Hey guys, I was mulling over the upcoming balance tweaks earlier, puzzled over the thought process of “DMR being a clear fan favourite” being the reasoning given to us as to why the DMR isn’t getting nerfed, and how they can be so sure of being right.
And then, it occured to me. Why not have two playlists with separate balance changes and see which version the fans prefer? One version would be keeping the DMR the way it is and would buff the rest of the loadout weapons, and then the second version would simply be a DMR buff. Having the two playlists would be a fool-proof way to see which balance changes the fans truly prefer rather than having a single playlist, since the numbers would be split among which versions fans prefer playing. We know that, if the variant with the DMR staying the same was the first in line, it would always get the vote during ties, making it seem more popular while it might not really be the case.
Of course, regular Infinity Slayer and/or Big Team Infinity would be replaced during this time, so people would be more or less forced to choose which version they prefer. Since the balance changes would need to be tested in both smaller and bigger environments, we could have a week where Infinity Slayer is replaced, and then another week where Big Team is replaced.
There could be a message that pops up when the game starts once these playlists are put in place in order to let the fans know exactly what’s going on with a detailed change list so there wouldn’t be confusion, and then they could be told to come onto here to give feedback on each version and to possibly vote for their favourite.
Anyway, I thought this could be a fun idea to see be done by 343i. I mean, wouldn`t it be better for them to see what the fans truly want by testing two versions rather than just assume they know what we want? Your thoughts would be appreciated!
I think we should have a playlist for the balance tweaks period. 343 should not only test their changes, but let us as well before they become anywhere close to becoming permanant.
Ghost actually asked 343 already. They said they couldn`t make a playlist. It would be universal.
> Ghost actually asked 343 already. They said they couldn`t make a playlist. It would be universal.
But when they showed off the ability to tweak the weapons at PAX, did they not say that they could make changes on a per-playlist basis? I mean, they have Legendary Slayer that’ll be coming out with said balance tweaks after all, no?
I fail to see why they couldn’t make test playlists.
> I fail to see why they couldn’t make test playlists.
You and me both. A lot of 343`s decisions and excuses are, uh, weird.
This would be exactly what we need. Even if it’s only one playlist, we should be able to test the changes to see if they work or not.
> > I fail to see why they couldn’t make test playlists.
>
> You and me both. A lot of 343`s decisions and excuses are, uh, weird.
Yeah… I’ll say… I’m sure a lot of them are valid, but I have no doubt that some others are just ways of saying “no, this is what we want, this is what you’re getting, even though you wanted something else.”
> I think we should have a playlist for the balance tweaks period. 343 should not only test their changes, but let us as well before they become anywhere close to becoming permanant.
Agreed. After all, they’re making these balances for us, the community. Why not give us the opportunity to have feedback on what’s happening? If tweaking weapons is as easy as they say it is, then why not allow us to follow the process and speak out about what we think of them?
I don’t want to bring up Call of Duty, but I feel as though I must. In CoD games, they make many weapon tweaks once the game comes out based on community feedback. Sometimes, they’ll have a couple dozen tweaks as the months go by. Frankie said that CoD does a lot of things well that they can do better, so why not take the good ideas like constant game tweaking based on community feedback?
its the best idea, i hate the fact of 343i testing these changes. give us a playlist with the updated settings and let the community vote and judge on if its a good idea.
we are the ones effected by it after all, dont make any more mistakes with your game
They honestly make it sound easy to do back end tuning so I’m sure, even if is released across the board, if we don’t like it they could still respond to our feedback.
Your idea is not without merit though.
> They honestly make it sound easy to do back end tuning so I’m sure, even if is released across the board, if we don’t like it they could still respond to our feedback.
>
> Your idea is not without merit though.
That’s true, but the main idea behind my post was to suggest the idea of testing out the nerfing of the DMR vs buffing the rest of the loadout weapon conflict, since the community seems to be split on that. Instead of them making the choice, why not let the people who play the game decide which they like better?
> That’s true, but the main idea behind my post was to suggest the idea of testing out the nerfing of the DMR vs buffing the rest of the loadout weapon conflict, since the community seems to be split on that. Instead of them making the choice, why not let the people who play the game decide which they like better?
Well I guess I would rather them do one balance and see how the community responds, rather than putting in twice the work, when the first solution may end up being the best anyway. There can only ultimately be one solution, so why not get the first solution ASAP, rather than waiting on a second one that may prove fruitless? If time and resources were limitless I would agree with you wholeheartedly. I’m just trying to be realistic.
> > That’s true, but the main idea behind my post was to suggest the idea of testing out the nerfing of the DMR vs buffing the rest of the loadout weapon conflict, since the community seems to be split on that. Instead of them making the choice, why not let the people who play the game decide which they like better?
>
> Well I guess I would rather them do one balance and see how the community responds, rather than putting in twice the work, when the first solution may end up being the best anyway. There can only ultimately be one solution, so why not get the first solution ASAP, rather than waiting on a second one that may prove fruitless? If time and resources were limitless I would agree with you wholeheartedly. I’m just trying to be realistic.
That’s true, but how long can it really take to rebalance one weapon? Having worked a fair amount with past Halo engines, and assuming that the Halo 4 engine is still similar enough to them, I can only assume that it wouldn’t take that much work. Either way, the work will be far from doubled compared to before. After all, trying to perfectly balance 6 weapons is a lot more work than just nerfing one to balance the rest, no? I can’t say that I’m an expert in the things that go on over at 343i, but it doesn’t seem like it would be that much more effort to do. And ensuring the community’s happiness should be their priority, and this could go a long way to do so.
I understand that time and resources are limited, which does have a large impact on my idea, and that a fix needs to come as quickly as possible. But considering that they’ve already waited so long and lost so many players by this point, would taking an extra week or so (especially since the release date for the changes hasn’t been announced or even decided yet) to pump out a quick DMR nerf for the sake of comparison, which can then be tweaked as time goes on, really be that bad?
I really have been thinking that something like this would be a fantastic idea. The Dmr is not a clear favorite in my mind. It is mostly chosen in order to stay competive as it is able to consistently defeat every other starting weapon with relative ease. I have been a huge fan of halo over the years and have unfortunately found myself drifting away from my beloved franchise. An implementation of some kind of de-buffing to the DMR, even in specific playlists would really bring me back into the game.
The dmr worked great in reach due to its accuracy at range when used in the proper hands. However the skill required to use the weapon has not carried over to the game. I would love to see these changes put in place, a great idea.
> I really have been thinking that something like this would be a fantastic idea. The Dmr is not a clear favorite in my mind. It is mostly chosen in order to stay competive as it is able to consistently defeat every other starting weapon with relative ease. I have been a huge fan of halo over the years and have unfortunately found myself drifting away from my beloved franchise. An implementation of some kind of de-buffing to the DMR, even in specific playlists would really bring me back into the game.
>
> The dmr worked great in reach due to its accuracy at range when used in the proper hands. However the skill required to use the weapon has not carried over to the game. I would love to see these changes put in place, a great idea.
I agree completely, the DMR isn’t a favourite to many people, and the reason it was good in Reach is because you had to pace your shots to use it properly, making it unreliable in close combat. If they still had bloom on it in Halo 4, they could make it useful at long range, but easily beaten by the BR and other loadout weapons in closer range, sort of like the Light Rifle.
If it helps, I have a Halo 2 gametype, (myself created) that I tweaked the BR to a 4SK and it works lovely, that said every other weapon kills just as fast as the BR does because of the damage boost.
The DMR being a “fan favorite” is such a load of crap. The reason it’s used the most is because it’s OP and if you don’t use it you will lose to someone who is.
That’s like saying the FAMAS in Black Ops I was a fan favorite.
> The DMR being a “fan favorite” is such a load of crap. The reason it’s used the most is because it’s OP and if you don’t use it you will lose to someone who is.
>
> That’s like saying the FAMAS in Black Ops I was a fan favorite.
Or like saying that Armour Lock was a fan favourite in Reach,