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[GhaleonEB]

That's not true. Just look at the example you just gave. The top two players on the losing team scored better than the 4th person on the winning team. Which they should, especially since they had better games.

The system works well now and I could live with it going completely unchanged. But from a nitpicky sense, there should be a greater reward for winning and if you had a positive K/D ratio it should be another (very small) bonus.

loss_penalty

If your team loses, this is a penalty applied to your rating.

But wait, you protest: "Isn't the Arena about individual performance?" It is, so our goal is that this penalty is as small as possible while still accomplishing two goals:

1. Assuming equal performance, a player on the winning team should place ahead of his counterpart on the losing team.
2. Playing for a personal best rating should require winning. No hanging your team out to dry to shoot for a high score.


For the Public Belta, this number is 0.96. In other words, if you lose, we shave a mere 4% off of your rating. We will be continuing to adjust this number, and we might even shift the place where this penalty is applied.

From the BWU explaining the Personal Rating formula. The losing team is docked 4% across the board, as I said. If two players have an identical performance, the one on the winning team gets a higher rating, but it's possible to be on the losing team and have the highest rating in the game if you were on a shit team but still rocked the house.

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BWU_043010

 

[NJ Shlice]

From the BWU explaining the Personal Rating formula. The losing team is docked 4% across the board, as I said. If two players have an identical performance, the one on the winning team gets a higher rating, but it's possible to be on the losing team and have the highest rating in the game if you were on a shit team but still rocked the house.

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BWU_043010

Okay. I thought you were inferring that all members of the losing team will have a lower rating because they lost.

But still, I think it should be a "Win bonus" not a Loss Penalty. Tomato tomato

 

[kodt]

Played some invasion yesterday, seems like either you are on a extremely shitty team, or you are playing against a shitty team.

I swear either my team doesn't even get one power generator down or we cap the power core with minutes left :lol

 

[Max]

Hell yeah! Someone just randomly posted their extra code on on the Bungie forums earlier, so happy I got it.

 

[Satanmonkey]

got above 1700 points on arena for the first time yesterday. 28 kills

i certainly find reach easier to play than halo 3, and yet so far there are less.. epic moments. that may be because of a lack of vehicles but even though i wasn't great at halo 3 i felt like i had more impact in matches than in reach..

another thing, has anyone noticed some issues with melee attacks causing to many stalemates? Halo 3 seemed to get the balance right in that respect with it acting as a last resort or to getsomeone from behind and BR was always my main killing weapon. But in reach it seems to take so much longer to down someone that melee seems to always be involved somehow. Kinda ruins the experience a little

 

[Karram]

I think Bungie should make separate playlists for both Invasion and Invasion slayer. Everyone just votes for Invasion Slayer which isn't as good as the Invasion and incase Invasion is chosen atleast 3 people quit. Also don't allow party chat in Invasion because I hate playing like that.

 

[OMG Aero]

I think Bungie should make separate playlists for both Invasion and Invasion slayer. Everyone just votes for Invasion Slayer which isn't as good as the Invasion and incase Invasion is chosen atleast 3 people quit. Also don't allow party chat in Invasion because I hate playing like that.

I have the opposite problem, everyone always picks Invasion Slayer so I've never been able to play the mode to see what it is.
Also I like party chat, I was playing with a friend yesterday and I just wanted to talk to him about stuff not related to Halo so I didn't want to hear everyone else. If they took out party chat I'd just have to mute everyone but him and even then everyone else would still hear me and my friend.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

And I have the opposite problem. Never being able to play Slayer because the vote is always 7-5 because people are just afk or unconcious and Invasion defaults to starting position everytime.

 

[Gareth Bale]

So this here is me in Silver:

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/CareerStats.aspx?player=Kermad

And this is my mate in Gold:

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/CareerStats.aspx?player=Adthomson

Anyone explain that? I know it doesn't show assists, but he would have had to have a ridiculous amount based on those stats to take him a division above me.

Edit: Wait it does show assists and he has 35 more than me (although he's played 2 more games). Whut?

 

[Raide]

And I have the opposite problem. Never being able to play Slayer because the vote is always 7-5 because people are just afk or unconcious and Invasion defaults to starting position everytime.

Maybe they should just put Invasion Slayer in Grab Bag as a replacement for BTB (thats what it really is anyway)

 

[Safe Bet]

So I know that I can play conservatively, be careful not to die, and help my team as much as possible, and I'll get a decent rating. (Or at lesat, one that I think is both not bad and accurately reflects my play. I'm probably Steel bound, and I'm okay with that.)
.

It is we..

We men of the soil that shall inherit the Earth.

 

[Rowsdower]

Played some Forza 3 with my roomie for the first time yesterday. I really would like to see a comparable level of customization for my spartan in Reach. Those people do wonderful things to their cars.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Anyone explain that?

He's likely playing in tougher games against opponents with higher TrueSkill. K/D doesn't indicate the quality of kills or deaths, and Arena doesn't care what your Ratings are; it only cares how your Rating in one game compares to the other seven players in that game. Likewise, it doesn't care what your Day Ratings are, only that you have enough of them to qualify for Divisional placement.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Invasion Slayer sucks anyway.

Well, the concept is fun. But the weapon imbalance is even more of a problem than in vanilla Invasion.

 

[Gareth Bale]

He's likely playing in tougher games against opponents with higher TrueSkill. K/D doesn't indicate the quality of kills or deaths, and Arena doesn't care what your Ratings are; it only cares how your Rating in one game compares to the other seven players in that game. Likewise, it doesn't care what your Day Ratings are, only that you have enough of them to qualify for Divisional placement.

I've played more than half those games with him though....and I'm getting higher ratings in those games. I think there's something off about this rating system. I'm reading what you said but all I'm getting is that he's playing better people, and doing worse than me, yet he's not doing worse enough to place him in an equal or lower division.... is that right?

Deep rivalry there :lol

 

[Kuroyume]

In the Beta, you have to damage health (not shield) 40% of the way, and that player must die before they pick up a health pack. That's a bug: in the shipping game, you need to deal 40% or more of the total damage to the player, health or shields, and they need to be killed before a shield recharge. Fixed for fall, so to speak.

So, does that mean it's going to be easier or tougher to get assists? It's kind of confusing.

 

[Pete Rock]

I think Bungie should make separate playlists for both Invasion and Invasion slayer.]

Yeah, I was seriously underwhelmed when I saw it listed under Standard, aside from the fact that both modes feel entirely different.

It feels like they are selling it short considering Arena is just a more competitive version of 4v4 with ratings.

I was expecting Standard to contain more traditionally derivative gametypes (think double xp) rather than Invasion & potentially Generator Defense.

Those people do wonderful things to their cars.

People do the same thing with Forge in Halo, by clipping objects into each other (merging) or otherwise extrapolating a workflow with very basic tools to create complex objects. I can't say I will miss seeing catgirl outfits sprayed over Spartan armor tho :lol

Speaking of has anyone heard of workflow improvements within Forge? Ideally I'd like to see a clipping mode toggle on objects as well as snap. It'd be too cool to get to play with particle emitters and entities to create complex objects with different states in the map, but that's probably not feasible.

 

[Oozer3993]

Played some Forza 3 with my roomie for the first time yesterday. I really would like to see a comparable level of customization for my spartan in Reach. Those people do wonderful things to their cars.

There will be more emblems, and far more armor pieces in the final game to doll up your Spartan. The Beta is just a tiny taste of the Armory. I believe there will even be several more types of armor pieces, such as arm and leg pieces.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I've played more than half those games with him though....and I'm getting higher ratings in those games. I think there's something off about this rating system. I'm reading what you said but all I'm getting is that he's playing better people, and doing worse than me, yet he's not doing worse enough to place him in an equal or lower division.... is that right?

Deep rivalry there :lol

Those other games are what's causing the perceived disparity, then; it is likely he is getting a different calibre of opponent in those (according to TrueSkill), and is playing well enough that the game believes he is better than you. If you truly are superior, and want to place above him, you will simply have to play enough games for the system to recognize this. 50-60 games is a pretty small sample size, but the more you play, the better informed TrueSkill will be about your relative skill.

Also worth pointing out you may be at the very top of Silver and he may be near the bottom of Gold, and there may be less separating you than you think.

So, does that mean it's going to be easier or tougher to get assists? It's kind of confusing.

I would imagine easier on the whole, but you will be getting them pretty much immediately in most situations, rather than seeing many of them pop up thirty seconds or even a minute or two later as is the case now.

 

[Spirit3]

There will be more emblems, and far more armor pieces in the final game to doll up your Spartan. The Beta is just a tiny taste of the Armory. I believe there will even be several more types of armor pieces, such as arm and leg pieces.

Game needs a Shredder outfit.

Just played a game of Invasion where the host dropped and I re-spawned with two DMR's.

 

[Rowsdower]

There will be more emblems, and far more armor pieces in the final game to doll up your Spartan. The Beta is just a tiny taste of the Armory. I believe there will even be several more types of armor pieces, such as arm and leg pieces.

I know and that's nice, but i drove by a Chevrolet with a Dalí painting on it. Just saying

 

[Trickster]

So, does that mean it's going to be easier or tougher to get assists? It's kind of confusing.

Harder I'd say, simply because the timeframe your teammates have to take out your target will probably be much smaller, due to the fact that shields recharge without him having to wander off and find a shield recharging unit.

 

[Gareth Bale]

Those other games are what's causing the perceived disparity, then; it is likely he is getting a different calibre of opponent in those (according to TrueSkill), and is playing well enough that the game believes he is better than you. If you truly are superior, and want to place above him, you will simply have to play enough games for the system to recognize this. 50-60 games is a pretty small sample size, but the more you play, the better informed TrueSkill will be about your relative skill.

Also worth pointing out you may be at the very top of Silver and he may be near the bottom of Gold, and there may be less separating you than you think.

Fair enough

Spoiler

it's so unfair!

It does provide us with a few laughs though, when he goes -13 and I go +5, to see him in the division above me.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Fair enough

Spoiler

it's so unfair!

It does provide us with a few laughs though, when he goes -13 and I go +5, to see him in the division above me.

K/D is completely irrelevant, though. In that game he did worse than all of the red team and you did worse than all of the red team except for one player. That game likely had a negative impact on both of your TrueSkills.

 

[DMeisterJ]

I think Bungie should make separate playlists for both Invasion and Invasion slayer. Everyone just votes for Invasion Slayer which isn't as good as the Invasion and incase Invasion is chosen atleast 3 people quit. Also don't allow party chat in Invasion because I hate playing like that.

I don't mind party chat in invasion because usually the group gets broken up, so chat is a must.

 

[Accidentus]

Thoughts on the Beta 92 games in.

I've gone through a weird love/hate with the Beta already. At first I loved it, mostly because it's new and it's Halo. Then I hated, mostly because it was different and I hadn't adapted (getting owned isn't fun). Now I've come to a weird acceptance where I think it's alright. I guess like any Halo game you get frustrated playing in games where someone's camping launcher spawn in Slayer Pro with the hammer, or you're playing a team who refuses to move from top red.

Some comments
- Nades are ridiculous. Yes, they're about as powerful as the CE grenades, except in CE everything was more powerful. From the pistol, the plasma rifle, sniper, etc.. everything across the board was powerful so the nades had to be powerful in comparison. Since everything is pretty weak in Reach the nades are a trump card in every situation. In other games there was always a give and take, "maybe I'll throw a nade but I'll be down two shots in the BR battle so I have to throw this accurately." Throwing nades is the best option in 100% of situations now.

- The plasma cannon/launcher/whatever-it's-called is a great addition. Not sure why people are calling it overpowered though. A close range it's terrible and needs a pretty lengthy wind up time, just circle strafe at close range. At distance it's pretty much a super powered needler. Just strafe around a corner. Sure at mid range it's beast, but so is the rocket launcher and nobodies calling that overpowered. Maybe they could tone down the ammo bit. Now speaking of overpowerd...

-The hammer. Man this really needs to go in Team Slayer Pro. In regular slayer it's fine because there are counter's to it (armor lock, bait him out and jetpack away, sneak up on him with camo). In TS pro there's just nothing you can do when he's sprinting at you. He effectively has a 50 yard kill radius.

- Rating system is borked. Going 10 and 5 with 5 assists in more valuable than going 15 and 17 with 7 assists. I don't care what metric you're using. Either deaths need to be penalized more or assists need to be weighted less. Probably a little of both.

- Maps. Powerhouse is fantastic. I love the sightlines on this map and plays great on TS pro. No real complaints apart from the Hammer. Sword base on the other hand... Man that map is frustrating. Why does everyone love TS pro on this map? Inevitably there's a point in the game where Team A is over at red while Team B is over at yellow and it becomes a game of poke out and shoot, then hide when your shields pop, repeat. That or a game of throw nades across high bridge. Halo combat is best in open areas, not compartmentalized rooms. It's also way too easy to camp top red.

- Armor abilities. I think they're well done and Bungie has done a good job of balancing them. The armor lock might be a tad overpowered, but that's if I had to be nitpicky. On a related note, anyone have any success using the jetpack with bumper jumper? Apart from learning to claw jetpack is pretty much useless with BJ since you can't aim and jetpack at the same time (apart from switching my controller config obviously)

 

[StranGER]

Ok. Not sure if this was a glitch or I somehow got a sneak peak at a new feature coming.

So I'm playing yesterday and I'm using the run special ability and I kill a guy with a jet pack.
I walk over his dead body and what do I notice but a notice on screen a notice to press x to switch to jetpack. I hold x and it trys to switch but then the runner symbol just pops back up.

I tried again and again with no luck but couldn't get it to happen again.

So did I discover something coming in the final build?

 

[Raide]

Ok. Not sure if this was a glitch or I somehow got a sneak peak at a new feature coming.

So I'm playing yesterday and I'm using the run special ability and I kill a guy with a jet pack.
I walk over his dead body and what do I notice but a notice on screen a notice to press x to switch to jetpack. I hold x and it trys to switch but then the runner symbol just pops back up.

I tried again and again with no luck but couldn't get it to happen again.

So did I discover something coming in the final build?

A few people have already posted this. It could be linked to the SP side, since it would be a little annoying to pick 1 AA and have to stick with it all level.

 

[Wiggum2007]

- Nades are ridiculous. Yes, they're about as powerful as the CE grenades, except in CE everything was more powerful. From the pistol, the plasma rifle, sniper, etc.. everything across the board was powerful so the nades had to be powerful in comparison. Since everything is pretty weak in Reach the nades are a trump card in every situation. In other games there was always a give and take, "maybe I'll throw a nade but I'll be down two shots in the BR battle so I have to throw this accurately." Throwing nades is the best option in 100% of situations now.

Not to mention CE grenades had much longer fuses. The timer for frags didn't even start until they came to a stop, and plasmas took like 3 seconds before detonating.

 

[StranGER]

What's the link to suggest ideas for bungie on the beta?

I'd like to suggest that they tweak the motion sensor.
When someone is below u there is an obvious difference with the red dot being dark.

I know there is a slight shadow when over u but sometimes at a glance it's hard to tell.
Why not make the color lighter Like an orange so at a quick glance u can distinguish between the three levels even easier.

 

[Oozer3993]

Ok. Not sure if this was a glitch or I somehow got a sneak peak at a new feature coming.

So I'm playing yesterday and I'm using the run special ability and I kill a guy with a jet pack.
I walk over his dead body and what do I notice but a notice on screen a notice to press x to switch to jetpack. I hold x and it trys to switch but then the runner symbol just pops back up.

I tried again and again with no luck but couldn't get it to happen again.

So did I discover something coming in the final build?

Similar occurrences have been noted here a couple times. I think it's more something hanging around from earlier in development. IIRC, in the first article on the game, they mentioned that in the multiplayer you'd be able to pick up Armor Abilities from dead enemies. I'd assume they've scrapped that since then, since it would be something they'd want to test in the wild.

I know and that's nice, but i drove by a Chevrolet with a Dalí painting on it. Just saying

I don't think I'd trust the Halo community with that much customization lol.

 

[Wiggum2007]

What's the link to suggest ideas for bungie on the beta?

I'd like to suggest that they tweak the motion sensor.
When someone is below u there is an obvious difference with the red dot being dark.

I know there is a slight shadow when over u but sometimes at a glance it's hard to tell.
Why not make the color lighter Like an orange so at a quick glance u can distinguish between the three levels even easier.

My suggestion would be to have triangles (or arrows) for enemies above and upside-down triangles for lower elevation. Though I suppose on a smaller tv that could be hard to make out, perhaps combine it with the current shading system.

 

[StranGER]

My suggestion would be to have triangles (or arrows) for enemies above and upside-down triangles for lower elevation. Though I suppose on a smaller tv that could be hard to make out, perhaps combine it with the current shading system.

Something to help would be nice.
As long as they are below me there is no issue but sometimes the above is hard to distinguish. I would think a different color would be very obvious.

 

[big ander]

Sweet, just got my first perfection in Reach. Sword Base Default Slayer. I think it didn't register on the site though, for a couple reasons. First, when I was already something like 13-0, 2 people on their team quit, and one more on their team quit when I was already at my Riot I think. Second, I chose to use the plasma launcher when I was something like 16-0, and got two dumb betrayals with it. I fired it into a room where an enemy was, and someone ran in while the enemy escaped. Then, I locked onto the guy, fired, and someone went in for a melee on him. :lol Oh well. Still went 19-0 with two betrayals. Used mostly Shotgun and Sniper. Video's rendering, if anyone cares. Should be done in ~10 minutes. EDIT: Done now.

EDIT 2: Duh. Forgot that black screens can break a perfection. Except I get the medal at the end. I don't even know.

 

[a.wd]

My Xbox died the DAY before the Beta!

 

[The Librarian]

Saw this on HBO

Invasion Jail Spawn Glitch (rendered video)


Could be pretty funny if you were pissed off at your battle bro :lol

There are so many places you can get with the battle bro spawn system it seems... I am sure you could spawn your bro on the other side of the barriers, causing him to be at Phase 2 before it even is open.

coolspawnbro.mp3

I think Bungie should make separate playlists for both Invasion and Invasion slayer. Everyone just votes for Invasion Slayer which isn't as good as the Invasion and incase Invasion is chosen atleast 3 people quit. Also don't allow party chat in Invasion because I hate playing like that.
http://i44.tinypic.com/24gjcwh.jpg[/IM][/QUOTE]
Please don't give Bungie bad ideas.

 

[zumphry]

I think Bungie should make separate playlists for both Invasion and Invasion slayer. Everyone just votes for Invasion Slayer which isn't as good as the Invasion and incase Invasion is chosen atleast 3 people quit. Also don't allow party chat in Invasion because I hate playing like that.

Well, it's kinda understandable. Invasion is so lopsided that it's not even funny. Sometimes being the Spartans is boring because it's so easy to keep the Elites from getting past Phase One. At least in Invasion Slayer, the Elites have a chance of winning.

I have such a love/hate relationship with this game, I never wanted to turn the Halo 3 beta off, but I turn this one off in disgust regularly.

I also feel like in almost every game I play with people I know, it seems like no one is really having fun. :lol

Pretty much my same "situation".

 

[TommyT]

Got in from the trip yesterday and didn't have a chance to jump in and play any games.



Soo... how is it [invasion] ?

 

[-PXG-]

Saw this on HBO

Invasion Jail Spawn Glitch (rendered video)


Could be pretty funny if you were pissed off at your battle bro :lol

There are so many places you can get with the battle bro spawn system it seems... I am sure you could spawn your bro on the other side of the barriers, causing him to be at Phase 2 before it even is open.

That happened to me once. I also kept on spawning over the the edge of the cliff too. Repsawn, fall to my death, respawn, fall to my death, respawn, fall to my death. Yeah, it sucked.

 

[Cuban Legend]

There will be more emblems, and far more armor pieces in the final game to doll up your Spartan. The Beta is just a tiny taste of the Armory. I believe there will even be several more types of armor pieces, such as arm and leg pieces.

What's everyone's thoughts on making emblems unlockable?

Like to not give away story elements with emblems that are from the campaign, you could lock them and have them unlock in tiers as you progress through campaign, or make them worth credits!

It would seem like just more micromanaging to handle, but for the big Halo MP sendoff, I think it's a worth while thing to integrate, should be easy as the emblems are already in the armory so all you gotta do is add a cR price to them, or throw a couple in that are not shown until you pass certain story sections in the campaign...

By the way, in H3 you could see where the emblem showed on your spartan, that will be in there for Retail Reach MP, right?

 

[AwesomeSyrup]

I think after more play time I've realized what makes Halo what it is. Super floaty jumping and BRs. Those are really the only major things changed and the more I play the more I notice their absence.

 

[vhfive]

Sweet, just got my first perfection in Reach. Sword Base Default Slayer. I think it didn't register on the site though, for a couple reasons. First, when I was already something like 13-0, 2 people on their team quit, and one more on their team quit when I was already at my Riot I think. Second, I chose to use the plasma launcher when I was something like 16-0, and got two dumb betrayals with it. I fired it into a room where an enemy was, and someone ran in while the enemy escaped. Then, I locked onto the guy, fired, and someone went in for a melee on him. :lol Oh well. Still went 19-0 with two betrayals. Used mostly Shotgun and Sniper. Video's rendering, if anyone cares. Should be done in ~10 minutes. EDIT: Done now.

I see you start playing like a bitch when you get 15 kills

Spoiler

I do too

 

[zumphry]

What's everyone's thoughts on making emblems unlockable?

Like to not give away story elements with emblems that are from the campaign, you could lock them and have them unlock in tiers as you progress through campaign, or make them worth credits!

It would seem like just more micromanaging to handle, but for the big Halo MP sendoff, I think it's a worth while thing to integrate, should be easy as the emblems are already in the armory so all you gotta do is add a cR price to them, or throw a couple in that are not shown until you pass certain story sections in the campaign...

By the way, in H3 you could see where the emblem showed on your spartan, that will be in there for Retail Reach MP, right?

As long as the Marathon emblem would be unlocked from the start, I'm fine with it. If it's not, there would be blood to pay. :lol

 

[vhfive]

I think after more play time I've realized what makes Halo what it is. Super floaty jumping and BRs. Those are really the only major things changed and the more I play the more I notice their absence.

I miss this the most.
Jumping plays a big role in Halo's gameplay and it is probably thing thing I hate most about Reach. Jumping around in a 1v1 BR fight or being able to traverse around maps with ease is an essential (IMO) part of the Halo experience (hell I probably like Borderlands so much because the jumping is so similar to Halo). I could choose jetpack and it'll kinda give me the same feel but it's not the same.

Bungle I know these aren't the same Spartans but please raise the jumping height (and make movement speed slightly faster while you're at it).

 

[NJ Shlice]

Can someone render this for me please. It's a delicious Evade + Stick = Double Kill.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=697515

 

[Karram]

Please don't give Bungie bad ideas.

I think party chat should be disabled in modes that needs communication like invasion while still being enabled in modes like slayer that doesn't really need communicating between players.

 

[Major Williams]

Just got my hands on the beta.

Elites are awesome! And the game plays GREAT!

My only gripe is the hit notification. I can't really tell if I'm hitting someone when they don't have shields - perhaps another way to notify. I feel the loooong range of sight makes it hard to tell with some of the zoomed weapons.

The responsiveness of all the controls is great, I just wish weapons were a bit easier to find (that aren't default starting weapons). All I could find were a couple weapons that I happened to chance upon.

 

[Manus]

I'm really liking Invasion Slayer, The Needler is so good. Love killing people with it.

 

[AwesomeSyrup]

I miss this the most.
Jumping plays a big role in Halo's gameplay and it is probably thing thing I hate most about Reach. Jumping around in a 1v1 BR fight or being able to traverse around maps with ease is an essential (IMO) part of the Halo experience (hell I probably like Borderlands so much because the jumping is so similar to Halo). I could choose jetpack and it'll kinda give me the same feel but it's not the same.

Bungle I know these aren't the same Spartans but please raise the jumping height (and make movement speed slightly faster while you're at it).

Yeah what really makes me notice it is when I try to jump on stuff but can't and have to run around to get to it. The same spots would be easily reachable in Halo 3, but you can't do it in Reach.

 

[Slightly Live]

Just got my hands on the beta.

Elites are awesome! And the game plays GREAT!

My only gripe is the hit notification. I can't really tell if I'm hitting someone when they don't have shields - perhaps another way to notify. I feel the loooong range of sight makes it hard to tell with some of the zoomed weapons.

The responsiveness of all the controls is great, I just wish weapons were a bit easier to find (that aren't default starting weapons). All I could find were a couple weapons that I happened to chance upon.

Maybe hop into Theatre mode and look at some of the weapon spawns? Most players at this point know them and it would be beneficial to bring yourself to equal position during your matches.

Sounds like a great first impression.