It needs to be Competitive. Yes this is a Competitive thread. No I’m not trying to keep you from having fun in Halo 4. Yes, you should probably read the whole thing before posting (but that won’t stop you, you already stopped reading at the word “Competitive”).
Before I begin, I’d like to make sure that we’re all on the same page here.
Most (if not all) of us loved Halo’s 2-3. Correct?
Most of us hated (or at least didn’t like as much) Halo: Reach. Correct? (Yes, I know there is a portion of the community that likes Reach, but most of us don’t.)
Now looking at these forums, I am at a loss for words as to how short the community’s collective memory is.
Halo 2-3 were without a doubt Competitive games. They had everything the Competitive player could want. A solid, skill-based ranking system (and a visible one at that), a good amount of small, Competitive maps, fast-paced gameplay, a balanced sandbox (minus the Halo 3 BR), and gimmicks that didn’t affect balance.
But did all of that mean that those games could not be played, much less loved, by the casual community? No.
Look at Halo 2. It had arguably the best maps in the history of gaming, including a plethora of AMAZING BTB maps, a bunch of fun gametypes (Infection, Tower of Power), etc.
Look at Halo 3. It had some great maps (including more good BTB maps), it introduced new “casual” gametypes and modes (Grifball, Forge) that spawned their own communities, etc. What’s not to love?
As for the “Competitive” ranking system, if you didn’t want to play it, you didn’t have to. As for the “Competitive” maps, most of them (Lockout, Midship, Sanctuary, Ivory Tower, Guardian, The Pit, etc.) were loved just as much by the “Casuals” as they were the “Competitives”. As for the fast-paced gameplay and balanced sandbox, everyone likes that.
And these games were not without their own problems. Halo 2 had tons of glitches and exploits. Halo 3 had an incredibly OP BR. But did that mean that they weren’t fun for any part of the community (besides the CE purists)? Once again, no.
This is because of the fact that a a Competitive game, with the right tools, can be just as much fun for the average “Casual” gamer as the average “Competitive” gamer.
Look throughout gaming history and find an exception to this rule. There isn’t.
Halo: Reach on the other hand, was a primarily “Casual” game. Even the biggest Reach-lover couldn’t deny this.
Reach had a horrible, non-skill based, progression ranking system, one good small, competitive map (Zealot) and a bunch of awful, boring maps, the slowest paced gameplay in Halo history, a broken sandbox that completely lacked balance, and gimmicks that changed gameplay.
Well if you didn’t care about your rank, you wouldn’t care about the awful progression system. If you liked poorly designed maps and didn’t care about silly ideas like “Map movement,” then you wouldn’t care about the maps. If you didn’t care about gameplay speed, balance or the Golden triangle you wouldn’t care about anything else.
But if you cared about any of these things, if you had a “Competitive” attitude about any of this, you wouldn’t like that aspect of the game. If you wanted to play in a Competitive ranking system, you had to go to the -Yoink- Arena. If you wanted to play on a Competitive map, you had to pray that Sword Base/Countdown/[insert -Yoink- map here] didn’t come up, as that always would get picked. If you wanted fast-paced gameplay, weapon balance, or gimmicks that didn’t affect gameplay, you were screwed.
Why? Because almost every Reach, COD, Battlefield, or other Casual game cannot be loved by most Competitive gamers
Granted, Reach is an extreme case as it was an overall poorly designed game, but it is the most relative game to Halo 4 that we know of.
Why then, with many of Reach’s failures being carried over into Halo 4, a large portion of the community is cheering them on, I don’t know. If you guys don’t remember, a lot of people didn’t like Reach for things like AA’s and Loadouts. A lot of people DID like the original trilogy because of the fact that it was so simple and Competitive, yet the Casual player could still find fun in it.
This all means one thing: a “Competitive” game will draw the community together and be a fun game for everyone, as opposed to a “Casual” game that will split the community apart and neglect a large portion of the fanbase.
Now I know what you’re thinking “But COD sells millions of copies and it’s a Casual game!”
And Halo 2-3 sold millions of copies and were on top of XBL for 5 years and in 2nd for 1 more and were overall, Competitive games.
“But the gaming market has evolved!”
It has (unfortunately). And I never said things couldn’t be added to keep Halo afloat. BUT, these changes need to NOT affect gameplay. I’ll use Halo: Reach’s implementation of Sprint compared to Halo 4’s (which I actually don’t mind) as an example. Giving every player the same ability will most likely solve many problems such as map design. Now they know enough to add the “stop” mechanic to prevent escapes, which will keep gameplay from slowing down.
Overall, it is an unneeded mechanic, but it in its’ current implementation isn’t really doing anything to the gameplay.
“But there are more Casual players than Competitives! Why do you expect them to cater to you?”
Because, like I pointed out earlier, a well-designed Casual game will turn away most Competitives, a well-designed Competitive game will turn away virtually no one. Why turn away a portion of your community if you don’t have to?
Either way the Casual player wins in this case. If the game is Casual, the Casual players will like it. If the game is Competitive, the Casual AND Competitive players will like it.
In conclusion, I do not know why some people are so opposed to the thought of Halo 4 being a “Competitive” game. They might actually like it better if it was. I know I would.
Halo 4, as it is now, is probably going to be a game that most “Competitive” gamers will not be able to play for more than a few games, but it didn’t have to be. It could’ve been a game that everyone could’ve loved and everyone could’ve played.
And I realize that there are more than just “Casual” and “Competitive”, and not every “Casual” or “Competitive” player fits the stereotype given to them, I’m just generalizing.
tl;dr Halo 4 would be more fun for everyone if it was Competitive. I do please urge you to read the whole thing, its shorter than it looks and it is very informative.