So far, Halo 5 has been great.
Warzone added a fresh feel to the multiplayer experience, and the Arena playlist has been amazing. Of course, the game’s not perfect; but it’s on the way there.
As the title states, I want to talk about the social playlist. Not the weekend playlist(s), or the community playlist, but a dedicated playlist for those not playing in competitive Arena or Warzone.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’ve been very unlucky with my previous Arena matches. I’ll admit; I’m not a pro player, but I consider myself above average. I know how to handle myself when put in tough situations. But whenever I jump into an Arena playlist SOLO, I always end up with a team that pretty doesn’t know what they’re doing. Here’s an example, I will use the KDA as an indication of the players potential skill: My team will have, on average, 2 guys below 2.5 KDA, 1 guy around 3.0, and I’m the only one (well I used to at least) that is above 4.0 and sometimes I’m the only one on my team with a positive KDA. The enemy team however, usually filled with guys above 4.0, sometimes 3.0, and the occasional 2.0. Not to mention I’m always on the side with missing people. I guess going solo in Halo 5 is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the head. Because I’m always stuck with the team that will inevitably lose. My back is not that strong to carry so much.
Alright, enough ranting. Onto the topic at hand.
I feel that a dedicated social playlist will dramatically change way Arena works: for the better. My only answer to the problems I’m having are people who want to play competitively are getting put with people who are playing casually: this ends up with a mixed team of people trying their best with someone who doesn’t even care. The serious player loses, gets demoted and placed with people under their level, and the cycle continues.
Sure, Warzone and Big Team Battle can be the answer casual players are looking for ( which are both extremely fun for casual play): but that’s not the case.
Does anyone remember the social playlist back in Halo 3? Where you can just jump in to play a couple of skirmish games casually without worrying about your rank or KD. And then we had Team Action Sack in Reach and Halo 4, which I felt was a definite highlight for what makes the social playlist so great for Halo.
And the custom games from Halo 3, wow, the memories. Jenga towers, monster trucks, duck hunt, HALO ( the one where everybody had one life and had to complete a giant circuit all while one guy in the middle kills them with snipers, rockets, splasers and whatever was at their disposal, similar to duck hunt but with vehicles.) Griff ball and of course, Infection. Honestly, those were what made Halo so great.
All I’m saying is, if there was a dedicated social playlist, the community in Halo 5 could become so much more. With the addition of Spartan Companies, Halo 5 has easily become a great Halo game. ( Shout out to PartyUpGaming, you guys are family ).
I don’t know when Infection will become official ( because who doesn’t love infection, imagine a 24 player infection game.) But with the file sharing in Halo 5, though not perfect, I think the glory days from Halo 3 and Halo Reach can be relived, and possibly even better.
If anyone reads this, I hope you found what I had to say interesting and I want to know what you guys think about the Social playlist and the Arena playlist currently. Would love to start getting more active in the forums and help make Halo 5 the Halo game it deserves to be. And I truly believe this is all possible, because 343i is listening to us.
Let our voices be heard Spartans.
Sincerely,
N1pple Viking.