True meaning of "relaxing" and "having fun".

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Ever wonder why people suggest a game isn’t fun? How it isn’t casual? How it’s too competitive? How it’s not good to sweat so much?

So I’m trying to figure things out. How can these issues be remedied? I assumed if people wanted to “relax”, we incorporate wacky modes like Infected, Grifball, and Action Sack to alleviate the stress, right? …Right??

But here’s where I’m mostly wrong. How so? Because in Halo 5, along with a lot of other FPS games out there, people really want more noobs in the lobby. That’s right–with more noobs, means less competition. Less competition means being able to perform well without even breaking a single molecule of a sweat. And hell, more Youtube gameplay to go with it.

But wait…if it’s good to slay people of lower skill level, how is it beneficial for them to have their experienced destroyed like that? A more interesting question, how is it making the higher skilled players who destroy those noobs learning from this onslaught? If the reasoning behind fun is to step on those below you to feel proud of yourself, it’s honestly pathetic.

2

We do relax by modes such as Infection, Grifball, and Action Sack, and that’s what I want. My way of relaxing in Halo 3 and Reach was getting huge custom lobbies together and playing tons of Wacky Infection gametypes. When I was feeling competitive, I played matchmaking. Once we get infection, which is coming soon enough, with the beautifully huge Halo 5 Forge, we’ll all be better off.

3

What is this I don’t even…

None of your post makes sense.

And also, relaxing =/= wacky gametypes always. I can relax playing MLG Customs with my best friends. But I can also relax playing Social Slayer.

4

I think you might be assuming a bit too much just from people asking for social playlists. Heres why i want them:

  • Halo Reach: I can chill in the bed, relax, play a few matches and get a nice mix of noobs and proficient players. I can go positive, or not, and not have to worry about the win. Just fun. - Halo 5: I have to sit inches away from my TV, get stressed out, get pissed off, and focus on nothing but the win unless i want my rank to go down and to get a KD of 3/15. No fun is had unless I win.Dont get me wrong. I love a good, tight, competitive match of Halo, sometimes. Just not 24/7.
5

Uh… What exactly are you getting at? What’s the purpose of this thread?

6

> 2533274884025288;4:
> I think you might be assuming a bit too much just from people asking for social playlists. Heres why i want them:
>
> - Halo Reach: I can chill in the bed, relax, play a few matches and get a nice mix of noobs and proficient players. I can go positive, or not, and not have to worry about the win. Just fun.
> - Halo 5: I have to sit inches away from my TV, get stressed out, get pissed off, and focus on nothing but the win unless i want my rank to go down and to get a KD of 3/15. No fun is had unless I win.
> Dont get me wrong. I love a good, tight, competitive match of Halo, sometimes. Just not 24/7.

This is exactly what I tried to tell this guy a few days ago in another thread about Social vs Ranked. He wouldn’t come back and counter my argument besides saying, “You just want to play noobs to inflate your KD and ego.”

Reach was the perfect game for Relaxing. If I wanted, I could play with my friends, have some buddies over, or whatever, and just play. I could play with my cousin, my best friend, and my brother, who range from run-and-gun melee-mashers to skilled snipers.

In Halo 5, I don’t want to play with them because they will not have fun playing against the Diamonds and Onyxes that I get matched with. In Social, my cousin can get in a Ghost and go for splatters, my friend can grab a sniper and dome people, and I can go for as high of a multikill that I want, all without worrying about the scoreline.

Watch h0lmb0m’s “This Is Halo” series. It’s probably the best group of montages out there, and perfectly captures what Halo means to so many people. It also demonstrates the difference between Halo 5 and past Halos.

7

> 2535434496323314;6:
> > 2533274884025288;4:
> > I think you might be assuming a bit too much just from people asking for social playlists. Heres why i want them:
> >
> > - Halo Reach: I can chill in the bed, relax, play a few matches and get a nice mix of noobs and proficient players. I can go positive, or not, and not have to worry about the win. Just fun.
> > - Halo 5: I have to sit inches away from my TV, get stressed out, get pissed off, and focus on nothing but the win unless i want my rank to go down and to get a KD of 3/15. No fun is had unless I win.
> > Dont get me wrong. I love a good, tight, competitive match of Halo, sometimes. Just not 24/7.
>
>
> This is exactly what I tried to tell this guy a few days ago in another thread about Social vs Ranked. He wouldn’t come back and counter my argument besides saying, “You just want to play noobs to inflate your KD and ego.”
>
> Reach was the perfect game for Relaxing. If I wanted, I could play with my friends, have some buddies over, or whatever, and just play. I could play with my cousin, my best friend, and my brother, who range from run-and-gun melee-mashers to skilled snipers.
>
> In Halo 5, I don’t want to play with them because they will not have fun playing against the Diamonds and Onyxes that I get matched with. In Social, my cousin can get in a Ghost and go for splatters, my friend can grab a sniper and dome people, and I can go for as high of a multikill that I want, all without worrying about the scoreline.
>
> Watch h0lmb0m’s “This Is Halo” series. It’s probably the best group of montages out there, and perfectly captures what Halo means to so many people. It also demonstrates the difference between Halo 5 and past Halos.

I like h0lmb0m so i’ll definitley give it a watch. We’re definitley on the same page here. Honestly, i just think 343 fanboys will look for any possible excuse they can find to excuse this games lack of content.

8

Halo 5 is too stressful. I love its competitiveness, but I don’t feel as relaxed. It’s pretty frustrating at times.

9

> 2535434496323314;6:
> > 2533274884025288;4:
> > Reach was the perfect game for Relaxing. If I wanted, I could play with my friends, have some buddies over, or whatever, and just play. I could play with my cousin, my best friend, and my brother, who range from run-and-gun melee-mashers to skilled snipers.
> >
> > In Halo 5, I don’t want to play with them because they will not have fun playing against the Diamonds and Onyxes that I get matched with. In Social, my cousin can get in a Ghost and go for splatters, my friend can grab a sniper and dome people, and I can go for as high of a multikill that I want, all without worrying about the scoreline.
> >
> > Watch h0lmb0m’s “This Is Halo” series. It’s probably the best group of montages out there, and perfectly captures what Halo means to so many people. It also demonstrates the difference between Halo 5 and past Halos.

Last time I checked, but you can play any game of Halo with buddies and have a variety of run-and-gun melee bashers and skilled snipers. Nothing is stopping you from doing that. But since you’re going against actual competition, a game is not fun anymore? I mean, you can still have fun, but if others destroy you since you’re putting less effort out of hilarity, that’s fine–just don’t complain when the competition steam rolls you.

Having a large skill difference per lobby (in Arena) isn’t beneficial. There is a great deal of unfairness when you combine noobies with elites in the same arena. Oh sure, one side can benefit by relaxing and going for splatters, but what about the receiving end of this? If you suggest a game isn’t fun because the skill levels you’re matched with in Halo 5 are too high, then how do you suppose those “Social Halo Reach” noobies feel when they’re randomly paired with much higher skilled players? Last time I checked, nobody wants to be another’s punching bag, but apparently it’s OK if one side is giving that punishment.

As mentioned before, I think the true fun of a game can be made with crazy social modes, like Mongoose Sumos, Dodgeball, Infection, and even custom modes with friends. When it comes to a normal game modes with a competitive element (i.e. slayer, strongholds, and more), it’s best to keep things fair. That way, games are engaging as often as possible with neither side experiencing the short end of the stick (so to speak). If competition isn’t your cup of tea, nobody is stopping you from pairing up with friends, playing custom modes, or…well, not playing the game anymore. Your call.

10

Again, Rugged, you don’t understand my argument at all. You are stuck with “noobies vs hardies” or whatever you keep saying.

I went back to Halo Reach and played a few months ago. I was awful, mostly because the controller was different, but also because the game was different. But me and my friend found ways to have fun, like going for nade-launch splatters. We also ran into the uber-hardcore teams of 8 in BTB that run most of the older Halo games, and we spent our time trolling them, hiding from them, or making sure none of them got Perfections. However, if we were playing for a rank, we would’ve been annoyed because there’s no way we could win against that.

I’ve literally told you countless times at this point that I enjoy competition. I was very active in these forums during and before Halo 4 due to how casual it was. But why should my friends who aren’t as good as me suffer the very thing that you say is hurting the idea of Social playlsits? If I’m good, and my friend is bad, he will have to play against good people because of my rank. Then, it’s a large skill gap in the party, and therefore even Ranked playlists have the diversity that you are so against.

Why not make it so you can only party up with people who are in the same division as you? If I’m Platinum 5 and you’re Diamond 1, we cannot play together, end of discussion? Wouldn’t that be so ideal?

Sure, for competition it would. But not for relaxing or having fun or building a community. Your argument makes sense to a point, but isn’t anywhere strong enough to convince anyone that Social playlists are “harmful.”

And for the record, telling me to not play the game because I don’t want to have to wear a mic, use callouts, and play with a full team all the time is absurd and insulting. Halo is literally BUILT on community, and no matter how hard you and 343i try to remove it, it’ll stand. You know very well the state of custom games in the last two Halo’s. Halo 3 and Reach were supported for over 5 years on custom games and lobbies, due to party up system and the ease of use of custom options. 343i’s worthless UI, lack of custom options (seriously, no Fiesta yet? But they have random weapons for precious Warzone…), the inability to even PARTY UP anymore, and Xbox One’s completely failed attempt at friends and messaging have made customs a thing of the past. Oh, and no split screen. Can’t forget that one.

11

OP you clearly dont know how to listen or read. Youre so caught up in your confirmation bias that you literally cant comprehend opinions other than your own. Frankly, if you dont have the mental capacity to clearly realize thats theres not one damn drawback to having separate social and ranked playlists, then I dont think we should talk anymore. Good day.

12

> 2535434496323314;10:
> …me and my friend found ways to have fun, like going for nade-launch splatters. We also ran into the uber-hardcore teams of 8 in BTB that run most of the older Halo games, and we spent our time trolling them, hiding from them, or making sure none of them got Perfections. However, if we were playing for a rank, we would’ve been annoyed because there’s no way we could win against that.
>
> But why should my friends who aren’t as good as me suffer the very thing that you say is hurting the idea of Social playlsits? If I’m good, and my friend is bad, he will have to play against good people because of my rank. Then, it’s a large skill gap in the party, and therefore even Ranked playlists have the diversity that you are so against.
>
> And for the record, telling me to not play the game because I don’t want to have to wear a mic, use callouts, and play with a full team all the time is absurd and insulting. Halo is literally BUILT on community, and no matter how hard you and 343i try to remove it, it’ll stand. You know very well the state of custom games in the last two Halo’s. Halo 3 and Reach were supported for over 5 years on custom games and lobbies, due to party up system and the ease of use of custom options. 343i’s worthless UI, lack of custom options (seriously, no Fiesta yet? But they have random weapons for precious Warzone…), the inability to even PARTY UP anymore, and Xbox One’s completely failed attempt at friends and messaging have made customs a thing of the past. Oh, and no split screen. Can’t forget that one.

In the first part of the discussion, you’re suggesting that playing for fun (launch splatters, trolling) is no longer accomplished because there’s no way to win against a ranked team? If you choose to go for splatters and troll people, you’re free to do so. However, don’t get upset because the opposition crushes you due to the lack of effort on your end. They play the way they want, you play the way you want. If you’re upset over it, that’s your fault.

The same logic applies when you invite someone who’s extremely terrible at the game. If you know how bad they are, but continue to allow them to party up, that’s a risk you’re willing to take. It’s like trying to assemble an NFL football team and you make your 9 year old kid brother the QB–expect consequences. If you think a game is going to reduce the skill levels to compensate, that’s not a good way to go about things. I say so because having nooby players in your lobby by intentional means is often done to exploit the ranking system. I’ve seen it done, especially in Call of Duty games, where people believe that having a low skilled person as a host will make the lobbies much easier for them.

And I never said you should’t play the game because you don’t wear a mic or use callouts. I suggest you not play (or take a break) because if a game isn’t fun and you’re not enjoying it, that’s the logical next step. In regards to there being a game mode where friends of all skill levels can play, that’s where I can agree with adding Action Sack since stats don’t matter and it’s all about pure fun.

Oh, and split-screen was removed because the game would be hampered in a variety of ways. The developers even said so, considering the consoles are often limited in what they can do. If you wanted Halo 5 to have split-screen, then it’ll most likely be accomplished on the PC (but that’ll most likely never happen).