RyInfinity wrote: ZippySkippy wrote: RyInfinity wrote: ZippySkippy wrote: RyInfinity wrote:



My advice is to simply abandon the hunt for BR/GF starts and to simply reformat Ranked Arena play, focusing around Magnum-only/Ability Tracker load outs.People want consistency and direction. There is a lack of consistency between Ranked Arena playlists, there is a lack of consistency in matchmaking search times and quality of matches, and there is a lack of consistency in 343's cadence of updates and what they intend to do with each one. There is no direction to be seen regarding where sandbox and map design are going.



ZaedynFel wrote:



2. The BR/Gunfighter combo strikes a balance between being powerful enough to answer most threats, but not being so powerful that there’s no reason to pick up anything on the map. 1. Since when are there different designers working on different Arena playlists? Before the Summer/Fall HCS settings split, Team Arena/HCS were one in the same. Did these people forget how to develop competitive settings? Why are they trying to craft an entirely different/new/abstract experience, rather than tuning Team Arena to optimize for fun, balanced, and competitive gameplay? If the goal is to unify everything, Team Arena and HCS aren't that different.



Reduce the amount of Ranked playlists, adopt a universal settings set (Magnum-only/Ability Tracker) for Team Arena, Doubles, and FFA, and move things like SWAT, Slayer, and Snipers to Social, where they can preserve their own settings and leaved Ranked play for competitive settings.The Splinter Grenade can work competitively if it's placed delicately and intelligently for its role, the SMG can work on the map as an automatic pickup in Magnum-only play, but not if we're also trying to shoehorn in Storm Rifles and Silenced ARs as pickups. Everything needs to have its purpose and an excess of precision and automatic weapons overcomplicates things. Save the Assault Rifle for Social Arena loadouts and playlists. Get the Storm Rifle out.



2. Once again, I think you (or whoever provided you with that information) are misinterpreting what a healthy Halo sandbox should look like. Weapons should not always be persistent upgrades that must be picked up on the map. The utility weapon, or starting weapon, should be a consistent, mechanical skill-oriented, low perfect TTK, high average TTK precision weapon. Secondary weapons have to be thought of delicately (AR, etc.). When the sandbox includes literally seven precision weapons (+ variants), it somewhat clogs up the sandbox and removes the niche role of the starting weapon, which is designed to empower players—one of the most important pillars of a competitive game..



The Magnum doesn't overpower the Hydra, the Sniper Rifle (which overpowers everything, by the way), the Scattershot, the Plasma Caster, Rockets, etc.

These are all unique weapons that can fit unique roles with the right weapon placements. We don't need to overpopulate maps with duplicate weapons just to increase the amount of times players are picking up weapons. Powerups are also sandbox items that are being colossally underutilized.



Each weapon should have value and suit a unique role. They should change the way players approach the map, their movement, and the way they duel their opponents. When the BR, Carbine, Gunfighter Magnum, Regular Magnum, Light Rifle, behave nearly all the same, you've diluted the value of weapon pickups. Saying 'not being so powerful that there’s no reason to pick up anything on the map' is exemplary of the problem of the oversaturated sandbox. I agree with most of your thoughts. But are you saying to take Arena Slayer out of ranks? And only make it a social playlist? You do realize Arena Slayer is one of if not the most popular playlist H5 has when it comes to ranks don't you? Slayer has to stay a ranked playlist. Slayer has to stay in a ranked format. Its way to scary to even think of taking that out. That's the thing though. That's why players play it. One because its just slayer and two because it is ranked. The players I play with in slayer like it because its ranked and there is nothing but slayer. We, the friends I play with, like it because of just that. We don't want to play capture the flag and all the other objective type games. Slayer is such a major part in ranked I just cant see it being moved. I'm almost sure Josh had told me in the matchmaking thread that slayer is the most popular.. But even being popular we are not talking the numbers that Halo was once known for. I just think at this stage one has to be very careful at anything major like this. The weapon tune has really hurt this game. And we can already see that 343 is reeling from it and not totally sure what to do next. I personally think moving that out of ranks would be heart wrenching.. People will always have there preference for playlist format, but the formula for a successful ranking system and competitive matchmaking environment has been established by other, more successful, AAA games.



Duplicate ranked environments are bad for the weight/value of the ranking system.













I agree with ZippySkippy here. Removing Team Slayer from ranked would be a HUGE mistake. I easily have 30 friends JUST on my friends list who ONLY want to play RANKED Team Slayer. They don't like playing any kind if objective game type. The core people I play with only want to play ranked Team Slayer. They have ZERO interest in HCS or Team Arena because there are objective game types in them. I'm telling you right now, if ranked Team Slayer goes away, Halo 5 will all but be dead. All one has to do is talk to people after matches and ask them why they play ranked Team Slayer. 95% of the time the responds will be something like "because I want to just kill people in ranked" or "because I don't like playing objective game types but I want to play ranked" I hear this all the time as I use a mic and talk to people.I also think forcing the ability tracker radar on people isn't a smart move and will only cause more people to stop playing. I think the majority of people are fine with and want there to be some sort of MLG/HCS "pro" setting playlist and if settings are different there, that's fine....but, If you start changing settings in say something like Team Slayer aka putting in the ability tracker radar, people are going to see that as your trying to force "pro" settings everywhere. Halo 5 already gets enough heat for being too competitive. Why try and push that more?? Just because someone likes to play ranked, doesn't mean they want to play the pro settings, far from it I'd say. If they wanted to play with the pro settings, they'd play the pro playlist lol ;)As far as I'm concerned, in Halo 5 current state, ranked should have FFA, Team Slayer, Doubles and a HCS playlist. They could toy with a ranked team objective playlist too see how it would do if they want as well, otherwise try it in soical. Everything else should be in soical I think.