Host, the invincible object. Or at least someone would think that coming into this league. People have started making the push for neutral host. They say it is the step in the right direction, and it might very well be. Before the league discovered that Neutral Hosting was a good way to balanace out the game, teams overcame host. They practiced, worked hard, devised strategies just to win. They did not say “We might as well forfeit because we cannot beat them on host.” People are losing their backbone, and becoming to lazy to try and beat host. They would rather just whine and give up.
With the inception of the Neutral Host, players have been punished for their host pulling abilities. Let’s take the example of Wolfe from Irish Mafia. Wolfe is one of the strongest host pullers in the league. But come playoff time,if they make playoffs, his team will be neutered if he cannot find someone to pull host. That’s right, he will have to sit the bench in playoffs because he pulls host. Impossible you say? Last season in Green Army’s playoff game vs. Bleep Bloop, puptastrophe was pulling host over every NH that was available. After contacting MooCow, Pup was told he may have to sit in his first playoff game ever if he could not find someone to pull over him. How is this even remotely close to fair? When a team’s heart and soul is unjustly forced on the bench, its not a fair game. I would have rather played Bleep Bloop on their host, then have that happen.
Pro League is all about fair competition. The above paragraph debunks that statement. Host is not something that can’t be overcome. Placing your best players on the bench is. Does playing on a horrid NH just because they pull over you make the game fair? If that is fair, I have been wrong my whole life on the definition of fair. As I said, Neutral Host is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the answer. And unfortunately I cannot give you the right one either. Beating a evenly matched team on neutral host is a good thing, but beating that same team on their host is so much better. But it does not matter anymore. Now everyone has a scapegoat and does not have to try as hard. They have the comforts of knowing they don’t have to worry about the invincible power of host.
So I say to the teams out there that pull host and will not do neutral host: Let’s cater to the weak who do not want to try to beat us with our superpowers. Let us show that we are not just good because of our host. If they beat us, let them have their victory. We have shown we are the better man by taking away our god-like powers and fighting as mere mortals. We are proving that we do want a better league and that we are not afraid of anyone.
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Ive been waiting for someone to put as simply as that, this is my belief as well.
You would say this after I clear my cache last season. :(
worth the read, would +1 cool it if I could.
if shadow wrote this, you really contradicted yourself from the forums when you said that zeg’s host was impossible to overcome in WL09.
Host CAN be something that can be overcome. But didn’t the Winter League Championship teach any of you anything? SI was able to beat GSH NO PROBLEM on host, while they were beaten like red-headed stepchildren on Thumee’s host. Only in a NH game was the match even close to being equal. If a team loses with such a large advantage on host, it isn’t because the other team overcame it, it’s because the team with host made some crucial mistakes or is just worse.
@thumee: It wasn’t written by Shadow, it was written by Tex. I just used a random image from the gallery of images I’ve used in the past on this site. Apologies if the image chosen made things a bit confusing.
I hear a lot of talk about host lately…
On mine (weak as it may be), I have discovered that players (from NY and PA) on the opposing teams connect better than some of my teammates (from CO and TX).
I may have an advantage over a few players, but what about the players on the other team that have an advantage over the rest of my team as a result of my “east coast host”?
I shouldn’t drop my ISP for a slower one, or sit out of games, to appease someone who thinks I have an advantage over them…
Isn’t overcoming host part of the skill set that separates Pro Leaguers from XXP Randoms?
*side note:
I played XXP at the end of my Rookie season and went -1 on Puppy’s host… I can provide the link to anyone who doubts (or has delusions of host being the “god mode” of Halo3).
I’m not bragging, just saying it’s possible…
I see where you’re coming from, but you’re wrong(@ the writer).
You look at some of the hosts in this league, and some of them are impossible to beat if they actually care. You can strategize all you want, double team all you want, but it still won’t help. When it comes down to some of the top teams, they are almost equal in skill. If two teams are equal in skill and one of them pull host, they are going to dominate the entire game. Especially if the team who pulls has played on the host a lot.
Ex: Shadow/El Driver in WL08/Sl08, Zoo Monkies in their prime, Zeg whenever he pulls host.
Although the Zoo Monkies i should take back. They were beaten by new strategies their players knew nothing about. Their skill was not nearly as good as SYLaLs, either. That is why SYLaL was able to beat them in the championship.
Guess who beat that Zoo Monkies team in the playoffs. We have never been afraid of host. We go and play our game. We give it our all. We do not bitch moan and whine about it. If teams have to use host as a buffer, that is their crutch. But the Green Army does not use that excuse.
Meant to say if they use they did not have host as a buffer sorry for the typo
Nice job on the article, it was well put. I have a feeling that I had something to do with the inspiration for this article… am I right?
ZM lost cause they didn’t have the Scet Shin Tex. :) lol
In SML, as a team we weren’t very active in the community and did not play lots of games. And Spud put it perfectly, we got beat by strategies and stuff we just plan and simply had never seen. For instance, we learned to launch in the second round of Summer playoffs… We played the 4 Horseman and were out tanking them, but losing 4-0 until we finally found out KINDA what their weird strategies were, and we were able to come back from 4-0 to win. SYLaL, we just never really got started and we were never really prepared to play TBH.
Going to have to disagree with you. I use to pull mad host during Summer league 08. I know for some people it was great, they loved it. Others hated it and couldn’t do a god damn thing to stop it. If I still pulled that kind of host, I would want to play on NH. It’s the only way to level the playing field at this time. I would not play on my host.
Bear in mind that my host (weak as it may be) is what I call “an east coast host”, with players from NY, PA, and the eastern coastline connecting almost as though they were my guests (and I’m in KY). Other players, however, connect to my host much worse (including nearby IN and OH). Another example of this would be two of my teammates in CO and TX.
Maybe host gives ME an advantage, but not necessarily MY TEAM. In fact, if two players on an opposing team connect better than my teammates, then it appears that they have the advantage over my team and might as well have host themselves…
Everyone is assuming a team has host and it’s an advantage, but each player connects differently and has their own ISP, etc….
If, like the writer would like you to believe, host is easy enough to beat, we should take a look at all the prime examples of equally skilled players overcoming a dominating host. Oh wait, I can’t seem to think of any.
By contrast, look at the cases of a dominating host beating not only equally skilled teams, but also better teams. Case in point Barcardi and Cola against Cannonball. The undefeated returning champions against relative new-comers lacking experience. However, Barcadi and Cola had a dominating host that game (mine) and took control of the game rather easily.
Not enough? Lets look at Separate Intelligence against Gaming So Hard, what can be looked at as the defining moment in Grifball history. Game one, dominated by Separate Intelligence’s host. Game two, dominated by Gaming So Hard’s host. Game three, neutral host, dominated by the obviously better team *wink*.
The author’s argument also loses any sort of credibility the second you attack teams for requesting the use of neutral host as an excuse for not trying anymore. What he refers to as “catering to the weak” is in all actuality evening the playing field. Continue to put yourself on that pedestal as if you are somehow morally in the right to want to abuse your advantage.
The writers only argument that holds up under any sort of scrutiny is the case of Puptastrophe. This is admittedly an unfair consequence in using a neutral host. However, this is a necessary evil when compared to the consequences of allowing host to continue to dominate the game we all know and love.
@ Crowing
I agree with your post, and I should clarify something. When I say cater to the weak, I am referring to the teams that want NH on just selective games. Where they think host is too much to beat. Teams like WaMC have always requested NH for every game and that comment was in no way intended towards teams that use NH because they believe it is fair. This article is targeted at people that just use it as a scapegoat.
You provide great examples, but allow me to provide my side:
If you read in the forums as of late, people are referring to Pup’s host as a “superpower” They are complaining saying they cannot win on that host. Green Army is now viewed as a host reliant team. We beat Bleep Bloop last season on his host.
I’m not saying by any means that host is not a factor in in deciding a game. It would be lunacy to say that. I am saying that it is not something that can’t be dealt with.
A powerful host is just as much an issue as the “perfect” connection via RedBaron (using you as an example, I <3 you!). These people (host and "leaches") are not something that can't be beat. That is the simplistic point of this article.
I have never complained once about host in the forums on a loss. I ask teams that lose a game, do not use the host crutch. If its laggy and rtds, dispute. Otherwise just move on.
@ crowing
You like every other person who likes believing they’re right no matter what don’t look at the connectivity of people to the neutral host.
Some people are always going to connect better to certain hosts than others. As a west coast player, NH doesn’t make any difference to me when playing most teams. Most teams in this league are east coast or midwesterners, I, and any player on the west coast that doesn’t pull host, connect poorly to most any host in the league.
So the writer is correct from my view. People bitching about neutral host are not willing to work harder to overcome their connections to the host and just be better players.
I don’t pull host so I always have to overcome my opponents connections no matter who the host is, so stop whining about the few people that pull host and just learn to play better, think more tactically, and just play the game for the game.
You’re right, people are always going to connect better to other hosts and what not. That’s something that we can’t get around right now. But why should we continue to let people play on their super host when we can get someone else to get host and try to level the playing field a bit?
Again, I know people connect better to others, but NH is only helping to try to even the field, that’s all.