So this is something all players should get behind, I don’t even see it as controversial so please like and comment if you see this to at least get 343 a glimpse.
The issue: Solo Queue players are discouraged from doing ranked modes because it is hostile territory for a majority of them.
Why? While I commend players teaming up and communicating, solo queuers are comparatively at a massive disadvantage as any competitive player can attest. There is not a single advantage solo queueing grants you in the game, perhaps other than you randomly getting teamed with extremely good players with mics which is a very rare case.
Can’t you just party up? There are a few reasons that this is easier said than done. First and foremost, it is time efficient to solo queue. Waiting for three other players to all get online at the same time is quite time consuming, and while I can’t speak for all, I personally don’t have enough friends that are good and enjoyable to play with. On top of that, four players all being able to stay online for 1-2 hours is harder than it seems. At least one player always seems to go eat, work, or has something else to do. Secondly, even if I were to go online and find some players to play with, the “Recruiting” section of the Halo forums is absolutely flooded with Spartan Company recruiting posts (which I personally think should be in the Spartan Company forums). The few posts on there that are about making a competitive 4-man team rarely are equal skill levels as you. This is the same case on haloLFG. Let’s face it, competitive halo has taken a back seat to casual players and it’s harder for us to enjoy the game the way competitive games are meant to be played.
Options to help solo queue players: (This is the part where opinions may split but comment your other ideas if you can’t agree on these)
- First off, I loved the idea that Warzone Warlords had. Now this may seem hypocritical. Taking a social playlist idea into a competitive playlist. But if you think about it, Warzone Warlords is really just teams of 6 or 12 going try hard. And this is exactly what competitive needs. Take all those players that have parties of 2 or 4 and pair them up with each other in one playlist! That will leave all the solo queue players to each other. That way if you have one friend you love playing with (and you dont want to play doubles) you can pair with 2 other players in the same boat, and it’s already better chemistry from the get-go. Solo players won’t face try hard 4-mans and they are happier. And players that can only find one friend online to play with can still enjoy Arena/Slayer without getting 2 random players with no chemistry. You may ask, well what if you have 3 players? I don’t have a full proof option for this but at the very least it is easier to find just 1 more player than it is to find 3 more. - I think I remember an option in past Halos to search for players with or without microphones. This would divide the players who are in parties and the players not in parties which I think would be beneficial to solo players. Communication is a big advantage and a team full of solo queue players typically don’t communicate. Quiet players with quiet players, and chatty players with chatty players.
So these are two of my ideas to help solo queue players match up. 343 only knows how many players actually are solo queuing but I’m willing to wager it is quite a large margin. It’s a decent portion of players to satisfy and I see a lot of players complaining about it on the forums, so I decided to come up with ideas to change things. I think if this problem is fixed, whether by use of my ideas or another person’s, Halo 5 population will increase. And if you can’t implement these options into H5, then you can try in Halo 6. I just want the series I love to be alive and well, and for that to happen we need a high population. The competitive fan base is there, some just aren’t playing the game due to dissatisfaction, frustration, or boredom.
