> > 2535441307847473;5725:
> >
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> To cut to it, the reason I think the “impact on combat” is not a big a deal as it is being made is that the strongest factor is that you can’t move at the fastest speed possible and shoot. Only projectile weapons (moving at the speed they are) aren’t truly affected by this in any great and impacting way. Melee weapons are affected (either positively or negatively, your mileage may vary) as you’re able to get closer much faster, and catch players who aren’t aware of their surroundings off-guard far easier.
The buffs that melee weapons often receive through sprint are indeed concerning, but I never took much issue with them because even without sprint melee weapons can already give you a higher BMS, plus lunge distance plays a big role. When it comes to melee my bigger problem is with regular melee attacks which are at times more encouraged with sprint if you get found whilst reloading or are simply close enough that you can sprint forward and get two melee hits in before your opponent can shoot you to death. As for combat in general, you’re right, not being able to move at max speed and shoot at the same time is the biggest problem, especially given how readily and frequently available sprint is.
> > I’ve already stated that these examples are meant to show what the players abilities and tools are in a specific level or part of a level, and how the player can only engage with the tools that they have been given,
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> This is what you’re saying now, yet persistently prior to this you’ve been attempting to discredit the usefulness of Sprint by saying that if The Devs want a level to take a certain amount of time to complete, then there is nothing a player can do to change it.
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> Which really also doesn’t touch on the application of Sprint.
Yes and this is a part of that greater point, the player can only engage with the mechanics which have been given to them by the developers, they can choose to do a great many things with those mechanics, but those are the mechanics that they have been given. If the devs want something to take a certain amount of time, all they need to do is consider the tools and mechanics that the players have and build accordingly.
> > The key difference that I brought up with reloading was that it is always punishing, it doesn’t sometimes reward the player like sprint can.
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> No, this is inaccurate still. If it takes two to three 114mm to drop a Field Marshall, and I’ve only got two in my magazine, if I reload my Sniper Rifle before taking my shot I have a better chance of taking that Sangheili down. I have been rewarded with combat readiness and improved odds for a kill.
No, reloading is still a downside here, you’ve simply given an example of how choosing when to reload can be beneficial in the sense that you are avoiding the inherent downside of reloading. If you reload your sniper rifle, you’ll be forced to make yourself unable to fire for a few seconds, both making yourself vulnerable, and taking your time (and possibly allowing the Field Marshal to get out of your sights), this is a consequence. If you instead had a beam rifle, you could similarly be punished by firing too fast and causing the rifle to overheat, pacing your shots with the beam rifle to avoid an overheat would not be a reward, but rather simply be the avoidance of the downside of an overheat, just like how landing those last two shots without missing would reward your shooting skills and avoid the downside of a preemptive reload.
> > I specifically explained the differences between jetpack and the grav lift already,
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> Which boiled down to them not working exactly the same. Okay. And yet, the relationship between the two is clearly present in the function of upward mobility. As are the relationships between the other Equipment and Abilities that I pointed out. They do not have to function exactly the same to be a derivative, and evidence that those perks were brought over into later games and reimplemented.
Except Jetpack doesn’t just provide upward mobility, it also extends your horizontal “jump” distance significantly, allows you to slow your decent, and it allows you to essentially hover. Jetpack also only effects the player wearing it while the grav lift could lift almost anything. Even with similarities, the difference in implementation of these things make them function different enough to consider them different mechanics.
> > 2535441307847473;5726:
> > Indeed, you’ve attempted to downplay every negative aspect of sprint,
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> And given that I’ve provided direct and specific examples to counter “what if” scenarios, I’d say that I have. Like “harping” on how you’re physically unable to just sprint out of combat to counter the “what if” that players can just “escape”. And again, if a player is able to take advantage of cover available to do that, chances are good you weren’t going to be able to kill them anyways.
And again, you haven’t even countered the escape problem by once again saying that “chances are good” that the player will get away, meaning that they sometimes will. You’ve made similar omissions with the other problems of sprint as well. Again, a good piece of cover doesn’t mean you’re safe, neither does a couple seconds where you haven’t been hit.
> The downsides of Sprint have been recognized, and this is not a measure to demean the disliking of Sprint. It is to illustrate how the issues are derived from personal enjoyment or lack thereof, not a symptom of a broken mechanic.
A flawed mechanic, one that brings with it specific downsides that do not need to be tied to speed inherently.
> > > as long as you acknowledge that they exist than it is dishonest to say that I and others simply have preferences.
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> > No, it is not. It is realistic, and this is why I brought in to compare several other mechanics that have equally impacting (sometimes more so) downsides to player agency and gameplay. To illustrate that everything in Halo has a tradeoff. It doesn’t matter that players spawn with sprint, because the downsides do not exist immediately and inherently. They exist circumstantially, and without specific examples they exist hypothetically, nothing more.
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> > More to the point, the only downside that I have stated is little more than a preference is the desire to be going “max speed” while firing. Which, as illustrated a little ways down, doesn’t offer any great benefit or advantage, even when everyone else is moving at full BMS.
The existence of other limitations in the game do not mean that additional limitations introduced through sprint or any other new mechanic are non-issues. The addition of more limitations should be tied to positive aspects which cannot be accomplished through other methods. When it comes to sprint, the two main benefits that it provides are a speed increase and an extra resource that can be tactically used by the player(which is not even inherently good). The thing is though, we know that there are other methods of both increasing speed and making map traversal easier that do not require the limitations of sprint, we also already have thrusters/evade that function as tactical choices for quick evasion and movement, although they do have similar issues as well, but not as severe. As it stands there are better ways of acquiring the positive aspects of sprint without having to deal with its limitations.
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