Halo: Reach Forum
This topic has moved here: Poll [194 votes]: Does the community really want BR's?
  • Poll [194 votes]: Does the community really want BR's?
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Subject: Does the community really want BR's?

This is Nate

Poll: Does the community really want BR's?  [closed]
Yes, BR's should stay... (valid reasoning):  44%
(85 Votes)
No, BR's should go ... (valid reasoning):  18%
(34 Votes)
Should be replaced by a new weapon.:  13%
(26 Votes)
Should be replaced by ODST SMG:  9%
(17 Votes)
Should be balanced out.:  16%
(32 Votes)
Total Votes: 194

Ever since Halo 2, the Halo community has been addicted to the battle rifle. Halo 3 only fed this addiction, but ODST made us go cold turkey. Since Reach has been announced, a valid question has been asked many times. What about the Battle Rifle? I have proposed some ideas, which I will explain

1. BR stays....(self explanatory)
Please, if you choose either this or 2., write a valid comment if you decide to post, dont bump or anything, just your opinion, maybe an idea.

2. BR goes.....(self explanatory)

3.Should be replaced by a new weapon
I don't know, defintly some form of medium weapon, however, like the assault rifle, but with headshots (Like a single fire rifle?)

4. Should be replaced by ODST smg
Old smg would also be gone, but would instead marry purpose with the BR to create one, medium weapon. (Headshot, scope, rapid fire, semi or full auto.)

5. Should be balanced out.
This is a tough one. If the BR were balanced out, we would probably end up with a situation much like the differences between Halo 2 and 3 BR's, or something more major like how all dual weapons are now considered weak and do not have purpose, much like a wimpy Battle Rifle. Maybe add an extra shot or 2 for taking down an opponent.
The BR could also become a power weapons, much like the shotgun or sniper. It would be the best weapon that excels in a certain range (mid) but would be sparse. This would create a much more important emphasize on its power, and help balance out gameplay.

Those are just a few of my ideas. I hope you guys come up with some valid ideas also, and include reasoning. And please dont give any crap about 'YOUR TOD ISNT THE BR', or YOU HATE IT. It''s a poll, meant to express opinions. Everyone has their own opinion, and arguing about someone elses opinon is just stupid.

I would appreciate it if a employee of bungie could give their own views of the BR, like a weapons designer or programmer,,


  • 10.06.2009 9:39 PM PDT
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The AR could replace the BR here is my reasoning

the MA5 is a brilliant weapon
- it fires a 7.62x51fmj hence it would be effective past 500m
- its a bull-pup so it would be good in close quarters
the AR should be a jack of trades weapon good at everything perfect at nothing

in halo 3 game-play however the bullets disappear at about 150m and is barely accurate when fired in burst. it sounds like an automatic bb gun.

i would like to see some simple changes with this weapon that i believe would make game-play funner

1. make it loud, the halo 1 AR was just worthless in every aspect however the unmistakable rumble of the weapon made it worth using

2. make auto-fire accurate, yes the MA5 would have ungodly recoil however, this should not have such an effect on a 2 ton spartan. I'm not saying it should be dead center accurate in auto-fire but a spartan should be able put rounds in the center of mass at 100 yards

3. make head shots lethal, i find it ridiculous that there are a select few weapons that have a head shot ability

4. give an aim or optical zoom ability, the MA5 should be dead center accurate when fired controlled burst and with an optical zoom and lethal head shots this could replace the BR

[Edited on 10.06.2009 9:43 PM PDT]

  • 10.06.2009 9:43 PM PDT

it's a balanced weapon
it can strip shields, but not as fast as a plasma weapon or a full auto weapon
it can head shot, but it's not accurate at long range at all
and it take some skills to use, also anyone can become good with it,with practice..so it a weapon made with anyone in mind.
so to say it the short way, it mediocore at EVERYTHING

Also dont hate the MLG for using the BR,
they practice 10 hours a day to become good, if anyone practiced 10 hours a day, they be as good as them

  • 10.06.2009 9:44 PM PDT
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BRs should go b/c they're relatively skilless weapons. What I mean is that the skill to kill ratio is too much in disparity. At all but the closest mid range situations, due to the random spread, 4shotting comes down to a bit of luck. I don't find that absolutely horrible, as most weapons have that element in them. However, because it's such a powerful weapon, and because it does have the range to at least hit things, this gets a little annoying.

But what really pisses me off about the BR is that as a burst weapon, it's headshot capable. This is absolutely absurd, considering that unlike all other HS capable weapons past and present (magnums in H1, 2, 3, Carbine, and snipers) which were single shot HS weapons, the BR allows you to swipe for the HS. Why do you think nobody uses the pistol or carbine (rarely) in SWAT? the BR makes headshotting skilless.

I think the BR should go, or be tweaked to be less powerful due to it's skillessness, or modified to fill it's intended niche, but actually take some skill. IMO, the carbine is the perfect weapon to take its place, if you would make it a bit more accurate by taking out the random spread or at least toning it down. Then tweak the magnum to have a little bit more range/power so it can kill almost as fast as a carbine, but has a more limited zoom making it fill the range of the BR (close-medium/medium) as is, while the carbine (which actually takes skill) fills the med/med-long range.

  • 10.06.2009 9:55 PM PDT

The BR should stay

It would anger more than half of the community. Removing it could potentially hurt sales for Reach.

Plus, MLG wouldn't even adopt Reach into their tournaments. They'd still stick with Halo 3. And MLG has a pretty good sized community.

That's just my opinion.

[Edited on 10.06.2009 10:11 PM PDT]

  • 10.06.2009 10:11 PM PDT

It fits the story(Fred uses it in the books) and it's a balanced weapon. Although I do think they need to tone it down a bit.(And make it a Hell of a lot rarer, because it was a prototype at that point in the story)

  • 10.06.2009 10:45 PM PDT

.:. îXî - $ìgñ øf thé GøÐz .:.


My Profile - iXi Gaming


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Repetitive polls are repetitive.


Some of the choices are literally asking the SAME thing...

  • 10.07.2009 1:40 AM PDT
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Posted by: LogaSpartan227
The BR should stay

It would anger more than half of the community. Removing it could potentially hurt sales for Reach.

Plus, MLG wouldn't even adopt Reach into their tournaments. They'd still stick with Halo 3. And MLG has a pretty good sized community.

That's just my opinion.


That's not true at all. MLG would GLADLY move to a different weapon (one that is actually consistent and has a decent range). They don't use the carbine now because it's also random, and because you can't make it a starting weapon. Also, for team firing, the BR is hard to beat when you have a 33% chance of headshotting. MLG would gladly move on, and so would the rest of the community.We're not talking about breaking the game by having no mid-range weapons. We're talking about filling the gap properly via replacement.

  • 10.07.2009 4:30 AM PDT
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It should just be a single shot weapon. It was desinged to be a conter sniper weapon and it should stay that way.

  • 10.07.2009 5:13 AM PDT

You'll never know until you try~

BOO-YAH!

i love the BR and all but i think it should go just so it goes with the story, BR's didn't come until Halo 2 so why should it be in Reach if it wasn't in HALO CE?

  • 10.07.2009 5:16 AM PDT
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  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT

The BR should stay. This is my weapon of choice, along with many others. Why do you think you consistently hear "veto 4 BR's!" when playing in team slayer or lone wolves. The reason it has such a large following is the fact that it is such a good weapon. This is def. not a skilless weapon by any means. It takes a lot of practice to become effective with a BR against any skillful player. This isn't the best weapon for all situations (ie close range against a shotgun, shotgun always wins; long range against a sniper{across valhalla for example}, sniper will always win.) but when using the BR at a medium range, it's a very good weapon if you know how to use it. It also comes in handy to take the scope away from that sniper up in the corner! (when at a medium range of course)

  • 10.07.2009 5:34 AM PDT
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Posted by: FR35HN35588
The BR should stay. This is my weapon of choice, along with many others. Why do you think you consistently hear "veto 4 BR's!" when playing in team slayer or lone wolves. The reason it has such a large following is the fact that it is such a good weapon. This is def. not a skilless weapon by any means. It takes a lot of practice to become effective with a BR against any skillful player. This isn't the best weapon for all situations (ie close range against a shotgun, shotgun always wins; long range against a sniper{across valhalla for example}, sniper will always win.) but when using the BR at a medium range, it's a very good weapon if you know how to use it. It also comes in handy to take the scope away from that sniper up in the corner! (when at a medium range of course)


I shouldn't say skilless, but it is skill to kill ratio isn't good. That means it's too easy to use for how quickly it kills at range. It's a weapon that's too random to boil down to pure skill at anything other than medium range (about gold on guardian to in front of snipe on the other side), and it's too easy to be considered skilled in getting a headshot when shields are down. How hard is it to get a headshot with a burst weapon? Like I said before, there is no other burst weapon that is headshot capable for good reason. The BR shouldn't be either.

So with the randomness in 4 shotting at medium to long range as well as the ease of headshotting, it's a lame weapon. Read my other posts for a more full opinion.

The only reason you go to this is because it's the easiest and most prevalent controlling weapon. Nobody vetoes for carbines because there is no such thing - so of course they veto for BRs. But if the BR wouldn't be in the game, the skill level could be brought up and another weapon would fill the gap much better. If the BR wouldn't be in, we'd veto for something else.

  • 10.07.2009 8:48 AM PDT

http://www.halo-forum.com

To be perfectly honest I couldnt care less if its in multiplayer or not. I will enjoy it either way. I think however it should be in the campaign at least once. There was a limited supply of prototype BRs and SMGs and Magnums were on Reach in a bunker. I think it would be cool if you could find them every now and then but they werent a main weapon.

  • 10.07.2009 8:52 AM PDT

I love the BR but i mean It would be pretty cool to see a new weapon in Halo Reach.

  • 10.07.2009 8:59 AM PDT

just make the AR snd the pistol a solid medium range and take the br out cause its all everyone uses (including me) and im really sick of gettn a sniper headshot lined up, then my scope gets screwed from a cross-map br shot. if its in, thats ok but im hopn it wont be.

  • 10.07.2009 10:41 AM PDT

I'm out.

Aiming shouldn't matter in an FPS, it should be about strategy. Remove the BR so I don't have to aim and can use strategy to win.

  • 10.07.2009 11:02 AM PDT

My troll sense is tingling.

the BR feels completely imbalanced and is over used. It forces most battles to be mid-long range, it's always in the favor of the host, and it's a lazy person's Carbine.

  • 10.07.2009 11:05 AM PDT

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It doesn't matter what the community wants. We're not the experts in game design. Even if we were though someone is going to end up disappointed. I personally feel we should have a pistol rather than the BR. Make it into something that complements whatever primary weapon we have instead of making it the only weapon we need. It shouldn't be one weapon to rule them all.

[Edited on 10.07.2009 11:20 AM PDT]

  • 10.07.2009 11:19 AM PDT

Yes. The BR was only OP because most of the Halo 3 weapons had the same strategy, hold RT and smash B. If all weapons were effective in unique situations the game would be balanced.

Also MLG doesn't give a -blam!- about the BR, only the posers do. They just want a mid-long range weapon that requires some skill.

I don't think the ODST SMG or Pistol are balanced for player versus player fighting. The SMG just can't finish enemies quick enough after dropping the shields and the pistol is too weak against shields. They were designed to work together and would need some tweaking to work in multiplayer.

  • 10.07.2009 11:50 AM PDT

I am the king of J's
KING J MASTER OF EXPERIENCE

i dont see anything wrong with br,overused yes...reason:because most of the over weapons have been weakended madly and have not much use,i say re power old weapons and bring in the silenced smg =D! and keep new pistol! ftw

  • 10.07.2009 11:57 AM PDT

I'm the cult of personality,
I call it like i see it, if i feel the need to be blunt and to the point, then i will, if i feel the need to be very detailed, i will, im here to stay and im here to do things my way, if you respect that or not is your choice, not mine,
and don't worry, while i don't agree with everyone's opinion, i do respect everyone's opinion.

i would rather have an AR then a BR

  • 10.07.2009 12:02 PM PDT
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...if you had snipers lying all over the map, those would be what everyone used. Just because it's the 1)most abundant 2) easiest 3) medium ranged 4)efficient map controlling weapon in the game doesn't mean it should stay or that it isn't bad. I've already proposed what many others have proposed all over these forums. The BR is broken because it's too random to four shot consistently and too easy to headshot with. Take it out and replace it with the carbine or a similar type weapon that takes skill to use, and reduce the random spread on it. Then it would take more skill plus be a good tactical weapon. But this time you'd actually earn your kills.

BR vs. Carbine comparison Taken from here

Carbines...

-Must aim 7 separate times verses 4 times

-2 kills per clip verses 3 kills per clip (fully shielded)

-6.75 kills per weapon pickup verses 9

-Single shot for attempted headshot verses burst shot (only need one bullet to hit, making headshots SOOOOO easy)

-Single shot verses burst, meaning all or nothing versus hit, miss, or partially hit

-Green and very visible and easy trail to follow (like every other mid to long range weapon: laser, sniper, rockets, etc) versus bullets that are much more difficult to notice

-The amount of skill needed to use the carbine is greater, meaning better players can distinguish themselves and there will be more gaps between skills.

-Carbines can kill as fast as you can shoot 8 rounds with a headshot (on the last shot), meaning there can be significant differentiation in time it takes to kill (a few tenths of a second). A good carbine can kill faster than a BR, but a bad one will fail. The BR isn't controlled by that mechanic, but rather built in delay in ROF.

-Some may consider this difference insignificant, but the reticule with the BR is easier to use. The way the crosshairs work, they come together to center the BR reticule much better. With the carbine, the crosshairs don't extend into the middle (where you'd aim for headshot), so you have to manually know where the center is much better.

-2.4 second cooldown time (reload) vs. 2.0 seconds


I'm not saying that skilless (or minimal skill) weapons can't be in the game. I'm just upset that everyone advocates a BR for such a pivotal role. It's role is to be a mid-range controlling weapon, but it's randomness and burst fire are not conducive to setting players apart. Sure, people who are good with the BR can distinguish themselves from those who aren't. But H3 watered down the playing field with the weapons, and now you have a lot of kids who think they're BR pro. Give us a weapon that only a few people will truly master and the greats can set themselves apart. Bring back the skill gap and the learning curve.

  • 10.07.2009 12:07 PM PDT

With B.B. gone, the passion of Bungie.net has lessened.

I'd like to see some tweaks to the battle rifle, I guess. I like the semi-auto, burst-fire mechanic, but it doesn't make a whole lot of realistic sense that you can't fire faster the quicker you can pull the trigger (or am I wrong on that?). Then again, if you make it an as-fast-as-you-can-pull-the-trigger weapon, like the automag, then you run into some power problems. I doubt the weapon would be able to stay at a 4-shot-kill power setting if it could fire faster. Not to mention how awful multiplayer would become once people start using modded controllers with it (because that's just awful in Call of Duty already...), and you know they will.

It serves it's purpose, but in Halo 3 it can make the gameplay bland, in my opinion. I much prefer AR-and-Pistol starts to BR starts. Perhaps make it less effective at short-to-mid ranges, somehow (less aim-assist at those ranges?), but keep it's mid-to-long range power.

  • 10.07.2009 12:09 PM PDT

I'm just a guy like you that plays halo.

Give it the boot. I think the BR is good and is the most used weapon but really that's it problem. When you play a Map you are looking for a BR always then you go for power weapons. Weapons such as Spiker, Plasama Rifle, SMG all of them are NEVER USED! They either need to give the BR the boot or add new weapons to contest with it. Matchmaking just gets bland with the amount of BR usage >_>

  • 10.07.2009 12:10 PM PDT

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