343: Halo 4 Ranking System?

[Cheeseman808]

Dear 343,

 

I know this has been said countless of times, but I feel that this needs to be iterated.

 

Halo Reach active community: 120,000

Halo 2-3 active community: 400,000+

 

What's the difference in these games? The ranking system.

 

DO NOT CATER TO CASUAL PLAYERS. Games outside the FPS genre have done this and died.

You sacrifice keeping the casual players for game addictiveness and real competition. Halo 2 was by far the most addictive and intense game I've ever played.

 

You should lose rank for losing, gain rank for winning.

We all realize that you won't be able to use the ELO ranking system, which is by far the best.

Atleast try for Halo 3's Trueskill w/1-50 (or even 100).

 

Please know your ranking system will determine the life and growth of your game. Having a rank = bragging rights and shows skill. Having credits = how long you've played. Please don't mess this up, I love the Halo series far too much.

 

I feel that 343 should openly discuss with its current active community the ranking system so we could have a say on opinion on it.

 

Signed,

H1 Player, countless played

H2 Player, over 10000 MM games played

H3 Player, over 6000 MM games played

Reach player, a few weeks, then quit

[Yoichi Hayabusa]

Well I am ok with your opinion but Reach wasn't the worst game that came out, I enjoy it, but i do admit that the ranking system was quite annoying and time consuming (literally), I say what i heard someone say before the should bring the halo 2 clan organization, and the halo 3 ranking system, BUT, I belive that having a credit system will be good for purchasing armors, armor effects, ect. I just say let 343i do their what they want and we'll see what they give us.

[Cheeseman808]

Well I am ok with your opinion but Reach wasn't the worst game that came out, I enjoy it, but i do admit that the ranking system was quite annoying and time consuming (literally), I say what i heard someone say before the should bring the halo 2 clan organization, and the halo 3 ranking system, BUT, I belive that having a credit system will be good for purchasing armors, armor effects, ect. I just say let 343i do their what they want and we'll see what they give us.

 

That's what I'm worried about. I wish they would disclose their ideas on the ranking system to put us fans at ease.

[Yoichi Hayabusa]

That's what I'm worried about. I wish they would disclose their ideas on the ranking system to put us fans at ease.

But if think about it if they did that it would be like if you really wanna watch a movie you've been waiting for couple months and a friend watched it, lets say a couple weeks before it releases, and then he tells you the whole movie, you would have no incentive to watch the movie cause the suspense on what the outcome of the movie will diminish, and it would not be interesting anymore. So That's why say we should just be patient.

[Cheeseman808]

But if think about it if they did that it would be like if you really wanna watch a movie you've been waiting for couple months and a friend watched it, lets say a couple weeks before it releases, and then he tells you the whole movie, you would have no incentive to watch the movie cause the suspense on what the outcome of the movie will diminish, and it would not be interesting anymore. So That's why say we should just be patient.

 

I agree with your anecdote on this issue, however, this type of 'surprise' you talk about is usually held to the story aspect of the game, I.G the campaign, weapons, vehicles, etc. I guess I can see your view on the ranking system also being one of those 'hype/can't wait to find out'. On the other hand, I feel that the ranking system should not be a surprise, but something openly discussed by the community. It's one of the core aspects that will keep me playing the game from years, and not necessarily one those 'surprises' that I'll find out after a day of playing the game and won't care about afterwords. I do thank you for your incite on this issue though.

[Yoichi Hayabusa]

Not a problem, I think we should really just be patient cause we have many more months till' Halo 4's release, so eventually they will release some sort of information on the ranking system in the future.

[PlatypusForce]

I hated the ranking system in Halo 3, usually maintained a 4x, and it was just so obnoxious, because losing one match dropped your rank so much, yet winning 4 or 5 did absolutely nothing. Maybe an exp based system, where wins would get you +3 or +30 exp, and losses would make you lose 1 or 10, so that winning would benefit you more than losing would cripple you.

[xAlatreon]

Well I am ok with your opinion but Reach wasn't the worst game that came out, I enjoy it, but i do admit that the ranking system was quite annoying and time consuming (literally), I say what i heard someone say before the should bring the halo 2 clan organization, and the halo 3 ranking system, BUT, I belive that having a credit system will be good for purchasing armors, armor effects, ect. I just say let 343i do their what they want and we'll see what they give us.

 

I also agree there should be the Halo 2 clan organization, for playing with friends and having good people to play with, not just random people who are horrible/rude.

 

The Halo 3 ranking system, because players actully have an incentive to win, and will actually play against players who arn't much better or worse than you, plus it's always nice to have a high rank in playlists.

 

And finally, the Halo Reach credits system buying things in the armory plus whatever Halo 4 has to buy, but you should earn more credits for winning of course.

[Minuette]

I would love to see a mash of Halo 3 MP and Halo reaches MP, I really both enjoyed them, I hope they mix it or create something new, but no losing your rank when you lose, because that never happened in a halo game, and I don't want to find out I lost a rank because some idiot had to go to the bathroom making him the AFK kill target

[TerribleTimbo]

I would love to see a mash of Halo 3 MP and Halo reaches MP, I really both enjoyed them, I hope they mix it or create something new, but no losing your rank when you lose, because that never happened in a halo game, and I don't want to find out I lost a rank because some idiot had to go to the bathroom making him the AFK kill target

So you want ranks but want to throw out everything that they bring to the competitive table? No comprendo.

[i0verD0Ze]

They need to use halo 3 ranking system for halo 4 it won't be as amazing and challenging as halo 3 and what kept players playin

[OdomJason]

I feel so strongly about Halo and its impact on my life that I decided to create an account simply to voice my thoughts on an aspect of Halo 4 that I think desperately needs addressed. I will share with you what lured me into Halo and what has repelled me from halo as of late.

 

Firstly: I have been playing halo since six months prior to the release of Halo 2 (2004)

 

Secondly: I have enjoyed the privilege of thousands of games, countless friendships, Several local tournaments and 4 MLG appearances.

 

Thirdly: I am 28 years old, Hold a B.S. and am studying for my Masters, am a certified teacher in the state of Texas and have ran my own company for two years.

 

Halo 2 was a great game. Halo 3 was a great game. Reach is a good game but is lacking a fundamental aspect that makes Halo appealing. The addition of bloom and armor abilities were damaging to the mechanics of Halo, but the single most damaging thing that has happened to halo is the ranking system. Apart from the fun and the game play itself, the number rank in halo 2 was what drew me in. I wanted to level up because it was a tangible reflection on my skill increasing. I wanted to out level my friends and in turn they would try harder to out-level me. The ranking system required that you developed teamwork and communication or you would get steamrolled in the team playlists. If you were an aspiring MLG gamer, which I became around 2006, it gave you the chance to match up against players of a higher caliber. MLG aside the first two years of my Halo experience I didn't know what a gaming tournament was. I simply wanted to get 3 of my buddies together and try to dominate the world. We used to play team slayer for hours on end. Each level we progressed the matches got more and more intense. It was such a rush. It was so fun. The fun continued until the release of Reach. I do not dislike the Mechanics of Reach. I dislike the Armor abilities and the bloom but the thing that was absolutely essential to the halo experience was destroyed. Now when a group of buddies and myself go into team slayer the skill level is so out of whack. We play against people with negative K/D ratios all the time and destroy them. The gimmicks need to be removed. The robotic arms and the confetti and the inclement weather and armor lock. The playlists need to be sheared down to a hand full of simple lists. If you want zombies, make a custom. Get that playlist out of halo. If you want grifball, make a custom. It needs to be simply divided between ranked and unranked. Ranked has no armor abilities, no bloom, and 1-50 rank. Unranked has all the bloom, armor abilities, and all the gimmicks. Unranked can have all the eclipse rankings and inheritor rankings but leave that out of Ranked please. This is one lifelong fan who doesn't want this franchise to disappear.

 

Thank you for your time.

[OdomJason]

Bring back RANKS!

[ShockGazm]

They need to use halo 3 ranking system for halo 4 it won't be as amazing and challenging as halo 3 and what kept players playin

 

If the ranking system was the main element that kept people playing Halo 3, then my god that's a stupid reason to have kept playing. I get that getting a high rank is a challenge but it shouldn't be a key aspect to a game. If your talking about the Halo 3 multiplayer, rather than Halo 3 as a whole then I guess it makes sence but it doesn't make sence that some badge kept people playing. I played Halo multiplayer for fun, to play with friends and of course to get into a game I can get good at... not for rank (For me personally anyway).

[OdomJason]

If the ranking system was the main element that kept people playing Halo 3, then my god that's a stupid reason to have kept playing. I get that getting a high rank is a challenge but it shouldn't be a key aspect to a game. If your talking about the Halo 3 multiplayer, rather than Halo 3 as a whole then I guess it makes sence but it doesn't make sence that some badge kept people playing. I played Halo multiplayer for fun, to play with friends and of course to get into a game I can get good at... not for rank (For me personally anyway).

 

I can respect that, but in my experience literally all the people that I know that plays or did play (Around 30 people) where lured by the task of levelling up in Halo 2.

[daddyxx23]

Dear 343,

 

I know this has been said countless of times, but I feel that this needs to be iterated.

 

Halo Reach active community: 120,000

Halo 2-3 active community: 400,000+

 

What's the difference in these games? The ranking system.

 

DO NOT CATER TO CASUAL PLAYERS. Games outside the FPS genre have done this and died.

You sacrifice keeping the casual players for game addictiveness and real competition. Halo 2 was by far the most addictive and intense game I've ever played.

 

You should lose rank for losing, gain rank for winning.

We all realize that you won't be able to use the ELO ranking system, which is by far the best.

Atleast try for Halo 3's Trueskill w/1-50 (or even 100).

 

Please know your ranking system will determine the life and growth of your game. Having a rank = bragging rights and shows skill. Having credits = how long you've played. Please don't mess this up, I love the Halo series far too much.

 

I feel that 343 should openly discuss with its current active community the ranking system so we could have a say on opinion on it.

 

Signed,

H1 Player, countless played

H2 Player, over 10000 MM games played

H3 Player, over 6000 MM games played

Reach player, a few weeks, then quit

thanks for this i have been posting stuff along these lines too , reach was by far a bust and almost ruined the series keep the ranking system with skill and the game will keep a highly populated community

[OdomJason]

thanks for this i have been posting stuff along these lines too , reach was by far a bust and almost ruined the series keep the ranking system with skill and the game will keep a highly populated community

 

I mean think about it....if a gamer can go in firefight and play a ton and get "Ranked up" like in Reach, and then go into match making and match up against another gamer that leveled up by playing people he is going to get crushed and a poor experience for both gamers will ensue. We need 1-50 ranking back. Period. Everyone please get behind this. Bring 1-50 back.

[K and D]

"We all realize that you won't be able to use the ELO ranking system"- Cheeseman808

How come?

 

Imo, H2 rank system was fantastic, and much better than the halo 3 system. (I understand how cheating and boosting were a major problem to both, I don’t mention them in my rant…)

 

In halo 2 the higher the rank, more victories were necessary to continue leveling up. (Example: a level 24 would need about 3 or 4 wins to reach a 25, whereas a level 40 would need about 5 or 6.)

Also, the lose on a higher rank would drastically lower the experience needed to level up. (a level 24 with 2 losses would still have a rank of 24, but a level 40 with 2 loses would drop down to a 39, and a 49 would need 1 loss to drop down to a 48.)

 

Honestly this rank system separated players from the casual, to the good, the great, the hardcore, and the elite. This separation really helped make matchmaking more fun, and more interesting. If you thought you could keep up with the higher ranks, you had to earn your rank and maintain it; otherwise you would not be able to keep it.

 

It seemed TOO easy to level up in halo 3, and there wasn't much separation. 1 win in halo 3 could level you up 5 levels, but losing 1 game could lower your level by 1. You could easily win a game after you lost, and rank up another 3 levels. It seemed as if the "trueskill" system allowed players to reach higher level and players of all skill ranges could play each other. Eventually your level would "cap off" and you would be stuck.

 

A player should never get stuck at ANY level (unless you have reached the min/max and can’t go lower/higher). Secondly, a loss should lower the level of a player in which regaining the previous level should be a challenge.

 

Halo 2 multiplayer rank system contributed to many people playing nonstop to reach the highest level that they could get, this is what allowed halo 2 multiplayer to evolve. It was more fun to be rewarded with a higher rank when you earned it. It seemed like that was lost in halo 3 because a loss contributed almost nothing to your rank.

 

As bad as the separation may seem, it was the only rank system that produced a “bell-shape” like distribution of players, and was the most fair.

 

[Mr Biggles]

We all realize that you won't be able to use the ELO ranking system, which is by far the best.

Atleast try for Halo 3's Trueskill w/1-50 (or even 100).

 

 

they should use more of a arena/starcraft ranking system. That one beats ELO by far.

[SatanicBagels]

Dear 343,

 

I know this has been said countless of times, but I feel that this needs to be iterated.

 

Halo Reach active community: 120,000

Halo 2-3 active community: 400,000+

 

What's the difference in these games? The ranking system.

 

DO NOT CATER TO CASUAL PLAYERS. Games outside the FPS genre have done this and died.

You sacrifice keeping the casual players for game addictiveness and real competition. Halo 2 was by far the most addictive and intense game I've ever played.

 

You should lose rank for losing, gain rank for winning.

We all realize that you won't be able to use the ELO ranking system, which is by far the best.

Atleast try for Halo 3's Trueskill w/1-50 (or even 100).

 

Please know your ranking system will determine the life and growth of your game. Having a rank = bragging rights and shows skill. Having credits = how long you've played. Please don't mess this up, I love the Halo series far too much.

 

I feel that 343 should openly discuss with its current active community the ranking system so we could have a say on opinion on it.

 

Signed,

H1 Player, countless played

H2 Player, over 10000 MM games played

H3 Player, over 6000 MM games played

Reach player, a few weeks, then quit

 

Why shouldn't they provide for the casual players? Its a major money base for them.

[Tyranttttt]

I feel so strongly about Halo and its impact on my life that I decided to create an account simply to voice my thoughts on an aspect of Halo 4 that I think desperately needs addressed. I will share with you what lured me into Halo and what has repelled me from halo as of late.

 

Firstly: I have been playing halo since six months prior to the release of Halo 2 (2004)

 

Secondly: I have enjoyed the privilege of thousands of games, countless friendships, Several local tournaments and 4 MLG appearances.

 

Thirdly: I am 28 years old, Hold a B.S. and am studying for my Masters, am a certified teacher in the state of Texas and have ran my own company for two years.

 

Halo 2 was a great game. Halo 3 was a great game. Reach is a good game but is lacking a fundamental aspect that makes Halo appealing. The addition of bloom and armor abilities were damaging to the mechanics of Halo, but the single most damaging thing that has happened to halo is the ranking system. Apart from the fun and the game play itself, the number rank in halo 2 was what drew me in. I wanted to level up because it was a tangible reflection on my skill increasing. I wanted to out level my friends and in turn they would try harder to out-level me. The ranking system required that you developed teamwork and communication or you would get steamrolled in the team playlists. If you were an aspiring MLG gamer, which I became around 2006, it gave you the chance to match up against players of a higher caliber. MLG aside the first two years of my Halo experience I didn't know what a gaming tournament was. I simply wanted to get 3 of my buddies together and try to dominate the world. We used to play team slayer for hours on end. Each level we progressed the matches got more and more intense. It was such a rush. It was so fun. The fun continued until the release of Reach. I do not dislike the Mechanics of Reach. I dislike the Armor abilities and the bloom but the thing that was absolutely essential to the halo experience was destroyed. Now when a group of buddies and myself go into team slayer the skill level is so out of whack. We play against people with negative K/D ratios all the time and destroy them. The gimmicks need to be removed. The robotic arms and the confetti and the inclement weather and armor lock. The playlists need to be sheared down to a hand full of simple lists. If you want zombies, make a custom. Get that playlist out of halo. If you want grifball, make a custom. It needs to be simply divided between ranked and unranked. Ranked has no armor abilities, no bloom, and 1-50 rank. Unranked has all the bloom, armor abilities, and all the gimmicks. Unranked can have all the eclipse rankings and inheritor rankings but leave that out of Ranked please. This is one lifelong fan who doesn't want this franchise to disappear.

 

Thank you for your time.

[Tyranttttt]

This is exactly how I feel. I am also a competitive halo player who dislikes the idea of catering more-so to the casual gamer without considering what the competitive gamer wants. After scanning the forums and google, I have seen so many people who want the halo 2 system back. I couldn't agree more. This was the perfect system for competitive gamers. It completely leveled the playing field. Perhaps implement a way to detect boosting/team killing and punish these people instead of changing the dynamics of your system. True skill was great in Halo 3 but I felt that it was to easy to get a 50. That being said about the ranking system, please steer AWAY from Call of Duty. What I mean by this is do away with the armor abilities(perks) and the sprint. I speak on behalf of the entire top 10 percentile of halo 3's competitive players when I say that sprint and armor abilities totally wrecks halo 3s integrity. The trilogies success came from improving the good qualities already imbedded in the previous game and not adding something completely foreign. Do us, and yourselves a favor and steer in the opposite direction of Reach, 343I.

[willtr03]

I would love to see a mash of Halo 3 MP and Halo reaches MP, I really both enjoyed them, I hope they mix it or create something new, but no losing your rank when you lose, because that never happened in a halo game, and I don't want to find out I lost a rank because some idiot had to go to the bathroom making him the AFK kill target

 

I personally think that not losing a rank when you lose is the worst idea ever. If you have something to lose (your rank) then it will keep people from going to visit the bathroom or anything else during a game because they will know they might lose the game and lose ranking. When there is no ranking system based on if you win/lose thats when people quit out of games more and quit playing for a period of time in between games because they know there is no consequence for it. If you didn't want to lose rank for losing a game in Halo 2/3 then thats what the social games were for, they didn't have a rank.

 

I do think it is sad to for me to say it but it really is true, if halo 4 doesn't have a ranking system like halo 2 or 3 then that will be the difference of me buying the game versus renting it (since all I do is play multiplayer and not single player). I played countless hours of halo 2 and 3 and still go back to halo 3 (and wishing I could go back to halo 2 to play online) because the multiplayer is competitive. I hate games like COD where all it takes to "lvl up" or gain more armour abilities is time playing, not skill. When this happens then you have a bunch of people with no lives that are the highest rank with everything unlocked because they have the time to play not because they are good. This takes all of the competitiveness out of the game because no one works together because in the end it doesn't matter if your team wins or loses just if you personally did well. I believe this is one reason that halo 2/3 was so good, it motivated people to talk and strategize with teamates and try and get a team together to go in and play. I also believe a ranking system helped match people of even skill up better, in other games just because you had a high rank didn't mean you were good so you would get matched up with people that just had time to play and not matched up against people who were of similar skill. I do think they did just fine in halo 3, they had the social matched for the casual gamer and the ranked matched for the competitive gamer. Yes the casual gamer is a big money base for them but I only think they are a money base for a while until the causal gamer moves on to another game, the competitive gamer is what will keep the game around.

 

I believe with halo reach they were trying way to hard to cater to the causal gamer way too much and they were becoming very similar to COD. I want a game that I can go in and play competively against other players with a reward for wining the game and a penalty for losing it. I just really hope that they realize that the ranking system in Halo 2/3 was what kept people around playing it for so long and put it back into halo 4. Overall I think it would be possible for them to do a combination of both systems so they can have the pointless "armour unlocks" and the such but still have a ranking system.

[(DUgF) DGenerateKiller]

I've said this in countless other similar threads.. If you want competitiveness so bad and say it's going to be a game breaker if they don't go back to an older ranking system, then get on gamebattles cause u rank up and down on the game leaderboards there, and if it's not good enough for you still, then just dont buy the game. You won't be missed. Seriously if you are a true halo fan you are more interested in seeing the continuation of the story. And even if it's not directly built into the game, there are MANY sources for competition if you really want it that bad, if you are as much of a hardcore halo player that you think you are that is, such as gamenattles.com, fraggednation.com, and ggl.com.

[Baby Boo]

I have posted a thread on this matter, how the ranking system will work. Unfortunately, no, it is not the halo 2 ranking system. I will explain, as I had in another thread as well:

 

 

To summarize, they are merging the halo reach ranking system and the halo 3 ranking system. How this works, is that they have brought back a variant of halo reach credits. They are different, however. Credits now are not used for ranking up, but only to purchase armor, weapons, equipment, and other things for your custom loadout. Also, they are no longer called credits. They do not yet have an official name for them, but they are temporarily called "Spartan Points".

 

 

Now, the halo 3 aspect. They implemented the idea of halo 3's system, by again making it 1-50, with a corresponding symbol from reach, that may be altered. They have also brought back EXP. This is what will rank you up to the next level. EXP is presumably earned how it was in halo 3; winning games. We are unsure how many games you must win for however much EXP, however.

 

 

Like I had touched on a little in the above text, your rank will appear as a symbol as well as a number. I am not certain, but I think the symbols may be the same as halo reach. So with that, I will use an example. You have just started playing, and you rank up from Recruit, or level one. You would then rank up to Private, Level two. And so on, until you are an Inheritor, Level Fifty.

 

 

I hope this explanation cleared things up for those that were wondering. Thank you for reading!

 

-Bullet