> Trust me, I do understand, I’ve been playing Halo for 10 years as well. I’ve read all of the books except cryptum multiple times (cryptum just didn’t hold my attention past page 3). I am immersed in the Halo universe to such a degree that if it were a field of study you could take in college, I would have a Ph-fraking- D in it by now.
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> I am the ten year vet that is financially secure, is out on his own, has played competitively and casually, has played with all walks of life. I am the guy that has been a part of the darker side of the Halo community, and I am the guy that has been a part of the better aspects of the community. I get the community, I do. And I don’t hold anything against MLG. I really don’t. I just don’t like that MLG kids think they can dictate how Halo should be to everyone else. They simply don’t have that right. It’s why there are ways to customize Halo to whatever experience you enjoy the most. I’m sure a Year from now people will be -Yoink!- deep into H4, and enjoying the game. My argument is for people to shut the Frak up, and wait and see what 343 delivers. I’m more then positive that people are going to love this game.
Let me clarify; I am specifically talking about the multiplayer. Many highly skilled Halo players haven’t even played the campaign and most have not read the books because the Halo Universe is not what matters to us, the multiplayer is. I love the Halo universe and have beaten every campaign on Legendary multiple times, but it is not my primary concern.
You seem to be very involved in Halo as a whole, I am specifically referring to your part in the multiplayer though. You say you have played competitively, that’s not necessarily relevant nor does it mean you understand what I am saying. I’m sure everyone has played competitively (ie to win or to get to the next level), but that doesn’t mean they understand what makes and breaks competitive (meaning highly skilled) Halo. You can play Dino Blaster competitively or each Reach team slayer, but they are not very competitive when you compare them to MLG v7 or CE, in the sense that they have a far lower skill gap, resulting in the difference in players skill levels having much less of an effect on their effectiveness as a player. Reach Team Slayer is like racing an automatic car in a straight line, while MLG or CE or H2 is like racing a manual transmission around a track. You could take a professional racer and face him against a 16 year old in a drag of 2 automatic cars and none of his “skill” is really going to have much of an effect on the race. Now face the two in a race around a track in a manual transmission and he will demolish him.
We appreciate Halo because of it’s skill, but with each game it becomes more and more like a drag in an automatic. To us, doing well and having all the time we’ve spent gaining skill paying off is what is important. There is no reason to spend years practicing your racing line and shifts if racing just turns into a drag in an automatic.
Does that make sense?
Of course a lot more people are going to have fun dragging in an automatic because they can be careless and lacking skill and it doesn’t matter, they just want to drive fast.
But it doesn’t matter as long as skilled, classic Halo has a couple playlist. The problem with Reach is that skilled Halo players had no playlist to enjoy because they were all filled with the derp of Reach. Hopefully 343 won’t make the same mistake, and will give us some playlist to enjoy the Halo we love. That’s all we want.
