On a more serious note. It’s BAD, depending on the map, you are either more beneficial to move around (Haven) or to camp (pretty much any map).
And when they move around you can’t do jack all. You either go after the carrier and die trying, or kill the ones that lay back to slow you down, and normally you get team killed, all the while the carrier is long gone, and when you do get in a position to head them off, and take the ball, they throw it off the friggin’ map, and normally spawn near the ball to get it going again.
Two key fixes would be:
A) Reduce movement speed by maybe 25%
B) Give point penalties throwing the ball out of bounds.
And if you add the above 2 suggestions to even it all out it might be good to give the carrier a slight shield and armour buff so they can take a bit more damage.
I think just working as a team can solve those problems. What you are saying is the gametype benefits good players too much, and a good team SHOULD win most of the time. I can understand the frustration when you are just online with no buddies playing lone wolf, but if the opposing team is working as a team, they shouldn’t be penalized for it.
The biggest issue with oddball is getting the ball then glitching on complex for a free win.
Oddball is actually one of my favorite gametypes. Especially being able to toss the oddball to your teammates or a charging enemy. The only problem I have with oddball is the spawning. Sometimes the spawning is too close to the oddball and the intant respawn takes away from some of the strategy of the gametype. I’ve had games where my team has outslayed the other team by nearly 20 kills and still lost. So if anything I’d put a minimum 6-8 seconds on the respawn timer.
I can definitely agree to your second suggestion (B). That would add even more depth and competitiveness to Oddball. I still enjoy everything that has been done with the Oddball gametype for Halo 4. The only problem is the exploit on Complex.
To me- until that is fixed, the playlist is unplayable.
I honestly don’t know why it wasn’t patched up as soon as it was known.
I’ll agree that ball speed should be a little bit reduced. I’ve sprinted all over maps before and still taken a good while to catch up to somewhere I could see the carrier.
Why make the game to 300 points if you’re counting by 2? So really it’s 150 seconds (2.5 minutes), which is why a lot of oddball games only last 3-4 minutes. One team gets the ball and runs away and it’s over.
Always pointing to where the ball is. Should it be there? It’s really impossible to “hide” anywhere or force the other team to actually look around because you can always be seen. If you have the ball, it’s your only weapon. So either I can camp around a corner to try to hit people who walk around it, but that just means people will throw grenades or charge in with boltshots and sticky nades since they know I’m there, or they’ll turn the corner wide and DMR me before I can move 10 feet. If you try to run, you just get picked off since, once again, no ranged weapons. I know the point is to try to focus on teamwork, but in past games, you could still do things by yourself if you were in a jam.
I like oddball. Movement speed should not be decreased by 25% but instead 5-10% just for the ball carrier. The ball carrier can get away faster at the current speed while the teammates defend him and kill you. Or you kill them but by the time you do the ball carrier is all the way on the other side of the map. Penalties should be added for throwing the ball off the map.
I disagree with any penalty for throwing the ball off the map. That’s been a legitimate strategy since Halo 2 to “play the ball” if your enemies are overtaking you. If I have the ball and all of my teammates die while 3 enemies are closing in on me why would I just lay down and give them ball control. You can’t penalize a team for making a smart play.
ya oddball is pretty bad right now but not for the reasons the OP talked about.
Sorry OP but I don’t understand why you would say its too hard to kill the carrier then request a carrier health buff. It’s a 5v5 game with people spawning every second near the ball then emptying all the grenades in their pockets.
As far as getting point deductions for throwing it off map, good luck. The ball can be moved around with grenades so if I’m carrying the ball and get stuck close to the edge at haven the ball is probably gonna go over. I like the idea behind deductions but no matter what the game is only calculated by time with the ball, so individual score means nothing.
What needs to be changed is the 5v5 aspect. The game has always been 4v4 and should remain that. 5v5 with the map selection is ridiculous. Which brings me to the biggest issue that has already been mentioned, respawn times. That’s right you can take a bullet for you carrier, spam X sprint to the carrier and do it again. Half the time I get the ball I’ll just look for the teammate farthest away and try to chuck the ball towards him because my radar is nothing but red and yellow dots vomiting grenades.
I agree that respawn times should return to oddball games (and other objective games). Instant respawn has made the whole kamikaze strategy too viable which I think removes a lot of the more fun and complex strategy from the games.
This is the first game I’ve enjoyed Oddball to the point of choosing to playing it rather than using it as a distraction. Provided I have someone in a party with me who I can trust it’s very fun.
Throwing adds a new dynamic (just like pistol on CTF) that means the ball carrier doesn’t have to just hide in a corner anymore. You find them moving around the map.
As far as countering it goes, provided both teams meet as a team v team battle (and not 2 vs the carrier team) it can be beaten - and quite easily - because you will always be a gun down if you want to be scoring points.