You summed up my problems with crucible perfectly. I die at about the same time I realize I'm getting hit, I don't know the maps & can't explore them w/o screwing my team over..

And finally, why am I matched up against people so much better than me? Perhaps I just need to play more so I can be placed with other noobs who've stuck it out long enough to have their ranking drop.

[*]I have real trouble with target discrimination; opposing forces don't have a distinctive silhouette or colour scheme, I have to look for a bipedal form that *doesn't* have an insignia over its head. It's not a long delay, but with the fast pace of Crucible combat it's often enough to cost me my shield and thus the engagement.

Shoot first and ask questions later. There is no Friendly Fire in Destiny so if you see another Guardian and don't have time to do Friend or Foe discrimination just let 'er rip.

Otherwise, pay close attention to that radar: allies are always green/blue dots and red sectors means enemies nearby.

[*]I think there's something wrong with the matching; admittedly I've only played 4 matches, but in all of them the side I was on was crushed with ~5000-point spreads. I always felt like I was a drag on the team.

Point difference doesn't always mean much. Especially when a team gets map control and grabs every heavy ammo spawn.

Maybe my issues would resolve with more practice, but when other aspects of the game are so much more enjoyable for me I don't see any reason to "grind" through.

Crucible went through several peaks and lows for me before I really got a handle on what was going on. Now I'm pretty comfortable with it in general.

[*]I've grown to despise Lord Shaxx's "more in sorrow than in anger" post-game narratives; it's petty, I admit, but it feels like the game is rubbing my nose in every loss and that's no way to win me over.

Shaxx is a bit of an ass. Last night, while passing him on the way to the Vanguards, he yells out "Guardian! Step up!" in such an alpha-male gym-teacher tone I involuntarily recoiled. As you may have guessed, my time in school was not a highlight.

Props to the voice actor, honestly. Haha.

• The Crucible does not reward the same style of play as in story and strike missions. (Arguably the Crucible punishes the more deliberate "small bites" playstyle I prefer.)
  
  
• Combat in the Crucible is so fast-paced that an encounter is over before I can really absorb the context; it's very hard for me to learn as a result.

Yes, this very much so. I have very little opinion of what an encounter is like, other than "fast". No epic skirmishes here, just kill or die. There's no...personality? to the fighting.

[*]I have real trouble with target discrimination; opposing forces don't have a distinctive silhouette or colour scheme, I have to look for a bipedal form that *doesn't* have an insignia over its head. It's not a long delay, but with the fast pace of Crucible combat it's often enough to cost me my shield and thus the engagement.

Me as well. Apologies to the teammates I've phantom melee'd or grenade-ed. Better safe than sorry.

[*]Because of the above I rarely live long enough to explore (and learn) the maps. I never feel I have time to find my way around, and I keep encountering nasty surprises.

My mantra:
- Play Control
- Find a protected Control area
- Back to wall
- Wait for radar approach
- Spam grenade, melee, fusion rifle
- Whenever possible, camp the living hell out of heavy ammo drops
- Sacrifice chicken to the god of netcode
- Sacrifice calf to the goddess of latency
- Avoid looking in mirror or otherwise owning up to the kind of player that makes me

[*]Related to the above, I can't set a private match to just poke around and learn the map in advance. Spending time exploring means effectively shorting my team, which is not a way to win friends and influence people.

[*]I think there's something wrong with the matching; admittedly I've only played 4 matches, but in all of them the side I was on was crushed with ~5000-point spreads. I always felt like I was a drag on the team.

[*]Without inter-player communication it's hard to coordinate a team, or even to get tips on play.

To a point - but have you mic-ed with Halo (or any) randoms lately? I'm sorry, but I put no faith in the online community. Too toxic.

[*]I've grown to despise Lord Shaxx's "more in sorrow than in anger" post-game narratives; it's petty, I admit, but it feels like the game is rubbing my nose in every loss and that's no way to win me over.
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Maybe my issues would resolve with more practice, but when other aspects of the game are so much more enjoyable for me I don't see any reason to "grind" through.

Yes - I think this is what I was working towards. The best reason to play Crucible is to fulfill bounties or get random rewards. Not awesome.

-- Steve enjoys the patrol mini-missions more than the Crucible. This is not intended as high praise for the mini-missions.