weapon spawn timers, and a brand new players have nearly as much weapon spawn timer knowledge as a veteran.
I also think the most skilled player should be rewarded for that skill. Picking up rockets uncontested because the other team doesn’t realize the weapon is coming up does not test a players skill, and it doesn’t require any skill besides watching a clock.
Having to fight the other team off to get a rocket because everyone knows it’s there does test players skill. Having to participate in a firefight for a power weapon is a better test of skill and benefits the firefight winners with a reward
And the players with less skill get discouraged and go play other games which drives the player base down. Not everyone wants to be the best player in the world. My insight from the original trilogy was to keep having fun regardless of my skill level, which led me to become a better player.
From a top tier competitive level I agree. 343 seems to be trying their best with each game/update to remove all skill gaps aside from accuracy and positioning.
From a casual level, they are extremely useful and should stick around. If I want to chill on the couch, I don’t want to have 3 stop watches on my lap to keep track of respawn timers. I would need a steady supply of sweat bands, too.
Nav points, announcer callouts, three lane maps, lets be completely honest since 343i have taken over there’s far too much player hand holding. Gone are the days where constant play helped the player learn the maps and spawn places/times of vehicle and weapon spawns.
So why not just add a match composer with the option to turn off/on navpoints and see where that goes. I think that would add variety and players can enjoy what they play?
See that’s what I was thinking. Maybe like a hardcore playlist?
What would be more frustrating as a new player?
- Getting killed by 12 rockets over the course of a match, not knowing when or where they’re going to be available.
- The new player getting a heads up that they can try and get some rockets. And then possibly dying to them if they lose the firefight over the power weapon, or possibly getting the power weapon.
One of those situations is fair to everyone and still results in the most skilled player getting the rockets.
One of those situations is super unfair and results in the most skilled player getting the rockets.
I enjoy the first one more because it makes me want to find where these weapons are before others. Also making it competitive and a learning curve as well
You don’t have to “want to find them” anymore, that’s what I’m saying.
Google “The Pit weapon spawns” and you’ve just become as knowledgeable as someone who grinded the map for a month to learn.
Congrats, your googling skills have now made you better at Halo. Not practicing aim, or map positioning, or team strats. You didn’t have to practice rotation timing to set up for the spawn. You didn’t have to practice slaying and spawn blocking. You just had to Google it. Yay.
But sure, you can keep thinking no timers inherently means less skill involved. Even though you can just Google them
it isn’t a problem. The worst thing it does is get in the ways of the map’s visuals.
But seriously it isn’t a problem.
This is not a bad thing. You can also juts say, “It’s made the game harder for me.”
But that’s literally not true lmao.
I’ve been a proponent of this since launch. A Hardcore playlist that takes away these timers and nav points along with enemy outlines, Spartan chatter/callouts, and dumbing down the kill feed. I feel like there is more, but this is all that comes to mind right now.
Why can’t we just all get along? O right it’s the internet.
Nah, there’s no good reason IMO to remove them at all. From identifying locations and helping with call outs in a game where people mostly refuse to use any form of communication to helping new players figure out maps there’s waaay to much good in this feature to even consider taking it out.
If the next map has three lanes im gonna jump of a cliff