By Rob Crosley Source
A new update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection has gone live, bringing with it a suite of improvements and fixes to various problems, along with tougher new regulations intended to help curb quitting in online ranked matches.
Patch fixes have been lined up for all games packaged in the collection, from Halo: Combat Evolvedto Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4. A full list of improvements for each title can be found below.
Meanwhile, players who now quit online ranked matches will now suffer a penalty, with each instance of absconding being treated as a loss. That means quitting a match could result in a dropped ranking.
VIDEO: Halo: The Master Chief Collection Video Review [11:20]
"If you quit a match, your ranking will be impacted, and this may result in dropping a level," developer 343 Industries explained.
It added: "All quits and betrayals are being tracked automatically, and action is being taken against offending players who commit these offences more than what is considered normal behaviour."
Elsewhere, the problem where some players were ranked down excessively after losing a match appears to have been fixed. Due to the problems caused by unfair rank losses, 343 Industries said it will be resetting all rankings for Halo 2: Anniversary.
Writing on the Halo Waypoint website, 343 Industries added that it's "excited about the progress of the Relic multiplayer map remake and the campaign for Halo 3: ODST", both of which are scheduled to ship in May with the game's next content update.
A summary of all the update's changes, written by 343 Industries, can be found below.
RANKING
- Made a variety of improvements to ranking consistency and penalties.
- Resolved an issue that could cause a player to rank down excessively, such as dropping multiple levels after a loss.
- Resolved an issue that caused a player’s rank to appear incorrectly.
- Based on these improvements and updates, we’ll be resetting ranking for Halo 2: Anniversary, and separately, will begin to roll out ranks to additional playlists soon (we’re aiming for the next day or so), starting with the addition of ranking to the Team Slayer and Halo Championship Series playlists. We’ll be actively monitoring the ranking system across these playlists over the next few days to ensure that everything is working properly before adding ranks to additional playlists.
QUITTING & BETRAYALS
Added new quit and betrayal penalties to matchmaking:
- In ranked playlists, quitting a match is now treated the same as a loss. Quitting is defined as exiting the game in any fashion. If you quit a match, your ranking will be impacted, and this may result in dropping a level.
- All quits and betrayals are being tracked automatically, and action is being taken against offending players who commit these offenses more than what is considered normal behavior.
HALO: CE
- Resolved an issue that was causing off-host players to deal more damage than the host in peer-to-peer custom games.
- Updated Derelict to include the Rocket Launcher when selecting the “Classic” weapon set.
- Made improvements to vehicle weapon accuracy.
- Resolved an issue that caused incorrect bullet and grenade collision with an invisible object on the map Derelict.
- Update the “Boxer” controller layout by switching the “switch grenade” and “throw grenade” buttons.
HALO 2 CLASSIC
- Resolved a hitbox issue where shooting an enemy’s weapon from the front would not cause damage.
- Corrected the matchmaking Team Ball respawn modifier from “Inheritance” to “None.”
HALO 3
- Updated Halo 3 Forge to include editing for all game types.
- Made significant improvements to Halo 3 audio, specifically in regards to weapon fire and sound effects.
- Made improvements to Halo 3 multiplayer networking stability.
- Made improvements to Halo 3’s controller “deadzones.”
- Resolved issues that were causing Halo 3 multiplayer stats to not track correctly.
- Resolved lighting and shading issues occurring on the “Sandbox” multiplayer map.
- Resolved an issue where the “Begins with a Single Step” achievement did not unlock correctly.
- Resolved an issue where the Golf Club object did not appear correctly in Forge.
HALO 4
- Resolved an issue where Primary Weapons could display in the Secondary Weapon slot after removing the Firepower Tactical Package.
PARTIES
- Made improvements to voice chat consistency, specifically in team-based matchmaking games.
- Resolved an issue where a player may not hear another player via voice chat after completing a game.
- Improved party functionality, specifically in regards to game invites and joinable states.
- Increased the speed at which the roster populates with Xbox Live friends after completing a game.
- Resolved an issue where players could get stuck on the “Leaving Matchmaking” screen for longer than usual.
- Resolved an issue where players were unable to join immediately after becoming Xbox Live friends.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Resolved an issue that caused "The Guardians Are Coming" achievement to not unlock correctly.
- Resolved issues that caused complications with Spartan Ops achievements unlocking.
UI, STABILITY & MISC.
- Made a variety of improvements to UI throughout the title, specifically in regards to notification messages and stability.
- Improved Playlist and Campaign Career Stats tracking for Halo 2, Halo 3 & Halo 4.
- Made a variety of significant improvements to stability throughout the title
