Spectator mode is required to revive Halo

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

To put it bluntly, competitive Halo is dying. It has been quite some time since MLG featured Halo as its main competitive game. Halo, a game that provided a competitive experience that was fun enough to watch to allow MLG to grow into what it is today. And with the arrival of Halo 4, MLG dropped Halo.

This thread focuses on one of the reasons of why this has happened: all Halos so far lack a spectator mode. Other popular games such as LoL, SC, CS, Quake and even call of duty (a console shooter) have spectator modes, where Halo doesn’t. It is a major disadvantage due to the costs of broadcasting professional gameplay of every player’s perspective. Spectator mode allows a single screen to show all player’s perspectives, instead of requiring one camera and more for each screen.

APolishKorean (APK) sums all of it up quite nicely in this youtube video. That video inspired me to make this thread, all credit goes to him.

This thread is to bring attention to the importance of including a spectator mode for Halo 5. Seize this opportunity to also optimise theatre mode: add rewinding, allow for watching clips with multiple people in your party again etc.

How would you envision spectator mode?

EDIT: some of you would start flaming once they see anything “MLG”. I would just like to say: MLG was important for Halo because it put a spotlight on Halo and by doing so attracted new players. Large tournaments also encourage players to get better at the game. This is also true the other way around; the more players leave, the faster other players will leave as well, which is what happened to Halo 4.

EDIT 2: I don’t know where you guys are getting the “spectator mode is going to save halo” message out of this. The title says that spectator mode is one of the elements required to revive competitive Halo. Of course the revival supports itsself 90% on solid gameplay. But this thread is to bring attention to something that is quickly overlooked.

2

Call me blind… But i seriously doubt something as ‘‘spectator mode’’ could revive Halo.

And Halo isn’t even dead… It’s merely all the impatient Bungie loyalists who couldn’t handle the change, that left. (Not trying to flame those guys, they have their opinions too)

Honestly… If Halo needs to be saved from the so-called ‘‘dying’’ I’d say classic playlists and more refined multiplayer is what it takes, not a way to observe a battle.

3

I know right? Because god forbid good gameplay and replayability factors. God forbid long campaigns, excellent level design, great graphics, amazing story. You know what? Who cares about campaign anyways? We only need a spectator mode. Actually, I have a great idea! Halo 5: Spectating Evolved! No campaign, multiplayer, you can only analyze videos! WHOAH! In all seriousness, OP, lack of theatre is less important than the other shortages of content in Halo 4.

4

Dude I totally agree you know what else would be a cherry on the top the cake
-Descope back
-being able to move while I look at the scoreboard
-weapons on the map again not drops
-4 shot BR to be in at launch
-In game ranks
-No sprint gametypes at launch
-ranked and social playlist
-Clan matches
-No perks
-armor abilities like thruster where it’s not OP like the jet pack and armor lock as a example
-spectator mode
-remove boltshot you should never have a one shot weapon at spawn
-no over flux of large and in charge maps keep a good balance and for god sakes make em good
-red X’s at launch
-add more weapons
-duel wielding would be nice to comeback
That’s just some I can come up with to the top of my head, what people don’t understand is that halo is not dyeing in a casual aspect but a competitive aspect. Which made the replay value longer because a lot of people had something to work for and it’s always beneficial to have your game on MLG because that’s really good advertising which is very beneficial to the GAME!

(Also I have a idea for Frankie who didn’t like the black market 50’s in 3, since every Xbox one comes with a Kinect and it has facial recognition they can use that to have your facial structure like linked to your acc only for Halo and if someone try’s to access your acc it could give them no access to multiplayer or something along those lines, just a ramble but if they implement this right then there really is no excuse for not having in game ranks.)

5

Spectator mode will not magicaly revive halo, but I will be honest, I think it is a feature that is somewhat necessary, if not, at least it is convenient, competitive halo turned alot of heads back in day and was super popular but unfortunately CoD did kill its reign cause its gameplay was just more “competitive” at the time, now a days it just feels repetitive, after MW2 I personally stopped buying and just go to friends house to see if anything worthwhile.

And competition is in our nature, more or less depending on the person of course. To revive the mp side of the franchise, the gameplay has to be new, fresh, exciting, while having core values intact (i.e. 4sk br, 5sk dmr, dual wielding, descope, and things that pertain to shooting) also the distribution of weapons/AAs/power ups needs tuning, I’d honestly like to see AAs on the map like h3 equipment, power weapons on the map, and the power ups through ordnance. And sprint should never be removed EVARRRR it honestly fits in well and does not create moments of sluggish boredem, and that is the last thing halo needs, boredem.

Sorry if that seemed so off topic XD
But spectator mode needs a home in this franchise when you have a function like theatre, and I would honestly prefer it over firefight and Spops at this point unless they can make Spops worthwhile

6

> Call me blind… But i seriously doubt something as ‘‘spectator mode’’ could revive Halo.
>
> And Halo isn’t even dead… It’s merely all the impatient Bungie loyalists who couldn’t handle the change, that left. (Not trying to flame those guys, they have their opinions too)
>
> Honestly… If Halo needs to be saved from the so-called ‘‘dying’’ I’d say classic playlists and more refined multiplayer is what it takes, not a way to observe a battle.

> I know right? Because god forbid good gameplay and replayability factors. God forbid long campaigns, excellent level design, great graphics, amazing story. You know what? Who cares about campaign anyways? We only need a spectator mode. Actually, I have a great idea! Halo 5: Spectating Evolved! No campaign, multiplayer, you can only analyze videos! WHOAH! In all seriousness, OP, lack of theatre is less important than the other shortages of content in Halo 4.

what the actual -blam!- guys. Way to miss my point entirely.

First of all, Halo in general is indeed not dead. No matter what, Halo 5 to 7 are going to be released and will be …good games. Of that I am sure. No matter how bad Halo 5, the potential tipping point, is, people will still enjoy its semi balanced multiplayer for what it is. On a casual level. Just like people still play Halo 4 now. (I will ignore the low population for now.)

However, competitive Halo IS dying. Look at the Halo events we have now. We have AGL 1 to 10, one UMG event featuring Halo… And the global championship. And that’s it. MLG used to have 600+ teams entering the competition, duking it out on the mainstage with hundreds of people in the room. Now, AGL has about 14 teams entering the tournament… and the ‘mainstage’ is pretty pathetic when you compare it to what MLG has. Can you imagine what would happen if H5 is equally as disappointing as H4 was on release? Competitive Halo would certainly die if H5 would turn out to be a flop.

Second, OF COURSE gameplay needs to be pristine if Halo wants to come out on top when H5 releases. Trust me, i can go on for ages about how I feel gameplay should be for H5. But that is entirely besides the point of this thread. Of course spectator mode isn’t going to magically make MLG pick up a bad game.

The point of this thread is to bring attention to the fact that the opposite is true: Even if Halo 5 has gameplay that is as renewing, balanced and ultracompetitive as Halo 2 was when it released for example, it is never going to reclaim its throne as the number one game to be featured by MLG. Not because call of duty and starcraft are better, but because those games are much cheaper to host because they have spectator mode.

Games featured in high-stakes tournaments gain a lot of attention, drawing in more players and encouraging players to play more and to improve their skills. This means higher populations for matchmaking, which results in better matches and better connections for all skill levels.

Adding a spectator mode shouldn’t be hard, and its benefits GREATLY outweigh the effort that goes into it. Unlike focusing on l33t graphics or long campaigns that are only played through once in my opinion. Or taking the time to develop a skin for a gametype that shouldn’t even have its own playlist in my opinion (Flood).

If I won’t bring this to the attention of the community and 343i, who else is?

7

I don’t think spectator mode is this saving grace, but I think the feature is over due for Halo. Watching theater clips of friends games is cool, but to be able to watch something like a 1v1 in real time in a friends game would be the bees knees.

8

> I don’t think spectator mode is this saving grace, but I think the feature is over due for Halo. Watching theater clips of friends games is cool, but to be able to watch something like a 1v1 in real time in a friends game would be the bees knees.

I never said it would be a saving grace, my point is basically the same as described in aPK’s video; if Halo refuses to include a spectator mode for Halo 5, it will be very bad news for the competitive community as the odds of Halo 5 being picked up by MLG will be very slim. But thanks for the support.