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All hail the mighty General
I don't know about you but whenever I set my mind to matchmaking in Halo 3, I sometimes wonder about the other team's ranks. For instance, say I'm a Captain and I get matched up with a row of Colonels (Level 40's) and one General (Level 50 - with five stars I should add), how is that even fair to begin with? Tell me Bungie, how'd you manage to come up with that one?
When I play Halo 3, I want to have fun and to enjoy myself but the pressure begins to inevitably build itself when I realize the highest rank on my team is nowhere near a Level 40 and everyone's depending on you. It becomes discouraging even before the match begins because you would have already looked at the competition and said, 'Holy sh*t.'
That's not to say that lower ranks are terrible at the game or don't know what they're doing. It's become a widely held belief that a lower rank means you suck. You become stuck in that classified group until you are able to rank up to a 'respectable' rank. However, when does your rank begin to have some credibility as to your playing ability? Last time I checked, there were about 50 Ebay auctions of people willing to rank you up. I never understood why people would pay for their account just to get defeated by the end of the match and discredit the authentic Generals.
In the past, I used to stress about being a lower rank because I was fed up with whiny gamers who have nothing better to do than yell how much you suck (before a game even starts!.) To this day, I'll occasionally have someone attempt to challenge me in a game of Slayer. I am not here to prove my skill to anyone, I am here to have fun. Why must people make a game so serious? As time has gone by, I have started to care less and less because if I'm meant to be a higher rank, I'll get there based on my playing ability and not because people are pressuring me to. In case you were wondering, I have no desire to become a General. So my question to you is: Do you believe being a higher rank necessarily makes you a good player? Or is it pure luck?
Comments
You see, you become a better player by of course, playing against people who are better than you. You eventually pick up skills, tactics, etc. that you normally would not use. Now, you can gain this ACTUAL skill level just by playing people who are better than you. Just because you go into a ranked playlist and 'get carried' doesn't mean you're a good player. You actually need to play a ranked playlist to level up your 'highest skill' in halo 3, however my point is, you can still be 'better' at the game, without doing so.
Oh, I'm aware you have to play a ranked playlist in Halo 3. I personally rank up in TS. I agree, a person who is carried isn't really a good player. It's a matter of showing off your ability to play, whether that reflects your rank or not. I have come across plenty of gamers who are lower ranks and have excellent scores at the end of a match. And believe it or not, there are people who choose to not rank up because they'd rather people have lower expectations of them until they get into the match and end up having the most points on the team. Thanks for commenting.
Well I think you are exactly correct. People who play the game and like you said have a "Low Rank", tend to be good to very good players. I for one am a Captain grade 3, I don't like to move up beacause that is where a lot of really good players tend to be ranked at. But there is "EXCEPTIONS".
@Lostmurf I completely agree with you. I, also, have found that although there are plenty of Captains around, there are some really good ones out there. I mean, it's hard to tell whether it's their second account but I think too much emphasis is placed on rank nowadays. I'd rather play and then determine whether or not they fit the rank.
The only reason you find a lot of good players with low ranks is because they are restart accounts so these guys are really 50's. Matchmaking is infested with restart accounts these days which makes it very hard to find a fair matchup.
Winning the lottery is luck, rolling consistant 7's in craps and hitting jackpot on slot machines is luck, even getting good tiles in scrabble is luck, but, ranking up in halo is about 70% skill. There are luck factors, spawning, whom you get matched up with, random grenades that kill like 5 people...but unless you're lucky enough to get 100 games in a row where all your opponents decide to quit for no appearent reason, getting a 50 does take skill. But, be careful how you judge, a person may be a legit 50, but in a particular gametype. I know MANY players who can snipe the pants off me, who are 45-50 in snipes, but i can run circles around them in say MLG. People are skilled in other areas. Besides, a person could be a 50 in swat, he's quick with that one head shot, but has no strategy for OBJ can't snipe, sucks even with rockets somehow, but is a legit 50 in swat. And beware, there's talk of ranked grifball, Lol, legit grifball 50s just MAY suck in all other gametypes
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