Oh God Why Did I Write This?

Games Other Halo
1

This is a rank thread. I’m writing that now so that you can either scoff and leave, or get ready to flame. Just savin’ ya some time lol

My ideal system is a combination of Reach and Halo 3. This subject has been beaten to the point of extinction on these forums already, but I wanted to try and contribute a positive thread that combines multiple (hopefully good) ideas.

Halo 3 for rank, Halo Reach for reward (i.e. customization).

Rank
You win a match, you get 1 exp. Win enough exp, you rank up (i.e. 600 exp = Major, 900 exp = Brigadier). You quit before a game ends, you lose exp. In a FFA, first place gets 2 exp, next two players get 1 exp. (This is just a suggested change to throw some love to the Lone Wolf players). Teamwork is encouraged, quitting is punished. Nice and simple.

Reward
You kill 15 people. 10 credits per kill, you’re up 150 credits. Say you went +8 in the match, you get another 80 credits. Continue to add in credits for doing various cool things, i.e. assists and vehicle kills. The cumulative result of your achievements (or lack thereof) will determine how many credits you get at the end of each match, with a bonus tacked on if you are on the victorious team. This system rewards you for killing scrubs, punishes you for relying on stronger teammates to win, and lets strong players still fight for something if they get stuck on a horrible team (they can still fight on for more credits). Credits will be used for armor unlocks, customization options, and various other goodies that boost replay value and overall longevity.

Potential issues:

Ranked playlists. Gaining 1 exp per win is good and all, but without that TrueSkill number it is still kind of worthless. In all honesty, I liked the 1-50 system, but it seems unlikely to return. In order for the above system to truly work, there would need to be some other competitive interface. For example, in Halo 3, if you couldn’t get your skill to level 44, you would be stuck at Colonel…the exp you got, the higher your Colonel “rank” would become (Force Colonels were common). It encouraged you to fight for that level 45 to become a Brig, and level 50 to get General. We would need that tertiary system to allow for competitive gamers to feel as if the rank is earned, not ground out.

Exploitation
As with all previous Halo games, the above system is susceptible to hacking and full party boosting. All I can say to that is with a proper Banhammer detection system, the benefits outweigh the potential risks.

So, my fellow Halo fans…Do you like this idea? Did you bother to read this regrettably long wall of text? Let me know what you think

2

Frankie said he’ll try to stop cheating and boosting and deranking, maybe even try to make the perfect ranking system.

3

However they’re doing it they’re doing it right and I think they are trying to blend ranking system elements from the past Halo games.

4

One problem is that any system that rewards k/d instead of pure w/l caters toward camping instead of winning. Halo Reach is a prime example how people spend games just camping, trying to get a good k/d even if they loose, since they always gets some cR for those stats. In Halo 3 on the other hand, k/d meant nothing and gave nothing unless you won, hence people would sacrifise themselves and get a -15 just to win (objetvie) or die just to secure a power weapon in Team slayer (spartan laser on valhalla).
In reach, no one would do such thing since the game only rewards kills or k/d, not playing as a team or sacrifising yourself to ensure victory. This system has the same fundamental flaw, reward those who potentially does nothing to win. I’d rather get nothing for loosing even if I’m by far the best on my team, then get rewarded just for kills if we loose.

5

Something that you can earn by winning and has an eventual end goal - that is a ranking system.

6

The Halo 3 ranking system is greater than Reach by a landslide. I always felt the need to improve and reach a higher rank in Halo 3. I capped out at lvl 40 but every game was rewarding and challenging. Even though I could never achieve a 50 because my skill is not at that level. It was an exciting rush after every game to see what might happen to your rank.

Halo: Reach the rank was just a number. The rank just meant “I played a lot”. Reach never made me feel the excitement and craziness that Halo 3 did.

Lets not talk about the Arena. What a sad excuse for a ranking system.

I know Halo 4 is not going to have a exact 1-50 system. Maybe they will update Halo 4 and implement a system like Halo 2 or Halo 3. Something that drives players to improve and reach new ranks.