Are we all forgetting that people aren’t always “Casual” and aren’t always “Hardcore”, and that there’s this all-inclusive thing called a “Halo fan”?
The argument against casuals is that they’ll all bail for Call of Duty once it comes out. Well, there’s obviously going to be some people that just buy Halo for a bit and then move right back to CoD…But you know there are plenty of Halo fans out there, right? People who don’t just jump ship when a new game comes along?
I know plenty of “casual” halo fans who would never play a CoD game if they could avoid it. You don’t have to be “Hardcore” to stick with Halo and have it be your prime game. Furthermore, you don’t even have to be competitive.
Hardcore fans, you gotta realize that there are plenty of non-serious non-competitive gamers who really love Halo just as much as you do. They aren’t all people who just bought Halo to bide their time until the next Call of Duty game comes out. That’s just not true.
The argument against the hardcore is that they want to turn the game into something that can only be played by them, have no variety, and cater entirely to their skills so they can crush you into dust.
That’s only half true.
Competitive players (“hardcore”) simply want the game to be fair for everyone. They want everyone to be on the same level, so that everyone has an equal chance to kill everyone else. They don’t see inherent advantages as being “fun” because it ruins the balance of their game, and can lead to cheap tactics and tricks.
It’s not so much that they want to get rid of variety, they just want to get rid of anything that’s not balanced and fair. Usually this means reducing the weapon and ability sandbox, but also keep in mind that they don’t want to UNIVERSALLY remove these things. They just want them kept out of their ranked and “professional” gametypes.
A common misconception about a hardcore ranking structure is that you will get stomped on if you even enter that kind of environment. The funny thing is, it’s the total opposite. Yes, in the very beginning of the game, you might get your -Yoink- handed to you a few times. This is normal, as the game has to get more than a few games under your belt before it realizes “Hey, you aren’t as good as these guys, let’s match you with these other guys instead.”
If a “bad” Halo player plays Ranked for long enough, they’ll actually start playing against people that are just as terrible as they are. I remember back in Halo 2, I was BAD at the game, yet I was always getting matched up with people I could play against because the ranking system worked, especially at the low levels.
Also, not every hardcore player is a saliva-spitting rageaholic teenager with severe social problems. Can we put that stereotype to rest, please?
What both you casuals and hardcores need to understand is that you both want the same things: To have fun with Halo. You just want to have fun in different ways. The most common misconception is that you two can’t co-exist, and that there MUST be this massive war of CASUAL vs HARDCORE. It doesn’t have to be that way.
If you put “hardcore” settings in ranked, casual players can still enjoy Ranked play at lower levels not because of the settings, but because of the people they’re playing against. Conversely, if you put a lot of fun “perks” and abilities into Social play, the hardcore won’t even have to care because they have their Ranked play that caters to them. Casual players can have a blast and just ignore the rest of it if they really want to.
This is not rocket science, people.
All it takes is for people to approach it with an open mind and stop violently hating each other so much.