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[DarthWalden]

Just started my campaign play through last night and I'm loving the game so far. These big open spaces on the second level are a thing of beauty and I will definitely be replaying these to explore them deeper. I'm doing a 3 person 1 AI legendary run... Good God that AI is dreadful... I called for a revive at one point and Linda just chambered into her cover and got shot and killed. Also those insta death fuel rod cannons are annoying and those hunters were quite difficult.

 

[JackHerer]

Agree with you guys, solid base game but all the small shit really does destroy my enjoyment.

Warzone is really hurting my enjoyment of the game. I absolutely love Arena, it's the best Halo gameplay to date IMO. I like the ranking system as well and I've even managed to work from Platinum all the way to Diamond 4 just playing alone.

But ranked matches are also a bit stressful and that's why in past Halos I often spent a lot of time in more social playlists where I can relax and not worry about playing my best while still having a fun and competetive game with fair and balanced settings. Usually that playlist was BTB.

Right now the only option for that is Warzone and I'm finding it to be a very mediocre replacement. I've played a lot in my attempts to like it. Poorly balanced maps, ubiquitous power weapons, armor mods like increased shields (!), terrible spawning, and a terrible scoring system which depends far too much on chance.

Right now the game feels incomplete to me unfortunately. I know this will be remedied soonish but I am a lot more disappointed than I thought I would be about Warzone replacing BTB at launch. Now my fear is that BTB will continue to be neglected because Warzone is now the big money maker. I guess we will see it clearly one way or another when they release BTB and the maps they promised for it.

 

[E92 M3]

With the Aim Assist reduce like never before, a better lateral movement in the players, this game skill gap is higher than Reach and Halo 4 by a mile, good players are destroying right now.

I don't think it's a good thing necessarily. As much as many love waving their e-penis around, sustaining a casual audience is fundamental for a successful console game. The previous Halo games all had a wide skill gap with the best still being the best. It did that without making the casuals feel like they are hot garbage.

Console games shouldn't be catered towards pro gamers. I feel like an old man yelling at clouds, but good game design to me is easy to play, but very hard to master.

 

[JackHerer]

I don't think it's a good thing necessarily. As much as many love waving their e-penis around, sustaining a casual audience is fundamental for a successful console game. The previous Halo games all had a wide skill gap with the best still being the best. It did that without making the casuals feel like they are hot garbage.

Console games shouldn't be catered towards pro gamers. I feel like an old man yelling at clouds, but good game design to me is easy to play, but very hard to master.

Seems more like a matchmaking issue than a gameplay issue. If skill matching worked as intended then players shouldn't feel that way regardless. Skill matching has definitely been a bit shaky.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

Warzone is really hurting my enjoyment of the game. I absolutely love Arena, it's the best Halo gameplay to date IMO. I like the ranking system as well and I've even managed to work from Platinum all the way to Diamond 4 just playing alone.

But ranked matches are also a bit stressful and that's why in past Halos I often spent a lot of time in more social playlist where I can relax and not worry about playing my best but still have a fun and competetive game with fair and balanced settings. Usually that playlist was BTB.

Right now the only option for that is Warzone and I'm finding it to be a very mediocre replacement. I've played a lot in my attempts to like it. Poorly balanced maps, ubiquitous power weapons, armor mods like increased shields (!), terrible spawning, and a terrible scoring system which depends far too much on chance.

Right now the game feels incomplete to me unfortunately. I know this will be remedied soonish but I am a lot more disappointed than I thought I would be about Warzone replacing BTB at launch. Now my fear is that BTB will continue to be neglected because Warzone is now the big money maker. I guess we will see it clearly one way or another when they release BTB and the maps they promised for it.

Dude (dudette possibly lol) I feel exactly the same way. I might stress a little less about my Arena grade; however, that's where i get the most enjoyment out of Halo (always have always will) and prefer to play with a full fireteam... so when i'm not, or when i want to relax i'd play BTB or some of the ActionSac games etc.

343i really needs more maps, gametypes and playlists added ASAP.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Is this a joke? If anything the skill gap has decreased with halo 5. Being able to do more, move faster, sprint forever, abilties etc does anything but increase the skill gap lol. Noobs can be pretty deadly in packs with how powerful automatics are now too.

Edit: I do agree with you on the social aspects though. What the hell is up with that, the game feels lonely as fuck without persistent lobbies, chat in FFA, pre game game tags/stats/banter etc

And the guy saying those that are bitching about the game must be doing bad? Nice one. I had a few shitty placement games, worked my way up to onyx with little effort and now win FFA matches frequently. In no way am I struggling with it, but theres shit that annoys me and I doubt I'll get used to it. I don't get that satisfaction from wins like i should, half my fuckin kills are just getting the jump on players already in a gunfight and stealing kills. What do you expect with the added mobility and unlimited sprint and abilities it's fuckin chaos.

Don't get me wrong - im not saying that there isn't bs - there is - anyone can get kills with an ar for example which is a shame

But the precision weapon gunplay is far better than halo 4 or reach was - I don't think the Spartan abilities hinder the game as much as loadouts or armour abilities did

I should also say general matchmaking is nothing but chaos and that's not even a good thing. Try playing some br only customs rakka - the game is good when you cut away all the crap.

 

[Sesuadra]

Warzone is really hurting my enjoyment of the game. I absolutely love Arena, it's the best Halo gameplay to date IMO. I like the ranking system as well and I've even managed to work from Platinum all the way to Diamond 4 just playing alone.

But ranked matches are also a bit stressful and that's why in past Halos I often spent a lot of time in more social playlists where I can relax and not worry about playing my best while still having a fun and competetive game with fair and balanced settings. Usually that playlist was BTB.

Right now the only option for that is Warzone and I'm finding it to be a very mediocre replacement. I've played a lot in my attempts to like it. Poorly balanced maps, ubiquitous power weapons, armor mods like increased shields (!), terrible spawning, and a terrible scoring system which depends far too much on chance.

Right now the game feels incomplete to me unfortunately. I know this will be remedied soonish but I am a lot more disappointed than I thought I would be about Warzone replacing BTB at launch. Now my fear is that BTB will continue to be neglected because Warzone is now the big money maker. I guess we will see it clearly one way or another when they release BTB and the maps they promised for it.

well phrased.

 

[wesleyshark]

The Whiplash rail gun is so good holy shit

 

[Caja 117]

I don't think it's a good thing necessarily. As much as many love waving their e-penis around, sustaining a casual audience is fundamental for a successful console game. The previous Halo games all had a wide skill gap with the best still being the best. It did that without making the casuals feel like they are hot garbage.

Console games shouldn't be catered towards pro gamers. I feel like an old man yelling at clouds, but good game design to me is easy to play, but very hard to master.

I don't think it's a good thing necessarily. As much as many love waving their e-penis around, sustaining a casual audience is fundamental for a successful console game. The previous Halo games all had a wide skill gap with the best still being the best. It did that without making the casuals feel like they are hot garbage.

Console games shouldn't be catered towards pro gamers. I feel like an old man yelling at clouds, but good game design to me is easy to play, but very hard to master.

Good Halo Player will always be good, been good at Halo is much more than just using a gun, Thats why no matter what Halo it is, those Good halo players will always do good, my Friends that where good since Halo 2, and always got high ranks still do good. in Halo 5 the weapon balance means that a AR player will have a chance against a good player if this good player is not paying attention, This game hits a sweet spot between weapon Balance and Skills, I think on Halo CE had this.

Things like the game pointing out Power weapon location and timer are things created to make the game more casual.

Don't get me wrong - im not saying that there isn't bs - there is - anyone can get kills with an ar for example which is a shame

But the precision weapon gunplay is far better than halo 4 or reach was - I don't think the Spartan abilities hinder the game as much as loadouts or armour abilities did

I should also say general matchmaking is nothing but chaos and that's not even a good thing. Try playing some br only customs rakka - the game is good when you cut away all the crap.

I think the balance with he AR is good, but I do think we need a playlist with BR starts.

 

[Der Flatulator]

The last 10 games I've played, every player on both teams were above my rank. And I drop tiers for losing to them? Seems like something is broken...

 

[Herbs]

Warzone is really hurting my enjoyment of the game. I absolutely love Arena, it's the best Halo gameplay to date IMO. I like the ranking system as well and I've even managed to work from Platinum all the way to Diamond 4 just playing alone.

But ranked matches are also a bit stressful and that's why in past Halos I often spent a lot of time in more social playlists where I can relax and not worry about playing my best while still having a fun and competetive game with fair and balanced settings. Usually that playlist was BTB.

Right now the only option for that is Warzone and I'm finding it to be a very mediocre replacement. I've played a lot in my attempts to like it. Poorly balanced maps, ubiquitous power weapons, armor mods like increased shields (!), terrible spawning, and a terrible scoring system which depends far too much on chance.

Right now the game feels incomplete to me unfortunately. I know this will be remedied soonish but I am a lot more disappointed than I thought I would be about Warzone replacing BTB at launch. Now my fear is that BTB will continue to be neglected because Warzone is now the big money maker. I guess we will see it clearly one way or another when they release BTB and the maps they promised for it.

Agreed on all your points. But like you said, the good thing is they're committed to the game and tweaking it. I expect by the end of the year, this will be much more polished. It's unfortunate that MP games require these tweaks and stuff but I'm hoping for the best. Hopefully this doesn't affect the population too badly.

 

[Caja 117]

The last 10 games I've played, every player on both teams were above my rank. And I drop tiers for losing to them? Seems like something is broken...

You lost the 10 games? yeah you should loose rank in that case, Im not sure what is the algorithm in Halo 5, but Either your True Skill was set to play against those players or there were not that many players playing when you got on.

 

[Tecnniqe]

lol wtf, im diamond playing with onyx people D:

 

[Ocho]

I hope people that keep playing alone keep losing for not using the Discord group to find a group.

 

[justgames7604]

Need some new maps in here. There's really just not enough. BTB has to come soon, right? right...?

 

[Der Flatulator]

You lost the 10 games? yeah you should loose rank in that case, Im not sure what is the algorithm in Halo 5, but Either your True Skill was set to play against those players or there were not that many players playing when you got on.

I lost maybe half of them. So players seem to be mostly Diamond, some Platinum and Onyx. No bronze or silver to be seen. (I'm gold 6 in this playlist)

Maybe they use Trueskill that is separate from your rank, but dropping down tiers for failing to beat teams of significantly higher rank is very frustrating.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I hope people that keep playing alone keep losing for not using the Discord group to find a group.

Discord group?

 

[E92 M3]

I hope people that keep playing alone keep losing for not using the Discord group to find a group.

lol

 

[JackHerer]

Agreed on all your points. But like you said, the good thing is they're committed to the game and tweaking it. I expect by the end of the year, this will be much more polished. It's unfortunate that MP games require these tweaks and stuff but I'm hoping for the best. Hopefully this doesn't affect the population too badly.

Agreed. I'm in it for the long haul. I won't be abandoning this game anytime soon and I think with some content updates and tweaks the game could be almost exactly what I want. Hopefully they come soon. Seems like December will be the first big update content-wise and Forge will add a whole new layer of depth to the game that the community will go insane over, in a good way of course Just hoping that we get some really solid DLC maps as well.

 

[Tecnniqe]

I hope people that keep playing alone keep losing for not using the Discord group to find a group.

¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[TheCanisDirus]

Discord group?

https://discordapp.com/channels/108779895387115520/108785906625835008

 

[bobs...onGaf]

No one is as bad as Andy. No one.

Yesterday, we played on coliseum, and where the rockets are, he went to pick them up, but they got pushed down on the floor by an explosion.

So a normal person would say, 'rockets on the floor', right?

Andy - Rockets on the fllllll fllllll fllllll lllllloooo flllllllllll fffffff ffff fffff

for a good 10 seconds.

THE TWAT

My Andy story is just as bad

I spawn a hog and he gets in the gun

I call out many multiple enemies out in the open in front of us - he refuses to look forward and keeps focusing on the guy hiding behind a rock that I long since drove past

Aaaaaaaaaaaaandddyyyyyyy

 

[Inferno313]

Need some new maps in here. There's really just not enough. BTB has to come soon, right? right...?

December for BTB and Forge. I have to imagine that'll come alongside a handful of maps as there aren't really any maps in game that would work for BTB yet.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

I wouldn't mind seeing the req system introduced into BTB or at least a variant of BTB.

Opening packs it too addicting.

 

[therealminime]

I felt pretty darn good about this grenade last night.

http://xboxclips.com/A+Mini+Me/e68fad39-4e3e-479b-959c-a3807ddb3320

 

[Warm Machine]

Black Ops and Battlefront are going to soak up players no matter what. 343 knows this. So I'd imagine new content begins to drop after the initial hype for those games hits and passes.

You also can't blame the game if you get stuck with a crappy team in Warzone.

 

[Goldfishking]

I felt pretty darn good about this grenade last night.

http://xboxclips.com/A+Mini+Me/e68fad39-4e3e-479b-959c-a3807ddb3320

Haha, you celebratory crouching was great.

 

[Caja 117]

I lost maybe half of them. So players seem to be mostly Diamond, some Platinum and Onyx. No bronze or silver to be seen. (I'm gold 6 in this playlist)

Maybe they use Trueskill that is separate from your rank, but dropping down tiers for failing to beat teams of significantly higher rank is very frustrating.

I think the problem here is that No matter what rank you are, you can get matched like this, if Im not mistaken, you can go down in tiers, but not in rank right? I can get to diamond as my original placement, and loose every match after that and not get deranked to Platinum.
So is very possible that you can play against a Diamond that is close to your trueskill (if this even exist in Halo 5)

 

[JackHerer]

I wouldn't mind seeing the req system introduced into BTB or at least a variant of BTB.

Opening packs it too addicting.

I would cry. Thankfully it's supposed to be part of Arena so this isn't going to happen.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

December for BTB and Forge. I have to imagine that'll come alongside a handful of maps as there aren't really any maps in game that would work for BTB yet.

No there aren't. Really kinda bummed at the map quantity and quality. They all play great (save for Orion - die in a fire) but nothing inspired or "feel" delivering or with any cool asymmetrical purpose. I miss maps like Zanzibar and Terminal...

 

[Tecnniqe]

I felt pretty darn good about this grenade last night.

http://xboxclips.com/A+Mini+Me/e68fad39-4e3e-479b-959c-a3807ddb3320

MLGGG

Black Ops and Battlefront are going to soak up players no matter what. 343 knows this. So I'd imagine new content begins to drop after the initial hype for those games hits and passes.

You also can't blame the game if you get stuck with a crappy team in Warzone.

I disagree, game should give me 100% best team 100% all of the time.
Always.

 

[Goldfishking]

Can someone explain to me why they hate orion so much? I've played quite a bit of team slayer on it and i like it.

 

[Inferno313]

No there aren't. Really kinda bummed at the map quantity and quality. They all play great (save for Orion - die in a fire) but nothing inspired or "feel" delivering or with any cool asymmetrical purpose. I miss maps like Zanzibar and Terminal...

I agree, although I can't get myself too worked up about it knowing we'll have 15 more by June. I just hope those 15 are good.

 

[matthieuC]

Can someone explain to me why they hate orion so much? I've played quite a bit of team slayer on it and i like it.

It's just... poorly made. Like the rock area with the sniper is so badly designed and annoying. Plus it's unbelievably ugly.

 

[Ocho]

Can someone explain to me why they hate orion so much? I've played quite a bit of team slayer on it and i like it.

I like the map but power weapons remain uncontested for 2+ mins, it's just too hard to pick 'em up, specially the Sniper. That dumb damage boost platform. Visually ugly. I can see why they dislike it.

 

[Goldfishking]

It's just... poorly made. Like the rock area with the sniper is so badly designed and annoying. Plus it's unbelievably ugly.

Yeah ok, the rock area is clumsy and hard to get up.

I like the map but power weapons remain uncontested for 2+ mins, it's just too hard to pick 'em up, specially the Sniper. That dumb damage boost platform. Visually ugly. I can see why they dislike it.

I think it looks visually plain but i wouldn't say ugly. Also when you learn how to reliably get the damage boost without falling off the map it feels great.

Ok i think i get the complaints now, it's not that great but I still don't think it's as bad as some people are making it out to be.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

I would cry. Thankfully it's supposed to be part of Arena so this isn't going to happen.

Part of Arena? Hmmm will be interesting to see what Tier I am place in for BTB then.

I don't think reqs would be so bad in it, would be a little hectic and probably a lot of spawn camping. Correction it would break the game mode. lol

 

[E92 M3]

Orion looks like a 360 map lol and has a bad layout.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

I agree, although I can't get myself too worked up about it knowing we'll have 15 more by June.

True... but man, they've been working on this game for quite some time. You'd have thought they'd have put in some "normal, asymmetrical Halo maps" for launch.

I feel like so much of the development must have been focused on this new Warzone for the casual new-to-Halo player group. (No offense intended for you fans of Warzone... i enjoy it too sometimes... i just feel it's a casual non core-Halo mode)

 

[Caja 117]

I like the map but power weapons remain uncontested for 2+ mins, it's just too hard to pick 'em up, specially the Sniper. That dumb damage boost platform. Visually ugly. I can see why they dislike it.

Maybe just having a different power weapon in sniper spawn, or/and having a Sniper in each side of the base is a good solution. Right now if you grab the sniper and have your team control one side, is basically light out for the other team.

 

[Tecnniqe]

Can someone explain to me why they hate orion so much? I've played quite a bit of team slayer on it and i like it.

Orion is the map you play and then realize its time to sell the xbox.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

I would cry. Thankfully it's supposed to be part of Arena so this isn't going to happen.

You and me both. Req cards have no place in competitive gametypes.

 

[Strider]

Orion always ends up being 2 teams camping the top of both towers and peaking each other, recharging shields, then repeat.


Reminds me of Lockout

 

[matthieuC]

Another map I actually also dislike quite a bit is Empire. I like Eden, but Empire is just too cramped IMO. Strongholds is especially messy on it with the pit stronghold being absolutely brutal. They should just scale the whole map up by like 15% or something.

 

[Strider]

Another map I actually also dislike quite a bit is Empire. I like Eden, but Empire is just too cramped IMO. Strongholds is especially messy on it with the pit stronghold being absolutely brutal. They should just scale the whole map up by like 15% or something.

I hate Strongholds on Empire but enjoy slayer.

Pit is just a mess in Strongholds.

 

[Der Flatulator]

I think the problem here is that No matter what rank you are, you can get matched like this, if Im not mistaken, you can go down in tiers, but not in rank right? I can get to diamond as my original placement, and loose every match after that and not get deranked to Platinum.
So is very possible that you can play against a Diamond that is close to your trueskill (if this even exist in Halo 5)

There's a conceptual gap here. If the game thinks I'm good enough to play with Diamond players, why won't it push me towards a diamond rank?

I get how the system functions. But I'm starting to doubt it's effectiveness. Wish you could voluntarily reset a playlist rank, but alas people would exploit that.

 

[nib95]

The last 10 games I've played, every player on both teams were above my rank. And I drop tiers for losing to them? Seems like something is broken...

My guess is this will continue, as more lower ranked people stop playing out of sheer frustration, and the more committed players keep on trucking. I've already been in some games against highly coordinated and skilled opponents who just destroy my team and end up lending to people quitting. In arena I'll stick around if one person leaves, but if two leave, no way.

Things they need to tweak.


Improve the spawning.

When a team is getting hammered by a coordinated team who are partied up, deaths end up spawning them in different spots across the map, making it harder for the losing team to team up themselves. Essentially they often have to do 1 vs 2, 3 or 4 scenarios which mean they end up permanently crippled the entire game. In these situations, very rarely have I managed to make a comeback for my team. The only times I have is where I have been able to single handedly wipe out the entire opposing team, or most of it.

Instead, if the leading party is moving together in a group, spawn their opponents closer together, much like Destiny does in such situations. So the losing side also has a chance at grouping up without being picked off along the way. And spawn them away from the enemies, so both parties require time to get to one another, and the losing side some time to regroup or re strategise.

Right now spawn points are often too close together, too erratic and too imbalanced.


Matchmake to fill the gaps.

If people drop out, have the matchmaking system bring someone in to fill the gap as soon as possible. Going entire matches with uneven numbers can be a frustrating affair.


Reduce the nade count.

Nade spamming is too prevalent in the game. Granted I've abused it myself countless times, but it really does make for overly sloppy and pot luck based mayhem, that devalues skill and actual gunplay.

 

[TheCanisDirus]

I hate Strongholds on Empire but enjoy slayer.

Pit is just a mess in Strongholds.

Another horrible design choice right there. "Hey, lets stick the capture point directly mid map, recessed in the ground as a cross-map grenade catch-all basket!"

 

[darkinstinct]

There's a conceptual gap here. If the game thinks I'm good enough to play with Diamond players, why won't it push me towards a diamond rank?

I get how the system functions. But I'm starting to doubt it's effectiveness. Wish you could voluntarily reset a playlist rank, but alas people would exploit that.

You can always create a new gamertag and use shared gold to kind of reset. It's not like there are any multiplayer achievements that you won't already have after two hours of MP, so might just switch to a different tag for the time being.

 

[vac]

I think the problem here is that No matter what rank you are, you can get matched like this, if Im not mistaken, you can go down in tiers, but not in rank right? I can get to diamond as my original placement, and loose every match after that and not get deranked to Platinum.
So is very possible that you can play against a Diamond that is close to your trueskill (if this even exist in Halo 5)

I'm pretty sure this is right. The division you are in is pretty much irrelevant. There is a hidden rating(which you can see once you hit Onyx). This is what is used to match you. You can get put in to Diamond from whatever circumstances during placement matches(good teammates, bad algorithm, lucky with quitters, w.e) and then constantly lose matches, as such you hidden rating continues to drop. Now instead of being rated 1200, you are rated 1000 which is in the platinum range. Then you lose more matches and now your rating is 800 and you're in the gold range. etc.

Numbers as an example obviously. You rank/division is almost just a badge of honour - "I was rated platinum at some point"

EDIT:

There's a conceptual gap here. If the game thinks I'm good enough to play with Diamond players, why won't it push me towards a diamond rank?

Again, they aren't really a "Diamond player" at that point, they have a similar rating as you, you just can't see it.

ALSO should be noted that in most other matchmaking systems, you team composition will be an average of all players rating on a team. And as such can give you seemingly unbalanced matches. You may get 5 players all rated 1000, but the other team has 4x 750 and a 2000. Because the average is the same the system thinks it's fair.