News Halo 4 Matchmaking Update

Halo 4's matchmaking suite has seen many ups and downs in the nine months since the game's release. Issues have ranged from an excess of playlists, to inclusion of poorly designed maps and modes. However, 343i is taking another step towards having a refined matchmaking experience with a new set of updates announced in today's Halo Bulletin.

Currently, the focus is on playlist consolidation. Finally we have a single BTB playlist, and we also have rotational playlists to look forward to, one of them possibly featuring a race game mode. The recent additions of more competitive game modes to the Team Infinity Slayer playlist gives me hope that other playlists will soon follow suit. 343i is also experimenting with requiring DLC for some playlists, just as Bungie did in Halo 3. The Team Infinity Slayer playlist will soon be requiring Majestic DLC, and other playlists may follow suit.

For more summarized details from the Bulletin, as well as some speculation on how the BTB playlist could be improved, check out the video below.

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What change coming in this update are you most excited about?​

 

BTB!! A year on and I thought we'd never see it...

 

Now if they can just get the on disk maps back to normal levels of weapons and vehicles in BTB (and possibly dlc maps included) then I will be content. Though I would like to see a little game mode work done as well.

 

So that means race is back. I wonder if they will use the moder's engine, where you can change the size of the people and vehicles.

 

Quite curious what the "Forge Playlist" is and how its going to work.

 

I'm actually getting kinda sick of your "competitive" playlist. I hate going into a round of Slayer or Doubles and seeing that 2 of my 3 options are pro. When I do dubs with my friend, we end up playing mostly pro games, with only the occasional infinity and the extremely rare (yet still our favorite) CTF Doubles game. They should at lease separate the two so I can do infinity when I want to.

 

Quite curious what the "Forge Playlist" is and how its going to work.

I think my friends Rico and Shay know a bit about what we should expect from the first one.

I'm actually getting kinda sick of your "competitive" playlist. I hate going into a round of Slayer or Doubles and seeing that 2 of my 3 options are pro. When I do dubs with my friend, we end up playing mostly pro games, with only the occasional infinity and the extremely rare (yet still our favorite) CTF Doubles game. They should at lease separate the two so I can do infinity when I want to.

You can be sick of it all you want, but the fact of the matter is that Halo is meant to be a competitive first person shooter. A game mode like Infinity Slayer is inherently broken from a competitive perspective for several reasons. it incorporates several random elements and removes the strategy involved in holding key locations on a map Risk vs reward is the fundamental basis for competitive gameplay in Halo, and it is mostly absent from Infinity Slayer. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy playing it, but I hope you understand that it is a flawed game mode.

In the current state of Team Slayer, you have three voting options. One being Infinity Slayer, and the other two being more balanced and competitive modes. Vote for what you want to play, but if you don't want to play a competitive FPS, there's plenty of options outside of Halo that you can try.

 

...but I hope you understand that it is a flawed game mode.

Yeah, I do understand your argument. But you guys talk about it like everyone's running around with power weapons, and there's no strategy whatsoever. Strategy is how I win. I'm not that skilled of a player to be honest, and my accuracy is horrible, but by choosing the right equipment and playing more cautiously and tactically, I can beat players that are better with their fancy shmancy BRs and their pinpoint accuracy.

I get why you guys don't like personal ordinance- while I don't support it either, it really doesn't bug me that much (especially in doubles, where the weapon options are weaker). The reason I like to play infinity is so I can use my own weapons (which doesn't take away any of the competitive elements) and play with my armor abilities and sensor- I do much better and have more fun when I have these gadgets that I can use to my advantage and incorporate into my strategy.

...Vote for what you want to play, but if you don't want to play a competitive FPS, there's plenty of options outside of Halo that you can try.

I'm starting to get sick of the people that are telling me to leave this community and play a different game just because my opinions are different. I freaking love this game- why else do you think I'd spend so much time on these forums, and so much effort trying to convince people that Halo 4 is a great and worthy addition to the series?

 

Looks like they are trying new things such as doing something logical.

I'm actually getting kinda sick of your "competitive" playlist. I hate going into a round of Slayer or Doubles and seeing that 2 of my 3 options are pro. When I do dubs with my friend, we end up playing mostly pro games, with only the occasional infinity and the extremely rare (yet still our favorite) CTF Doubles game. They should at lease separate the two so I can do infinity when I want to.

The matchmaking population in Halo 4 is so pitiful that they need to have less playlists than previous Halo titles.

 

Yeah, I do understand your argument. But you guys talk about it like everyone's running around with power weapons, and there's no strategy whatsoever. Strategy is how I win. I'm not that skilled of a player to be honest, and my accuracy is horrible, but by choosing the right equipment and playing more cautiously and tactically, I can beat players that are better with their fancy shmancy BRs and their pinpoint accuracy.

I get why you guys don't like personal ordinance- while I don't support it either, it really doesn't bug me that much (especially in doubles, where the weapon options are weaker). The reason I like to play infinity is so I can use my own weapons (which doesn't take away any of the competitive elements) and play with my armor abilities and sensor- I do much better and have more fun when I have these gadgets that I can use to my advantage.

I'm starting to get sick of the people that are telling me to leave this community and play a different game just because my opinions are different. I freaking love this game- why else do you think I'd spend so much time on these forums, and so much effort trying to convince people that Halo 4 is a great and worthy addition to the series?

Any strategy used in Infinity Slayer is going to involve randomness and imbalances in the tools at a player's disposal. Yes, playing smart is still somewhat viable in Infinity Slayer, but it is marred by the random elements. As I said in the video, the ideal matchmaking setup would involve restrictions being placed on player-created loadouts. The loadouts are not inherently flawed like personal ordnance, the options available are just poorly balanced in their current state. You still seem to be confusing the difference between what "bugs you" and what is fundamentally flawed in terms of Halo and in terms of competitive gameplay in general. Again, whether you like Infinity Slayer is irrelevant as long as you understand that it is severely flawed and understand why that is.

I'm not a very competitive player myself, and I never used to understand what the whole deal was of the game being "competitive" or not. I don't have a spectacular K/D either, although i do play rather strategically when I am in the right mindset. What I've come to realize, however, is that that is all irrelevant. Halo was founded as a competitive game. For the game to be competitive, it needs to be balanced and require players to play smartly. Risk vs reward is the foundation of this, and it is mostly absent from Infinity Slayer. That's the point. Having a competitive game doesn't necessitate playing competitively, it just makes the game work better at all levels.

I wouldn't think of asking anyone to leave this community just because they don't like to play competitive Halo. It isn't about whether you want to play competitively on an individual level. It's simply about whether the game makes you think and takes skill in order to win. This is, again, not the case with Infinity Slayer. Infinity Slayer has its merits as a casual or "Action Sack" style game mode, similar to Bro Slayer in Halo Reach. However, turning a mode like this into the standard for what was to be a competitive game has created huge problems. If you want to stay, stay, but don't be disappointed if the game actually gets back on track as a competitive game, as it was meant to be all along.

 

The loadouts are not inherently flawed like personal ordnance, the options available are just poorly balanced in their current state.

That's actually a great point. Maybe the loadouts could use some more balancing and aren't perfect as they stand now. However, I definitely like the concept of having loadouts more than not having them. I'd like to see them get fixed and balanced, but I don't want to see them removed. Balanced loadouts would,'t ruin the competitive part of the game.

...it needs to be balanced and require players to play smartly.

Yes, that's true. But the problem I had with Reach and Halo 3 is that, while they were balanced, they didn't really necessitate intelligent or strategic gameplay in any way. it was all about skill- all that mattered was how well you could shoot the DMR (Reach) or the Battle Rifle (3). I'd lose most fights because they were better with those weapons than I am. I feel like Halo 4 and all of the selectable gadgets it gives me provides me with more opportunities to play tactically- more ways to attack other than charging in for a straight-on engagement. I think that the flaws of Infinity could be removed without affecting this- loadouts can be balanced, ordinance removed, and whatever else, but there are certainly some things that need to stay.

 

That's actually a great point. Maybe the loadouts could use some more balancing and aren't perfect as they stand now. However, I definitely like the concept of having loadouts more than not having them. I'd like to see them get fixed and balanced, but I don't want to see them removed. Balanced loadouts would,'t ruin the competitive part of the game.

Yes, that's true. But the problem I had with Reach and Halo 3 is that, while they were balanced, they didn't really necessitate intelligent or strategic gameplay in any way. it was all about skill- all that mattered was how well you could shoot the DMR (Reach) or the Battle Rifle (3). I'd lose most fights because they were better with those weapons than I am. I feel like Halo 4 and all of the selectable gadgets it gives me provides me with more opportunities to play tactically- more ways to attack other than charging in for a straight-on engagement. I think that the flaws of Infinity could be removed without affecting this- loadouts can be balanced, ordinance removed, and whatever else, but there are certainly some things that need to stay.

Oh, absolutely. I think loadouts are a great addition. Reach was monotonous due to the DMR being in any given players hands 95% of the time. In Halo 4, being able to select primary weapons is a great addition, although the weapons available still aren't all quite perfect in terms of balance. Loadouts just need to have the proper restrictions placed on them (for example, spawning with the means to easily take out a vehicle or corner-camp with a shotgun off spawn should not be allowed). Loadouts allow players to customize the game and play the way they want, and armor abilities do bring some new strategic options to the battlefield. They just needed to be limited in scope and balanced.

In Reach, Halo 3, and Halo 2, the game was certainly about being skilled with your precision primary. However, there was a lot more to it than that. Controlling key locations on a map, and then giving up those positions in order to gain power weapons has long been the core concept behind Halo gameplay. It's this and other elements of map design that create incentive for player movement. Sure, skill with your precision primary is the core of it all, but if you can't work with your team to control power positions and power weapons, you're still going not going to fare well. Halo has always been about presenting those tactical options through the maps and the weapons placed on them, and that is why infinity and random ordnance really take away from the experience.

I would never argue that Halo 4 hasn't gotten some things right. Letting players customize their experience through loadouts is probably the best new addition. It's just that these new additions can't ignore what has made Halo work and what has made Halo "Halo" in the past. In this case, it isn't the feature that is a problem, it's merely its implementation into the game. If 343i can realize that and move forward with that in mind, Halo 5 will turn out very well indeed.

 

I don´t know, when they begin to realize that on Ragnarok DMR and Lightrifle completely destroy the gameplay on such a great map...

 

Question: When playing BTB Heavies with Custom loadouts, is it a good idea to reintroduce the Plasma Pistol and Boltshot?
Answer: I tend to think yes, but that's a sphere of gameplay which I'm unfamiliar with.

 

Question: When playing BTB Heavies with Custom loadouts, is it a good idea to reintroduce the Plasma Pistol and Boltshot?
Answer: I tend to think yes, but that's a sphere of gameplay which I'm unfamiliar with.

By the time you have BTB Heavies and Infinity Slayer there isn't much more for Plasma Pistol/ Nade to break, so I don't think it makes a difference at that point. Playing normal Slayer on the current maps is a little stupid though, as the maps weren't set up with tons more power weapons alongside the vehicles. Essentially the current maps in BTB are set up to fit with Infinity settings, ignoring competitive entirely and focussing on craziness and explosions.

 

Question: When playing BTB Heavies with Custom loadouts, is it a good idea to reintroduce the Plasma Pistol and Boltshot?
Answer: I tend to think yes, but that's a sphere of gameplay which I'm unfamiliar with.

The plasma pistol is inherently broken as a spawning weapon in BTB. In BTB, players need to be encouraged to do one of three things to counter vehicles: team shot (requires coordination), move to key locations to acquire power weapons (risk vs reward), or hijack the vehicle while it is moving/shoot the operator out of the vehicle single-handedly/flip the vehicle with a grenade (skill). Naturally, plasma pistols and plasma grenades immediately off spawn do not require any skill, risk, or coordination to use and are thus broken in terms of the Halo sandbox. The boltshot, on the other hand, is merely another weapon which is too effective to be spawned with (there's no risk in obtaining it, but it presents a reward) and causes at least minor problems independent of the game mode and player count.

Big Team Heavies, however, presents its own set of inherent problems and doesn't really work in terms of the Halo sandbox itself. Of course this depends on the design of the map and just how many power vehicles are available, but at its core the quantity of heavy vehicles on any given Heavies map doesn't allow the aforementioned trio of vehicle counters to function as it should. When a team has as many heavy vehicles as is customary in Heavies maps, forcing players to coordinate, risk exposing themselves, or use raw skill is often not an option on Heavies maps, as power weapons must often be provided with little or no risk involved in order to counter the vehicles. By the same token, giving players plasma pistols and plasma grenades off spawn doesn't upset the trio of vehicle counters in Heavies as it isn't intact in the mode to begin with.

In short, spawning with plasma pistols and plasma grenades isn't really broken in terms of Big Team heavies, but that is only because Big Team Heavies itself is broken in terms of generally accepted rules of the Halo sandbox.

 

Cant wait to see Rocket Race! Me and my friend LOVED IT and hated it when people didnt vote for it in reach.... Sept. 16th right? AWESOME!!! Are we there yet..l,

 

I posted this in the Halo Waypoint BTB feedback thread. This is my ideal solution to the Infinity/Pro settings of BTB:

Big Team Slayer:
-Personal loadouts - Enabled
Forced Magnum secondary
Forced 2x frag

Big Team Infinity Slayer Pro:
-Personal loadouts - Enabled
Forced Magnum secondary
Forced 2x frag

Personal Ordnance - Enabled (every 40 points no point increase multiplier)
Personal Ordnance options:
Left - Plasma Pistol, Plasma Grenades, Boltshot, Pulse Grenades
Bottom - Assault Rifle, Suppressor, Storm Rifle
Right - BR, DMR, Covenant Carbine, Light Rifle

This would work excellent with the big team battle playlist for all gametypes(assuming BTB Skirmish is consolidated). Vehicles would be usable again without all players having plasma grenades/pistol in their loadouts. They would still have their personal custom loadouts, the only difference being all players have a pistol secondary and frag grenades.

 

I posted this in the Halo Waypoint BTB feedback thread. This is my ideal solution to the Infinity/Pro settings of BTB:

Big Team Slayer:
-Personal loadouts - Enabled
Forced Magnum secondary
Forced 2x frag

Big Team Infinity Slayer Pro:
-Personal loadouts - Enabled
Forced Magnum secondary
Forced 2x frag

Personal Ordnance - Enabled (every 40 points no point increase multiplier)
Personal Ordnance options:
Left - Plasma Pistol, Plasma Grenades, Boltshot, Pulse Grenades
Bottom - Assault Rifle, Suppressor, Storm Rifle
Right - BR, DMR, Covenant Carbine, Light Rifle

This would work excellent with the big team battle playlist for all gametypes(assuming BTB Skirmish is consolidated). Vehicles would be usable again without all players having plasma grenades/pistol in their loadouts. They would still have their personal custom loadouts, the only difference being all players have a pistol secondary and frag grenades.

I like this idea Wraith, it really gives you a ton of options while not breaking the game the way they do now. But I don't really think the personal ordnance adds that much to the game mode. It let's you get resupplies and get certain weapons in a fairly acceptable way, but I feel that just having the weapons on map and no personal ordnance is just as good a solution. The one other issue is if you have a map where you really do not want one of the left hand weapons on the map, though I admit this is a rare circumstance where you would likely want to use another game mode at that point. It is also nice to be able to go pick up an on map BR or plasma pistol from a location you know has one, as you don't have to wait until you get 4 kills to get ammo. I don't think this mode raises any huge problems, but I feel that weapons on map would just be a little simpler. This is more of a personal preference however, and you could even have weapons scattered on the map as well as this mode with no real issues.

 

I agree. My only concern and reason for including the Infinity version of the gametype is the amount of vehicles scattered around every BTB map. Imagine playing Vortex with only on map weapon pickups, yikes... I would much rather see a legitimate vehicle/weapon layout designed for Vortex, but until they do that I figure the Infinity Slayer Pro idea could at least work well with vehicle heavy maps.