https://twitter.com/Halo/status/499183101281460224
For those who do not know. Halo 2 did not have a character rank that just went up as you did well. Each player was ranked within the official playlists. That rank was volatile and based on wins and losses, not how well you did personally. This means you could lose rank and gain rank. For matchmaking this was brilliant as it ranked people of similar skill together.
This is a huge deal for me as since Battlefield 2 and CoD 4, multiplayer ranks have been a arbitrary mess that did nothing to indicate the actual skill of a player. In Halo 2, if you were level 40 or higher in the playlist, you had earned that rank and it meant you were a skilled player who probably played with a skilled group of people. This made for some of the best matchmaking ever and easily the best multiplayer experience on the consoles.
Not many games use this ranking system. Starcraft does with its leagues and it helps greatly with matchmaking people of similar skill. This allows you to progress through skill levels of players and eventually hit your cap. You're rarely going to be in a situation for long where you just keep getting dominated or continue to easily win.
I post this because this could be huge for mutliplayer moving forward. Re-introducing this mechanic to the masses with a mainstream FPS means we could see this in the future. No more pointless ranks. Unlocks do not have to be tied to ranks. Your rank could mean how good you are compared to other players. Ranks also help with matchmaking so people are almost always playing with people at their same skill level so the games are just more fun for all.
Either way this basically solidifies my decision to purchase an Xbox One solely for this game. As a Halo fan this package can't get much better. I really hope that they plan on releasing Reach and ODST as DLC/Expansions in the future. That's the only thing at this point that could make this deal better for me.
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