You know what would have been badass for multiplayer? (Destiny)
Rather than bringing guns in with you, it would have been cooler if the maps had gun pickups like most shooters do, but instead of a standard array of weapons (ie like Halo, where there's pistol/smg/DMR/Battle Rifle/Carbine/Sniper/etc. etc. etc. shit Halo has a nice sandbox of guns) the weapons on the map were completely map dependent and composed of weapons from the single player game.
This would grant the designers incredible flexibility in what they wanted to let you have on a particular map in so many ways.
For instance, on one map you could spawn with a Duke mk. 10, another map you could spawn with a Trax Callum.
Another example would be one map might have SUROS Regime and Thorn on it, another map might have Thunderlord and Hawkmoon on it.
And everything in between. Pick from the legendaries, rares, uncommons, etc. At the map designers whim. Whatever they think would work best on that map, and in those weapon locations.
This, to my mind would serve several purposes.
First, this would solve a great deal of balancing issues. Rather than trying to balance however many guns there are in the game all against each other, you only have to worry about the guns on the map, and whether they feel balanced on that map in that instance.
Second, it would solve the problem of "I don't have overpowered gun of the month X, therefore I am inherently at a disadvantage in multiplayer". This seems self evident.
Third, I think it's much more interesting to have a wider variety of guns available to use during a game, rather than being limited to the three you come in with.
Fourth, it adds another layer of complexity to map design and to the combat flow in general.
Fifth, it would give players who haven't been fortunate enough to get X weapon to drop despite running VoG 47 times the opportunity to use X weapon.
Lastly, which weapons and their locations could be swapped out and changed to accommodate new gear added to the game, or just to change the way a map is played for varieties sake. This would increase replayability.
The downside to this is that I notice some people are really addicted to a particular weapon or type of weapon, and who knows how they would handle that.
Now I know Bungie would not do that/will not do that for future iterations of the game because if they did it might reduce the incentive players have to repeat-play some of the solo content in hopes of getting weapon X that's really good in multiplayer right now, but I honestly think if they worked it that way it would make multiplayer far more interesting and fun.
Bonus seventh reason (because there needs to be seven of everything), Working the weapons that way would have made it much easier to implement vehicles into multiplayer, which would have further diversified the sandbox and allowed for some much bigger and elaborate maps. (big team Destiny anyone?)
As always, just one mans opinion, but I really think this would have made the multiplayer much more fun.
This screams special event to me.
by dogcow 
, Hiding from Bob, in the vent core., Thursday, April 16, 2015, 01:18 (3317 days ago) @ Fuertisimo
I would love this as a special event.
I don't get it. How does less choice = more variety?
by Ragashingo 
, Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, April 16, 2015, 02:08 (3317 days ago) @ Fuertisimo
As always, just one mans opinion, but I really think this would have made the multiplayer much more fun.
My title says it all. You keep saying that having a fixed set of guns on a map, instead of letting player bring in any gun they want, is going to make thing more interesting. I ask: "How?" How is that supposed to increase variety? Right now I don't have a clue what gun is going to greet me around the next corner. It might be the Khvostov 7G-02 or it might be The Last Word or it might anything in between. How does forcing players into a limited subset of Destiny's weapons increase the variety or unpredictability of encounters?
More fundamentally, the ability to choose any class, any power, and any gun at any time and having things be more or less fair across both PvE and PvP is one of Destiny's biggest selling points and one of its greatest achievements. It's not perfect. We've seen classes of weapons be too powerful or not powerful enough. We've seen individual weapons be crap or overwhelming. But, on the whole, I think Destiny's balance works pretty darn well. You're right, people would get upset, and in my opinion rightly so, if you took away the choices that make Destiny different from the decade of Halo that Bungie gave us before.
The one area I think your idea has merit is helping even out a new player's choices. I have very little to complain about. I have very nearly every gun in Destiny. For any gun I don't have I do have something that is a very close match. But a new player doesn't. Some hand picked, high end, map default weapons that could be selectable in addition to the freedom to bring whatever gun I own would be a really neat addition. You might see certain guns a lot on certain maps but there would still be that chance of getting hit with something completely unexpected.
More choices within the map = more variety
You have plenty of choice before the game starts to choose your weapon, so to speak, but once the game starts you're limited to the three guns you brought with you.
Using a different system, a wider variety of guns is available to use within a given match. For example, you could have a starting weapon and 8 different other weapons strewn about the map for a total of 9.
I think that's pretty clear yes? I realize you see the pre-match choices as being more varied than the in-game choices that my scenario would provide, but for me it provides you with a wider variety of options once the game starts, rather than limiting you to what you brought.
You might face other players with a variety of weapons, but for yourself, what you use, that does not deviate from the 3 weapons you brought with you.
If you could pick up a dead players weapon, then that would be different, and also an interesting idea all on its own.
I see that you disagree, but I've never found the idea of a small amount of fixed weapons, or the idea of same gear across single and multiplayer to be terribly compelling.
As for balance, that's going to be an ongoing struggle. League of Legends has been rolling for almost 6 years now and they still struggle to balance the game. Using my method that wouldn't be an issue, but again, I'm sure some people are less bothered by it than others.
More choices within the map = more variety
by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, April 16, 2015, 04:57 (3317 days ago) @ Fuertisimo
You have plenty of choice before the game starts to choose your weapon, so to speak, but once the game starts you're limited to the three guns you brought with you.
No. That's completely wrong. You can open the menu and swap to any weapon you are carrying any time you want. Including during a Crucible match. What's more, using the smartphone apps or Bungie.net you can even pull in a weapon that's being held by one of your other characters or that is in the Vault and the switch to that weapon. Even if you don't have a computer or smartphone you can still bring something like thirty guns with you into the Crucible since you get either ten or eleven Primary, Special, and Heavy weapon slots.
You know what would have been badass for multiplayer?
by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Thursday, April 16, 2015, 07:00 (3316 days ago) @ Fuertisimo
I like your creative juices but, if I'm understanding ya, with the extreme number and range of weapons in Destiny (especially since so many come down to very subtle differences), I'd probably lose my mind and just be terrible on every map in a mode like you describe. I had trouble using all the guns Reach had. I had far more trouble understanding all the niches of the three-faction armory in the H4 multiplayer I played (in fact it was one of the reasons I stopped playing it). Now if I had to actually learn more than like the six guns I use in Destiny... I'd be kicked off the Tower, heh. :)
The fact that I can get used to a specific Levi-loadout and stick with it most of the time is actually probably my favorite part of Crucible. I personally never liked the weapon-control mini-game in Halo.
So back to all shooter design prior to COD MW1?
This is essentially what Halo 1/2 and all shooters prior to Counterstrike/COD MW1 were like. I'm not a fan. I really like being able to configure my character with the weapons and perks I want and then not having to fight some idiot for a sniper rifle or shotgun.
In Halo I got very good at the basic weapons just because someone else was always camping the sniper/shotgun/rockets and I could go several matches without touching a single one.
Of course then those very same noobs would stupidly die and the other team would get the weapon. You've all seen it. For every guy who could ricochet a head shot from across the map there were legions who couldn't hit the broadside of a Scorpion tank.
Halo really popularized the regenerating health aspect to shooters, and COD really pushed the personal loadouts. The downside is without health and weapon pickups there isn't much reason to move about the map.
This is the prime downside of COD. No weapon/ammo pickups means people camp hard and there is little reason to move about the map. Designers really have to be careful about map design because players will really pick tight rooms or doors where they can shotgun/snipe with impunity.
Destiny tries to encourage map movement via ammo pickups. Barring that they would have to introduce something new in order to get players to leave their comfort zones.