- fifthderelicte
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Posted by: Evil Johnny
Posted by: fifthderelicte
Posted by: disgruntledfan2
Please stop trying to change Halo into a competitive game when it has never been.
All across this post I see you and others saying that Bungie creates the game how they want it, it's not meant to be competetive, don't change it. You forget that it was Bungie who implemented the best MM system created in Halo 2(which I would argue Bungie still does). Not only did they create a very competitive MM, but they had leaderboards for H2. And on top of all this, they tracked your game stats on their site. And all of this before MLG tried to take it over.
I'm not one who drools over MLG, but neither am I one who thinks an online game should give out smiley faces to everyone like they're kindergarteners. In fact, I think a competitive system is the most fair system. If you have a COD type system, you can get thrown in the mix with anyone. If you have a competitive system where people claw for ranks, you get the competitive people out of the lower ranks who don't care. You fail to see that a non-competitive system is actually deleterious to the casual players. Campaign has the easy option, but multiplayer doesn't have that. The only way to ensure that the "easy" players get to play on easy is to have a large skill gap with a competitive ranking system. That's the only way people like you will get your smiley faces and feel good about yourself, knowing that what your mother has always said about you being the best is true.
Bungie should change some of the gameplay mechanics and weapon balancing in Reach to make for a competitive game. The casual players won't care, as they'll be holding down the RT as they try to center their reticule ahead of them, but only ever see the ground and the sky. They won't notice if the BR has a single shot, 5 shot kill or a burst 4 shot kill. The players they'll be playing against will be shooting at the same sky and rock they are. Making the game competitive gets the higher players out of the bottom by creating a larger skill gap, allows ALL players to enjoy the game, whether competitive or casual, etc.
Reach doesn't have to gear towards one group or the other. In fact, focusing on the competitive players will actually help the casual players, as I've stated above, or could expound upon in many other ways, if you'd like. The competitive players are the ones who will notice gameplay issues, balancing issues, etc. Not only that, but they're the ones who will stick around the longest and buy the next game the company comes out with. If you look at my record, you'll see that I haven't played for about 6 months, and when I get my xbox here in another month, I'll be a weekend warrior myself. But I'm not too egocentric to see that competition is good and proper and fair. Competition is the capitalism of the gaming industry. We all know what socialism does to an economy...
Exactly how I feel. Dubbing down will only affect better players (or casuals too in MM) so why would any casual gamer or weekend warrior cry if it isn't "geared toward casual gamers"?
I agree with you, of course, because I agree with myself. You'd be hard pressed to make a logical argument towards catering to the casual gamer in terms of any enjoyment benefit or fairness benefit. There is no reason to cater to the casual player by directly making a game thinking about them, but rather by catering to the hardcore player which indirectly ends up working even better for the casual player than catering directly to them.
Posted by: I Judge Bread I
variety = fun. No, it doesn't. You may think of this as an being a largely held belief in the community, but it's not. Does creating weapons with particular functionalities affect gameplay? Yes. Does creating five different weapons that all have the same functionality affect gameplay? No. Many of the weapons we have now are pretty much the exact same weapons, just with different skins. That does nothing to affect the gameplay, and nothing to affect your enjoyment of the game. Sure, asthetics can influence enjoyment, like unlockable armor and such, but does having a sniper and a beam rifle really make the majority of the community have more fun? Not at all.
I'm not opposed to a functional variety, but as it stands, Halo is littered with worthless guns that nobody picks up because they are functionally useless. I have yet to encounter someone trying to kill me with a plasma pistol because they like the variety it creates, with the cool green glowing projectiles it shoots.
Posted by: ZeroXFallen
I'd be happy. Casual Gamers play for fun, which is what games are made for. Fun. Not competition. In truth, any gamer who plays the game for fun and not sport is the only player that should be playing.
Tell that to all those who make their living off MLG, NFL, NHL, MLB, PGA, etc. Games are not made for one purpose only. If you actually believe what you said, that's just preposterous. A developer can do whatever they want, but I don't think they should completely ostracize a group. That being said, I believe I already explained how focusing on the hardcore actually magnifies the enjoyment of the casual player. If you need an analogy, think about it this way: When you see modern day cartoon movies, they tend to throw in A LOT of innuendos and other adult humor that the kids just don't get at all. Why? Because they care about the people who actually pay for their merchandise and want to please them. Does throwing in all that stuff harm a 5 year old? Not at all. Does it help a 5 year old? Nope. Does the 5 year old understand the story? No, but the graphics are cool and the crazy cartoon people have funny voices and hit each other. You can cater to a more mature audience while still appeasing the younger. Not a perfect analogy, but hopefully it helps.
What's really amazing is that you don't even realize your own implications. You say that people should play for fun, but you choose to ignore that competition is not just a great sorting mechanism to ensure that people have the most fun, but it is fun in and of itself. The desire to win triggering endorphins, that feeling in your stomach as you get a last second win, etc, is fun.
[Edited on 11.14.2009 10:33 AM PST]