It had been a couple of months since I had played Reach for a variety of reasons, mainly because I was busy but recently I bought CEA so I jumped back into matchmaking. But all of a sudden the main reason that Reach is incredibly frustrating cropped up once again. There are periods of 2-3 games where I have a lot of fun and it is fine to play. But I must say every couple of games I just throw my controller down in disgust. What exactly am I talking about, betrayals, more specifically betraying for weapons.
Obviously not a new topic, but this just happened to me and I feel the need to talk about it on 343’s website because they will be making the next several Halo games. Obviously the ability to damage your team mates has been around since 2001 but with each new iteration of the game it seems to get worse and worse. Betrayal booting does nothing because most internet trolls are smart enough not to kill you and just constantly attack and harass you. Booting used to be moderately helpful when it was a one and done system when Reach was first released but since it was changed to the new system it is useless.
I’m certain that I’m not the only one who has had this issue and it is one that is detrimental to one’s overall enjoyment of the game. For example I have just taken Reach out of my Xbox and I doubt I’ll be playing it for a long time because I was reminded of how horrendous this issue is.
What is the answer though? Removing team damage has been suggested but that has always been an element of Halo multiplayer so I’m not sure that’s it. A different booting system maybe? One that counts damage dealt to you by team mates and gives you the option to boot after a certain point? If implemented correctly perhaps, but like anything it has potential for abuse.
Of course it’s not just an issue with the game but with the players themselves. Can we ever have an online experience completely free of morons? No, most likely not. Is it a change in the community? Or is it just the way video games are now? Regardless of the reason the problem needs to be dealt with.
I’m not saying it’s an easy fix, making games fun is seldom easy, but it is definitely something 343 needs to address in their next multiplayer. For the first time in 10 years I find myself really not wanting to play Halo because of this, it’s sad really.
/semi-rant