I think it’s also worth noting how accurate Halo is compared to most other FPS games. Hipfire in most modern shooters is considered to be a last resort effort for enemies who are too close. But in Halo, hipfire is almost perfectly accurate (bar bloom and flinch), meaning that a good player never needs to zoom in if they are accurate with their gun. It’s a legacy from old shooters that doesn’t exist in this modern landscape, and something that keeps Halo unique among its peers and competitors.

@vardiganxpl1698

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, it is a contributing factor on why I never got into games like cod. I am just not used to always scoping into to shoot

@savaget2058

10 ай бұрын

Valorant and CS GO literally punish you hard for ADS.

@tempotic

10 ай бұрын

another great example of this style is insurgency sandstorm, which is all about watching your barrel as it will always fire straight but theres no crosshair

@RiloTribez

10 ай бұрын

Yeah the push towards too much “realism” in shooters I believe made them unbearable to play for casuals. Not everyone plays games to feel like an actual soldier on the battlefield, its a game I want it to feel like one. If I wanted realism I would have enlisted. Halos Arcade feel is apart of its very unique identity.

@tempotic

10 ай бұрын

@@RiloTribez to be clear my stance is not "i think all shooters should do this", im just stating what l like and find cool

I use descope as a "oh Shit! time to move." alert

@CommissarChaotic

10 ай бұрын

Descope is like a taunt ability for me, I'd just shift focus to the guy doing it to me lol, and I'd usually still die because I'm bad at shooting haha

Hits the nail right on the head, also remember how Halo 4 didn't have descope and how weird it felt

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Really dumbed down halo 4’s combat loop. The game has problems but putting descope back in would make its moment to moment gameplay feel less like “Cod with shields”

Forgot how much I missed these little conversations of halos mechanics, campaigns, gameplay, whatever. It’s just nice to hear LNG talking about halo again

I never realized how important descoping was until I played Halo 4. It's a small thing that changes gameplay in a drastic way. Precision weapons dominate the sandbox and overall encourages more aggressive playstyles.

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Yep! Removing descope leads to Less strategy, more simplistic gunfights and a far less memorable or skillful halo game.

@daBears06

10 ай бұрын

​​@@LateNightHaloI'd bet I can whoop your ass in any halo game. Except halo wars

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

@daBears06 I’d bet you can too

@daBears06

10 ай бұрын

@@LateNightHalo HOLY SHIT YOU REPLIED

@jalakor

10 ай бұрын

I’d say I personally disagree just because how much people will just spam pistol from across the map or tap fire an AR while I’m tryna use a BR. I’m gonna make a proper comment about this too, but I find it really ruins using the longer ranged weapons for me resulting in me not even bothering to scope in rather than deal with the disorientation of being descoped mid engagement.

It also has an effect on approaching players. Say you get the drop on a sniper, in any other game where they stay in ADS, you can mow them down. But if you have to worry about the de-scope, it'll alert them to your presence and force them to look around. If they react fast enough, they still have an insta-kill weapon. Meaning you should consider sneaking up and backsmack or opening with a grenade for the easy cleanup.

to me, descope was always a mechanic that made you more aware of your surroundings. Focused on one enemy and then a shot descopes you, the HUD notifies you of the direction of the fire and since you are descoped you move into a better position. And I never tried to rescope and instead use hipfire and close distance using cover lol

This video is honestly one of the best edited halo videos I’ve ever seen.

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Thank you man

@muhammedalitoya1505

8 ай бұрын

This oozes machinima style of videos, which we grew up loving in the early 00

I'm annoyed Infinite introduced a secondary tier of un-descopable weapons with the smart link stuff. If the weapon doesn't fit in a scoped or non-scoped category, it needs to be redesigned in a way that fits one of the two categories instead of fence-sitting in the middle without having the cons of descope.

The cinematography in this video is just perfect

The single most powerful part of halo's gameplay to me, is just how many micro decisions are made and actions that occur in every single firefight. This video did a great job breaking down descoping, and its role in the combat sandbox.

All of your work in AfterEffects has been paying off man, I absolutely love your style!

Ive always found that outside of the campaign I just hip fire in Halo. Ive done it so much that I land probably 95% of my shots where I want. I find it extremely difficult to keep up with enemy player movements while scoped in.

Descope is the best suppression fire mechanic that exists

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Battlefield 4 and BF1’s suppression mechanics also work really well in guiding the flow of combat but battlefield players aren’t ready for that truth bomb yet lol

@FlamerGamer412

10 ай бұрын

@@LateNightHaloI wholeheartedly agree :)

@beanother1an690

10 ай бұрын

​@@LateNightHaloI like how Suppression works there, too. Really gives MGs a good purpose.

@GreenMoonGirl

6 ай бұрын

It's really not though, it just makes a significant chunk of the sandbox entirely unusuable, at least in campaign. Weapons like the sniper rifle, beam rifle, and needle rifle are complete trash unless you play on easy mode.

Taras, this is in my opinion a strong contender for one of your best videos. So much information conveyed so efficiently in just 5 mins. Bravo. 👍👍

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Thank you!!

Excellent video, superbly edited. I'd like to add that I think descoping also encourages you get get better at hipfiring, in order to just bypass the resulting disorientation of your FOV fluctuating erratically from getting shot. I play Halo most over all other FPS, to the point that I remember distinctly feeling frustrated by COD and Destiny because I had to "go to the effort" of scoping-in to land midrange shots that I was used to being able to land with a BR or DMR. Halo's relatively accurate hipfire feels more "free" than ADS to me at this point. Next, I think it would have been worth mentioning that Halo 5's ADS wasn't like typical ADS, because whilst it also had descope instead of flinch, it also did not come with accompanying movement speed reduction like with most FPS, so it was effectively just a normal halo scoping system, just reskinned with ADS animations and presentation. Finally, it would have been good to try and get community views on Halo 4 having flinch instead of descope. I haven't seen much on what people thought generally, although I'd guess classic Halo fans would default to the traditional descoping.

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

The movement speed point I don’t think is really enough for me to say halo 5’s ADS “wasn’t typical” It still improved your accuracy and weapon spread when you ADS’d Vs hipfired, still had a proper ADS animation, was bound to left trigger, etc. (it was even called “ADS” in the game’s files) It was quite different from halo’s typical scope system

"I need suppressive fire!!!" Descope is one of the many mechanics that communicates the cinematic genre of Halo. Halo is cinematically a war film. 😄

I’ve gotten so used to descope, that i sometimes force it on myself to make close gunfights easier, however I hate how in infinite I can’t do this with certain weapons (dmr, sidekick etc.) makes me lose more gunfights. I wish there was an option to enable descope on short zoom weapons too

Great video LNG! Descope is one of those more unique mechanics that adds alot, I love that it even acts as a form of "suppression" whenever I hop on a machine gun or have an automatic weapon.

2:26 I love this impulsive reloading

Funny gag at the end aside you could actually make a video on why people should be actually getting in vehicles in btb Yes even the mongoose

A great video explaining the advantages of the descope mechanic. I'm for or against it being in halo but think it's much better than the overflinching some games have when u ADS

I’ve never had a problem with descope but now I know more about it thanks a lot for informing me!

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Happy to help!

Weirdly, despite most of my time being with games that just have flinch, descope is a mechanic that has never felt out of place for Halo. It felt like another piece of info during an engagement like the shield meter or ammo counter (edit) After playing games like DMZ where long range engagements are just as important as close in gunfighting, I now appreciate the descope mechanic much more. There have been several instances where I spot an enemy with a sniper rifle, and I need to reposition to take him out, and to cover myself, I suppress them with a standard rifle, and almost every time I do that, the enemy barely retreats or even hides. They can just tank half a mag from me because even with flinch, they can still stay relatively on target to get a shot on me

@rickygforce4217

10 ай бұрын

It helps that Halo's gunplay already feels smooth and satisfying enough by just hipfiring your guns (I can't go back to a sniper that isn't accurate from the hip anymore, sorry CoD/CS), so a mechanic which helps reinforce that, while annoying, isn't the end of the world. It's one of the best-feeling hipfire mechanics in a shooter, especially by console-standards - why ignore that to stay in your scope for anything other than really long-range engagements?

@GreenMoonGirl

6 ай бұрын

I couldn't disagree more. Descope has always felt like an obnoxious way to prevent you from using an essential feature and disincentivizes you from picking up a decent portion of the weapon sandbox.

Great video. Succinctly explained. Sort of related rant: On the subject of teaching players to make smarter choices and increasing the depth of gameplay, I think it's a huge shame 343 removed friendly collision from Halo Infinite. You now no longer need to have as much situational awareness or worry about getting in the way of your team mates or negatively affecting them with your plays. Some people say this is a good thing but I think it's sanded off a layer of complexity from the gameplay (just as removing deacope would in your example). Not to mention all the melee collision and visibility issues this change probably introduced.

Good video, the new editing skills look great. Also, it would be nice when I'm working in my shop to have more longer, deep dive videos to get lost in while deep into my crafts! Thank ya.

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Working on it!

The editing is really smooth some of the transitions had me saying "oh that was cool"

the thing is, descope as a weakness only works on guns that gain meaningful lethality from being scoped in, like the CE Sniper lacking any aim assist when not scoped. On something like the BR or the H5 magnum or other headshot spawn weapons, you already have no spread, no recoil, spam-ability, and no meaningful accuracy decay at any range, PLUS unlike the sniper, you dont need that ranged assistance because the gun is good everywhere else too, even wihout RRR.

Good to see you back making Halo videos. Really enjoyed man, lets make'em coming :)

When they removed this feature for halo 4. It really showed how op each precision weapon is. You pretty much have to only rock the battle rifle, or lightrifle to even get kills quick on that game!

I love the theme of this video, it is totally true, since I started playing ranked in infinite shooting from the hip has made me rise in rank and react faster in different situations

This video is so well made, Explained it perfectly. I hope to see more videos with this sort of style. Good Job Mr. Nightgaminglate

Halo having descope and not having ads and the high TTK is what I think distinguishes it from the sea of nearly identical (gameplay wise) shooters of today. The only one I think is different is CS:GO. Edit: I’m also very annoyed at all the CoD kids and Fortnite kids who play infinite because it’s free, then just hold down the left trigger in gun fights. Even with the BR and Commando in close quarters. In all halos (Bar 5) scoping is actually a big disadvantage since you’ve limited your movement for no real gain, unless you’re shooting from across the map

@BlueAizu_

10 ай бұрын

CS:GO (well, it's Counter Strike 2 now) doesn't even have ADSing except for the sniper rifles! You don't get descoped, but the TTK is very short anyway and you don't regen health so you usually just die.

@ChefandTheArbistor

10 ай бұрын

@@BlueAizu_ yeah that’s why I thought of it, since it doesn’t have ads, but on second thought, it’s still pretty similar to the others. You might argue Titanfall is different, but the gunplay is nearly identical to the others.

I hate it when youre moving closer and plan on being descoped then u click to scope out then u get hit and keep scoping in on accident, haha

@Blue_Brawler

10 ай бұрын

Don’t scope out, wait to get descoped.

@ChiefNaggleVIII

10 ай бұрын

@@Blue_Brawler oh for sure, but sometimes u get stuck in those cycles haha

YES! Your editing style has become so fresh!!!! I love it! Brings Machinima vibes back. It's been so long we've had that in Halo, it feels, and games in general. I still can't say I like infinite much. It has some good now but it just feels so frustrating not to be where we need to be. Just seeing these clips of 3 where you have that beautiful headshot medal makes me so sad. I know it's a detail but it's a big detail. XD

Great video! Love the editing flair 👌 I've found myself getting frustrated with games that *don't* have the descope mechanic my whole life because I grew up playing Halo, I'm used to having a chance against snipers with accurate return fire, Counter Strike is a prime example, you can tag someone who has a sniper a few times only for them to one tap instakill you because they don't get descoped, that situation is far more frustrating than being descoped as a sniper IMHO. I also think the lack of descoping mechanic in other games is why scope glint became popular, because you traditionally couldn't counter them.

The reason why I’ve always loved halo is whenever I die, I never felt like I was cheated the vast majority of the time. I died because the opponent was better than me that time, if it’s from a power weapon it’s still my fault because I did not try to contest the power weapon spawns. Descope rewards the player that hits their shots especially hip fire shots. Descope allows for skilled players to make reversals.

It's really great to see you excited about Halo again

Awesome video man! Great way for new people to be more aware in gunfights and get better at them. Shared the vid 👌

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Legend!

I love your use of machinema. Makes it feel like a training video!

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoy it!

Descope adds a layer of combat where you have to focus your aim to rescope(if you have to) and win the gun fight. Or you can choose to hipfire, adding to the combat dance. It's very noticable in br fights

I've played halo my whole life so I've never really thought about descope. Since it has always been there for me. Great video btw

I love descope. Every friends of mine were complaining about that mechanic and never understood how important it was. I always found it essential to Halo's gameplay and balance. They were just used to other shooters, without it it's not Halo anymore.

4:32 is a universal feeling for all halo fans 😂

this PSA was sponsored by the letter G for Get Gud

I've got a new appreciation for this mechanic now! Thank you!

Cool to see your wife helping you out in these videos. Keep up the good work, guys!

What if for the weapons that stay scoped in, they zoom out slightly. Not a full de-scope but a partial one. Instead of staying at 1.4x zoom it drops to 1.2 for a for a frame or two.

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

not the worst idea ive heard TBH another idea is the game auto-scoping you back in like H5

Descope is one of the few suppressive fire mechanics i feel like actually serves a special purpose besides just doing damage. Halo's also unique in the way that ADS isn't basically required for kills, you only really need to scope at longer distances. It's what makes Infinite a little odd in that some of these weapons still don't descope when hit, when imo all weapons should descope you, it would help a little with how strong the AR is too.

Love the editing changes with this video, and the ending 😂

Yoooo that warhog honk is a classic NOD TO ANYONE. Its saying HE BRO IM DRIVING GET IN THE DAM TURRET!

Shit, I'm not an fps guy, I just like halo and some older cod games. I didn't realize descope wasn't common place.

it's always an "OH NO HE'S HIM" moment when the guy carrying the BR or Stalker rifle starts handling it hip-fire and actually landing shots, it just leads into the ever vexing questions like "do I switch to an Auto or Closer ranged gun?" "Do I press the hip-fire at this range even though it's precision versus precision?" "will we be in melee range by the time our shields are low?" and the ever important consideration "can I nail the switch from body to head targeting once his shields drop?"

that ending. I *FEEL* that.

It’s good to see you making Halo content again! Your videos are high quality 👌

The quality in your videos is amazing

Excelent video. Its so hard explaining to fellow casuals about how important these "bad QoL" mechanics are.

your slow mo usage looks so much smoother compared to some of your other videos, love it

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

Glad you think so!

I remember playing halo: reach back in the days, and me trying to unscope but accidentally rescoping because I was hit right before, like 4 times in a row.

Your editing improved bro, great job!

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

I appreciate it, man!

I agree with you on some points, but I have gotten to the point where I don't use scopes for medium range or even sometimes longer range encounters just because I don't need it as much. But yes, I can see where your coming from.

Ooh I'm so sending this to my friends lol

hip-fire superiority

Halo made me really good at no scoping

I remember first learning this. I got very frustrated at first, when I figured it out I felt like I was actually getting good at the game. But for the sniper I just hip fire 😅

I love the machinima style video gj

The first 35 seconds of this video had no reason to be so sensual.

I play Halo since 01 I take these little things for granted.

I used to play on Eldewrito and, oh god, the players on there. Best Halo players I've ever played against period. They taught me all about how to bait players to scope and when to hit them to descope them, and them doing it to me, it was impossible to defend against. It may have been due to the hitscan BR in that game as well.

Ahhh, rraatss! 4:36

I believe it was Halo 3 that trained me to hop in a vehicle when the driver honks the horn.

Thx late night gaming now I wish other games had de scope

Main reason was probably so players weren't scoping when in close range 1vs1 situations, the rest is just a happy bonus

I can never make up my mind about descope. It feels like it makes ranged weapons underpowered, but then I've played cracked versions of Halo with the descope removed, and it feels like ranged weapons are overpowered and dominate the weapon sandbox too heavily. All in all, descope is an interesting idea that makes sense in at least some contexts. It works better in Halo than it would in other FPS games due to the much higher effectiveness of hipfire, I think. If there were a mechanic in, say, Call of Duty, or Battlefield, that took the player out of aim-down-sights when they were hit, it would make precision weapons nigh unusuable, but hipfire in Halo is a completely viable options, especially in earlier titles before reticle bloom became a thing. Scoring a no-scope kill with a Combat Evolved or Halo 2 sniper rifle is child's play in comparison to doing so in most other shooter games, and I think that balances out against descope enough for it to make more sense.

well edited bro

I like it. I rarely zoom in unless needed, but the unrealistic glint the weapons give off often desuade me from using them as they often make me a bigger target. I will say Halo 5's canonical reason for not needing to zoom in was well implemented. Why zoom in if their helmet HUDs accommodate for spartans to see exactly where they are shooting?

I knew my day was missing something, but I couldn't quite figure it out until this video. That's right, I had not seen a Halo 3 rat all day. Thank you for fixing that.

"Descope trains halo players to be more creative and thoughtful during each encounter" Yeah like when players use Hold-To-Scope plus a macro to negate it entirely, how creative. I thoughtfully contemplate every encounter i won that was snubbed from the beginning due to me looking in the funny hole and completely changing the bullet behavior. The system may have been great for console but it desperately needs a revamp.

It's such a small but important detail to the combat puzzle, and like a wise man once said "the devil is in the details", and I think Halo is one of the few series' that still understand that (mostly, lol). I really do wish this kind of lateral thinking during combat was put into more shooters, it seems to me like there's less and less of that nowadays, but idk, maybe it's just me aging rapidly.

Quick question, are you posting on your patreon, or doing it I should say?

I personally would have to venture out with a potentially unpopular opinion here (I am a longtime subscriber, previously called “StormishBreeze”, and really enjoy your content, so don’t worry I ain’t a hater): I personally despise the descope mechanic, which I find more noticeable in Infinite than some of the other Halo games (aside from 5, which I’ve only played the campaign of). Primarily, it means that picking up a Battle Rifle, Bandit, Sniper, or other precision weapons is frustrating because upon attempting to use the built in scope, ANYONE with the pistol or AR can shoot me from across the map in order to eliminate the entire reason I bothered picking up the better long range weapon. The pistol could benefit from a minor nerf in my opinion, but I find it hard to justify picking up BRs, Bandits, and Stalker Rifles especially because they don’t half single shot kill potential, and any noob can shoot the glowy lens flare and turn the marksman rifle into a hipfire-only weapon. I think it requires LESS skill to rely on descoping them, especially considering that the lens flare already gives them away really easy, than to simply maneuver yourself into cover and find an alternate way of either getting to them or to use other weapons or grenades to counter them. Instead, as a solution, I prefer the aim-punch mechanic CoD uses, where higher damage weapons smack the user’s aim around more. While not very traditionally “Halo-ish”, I think that that could potentially achieve the desired effect of balancing precision weapons and allowing other weapons to fill suppression/harassment niches. Alternatively, they could even simply just cut the scope glint out from all but the instant-kill weaponry. But overall I just think that I’m not incentivized to use an already-higher-skill weapon versus just keeping my stock loadout or going a non-precision weapon route (OR finding a weapon with a completely different niche, something like the Mangler or Heatwave). I think for the average player, it’s just not worth using a BR or other marksman rifle in Slayer matches. Feel free to discuss and disagree with me of course, I’m not immobile on my opinion either lol, but I’ve just found myself extremely frustrated by descoping in Infinite as of late. Enjoyed the video as always!! Edit: I find that the argument about descoping increasing a sniper user’s skill is moot as a result of the scope glint which already televises your position so heavily.

@jalakor

10 ай бұрын

To note, I think in a marksman weapon versus marksman weapon engagement, descoping is not NEARLY as frustrating, just for whatever reason.

@jalakor

10 ай бұрын

ALSO worth noting that this is honestly primarily a complaint towards the pistol, which I think, again, is already a strong weapon and could potentially use a nerf (one bullet more to kill, but still just as fast and snappy to use) of some kind. I just can’t find a good reason to use the BR especially (other marksman rifles are either comparatively easy for me to use in closer range engagements, have a completely different niche [plasma carbine if you count that as a marksman weapon], or are downright useless to me [STALKER RIFLE]).

@rickygforce4217

10 ай бұрын

I think this has less to do with descope and more to do with the sandbox design - descope was originally conceived in CE for weapons with slow-projectiles and less optimal-range than in Infinite. It doesn't gel too well with a hitscan sandbox, where instead of nudging the descoped player to reconsider the engagement, it outright forces them to hipfire or die. This gets exacerbated by high rate-of-fire weapons like the AR/Pistol. It's also why the games that have the best-feeling descope, to me, are CE and 3 - which *just* so happen to be the games with slow projectiles. Infinite would work far better with a tweaked sandbox (e.g. reduced range across the board) or else, a CS-like aimpunch.

@jalakor

10 ай бұрын

@@rickygforce4217 yeah I could see that as a fair assessment. I don’t hate descope as a mechanic wholistically, I hate the way it feels in Infinite with regards to the pistol most of all. I’m just tryna have fun with the BR 😭😭

@LateNightHalo

10 ай бұрын

I think thats moreso a Sandbox problem with the extreme range and ease of use given to weapons like the AR and sidekick despite them technically not having a scope.

3:10 and or sniper jackal with a nerf gun.

I need that first map in matchmaking :c

Descope is pretty annoying in the moment, but admittedly it's part of what make Halo, Halo. I never even considered that it's a legit strategy against snipers (and every other mid to long range weapon user) staying in one place the entire match. You're always on the move in Halo and that's part of what I like about it.

Good points on why Descope is so important for the franchise's identity, specially for the multiplayer. I still hate it in Campaing's Legendary, tought.

I wish more games had descope. I totally stopped playing H4 because it didn't have it. Now if only we could get rid of sprint and increase base player movement speed, everything would be as it should.

Never noticed the descoping

I just wanted to say i enjoy the videos with no face just gameplay and voice commentary , if i watch a documentary and see the narrators face it would annoy me 😂😂😂, very nice video though

High production value!

Big question, why since Infinite lauch I guess, each time I see videos of gameplay of an Halo game, is pratically always a player with a sniper weapon ? The sniper weapons are became the game meta of the series ? I ask because is related to scope targeting of course

@rickygforce4217

10 ай бұрын

It's the most difficult power weapon pick-up (and therefore, most popular for montagers and competitive players since the 2000s/MLG days). It's a very 'showy' weapon that makes for exciting clips when in the right hands.

Hell half the time you don’t even need to be scoped in to shoot at some one. Hip firing is still viable even when your de scoped. That’s honestly why I like halo 3 so much. It doesn’t require you to be scoped in at all times

I hate it as a sniper but with time I got better and better. Really makes you think

The core assertion being expressed here is that descope makes Halo a more complex and varied game in contrast to other FPS titles, but I really think it's the other way around. Descope makes Halo a simpler game and removes a lot of varied gameplay that other games have by removing the versatility of a lot of weapons, making them undesirable or even altogether unusuable. It makes using ranged weapons frustrating and ineffective, and players usually skip scoped weapons in exchange for exploiting short ranged guns with high fire rates and using them the wrong way.

I’ve been playing since halo 3 and I do not ever use zoom in, never have never will. I even use halo 3 controls in infinite because I’m used to my aim being accurate

That Warthog bit is way to real at the end. The amount of times I was tempted to just run a teammate over is uncountable.

So much more happened. #HaloGodz

This works unless you’re going up against MintBlitz…

Great video

How would you feel if descope took just a tiny bit longer to occur? As in, it would take 2 bullets in a single BR burst instead of 1 and so on? It might help to alleviate the annoyance of descope whilst also maintaining that micro skill gap you mentioned. It may also help get the player to learn how to aim better instead of just getting lucky shots that threw off you opponents aim by accident. Great video as always, love the new editing style too

@Dinostraw

10 ай бұрын

Honestly I think this would be more annoying, since to a new player, now it's not obvious when they'll get knocked out of scope. It would likely feel either inconsistent or arbitrary to the player as to why sometimes they get knocked out while other times they can just tank through it. How it is currently might honestly be the most fair, even if it's a bit more of a nuisance initially

@rickygforce4217

10 ай бұрын

It would probably give an advantage to burst/auto weapons over single-shot ones.

Your point about descope being a counter to snipers is 100% the reason it should always stay in the game. I hate snipers in most games and Halo without descope would make fighting snipers a lot worse.