So I’ve been thinking, and it’s time to get honest: I don’t like raids, and neither do most of the people who will read this. They are boring, unbalanced, excessively long, and don’t actually showcase clan skill. However, they are obviously part of the clan community’s DNA at this point. It seems they are here to stay , at least for the time being. But why? As mentioned before, they really don’t accomplish much except making all parties involved unhappy at one point or another, and they drive a lot of people new to clans away from Halo entirely. Therefore, I am introducing a new idea: The structured clan battle. Please take a moment to read through this description and leave a comment
about what you think, input, ideas, etc.
Caps throughout are added solely for emphasis, not for the purpose of being disruptive.
Clan Battle Gametype
2 Games, Attackers and Defenders switch after each game.
Tiebreaker is 1 extra round, if it comes to that.
SETTINGS
8V8 (CTF)
5 Rounds, Unlimited time, 1 life per round
Score to win: 400 Points, Score per kill: 10 Points
Starting weapons: BR, DMR, 1 Frag grenade
Instant respawn, Placed weapons on, placed grenades on, weapon pads off, powerups off, vehicles off
MAP CRITERIA
Maps consist of an attackers’ area and a defenders’ area. Both spawns are gated (one way doors), with multiple exits to prevent spawn killing. Attackers’ area will consist of an approach, with the goal being to take the defenders’ area by either killing all defenders or running in a flag. Flag would be immediately next to the cap zone in defenders’ area. Defenders are not allowed to leave their area… Possible one-way barriers leading from attackers’ spawn to the approach to prevent spawnkilling. Approach will have enough lanes that Defenders cannot realistically double team any one lane. Lanes will consist of:
-One long distance (DMR/LightRifle Range) lane, with minimal cover
-Minimum of two mid-range lanes, with moderate cover (Long BR distance at longest, couple obstacles close together)
-Minimum of two short-range lanes, heavy cover and lots of corners
Lanes may be separated from each other, so as not to have the long range lane shooting down on short range lanes, etc. OR Lanes will not have any points high enough as to see down into other lanes well enough to pick off enemy players
At each spawn, there will be an armory. This armory can contain any and all non-power weapons in the game. NO POWER WEAPONS MAY BE PRESENT IN THE GAME AT ANY TIME, SUCH CONDUCT WILL BE VIEWED IN VIOLATION OF THE RULES AND WILL RESULT IN INSTANT DISQUALIFICATION. Teams may have :45 per round to grab weapons and get in position. At that time mark players will begin to play. At this point it is reiterated that defenders may NOT push the attacking spawn, they are solely defensive players and will conduct themselves as such. The farthest their advance may come is the last piece of cover facing the approach.
Any cover in the maps will not be arrayed so as to give the defenders an unfair advantage (Unscaleable walls, “Sniper” towers, single-entrance buildings, etc.). The objective is not to recreate the situation made by raids, in which one side has a distinct unfair advantage, but to give a more even playing field to clans wishing to compete in a more skill-based manner.
Being an idea for a raid replacement, it does not escape me that many clans take a lot of time to make raid maps, even more so now that Halo 5’s forge mode is more complex than ever. It would be a shame to see so many great ideas go to waste, so I think it would be a good idea to repurpose raid maps to suit this new gametype. As long as the criteria set forth for map rules are followed it could work out just fine.
At this point, I’m going to say that I am not really skilled enough or just don’t have the understanding of forge to put this together. I could build a prototype in Halo 4 forge to show you what I’m trying to accomplish, if you need that reference. Any input would be appreciated.Lastly, please note that this is an idea and a prototype. It may not work out, but I’m willing to try it to maybe bring the Halo community together in a way we haven’t seen for a while.
-J