I have been reading all the posts on this topic and it sounds like a majority of you never played halo 2. Halo 2 was the only game that had a good trueskill ranking system and Halo 3 was a cushioned version of it.
I say this because in Halo 2 leveling up in each playlist was difficult and rewarding to say the least. I was both a competitive and custom game kind of person, but I always separated the two mind sets. Sometimes you want to play for fun and just goof off, which is why people would either play custom or non ranked playlists, which generally no one minded, but then you also wanted to play competitive. If you have ranked up in Halo 2, you would not understand the pride felt in each level, and I believe the levels measured accurately a players skills. I believe the highest level I got to was a 36 in halo 2, partly due to the increase in modders that were so popular back then. It was rare to actually see a level 50 and anyone that was a 40+ had the skills of professional players. Ofcourse losing a game was the worst because chances are you might level down, but it is what made winning so rewarding, not only knowing that you would level up, but the other player would level down.
Now to address my issue with post halo 2 ranking systems, starting with halo 3. Halo 3 had an okay ranking system, but it was way to easy and made so that more players could feel accomplished in reaching a high rank. It took me around a week to rank up to a 48, 45 and 47 in halo 3 with ease, and after that I did not even want to play anymore. Everyone on here is praising Halo 3 ranking system, but it was terrible in comparison to halo 2, I saw numerous people who lacked skill reach high 40's and even 50. Halo 3 is actually the reason I switched from a hardcore Halo players to a hardcore Call of Duty player. For those complaining about having the problem of getting matched up with players who lacked skill, if you are that competitive why are you trying to enter ranked matches without a solid team of players you are familiar with ? In Halo 2 it was rare to find any high level competitive player entering a ranked match without 3 players they knew and played with on a regular, because it required a higher level of teamwork to win and compete.
The gaming industry is taking a complete dive in the competitive market to suit the "recreational" players, but lets be honest, they want to allow people who aren't good at Halo to be able to feel like a top dog. What is the point of me trying to obtain a high level, when someone who isn't that good can play 1000 hours to obtain the same rank and consider themselves "Top Dog."
The argument that a person should just know they are good and not need to show it off is the worst argument that I have heard. Not only in halo, but in any aspect of life, do people not compete to obtain a status to show off to people ? One that not just anyone can reach, which makes in meaningful and worthwhile. Part of the reason I wanted Halo 4 was because I thought it was going back to that trueskill ranking, and if not I will not be purchasing it.
As for Halo Reach....Pure garbage, i'm pretty sure I threw it in a random corner of my room after a week.
Everyone calls competitive gamers "whiners" because we want trueskill, but the whole reason they switched is because people that aren't good at the game cried because they couldn't rank up. If you aren't that good, than accept it and either go practice or play non-ranked matchmaking. Most of the people arguing against trueskill rankings are probably terrible at the game, or even just average, so they don't understand the desire to want to reach the top levels.
To sum it up, trueskill is avoided so sorry halo players can feel good about themselves by grinding to the top, rather than actually being good. Halo 2 was the best ranking system and best multiplayer out of all of them, and they need to release the anniversary addition.
