I have been comparing the matchmaking gameplay characteristics and policies of many FPS games to come up with some solutions and ideas for Halo’s matchmaking.
I learned that what makes other games’ online gameplay so fun and stress free (which is the purpose of gaming…to have fun!) is the ability to play to your style without worry. How have other games accomplished this, while keeping everyone happy?
I noticed a few things that I list below for you to see:
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Games like COD and BF have always split their matchmaking playlists into two types: Regular (Social) and Hardcore, with the Regular mode being the most played.
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The other games offer warnings about idling before booting and differentiate between connection issues and habitual quitting, thereby avoid punishing (banning) innocent players.
Why has this worked for these titles?
1a) The Regular playlists do not allow friendly fire, thereby allowing you to play HOWEVER you very well please, without worrying about newbies running into your bullets/nades and booting you (etc). You also do not have to worry about betrayals if you enjoy going all out and destroying the enemy team with as much force as possible in aggressive and insane tactics; many people want to game like they’re in an action movie and just go berserk (bullet/nade frenzy and non-stop combat).
1b) The Regular playlists are also hugely successful because they reward the INDIVIDUAL for playing well and do not attach a team score to your overall progress. Basically, as long as you try, you will earn points and rank up regardless. These Regular playlists also never rank you down, no matter what happens…you can only earn points, not lose them.
HOWEVER: How do these games successfully keep the competitive player happy? Read on to find out.
2a) The Hardcore playlists include friendly fire and betrayals, so watch where you shoot and lob nades because if you accidentally kill your teammates, they reserve the right to kick you with the game tallying up your betrayals and issuing temporary bans for your offenses.
2b) The Hardcore playlists offer competitive ranking where you only rank up if your team wins and you rank down if you lose, so you MUST have excellent teamwork if you plan on moving up the ranks, otherwise you will go nowhere as a lone wolf. Note: I know that games like BF/COD don’t rank down in Hardcore either, but the point is that by separating Halo’s competitive ranking (where you can rank down) into separate playlists like in BF/COD could be beneficial for the other reasons listed here.
I truly believe that Halo needs to update its matchmaking system, which has been largely unchanged since H2-3. Social Playlists aren’t even an option anymore because they don’t offer any rewards, you simply play, win or lose, and that’s it. That is why I think 343 has been hesitant to add them. In H3, social playlists were a hit, but they did have almost no active games in later months/years because people couldn’t rank up or earn anything in them, so they saw no reason to enjoy them, even though they were stress free and fun.
That is why I think splitting matchmaking into Hardcore (Competitive Ranking) and Social (Progressive Ranking) playlists is the best solution to Halo’s wonky matchmaking system. It offers the ultra-competitive players options to compete against another with no remorse: you can rank up or down depending on your team play, and friendly fire is on for more realism, so watch your fire. It also offers casual and relaxed play for the non-competitive player who should not be alienated for not wanting to play stressful league style games…basically, you get to play and have fun without worrying about betrayals and being ranked down for whatever reason, but still get to rank up in your playlists.
You will be able to earn points and rank up via two different and independent systems, but both lead to unlocks, and if you play in both, you will earn double the points toward unlocks. Plus, earning points in either playlist will contribute toward an overall rank without taking anything away…you can only rank down in your individual Hardcore playlists.
Every other game out there (even non-FPS games lol) offer this in matchmaking nowadays and every part of the community is happy, while keeping banning to a minimum. Seriously these other games have almost no banning and there are no cheaters/exploiters because there is no incentive to cheat since the Regular playlists have progressive ranking where you cannot go down, thus the trolling is almost nill because they cannot harm you, nor your stats (except win/loss) by acting a fool on your team.
Since H2, Halo has alienated most of its community by forcing everyone to play in competitive styles, but also punishing the casual player by offering no points/rewards for playing in social-type playlists. This is not about converting Halo into a BF/COD game, but rather a Halo veteran stating that a complete overhaul of the traditional Halo matchmaking system is necessary for Halo to survive. Seriously, much of the unfairness and many of the issues that existed in matchmaking since H2 are still inherent in H5 and that is unacceptable.
I have based my ideas off of my gaming experience which includes over 30,000 games in Halo online (played since H2 over three different accounts, which you can explore in my profile), probably around 100k+ multiplayer games across BF/COD, plus thousands of online matches in other non-FPS games.
Please make your selection in my poll and offer your opinion below. Thanks for reading!
