14 DAY TRIAL // Halo 5: Guardians offers so many new elements for the franchise that the development team at 343 Industries has until now provided relatively limited information about the competitive Arena experience and the Competitive Skill Rating system that it will use to keep the matches engaging for all players.
A new official site update features input from both Josh Holmes, who leads the team working on the shooter, and Kevin Franklin, the design director for multiplayer, and Max Grossman and Quinn DelHoyo, both designers for various aspects of the experience.
The Competitive Skill Ratings for Halo 5: Guardians is designed to make sure that gamers are always matched with other humans who have the same abilities, ensuring that fights are balanced and fun.
The ranks featured are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Onyx, and Champion.
343 Industries explains, "Once you reach Onyx, you will be shown your raw CSR score. Winning no longer increases your tier - it instead increases your CSR score. This allows you to compare yourself with greater precision to other players within the Onyx rank. If you establish yourself as one of the top 200 players in a playlist, you will earn the highly coveted rank of Champion and be shown your place within the top 200."
Placement matches are used when a gamer first starts Arena to make sure that they are delivered in the correct category.
343 Industries is also introducing a new Season feature to Halo 5: Guardians, with a dedicated playlist.
Gamers will have to play the placement matches again, and the reset will happen every month, with gamers who take part able to get access to some cosmetic rewards for their Guardians.
Halo 5: Guardians will be shaped by player feedback
343 Industries says that it will gather data and info from gamers once the shooter is out to see how they engage with Arena and will use the end of the Season periods to deliver changes that will target maps, playlists and more.
But the main priority for the team will remain delivering a low-ping and balanced match for each player who is looking for one, which might become a challenge as the overall skill level for the Halo 5: Guardians community increases.
343 Industries says it will track a lot of negative player behavior, including disconnects, international suicides, idling, team kills and outright quits, to make sure that the quality of the matches is not affected by them.
Those players who continuously break the rules will get a ban from Halo 5: Guardians Arena, with the duration designed to match their offense.
343 Industries is not saying whether it has plans to outright deny access to the mode for the worst of the offenders.
Gamers who do not want the competitive pressure of Arena will be able to play the Warzone experience in Halo 5: Guardians, as well as Capture the Flag and the post-launch Big Team Battle.
The game also features an extensive single-player mode, focused on Master Chief and Agent Locke, which will feature cooperative action for the first time in the franchise.