Here’s the quote from Bungie Community Director Brian Jarrard:
While the exact penalty isn’t clearly defined, the statement about removing people from the population makes it very clear that bans, temporary or otherwise, are likely to be used. How this will effect the Halo community, a mixture of both casual and hardcore gamers, is yet to be seen. Odds are there will be a petition of some sorts, potentially two or three.
“We actually have new tools now to detect that and eventually, people who do this habitually will actually be penalised,” … “We want to be able to remove them from the population so they can’t make very one else keep having a bad time.”
As a gamer with some competitive history, leaves can be understandably frustrating when a win or a loss is on the line. League of Legends recently revamped their policy so anyone leaving a match acquires a loss and their ranking will reflect that. It has effectively minimized mid-match leaving, but at what cost?
My experience with Halo is completely opposite from the competitive feel of League of Legends though. My priority goal in a Halo match isn’t necessarily to win, but to play well and enjoy myself. Considering that, I often leave matches as life demands. So I might leave a match due to boredom, annoying teammates or due to some other simple distraction. Other players leaving has never noticeably affected my enjoyment of the game and so I don’t consider my quitting to be of consequence either.
At more competitive levels of Halo play, I’m certain that’s very different. How much of the player-base is that competitive though? Is it large enough that Bungie is willing to offend the larger subset of casual gamers to appease the minority of competitive ones?
What do you think about situation, Ranters? Is Halo: Reach’s multiplayer going to be stronger with a quitting penalty?
Halo: Reach’s battle begins on September 14, 2010 for the Xbox 360.
Source: Xbox 360 Achievements
