The lack of content in ranked (i.e. maps and guns)

Games Halo Infinite
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First things first, lets ignore HCS. Ranked should not be balanced around HCS. Ranked is not HCS. All there is to it. If pros want the game to be like HCS, they can do so in scrimmages. End of story.

We have 11 maps currently in the game for arena. 2 of them are legitimately unplayable and unfun for ranked (Behemoth and Launch Site) so its understandable they were removed. So 9 maps. 5 of which, they removed from ranked rotation. Bazaar can be largely fixed by removing CTF, Catalyst and argyle were fine enough, the community/pros shouldn’t have dictatorial say over what maps are good enough.
I don’t think we should remove maps just because they aren’t perfect or the playerbase doesn’t 100% like it. Look at one of the most popular comp shooters out, Valorant, they nearly refuse to remove maps from ranked playlist except under certain circumstances. At the end of the day, if the map is fixable with different weapons/spawns/etc, there’s no reason to not fix it quickly and put it back into ranked. Those maps ARE NOT that miserable (the legit only map I felt was miserable was Behemoth).

When my friends who took a hiatus after the game released due to lack of content, ask me if they added any content, and I legit have to tell them, they removed content, it feels terrible and shameful that I even still support the game.
With ranked being a popular gamemode, its unnacceptable to have so little content. And with this next update, they are also removing weapons as well, making it even more dull (we already don’t have ravager, hydra, or cindershot, and now we are losing…the energy sword too?? Along with the mangler and PC?)
Cycling through livefire and streets for 3 hours is absolutely boring. This isn’t the HCS, this isn’t for money, this is about having fun while also grinding rank. There can be a balance, keep all “playable” maps and just rebalance them with changing weapons/spawns,etc. but also keep maps like Behemoth or Launch site out of the rotation permanently.

And what hurts even more is I was just telling my friend the fact they’re adding two maps, and I found out THEY AREN’T EVEN IN THE RANKED POOL for s3. This is embarrassing man. I get if they make one for social and the other for comp, but they aren’t even considering putting EITHER map in the ranked pool? So, for ranked-only players, we are getting a gun and a new ability, as well as 343 adding in a OLD map back into the pool, with 3 weapons being removed…sick…

As a ranked player, I feel like I’m getting thrusted at every point of this games development. With the broken ranked system, and the massive desync, it makes me not want to really play the game until I feel like there is even a modicum of content for ranked.
Also, the fact there’s one forge map in the pool and its not even community made is telling. There should already be 2-3 community maps running in the pool (obviously with testing first). They can all be remakes for all I care, JUST ADD SOMETHING!!!

TLDR: HCS shouldn’t dictate the map/gun pool. The game should be able to balance fun and competitiveness and it feels like 343 is not. Especially when BOTH maps added in season 3 will not ever be in ranked. Content is important, even if its for a competitive gamemode. It is still a popular mode and should be treated as such.

Note: Just wanted to say, you can check my halotracker, but I am onyx, so I’m not just some noob who wants competitive to be turned into a social gamemode without any restrictions on gameplay. Even at a high level, there should still be an element of variety and fun because thats what games are all about…fun.

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Even if you weren’t Onyx, there is a wide range of possible ranks and surely it’s supposed to be fun at all ranks. Maybe their opinion isn’t going to be the be the last word in competitive balance but it’s still relevant.

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This might just be me, but I felt that the best way to ease people into a more competitive format was to find a good middle ground to keep players from getting overwhelmed at how different the atmosphere can be by just tossing them into a full on competitive format. They can still have official ranked formats bare in mind, but also offer some that still retains some of it’s social aspects to keep the changes from being overwhelming, which many could see as a turn off.

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Halo 3 did it right. Ranked playlist and a separate MLG playlist. It’s kind of wild we have to play pro rules, pro approved maps, and pro approved weapon’s especially since that’s now essentially down to 3 weapons and 2 maps

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Wish I could like this ten times. Everything you said is spot-on. The removal of maps and weapons that are only “broken” when played by the best 1% of players makes it a pretty miserable experience for the rest of us. Ranked is not HCS, and tuning it to HCS was a mistake.

Ranked is effectively Streets and Live Fire with a thinner weapons sandbox than when we started (which was already thin), and no real outlook for new maps or net new weapons/equipment (given all the removals) in the short or medium term. The population is already very poor, and S3 looks like it’s going the wrong direction still. So… yeah. Pessimistic on this one.

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The more I read about and watch how Microsoft prioritizes their values as a competitive business, the less I blame the team at 343 for Halo Infinite’s vast array of shortcomings.
These guys don’t want to see their game fail or get blasted out of the water on social media and message boards, but I honestly don’t think they have much of a choice.
Microsoft owns 343 and nicely dressed executives in some other building set all the rules and write the checks.
Server usage is run by an accountant and an algorithm,
not a developer or coder.
Every detail about this game, from the number of maps that are playable in ranked mode to the weapons available, is a board-meeting and a dozen stamps of approval up the corporate ladder.

Your ranked playlist is getting ignored because there simply aren’t enough dollars in it to justify more attention.

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A couple weeks ago Tashi indicated that he’s going to have more direct control over ranked game settings than he did before. (IE the person doing it before that probably got laid off and now it’s his problem :grin:.)

Hopefully as he learns the tools needed over the next couple months we’ll get to see faster and more diverse ranked gameplay.

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