Random Ordnance

[Skyward Shoe]

How do you guys feel about Random Ordnance Drops? Do you feel they fit in a matchmaking setup? Do you use them on your own maps? After a few months of playing, what are your thoughts on them.

Personally, I don't like them. I like the idea of being able to put a multitude of weapons in them (so long as you are careful with what goes in.) but I don't like the idea that one team can suddenly get a drop for a weapon that the other team won't get an equivalent to. For example, say you are playing on Longbow and power is shifting back and forth. Then all the sudden, Red team gets an extra sniper rifle and uses it to make a push, or gets rockets or a shotgun and is able to use these to tip the scales. Now maybe blue team gets one too and they push back. Or maybe they don't get one. Maybe Red keeps getting them or blues are dropping in not as useful places.

This is the reason I don't like them. While a team does have to be good enough to use the weapon, teams are basically handed the tools to win based purely on luck with this system. Instead of trying to fight for weapons, players just find the best spot on the map and hope for random ordnance drops nearby, while in the meantime stockpiling personal ordnance drops in that location. Basically, games are more affected by random occurrence than before and players are less motivated to go to dangerous areas of the map, because there is no good weapon there to draw them away from the good locations to fight from (center mid of almost every map in BTB, Longbow's top building.)

So what are the rest of the communities thoughts? Are there redeeming factors I'm overlooking, or even more factors that made them bad I missed?

 

[iForge]

I actually like random ordnance , yeah it's not very balanced for team games but what about FFA maps? for stuff like that I'd think they add a lot more weapons to the maps sandbox. Although I am yet to get a competitive map done in Halo 4 so maybe I'm missing something... lol

 

[Smelnick]

I don't mind random ordinances, but they need to be used properly. When I put them in my maps, I don't mix weapon types. One random spawn will have things like rocket launcher, incineration cannon. Then I'll have another with Sniper, binary and beam rifle. Than another one with melee weapons like sword and hammer. Then I put them in spots where the different types of weapons would be good spawned.

 

[Rev Righteous]

I don't mind random ordinances, but they need to be used properly. When I put them in my maps, I don't mix weapon types. One random spawn will have things like rocket launcher, incineration cannon. Then I'll have another with Sniper, binary and beam rifle. Than another one with melee weapons like sword and hammer. Then I put them in spots where the different types of weapons would be good spawned.

I agree, I think it's a matter of being selective about what weapons go "into the mix" for each particular drop location. For example, in an interior section, I would have the random drop focus on shotguns, grenades, etc. It leaves enough variety to necessitate a change in tactics (did you get a shotgun, or plasma grenades?) but all the weapons that could spawn at that point still fit the zone, i.e. they are all applicable to a close-quarters situation in this example.

Also, you can use random drops to make out-of-the-way parts of the map viable, or draw players to lesser used areas. For example, parts of the map that are slightly off the main routes can sporadically be made intense battle zones or important tactical locations when a random weapon drop appears there.

 

[Elliot]

I think that random ordnance can be used well in FFA where you don't have to worry about balance. But in terms of team games, it shouldn't really be used in my opinion. Random factors should not affect the performance of a team. It shouldn't be about luck, It should be about skill and teamwork.

 

[Elliot]

One question. Does random ordnance always spawn randomly on the map with a random weapon? Or can it spawn in a chosen location with a random weapon?

 

[Smelnick]

It spawns a random ordinance at a chosen location. You place the thing in forge, choose which weapons you want it to choose from, and then during the game and random times, that weapon will spawn there. It doesn't spawn at random places around the map , only where you choose. So if you have a sniper tower, you can make it so instead of just a sniper that spawns there at regular times, instead, you can have it so it randomly chooses between a sniper, binary rifle, or a beam rifle.

So you can still control the balance of the weapons, while throwing in a bit of variety for amusements sake.

 

[Elliot]

Ahhh I see, thank you. I believe random ordnance can be used, but very carefully. I think someone mentioned it before. You could have an ordnance drop spawn either a Shotgun or Scattershot. They are different, therefore mixing up gameplay, but they are not different enough to give one team or the other an unfair advantage.

 

[Smelnick]

It would work best probably in a team deathmatch map, if each team isn't given their own set of weapons each. That is to say, each team's base doesn't have their own set of snipers, launchers etc. Instead, these things are out in the fighting area more so. So like, a central rocket/incineration random spawn. That way, teams have to fight for them.

 

[Elliot]

Precisely. It will work great for neutral weapon spawns, but nothing else. It would just break balance.

 

[Wakko45]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have more than one random ordnance on a map, it won't spawn both of them at the same time, it'll randomly pick one of them to spawn. Thus if you put a random spawn at each team's base, only one of them will receive an ordnance every time they're scheduled to drop. I could be wrong about that though.

 

[Smelnick]

That's correct, that's why they'd only work in the middle of the map in a team game.

 

[Xinshu]

It seems that the random ordnance would have to be used cautiously. Add the wrong items in the wrong spot and you add to the randomness. This is especially true if a random ordnance on either side where they spawn at different times, it can change the gameplay dramatically with unpredictable drops. Say your lucky enough to grab an incineration cannon, you would be guaranteed to stop any aggressive movement by the other team while also maybe even being able to go on the offense. Additionally, weapons or powerups could spawn somewhere where they would be overwhelming, or almost useless. For example, if a speed boost spawns near the highest point of the map, there is really no point to it because it's use is entirely offensive. The key to making a map more competitive is to maximize predictability, and when more randomness is thrown in, good teamwork and map control deteriorate.