Response: Halo 5 is too Competitive

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

This thread is a response to the recent “Halo 5 is too competitive” thread, and I will explain why Halo 5 “Feels” too competitive.
Halo 5 has a lot of issues, some of which the community is not aware of, which seems to be a huge problem considering we have threads that think this game has “low” aim assist… The facts are.

  • Halo 5 has a large amount of Aim assist that is more sticky than other Halo games. - Halo 5 has a smaller amount of Bullet magnetism compared to Halo 4, but it is still significant. - Halo 5 has faster and easier to obtain kill times - Halo 5 has Primary weapons, and Power weapons… Other Halo’s have had a diverse armory, with “Specialized” weapons that do different things besides “kill” - Halo 5 has faster gameplay period, including how fast some weapons fire.The Aim Assist-
    Previously, many were complaining about the “weird” aiming system in Halo 5, which I would agree with is somewhat messy, but is this really what makes the community dislike the aiming so much? Whenever you drag your reticule across an enemy in Halo 5 your reticule becomes harder to take off target than on. If you do not believe me just try shooting a fusion coil when an enemy is next to it. It is harder to take your reticule OFF target than it is to put it ON.

This is not an opinion, the facts are that Halo 5 has an enormous amount of aim assist, which I think is actually what “messes” people up, but at the same time makes it easier for Noobs to get a kill at the same time. Why?
Well if your are an experienced Halo player, you are not usually expecting such “sticky” aim assist, and when this happens, it can confuse the player. Not only is there are large amount of Aim assist, but this aim assist can seem dormant from certain ranges with certain weapons. For instance, the pistol is (in my opinion) to easy to use from Mid range, and stupidly random at close range. This is because at mid-range with the magnum, aim assist activates and takes control over a players aim, but when close to a target aim assist is dormant, which is not only confusing to most players, but I would argue is terrible weapon/aiming design. My reasons for this are because the weapon’s aiming should “feel” the same from close range to mid range to long range. So now the question is… Why did 343i do this?
343i is desperately trying to attract players to play their game, this means they need to make the game fun for casual players, but for some reason 343i (someone there anyways) seems to think that they need to make Noobs be able to do better, even when talking about simple aiming. The facts are you can make a game fun for casuals without making them killing machines, but this must be absent from the mind of 343i.
Again, with the aim assist, it is very large and can mess with players aim, but at the same time An extremely large amount of aim assist will offer noobs a very good chance at getting all their shots in, which makes the game have more of an even playing field in terms of “skill” Therefore, Halo 5 has a small skill-gap compared to other Halo games, and I haven’t even talked about the rest of the above bullets yet.
The Bullet Magnetism-
Although Halo 5 does have a smaller amount of Bullet magnetism compared to Halo 4, and maybe even Reach, Halo 5 still has Bullet magnetism towards the head, and not either (the closest body part that the reticule is next to) or (no magnetism if your reticule is on the enemy’s body anyways). This problem has been persistent in all Halo games besides Halo 3 and maybe Halo CE, and this is just one of the reasons why I hold Halo 3 in higher regards compared to other Halo games. (Halo 3 probably did have Bullet magnetism towards the head, but it was much lesser than the others)
Anyways, back to my point, because Halo 5 has a large amount of bullet magnetism towards the head it makes getting headshots a lot easier than it should be, and might as well give them out like Gummy Bears to an obese child.
The Kill TImes-

Halo 5 has very fast kill times, which I’m sure everyone has noticed one way or another, but what does this actually do to the gameplay? Previous Halo’s have had (what I would say) two priorities if someone wants to “git gud”.
Priorities-

  • Have a decent amount of “aiming” skill - Be able to hit targets just as good as you can strafe out of the enemy’s reticuleBoth of these requirements are absent in Halo 5. This is partially due to the fast kill times integrated into Halo 5. Just think about it for a minute, the faster the kill times are, the less amount of time required to keep your reticule on target and the less amount of time being able to effectively strafe. Both of these go hand in hand and because of the faster kill times in Halo 5 both of these become less reasonable to do. And back to the aim-assist category, because it’s easier to aim and hit your target, the “effective” kill time has gone up, therefore making the game more Noob- friendly.

The Weapons-

Halo 5 has a lot of weapons… A lot of weapons which all can effectively kill in their manufactured ranges. (except the plasma pistol) Some may think that this is “balanced”, but I would say this makes Halo something it should not be. Halo has been about being able to “out skill” your opponent, not saying, “I have the SMG therefore I will always win at close range against a BR user”. This is EXACTLY what happens in Halo 5. For a fact, Halo 3 was not like this unless the two players skill levels were different, meaning that if the SMG user was bad enough, he would get killed by the BR user. This is not me saying “the BR should be the weapon of choice all the time”, but I will say that an FPS should always have a weapons that is overall good, BUT THAT WEAPON SHOULD ALWAYS TAKE MORE SKILL THAN ANY OTHER PRIMARY WEAPONS IN THAT GIVEN GAME. I would argue that Halo 3 did this, but of course this is my opinion.

Another good point to make about Halo 5 is that there aren’t very many specialized weapons, unless they are power-weapons, and even those aren’t exactly specialized for a 1 hit kill. Just look at any of the previous Halo weapons that now, In Halo 5, Have become killing machines and some are almost equal to each-other. One example is the storm rifle, where the only “real” difference is that it doesn’t do headshot damage compared to the SMG, where headshot damage can become completely random, which again, I think is poor game design.

Edit: RESPONSE- Halo 5 has so many things that make it easy, that almost everyone is a decent player, even if they suck, which means that Halo 5 seems more competitive simply because everyone else is decent. That is my response based on the above contraption.

2

good post. I was always wondering why it was so impossible to aim close range with precision weapons and now that you laid it out for me it makes sense. I absolutely despise the aim assist in this game but i guess youre right about that noob thing. Im onyx in slayer and i get my -Yoink- whupped by platinums sometimes because of the low skill gap. Frustrating to say the least.

3

Sooooo this makes the game more casual?

4

you guys must be on drugs this is the most balanced shooter. like ever. every weaopn has a counter . every weapon hasa distinct use. every move and every single shot your emeny team can also replicate it.

5

> 2533274816735326;4:
> you guys must be on drugs this is the most balanced shooter. like ever. every weaopn has a counter . every weapon hasa distinct use. every move and every single shot your emeny team can also replicate it.

I’m going to address this here in a bit

6

How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?

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> 2533274815582829;6:
> How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?

not my making it so noob friendly that when i get rekt i dont know if the guys platinum or onyx. Has nothing to do with balance just tge way the game plays out. Look at cs go. Older than halo and yet they stuck to their core and are bigfer than ever before. Adding this much aim assist was a huge mistake

8

I think the reason some people think its too competitive might also be being used to other styles of games. Like Halo its a lot harder for a novice player to get a good kill on a better player due to things like shields and boosts. Even if you do have a BR and randomly get a head shot you need 3 more to put me down. In CoD for example running around a corner and randomly hip firing at an enemy can result in a single shot to the head kill. So it is harder for players to be as “lucky” and thus think they are better in Halo than other games.

9

Huh. Good explanation, I never would’ve figured. However, I would still argue that the game feels more competitive, despite some noob-friendly additions. It has to do with the atmosphere of the community that plays the game, not the game itself. If Super Monkey Ball Deluxe suddenly got a community obsessed with beating every level without losing any lives, I’d argue that game is too competitive.

10

> 2533274832140639;1:
> The Aim Assist-
>
> Previously, many were complaining about the “weird” aiming system in Halo 5, which I would agree with is somewhat messy, but is this really what makes the community dislike the aiming so much? Whenever you drag your reticule across an enemy in Halo 5 your reticule becomes harder to take off target than on. If you do not believe me just try shooting a fusion coil when an enemy is next to it. It is harder to take your reticule OFF target than it is to put it ON.
>
> This is not an opinion, the facts are that Halo 5 has an enormous amount of aim assist, which I think is actually what “messes” people up, but at the same time makes it easier for Noobs to get a kill at the same time. Why?
>
> Well if your are an experienced Halo player, you are not usually expecting such “sticky” aim assist, and when this happens, it can confuse the player. Not only is there are large amount of Aim assist, but this aim assist can seem dormant from certain ranges with certain weapons. For instance, the pistol is (in my opinion) to easy to use from Mid range, and stupidly random at close range. This is because at mid-range with the magnum, aim assist activates and takes control over a players aim, but when close to a target aim assist is dormant, which is not only confusing to most players, but I would argue is terrible weapon/aiming design. My reasons for this are because the weapon’s aiming should “feel” the same from close range to mid range to long range. So now the question is… Why did 343i do this?

I think you are right that the reticule is more sticky, but I’m pretty sure the aim assist ANGLES have been reduced, with the magnum having the lowest/narrowest angle and thus being the hardest to aim (no data, just feel here…though you know I’m right :wink: ). So while you are correct, it really depends on what people mean when they say ‘aim assist’. It does feel it has the lowest since halo 3, in terms of ‘when’ it kicks in. But once it does kick in, it is fairly effective.

To illustrate this concept, play Halo 4 on campaign then in MM. The aim assist ANGLE on the autos is significantly reduced in MM (Halo 4 Turbo update), but the stickiness isn’t any different. However, aiming the assault rifle in MM is still much harder than in campaign. So, this is obviously another factor that must be considered.

11

> 2533274815582829;6:
> How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?

One way is to not have a ranking system where you have to get -Yoink- whooped 10 games in a row in order to be ranked. Even better, not have that happen in almost every playlist.

12

> 2533274819567236;11:
> > 2533274815582829;6:
> > How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?
>
>
> One way is to not have a ranking system where you have to get -Yoink- whooped 10 games in a row in order to be ranked. Even better, not have that happen in almost every playlist.

1 way would be to git gud and stop crying

13

> 2535419424673576;7:
> > 2533274815582829;6:
> > How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?
>
>
> not my making it so noob friendly that when i get rekt i dont know if the guys platinum or onyx. Has nothing to do with balance just tge way the game plays out. Look at cs go. Older than halo and yet they stuck to their core and are bigfer than ever before. Adding this much aim assist was a huge mistake

Maybe. But those of us with limited time to play still want to have an enjoyable experience. I loved Halo 4 because I could play once in a while and still hold my own. I was never great. The better skilled players will still get to the top.

If you go back to 3 (and I was introduced to halo with 3), nobody new will stick around. You can only get molly-wopped so many times before you move on to something else. For me it was the story that kept me around. Had we had a campaign like this back in Halo 3 it’s very likely I wouldnt be here right now.

14

> 2533274815582829;6:
> How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?

Social slayer, you pit them against themselves if the Trueskill is even decent.

15

> 2533274902478287;12:
> > 2533274819567236;11:
> > > 2533274815582829;6:
> > > How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?
> >
> >
> > One way is to not have a ranking system where you have to get -Yoink- whooped 10 games in a row in order to be ranked. Even better, not have that happen in almost every playlist.
>
>
> 1 way would be to git gud and stop crying

You obviously don’t have a full time job, family, and real world obligations that take the majority of your time. Some of us play in the small period of down time we have. If we don’t find it enjoyable, then we move on. I don’t have time to GET BETTER (community spelling and grammar is atrocious) I just want to enjoy the small time I have to enjoy my favorite series.

16

> 2535468295182479;9:
> Huh. Good explanation, I never would’ve figured. However, I would still argue that the game feels more competitive, despite some noob-friendly additions. It has to do with the atmosphere of the community that plays the game, not the game itself. If Super Monkey Ball Deluxe suddenly got a community obsessed with beating every level without losing any lives, I’d argue that game is too competitive.

The ranking system is actually fairly good, and 343i’s false emphasis on Competitiveness also makes the game feel more competitive, but I would say that even MLG doesn’t know what truly makes a game competitive.

17

> 2533274902478287;12:
> > 2533274819567236;11:
> > > 2533274815582829;6:
> > > How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?
> >
> >
> > One way is to not have a ranking system where you have to get -Yoink- whooped 10 games in a row in order to be ranked. Even better, not have that happen in almost every playlist.
>
>
> 1 way would be to git gud and stop crying

Hard for new players to do that with a -Yoink- ranking system. That’s my point.

18

> 2533274902478287;10:
> > 2533274832140639;1:
> > The Aim Assist-
> >
> > Previously, many were complaining about the “weird” aiming system in Halo 5, which I would agree with is somewhat messy, but is this really what makes the community dislike the aiming so much? Whenever you drag your reticule across an enemy in Halo 5 your reticule becomes harder to take off target than on. If you do not believe me just try shooting a fusion coil when an enemy is next to it. It is harder to take your reticule OFF target than it is to put it ON.
> >
> > This is not an opinion, the facts are that Halo 5 has an enormous amount of aim assist, which I think is actually what “messes” people up, but at the same time makes it easier for Noobs to get a kill at the same time. Why?
> >
> > Well if your are an experienced Halo player, you are not usually expecting such “sticky” aim assist, and when this happens, it can confuse the player. Not only is there are large amount of Aim assist, but this aim assist can seem dormant from certain ranges with certain weapons. For instance, the pistol is (in my opinion) to easy to use from Mid range, and stupidly random at close range. This is because at mid-range with the magnum, aim assist activates and takes control over a players aim, but when close to a target aim assist is dormant, which is not only confusing to most players, but I would argue is terrible weapon/aiming design. My reasons for this are because the weapon’s aiming should “feel” the same from close range to mid range to long range. So now the question is… Why did 343i do this?
>
>
> I think you are right that the reticule is more sticky, but I’m pretty sure the aim assist ANGLES have been reduced, with the magnum having the lowest/narrowest angle and thus being the hardest to aim (no data, just feel here…though you know I’m right :wink: ). So while you are correct, it really depends on what people mean when they say ‘aim assist’. It does feel it has the lowest since halo 3, in terms of ‘when’ it kicks in. But once it does kick in, it is fairly effective.
>
> To illustrate this concept, play Halo 4 on campaign then in MM. The aim assist ANGLE on the autos is significantly reduced in MM (Halo 4 Turbo update), but the stickiness isn’t any different. However, aiming the assault rifle in MM is still much harder than in campaign. So, this is obviously another factor that must be considered.

yes, though the magnum has a Lower aim assist (bubble), the thickness of the stickiness is enormous. This means that “swiping” your reticule over an enemy to get a your shots in is awkward, because of how fast the magnum shoots and how high the stickiness is.

19

> 2533274832140639;14:
> > 2533274815582829;6:
> > How do you make a game fun for a new casual player in a game that primary purpose is to kill opposing players without giving them a fighting chance against skilled players who have bee playing for up to 14 years?
>
>
> Social slayer, you pit them against themselves if the Trueskill is even decent.

But we know its not. And we know about the Halo 3 de-rankers that needed to feel better about themselves in social settings. Honestly there really is no perfect answer. No silver bullet so to speak. The developers just need to try to strike the best balance they can. The weakest will say its not enough, the most skilled will say its too much, and everyone else will pick their sides.

20

Can someone explain to me what is so drastically different about this game vs other FPS where the playing a huge amount should matter. I mean if you are complaining you don’t know the maps and the other team memorizes the spawns I’m 100% with you, THAT SUCKS, I can’t even play CoD outside of zombies cause people with no lives ruining the game that way and I don’t like it enough to play enough to learn them. However it seems more like the biggest issues relate to control/interface issues…that pretty much every modern FPS uses. So if you are complaining about things related to map memory or others directly related to play time like not enough reqs I’m with you, but if its about aim assist being so crazy or sprint…what other games do you play cause every one is like that? -Yoink- biggest difference for me in Blops 3 vs Halo for controls is, 1 bumper activating an armor ability vs hitting both to activate it (if you use the right control set up).