Why sprint must stay

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

One among many praisable triumphs in halo 4 was the inclusion of inherent sprinting.

Sprinting is definetly a good thing, allow me to give reasons why.

Besides the obvious fact canon wise that Spartans can sprint and definetly would be sprinting, sprint does a number of very helpful things for a player

  • Teamwork is greatly encouraged. Since players are able to move quickly and actually aid a teammate in need, they look for this more often and help eachother out considerably more. To me there are few things i imagine i would find as fustrating as watching a teammate die when I could have saved him were I only able to move quicker.

  • Sprint allows players to efficiently reposition. The active player that is into a game views sprint as a useful repositioning tool. For example if a fight breaks out 50 meters or so away, instead of slowly waddling over and arriving as it finishes, I can use sprint to get there and help out. Very useful and good for gameplay, rewarding observant players.

Or if a power weapon drops, with sprint you can move quickly to grab it, and move quickly again to get back into position and use it.

  • Far more immersive game experience. Sprinting is highly immersive. In sprintless halo I will frequently will become apathetic as the game progresses not being able to sprint. It simply gets you into the game sprint does. Some players will quickly swap weapons or make small circles with their reticule for the same effect, don’t need to when you can sprint. Sprinting makes the game more interesting and fun. It cuts out alot of the “dead” time and keeps players on the edge of their seats.

These are just a few of the many benefits of sprint. I very much hope to see it in halo 5 as well. Your thoughts?

2

I think the proof that sprint needs to say is that everyone uses it and honestly if any FPS doesn’t have sprint that game feels like a antique. The only problem with sprint is it was treated as a justification for making larger than normal maps and honestly sprint should have zero impact on map creation, I mean just look at CoD and some of it’s tiny maps like nuke town and who here really thinks sprint would change the map flow on the classic map midship. Sprint works while huge maps and small teams don’t, just look at CoD Ghosts those maps are enormous for 6 vs 6 or 9 vs 9 and in contrast Battlefield 4 has maps bigger than Ghosts but BF4 has 4 times the players.

3

Replacing my first post with this new one to sound less antagonistic.

> The main problem I have with sprint is that it’s creating the illusion of increasing “the pace and flow” of combat, but is instead disrupting quite literally every single aspect of Halo not limited to larger maps, reduced kill times, increased radar range, increased aim assist, spawn system influencers, and decreased player speed (relative or global)
>
> Firstly, every map in Halo is designed for base player traits, which means they are built with sprinting players in mind. If there’s a jump you can’t make at normal jump height, then the designer didn’t intend for you to get there. If there’s a jump you can only make with Sprint, then the designer most likely spaced those areas accordingly. If there’s a power weapon that is 10 seconds away from your spawn, the designer intended for you to sprint there to get to it in 10 seconds. Sometimes they’ll even place cover to last the duration of your sprint, so that when it ends, you are out of cover with your gun at the ready. It is for this reason that exact 1:1 map remakes haven’t worked for Reach or Halo 4. Everything is scaled according to how the player can interact with them.
>
> “If it takes 10 seconds to get to the power weapon with Sprint, aren’t I getting there faster than someone who doesn’t Sprint?”. Yes, but only relative to other players and not relative to the map. If you’re the only one sprinting, you are moving at “default” speed and everyone else is moving slower. If everyone is sprinting, you are not reaching your teammate faster.
>
> Because Sprint does not last forever and because you cannot shoot when you are using it, more people are going to be out of Sprint, meaning more people are moving slower for most of the match. Cover is spaced according to Sprint because you’d be in cover too much if it was based around default movement. Therefore, because people cannot shoot while they Sprint, they stay behind cover, creating a large void - “deadzones” - which afford long range combat (re. DMR) the perfect opportunity to dominate. This is also one likely reason flinch was created, but that’s irrelevant in this discussion.
>
> Because you have to decide whether to sprint to get there at the normal distance or walk at base speed (slower than people Sprinting) to use your gun, players would need to anticipate who is nearby so that they can have their gun at the ready. Radar range was likely increased not only because of the larger map size, but to also give players more time to make this transition. Those who are still caught off guard can disengage very easy, and the slow strafe (due to slow movement) and high aim assist (because of Sprint) guarantee that they can’t kill you if they’re down a few shots. This becomes an effective (and annoying) maneuver in most 1v1 engagements with experienced players. Slowing down while Sprinting doesn’t change this much, especially when you factor in the resistor and mobility perks (which create a whole other set of problems that are also not relevant to the discussion).
>
> All this leads into the second biggest problem - Spawning. If you don’t understand the Halo 4 spawn system, read this or any of the links there. Sprint disrupts the spawning system because it also increases the distance players need to be for safe spawning. If I can move from one of your spawns to the other and influence both of them before you have respawned, then I’ll need to space them further away. Factor in 3-7 other teammates all influencing spawns and you have what is known as a spawn trap. Now because I can’t shoot while I Sprint, I am forced to stay behind cover and take pot shots with my DMR. If I push up, I’ll need to Sprint because I move too slow to cover the distance between cover (I could at least stand a chance by knocking you out of scope in Reach). If you kill me, my spawn can be entirely affected based on whether you sprint into a spawn zone at “normal” speed allowed on the map, or go there slower. You can quite literally spawn looking at somebody because he didn’t sprint (move at the normal speed) into your spawn zone. Equating this to old games, it’d be like somebody crouching into the base you’re spawning in.
>
> I’m not going to go into detail with the other problems because the fact that it affects the spawn system and design of engagements is reason enough to consider its removal. If you’ve been thinking while reading this “If the problem with Sprint is that I can’t shoot in Sprint, then shouldn’t I be able to?”, just ask yourself how that’d be any different from moving at 120% speed. Halo 2 had ridiculous aim assist, but it worked because of how fast players could move and strafe to avoid it. Moving slower relative to either the players, maps, or kill times upsets this balance and only creates the illusion of “faster pace” by getting to your teammate quicker than you would walking normally. With fast movement speed and smaller maps, you’d get to your teammate and have the ability to shoot at literally the same pace as you would with Sprint. In fact, it speeds up combat because you are always ready to fight and don’t have to transition into using your weapon.
>
> One of Halo’s biggest innovations was the ability to retain accuracy and fire from the hip while moving; therefore, Sprint is not an innovation, but instead a mainstream mechanic merely tacked on in a vain attempt to “modernize” a game that did perfectly fine without it. Before Halo 3, we moved fast enough to where Sprint wasn’t needed. Then Halo 3 happened and we moved to slowly to get around maps like Avalanche, Valhalla, and Sandtrap without the use of vehicles or man cannons. Again, if movement is fast enough, why sacrifice map design and the ability to shoot? Is it because the animation looks cool?

4

> One among many praisable triumphs in halo 4 was the inclusion of inherent sprinting.
>
> Sprinting is definetly a good thing, allow me to give reasons why.
>
> Besides the obvious fact canon wise that Spartans can sprint and definetly would be sprinting, sprint does a number of very helpful things for a player
>
> - Teamwork is greatly encouraged. Since players are able to move quickly and actually aid a teammate in need, they look for this more often and help eachother out considerably more. To me there are few things i imagine i would find as fustrating as watching a teammate die when I could have saved him were I only able to move quicker.

If a teammate has put themselves in a bad position sprint allows another player to help save them and possibly kill the player who skillfully put them in the bad position. Yet another Halo 4 mechanic the tilts the odds in the favor of the unskilled/uncareful player.

> Sprint allows players to efficiently reposition. The active player that is into a game views sprint as a useful repositioning tool. For example if a fight breaks out 50 meters or so away, instead of slowly waddling over and arriving as it finishes, I can use sprint to get there and help out. Very useful and good for gameplay, rewarding observant players.

If the map design wasn’t so poor sprint wouldn’t be needed to be existent to get back into the action. The arena maps of Halo 2 and 3 had no need for them. Additionally sprint coupled with instant respawn and slow shield recharge times allows a player who was just killed to sprint over and clean up the player who just killed them. Again tilting things in favor of the less skilled player.

> Far more immersive game experience. Sprinting is highly immersive. In sprintless halo I will frequently will become apathetic as the game progresses not being able to sprint. It simply gets you into the game sprint does. Some players will quickly swap weapons or make small circles with their reticule for the same effect, don’t need to when you can sprint. Sprinting makes the game more interesting and fun. It cuts out alot of the “dead” time and keeps players on the edge of their seats.

Map design has been dictated by sprint. Many argue it has not but here is why it has:

Sprint has made it easier to sprint across longer openings without dying. Halo becomes very monotonous and frustrating if you can’t get a kill. As a result 343 opened up most of the maps to keep people from just sprinting everywhere and never dying. 6 out of the ten maps that shipped with the game would be considered large maps by halo standards. 9 of the 10 maps do not play like Halo but like class based monotonous class based call of duty. Haven is the only map that even remotely feels like a Halo map and people just sprint away when they get in trouble. Sprint affects the way site lines are setup and destroys map design and gameplay. In my honest opinion it has no place in a halo game. It is yet another one of the gimmicks 343i added in an effort to dumb down the game, and level the playing field. Halo 4 plays in such a way that most competitive natured Halo players do not and enjoy and as a result have left. 97% of players since day one are gone and aren’t coming back. If 343i has any intentions of making Halo 5 a success and a fun game to play that better listen to the community. The majority of waypoint is calling for the nerfing or removal of sprint, custom loadouts, AA’s, perks, ordinance, high auto aim, and re adding descoping and static weapon spawns.

I will close with this. Halo is an arena shooter. Halo is about balance. Halo is about the golden triangle of balanced shoot, grenade, melee. If you don’t like this. You don’t like Halo. You like the watered down, random, generic, gimmicky shadow of what Halo used to be that is struggling to survive.

Flame suit zipped up.

5

Sorry but, I can tell that you don’t even know the basics of setting up your team to have a chance at winning in highly competitive play. So, I don’t blame you for not realising how sprint is something that takes skillgap away from the game, rather than add entertainment value. You simply don’t notice the difference as much if the people you match up against are average.

Basically, a tremendous aspect of being good at Halo is your positioning. In classic Halo, if you are at the wrong position at the wrong time, you or your team are punished for it. Two examples you mentioned yourself; one is being too far away to help out your teammates, and two is finding yourself out in the open with no cover to run to in time, so you are sure to die.

Sprint is designed to make up for your positioning mistakes. Think about it; why do we need sprint? To make up for our bad positioning. Is there anything else sprint does, beside get you where you want to be faster? no. So that’s all it does: take away the need to know where you need to be on the map. You don’t need to be as good at the game as you used to be, because you can just make up for positioning mistakes with sprint. In this way, sprint can dramatically reduce skill gap.

This is the short version, but i’m sure all other contra’s have been mentioned before. There are many, while i can’t think of any pro to sprint. So no, sprint should stay away from the entire multiplayer experience.

6

> If a teammate has put themselves in a bad position sprint allows another player to help save them and possibly kill the player who skillfully put them in the bad position. Yet another Halo 4 mechanic the tilts the odds in the favor of the unskilled/uncareful player.

So the one who can’t overcome a core movement mechanic is cheated while the one who effectively uses the tool is a skill-less newb? You might see things more clearly if you update your definition of skill to suit this game, not Halo 1-3. The requirements of a good player change with every new release and simply plowing on, regardless of such changing circumstances, will invariably find you pitted against some decent feature with nothing to say about it except that it’s unskillful and bad. But is that true? No, its simply the result of standards that need updating (which I know first hand.)

7

I am all for sprint staying. But I have to agree maps that we map back when halo didn’t have it no longer work when enlarged to “accommodate” it. Maps probably could have been left at the same size and worked, it just would have meant players needed to find new strategies. As for the idea of instant respawn that was mentioned. that has to go period. It is the worst addition to Halo ever. It in my mind is a major game breaker. It makes medals that were difficult to get in the first place almost impossible and ruins the flow of the game. If I kill you, you should not be able to re-spawn before my shields are back to 100% and be able to find and kill me. Games that are fun like Swat can become a nightmare when people who should be out for longer are back right after they are killed.

8

> > If a teammate has put themselves in a bad position sprint allows another player to help save them and possibly kill the player who skillfully put them in the bad position. Yet another Halo 4 mechanic the tilts the odds in the favor of the unskilled/uncareful player.
>
> So the one who can’t overcome a core movement mechanic is cheated while the one who effectively uses the tool is a skill-less newb? You might see things more clearly if you update your definition of skill to suit this game, not Halo 1-3. The requirements of a good player change with every new release and simply plowing on, regardless of such changing circumstances, will invariably find you pitted against some decent feature with nothing to say about it except that it’s unskillful and bad. But is that true? No, its simply the result of standards that need updating (which I know first hand.)

Good players are still good. The issue is that the game lowers that margin by being too forgiving and less rewarding, and then eliminating the need to improve. This isn’t necessarily an inherently wrong problem, but when it affects the core gameplay, we start to see less people playing.

Playing the game how it’s meant to be played doesn’t make you a “skill-less newb”, but don’t forget that a tool in the hands of a lesser skilled player is even worse in the hands of a skilled player. 4 people who know how to abuse armor abilities, loadouts, sprint, and ordnance make for an experience that is nothing short of frustrating, and it comes even easier to them.

The requirement of a good player should be to get better. That is no longer a necessity in a game where winning doesn’t matter and being punished or earning your advantages are diminished fundamentals.

9

> > If a teammate has put themselves in a bad position sprint allows another player to help save them and possibly kill the player who skillfully put them in the bad position. Yet another Halo 4 mechanic the tilts the odds in the favor of the unskilled/uncareful player.
>
> So the one who can’t overcome a core movement mechanic is cheated while the one who effectively uses the tool is a skill-less newb? You might see things more clearly if you update your definition of skill to suit this game, not Halo 1-3. The requirements of a good player change with every new release and simply plowing on, regardless of such changing circumstances, will invariably find you pitted against some decent feature with nothing to say about it except that it’s unskillful and bad. But is that true? No, its simply the result of standards that need updating (which I know first hand.)

Well put Duncan.

Ambush I have a question for you; if all the competitive players have left halo and no longer play, should we not change the definition what competitive halo is? Should the players that remain and enjoy the great advancements and innovations of halo 4 now be considered what we call competitive?

Why should we continue to recognize and bestow the title competitive on those who are long gone?

10

> If I kill you, you <mark>should</mark> not be able to re-spawn before my shields are back to 100% and be able to find and kill me. Games that are fun like Swat can become a nightmare when people who <mark>should</mark> be out for longer are back right after they are killed.

There’s a lot of should’ing there, so you must naturally ask yourself why should any of that be so? Why shouldn’t players be able to get right back into the game? Unreal Tournament certainly demonstrates the value in instant respawns, particularly to flow as one isn’t faced with a stop-start pace of death and arbitrary time penalties for doing less than absolutely dominating.

Rather than reinstituting a sin-bin penalty for dying, why don’t we just build maps like UT did to accommodate quickly returning players? Adding more intricacy comes particularly to mind, and that has other benefits too.

11

> Should the players that remain and enjoy the great advancements and innovations of halo 4 now be considered what we call competitive?

Copying perks, loadouts, abilities, and killstreaks from Shadowrun and Call of Duty is not “innovating”. Innovation was when Halo pioneered a two weapon system, dual stick controls on shooters, 3rd person vehicle combat, and rechargeable shields. Innovation was the original game’s advanced AI behavior at its time. Innovation was the beginning of online multiplayer on consoles due to Halo 2 matchmaking. Innovation was when Halo 3 introduced the ability to view gameplay from any angle via theater. Innovation was when the community took Forge in a completely different direction, and then Forge evolved thanks to it.

Innovation is not allowing players to call weapons to their feet. Innovation is not allowing players to instantly respawn. Innovation is not giving people boltshots and plasma pistols off of their spawns (though a fixed loadout system has vast potential). None of these things paved the way for all shooters to follow. None of these things improved the game, but instead drastically changed existing formulas that were already proven to work given their success. If these things were “great advancements” as you put it, then surely more people would be enjoying them?

The “competitive community” isn’t 90% of Halo; everybody who left Halo isn’t “competitive”. There are people who do not belong to this community or any specific group who have also stopped playing, either due to the conscious additions to the game listed above, or other reasons. The few people who are still playing would not even fill 2 playlists when Halo was in its prime. You know, when people liked to play the game as it was because it had truly innovated and improved upon its working formula.

You advocate for Sprint because it’s “fun and immersive” while ignoring the major issues it (among the other things in the game) bring up. These change what Halo was built upon, thus the fanbase changes (re. disappears).

The “competitive community” and the other fans who have stopped playing will return when a title that truly innovates on its predecessors releases. This does not mean releasing Halo 3.5 or Halo 2.5. This means sticking to a formula that works and then making it better. Call of Duty’s success is due in part to its innovation and then its loyalty to that innovation. Who would still play CoD if tomorrow you couldn’t Sprint and you had shields? Certainly not the CoD fans who have enjoyed it for all these years. Halo already did its innovation, but it will fade into irrelevancy now more than ever as “yet another shooter with [insert mainstream gaming mechanic]” if it doesn’t stick to its roots and be itself. How will it look like in 2 years when it launches with abilities, perks, ordnance, and all the other things that have plagued the last two games? With Destiny and Titanfall right around the corner, nobody is going to play a game that doesn’t honor its own fanbase.

12

Here’s something to think about. Lets say they keep the base player speed the same as the original trilogy. They can still create maps as good as midship. Sprint will not be as effective on small maps and here’s why, you cant shoot while sprinting say the base area to the pink area on midship. So if any decent team is shooting at you you will be just about dead and used against you. Same thing on larger maps also, would you rather sprint across the map risking to get shot by the vehicles or use the splaser or rockets. It adds a dimension another dimension.

Of course we will still see playlists that will be catered to the MLG and Classic players without sprint, but that doesnt mean that we have to change maps to fit sprint. Look at Reach for example they had plenty of tight maps.

13

I may shock everyone with my stance on this given my usual opinions but here we go.

Sammy, while I personally don’t mind sprint and I think I’d prefer it in the game still, if you cut the crap your post just says “sprint makes people move fast” …which is kinda obvious. It doesn’t encourage teamwork, it makes map positioning and escaping fights much more forgiving. A player running away always moves faster than a player who has to chase and shoot him.

The only reason I advocate sprint to stay is because I feel like it’s a balanced resource for players to use since all players have the ability and it has drawbacks if you use it at the wrong time or wrong manner and it DOES speed up gameplay and make it more action-packed both from a player and viewer perspective. However, the slowdown from taking damage needs to be increased. You should move at 90% normal speed if you’re trying to sprint while taking damage as opposed to normal 100% speed if taking damage out of sprint. This way players are punished more for using it to escape bad situations they put themselves into in the first place.

However, I completely understand why a lot of people here don’t like sprint and they are completely right when they say map design has suffered from it to a degree. Maps are now larger and larger, with more and more open areas because they HAVE to be otherwise no one would die.

Of all the things from H4 I don’t want to see in H5, sprint is the one thing I can live with either being removed or remaining. Doesn’t matter much to me. It’s not the game’s biggest issue compared to infinity.

14

I would just be in favour of cutting sprint and increasing base player speed instead.

15

Sprint has its ups and downs, but I agree with a 3 legged goat, it means the map sizes have to be bigger which means less action because of people camping with the sniper, but I feel if halo didn’t have it, it wouldn’t be popular and you’d find the community asking why it wasn’t included very quickly because, like it or not, sprint has become a part of halo. Maybe 343 can make a few game modes that don’t include sprint and see how the community like it and then go from there.

16

> One among many praisable triumphs in halo 4 was the inclusion of inherent sprinting.
>
> Sprinting is definetly a good thing, allow me to give reasons why.
>
> Besides the obvious fact canon wise that Spartans can sprint and definetly would be sprinting, sprint does a number of very helpful things for a player
>
> <mark>I don’t think that story line is a good argument for two main reasons. The first is because gameplay should always trump story line when it comes to multiplayer. It is what is going to interest the population more and resell games. The second is that there have been TONS of things that have not followed the story line. Dual weilding was in H2 and H3, but not in HCE or H4. Did Spartans somehow not know they could hold two guns before H2, then suddenly forget again in H4? Was equipment not around tell H3 then suddenly disappeared again? Did the entire set of brute weapons all just disappear in H4 (except for the hammer)? Did spartans suddenly realize that they could throw the oddball long distances in H4, but completely forget how to drop the flag? Why did they have Jetpacks and Armorlock in Reach before HCE then suddenly lose them in CE-H3 and suddenly refind them in H4? There are plenty of these things throughout the whole story. Also, one that is very particular to sprint, why is it that Spartans somehow knew how to sprint on Reach, forgot in CE-H3 then suddenly remembered again in H4? It makes no sense already.</mark>
>
> - Teamwork is greatly encouraged. Since players are able to move quickly and actually aid a teammate in need, they look for this more often and help eachother out considerably more. To me there are few things i imagine i would find as fustrating as watching a teammate die when I could have saved him were I only able to move quicker.
>
> <mark>I would argue that teamwork is more encouraged without sprint. Yes, sprint allows you to get around to places to help your teammates faster, but there is also a very high piece of teamwork and overall knowledge that is required in being in the correct place to help teammates. That skill is greatly underplayed when you can sprint to their location. Without sprint, you would have to have good enough teamwork and positioning to be in the right place for your teammate. Many people talk about how sprint doesn’t punish those that are out of position because they don’t die and can sprint away, this also applies with teamwork. Normally, even if you aren’t dying, you can be out of position because you can’t help your team. These plays also often go unpunished because sprint allows them MUCH larger room for error in helping teammates. You can make the argument as well that better map design would encourage more teamwork too. Maps with many more lines of sight and angles REALLY causes a big focus on communication, awareness, teamshooting, and teamwork. Almost all of our current maps don’t have many of these features because they have been scaled up and designed with things like long hallways to accommodate for things like sprint (mostly) and jetpack. Removal of sprint would likely encourage better map design, and we could then increase the base movement speed so that we still achieve all of the benefits of sprint with none of the drawbacks.</mark>
> - Sprint allows players to efficiently reposition. The active player that is into a game views sprint as a useful repositioning tool. For example if a fight breaks out 50 meters or so away, instead of slowly waddling over and arriving as it finishes, I can use sprint to get there and help out. Very useful and good for gameplay, rewarding observant players.
>
> <mark>I agree with this, but the exact same feat can be achieved with a higher base movement speed and better map design. The high base movement speed would still give you alot of speed to repostition yourself and the better map design would likely make it so that a good player and team could choose to be in good locations that would allow them to effectively help each other. Finally, without sprint, maps could be made smaller since they are no longer accommodating for that mechanic and you would often not have to travel as far for the action.</mark>
>
> Or if a power weapon drops, with sprint you can move quickly to grab it, and move quickly again to get back into position and use it.
>
> <mark>This feature is another reason why sprint removes part of the skill gap in Halo. When you have predictable weapon spawns, good players and teams will move to grab them early so that they do not need to sprint across the map to get them. Also, getting a power weapon should not be about grabbing it and moving on. It should be about you and your team effectively securing a position and being able to hold it while you obtain the power weapon. That is why power weapons are rewards. It is you reward for doing that well. If you are able to just sprint in, grab it, and sprint out, you have not done as much to earn it.</mark>
>
> - Far more immersive game experience. Sprinting is highly immersive. In sprintless halo I will frequently will become apathetic as the game progresses not being able to sprint. It simply gets you into the game sprint does. Some players will quickly swap weapons or make small circles with their reticule for the same effect, don’t need to when you can sprint. Sprinting makes the game more interesting and fun. It cuts out alot of the “dead” time and keeps players on the edge of their seats.
>
> <mark>This feature can be FAR better obtained from better, smaller map design. With a smaller map, you will spawn far closer to the action and never need to have much down time. Watch some Halo 2 or Halo 3 tournament gameplay. Those games had some of the smaller maps in the series. Those players almost always have a very short amount of time before they start fighting off spawn. Sprint basically gives the illusion of getting you into the action sooner. Because of sprint, 343 and Bungie began making larger maps so that you can sprint around them, but this keeps action farther away from you. If you would just create smaller maps and increase our base movement speed, you could spawn closer to the action and get to it very quickly.</mark>
> These are just a few of the many benefits of sprint. I very much hope to see it in halo 5 as well. Your thoughts?

In conclusion, I would like to see a return to no sprint start. I actually like the idea of seeing sprint used like a power up. This would be something along the lines of the current speed boost. Someone would have to earn the sprint from off the map then be rewarded with the ability to move around the map very quickly until they die. This would allow us to have a higher base movement speed and maps not have to be designed insanely large because not everyone is sprinting.

The same benefits if sprint can be obtained through a higher base movement speed a we could also get better maps.

17

> > > If a teammate has put themselves in a bad position sprint allows another player to help save them and possibly kill the player who skillfully put them in the bad position. Yet another Halo 4 mechanic the tilts the odds in the favor of the unskilled/uncareful player.
> >
> > So the one who can’t overcome a core movement mechanic is cheated while the one who effectively uses the tool is a skill-less newb? You might see things more clearly if you update your definition of skill to suit this game, not Halo 1-3. The requirements of a good player change with every new release and simply plowing on, regardless of such changing circumstances, will invariably find you pitted against some decent feature with nothing to say about it except that it’s unskillful and bad. But is that true? No, its simply the result of standards that need updating (which I know first hand.)
>
> Well put Duncan.
>
> Ambush I have a question for you; if all the competitive players have left halo and no longer play, should we not change the definition what competitive halo is? Should the players that remain and enjoy the great advancements and innovations of halo 4 now be considered what we call competitive?
>
> Why should we continue to recognize and bestow the title competitive on those who are long gone?

Sammy to answer your question, a large number of competitive Halo players including myself have gone back to playing the last truly competitive Halo game: Halo 3. I am still an extremely competitive player and very loyal to the series. I’m just waiting for the next halo to come out and hopefully fix the glaring problems with H4.

The players left playing Halo 4 are either in denial, didn’t play the first three Halo’s so they don’t understand, or are not truly “competitive players” with the exception of maybe just maybe a handful. Halo 4 in itself is in no way whatsoever a competitive game.

You do realize that Halo 1-3 were huge on the MLG pro circuit and Halo 3 was the flagship game. Halo Reach fell off in popularity but stayed in the circuit. Halo 4 is the first halo game ever to be dropped from MLG because IT IS NOT COMPETITIVE.

The settings and additions by 343 created randomness, destroyed the skill gap, map design is poor, and they tried to make the experience more accessible to fans of other shooters. As a result the game has no replay value, there are no incentives to keep playing, and it results in very frustrating gameplay. The vast majority of the competitive and casual/social crowd don’t play anymore because they betrayed what Halo is.

I’ve seen your service record, you haven’t played the original trilogy online so you have nothing to compare to. I know you like Halo 4, which is great for you. I don’t mean to be offensive but there are a lot of people out there who share the same opinions as I do, and that don’t want another Halo 4 ever again.

18

> > One among many praisable triumphs in halo 4 was the inclusion of inherent sprinting.
> >
> > Sprinting is definetly a good thing, allow me to give reasons why.
> >
> > Besides the obvious fact canon wise that Spartans can sprint and definetly would be sprinting, sprint does a number of very helpful things for a player
> >
> > - Teamwork is greatly encouraged. Since players are able to move quickly and actually aid a teammate in need, they look for this more often and help eachother out considerably more. To me there are few things i imagine i would find as fustrating as watching a teammate die when I could have saved him were I only able to move quicker.
>
> If a teammate has put themselves in a bad position sprint allows another player to help save them and possibly kill the player who skillfully put them in the bad position. Yet another Halo 4 mechanic the tilts the odds in the favor of the unskilled/uncareful player.
>
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> > Sprint allows players to efficiently reposition. The active player that is into a game views sprint as a useful repositioning tool. For example if a fight breaks out 50 meters or so away, instead of slowly waddling over and arriving as it finishes, I can use sprint to get there and help out. Very useful and good for gameplay, rewarding observant players.
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> If the map design wasn’t so poor sprint wouldn’t be needed to be existent to get back into the action. The arena maps of Halo 2 and 3 had no need for them. Additionally sprint coupled with instant respawn and slow shield recharge times allows a player who was just killed to sprint over and clean up the player who just killed them. Again tilting things in favor of the less skilled player.
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> > Far more immersive game experience. Sprinting is highly immersive. In sprintless halo I will frequently will become apathetic as the game progresses not being able to sprint. It simply gets you into the game sprint does. Some players will quickly swap weapons or make small circles with their reticule for the same effect, don’t need to when you can sprint. Sprinting makes the game more interesting and fun. It cuts out alot of the “dead” time and keeps players on the edge of their seats.
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> Map design has been dictated by sprint. Many argue it has not but here is why it has:
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> Sprint has made it easier to sprint across longer openings without dying. Halo becomes very monotonous and frustrating if you can’t get a kill. As a result 343 opened up most of the maps to keep people from just sprinting everywhere and never dying. 6 out of the ten maps that shipped with the game would be considered large maps by halo standards. 9 of the 10 maps do not play like Halo but like class based monotonous class based call of duty. Haven is the only map that even remotely feels like a Halo map and people just sprint away when they get in trouble. Sprint affects the way site lines are setup and destroys map design and gameplay. In my honest opinion it has no place in a halo game. It is yet another one of the gimmicks 343i added in an effort to dumb down the game, and level the playing field. Halo 4 plays in such a way that most competitive natured Halo players do not and enjoy and as a result have left. 97% of players since day one are gone and aren’t coming back. If 343i has any intentions of making Halo 5 a success and a fun game to play that better listen to the community. The majority of waypoint is calling for the nerfing or removal of sprint, custom loadouts, AA’s, perks, ordinance, high auto aim, and re adding descoping and static weapon spawns.
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> I will close with this. Halo is an arena shooter. Halo is about balance. Halo is about the golden triangle of balanced shoot, grenade, melee. If you don’t like this. You don’t like Halo. You like the watered down, random, generic, gimmicky shadow of what Halo used to be that is struggling to survive.
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> Flame suit zipped up.

I love the fact that you make posts like this constantly. I don’t have the time to do it, but I ma glad that someone does. Good show old boy!

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> - Map scale becomes too large. Suddenly a room that was the perfect size for players all moving at a consistent speed is now too small, so you upscale it for Sprint. However, in doing so, the sightlines are altered, weapon range is affected, and combat distance is increased. This means less room for automatics and more room for DMRs, as well as lazy cover, and less engagements.

Typical and almost obligatory argument when sprint is concerned. You can repeat the tired chant of “sprint = too big maps” till time ends, it doesn’t change anything nor is it worth anything. I’ve come to the conclusion that people regurgitate this tidbit to sound like they know what they are talking about.

In my experience of Halo 4 matchmaking, I have found ZERO detrimental effect sprint has on map design in respect to all of your claims. Not once did I feel a map was unfairly scaled insofar as constant sprint was required to simply navigate the map. Not once did I feel the distance between cover was unfairly large.

Any problems with combat distance and disparity between automatic and precision gunplay can be attributed to the DMR, bar none.

I guarantee that if you spliced the DMR into Halo 3, it would face the same problems. In fact the power of the DMR would be even worse WITHOUT sprint.

After playing an almighty marathon of Halo 3, I’ve come to appreciate sprint even more. While Halo 3 is superior to Halo 4 (IMO), it is very slow compared to Halo 4. Something which becomes all the more apparent in H3’s BTB maps, which are actually very tedious to navigate w/o a vehicle.

Also, I think sprint’s effect on map size has been greatly inflated by the abundance of BTB maps. Looking beyond that, Halo 4 has some great arena sized and designed maps.

> - More people Sprinting means more people caught mid sprint, which means more people disengaging and not being punished for “poor positioning” or bad mistakes. You’re not supposed to challenge everyone you see or win and/or walk away from every fight you run into. Part of being good at the game is knowing when to engage and from where. Sprint forgives any error in this regard because the player can challenge faster and disengage faster, leading to “toe-testing” gameplay where they’ll sprint to the enemies and then sprint away. Chances are your teammate who is respawning for doing the same thing is also sprinting right back off of their spawn to do it again. People don’t learn better positioning this way.

Oh boy. This again.

Lets take a situation of a kid sprinting into battle at full health and upon immediate regret, sprints away.

A. If your opponent is a long/mid distance from you then and you’re a marksman of any merit, you can STILL drop the kid.

B. If your opponent sprints away in a CQC situation, where cover is abundant, it is likely that you wouldn’t have killed him/her ANYWAY, irrespective of sprint.

In every case I’ve experienced with people running away, if found that there’s either been a distance great enough (i.e. more time to shoot) to kill him/her anyway or that the situation was too CQC for me and I wouldn’t have had enough time to put in the shots in the first place, irrespective of sprint.

I don’t understand how you conclude that people won’t learn better positioning. I’d have thought that if I keep getting shot at in this particular area(whether I die or not), I’d be a little more cautious or apprehensive of reentering the SAME area.

> - Movement is always slowed down to compensate, which means a less effective strafe, less ability to dodge grenades and shots, and more emphasis on team shooting. I shouldn’t need my teammate to outshoot 2 people if I’m better than them, but Reach and Halo 4 guarantee you can’t challenge after 1 fight because of the low movement and low skill gap as far as aiming.

You’re not a -Yoinking!- statue. Movement (i.e.: strafing) has NOT been drastically lowered insofar as it has become neutered.

Wtf would strafing, a “side to side” movement, be lowered to compensate for sprint, a “forwards only movement”? Ridiculous.

Also, I’m fairly confident that base speed and movement is exactly the same as Halo 3.

> - “Sprinting back into action” is another way of saying you want to be able to catch the guy who killed you or your teammates while his shields are down. On a good map, you’ll be able to get a good line of sight or throw a grenade to that area off of your spawn. Otherwise, you shouldn’t be able to catch him - the whole reason you died and respawned a few seconds later was to punish your error and give the player time to recharge their shields. It’s for this reason Instant Spawn also doesn’t work, especially with the BTB spawn system being used in 4v4.

Instant spawn, if anything, is the cause of this. Not sprint. Someone who is critically injured after a fight can sprint AWAY (Y’know, to cover?) to the same degree a person off spawn can sprint TOWARDS him in vengeance.

If after a fight you’re left with an inch of life left and you CHOOSE TO STAY INSTEAD OF RETREAT, allowing your former opponent to return to the same spot and kill you then you DESERVE TO DIE BY DECREE OF STUPIDITY.

> So what’s it going to be? Do you want to sacrifice player improvement, automatic range, sightlines, an effective strafe, and the entire fundamental of shield combat [re. “30 seconds of fun”] for the ability to… ahem, “immerse” yourself in the experience?

So what’s it going to be? Will your continue to sacrifice an actual argument for the sake of preserving outdated gameplay?

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You all are completely missing the point. Yes, sprint affects map sizes, and yes, it can be detrimental to gameplay because it encourages players to run away, but those are not game-breaking problems. The real problem with sprint is that it just doesn’t fit Halo’s existing core gameplay.

Games that have sprint (CoD, BF, Dead Space, etc.) also have aim-down-sights. The style of FPS is based on the tradeoff between movement and shooting. When sprinting, you can move fast but can’t shoot. When aiming down sights, you move slowly, but shoot accurately. When doing neither, you move at a less-slow pace and shoot inaccurately, but the snap to sights is faster than if you were coming out of sprint. Movement speeds and maps are designed so that in order to get from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time, you have to sprint. The game then revolves around knowing when to sprint and when to ADS. This is CoD gameplay: players only need to worry about moving or shooting, not both at the same time.

Halo doesn’t have ADS and so sprint is unnecessary and redundant. There is never a need to trade mobility for the ability to fire because Halo’s gameplay is built around being able to move and shoot at the same time. When you make players have to choose between the two, the gameplay suffers because Halo is no longer playing how it’s supposed to play. You can’t just make one drastic change to the foundation of the a game is played and expect everything to be peachy; you have to change other aspects of the game to adapt to it, whether that means slower base speed, larger maps with longer sightlines, or adding ADS. If you add sprint, you might as well add ADS too, which would make Halo yet another CoD clone.