At a first glance you may look at Armor Abilities as an " evolution" of equipment. I look at it as a downgrade and here’s why.
1: AA’s are limited because they must be evenly balanced. With equipment the sky is the limit because they are placed on the map like a weapon. They can all be balanced for each map and offer something new. With AA’s no one ability can be better than the other because you spawn with them.
2: AA’s ruin map design while equipment enhances it. Now a days design has to take in to account jetpacks, and active camo, and a bunch of other abilities that players may or may not have and the result are broken maps. With equipment you don’t have that problem because all the abilities are placed on map and can be controlled. Take for example the bubble shield on gaurdian, it is an important drop on the map that has a variety of purposes.
AA’s break the classic Halo mold of even starts. Armor abilities break the competitive nature of Halo because the game becomes less about who has the most skill and more about who has the best ability for each situation.
AA’s give an indvidual mindset while equipment is more team oriented. An AA is a tool the player can use to benefit himself, while equipment benefits the entire team. Examples:
Grav Lift vs Jetpack: Your enemy has the high ground and you are below with a teamate, you have a jetpack but he doesnt so you fly up alone and leave your teamate stranded. Same scenario but with grav lift, you can throw it down for your team so you and your teamates can use it to reach an area
Regen field vs regen: You are covering a teamate who is below you and he is dying, you deploy a regen field but because its an AA it just pops underneath you and only affects you. With equipment you can throw it down to your teamtate to save him.
Active Camo vs Active Camo on map: You spawn with an ability that turns you invisible encouraging camping and cheap play. Active camo on map makes it a strategic map control ability and more fair.
Hardlight Shield vs Bubble shield: Hardlight shield only protects yourself and only yourself. A bubbleshield is far more tactical in that you can use it to protect yourself and your teamates in the same area, you can also throw it to areas and also throw it in front it to intercept rockeys, explosives, etc.
Equipment allows the classic Halo formula to remain intact while AA’s dont. With equipment they are a one use items so they dont need a bumper designated for them. This means features like dualwielding can come back.
Equipment just overall makes the game more fun, balanced, and tactical.
OP, from what I can gather from your post, is you’re posting as if AAs are only able to be spawn loadouts, and can’t be placed on maps like equipement.
What if we got both equipment and armor abilities?
they’re both basically the same idea, the only difference currently is one you don’t always spawn with, you have to fight for it, and it’s a one use only, and the other is on the other end of the scale.
In Halo 4 it’s set in stone you can’t really change AAs to be one use, and I don’t think you can limit AAs to spawn on map and for go AAs, but in Reach, you could, and I actually found maps that did that funner.
AAs should be redone like equipment, we like equipment because it’s one use, it spawns on the map, people don’t spawn with it, and you have to fight for it.
Reasons why we hate AAs is, it’s infinit use, people spawn with them, it doesn’t spawn on maps, and you don’t have to fight for it.
Granted both AAs and equipment ruin map design, Gravity lifts and jetpacks are the worst offenders. But at least having AAs spawn on map not with players, you can control what AAs are used on the map.
> OP, from what I can gather from your post, is you’re posting as if AAs are only able to be spawn loadouts, and can’t be placed on maps like equipement.
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> What if we got both equipment and armor abilities?
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> they’re both basically the same idea, the only difference currently is one you don’t always spawn with, you have to fight for it, and it’s a one use only, and the other is on the other end of the scale.
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> In Halo 4 it’s set in stone you can’t really change AAs to be one use, and I don’t think you can limit AAs to spawn on map and for go AAs, but in Reach, you could, and I actually found maps that did that funner.
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> AAs should be redone like equipment, we like equipment because it’s one use, it spawns on the map, people don’t spawn with it, and you have to fight for it.
> Reasons why we hate AAs is, it’s infinit use, people spawn with them, it doesn’t spawn on maps, and you don’t have to fight for it.
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> Granted both AAs and equipment ruin map design, Gravity lifts and jetpacks are the worst offenders. But at least having AAs spawn on map not with players, you can control what AAs are used on the map.
I would be much more open to AA’s being map spawns than loadout spawns. For example thruster pack would be hard to replicate as an equipment.
Or we could stop removing things that don’t work in competitive multi-player but work fine in everything else. Seriously, removing them for the competitive gametypes is a good idea but why remove them from Campaign and Customs because a specific part of the community doesn’t like them in their favourite part.
Hardlight shield can only be used by a teammate while a deployable cover can be used by both teams.
While i can see where you’re coming from, I think you phrased it wrong. Equipment doesn’t force you to be more team orientated, it just forces you to be less individualistic by holding you back with your team.
> I want to talk about why equipment appeals to me and why I think Armor Abilities should become equipment in Halo 5.
> Equipment was close to perfect in my opinion. I never really found it to be overpowered, and it respected the gameplay principles that Halo had established.
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> If you are a fan of AA’s and don’t quite understand the appeal of equipment, then please read on…
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> The Adrenaline Rush
> I still remember running for the Bubble shield on Valhalla and getting that horrible (but awesome) feeling that I was going to be sniped or lasered before I could reach it. Then I would get it and it would be such an adrenaline rush and such a relief to know I was safe.
> You just don’t get that with AA’s. If only they could be on the map and you had an adventure and a bit of risk to get to them.
> You would also appreciate them more as they would be limited and only a one time use.
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> Imagine, for example, that autosentry was on top of the hill in Ragnarok as a pickup. You could run to it, deploy it quickly and then run to cover, getting ready to shoot the enemies as they approached.
> It would be an adrenaline rush to know that someone was possibly running to do the same thing.
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> Balance and Competitiveness
> From a competitive point of view, equipment is more balanced and created opportunity for more skill to be used.
> When equipment is placed on the maps, only one player can have each individual equipment at a time, whereas with AA’s, everyone will have something at all times.
> In this sense, the benefit of equipment is that players will have to fight for it, which creates more room for competitiveness.
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> Give Me That! That’s My Equipment!
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> Another cool thing about equipment is that you can chase a player that has taken something that you wanted to get. It’s that lighthearted competitiveness that I love. GRR GIVE ME BACK MY TRIP MINE!
> Just another thing that AA’s don’t allow for, there’s a sense of vulnerability and protectiveness that is lost when you know you will always have it.
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> Value vs Variety
> With equipment, there will be less people using it throughout the game, meaning less chaos. I hate to use this example over and over, but think Team Rockets vs Team Slayer on a map that has Rockets on it.
> How much more do you value the Rockets when you have picked them up in a normal Slayer game, than you do in Team Rockets? Well, compare that with Armor Abilities, and is it any wonder that they are so unappreciated as they are? Think of the potential.
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> I know that one of the reasons people have for liking AA’s as loadouts, is that there is more variety in the gameplay when everyone is using different AA’s all the time.
> I think of the gameplay as more colourful in this way, just as Fiesta is naturally more colourful than Slayer, or slightly more colourful than Infinity.
> But on the other hand, we have the higher value that we give to equipment due to it not making an appearance during almost every encounter. As people in favour of equipment over AA’s, we appreciate this ‘value’ aspect far more than any variety that AA’s create for the game.
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> Map Movement
> Another positive gameplay element which equipment encourages, is map movement. In order to get to the equipment, we have to safely make our way there. It’s like a little adventure filled with possible risks along the way (as I mentioned earlier). Going for the equipment moves people around the maps in ways that are not encouraged as much with AA’s. You don’t have to plan a journey somewhere if you have it by default.
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> Customize Your Game Plan
> This is something that isn’t often talked about, but is something that happens in my head which made Halo more fun for me.
> With weapons, powerups and equipment placed on the maps, you get to plan your game as you are waiting to get started. You can say to yourself (or your team), “right, first I’m going to follow this route and do these jumps to quickly get to ability x, then I’m going to run to the base and get in position to defend…”
> It’s fun to have a little plan and to see how it works out, and you can always come up with new plans in your head to see how well they work.
> Map pickups only work to enhance that side of Halo. You could almost say they they create more “customization” options for your game plan.
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> Creativity
> The final advantage I believe that equipment has over AA’s is that, due to appearing more rarely during encounters and having to be fought for, it would give 343 the opportunity to be far more creative with the equipment.
> They wouldn’t have to be worrying about balance in exactly the same way as with AA’s. They wouldn’t be as restricted with what they can do with equipment.
> In the future, I would like to see abilities/equipment be taken to new levels that we haven’t seen before. I want new toys to play with and I don’t want them to be limited to what will work as loadouts.
> As much as people like to think that keeping AA’s as loadouts will be more new and fresh for Halo, I really think that in order to move forward and go to new places, they need to first be put back on the maps.
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> I hope this gives a good idea of why I believe equipment/map pickups are a better option for the future Halo games.
Like I said in a previous thread. I would like to have both, if possible, toggling between them with the D-pad’s up and down.
As long as maps and their designs aren’t influenced, I’ll be happy. If I could choose one, I would definitely pick equipment, but I would like to have Armor Abilities exclusively in the campaign.
Playing Halo 3 now with Games for Gold, I’m more convinced than ever that AA’s (if done properly) are the future of this franchise. Halo 4 isn’t the best example of this. But Equpment is too sparse and very rarely gets used. I say put 'em both in multiplayer, only give them distinct roles (e.g. equipment is defense, AA’s are movement based) or some such.
Whoever has already said that AAs don’t hurt gameplay for competitive or casual play, I’m sorry, but you are either kidding yourself or delusional. The high population drops from the last two games that both used AAs as starts are easy references to that. They hurt the game’s core gameplay and map design so much it is rediculous.
I did not care all that much for equipment in H3, but it was miles better than AAs in their current state. AAs as pickups I think could work well like how Reach MLG worked. Far more balanced and can enhance games and maps instead of hindering and dictating them like AAs do in H4 and default Reach.
But think it needs to evolve from Halo 3 Equipment. And a great to do that is have the very powerful equipment be discarded after a single use or when it’s fuel deplenished, and the weaker equipment have multiple uses before being discarded.
An example would be the Halo 3 Bubble Shield would only have 1 use and then is discarded.
And the Hologram may have 3-5 uses before it is discarded.
I think this would be a great evolution for Equipment and I thank SWIFT for this idea.
I have no issues with armor abilities. Well, except for Active Camo and Hardlight Shield. Those need to go. But besides the point, I think that armor abilities are fine and I don’t see how they make the maps unbalanced. To be honest, I’m not even sure what I would do without Jetpack. I sure wouldn’t be happy about it, that’s for sure.
I think Armor Abilities and Equipment can co-exist just fine. Balanced AAs in loadouts, stronger AAs (such as Active Camo, Promethean Vision, etc…) are placed on the map as “Equipment” or something named more appropriately. The on-map pick ups usage would depend on the ability. Active camo is constant, like Halo 3, but you still have the jammer field on the radar. Something like Promethean Vision would have a meter were you are free to use it up as you please, and lose it when it runs out, defaulting to your loadout AA, or you die. Best of both worlds, both sides gets what they want.
> I have no issues with armor abilities. Well, except for Active Camo and Hardlight Shield. Those need to go. But besides the point, I think that armor abilities are fine and I don’t see how they make the maps unbalanced. To be honest, I’m not even sure what I would do without Jetpack. I sure wouldn’t be happy about it, that’s for sure.
Active camo agreed, but Hardlight shield? Why!? Also, did you read my first post in this thread, if you did, are you still saying it should go?
I agree completely OP. After playing H3 I MUCH prefer equipment over AAs. Here are my reasons.
Equipment doesn’t upset map design philosophies, instead, it enhances them. Instead of having to design a “One size fits all” map you can design a map which is HIGHLIGHTED by strategic equipment placement.
By having AAs on spawn, you have to “Balance” the AAs so that no one AA is obviously superior over another. This is difficult and limits the amount of creativity you could have with designing them. Equipment is different, because no one spawns with it and can be controlled like a power weapon. Meaning, it doesn’t matter that Power drain is better than a trip mine, because each has it’s own place in the map design.
AAs on spawn effectively desensitize the player to the encounters you experience. Sure it’s cool to jetpack, but it gets old over and over. There’s something unique and beautiful about that strategically placed Grav lift or that Perfectly thrown power drain.
So yah, I fully support the return of equipment and the fun chaotic nature of gameplay that they allow.
idea: place equipment on maps like weapons, give them a multiple use ( like 3 buble shields , 1.5 minutes jetpack and 1 minute camo) plus a AA like cooldown.
in some gammemodes their use can be set to “double” or “half” ( 3 goes to 1, 1.5 min goes to 40 sec.) so they can be used as an weapon but also as a perk.
> I agree completely OP. After playing H3 I MUCH prefer equipment over AAs. Here are my reasons.
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> 1. Equipment doesn’t upset map design philosophies, instead, it enhances them. Instead of having to design a “One size fits all” map you can design a map which is HIGHLIGHTED by strategic equipment placement.
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> 2. By having AAs on spawn, you have to “Balance” the AAs so that no one AA is obviously superior over another. This is difficult and limits the amount of creativity you could have with designing them. Equipment is different, because no one spawns with it and can be controlled like a power weapon. Meaning, it doesn’t matter that Power drain is better than a trip mine, because each has it’s own place in the map design.
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> 3. AAs on spawn effectively desensitize the player to the encounters you experience. Sure it’s cool to jetpack, but it gets old over and over. There’s something unique and beautiful about that strategically placed Grav lift or that Perfectly thrown power drain.
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> So yah, I fully support the return of equipment and the fun chaotic nature of gameplay that they allow.
Agreed.
I think the next Evolution step for Equipment is to allow some Equipment to have multiple uses while the more powerful Equipment has only a single use.
IE) Bubble Sheild, Power Drainer, Trip Mine, Etc have a single use.
Hologram, Thrust, Light Shield, etc have 3-5 uses.
> > I agree completely OP. After playing H3 I MUCH prefer equipment over AAs. Here are my reasons.
> >
> > 1. Equipment doesn’t upset map design philosophies, instead, it enhances them. Instead of having to design a “One size fits all” map you can design a map which is HIGHLIGHTED by strategic equipment placement.
> >
> > 2. By having AAs on spawn, you have to “Balance” the AAs so that no one AA is obviously superior over another. This is difficult and limits the amount of creativity you could have with designing them. Equipment is different, because no one spawns with it and can be controlled like a power weapon. Meaning, it doesn’t matter that Power drain is better than a trip mine, because each has it’s own place in the map design.
> >
> > 3. AAs on spawn effectively desensitize the player to the encounters you experience. Sure it’s cool to jetpack, but it gets old over and over. There’s something unique and beautiful about that strategically placed Grav lift or that Perfectly thrown power drain.
> >
> > So yah, I fully support the return of equipment and the fun chaotic nature of gameplay that they allow.
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> Agreed.
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> I think the next Evolution step for Equipment is to allow some Equipment to have multiple uses while the more powerful Equipment has only a single use.
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> IE) Bubble Sheild, Power Drainer, Trip Mine, Etc have a single use.
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> Hologram, Thrust, Light Shield, etc have 3-5 uses.
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> I think this is a great idea.
I also agree.
Lesser equipment with multiple uses can work very well