bobs99 ... said:
I would much rather lose a tense game 50-49 than go +20 getting insane multikills.
You're in the definite minority. And like you said a few posts ago:
the phycological knock of realising you suck at the game. Most people like to just stick with social and not have the game insult them.
The Arena tells you how good you are, and for the most part you can't change it. You can't grind your way out of silver by playing a ton of matches, unlike just about every other ranking system in videogames. I
love the Arena, everything about it, the ideas behind it (though I agree assists should be easier to get across the whole of Reach), but I can see why most people find it punishing.
In general Bungie have set up Reach to provide close games and high competition (and this includes TrueSkilling every playlist), but most people, most of the time, don't want to be told exactly how good they are at games. They just want to be rewarded constantly and always be able to 'improve' by playing more games. Something like CoD nails both.
Reach doesn't do either, really. If you suck, it tells you you suck, and it does it over and over.
What's more, because TrueSkill is hidden, the psychological effect of you improving in TrueSkill but not having a corresponding number to display this means it feels like you are getting
worse at the game as you play more games in a new playlist.
And the end result is people go and play a different game that isn't as unforgiving on someone who isn't 'pro' at it.