Personal Ordnance In Halo 5, Can It Work?

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Personally, I think the best thing to do with Personal Ordnance in Halo 5, is to not have it in the game.

But I realise that I’m not the only person/opinion that 343 is trying to please with their games, so I’m trying to think of ways that it can work as best as possible if it has to stay.

If you are like me, and you detest Personal Ordnance and think it has no place in Halo (at least in its current state), how do you think it could best be balanced for Halo 5, assuming that it is going to stay in some form?

I would also like to hear from you guys that do like Personal Ordnance in Halo 4, let’s work together here.
How do you think PO could be balanced for Halo 5 in a way that would work with what you want, and with what the anti-Personal Ordnance guys want?

I realise there’s no perfect situation here that will please everyone 100%, what I’m looking for is the best possible solution in a situation where Personal Ordnance will stay.

Here’s my suggestion:

  • Power weapons are not present in Personal Ordnance drops
  • They become at least a little harder to get than in Halo 4
  • They take a little longer to get
  • Option 1 is an ammo refill for your primary, option 2 is an ammo refill for your secondary, option 3 is a grenade refill.

Or…

  • Option 1 is an ammo refill for your primary, option 2 is a second weapon for your secondary (assuming dual wielding will be in Halo 5), option 3 is a grenade refill.

I could live with this.

What are your suggestions? Assuming Personal Ordnance is staying for Halo 5.

2

If it had to stay in some form, the only option I would accept is to limit it strictly to grenade drops and ammo drops for whatever non-power weapons you are currently holding.

But personally, I think that’s really a bad solution that completely misses the actual issue. To anyone who likes ordnance, it’s because of the power weapons they get from it. It’s really a lopsided option, and were they to go that far, the whole ordnance system could be removed in the first place. On the other hand, it’s clear that there is no way power weapons can be kept in ordnance drops while satisfying those of us who oppose them. The reality of it is that 343i managed to create such a divide that there is really no room for a proper compromise.

Personally, I’d return back to the drawing table and rethink it all over. As far as I know ordnance was put in the game to make it more accessible, to give everyone the chance to get power weapons. But that’s not really making it more accessible, i.e. making the game easier to learn. It’s just handing out free rewards without actually requiring the player to learn anything. It’s really the wrong way to approach accessibility.

That’s why for Halo 5 I’d really, really rather abandon the whole concept of ordnance in general. Of course power weapons could still be pods dropping from the sky, there’s nothing wrong with that, but the underlying system should be the one we grew accustomed to in the original trilogy. And now, to make that system accessible to players not interested in learning the weapon spawn times, a timer should pop up 30 seconds before the weapon drops.

That’s really the fairest way to solve the issue in my opinion. It’s still rather lopsided, completely disregards the people who liked the idea of ordnance. But as I said, that issue can’t really be fixed fairly. However, this solution would give more competitive players the consistent and fair power weapon spawns they want while on the other hand not making the system confusing for people who don’t know how the spawn timers work.

I understand this isn’t really in accordance with the “rules” of this thread. But really, I think the whole ordnance system doesn’t really benefit anyone in the long run and is so inherently flawed that it simply doesn’t deserve to exist.

3

Maybe just make it ammo for either you Primary, Secondary or a Grenade refill like you said

4

The solutions that come to mind if they still wanna go with OD.

Only grant them after you get a spree (So you actually earn them by killing and not by doing assists)

Reset the counter when you die, so you have to fill it back up.

5

I think it could work if you had to work a little harder for it, and within the ordnance would be either a)ammo refills for primary and secondary weapons, and grenades, as you said, or b) perhaps offer a chance to switch to other weapons within your other loadout options. The player would be able to stock his/her ordnance with a secondary, primary, and grenade of his/her choice, which would then offer an opportunity to make a change during gameplay.

Option B would suggest that once you’ve chosen a loadout at the beginning of a game you can’t change to another for the duration. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. You’ll have to think harder about what you’re taking into the game, and putting into your personal ordnance, and it will also offer a good compromise to the classic rules of all starting with the same set of weapons. With only one start option, the game will get back that sense of simplicity, but still have that sense of individuality and something to work for. Even with the ability to alter your loadout it’s only one weapon (or grenade) per ordnance, so you will be making that choice of which I require more given your situation because you’ll have to wait a bit to make another change. Matches will be a lot more clean, and leave only the beauty of the gameplay.

Also, when the ordnance is ready, perhaps you could chose to pocket the alert away somewhere - and leave a more subtle icon - until you wish to actually use it.

6

> If it had to stay in some form, the only option I would accept is to limit it strictly to grenade drops and ammo drops for whatever non-power weapons you are currently holding.
>
> But personally, I think that’s really a bad solution that completely misses the actual issue. To anyone who likes ordnance, it’s because of the power weapons they get from it. It’s really a lopsided option, and were they to go that far, the whole ordnance system could be removed in the first place. On the other hand, it’s clear that there is no way power weapons can be kept in ordnance drops while satisfying those of us who oppose them. The reality of it is that 343i managed to create such a divide that there is really no room for a proper compromise.
>
> Personally, I’d return back to the drawing table and rethink it all over. As far as I know ordnance was put in the game to make it more accessible, to give everyone the chance to get power weapons. But that’s not really making it more accessible, i.e. making the game easier to learn. It’s just handing out free rewards without actually requiring the player to learn anything. It’s really the wrong way to approach accessibility.
>
> That’s why for Halo 5 I’d really, really rather abandon the whole concept of ordnance in general. Of course power weapons could still be pods dropping from the sky, there’s nothing wrong with that, but the underlying system should be the one we grew accustomed to in the original trilogy. And now, to make that system accessible to players not interested in learning the weapon spawn times, a timer should pop up 30 seconds before the weapon drops.
>
> That’s really the fairest way to solve the issue in my opinion. It’s still rather lopsided, completely disregards the people who liked the idea of ordnance. But as I said, that issue can’t really be fixed fairly. However, this solution would give more competitive players the consistent and fair power weapon spawns they want while on the other hand not making the system confusing for people who don’t know how the spawn timers work.
>
> I understand this isn’t really in accordance with the “rules” of this thread. But really, I think the whole ordnance system doesn’t really benefit anyone in the long run and is so inherently flawed that it simply doesn’t deserve to exist.

I think you’ve hit the nail in the head tsassi, I couldn’t agree more.

I don’t feel that personal ordnance could ever really be done in a way that really pleases both sides of the argument. But I’m challenging that belief with this thread, just incase I might be wrong.

When you say “To anyone who likes ordnance, it’s because of the power weapons they get from it.”, is it not possible that there are a lot of people that just like the novelty of being able to call in something for themselves, whether it’s powerful or not?
This is what I’m hoping to get a better idea of, because I have no idea right now.
Like you, at the moment, I suspect that the general reason that people like personal ordnance, is because it gives them easier and more frequent access to power weapons.

If it is because of power weapons, I guess that means there is no compromise that involves keeping PO.

I like your idea of having a timer on power weapons, as opposed to giving people personal ordnance. It seems like it might help solve the problem (which I really don’t see as a problem to begin with) of Halo not being “accessible” enough for new players, or players who don’t want to time weapons.

To any personal ordnance fans, would you see this as an acceptable compromise? (tsassi’s idea that is)

7

I’m old school halo so obviously my opinion is to leave personal perks such as ordinance out of Halo.

Everything should be fought for and earned on the map. It enables players to use the map and teamwork to find the best opening strategy when the match starts and throughout the game.

The best tool we used to have in Halo was using the maps provided and use our own creative and innovative ways to efficiently get to areas of the map to secure power weapons or equipment.

I feel 343 needs to give us those tools on the battlefield and let us decide how to acquire them instead of putting everything in our pockets for free.

A great Halo game doesn’t mean how many super powers and customizations we have at our disposal from the start. There are plenty of other games that do this already. Halo has a much different niche and it should be preserved.

I don’t have all the ideas for what should happen (343 gets paid the big bucks to figure that out) but it should certainly be map focused and not what we start with or get dropped at our feet for simply killing someone. The feeling of outgunning another good player in Halo was always satisfying enough to me.

8

PERSONAL ORDNANCE

One of the greatest problems with Personal Ordnance that many people have expressed is that it breaks the gameplay. While the system can exist in future titles, it cannot be a tool used to award Campers with Rocket Launchers and turn each match into stalemate.

FUNCTION:

The updated Personal Ordnance system will supply player’s with assistance in the battle field.

Personal Ordnance will work in Tiers that will give the player a stronger offer each time and will also have a 70% point requirement increase after each request. [/li]

FEATURES:

  • Ammo Resupply

  • Extra Grenades

  • Armor Abilities

  • Instant Shield Recharge (Instantly recharges the player’s shields)

  • EMP Shockwave (Releases an EMP)

  • Support Drone (Gives the player a Support Drone which will assist the player in Combat until destroyed)

  • Weapon Marker (Shows all weapon locations on HUD)

  • Enhanced Motion Tracker (Increases Range, and shows player locations at all times)

  • Adrenaline (Will give the player a speed increase, unlimited sprint, and increased melee lunge for a short time)

9

I really don’t care if it is or isn’t in the next game. But if it is, it should have one power weapon, grenades, and ammo.

10

> PERSONAL ORDNANCE
>
> One of the greatest problems with Personal Ordnance that many people have expressed is that it breaks the gameplay. While the system can exist in future titles, it cannot be a tool used to award Campers with Rocket Launchers and turn each match into stalemate.
>
> FUNCTION:
>
> The updated Personal Ordnance system will supply player’s with assistance in the battle field.
>
> Personal Ordnance will work in Tiers that will give the player a stronger offer each time and will also have a 70% point requirement increase after each request. [/li]
>
> FEATURES:
>
> - Ammo Resupply
> - Extra Grenades
> - Armor Abilities
>
> - Instant Shield Recharge (Instantly recharges the player’s shields)
> - EMP Shockwave (Releases an EMP)
> - Support Drone (Gives the player a Support Drone which will assist the player in Combat until destroyed)
>
> - Weapon Marker (Shows all weapon locations on HUD)
> - Enhanced Motion Tracker (Increases Range, and shows player locations at all times)
> - Adrenaline (Will give the player a speed increase, unlimited sprint, and increased melee lunge for a short time)

I like your whole idea but EMP shockwave doesn’t sound like it will gain much affection from players in matchmaking.