> 2. The amount of effort/time/maps should be more proportionate to player preferences and activity. For example, a new map pack with 3 maps should include at least 2 slayer maps. My understanding is that the new pack (that I unfortunately already paid for in the $100 bundle) neglects the most popular game types. This has been an ongoing issue since Halo Reach - diversifying gametypes to the point that maps need to be specifically designed around them. The result is spreading the map hopper too thin across too many gametypes.
A good map would be one that is optimal for most gametypes and has support all the way from Slayer to CTF. I would claim that up until Halo 2 that worked fairly well, and it’s no impossibility to make maps that are good in many game types in the modern Halo as well. If anything, I would say that most map designers in the industry have been lost since the early 2000.
However, it’s true that maps are currently done for maybe too varied gametypes, have been since Reach with the introduction of Invasion and its non-conventional mechanics that don’t fit conventional map design. In case of Halo 4, the main problem I see is that the maps are made for larger player counts than they should be made for. Out of the three new maps, one is said to be small to medium, one medium, and one large. But what I see there is three maps, two of which are medium to large.
But as far as the gametypes go, I wouldn’t say they have too big of an impact on how playable the map is for Slayer. After all, Slayer is the least demanding gametype in terms of map design. If you have a good CTF map, chances are it will work at least as well with Slayer. So, I wouldn’t blame the catering to too many gametypes (unless you have a very unique one like Invasion), but bad map design in general.
> Because of the two points above, the even matches in objective games are few and far between. Play alone and you’ll find yourself in a party that doesn’t communicate, quits early and has no desire to win. Play with a group of friends and you’ll get matched up against a rag-tag team with no communication and completely annihilate them.
>
> So - there you have it.
And that’s a good point. But as you said, the only gametypes that can really be considered problematic for map design are Invasion, Flood, Regicide, and Spartan Ops. And even out of those, I would only consider Invasion and Spartan Ops needing enough of their own map design to impact other gametypes.
So, I agree the emphasis has been put on the wrong area. That’s something I would agree needs to be fixed. Simply making properly sized maps that don’t double as Spartan Ops play spaces would improve the quality of maps. On the other hand, even that improvement is only marginal if the designers can’t find the right tune the industry lost long ago.
this is beyond stupid.