Doubles Pro - and other assorted MLG-esque gametypes

[PhilboBaggins11]

Having spent the best part of the last decade playing various incarnations of Halo with a good friend, predominantly in double team playlists: the team doubles update of last weekend was a very welcome addition to my Halo 4 matchmaking list.

 

I'm aware it's in its infancy and is probably still open to a little tweaking here or there, but my following complain still stands.

 

Around ten minutes ago I finished up a session of team doubles, around ten or more games. Seven of those ten were "Doubles Pro" (Essentially 'MLG', no radar, no armour abilities, no perks etc.), and in three of those pre-game voting menus, all three options had been Doubles Pro. Leaving no choice of alternative game types.

 

I don't mind occasionally playing a stripped back game such as Pro playlists. Often it can be fun to shirk all the additions and play a simple, straight up death-match. However, it becomes very tedious when it's time after time, game after game, with very little variation or choice. I've never really understood the fascination with "MLG" and players claiming to be 'pro', anyway. How does one become a professional whilst playing a recreational game in their own home?

 

I don't think I will ever understand why folk buy a game such as Halo 4 (which is flush with additional material to your bog standard shooters - armour abilities, armour upgrades, stylistic unlockables, perks, professions etc.) and then go out of their way to play only stripped back games. Even less do I understand why these same people have the tenacity to then chastise those who wish to play the full game to its potential. (You may recall being hounded out as a "Jetpack ***" etc. if you didn't use sprint only in Halo Reach).

 

So why have 343 went to the effort of constructing a game wherein we can adapt, evolve and sculpt our characters into our own little machines, only to strip us of being able to play with them in the majority of matchmaking? It seems counterproductive to me, and downright infuriating when I've carefully chosen loadouts and skillsets beforehand.

 

Yes, I'm aware this post will offend the droves of close-minded, set-in-their-ways, fat, middle-aged men called Bert who hold both the appeal and personality of a homophobic boulder. I expect to be informed about my mother's promiscuity and my subsequent homosexual lifestyle, in response to this post.

 

Intelligence is clearly an afterthought with the Halo community. Although, that suggests thought at all.

[Kiing 0f Coffe]

Many aspects of Halo 4 is undesirable to many players. Many players also love no radar, bringing a more tactical and careful game. Some people don't like annoying armor abilities like jet pack.

[PhilboBaggins11]

Which is fair enough, but not when it's near enough forced upon the rest of the playerbase, who don't like such gametypes.

 

This also echoes my earlier point. For players who don't want a well designed, indepth game such as Halo, with armour abilities etc. There are plenty of other shooters out there which have exactly the kind of gameplay they want. Specifically Call of Duty.

[Destroyaaa]

The community as a whole has been complainaing about the new changes to the game and 343i has been responding by making gametypes and playlists that they have been asking for. In other words, they don't like what was added in Halo 4 and want the old halo back.

 

More importantly, there aren't flamers on this forum. Go to halo waypoint if you want to be called anything you described in your 2nd to last paragraph. This is a true halo community; one that agrees to disagree and provides insight when trying to prove a point.

[Vaulting♥Frog]

The community as a whole has been complainaing about the new changes to the game and 343i has been responding by making gametypes and playlists that they have been asking for. In other words, they don't like what was added in Halo 4 and want the old halo back.

 

More importantly, there aren't flamers on this forum. Go to halo waypoint if you want to be called anything you described in your 2nd to last paragraph. This is a true halo community; one that agrees to disagree and provides insight when trying to prove a point.

 

Just dealing with the bolded/colored text...

 

I find this to be a bad thing to be honest. Making it like Halo 3 is not progress but regression...

 

The rest of your post I agree with however.

[l Xenoes l]

I do like a Pro game type every now and then because after a while I get sick of people constantly needing the Radar to effectively find people and not checking corners and playing smart. It removes the chances of campers to because they can't wait around a corner for someone because they could get snuck up on as well. I've never had it happen where I'm only able to pick between different maps for Doubles Pro.

 

Playing game types that have pre loud outs that you have to pick from isn't so bad. It shows your ability to adapt as a player. If the only way you're able to play is with what you want then it means you're not a well rounded player. An aspect of being good is being still doing well while out of your comfort zone like not being able to use your custom loud outs.

[TornadoFlame]

now i only play pro i quit out of every infinity game. all that happens is i get a kill they sprint and kill me and it goes back and forward. i will say the only infinity game i enjoyed was one where for the first time i got rockets 2 times in a row while my emenies got Needlers *so fair*. I enjoy the pro settings more because those settings are the closest thing to playing a fair Legit gametype to me. i do not enjoy dealing with instant respawn. getting a kill only for them to respawn and finsh me off. i don't like seeing people finding me by using a AA to see threw walls or can go invisable at there will, to me it is all random game elements that are boring, and not fun at all i like skillfull playlist. sure every now and then its cool to play a pick up game with these perks aa and unfair gameplay in my opionon ect.

 

This is why they should have spilt this up into rank and soical long time ago.

 

Doubles is the only playlist that has a slayer varient without instant respawn. this game has been out for 5months which sucks its a slap in the face to us type of gamers.

Pro is not mlg please do not confuse these 2 Pro is like hardcore MLG was dropped from halo. Pro is still unbalanced with DMR AR starting weapons. they are getting better

i hope they hurry up and spilt the playlist to pro and infinity gameplay so we all get what we want

[Real Talk]

Just dealing with the bolded/colored text...

 

I find this to be a bad thing to be honest. Making it like Halo 3 is not progress but regression...

 

The rest of your post I agree with however.

 

Taking the good things from Halo 3 is not regression. Every game should always have a variety of gametypes so that no one feels forced to play one thing.

[Zakkiee]

Slayer pro is the only gametype I want to play in 2v2. When players have Promethean vision, Active camo, boltshots etc. The game becomes slow paced and the overall gameplay is boring. And worst of all are personal ordnance drops, the other team might get a binary rifle and rockets while the other team gets pulse grenades and a needler. I for example beat a lot better team because i got 2 binary rifles in a row and I had Ammo as support upgrade, got matched up against them again in slayer pro and got destroyed.

Infinity slayer is about randomness and luck, resulting in bad gameplay. Even tough there is a lot of stuff in the game it's not right to say you are not playing the game at full potential if you're not using all the s***.

[PhilboBaggins11]

Well, alright then. First off: apologies for my generalisation regarding the community. It's my first time posting after around eight years of confronting the Live halo community. I'm sure you can understand my defensiveness.

 

I read through all the responses, and here's my thinking.

 

Regarding folk wanting Halo 4 to be altered so it plays more like earlier Halo canon, this isn't wholly relative to my post. Previous Halo installments still had the war between "MLG" and regular gameplay, and still had radars and (in latter versions) armour abilities.

 

For those who say that having a radar means a lack of tactical play, or situations wherein players don't "play smart" and merely run around with their eyes on the radar instead of checking around corners etc. The only time I've came up against players like this is when guests are allowed in matchmaking, or someone is verynew to the game. So this is a moot point. Radar can still allow for tactical play.

 

Saying a "well rounded player" should be able to play MLG-ish playlists in the same post where you state that you quit out any gametype that isn't Pro is an oxymoron. A well rounded player should be able to come up against any challenge: whether it be infinity with abilities, weapon drops, specialties or a stripped back version of the game. At least I don't quit when I get lumped with Pro game. I would happily argue that those who play only Pro gametypes are not well rounded players.

 

Armour abilities and special perks make the game more of a challenge than anything else. I don't understand the argument that they don't for one second. You have to come up with counter strategies to Promethean vision, become much more wary of invisible players, predict when an enemy may spurt to the side with a thruster pack etc. You need to analyse which weapons the enemy may have in their possession, plan out your weapon choice before you respawn/game begins, alter your own specialties etc. to rise to the occasion.

 

There is no such degree of strategy, challenge or forethought in Slayer Pro. In Pro, you spawn, you run, you shoot. It's a lazy type of play. I'm yet to come up against any teams who really utilise a strategy that isn't just "everyone run together and we'll kill the other team". Which is a solid enough strategy, yes. But provides absolutely no weight to the argument that Infinity slayer is not a thoughtful gametype.

 

However, I do agree regarding respawn times. I detest the instant respawn. In my opinion, Halo didn't need a change of pace from Halo Reach. I thought it had a very good balance between hurried, paniced firefights and slow, drawn out tactical battles. Some games I'd play would be so tense that I'd literally be poised on the edge of my seat. Every game I play in Halo 4 is just BAM, RESPAWN, BAM, RESPAWN, BAM, RESPAWN for around seven minutes and then that's that. I don't understand why they did away with the 3 second respawn timer. It was perfect.

 

For those who religiously defend the pacing in Halo 4: Why? It wasn't anywhere near as hurried as this in previous games, or as thoughtless. So why is it suddenly held up as the way to play?

 

Weapon drops can be a little skewed, yes. I'm still not decided on whether I like them or not. Although, it's probably a biased opinion as I simply love when I get a railgun landed at my feet.

 

Pro isn't playing the game to its full potential. It's like buying a Need For Speed game and only ever playing drag races with stock cars and no alterations. Because that's how the "pro"s should be doing it. Nonsensical.

 

Thanks for the replies, at any rate and apologies if I offended anyone called Bert.

[A R C A S I U S]

Well, alright then. First off: apologies for my generalisation regarding the community. It's my first time posting after around eight years of confronting the Live halo community. I'm sure you can understand my defensiveness.

 

I read through all the responses, and here's my thinking.

 

Regarding folk wanting Halo 4 to be altered so it plays more like earlier Halo canon, this isn't wholly relative to my post. Previous Halo installments still had the war between "MLG" and regular gameplay, and still had radars and (in latter versions) armour abilities.

 

For those who say that having a radar means a lack of tactical play, or situations wherein players don't "play smart" and merely run around with their eyes on the radar instead of checking around corners etc. The only time I've came up against players like this is when guests are allowed in matchmaking, or someone is verynew to the game. So this is a moot point. Radar can still allow for tactical play.

 

Saying a "well rounded player" should be able to play MLG-ish playlists in the same post where you state that you quit out any gametype that isn't Pro is an oxymoron. A well rounded player should be able to come up against any challenge: whether it be infinity with abilities, weapon drops, specialties or a stripped back version of the game. At least I don't quit when I get lumped with Pro game. I would happily argue that those who play only Pro gametypes are not well rounded players.

 

Armour abilities and special perks make the game more of a challenge than anything else. I don't understand the argument that they don't for one second. You have to come up with counter strategies to Promethean vision, become much more wary of invisible players, predict when an enemy may spurt to the side with a thruster pack etc. You need to analyse which weapons the enemy may have in their possession, plan out your weapon choice before you respawn/game begins, alter your own specialties etc. to rise to the occasion.

 

There is no such degree of strategy, challenge or forethought in Slayer Pro. In Pro, you spawn, you run, you shoot. It's a lazy type of play. I'm yet to come up against any teams who really utilise a strategy that isn't just "everyone run together and we'll kill the other team". Which is a solid enough strategy, yes. But provides absolutely no weight to the argument that Infinity slayer is not a thoughtful gametype.

 

However, I do agree regarding respawn times. I detest the instant respawn. In my opinion, Halo didn't need a change of pace from Halo Reach. I thought it had a very good balance between hurried, paniced firefights and slow, drawn out tactical battles. Some games I'd play would be so tense that I'd literally be poised on the edge of my seat. Every game I play in Halo 4 is just BAM, RESPAWN, BAM, RESPAWN, BAM, RESPAWN for around seven minutes and then that's that. I don't understand why they did away with the 3 second respawn timer. It was perfect.

 

For those who religiously defend the pacing in Halo 4: Why? It wasn't anywhere near as hurried as this in previous games, or as thoughtless. So why is it suddenly held up as the way to play?

 

Weapon drops can be a little skewed, yes. I'm still not decided on whether I like them or not. Although, it's probably a biased opinion as I simply love when I get a railgun landed at my feet.

 

Pro isn't playing the game to its full potential. It's like buying a Need For Speed game and only ever playing drag races with stock cars and no alterations. Because that's how the "pro"s should be doing it. Nonsensical.

 

Thanks for the replies, at any rate and apologies if I offended anyone called Bert.

 

I honestly could not argue any better than you have. I played 5 games of team doubles yesterday and 4/5 were pro, and the 1 that was infinity was actually a 2v1 because my teammate dashboarded (probably due to it not being pro). Personally, I dislike not using the radar. it makes me have to do a 360 every 3 or so seconds and it feels rather like cod in the sense that whoever moves out of cover first or is in the line of sight of the enemy first is the one to die. Not a whole lot of skill involved. You were correct sir in your statement regarding the repetitiveness of doubles pro, spawn, run shoot, spawn run shoot etc... personally it frustrates me but I guess that makes me a well "semi-circled" player

[darkslayr114]

I am one of those players who only plays pro. Mostly becase the ordinance and custom loadouts is to much like CoD. I would rather have a fair playing field, no radar, no AA, just plain old Halo classic. Thats why i think they should have brought ranked and socialfrom halo 3, it worked so well and fit my play style. I only play swat because its the closest thing i can get to it. Really hope they get a pro playlist out soon so people who want pro can play pro and those who dont can play social.