So seems to be more and more people with smurf issues. With arguments on both sides. But lets REALLY break down why people have smurfs.
1. Higher ranked players that cannot find games at particular hours of day because the population of Onyx+ is tiny.
2. Higher ranked players who want to play with lower ranked friends. To stop themselves ranking down and their friend not having fun getting destroyed.
3. Higher ranked players that want to play Arena game types but do not want to have to get sweaty every game to stop ranking down.
4. Higher ranked players that simply want to destroy lower ranked players because its fun and less intense.
If I am missing a major reason to have a smurf chime in. But I believe the reasons to have a smurf draws out bigger issues about the game.
Lets look at the 4 big reasons I addressed and see what the solution is.
1. Unable to find games. This part really sucks, if youre an Onyx level player I can imagine you have experienced not being able to find a Slayer or Arena game at particular hours, population for FFA is so bad in Australia that until search preferences were added I could not find games EVER.
You want to play CTF on Fathom but are forced to play warzone because its the only place you can find a game at 12 pm on a weeknight.
Small population online is the issue here. How do we fix it.
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Fun, interesting game modes and maps. While we have some cool stuff now, there is a clear problem in the amount of playlists and fun people are having within them. Otherwise we wouldnt have a population problem. The game is dying. And while the new Req’s and stuff are interesting its not happening fast enough. Just add more playlists, people will come.
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Adding Arena Social as a playlist. “there is always warzone” is just about the stupidest thing people say when it comes to social playlists. If you want to play CTF you have 2 choices. Arena or Big team. But maybe you prefer the 4v4 environment and maps. So you only have Arena. But if you dont want to pretend youre in CLG playing Arena at a high level isnt fun.
2. I bet everyone experiences this. Whether youre a high ranked or low ranked. You have a friend or sibling on the other end of the spectrum. Myself for example have my brother, who is not gifted in FPS. He would be a gold. I am an onyx. In ranked he just gets demolished. He can go games without even getting one clean up kill with a grenade. Meanwhile I rank down because I can only carry so much.
If we dont want to play Arena because he is getting destroyed we have 2 options. Big team and Warzone. But I prefer 4v4 mid sized maps and he hates warzone. That leaves us with nothing we really want to play.
Playlist options is the issue here. Solution.
- Add social Arena. Even just one. Copy and paste every map and game type from Arena and Slayer and take off ranking. DONE. Big team or warzone is not a substitute for CTF on Truth. I can play 4v4 games with my brother without worrying about his enjoyment or my rank.
3. Esports focus seems to be a concern for many on Halo 5. Some dont like getting sweaty. Maybe you are winding down after work, or maybe its saturday night and you have had 12 beers. You want to play Strong holds and slayer. But not big team because you like 4v4 and the maps suited to 8 players. Maybe you dont want to worry about your rank, or maybe never cared but are sick of getting destroyed by organized teams.
Issue. Playlist options.
- Adding a Social ARENA playlist. Would allow higher level players that want to relax, are drunk, etc etc to play Arena game types without the sweatiness of worrying about ranks or playing people who are sweaty worrying about their rank.
4. Higher level players that want to destroy others for fun. Its funny, this used to be the main reason to have a smurf. Back in Halo 3 I used to love creating a new 1 month trial account with my friend. Play doubles and DEMOLISH low ranked players. At the end of the month our rank was high again. But we would just make another. Other people use smurfs to try and get monster multikills for montages or their ego.
Truth is you will never stop people from wanting todo this. Its fun it really is. If youre so used to guys that 4 shot you most of the time, or no scope you across map. Jumping in and stringing overkills together is alot of fun.
So yeah. We have 4 main reasons to have a smurf. 3 of them there is something to be done. 3/4 Reasons I pointed about have the same solution, the SAME SOLUTION!!!
SOCIAL ARENA PLAYLIST. FROM DAY ONE! we have been asking for Arena social playlists DAY ONE.
When people are creating Smurf accounts to relax on you know there is a problem. Low ranked players are getting pissed off from getting destroyed by smurfs and leaving. High ranked players are getting pissed because to play casual 4v4 games or FFA they have to create an entire new account which is making players leave.
343i I beg you. You may think the population cannot support more playlists. But the lack of playlists is making people leave, Halo is bleeding… and Bad. More playlists may seem like a bandaid or bandage solution but its the only way to stop the bleeding. We need to hang on to what blood we have left, and if the gash that’s spraying the population on the floor is covered, the body ie Halo will produce more blood cells and fill the population again.
Add the playlists. Dont let the statistics of the Weekend playlists dissuade you. The population isnt going to bounce back in the millions over night. Give the player base a chance to come back and hang onto what players we have left. There has been 1,000,000 threads on adding Social Playlists like every other halo before it. You dont need to create new Req’s for it, You dont need to make new maps or game types. All you have todo is add a extra tab to the playlist section.
The fire fight update is coming. Which is amazing. But if Fire fight is the only reason for people to return to Halo its NOT going to keep them around for long. Players will return for Fire fight, but they will stay for the playlists they know and love that were absent and the reason for leaving in the first place.
/END RANT!