Halo: Reach Will Punish Quitters, Says Bungie

[Iron Lightning]

[HEADING=1]What Bungie actually means to say on the matter is here:[/HEADING]

<quote= Bungie>[quote deleted for length, see Vrex360's original post for full story]

[HEADING=1]They are not talking about permanently banning people from the system based on singular acts of rage quitting!
The longest anyone will be banned for is twenty minutes and only if they are frequently quitting from matches, like ten times in a thirty minutes.[/HEADING]

Thanks mate, I was rather against the idea until you clarified things for me. Bungie's policy sounds completely reasonable. I'm glad that someone is finally taking a stand against all the repeat-quitting douchebags out there.

 

[rockingnic]

I like how everyone thinks they're gonna penalize people for quitting once... They use the key word "habit" as in more than once or twice, as multiple occurrences. Bungie won't do it someone that quits because they have to leave or drop out with a connection problem, they're gonna do it to people who quit like 5 times in a row or w/e.

 

[Buizel91]

Well, remind me not to buy a multiplayer Bungie game. If I can't quit without consequence when my team is full of scrubs(like in WoW LFD) I get very angry.

As arc1991 said

Go to the first page, scroll down a little until you see Vrex360... he has the picture of an elite as his avatar. What's an elite you say?

READ IT

Fixed it =P

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I also get the feeling that a lot of the people reacting negatively to this are of two distinct groups:

1. Compulsive Quitters, for whatever reason they drum up to quit, are still quitters and thus are negatively affected by this feature as they cannot use their favorite tactic.
2. People who read headlines or listen to snippets of news taken out of context and react vehemently without actually reading or truly listening to whats been said.

 

[ZeroMachine]

[HEADING=1]What Bungie actually means to say on the matter is here:[/HEADING]

<quote= Bungie>So, you may be wondering why we haven't fixed the quitter problem yet. Thing is, we probably have, but we just haven't turned it on yet.
As we speak, the Banhammer is watching, amassing data about who's been quitting, the manner in which they have quit, and who suffered as a result of that quit. Numbers are feeding into complex heuristics and deep databases, and somewhere in the middle of it, our very own disembodied soul howls for revenge.

"Swing Banhammer, swing!" you cry out. Well, problem is, this is a Beta and we don't want the Banhammer swinging wildly until we know for sure that the numbers coming in are correct, and that the Beta itself is stable and not disconnecting people (creating the illusion of quitting.) Currently, we are only logging data for future action.

So what do we have in store for when it goes live next week? Let me pull back the curtain just a bit:

For starters, our Banhammer is getting more data than even Halo 3 produced, which is going to let us dial it in and more aggressively deal with habitual quitters. The real jerks are going to run into this, and then you're not going to see them online anymore. It'll be great.

Second, quitting a game will forfeit any credits you may have earned for that game. In fact, it may even cost you some credits. We're waiting to see how effective the Banhammer is before deciding exactly how much.

Lastly, and all new for Reach, we have a new type of ban called a Quitter Ban. This is a relatively soft ban, so we will be using it quite aggressively, activating after only a handful of quits and lasting a rather long time. What does it do? A player with a Quitter Ban will be temporarily unable to re-enter Matchmaking for 15-30 minutes following any further quits.

Oh, and we're playing around with some gametypes which end early (think "Sudden Death") when most of a team quits out, so that you don't need to play 8v1 Slayer to 100 (aka. "Hide and Seek".) You may see some of these in Matchmaking if we're unhappy with the other countermeasures.

As custodians of the online experience, we will be monitoring and adjusting out countermeasures as necessary to keep things ticking along nicely, without games being marred by habitual flakes who quit when they don't get the Sniper Rifle first. So in the meantime, enjoy the Beta!
And quit quitting, because we are watching, and it is going into your personal Banhammer dossier.

(Special pre-emptive note: Online game designers are familiar with "virtual guilt", whereby a perfectly upstanding, innocent player will feel irrationally nervous and guilty upon hearing about a potential punishment. And now, you're familiar with the concept too. Well, relax. We are very deliberate about our enforcement policies, and if you're not a habitual quitter, we're not going to ban you for that one time that your internet cut out. And if it cuts out every game, well, you should probably use the downtime between games to call your ISP and get a technician out. It'll be for the greater good.)

[HEADING=1]They are not talking about permanently banning people from the system based on singular acts of rage quitting!
The longest anyone will be banned for is twenty minutes and only if they are frequently quitting from matches, like ten times in a thirty minutes.[/HEADING]

Ah... always there in Halo's corner. Kudos, friend, for attempting to shut all the haters up.

Though I will say, I think a funnier method of getting quiters to stop would be to use the system they use to decide who you end up in a match with. Habitual quitters enter matchmaking and get matched with other habitual quitters. They shall be known as the "Rage Servers"! XD

 

[Buizel91]

I also get the feeling that a lot of the people reacting negatively to this are of two distinct groups:

1. Compulsive Quitters, for whatever reason they drum up to quit, are still quitters and thus are negatively affected by this feature as they cannot use their favorite tactic.
2. People who read headlines or listen to snippets of news taken out of context and react vehemently without actually reading or truly listening to whats been said.

And Halo haters...i somehow feel they are in this as well =P

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I also get the feeling that a lot of the people reacting negatively to this are of two distinct groups:

1. Compulsive Quitters, for whatever reason they drum up to quit, are still quitters and thus are negatively affected by this feature as they cannot use their favorite tactic.
2. People who read headlines or listen to snippets of news taken out of context and react vehemently without actually reading or truly listening to whats been said.

And Halo haters...i somehow feel they are in this as well =P

Wanna know something funny? I don't really like Halo all that much except for single-player/co-op. The novelty wore off around Halo 2 and I didn't play much of 3 online, never picked up ODST. But still, in any game I think it shows a lack of character when people quit because they're losing, and there are people who do it constantly and thus are the target of this feature. Not the random "I gotta go eat" or other non-gaming issues that crop up.
Lose with dignity people, win with pride tempered by humility. Hell some of the best games I've ever had were games where I was getting owned, because I learned how to counter tactics like that by playing.

 

[oppp7]

Edit: Also, as Vrex reminded me in the above post, it should be a suspension, not a ban(just like in Guild Wars).

I think you misread my post. I didn't say it should be a suspension. It is a suspension. If the player quits frequently too many times then they get a temporary ban for about twenty minutes or so.
Still this is just from what the rest of the thread is saying, someone had a link to an article explaining it somewhere, have a look around this thread if you want more details. It's there, it's an article on Bungie.net

Still apparently this system was actually already in place during the beta test and it clearly didn't cause any mass bans or anything like that.
Honestly I think all these complaints are just smoke and mirrors.

Sorry about the confusion, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

Anyways, you should probably PM the mods about all the mistakes they had in this news article, so that people stop getting it wrong.

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

You know, this article was misleading; that is the real problem here. In any case after finding out what Bungie actually wants to do I think I approve but I'll have to see in it action to makes sure it works out like it should.

 

[AhumbleKnight]

If you don't have enough time to be playing a game then it would be selfish to join then quit and screw your team over. If it's a social match, one where even in gaming terms it doesn't matter who wins then fair enough.

I have seen this argument a few times when discussing this on forums. Life can be unpredictable. I get home, do my usual stuff and have a couple of hours to spare. So I jump online for a game. Sometimes I have to get up and help my pregnant wife with something, or answer the phone. I do however try to only join social matches for this reason but sometimes, when I am sure I have the time, I go for a serious game. Shit/Life happens. Accept that some people who are quiting might have legit, unexpected reasons for it.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

All of the people complaining about legitimate reasons to quit and connection issues causing disconnects should realize two things.

1) The oft repeated (but rarely heard) point that the punishment is light and affects only those who quit often.

2) No matter what your reason for quitting the negative effects for those left in the match remains the same. If you drop 1 of every 3 games because of a terrible connection you are as much a problem as someone who quits every third match just to be a dick.

I've seen many complaints using fairness as an argument. However, the quit ban is all about fairness. It's not fair to the people who bought the game and want to actually play it to be forced to deal with quitters almost every match.

 

[Frozenfeet2]

Valve handle this much better - in TF2 new players can replace the quitters. Simple. No problems. I'm surprised other games don't do this.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Hypothetical 1: I have faulty wiring. The whole thing blows and my Xbox and TV shut off.

Hypothetical 2: I've been playing for hours and my parents come in and turn it off in the middle of my game.

Hypothetical 3: We're getting owned by douchebags.

Hypothetical 4: We're getting owned by skilled douchebags.

Hypothetical 5: We're getting owned by hacking douchebags.
/etc

EDITEDITEDIT: Ohrite, nothing to worry about then.

all of those factors would have to happen on the same day... in a row... and even then, its only a short ban, unless you continue to quit.

1. They have said before. They will ban the people who quit often. And I mean like 10 games in a row.

2. Same as above.

3. You're going to quit because you're losing?

4. Same as above.

5. It's very hard to mod in matchmaking in the halo series. Bungie is very good at dealing with cheaters.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

What if you have to go somewhere? What if your connection gets dropped?
They need to explain more.

 

[Flauros]

What if you have to go somewhere? What if your connection gets dropped?
They need to explain more.

You have to go somewhere....over and over and over again, everytime youre losing? I think im right with agreeing with them, it looks like people dont understand what they mean by "habitual quiters"

 

[coldshadow]

Isn't halo reach supposed to be another competetive halo game like halo 2? then why would people be angry that they want it to be taken srsly?

 

[mento 2425]

they should be penalized for quitting, but don't you think that's a bit harsh?
i mean anyone who says that they've never quit an online match is either lying or hasn't been playing online games for more than 5 days.
sometimes you just have to go, but should you be banned for it?

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

What if you have to go somewhere? What if your connection gets dropped?
They need to explain more.

You have to go somewhere....over and over and over again, everytime youre losing? I think im right with agreeing with them, it looks like people dont understand what they mean by "habitual quiters"

The way the report is worded it seems like they will punish if you quit a lot in general.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Expecting you to show some ounce of maturity when losing is not a fallacy.

Actually, you constructed a straw man argument while disparaging my character (ad hominem). Moreover, you seek to hold the moral high ground by asserting that your point of view is mature!

I don't care what you expect, and I am making no assumptions about what you want: you have made it explicit that you want to play games with the general population and quit on them.

No, what I have repeatedly asserted is simply this: that I expect to have fun when playing a game. If I am not having fun in a particular game, my life minutes are being wasted in needless frustration. That in itself is penalty enough. Why then should I be asked to pay yet another penalty when I get disgusted and leave the game for a spell?

Congratulations, you've just discovered the entire point of the system!

And yet you neatly trimmed and refused to comment on the rest wherein I pointed out the solution does not address the actual problem (that a sufficient number of players are frustrated on a regular basis that they quit and harm your experience).

Bungie cannot personally ensure that every single player is having fun. People don't like games for many different reasons, and what different people want in a game is often mutually exclusive. That's part of that whole "The world does not revolve around you" thing.

I do not expect them to ensure I have fun. When the problem reaches a level that a penalty system is put in place, then I'd say it's not longer a personal problem but one that clearly affects many, many people. In fact, your argument relies precisely on this to actually hold any value whatsoever.

Bungie can, however, get rid of people and/or behaviors that are making things worse for others who ARE enjoying themselves.

I hate to point this out but you cannot dismiss this very argument (that I ought to have fun when playing a game) and then use it yourself (that you should have fun). We both want the same thing. I don't want to get so frustrated with a game that I quit. That is, in fact, the opposite of what I want. Just as you don't want to play a game that is diminished by people quitting.

And, quite frankly, when normal people aren't enjoying a game they quit playing it. When I realized how broken MW's multiplayer was I quit, and I didn't even need Infinity Ward's help. When people keep playing games that they enjoy so little that they have to keep quitting matches out of rage, then there's something very fundamentally wrong going on and it isn't with the game.

I can actually agree with you perfectly here. I stopped playing MW2 when I spent more time frustrated with cheating and glitching then I did having fun. I stopped playing Halo 3 when my attempts to enjoy the game were rebuked by savage asskickings. I play games to have fun just like you do.

The problem I have is not that I regularly leave games before they complete and wish to continue to do so; instead, the problem is that I worry that after being frustrated (which is a penalty in and of itself considering the reason I'm engaging in this activity) there may be an arbitrary penalty associated with my actions. I'm not above playing a losing game. I'm not even above playing a losing game where I get my ass handed to me. When it happens several games in a row however, my patience with the situation wears thin.

All that said, your rhetoric has done nothing to shift my position must the same as mine has failed to shift yours. Perhaps we could just drop this pointless talk and go our separate ways with our apparently irreconcilable differences?