F_R_I_S_K_x

Anyone who spends at least 10 minutes on any Halo 4 forum can attest to the fact that there are a lot of avid Halo players who feel that the path Halo 4 is going down is in a sense, diseased. Being a devout Halo fan for a number of years - since CE, I feel as if Halo's waters have been muddied. Halo Combat Evolved was by far and large the single greatest accomplishment in the FPS gaming community and paved the way for how future FPS games would be made. Somehow, Halo 2 improved an already legendary title by introducing what many would believe to be the single greatest FPS multiplayer experience on a console game. From the in-game clan system that allowed people with similar interests in gametypes to band together and helped develop the extremely large Custom Games community that exists today, to the ranking system that allowed people to play as competitively as they wanted to and be proud of their rank, to the fluidity of the controls and aiming mechanisms, Halo 2 was another monumental achievement in FPS gaming. With the introduction of Halo 3, Bungie incorporated a specific mechanic to the aiming system known as Aim Acceleration. What exactly is aim acceleration though? Aim acceleration is the acceleration of your aiming speed the further your push your joystick, starting off slower than your selected sensitivity during the initial movement of your joystick then speeding up to as you push it further. To put it more simply, if you have a sensitivity level of 5, when you move your joystick, your aim doesn't start moving around at level 5 sensitivity, it starts at level 1 sensitivity and progresses through levels 2, 3, and 4 before it reaches 5 sensitivity. To many, this was an unnoticed addition into the Halo series, but to those who prided themselves on their ability to 4 shot and take enemies down with the reflexes and precision that a Spartan should possess, this was disastrous. It could be said this mechanic helps those less familiar with the game adjust to the style of aiming in Halo 4. But there isn't any need for adjustment, because this Aim Acceleration is there, and it cannot be turned off. But ask any Halo player, heck, ANY FPS player, and they'll tell you it takes a little bit of time to find your right sensitivity and once you find it, you adjust your movements of your thumb based on the situation at hand - small movements for precision, longer movements to acquire further targets. That's why there exists a joystick with an omnidirectional pad - you get to choose how far and how fast you want to move your stick. Having a mechanic in the game that chooses this for you is in my mind, what is ruining the competitive spirit of Halo, and will further ruin all competitive potential for Halo's future. It truly is sad to see what was once a flagship game for MLG dropped from the circuit this year. What do you think? Do you think if 343 could and would be willing to fix Aim Acceleration, what would you want done? Removal of the aim acceleration mechanic, an option to turn it on/off, or to let it stand as it is and let the Aim Acceleration plague run its deadly course?