Halo Halo 5 Multiplayer Arena Beta Discussion

[adderrson]

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Now the Halo 5 Arena is finally available, we can all get our hands on it and give it a whirl. Over the duration that it is available please take some time out to discuss your experiences here and let us know what features you like, what you feel can be improved as well as what simply grieves you about it.

Also please report any bugs you come across throughout your time you have playing the beta and hopefully we can compile a list of suggestions to improve the multiplayer experience as well as a bug report that can be passed onto 343i after the beta has ended.

This thread will remain pinned throughout the beta and will be locked 2 weeks after the beta has ended so as a community we can collectively produce relevant feedback from our own personal experiences.

I look forward to reading the feedback you have in regards to the beta as well as participating in the discussion myself.

 

[Bad Company]

the game looks awesome, even though its in the beta and I might encounter some bugs and glitches that will most likely give me a embarrassing K/D, but still the game looks awesome

 

[Hardline_Pro]

Halo 5 seems pretty...generic TBH. Maybe it's just because I'm not a 4v4 guy. Oh well.

 

[PDP]

Bugs that I've encountered so far:
1) Random Medals- I've gotten a snapshot and a melee medal randomly when I was just standing still, not shooting or anything.
2) Spartan colors turn lightish red after a match- It not a big problem right now, but it happens all the time and won't go away unless you restart the app.
3) Clamber- It might just be lag, but sometimes when using clamber it will go through the animation again. The matches seem to be mostly lag free, so I felt that this should be mentioned as it mostly seems to happen with clamber.

Problems I've had so far:
1) Clench protection- If sprint is set to left thumbstick and clench protection is turned on, it will make it really hard to sprint, if not basically impossible.
2) Prophet's Bane- It's blinding and just blocks to much of your screen. The blinding effect is especially problematic on Truth, the only map with it currently, as the map is really dark. I think it should get a redesign, or at the very least make it not as bright as it currently is.
3) Spartan Chatter- "Sniper up in 30 seconds" "Power Weapons up in 30 seconds" "...10 seconds" "they're up" They don't need to repeat themselves twice and they only need to say it at 30 secs and when it's up. They don't do this at all for the Prophet's Bane which is odd.

What I think about the Spartan Abilities:
1) Mario Ground Pound- It isn't used that often. It requires quite a bit of skill to get a kill with it as you have to land on them. Works pretty well at taking shields down for either you or you're team to get a headshot. If you use it poorly you are most likely going to end up dead. I've also died to two people using it on me in a one-two punch kind of thing. AoE could be changed, but I'd leave that up to other people to decide on how they feel about it.
2) Slide- Honestly I've used it once just to try it. Kind of pointless in my opinion and haven't seen it used more than once maybe twice.
3) Spartan Charge- Like the GP it requires some skill. You can't just charge and expect to get a kill. Only a one hit kill if you manage to hit them in the back, so it's usually better to do a normal melee as it's more accurate. Plus you won't have to worry about the 1-2 second delay after using it.
4) Smart Scope- I'm fine with it so far. Not much else I can say about it.
5) Thrusters- Don't feel as I need to say much about this. Hover can be used to confuse/disorient your opponents.
6) Sprint- Rather not say anything lest I start something.

 

[Bad Company]

Bugs, Problems, and opinions about the Halo 5 beta.

1.My spartan turns pink whenever I view in the spartan hub.

2."Spartan Chatter" makes the game too easy for noobs and not very skillful.

3.The game automatically switches you to game chat (which is bad for when playing with friends in a party).

4.Game chat is broken, because usually you can't hear other people when playing the game.

5."Auto hovering" when ADS using smart-link, is (honestly) a good feature however (like I said before) it takes the skill out the game.

6.Sliding, Sprinting, Clambering, and Ground-Pound not only make the game less Halo (forget Call of Duty it feels a lot like Crysis 3),
it is also ineffective. Sliding is kinda under-powered not that I'm suggesting this ability to be buffed, but if this was to be effective I would allow the sliding distance to be increased depending on the grade (slope or incline), but since this isn't halo I would leave it. Ground-Pound is effective at times but it does require skill if you want a kill or weaken the shields which is good because the last thing I want is noobs spamming it all over the battlefield. Clambering, I don't have any problem (other than it being a Crysis 3 feature), in fact its very effective for flanking and maneuvering. And lastly sprinting. Sprinting is a infamous ability among halo fans like me, since it makes sniping harder than it should be and allows players to escape quickly or render them a easy target for MLGs, grenade spammers, and REAL halo players, however in halo 5 the sprinting is balanced by allowing shields to be disabled while sprinting not mention the obvious flaw of sprinting is that you weapon is disabled (until you stop), by the way sprinting wasn't a feature only available in Call of Duty (although it did originate from it), its now a common feature in modern games like battlefield (not the old games), crysis, far cry,etc.

 

[Stevo]

Overall I really like the game... the biggest annoyance is the matchmaking system and the rating system paired with it.
Your "placement" games are just 10 games off the bat that drops you in any rank level based on your wins. So, if you (like me) get paired with retard after retard, game in, game out and only receive 4 out of 10 wins, you'll quickly find yourself in the shit leagues and now you cannot escape them and you have to win like 40 games to get to the next level.
This is just pointless. It doesn't accurately reflect your skill, or your Halo ability, and it currently doesn't seem to contribute to you accessing similarly skilled players either.

I currently average about 7/8.00 KD ratio. The game is really easy once you get used to the maps. It's just this ridiculous nature of being dumped with the people that go -16, -18, -124382131981231 every damn game.
When I got placed in Silver, a guy in gold said, "Wow, I can't believe you got Silver, you're like 10 times better than me in the 4 games we've played against each other" - so that just proves that the rating system doesn't work.

Ranting aside, since it's really ticked me off that now playing games is a pretty much waste of my time, like it has been for the last 2 Halo games... the gameplay is really good despite all the new additions.

My biggest gripe with the gameplay is that people die too quickly. The Spartan damage resistance needs increasing.
The Sniper Rifle also has too slow rate of fire. It makes no sense why they've sped up the ability to die in half a second through a team shot, yet made the Sniper Rifle slower so it's effectiveness is now less than a DMR.
The sword's lunge range is also reduced, which I'd assume falls in because of Sprint, and the boost ability.

 

[ShockBolt21]

I love how Halo 5 gives players more combat options through spartan abilities. It's great that 343 finally found a way to make combat less archaically simple while maintaining game balance. The thrusters and ground pound were my favorite. The former gives the player the ability to dodge grenades more effectively and duck behind cover quickly if he made a wrong step. The ground pound is a great way to turn the potential energy of height into a weapon against your opponents. However, I do wish that the spartan would follow a more arced path towards the ground when pounding rather than defying gravity and shooting in a straight line at constant speed.

I was at first skeptical about the idea of not charging while sprinting- I thought it was unnecessary. But it does make for some interesting situations in which a dying player has to choose whether to run from combat and not charge or to duck behind something and hope he can get charged up before the enemy rounds the corner. Choosing the former can lead to a pretty fun chase, with the shieldless player running for what seems like forever, ducking around corners as he tries to lose the pursuer and regenerate or pull a reversal against him.

However, the fact that you can't sprint while being shot at is nothing short of an outrage. I am in complete disagreement with the general mentality that if you see an enemy then you have a right to kill him, and that players should not be able to escape combat. If a player recognizes that he is outnumbered, outmatched, or that an upcoming or ongoing combat situation is unfavorable to him, then he should have a decent chance to escape if he tries to. The player's inability to charge while sprinting is enough support for the pursuer if he decides to chase. Furthermore, players lose control of their character once their sprint is broken by enemy fire. The sudden unexpected shift in movement speed that was not cued by the player can easily throw him off, and has too many times led to my crashing into walls while scrambling to get away.

I also loved how the assault rifle has been made into a more effective weapon for close and mid-range combat and suppression at long range. Players finally have a reason to choose this weapon over the battle rifle for certain situations.

I would like to see the company make a better effort to give the players a more human rather than robotic feel. I loved the chatter, but the voices sounded emotionless. They forget that the chatter should serve not only to convey information between players, but also to create a more immersive, intense, and realistic experience. They should look to Battlefield 3 or 4, Assassin's Creed 4, or the marines in any of the Halo campaigns to get a better idea of what battlefield dialogue should really sound like.

They should also consider coding automatic 'involuntary' movements for the Spartans, such as throwing his hand in front of his face to shield himself from a nearby explosion, or maybe stumbling a little after activating thrusters rather than somehow keeping both of his hands firmly planted on the weapon. Such movements should affect gameplay only minimally, if at all, but they will still help players feel more like they're controlling human characters rather than robots.

I love the new game. So far I'm beasting (2.5 K/D and 9.something skill rank), and I think that 343 has successfully proven that Halo can still feel very modern as an arena-based shooter game.


For the purpose of the list you intend to compile, I'll condense what I said into a few important points here:

-Spartan Abilities, sprint, and clamber were a success and should stay in Halo 5
-Sprint should not be lost upon being fired at. This absolutely will not do.
-Combat dialogue should be improved by adding emotion
Intermissions are too long
-Involuntary movements should be considered to help modernize the game

 

[JohnLeviTaylor]

I could go on and on about things I already don't enjoy. But for now one of the main ones is when your sprinting and your spartan charges up for a bash/ram and your right behind someone, naturally I want to hold down the me lee button to preform an assassination it's been an addiction for me sense Halo Reach. But instead you ram in to the other play and if the have full shield you only break there shield. I would by far just be able to melee then the ram/bash ability.

 

[Psychoduck]

I will be updating this feedback list as I spend more time with the game. So far, I have played roughly 25 games and maintained a k/d ratio of approximately 1.2. Prior to the introduction of BR starts in slayer, my overall tool of destruction was the magnum. It is now the battle rifle.

General

• Players using the default controller setup and others where scope is activated by holding down the left trigger rather than being activated by a toggle are currently at an advantage while using scope under fire. Continuing to hold down the left trigger should not immediately return players to scope after being descoped as this allows them to return to scope faster than those with scope on a toggle and degrades the value of descope. Players using these controller setups should have to let go of left trigger when descoped and pull it in again to scope back in just as they must toggle scope back on with other button layouts after being descoped.
• Scope should not be a universal feature and rather should be intentionally paired with specific weapons. This allows more differentiation between various weapons and also more firmly relegates weapons into various niches based on range potential. Because scope tightens spread, players are relying on it more than ever before, making them less inclined to be mobile while engaged in combat.
• The automatic weapons are currently too powerful. There is something to be said about making automatic weapons viable, but this should not come at the cost of skillshot incentive. Precision weapons (including the magnum) should always achieve faster kill times than the automatics when netting a perfect kill. This framework must be consistent across all ranges of engagement. Automatics can still be viable, but given that they have a very low skill gap, they should not be outperforming higher skill gap weapons when they are used effectively. An automatic should only ever outclass a precision weapon if the wielder of the precision weapon misses a shot at close range or misses multiple at medium range. Kill times on automatics are currently too fast even at close range, and the inclusion of a scope on these weapons (reference above bullet point) makes them too viable even at mid range.
• Spartan chatter was advertised as a game mechanic. Currently, its role as a game mechanic (alerting players of power weapon respawns) is necessary for low level play found in unranked matchmaking playlists. However, chatter should be disabled in competitive play as coordinated teams should be communicating about weapons respawns on their own. Relying on chatter to do this takes a layer of meta game out of the competitive game. An option to disable Spartan chatter on a per gametype basis should be available, and this option should be enabled in competitive playlists.
• Continuing about Spartan chatter, it does not function solely as a game mechanic as advertised. Lines like "save some for me" and "let's send them back to basic training" serve no purpose in gameplay and feel too out of place in a Halo game to contribute to immersion of the player. Unnecessary lines should be cut out, keeping Spartan chatter as purely a game mechanic.

Slayer

• On Truth, players can jump from the top of either base to top mid allowing them to cross the map in seconds. This can be achieved by doing a sprint+jump+thrust+clamber combo. Allowing players to cross the map this quickly would seriously throw off the pace of the game in objective modes and likely wreak havoc with spawning.
• On Pegasus, the entire map currently flows towards a singular location. This high position is currently too viable as all approaches and sightlines come from below and force players either to tackle a massive height advantage or cross the map's exposed center in order to attack it.

Breakout

• As something intended to be a core Halo mode, Breakout should use the same base settings regarding player health as other core modes. Having shorter kill times where it takes a different number of headshots to kill completely disrupts the continuity across core modes within the game.
• The short kill times also compound the effects of the overpowered automatic weapons. Players should spawn with assault rifles rather than SMGs as the SMG is a tier 2 weapon. The SMG's role as a starting weapon combined with its ridiculously fast kill times render the magnum (a weapon which requires much more skill to use effectively) next to useless at close and medium range.

Strongholds

• There are significant framerate drops present on both Regret and Empire in this mode. The drops appear to be most intense with Stronghols in sight, but seem to extend to other parts of the map as well, possibly due to the number of added waypoints on the screen from objectives.
• Designating Strongholds with letters (A, B, and C like in Dominion) or numbers (like in Territories) would allow for better callouts.

 

[Psychoduck]

They should also consider coding automatic 'involuntary' movements for the Spartans, such as throwing his hand in front of his face to shield himself from a nearby explosion, or maybe stumbling a little after activating thrusters rather than somehow keeping both of his hands firmly planted on the weapon. Such movements should affect gameplay only minimally, if at all, but they will still help players feel more like they're controlling human characters rather than robots.

Involuntary movements bring nothing to the game. They would serve only to remove control from the player, and do so at unpredictable times. This randomness would completely disrupt the flow of the game and throw otherwise skillful encounters out of balance. Immersive elements must complement gameplay, never get in its way.

 

[ShockBolt21]

Involuntary movements bring nothing to the game. They would serve only to remove control from the player, and do so at unpredictable times...

The idea is that they would neither add to gameplay nor hinder it- the effect will only serve to add to immersion. Such movements should not affect the actual game mechanics- for example a spartan wielding a magnum may raise lis left hand when a grenade explodes nearby, but he'll still keep the weapon aimed with his right and can fire it and move around normally. Such movements will be brief and quickly recovered from, so if the player starts shooting, his left hand could quickly snap back to the weapon and the player will stay on track. I think this can work if they can find a way to incorporate the movements in ways that won't affect the player's control of the spartan.

Regarding your previous post, I disagree with what you said about spartan chatter. It definitely adds to player immersion, even with the rather bland voices. Judging by your comments (though I could be wrong), it seems to me that you only really care about practicality and how the features affect gameplay. It doesn't look like you care much about modernizing the game in terms of immersion and fluidity, but I assure you that spartan chatter definitely helps in this regard and serves to make Halo a better game- maybe not for you, but for other players such as myself that may care more about realism. This also goes for other small additions in the game such as the sound of the spartan grunting as he jumps, and would also be the same idea with involuntary movements (if it could be done without hindering gameplay). I understand that gameplay must be prioritized, but these opportunities must be taken when we can improve immersion/realism without detracting from gameplay.

Because spartan chatter has such huge potential to improve immersion, I almost shot myself in the foot when I read what you posted about "keeping chatter as purely a game mechanic."

 

[Psychoduck]

The idea is that they would neither add to gameplay nor hinder it- the effect will only serve to add to immersion. Such movements should not affect the actual game mechanics- for example a spartan wielding a magnum may raise lis left hand when a grenade explodes nearby, but he'll still keep the weapon aimed with his right and can fire it and move around normally. Such movements will be brief and quickly recovered from, so if the player starts shooting, his left hand could quickly snap back to the weapon and the player will stay on track. I think this can work if they can find a way to incorporate the movements in ways that won't affect the player's control of the spartan.

If the animations had zero effect on gameplay whatsoever, they wouldn't hurt anything. That means that the animations are not affecting the player's control of their Spartan or affecting that player's hitbox. If this feature were to affect either, it would be completely detrimental to the game. If not, then it won't hurt anything.

Regarding your previous post, I disagree with what you said about spartan chatter. It definitely adds to player immersion, even with the rather bland voices. Judging by your comments (though I could be wrong), it seems to me that you only really care about practicality and how the features affect gameplay. It doesn't look like you care much about modernizing the game in terms of immersion and fluidity, but I assure you that spartan chatter definitely helps in this regard and serves to make Halo a better game- maybe not for you, but for other players such as myself that may care more about realism. This also goes for other small additions in the game such as the sound of the spartan grunting as he jumps, and would also be the same idea with involuntary movements (if it could be done without hindering gameplay). I understand that gameplay must be prioritized, but these opportunities must be taken when we can improve immersion/realism without detracting from gameplay.

Because spartan chatter has such huge potential to improve immersion, I almost shot myself in the foot when I read what you posted about "keeping chatter as purely a game mechanic."

There is a fine line between modernizing something, and incorporating random elements from other modern games into it. In general, you're using the word "modernization" incorrectly, suggesting that the only way for Halo to improve is to incorporate elements from other games currently on the market. Halo can improve on its own terms and make additions to the game because they work in Halo, not in other games. First of all, Spartan chatter has no effect on fluidity whatsoever. Using realism as an argument in Halo is also absurd, as Halo is not a game founded upon realism in the slightest. Cheesy voiceovers about thrashing the enemy team do not contribute to immersion. In fact, they detract from it. Players should be focused only on audio cues which affect the game, and having the audio channels clogged with pointless bro banter distracts from that. Spartan chatter was advertised exclusively as a game mechanic, and that is the only purpose it adequately serves. The rest is distracting and unnecessary.

 

[ShockBolt21]

you're using the word "modernization" incorrectly, suggesting that the only way for Halo to improve is to incorporate elements from other games currently on the market... Using realism as an argument in Halo is also absurd, as Halo is not a game founded upon realism in the slightest. Cheesy voiceovers about thrashing the enemy team do not contribute to immersion.

In my post, I referred to the ideas of modernization, immersion, and realism somewhat interchangeably. So when I mention realism, I'm not referring to how closely the game's mechanics resemble real-life interactions, as I understand that that's not the goal of Halo games. I'm talking about the fluidity of movements and animations, the general environment (visuals, sounds, etc), and the player's overall feeling of controlling a character in a simulated world. For example, despite the fact that the mechanics in neither Halo 5 nor Halo CE represent real life very accurately, the former is more realistic (by the aforementioned definition) because of better texture and lighting quality, more fluid controls and animations, more realistic weapon sounds, and even the sound of your character grunting as he jumps. I think it goes without saying that the features above only help the game and don't at all hinder it, and this is how striving towards "realism" has helped Halo and remains a viable goal for Halo as well as other games.

If a feature (such as in-game chatter) works well in other games and has potential to improve Halo, there is no reason not to add it. If other modern games use it well and Halo is lacking it, I would consider Halo to be behind in this regard. Therefore, referring to adding the feature to improve the game would be a good use of the word "modernization." And yes, I genuinely think that it would be good for Halo after hearing it in H5 and imagining how it could be. It would complete the battleground atmosphere- gunfire and explosions blazing around you, bullets whizzing through the air and clattering against nearby objects, the echoes of soldiers' angry and terrified shouts ringing through the air. That is immersion, and it can be done while keeping the gameplay mechanics functioning as they're supposed to in a Halo game. I agree that the effect isn't quite achieved with chatter as it is now, but it has the potential if it's done a bit differently. Chatter will still serve practical purposes for gameplay (Spartans will still communicate relevant information, players will be more conscious of friendly locations when teammates can be heard, players will be alerted to the deaths of some friendlies by the sound of their screams), but the occasional dialogue that is not completely relevant is acceptable to enhance the effect. I don't think that saying 'it's distracting' is enough of a reason to not strive for this level of immersion- you might as well tell me that the graphical details and reflections are 'distracting' as well and therefore graphical textures should be kept simple. It's also not fair that you argue that chatter shouldn't be present because it's "not Halo," unless you can explain what part of the core Halo game mechanic is detracted from with the new feature.

After playing more open-world games, I tend to really notice environments, immersion, and realism much more than I used to. It is what I am most passionate about in video games, and I was extremely glad to see 343 making a solid effort to bring it into Halo.

 

[Bad Company]

Breakout.........is kinda like halo's version of SnD from call of duty, and like it (its too bad it can't force the players into game chat).