I’d like to collect all of the community’s opinions on the decision of Halo 4 to allow custom loadouts and perks to appear in mainstream matchmaking. If you have something to say about either of the new addditions, please elaborate on your vote in the comments below, but be polite. Thanks 
EDIT: A couple of people have been wondering what the difference is between perks and custom loadouts; custom loadouts are the ability to choose what weapons you have off spawn, while perks are the adjustments you can make to your traits based on the armour you choose.
I personally am not averse to the idea of Custom Loadouts and Perks, as for some players they will no doubt freshen the franchise. However, I do not enjoy playing with those mechanics - as they put players who have played more than others on an unequal playing field - and would like somewhere where I could play Classic Halo TS and BTB without the interfering presence of the two.
Ya know, I posted the exact same thing. All of the responses I got were surprisingly eye opening. I suggest checking it out and reading the comments I think you’ll like what you see.
Yeah, it’s really interesting how people are reacting to the changes. I was convinced there’d be a s***storm, but surprisingly everyone’s taking it calmly and discussing the changes. I think people trust 343 to listen to their opinions without them having to shout them out.
“I hate both” is currently in the lead XD
Both are unnecessary.
-Yoink- 343i there destroying halo by trying to copy cod
> -Yoink!- 343i there destroying halo by trying to copy cod
No they’re not… because 343 has taken longer than a year to release Halo 4
> -Yoink!- 343i there destroying halo by trying to copy cod
What’s weird is I actually agree with you.
CoD sells so well because it’s purely for casuals, though, and no matter how badly 343i tries to copy it all the casuals WILL go to CoD 9 when it comes out and ditch Halo.
Unfortunately, by then the hardcore community will have probably already rage quit.
Seriously speaking, if perks and loadouts are in the game I might end up selling my Xbox for a ps3.
hm interesting
Ok i’m a little confused. What exactly is the difference between Perks and Custom Loadouts?
I need more information on how they work and what their intended purpose is.
OP updated
> -Yoink!- 343i there destroying halo by trying to copy cod
“Trying to destroy” Halo seems a bit harsh. They still have to make money. But yeah, the addition of perks and custom loadouts seem like a bit of a copy.
> > -Yoink!- 343i there destroying halo by trying to copy cod
>
> What’s weird is I actually agree with you.
>
> CoD sells so well because it’s purely for casuals, though, and no matter how badly 343i tries to copy it all the casuals WILL go to CoD 9 when it comes out and ditch Halo.
>
> Unfortunately, by then the hardcore community will have probably already rage quit.
This summarises my feelings exactly. But the sad thing is I know I’ll buy it, if just for the Campaign and one Classic playlist, because it’s literally the only FPS (maybe discluding BF3) that I really enjoy.
I can’t comprehend how they could possibly be good additions and not detract from the competitive merit Halo had.
I think they could work great, here is a post i made a while ago in a topic about why I think they could work with a bit of tweaking and balance.
and here is the actual topic
http://halo.xbox.com/Forums/yaf_postst64209_LOADOUTS-AND-HOW-THEY-CAN-WORK.aspx
I got a pretty good response as far as I can tell, which makes me think loadouts can work with the right implementation
> People are throwing there arms up in the air screaming “IT WON’T BE BALANCED, THATS NOT WHAT HALO IS ABOU-”
>
> “shhh” I say, as i press my fingers against your lips “it’s okay”
>
> Sit down. Think about it. Let’s actually try to implement loadouts, something I haven’t seen done on this forum yet.
>
> Now lets apply loadouts to a mix of Halo 3/Reach weapons.
>
> This will be the “standard” playlist that is expected to be the most popular and casual.
>
> Now for this specific game type we’re going to assume you can choose one weapon and a secondary and you start off with grenades (as is common in several Halo games)
>
> Choose a primary:
> Battle Rifle
> DMR
> Carbine
> Assault Rifle
> Brute Spiker
> Plasma Rifle
>
> Now choose a secondary (imagine only the Halo 3 version of these):
> Magnum
> SMG
> Sentinel Beam
>
> Now choose two total grenades:
> Frag
> Plasma
> third grenade type which is unknown
>
>
> Ok so, we’ve implemented this properly and what can we see? Well the weapons I chose seem to all be fairly balanced but offer different advantages. Let’s break them down, I will be adding some balancing tweaks and motivations for choosing different weapons.
>
> The Primaries are essentially your main weapon, and you have two groups with choices of three. The DMR, BR, and Carbine can essentially kill a person in the same time. Say you’re a sloppy shot and you’d prefer the larger clip of the carbine, say you’re more about the precision of the DMR, say you really like the BR’s 3 shot burst, even though there is a risk of missing a shot or two. The automatics are the same but add a little more variety. Assault Rifle maintains a balance between accuracy and constant firepower, essentially a mid range. Spiker is very innaccurate but the bullets and blade gives more punch to it just like in Halo 3. And the Plasma rifle tears through shields but overheats very quickly, good for single targets but not for multiple.
>
> For secondaries you have the mid range mid power pistol, which is good for single targets, and the low range high power SMG, good for single targets up close but with high recoil. The sentinel beam would be very weak, but extremely accurate, as well as making you one of the most visible targets on the map.
>
> Grenades are just grenades
> I feel a person can use a frag grenade as efficiently as someone can use a sticky, and a little power balancing can make sure of that.
>
> Overall I’d say that there is no gamebreaking choice here. We had a bunch of similar guns in Halo 3 and Reach, some with no REAL uses (like the spiker in Reach or Plasma rifle in 3(since it won’t be dual wieldable))
>
> When you spawned in Valhalla in Halo 3, you literally had a boatload of guns to choose, ranging in power. So why not constantly have the choice to choose very similar weapons?
>
> I think this works out really well and doesn’t really seem to disrupt the flow of what Halo could be. Perks and AA’s I will work on next time (probably a harder task)but for Loadouts I’d say there is no issue here.
>
> What do you guys think?
> I can’t comprehend how they could possibly be good additions and not detract from the competitive merit Halo had.
I can; I think as long as all the weapons you can choose from are exactly as effective as each other and you can get every choosable weapon at any rank, it might be fine in select playlists.
> > I can’t comprehend how they could possibly be good additions and not detract from the competitive merit Halo had.
>
> I can; I think as long as all the weapons you can choose from are exactly as effective as each other and you can get every choosable weapon at any rank, it might be fine in select playlists.
You can’t, and you just said so. “Might be fine in select playlists”? You did a great job on selling that one! Plus if all the weapons are as effective as one another what’s the point of having them all? It just becomes a gimmick, a gimmick that will no doubt bring some problems.
To Furious Camel: I get what you are trying to say, but in my opinion it should be even more streamlined; maybe if you could just choose between an AR/PR/Repeater/Spiker/SMG and a Mag/PP/New Secondary I would like it. I think though that every single weapon that would be available for custom loadouts should be available after very little or no ranking up so that, when the Jack-of-All-Trades loadout was found, everyone could have it.