It's not taking reach in the wrong direction, Reach is staying the same. Just that people that want specific gametype options can play them, if they made the new playlists the default gametypes then it would be a step in the wrong direction. It's not harder to judge it's impossible to judge how much health someone has meaning it's impossible to know if the headshot with shields will kill or not which adds a "random" factor.
This is kind of a pathetic way to do this, I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're updating the game with necessary fixes, but if you're going to make a big move, then move. Don't ***** foot around it and make it awkward for everyone who wants the game fixes.
The melee bleed, at least in terms of shooting, makes little difference to me. I always aimed the first 3 shots at the chest and the last 2 at the head when I'm using a DMR. When it comes to melee, it's fantastic. No more of that stupid ****ing double pummel.
Connection has never been an issue in my melee unless a sword or shotty was involved. As William pointed out, the new style only makes things more random and rewards people for spamming the melee button every time someone is in range. I much prefer constantly thwarting the double-melee users with patience and restraint under the two-shot system. And William, it doesn't have to be mandatory for it to be a poor decision. I'm not claiming it would ruin the game, just that trying to make it more like the other games is unnecessary.
No maps have been released, so you are automatically not right. Even without bloom, Reach is about as competitive as Minecraft and about as fun as staring at a wall. Host advantage is an even bigger problem now than it was before. Overall, I'm extremely disappointed with this gametype. Still, I'm going to wait it out and hopefully give it another chance soon. The maps were designed with bloom in mind, so that may be a big factor in my disappointment.
Not only the maps, but more importantly the weapons. For zero bloom to work the rate of fire has to be drastically reduced. A 2x scope instead of a 3x one for the DMR would also help.
Pistol destroys everything at close range so long as you do not miss. You may be able to get away with missing one shot but if you miss two, you're going to lose that gunfight. Not sure how much I like it, though it feels like it's limited to it's range. I couldn't really tell as I only did 1v1's on Midship to really test the gametypes but from what I played, nothing will beat the Pistol up close, which makes me wonder if it would be better suited as a pick up and not a spawn weapon. Needle Rifle feels perfect. Fires faster than the DMR but not as fast as the Magnum, has less damage than both, and it's automatic with a bigger magazine size. DMR seems to feel like the best balance between the two. My main problem right now is melee. Every single instance where I went in for a melee, which is rare because I never rely on it, would ALWAYS end with a double beatdown. I also don't like the bleedthrough for the precision weapons. It feels like I die even though I have full health and half shields for some reason, which makes no sense to me.
Agreed. I don't like how with melee bleed a good tactic is to just rush shoot as much as you can and melee asap which simplifies the game and will make a lot more fights end up involving meleeing (which I thought people that wanted this where against). This is what I post every where to try and explain it. Spoiler it takes about 1.5seconds to pop someones shield with AR ,3sec unload clip. 1.5sec/4shots to pop with pistol 2sec/4shots to pop with DMR 2sec to punch twice. Time taken to sprint to you plus the 2seconds to melee twice(2.1+seconds) < 2seconds of shooting them then meleeing them once since there is no delay to melee after shooting.(2seconds) So unless you couldn't shoot him till he was in your face it's probably gonna be a double melee battle with or without bleeding. I'm hoping you are walking backwards to avoid a melee confrontation and not throwing hopeful grenades which will add a delay until you can shoot(+1.5sec) and not meleeing him as soon as he came in melee range which ends up meleeing each other at the same time. With the expectation it's going to be a Competitive gametype it would be a bad decision and I could of lived without the update but the way I'm looking at it is it's just more custom game options(The more options the better IMO) It's kinda like how some people complain about default reach and only play living dead(there is people like that) and I don't see it as a very competitive gametype but some people still enjoy it. Plus it shuts up all the people who keep complaining until people who wanted the new playlists and they wanted it to be "Balanced"(couldn't think of a better word) Which is a paradoxA statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.)
I don't like how, without melee bleed, the best tactic is to run directly at people and not even bother shooting, simply because the inevitable melee battle is going to negate any shooting that you do anyway. That, in a first person shooter, seems completely counter intuitive to me, and is empirically easier with less room for dynamic gameplay. As for what I post every time this comes up: no bleed through means that as soon as you're in effective melee range (effective melee range is not simply the lunge distance, it's the distance in which you can move towards the enemy and land a melee before they do enough damage to fully remove your shields, which is exactly why no bleed extends the effective melee range), melee is unquestionably the best choice. Otherwise, you're relying on your opponent to miss a melee, and hitting melees is very easy. Combine this with sprint, which enables players to move from a large distance to lunge range in a short time (too short, in many circumstances, to pop shields, especially considering that popping shields requires the skill of hitting shots, whereas the action in question ie. sprinting towards them, requires none), and you have a very large effective melee range. Thus melee is, without question AFAIC, severely buffed. Yes, bleed through speeds up the melee kill times at closest range, but at least this speed up requires combining shooting and meleeing, the very fact of not shooting and meleeling > shooting and meleeing irks me sooooooooo much. However, no bleed through extends the range at which melee is the dominant force, which is overall much worse imo.
That's just it, I always best the people that actually commit to a 2-shot attempt because I counter much the way William describes. It's only useful when you already have the drop on someone but can't quite get into position for an assassination. It's absolutely not the best option for the reasons I've already stated. If you try to melee as soon as you're in range while they have shields up, you've wasted any existing damage, and you might as well have made a worthless, panicked grenade toss instead. You have to be far more selective with melee so that you aren't wasting damage, whereas bleedthrough allows you to maximize damage any time they get close to you with no reward for people who have timing and a cool head. It's funny, you're actually arguing the very same points I made when I pointed out how much more offensive this game is, yet at the same time you still seem to be ok with nerfing defense like sword clash and armor lock. How can you be alright with that sort of imbalance? Again, your math equation is simply untrue. I can understand getting flustered and killed by melee rushers early on, but for people who have played even have as much as we have, there should be no issues dispatching them. I will say this, though: 2-shots are actually even easier to prevent with AR starts, so I'm not surprised that people like you who prefer DMR's in most situations would be more likely to take issue with the current setup. However, you can't blame the game when you're already changing the variables that allow you to overcome such an obstacle.
I agree with everything you said but in a way imbalance is the point of the new playlist. In default Reach every weapon/tactic has equal purpose and is balanced in comparison to each other. The New playlist will have a few main OP weapons and the rest of the weapons just fill a tiny niche or support role(like the BR in Halo 3) Both are completely different styles, Like how Arena and Griffball are different gametypes. I like to compare it to black ops and quick scoping. -They decided to not put in quick scoping because it was OP and "gimmicky" and unintended. Bungie didn't make the DMR like the BR because it was OP and unintended. -People complained because they where use to a certain way then they updated black ops to allow quick scoping. People complained about the DMR not dominating at all ranges because they where use to that so 343i decided to update Reach to allow it. -The fix to quick scoping is dodgy and still doesn't let you do it in the same way as Mw2 The way there making the new gametypes will simulate previous Halos 3 but it still wont be the same. -In every game there is now quick scoping in black ops. In Reach only the new playlists will have the changes.(Smart) (I Just hope future Halo's don't use the "Few OP weapons with the rest having tiny niches" formula)
You're right about the playlists, William, and that's why this doesn't bother me too much; nothing wrong with some additional options and similar changes. What irks me is the mindset that players have that prevents them from appreciating certain aspects of the game. Quick-scoping is a perfect example. Although I passed up Black Ops, I was shocked to discover that "hard-scoping" eventually became something that was frowned upon or mocked. It's mind-boggling that such mentalities can even take root in these kinds of games.
For anyone that hasn't noticed, the playlist is officially up. I'll probably give my opinion on the new settings once I get a few more games in.
Are you kidding!! I just downloaded the BF3 beta. Uh, screw reach... Im battlfielding that **** up. Maybe Ill try the new playlist once. EDIT: Is there any official news on the Hang Em High remake?
Even though people complained about the AR spraying-Melee Combo i didn't thought there was much of a problem with it cause connection wouldn't give you extreme lunges like it does in Reach and because i always walk backwards, making the enemy miss their melee and i just kill them. It's as simple as that. Besides it was a pretty darn effective tactic(i have to admit that i used it) however in Reach i don't do it anymore.