P Pierce34

This was my reply to a different thread that asked which game was better PDZ or Halo 2. I got a little carried away but I just wanted to put this out there and see if other players agree or disagree with me so here it is:

If you are talking gameplay they are different styles and both games are very cool, but I agree with what someone else said and I need a change so I'll be playing PDZ for a while. The fact is that Halo 2 multiplayer runs more smoothly and is a lot more fair. That is really what puts it above PDZ, in fact PDZ tries to use certain aspects of multiplayer that Bungie invented and for the most part fails. Bungie came up with matchmaking, matchmaking playlists (which are absent from PDZ), a great party system, and the best ranking system ever seen in a multiplayer game where you have a seperate rank for each specialized playlist and your highest rank is what people see as your overall rank. PDZ has a couple of these features and fails to add any new revolutionary features. PDZ has matchmaking but there is something terribly wrong with it that it ruins the whole experience of playing ranked games on Live. Here is the problem and if you play then you know this well, when a group of players are matched up in the pregame lobby waiting to start the teams are automatically chosen and it tries to make it fair by putting the highest ranked players on one team and the lowest ranked players on another team. There are always less people with a high rank so they are on a team with 3 or 4 players and they put like 7 or 8 players on the less skilled team. It is so messed up I'm having trouble explaining it but if you've played you know what I mean. What ends up happening is if you get really good and get your rank up, every game you join you are on a team by yourself because you can't find other players high enough in rank to be put on your team. I play games all the time that are like 8 vs 1 and the one guy is really good but he has no chance against that many players. Did Rare test this game or what I'm getting so pissed off as I type this! EVEN NUMBERS ON EACH TEAM WILL MAKE IT FAIR. I have no idea why they thought people would have fun playing 10 noobs vs 2 pros pretty much every game. This is the worst flaw of the PDZ multiplayer but not the only one. Here is another flaw, no party system enough said. Here is another flaw, no playlists for ranked games with premade fair gametypes that they will play. In PDZ you make your own ranked games and people join when they do a custom search for a game or are placed in your game by the quick match feature. This means that every ranked match you play, another player in that game made it and chose all the options. This means that someone can always create a game on their best map with their best weapons set and their favorite settings and boost their rank that way when they may not be good at any other parts of the game. I could go on and on about why Halo 2 is more fun to play on Live, but the fact is that I am a fan of PDZ and love to play it despite how flawed it is compared to Halo 2, but Halo 2 is the most revolutionary game probably ever so how can anything compare to it? I would say PDZ is the second or third best multiplayer FPS out there (maybe Counter Strike beats it but that game is older and outdated graphically) so don't get the wrong idea from my angry rant, I just get pissed when new games come out and have a chance to build on what Bungie has started and fail. PDZ is still very good and very fun but I'll be back to Halo 2 in a while, until Halo 3 comes out at least.

Z-mighty

Are you serious? They really should've used the same system Halo 2 uses, hell every multiplayer game should.

ProX

Halo 2 is bad...

ElmntAir3

H2 sucks everything about PDZ is better

L1nK

^^lol,. plain and simple terms. Only think i think pdz should have is the jumping capability

hallsey

if PDZ had jumping with would rape H2 in everyway.

TheAssassin419

I agree with some, and strongly disagree with other portions of your argument. I'll bring it up case by case then add my own.

1) Uneven Teams - I've noticed this myself and couldn't quite figure it out. What I have found is that often that one person fends well for themselves and their ranking doesn't suffer too much. It is pretty messed up. The remedy? Bring friends with similar rank or ask unfairly ranked players to leave (the level 1 in a level 25+ game, or the level 25+ in a level 1's game). Or you could just simply not start until the right people joined and teams were made even. Usually if someone sees they are 1 on 5 they will go find a higher ranked room.

2) No Party System - Annoying indeed, but how would this have been coded? You'd need to be able to browse for games while being in a seperate lobby with your friends. It would be extremely awkward at best. I agree they should of found some way to make it work, but I don't have a problem with joining through guide or simply stating the room hosts name and gametype.

3) No Playlists - I am surprised anyone could complain about this. All anyone did in Halo was complain about getting stuck with undesirable gametypes! I can't count the dozens of times that I got stuck playing territories or plots and wanted to take my BR and blow my own brains out. The beauty of browsable lobbies is that you can find the exact game that suits you. Later on when it is more popular we will have more choice and be able to look specifically for only standard weapons and things like that and find games, but until then we can just check the settings in the room and LEAVE if they suck and are weighted towards the host. Advanced players in the Killcount board simply won't play all rockets or anything that isn't one of the standard sets. Provided the host doesn't start within the 3 seconds it takes to check settings, you should have no problem with this match arranging.

You could also just host your own game, with your own settings, even weighting it towards yourself if you like. But the fact of the matter is, if the people joining the room don't feel safe playing it, or won't enjoy it, then they won't play.

4) Leaderboards and Rankings - How can you also state that the Halo 2 level system was fair and accurate? It was soley based on finding a group of friends and abusing the system or completely obliterating in one night. It didn't show your own skill, it showed the skill of those you play with, of which only 1/4 really belonged to you. New system is purely individual, has complete stat tracking, better leaderboards, and visible rankings for every gametype before each game.

My only irk with online multiplayer is how teams are assigned in ranked games, making it almost impossible to get paired with your friends and often end up against them, eliminating any chance for large scale strategy. This is where I feel clan matches will rise and become quite popular as opposed to ranked play. Easy to get teamed with one friend though, so I'm not all that upset about it.

EDIT: I need to stop with these long, detailed posts, really.

ColdArmor

Yeah seriously Assassin. :P

The no party system would piss me off.

P Pierce34

No dude, assassin, that is exactly the kind of response I was looking for. It is good to see someone elses point of view. All these other responses are meaningless because they didn't back up what they said with why they said it. Thanks man.