Halo: Reach Will Punish Quitters, Says Bungie

[Woodsey]

This is fucking stupid; I'll quit my game when I like thankyou very much.

Not that I'll be playing Reach, but still.

Besides, I can easily see people getting banned just because they're always halfway through a game when they decide they want to eat or something.

 

[Undead Dragon King]

And what about people with faulty internet connections? When the server drops them, will they be considered "quitters" too?

Read the article again. That question is answered for you...

It's a question not addressed by Bungie. It's still a legitimate concern.

 

[Legion]

I abruptly leave games when I get bored or when something more important comes up, I game to have fun but there's plenty in my life more important than computer games and I prioritise my life over them.

A fair point, but this will only be the case for ranked games I imagine. Not to sound too serious but if players have other things so be doing that they might want to quit for then they should avoid ranked games so as not to be selfish towards their team when they quit and give them a disadvantage.

Do not want!

I abruptly leave games when I get bored or when something more important comes up, I game to have fun but there's plenty in my life more important than computer games and I prioritise my life over them.

Agreed, I'd never tell someone, "Oh, I have to be there in ten minutes, I'm winning this imaginary game against people I've never met."

A good point, but for similar reasons to what I said above: 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.

Personally, I'm happy with this, provided it's done right and legitimate reasons for quitting are taken into account. If Bungie handle it well, this could be something I'd like to see in other games in the future. I play the original Halo (custom edition) on modded maps on PC, and I've had problems where I've ended up in a game against eight other players with only a few on my side because people quit or switch teams to be with their friends/clan-mates. And it pisses me off. In other games as well, like Dawn of War, I've suffered from people on my team quitting halfway through and leaving me to face an enemy with superior numbers on my own. And it's just plain unfair.

So yes, well done Bungie, and I look forward to seeing how this plays out in practice...

Not in the same games, but yes I have experienced this far too much as well. If it is implemented right I think it's a very good idea.

Or what would make more sense would be to do what games such as TF2 and L4D do on Steam and auto-balance teams if someone quits. Although the party system and the insistence of consoles having "ranked" games kind of screws that one up.

 

[Harlemura]

Is it really that hard to make an autobalance system?
I don't play Halo much so I don't know if people get switched to balance the teams, but if they can make that system the worst you're going to be is one man down.
Why not spend your time working on a system that makes everyone happy, and not one that eventually refuses players the right to play a game that they bought with their own money?

 

[LadyRhian]

I'd be wanting to see how they will be able to detect the different types of quitting, and how they deal with the problems that will inevitably crop up from this before I give an opinion.

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

"Removing them from the population" sounds really bad, if its a short penalty for a few minutes, thats ok, but anything worse than that is a bit unfair since they paid for their game just like everyone else.

 

[Antiparticle]

Sounds like a good idea. Ragequitters are fucking annoying, especially in games where people can't join matches in progress. You'll be having a tense battle, it looks like your team might lose but there's still a good chance, when suddenly half your teammates ragequit, turning a fighting chance into several minutes of being spawncamped. Or even worse, they leave as soon as the round starts because they don't like the map or some shit like that, and you've all but lost the match before it even properly starts. And yeah, it's even worse in 1 on 1 games.
Obviously things like XP penalties don't work, in Halo 3 for instance there's people quitting every single match! So I think it's worth it to try something stronger. And I'm sure they'll set the threshold sufficiently high so that people whose connection just drops from time to time won't be affected.

 

[Kazedarkwind]

Whats with game companies nowadays?

Ubisoft feels all players are pirates out to steal your games so they put ridiculous DRM on.

Blizzard wants to unveil the internet anonymity mask on players to reduce trolls.

Now Bungie wants to punish players for a COMPLETELY ridiculous and minor game concern?

im honestly starting to think Valve is the only good guy out there for the gaming community.

 

[Delusibeta]

Honestly? Can't see this working, and I'd imagine it'll catch more people with dodgy internet than rage quitters.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

The only time I quit a game is when someone around me asks for help or supper is called or something. I have a life outside of videogames. Are they reaclly going to punish me if I think I have a few minutes to spare but a match goes on longer than planned? Or if a friend in the real world is in trouble and needs my help?

 

[matrix3509]

Okay I just gotta ask this one very straightforward question: Online games are still struggling with this?

Seriously, the original Starcraft figured out how to handle this twelve years ago: If you leave the game before the match is done, a loss is automatically recorded in your win/loss column. Thats all you need to keep people from quitting. And if they don't care about a single loss, they can quit anyway. How hard is this to understand?

 

[The Political Gamer]

http://tf2lobby.com/ a site that I frequent has a ragequit detector that kicks in only if you leave early and gives you time to jump back in and save yourself.

As an added plus the % of games-to-quits is on your profile so everyone can see if you will up and leave at the game.

I really hope Bungie takes the time to fully explain the system or at least take a step back and look at the big picture.

 

[Silver Patriot]

Is it really that hard to make an autobalance system?
I don't play Halo much so I don't know if people get switched to balance the teams, but if they can make that system the worst you're going to be is one man down.
Why not spend your time working on a system that makes everyone happy, and not one that eventually refuses players the right to play a game that they bought with their own money?

The problem is that won't work in ranked matches. (unless you feel like swiching to the losing team) However Bungie did say they are working on a system to give a team down players due to quiting advantages to even the odds.

 

[silver wolf009]

Well what if i have to leave? People who quit dont allways want to you know. Ive lost count of how many times i had to leave in halo 3.

 

[Knight Templar]

Seriously, the original Starcraft figured out how to handle this twelve years ago: If you leave the game before the match is done, a loss is automatically recorded in your win/loss column. Thats all you need to keep people from quitting. And if they don't care about a single loss, they can quit anyway. How hard is this to understand?

MW2 has that, and denies you XP.

Isn't rewarding players who stay for full games a better idea than punishing those who drop out. Unless this system can pick up on intentions, in which case Skynet is not an idea method for dealing with quitters.

 

[Jesse Custer]

Is it really that hard to make an autobalance system?

If they did, then you (or some equivalent) would come here and whine that your team decimated the other team (with you as the primary reason for the eventual victory), two of them ragequit before the end, and then you were auto-balanced. So unfair, you were the linchpin to your own defaat!

I don't play Halo much so I don't know if people get switched to balance the teams, but if they can make that system the worst you're going to be is one man down.
Why not spend your time working on a system that makes everyone happy, and not one that eventually refuses players the right to play a game that they bought with their own money?

Um, that's what they're doing - trying to make a system where people will think twice before quitting because they're losing (thus making more people happy). If you get a 15-minute timeout because this is the third time you quit a minute before the end - then you don't deserve to get into another game you can quit from.