- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: B3OWULF
Been following this thread with mild interest. I find it absolutely astounding the arrogance of some players here, which mirrors what I experience on Live. After playing over 10,000 H2 games in MM, I can say some things with absolute certainty. (Sorry for those who don’t like long posts – I type fast.)
As far as “skill” goes, once a player reaches a certain arbitrary level, say, around 20-25 or so with the current levels, there is very little additional “skill” one can attain to continue maintaining an edge over one’s opponents. Every one uses the same dodging/evading techniques, team strategies, and has comparable aim against other like players. I can say, quite literally, that only in 2 or 3 out of every 100 matches do I encounter a player or players who I can confidently say, beat me because of superior speed or skill. The other times I was beaten have to do with the conditions I’ll outline below.
The main factor has to do with connection superiority. Host vs. non-host, and varying degrees of latency between the parties connected to the host machine all affect the outcome of matches. Only the host is playing in real time, all others are reacting to delayed maps – some worse than others. Bullets miss their target, plasma pistols fire into space, stickies miss, etc., etc. Auto-aim/magnetism does not work with latency, and frame-rates can stutter making accurate shots impossible. Now, there is some delay built into the game to allow for minor differences in connections, but extremes in latency will result in easy kills for those with better connections. If you’ve never played on a poor connection, then you wouldn’t understand the disadvantage other players have. I’ve found that most people I’ve tried to explain this to, think it’s mumbo-jumbo. It’s real, and exists.
The next has to do with button-glitching. I don’t want to get into an argument again with anyone over whether or not it’s cheating. All I’m going to say is that glitching offers a tremendous advantage over non-glitching players. If all players are glitching, then its advantage is diminished, and most often will offer kills to the players with the least latency. I think this is why most players who button-glitch say that it’s no big deal, because much of the time they’re playing against others who do the same. However, against someone who is NOT glitching, there is absolutely no defense against it. As a matter of fact, in some cases, especially melees, button-glitching actually CANCELS the opponent’s ability to counter or evade. Even when all players are glitching, the kill goes to the player who initiates the sequence and has data received at the host machine first, since the kill-time is measured in milliseconds. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been first to trigger a couple of bursts of BR fire, or melee first, only to lose the encounter. It’s not because I have “lesser skill” than the other, or somehow don’t melee as hard because I’m “weak” or something. The game simply isn’t programmed that way. The reasons have to do with what I’ve written above.
So, what is skill in H2? The original poster made an excellent dissection of its elements. However, unlike other sports, skill in H2 doesn’t continue to progress as one gains more and more experience, past a certain arbitrary level. You reach a limit of what was programmed into the game, and how maps can be used most efficiently, and the only way to continue winning against others of similar skill is through connection superiority, or manipulations of the game that not all players participate in. There are obvious methods of cheating that have to do with bridging, modding, etc., but those don’t involve gaming skill.
Since moving to a different part of the country a couple years ago, I’ve never had host. But I can tell you, the times I DID have host, I sometimes had 25-30 kills per 50-point game. Now I’m usually under 15, and sometimes even under 10. It’s simply not possible to get worse to this degree, and I’m not being matched against a higher-caliber player. These losses keep my current level between 15 and 22, which goes up and down depending upon how many quitters, de-levelers, players with better connections, organized teams, etc., etc., I get matched up with in a row.
I can tell you one "skill" I don't have, and that's the knowledge of what the different areas of the maps are commonly known by, so they can be called out. I don't plan to learn these, as I have too much else on my mind and just want to play for enjoyment. But, this does put me at a disadvantage when playing on a team where the others are depending upon these communications.
When someone trash-talks maliciously or exhibits other poor behavior because they beat you, it’s because they are cretins and don’t understand the real reason they won. I’ll be very glad when H3 is here, because I know Bungie has made some major improvements to even the playing field.
You are so incredibly wrong it's not even funny. You believe that button glitching and connection host play a bigger role than team work and individual ability. I'm sorry, you are neither good enough nor intelligent enough to make such claims.