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Subject: Did you think that Reach had good competitive play?

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."

Before we get into the actual topic, disclaimer: I exclusively play Halo 3 and am absolutely biased. I have spent far, far more time on H3 than Reach, and didn't spend much time in the Arena. (I played on a few different tags, though, so don't judge only by this one.) This isn't a topic of "D00d I hates dis gaem cuz dis ain't a gaem I g0od at 1337!!1!!"

So, now to buisiness: For those of you that play Reach competitively, do you think that its competitive play is as good as or better than Halo 3 and 2? If so, what contributed to make the competitive play better? I had a few specific reasons for disliking the competitive play:

Bloom: (A random factor. The more radom factors there are, the less skill is involved in a game, because there are more things beyond the players' control.) Most of the time, pacing your shots worked. However, as I'm sure everyone has experienced, you'll occasionally be killed by some kid who just spams the heck out of his DMR/pistol and still kills you, despite you pacing your shots perfectly. This doesn't usually happen, but since you can't control the actual spread, sometimes even spamming makes shots connect, which made me feel cheated when I was doing what I was supposed to and still got killed.

Armor Abilities: On paper, this actually sounded awesome to me. In gameplay, it kind of eliminated a lot of the need for map control, since equipment was part of the map before. Also, it's another random factor: When you stick someone, you don't know if they're just going to armor lock and survive it. Obnoxious. Other things like the Sprint/Sword combo were also frustrating.

The lack of a 1-50 ranking system: I just couldn't stay interested in the game as much; partially because if you play anything other than Arena, you aren't getting matched up with people at your skill every time, which can be frustrating. I often felt bad for some of the less skilled players I was paired against; how was it fair for us to play each other? (That's not arrogance on my part; they were just terrible.)

I'm aware that the MLG playlist finally updated to remove AAs and bloom completely, which is great; however, it's kind of late now, and I've already gone to a different game. So anyway, I'm just interested in hearing your opinions on whether or not you enjoyed Reach's competitive play more or less than the other Halo games, and why.

  • 07.13.2012 11:19 AM PDT

(Saeve Certando Pugnandoque Spl'endor Crescit)
As we face each other in battle, locked in combat, we shine even brighter

Meh, it was alright I guess. But I still feel halo 3 was far more competetive...

The ranks in reach don't count for ****. obviously its just there to make noobs feel "special"

[Edited on 07.13.2012 11:27 AM PDT]

  • 07.13.2012 11:24 AM PDT
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I'm new to competitive Halo and Halo itself (Reach being my first video game ever actually). Message me if you want to play;

Reach: MLG, Arena, Doubles, BTB and customs.
Halo 3: Ranked MM and customs.

Also I have every Halo title and all of its DLC on the Xbox 360.
-Umpa

Arena doesn't always match you up at people you skill. I'm sure it does do better than other playlists, probably even more so at high onyx, but for the most part it isn't that great. MLG has the smallest skill gap IMO.

Ever since its release Reach has always been improving ever so slightly, besides a few things (namely the removal of squad slayer:( ) But the change for competitive play came too slowly for some people and they left Halo for a while. Even now, so far after release, competitive reach is just okay...

  • 07.13.2012 11:28 AM PDT

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."


Posted by: Umpalumpalump63
Arena doesn't always match you up at people you skill. I'm sure it does do better than other playlists, probably even more so at high onyx, but for the most part it isn't that great. MLG has the smallest skill gap IMO.

Ever since its release Reach has always been improving ever so slightly, besides a few things (namely the removal of squad slayer:( ) But the change for competitive play came too slowly for some people and they left Halo for a while. Even now, so far after release, competitive reach is just okay...


This is exactly why I still play H3. I get the feeling that all the competitive players switched back, and that's where they all are now.

  • 07.13.2012 11:31 AM PDT

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."


Posted by: Precursor Steel
Meh, it was alright I guess. But I still feel halo 3 was far more competetive...

The ranks in reach don't count for ****. obviously its just there to make noobs feel "special"


That's why 1-50 was so great. When you reached a new skill milestone, you knew you'd actually accomplished something.

  • 07.13.2012 11:31 AM PDT

Nope. Look at how long it took MLG's playlist to finally remove all the BS mechanics. It's the only playlist to provide competitive play, and it's still social with the lack of party restrictions and lack of a proper rank system.

  • 07.13.2012 11:42 AM PDT

Arena isn't as bad as people think when you get to the right division.

  • 07.13.2012 11:49 AM PDT

Posted by: Lobster Fish 2
Arena isn't as bad as people think when you get to the right division.
The problem with Arena is that it doesn't work at full potential when only 200 people play it. Too many people are turned off by how Arena is designed.

  • 07.13.2012 11:54 AM PDT

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The gameplay in Reach is far more boring then Halo 3 in my opinion.

  • 07.13.2012 12:23 PM PDT

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Want a war sim? The best war sim in Halo, Forerunner Conflict.

H3 was better for competition. Reach MLG settings are better than H3, but they need a ranking system and party restrictions to provide constant competitive play. Arena has all of the flaws 1-50 has with less fun, less players, and less meaning.

Socially? I like Reach better.

  • 07.13.2012 12:52 PM PDT

H3 TS 50
Reach S8 3% Onyx
Reach Mythic Conqueror

Forum Tryhard


Posted by: MountianDew 000
MM BTB isn't competitive

  • 07.13.2012 12:53 PM PDT
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Posted by: aBlueBookshelf
global warming isn't proven and won't be - it's more of a political play for funding for "research"

As someone who has very little high level competitive play

I can say from experience that the people who do have high level competitive play experience in both games agree that Halo 3 was more competitive.

  • 07.13.2012 1:20 PM PDT
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Your 'beliefs' mean less than dick to me.

Bloom Reach is -blam!- terrible and has zero competitive merit.

MLG's ZBNS is okay. From a competitive standpoint it's definitely better than Halo 3 (not saying much), but not as good as Halo 2, and has nothing on Halo 1. They had a lot of opportunities to make the v7 settings truly great but they were too afraid to take chances and try something other than the same old gametypes.

  • 07.13.2012 1:29 PM PDT

..And I'm gonna round my f.ucks given up to 0.

Meh to me reach was way easier to pick up/learn.
Halo 3 took me a while and i'm still learning.

  • 07.13.2012 1:50 PM PDT
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RIP Bungie Service Records. You shall be missed.

MLG and Arena are the only competitive playlists in Reach. Everything else is a joke.

  • 07.13.2012 2:03 PM PDT
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Reach sucked, bloom sucked, AA's sucked.
But the core of the problem imo is that the DMR sucks.
No bloom and DMR is overpowered, with bloom it's too random.
BR was simply a better weapon i think

  • 07.13.2012 2:07 PM PDT
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Your 'beliefs' mean less than dick to me.

Posted by: static leet
Meh to me reach was way easier to pick up/learn.
Halo 3 took me a while and i'm still learning.

What the hell is there to learn? About either game?

MLG and Arena are the only competitive playlists in Reach. Everything else is a joke.
Arena -blam!- has BLOOM still. Just because that's the only playlist the devs slapped a ranking system on doesn't make it inherently competitive. It's not, it's only slightly less of a joke than the other twelve team slayer playlists.

Reach sucked, bloom sucked, AA's sucked.
But the core of the problem imo is that the DMR sucks.
No bloom and DMR is overpowered, with bloom it's too random.
BR was simply a better weapon i think

Halo 2 BR was good post-patch, Halo 3 BR was worthless.

In small games (i.e. no vehicles), no-bloom DMR is hands-down the better weapon. It breaks vehicles though, so it's pretty bad for BTB.

  • 07.13.2012 2:18 PM PDT

Posted by: Tom T
Prolonged exposure to this forum is bad for your health.


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because I like pen­is.

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Posted by: bryo
But the core of the problem imo is that the DMR sucks.
No bloom and DMR is overpowered, with bloom it's too random.


Bloom makes the DMR "suck".

  • 07.13.2012 2:19 PM PDT

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."


Posted by: Lobster Fish 2
Arena isn't as bad as people think when you get to the right division.


It's true, but that's like saying "After you hold your hand in the fire for 20 minutes, it doesn't hurt anymore". Sure, after a while it may be tolerable, but why put up with the unpleasantness?

  • 07.13.2012 3:00 PM PDT

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."


Posted by: Clone
As someone who has very little high level competitive play

I can say from experience that the people who do have high level competitive play experience in both games agree that Halo 3 was more competitive.


I completely agree. I run H3 MLG at 50 high all the time, and the competitive play is just more polished. I think Reach kind of just dropped their competitive community a lot. MLG finally came up with a playlist that doesn't suck, but it's a bit late for that now.

  • 07.13.2012 3:02 PM PDT

lolReach? Competitive?

No. When only playlist out of 23 is balanced, it can hardly be called a competitive game.

  • 07.13.2012 3:15 PM PDT

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"
"That there's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."


Posted by: MrR46
Posted by: static leet
Meh to me reach was way easier to pick up/learn.
Halo 3 took me a while and i'm still learning.

What the hell is there to learn? About either game?

MLG and Arena are the only competitive playlists in Reach. Everything else is a joke.
Arena -blam!- has BLOOM still. Just because that's the only playlist the devs slapped a ranking system on doesn't make it inherently competitive. It's not, it's only slightly less of a joke than the other twelve team slayer playlists.

Reach sucked, bloom sucked, AA's sucked.
But the core of the problem imo is that the DMR sucks.
No bloom and DMR is overpowered, with bloom it's too random.
BR was simply a better weapon i think

Halo 2 BR was good post-patch, Halo 3 BR was worthless.

In small games (i.e. no vehicles), no-bloom DMR is hands-down the better weapon. It breaks vehicles though, so it's pretty bad for BTB.


I actually don't see how the DMR is better. BR is a 4-shot, DMR is 5. I agree that the random spread is annoying, but I just don't see how you could see the DMR as significantly better.

  • 07.14.2012 8:04 AM PDT

Posted by: Tom T
Prolonged exposure to this forum is bad for your health.


Posted by: aBIueBooksheIf
because I like pen­is.

source


Posted by: swvjdirector
I actually don't see how the DMR is better. BR is a 4-shot, DMR is 5. I agree that the random spread is annoying, but I just don't see how you could see the DMR as significantly better.


4 shot if all your 12 bullets hit.

More often than not, it will take 5-6 burst to kill.

  • 07.14.2012 8:13 AM PDT

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