Repost for sir Bob on the 4sk vs 5sk discussion.
Yeah I saw it and was trying to put together a good post based on why I think the difference between a 4sk and 5sk is negligible in terms of the skill gap/ teamwork. I was also trying to word why I think a 4sk feels a lot nicer to me aesthetically.
Its hard to talk about those things and break things into cold hard facts - ultimately the 'feel' of a 4 shot kill feels a lot nicer to me, and I feel as though its cleaner in terms of awareness, has a nice cadence/ rhythm to it, and ultimately is classic. Although my only comparison point is the Reach 5sk Pistol and DMR and so I realize my critique of the 5sk is clouded by just not liking Reach.
(Although I do dislike the idea of having an extra projectile which needs to play the internet lottery of "will this shot even register")
When I say cleaner in terms of awareness - I feel as though with a 4 shot kill you can keep tabs on people and make calls outs that much easier. If im playing Guardian and put 2 shots into someone who runs into Blue I can call out "Blue room - half shields".
A teammate who is also half shields can judge if he wants to jump in, from a call out point of view he knows the risk he is taking by going in. 5sk seems less 'clean', its a bit harder to keep tabs on people and know what their shields should be like in the same way. I feel as though for game readability knowing 2 shots = half shields, 1 shot = 1 quarter shields is important, what is my opponents shield like if I put 3 shots into him? Is he half shields? What about if I put 1 shot into him? if someone calls out that he has put 1 shot into someone and I am slightly weak after being grazed by an AR, how do I judge whether I should approach him?
In terms of the team shot discussion, I feel as though 2 people getting a teamshot should be rewarded. I also feel as though adding more players to that teamshot already rewards the team doing the teamshooting (maybe not mathematically - but those players are in a stronger position to deal with the next people they see). I also feel as though its more practical in a game like Halo - and rewards proper map control to keep the number of teamshot participants needed for that advantage down. On a map like the Pit, proper teamwork doesn't involve clustering your team and going for a teamshot, it involves controlling the various points on the map, but being in a position to flank and help a teammate who does get into an encounter. In terms of FFA I really prefer the 4sk, the less shots that are needed the less likely kill stealing will happen.
This all feels very 'grey' to me, and simply spitting down the theory isn't doing much for me. (Not that I dont respect your mathematical breakdown! That was awesome - I dont have anything as empirical to offer). I think my original point was that in the Podcast they discussed originally having a 4sk for that classic feel, but after playtesting and seeing how quick people died decided that 4sk was too dangerous and so they made it a 5sk - I still wonder why they didn't keep the 4sk but toned down the RoF in order to lower the killtimes.