niknakpattywak1

I'm having the exact same problem as the OP and I hate it. Starting off I had a very high K/D ratio and games were much easier which makes sense. Now that I've got some games under my belt I'm getting paired up with some really really good players that are literally kicking my butt. I'd love to understand what goes into the matchmaking because I'm not really at the same level as my opponents right now. Does it take into consideration headshots and accuracy? That's the only reason why I might be paired with these players because in all other aspects of the game they kick my butt. They know the maps better, they play better as a team, they use their surrounding well, they know where I am at all times even when I'm trying to be stealthy....It's very frustrating. I'm not a great player but I'm a good player who does well with a DMR or BR but when I'm getting shot and I try to duck for cover, I'm running into a rock that I didn't know existed or I find myself staring at a wall looking for an opening to try and escape. I just don't have the awareness with H4 yet like I did with Halo 3. The guys I'm playing seem to have already mastered every map and every location. I know that I'll improve once I get to know the maps better I guess my point is that it won't matter much. I'm still playing players that are more organzied and are better all around. I'm losing heads up battles probably 2 to 1 right now. Here's a better visual.... I was a 46 on Halo 3 with maybe a 1.4 K/D ration but if I got into a game with a 48 or higher, I was basically losing more battles than I was winning. I felt like my rank was very accurate. Right now, I'd say that if H4 had a similar ranking system I might be around a 38-40 because I'm rusty, don't know the maps, adapting to new game variables etc. But I'm being paired against players that are probably 48s Doesn't seem right to me.

It also makes the grenades almost pointless. My favorite thing in the world with the old game was to lob a grenade where an opponent was headed and then finish him off with a single headshot. That was my go to move in Halo 2&3. Now we don't get close enough for this to happen. If someone isn't an excellent long range camper shooter, they will have a tough time with Halo 4. I long the long range battles SOMETIMES but not the entire game. We need more guardian types of maps where you can use a variety of guns to be successful. In Guardian I could use anything from a gravity hammer to a sniper rifle.

I think it depends on the gametype. If you're in BTB you probably need a DMR or BR and you're better off with sticky grenades because of the vehicles. I also like resupply because you can pick up other players grenades especially on smaller maps for regular slayer games. My go to is DMR, Boltshot, Plasma Grenades, camo, resupply and dexterity I don't personally like the jetpack because it's basically making your movements more predictable and easier to shoot.

I couldn't agree more. I really feel like this is a problem because I personally love using long range weapons and prefer it to close combat, but it feels like overkill now. The camping is a problem. I see my K/D getting worse because I get impatient and try to rush the other team which almost never works. One thing that I do like about the ordnace drops is that it seems to keep the games closer. I was in a match last night where we got off to a big lead on Ragnarok. I got a bunch of kills in the mantis and thought we were well on our way to victory, but after that was gone, the other team took over and took the lead. We won by maybe 1 or 2 kills. In Halo 3 the other team would have never been able to regain controll like that so I think this is a good thing in H4

I just miss having a BR/AR combo. In Halo 3 we'd start with an AR and I'd immediately hunt down a BR to have both. I'd use the BR for mid-long range shooting and then if the battle got really close, I'd quickly switch to the AR and mow someone down. I realize that you can still have this combo after level 26 or something in H4 but it almost seems worthless because most battles are fought at long range now. I play a lot of BTB so that's probably part of the problem but I as much as I love making kills from long range, I don't like having a whole game played that way. Right now all the games I'm playing in BTB are just two teams shooting eachother from across the map. which is very annoying when playing an organized team because you can hit a guy 3-4 times from long range, but he ducks his head behind a base or rock and the his buddy comes in with full health and takes over the battle. That's great teamwork but it's boring. this is why I loved social/ranked playlist. sometimes I felt like being tactical like that and other times I just wanted a chaotic blood bath with no organziation. Lol

Exactly! I can't tell you how many times I've grabbed the sniper in place of my secondary weapon on Ragnarok, rattled off a small handful of kills, switched to my DMR when that ammo was gone, rattled off a couple more kills until that's gone and then I'm SOL for ammo and weapons. Why am I being punished for playing well? If I get a few kills I may be saved by an ordnance drop, but even then it's sometimes grenades, shield boost or a needler. even if it's a power weapon, it might not be great head to head combat. god forbid if I miss a few times or to help a teammate I send a few long distance shots with the DMR that connect, but the player escapes behind a rock. Now I've got no ordnance drop and a couple of empty clips. Should I not be helping my team and just sit back until I have a perfect opportunity to make a kill? This needs fixing for sure

Does anybody else feel like this game is SO close to being fantastic but is just short of the mark? I love all the new additions like the Mantis, loadouts, Ordnance drops, customizations, abilities, maps, new weapons etc... but I can't help like they took out some of the things I love from older games like Halo 3 when they didn't need to For me, and it's just my humble opinion, they took away too many things of the things I loved in halo 3 (didn't particularly like reach) For example, predictable weapon spawns, skill ranking system, resupply (as an all the time feature, not just an ability) I for one HATE running out of ammo..I get that if you rattle off 10 kills in a row you may need to make a move for more ammo but now it's realistic that you make a couple of kills with the DMR and by the time you track down the body you just killed from mid range, their weapon/ammo is gone. If they had a couple of predetermined spots where a BR/DMR spawned, I could at least track that spot down and regroup. I just don't see why this can't coexist with ordnance drops. Maybe make one of the options in your ordnance drops more ammo for your current gun rather than the stupid needler or damage boost! And I realize you can start with more ammo if you choose that ability but then you sacrifce resupply or something else. If it aint broke, don't fix it.. I wish 343 stuck to that more. Still a great game, but I'm hoping for a couple of small tweaks to make the game great.

I just wrote something very similar on another thread. I don't personally like the AR and prefer the long range combat, but I agree that taking out multiple enemies is very tough now. I find myself running out of ammo right now and hoping someone else happens to be using the same gun as me so I can reload. I don't see why we can't do ordnance drops with weapons available for pick up on the map. I love the DMR/AR combo but with little ammo, I find myself having to go with a BR & DMR for mid/long range combat and I'll try not to get in too close even though that was probably a strength of mine.

I mostly agree with what you're saying, especially with the vehicles, but I think we just need to give the game some time. I remember Halo 3 having some pretty terrible problems when it first came out and everyone complained, but after an update or 2, things were more balanced, games were more fun and everybody loved it. My guess is that they same thing will happen here. I just wrote a rant about how mad I am that there was no ranking system only to learn a few posts later that it's coming. The idea behind the ordance drops probably makes sense. It somewhat evens out the games especially for newer players, but I for one loved the idea of the power weapon being somewhere on the map. It was fun to make a mad dash for the rocket launcher on narrows becuase it turned into an epic battle between both teams and that was fun even when you didn't end up with it. I have a tough time with the randomness and I think that's probably the biggest problem. I was able to guage who had what weapon anywhere on the map pretty easily, but now you may engage with someone around a corner thinking they have a BR/DMR and then BOOM, you just took a rocket to the face! The ordnance drops can be fun, but I don't see why those can't coexist with starting weapon points. Right now I run out of ammo all too often and can't do anything about getting a new gun.

I have to respectfully disagree. I was able to get to mid 40s in Halo 3 playing with a bunch of randoms. A lot of times I took some losses until I found a good team and then I was able to win and rank up. All aspects of the game should be taken into affect. If you go +15 in a game you lose, you should still be rewarded for your rank the same as someone on the winning team with the exact same stats. If you credit other things like assists and flag captures, it'll reward the team player even more. I don't like the idea of rewarding skill points for the winning team, this shouldn't have an affect on a PERSONAL skill rank.

I have to agree with natsuv2. I don't even like vehicles....I almost never ever ever get into one because I prefer doing my butt kicking with BRs or DMRs. and vehicles are just cheap easy kills BUT, they are way too weak now. I used to pride myself in my ability to take out vehicles in Halo 3 because I hated them (especially the warthog) but in Halo 4 it's actually TOO easy to destroy a vehicle. They are almost pointless. The ghost and banshee are a joke. I don't know how anybody survies in that thing more than a couple of kills unless the opposing team is really real bad. +1 to this post. I hope that they increase the damage on the warthog turret and increase the shields on the ghost/banshee

I think we are all missing the most important point. I'm a pretty casual gamer too, but I loved the ranking system in the previous Halos. I loved knowing that I was a 46 or 47 because that was bragging rights for me. And nothing was more exciting than trying to get my guy up to a level 50. I also loved entering a game when I was playing guys ranked higher than me because it showed me where I stacked up and if I played well and beat them, it was very satisfying. Sure the boosting was really annoying but surely there's a better way to control that than taking out the visual ranking Again, the best part of that ranking was the bragging rights. When you ran into an old buddy and you found out that he/she too is a Halo fan, I loved talking about my rank as compared to theirs. I think the simple answer is just to create playlists for those that care about the rank and those who don't Kind of like ranked vs social we got used to in Halo 3. I loved Halo CE - Halo 3 but I just couldn't get into Reach at all. So far I really like Halo 4 but now that I know that you only rank up based on how much you play, I'm really disappointed and I already signed the petition. At the VERY least they should at least display your K/D Ratio at all times. That's probably the only visual repesntation of how good someone is right now. I want more people to like Halo but I don't think removing the visual ranks is the way to do it.