[ElzarTheBam]

Holy shit, a rational conclusion. Bravo, sir.

Is it bad that I like seeing HaloGaf freak out?

[The Real Napsta]

Reach maintenance is over.

[monome]

Interesting. I swear I remember a 343 person saying that's how it would, or could with the option for that, work.

for custom games you have extreme control of options.

[Overdoziz]

I chuckled and SMH'd at "B to Crouch".

I can't imagine default sprint working well with bumper-jumper.

[Tha Robbertster]

Is it bad that I like seeing HaloGaf freak out?

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

Or in your case, make people look up freaky shit.

[ElzarTheBam]

Some men just want to watch the world burn. Or in your case, make people look up freaky shit.

Did you manage to google parazoophilia? I hope so.

[Demoncarnotaur]

Crouch jumping is gonna be a pain. =/

Okay, last post of the day. Really. Clarification: I have NO CLUE what generated the Ordnance popup in my HUD. I ASSUMED it was something I 'earned' (through kills/points/something else)... but I did NOT clarify this with anyone at 343. For all I know, it could be totally random, and assigned to a random player each time it comes up (no earning involved). I simply don't know. Don't freak out until someone's TOLD you that it's exactly how you don't want it. :) Demoncarnataur - I didn't see any jackals at all. Only campaign enemies in the demo were Grunts and Elites. Also: the fact that the loadout last night included a Plasma Pistol as secondary weapon means NOTHING for Halo 4's matchmaking - it was set up at the show by the guys configuring the Xboxes. DO NOT PANIC THAT BTB WILL HAVE ANTI-VEHICLE WEAPONS ON SPAWN - you're drawing huge conclusions from very, very spotty (and non-relevant) data. quick last-minute quote: This is not how it worked last night. There were no power weapons at the start of the matches - they only came in on ordnance drops. (Again - these were CUSTOM games, set up by 343 staff. This tells you NOTHING about Matchmaking - but I wanted to clarify that what I played was NOT what you just described.) Gotta go. Love you all. Kisses.

Thanks again!

Interesting. I swear I remember a 343 person saying that's how it would, or could with the option for that, work.

Yeah, they said that in the Podcast.

[Karl2177]

So last night, I go to bed and I'm Bronze 30%. I check Waypoint today, and I'm Silver 80%. Dafuq?

[daedalius]

Is it bad that I like seeing HaloGaf freak out?

You've come to the right place then.

So last night, I go to bed and I'm Bronze 30%. I check Waypoint today, and I'm Silver 80%. Dafuq?

I just checked and I am 75% gold, but in game I am silver. Wat?

[Tha Robbertster]

Did you manage to google parazoophilia? I hope so.

I'm glad I searched it in a incognito tab....

[Bregmann Roche]

Edit: Oh yeah. That's right. Welp, that's another concern to add to the list.

There's a tradeoff though: no armor lock AA, no power drainer equipment, and in order for people to spawn with the PP they have to deny themselves whatever weapon they could otherwise have in that slot.

I'd rather have to worry about mass PP overcharges and plasma grenades than armor lockers and power drains.

EDIT:

So last night, I go to bed and I'm Bronze 30%. I check Waypoint today, and I'm Silver 80%. Dafuq?

They got your letters!

[squidhands]

Is it bad that I like seeing HaloGaf freak out?

It's fun right up until the second or third page of incessant bitching. Then I just CTRL+F for Stinkles or lybertyboy comments/trolling and backtrack for lolz.

[Karl2177]

I just checked and I am 75% gold, but in game I am silver. Wat?

It got buried last night under the Halo 4 impressions, but here's my Arena stats for this season. No idea why it placed me in Bronze in the first place.


EDIT: Super wtf. In game I'm not placed. How many days do you have to get rated? I thought it was 4.

[Shake Appeal]

[ElzarTheBam]

I'm glad I searched it in a incognito tab....

Yes!

It's fun right up until the second or third page of incessant bitching. Then I just CTRL+F for Stinkles or lybertyboy comments and backtrack for lolz.

I understand, usually for me, I just chuckle at it and move on down the page.

[op_ivy]

I had some trouble getting used to finding Sprint on my left analog stick. (There are a million button layouts now, so you can pretty much set things up any way you want; I went with my normal (for me) Southpaw/Southpaw/Inverted setup, and that's where Sprint is. Crouch is on the B button, which is bizarre.) Because of this, I felt really slow sometimes.

There is indeed. I still haven't figured out my default.

picking a controller layout will be tough. maybe that default and switching crouch to toggle if its on B, but that will definitely take adjusting to...

Loadouts have a couple more slots than Reach loadouts. (In Reach, you get primary weapon, secondary weapon, grenade, AA - in H4, you get two more slots - I forget what they were called, but they hold things like increased regen and more ammo.) I primarily stuck with the first two loadouts - the first was BR/Plasma Pistol/Plas Grenade, while the second was DMR/pistol/frag. The DMR is a BEAST at range... but much harder to handle up close. The BR is a pretty fast killer up close, but at any real distance, you'll get beaten by a good DMR. The plasma pistol rocks. I don't know if it's just the sound... but DAMN. I was killing people with regular pepper shots (which aren't pepper at all in H4 - they're little mini balls of fire, it seems), and the noob combo is still a reliable annhilator. Overcharged shot seems to track, at least a little bit. (Not as much as Halo 1. :) )

<3 the DMR.
regen and more ammo? i'm scared...

Promethean Vision is actually pretty useful in very limited situations. It DOES let you see through walls (at least a limited number of walls; you can see people sort of near you) - but 1) you don't have very much of it (it runs out really quickly) and 2) it doesn't help you figure out where someone is if the geometry is really complicated. I guess this will become less relevant when we know the maps inside and out. It's really useful when someone dips behind a wall and then tries to fake you out... you can tell where they're going. It also screws up colors, so if you're in the middle of a multi-person firefight, it adds more confusion than it removes. I'd say used judiciously, it's pretty cool - but as Frank said, a good player won't really need it.

as i expected. good to hear it indeed sounds like its properly balanced and it'll be less useful to those that know the game well and have skillz.

I think that name pretty much confirms the ancient enemy we'll be facing.

oh shit, never considered that the secret enemy would be anything other than forerunners... maybe at some point we'll have epic 5 way battles with the precursors, forerunners, humans, covenant AND flood at some point in the trilogy! ;)

No. Like tuning your car for handling versus swapping out the engine. More deets at a later time.

balance and trade-offs. this sounds really really great to me and hugely alleviates my fears.

I saw no new weapons in multi. Frank showed off a short campaign demo (10 minutes of an early level in the game), and there was some sort of energy-based covenant rifle that looks pretty cool. (Didn't get to see it in very much action; it came pretty late in the demo, and depending on who was running through, there often wasn't much left alive by the time it showed up.)

we must see some footage of both multi and the short campaign demo!

There were almost no weapons on the map at all in the games we played. (I'd say there were none, but I seem to remember a needler or two lying around - I guess maybe a deady guy could have dropped it, not sure.) Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :) Clarification: I have NO CLUE what generated the Ordnance popup in my HUD. I ASSUMED it was something I 'earned' (through kills/points/something else)... but I did NOT clarify this with anyone at 343. For all I know, it could be totally random, and assigned to a random player each time it comes up (no earning involved). I simply don't know. This is not how it worked last night. There were no power weapons at the start of the matches - they only came in on ordnance drops.

i'll wait till i get a good hands on with the game to decide if this is good or bad, but it sounds a bit worrying in some ways, and a nice change in others. "earning" and picking ordinance, in particular, has me concerned, but we'll see how accurate that is with some future clarification.

[Hypertrooper]

I love this art. I just want to know what this object is. What's his purpose? It gives me a Alien/Prometheus-vibe.

Looks like I have to try to snag a code for the theme in a drunk condition. Gonna be fun.

[op_ivy]

anyone other then wu and those tweets write up some thoughts?

[monome]

I love this art. I just want to know what this object is. What's his purpose? It gives me a Alien/Prometheus-vibe. Looks like I have to try to snag a code for the theme in a drunk condition. Gonna be fun.

how to find the theme?

[Overdoziz]

How about 343 them selves come out and actually show us footage of how things work in multiplayer. The confusion about pretty much everything regarding it is becoming really annoying.
Where's mah MP Vidoc?

[GhaleonEB]

Thanks for the impressions, Wu. Were I not in meetings I would have asked how the game played, which you managed to not touch on. :p

Safe travels.

[Gui_PT]

Thanks for the impressions, Wu. Were I not in meetings I would have asked how the game played, which you managed to not touch on. :p Safe travels.

You are way too calm



WAY TOO CALM

[StalkerUKCG]

How about 343 them selves come out and actually show us footage of how things work in multiplayer. The confusion about pretty much everything regarding it is becoming really annoying. Where's mah MP Vidoc?

3 month away (E3 Believe)

[Tawpgun]

Thanks for the impressions, Wu. Were I not in meetings I would have asked how the game played, which you managed to not touch on. :p Safe travels.

Spoiler: Plays like Halo

[CyReN]

Anybody have question for Killa KC? I can relay them to Nexy, looking like there's going to be a interview this weekend about his Halo 4 experience.

[NullPointer]

Wow. The times, they are a'changin.

Increased regen, extra ammo, some mysterious process determining ordinance... Color me confused. Whatever the system at work I just don't want to see yet another game where the best players are rewarded by further advantages.

Wait and see I guess, but I'm with Dax: Every reveal so far is a mix of the good and the bad, or at least the very worrying.

[Tawpgun]

Anybody have question for Killa KC? I can relay them to Nexy, looking like there's going to be a interview this weekend about his Halo 4 experience.

The fine, technical details we're going to get.

I just want his impressions on how base matchmaking halo will play like, and his opinions on where MLG Halo 4 will go with it. Compare it to Reach I guess. Competetive Reach vs Competetive Halo 4 (speculation I guess)

[Tashi]

Thanks for the huge write up Wu!

Damn, I wanna play it so bad. How long does this little event last for? I feel like just showing up at Bryant Park and trying to find where it is lolol ahhhhhh shit.

[Risen]

Anybody have question for Killa KC? I can relay them to Nexy, looking like there's going to be a interview this weekend about his Halo 4 experience.

Changing out Pit KoTH for Amplified due to "bad spawns in Pit KoTH" renders all other opinions on competitive gaming invalid.

[Stinkles]

Crouch jumping is gonna be a pain. =/ Thanks again! Yeah, they said that in the Podcast.

The mode Claude is refering to actually had ordnance on a timer (like weapon respawns work now) which is absolutely one of the ways it works. Personal ordnance will be on specific playlists and modes. Not a universal feature.

The UI on the build from the event has LOADS of temp/placeholder/bugs, etc. There's a reason there was no filming.

Thanks for the huge write up Wu! Damn, I wanna play it so bad. How long does this little event last for? I feel like just showing up at Bryant Park and trying to find where it is lolol ahhhhhh shit.

It was six hours.

Also, Trent Richardson, RB Alabama, was a god tier player. But his cousin was like Halo Rain Man. His first ever game (obviously) and he was going BlainOgreWalshy.

[darthbob]

The mode Claude is refering to actually had ordnance on a timer (like weapon respawns work now) which is absolutely one of the ways it works. Personal ordnance will be on specific playlists and modes. Not a universal feature. The UI on the build from the event has LOADS of temp/placeholder/bugs, etc. There's a reason there was no filming.

Just pixelate and make us think you're hiding neat features.

[Overdoziz]

The mode Claude is refering to actually had ordnance on a timer (like weapon respawns work now) which is absolutely one of the ways it works. Personal ordnance will be on specific playlists and modes. Not a universal feature. The UI on the build from the event has LOADS of temp/placeholder/bugs, etc. There's a reason there was no filming.

How many sleeps until the MP Vidoc?

[op_ivy]

frinkles, if you guys are holding an event near within say, 500 miles of Chester CA, i'm down. shoot me a pm ;)

[Louis Wu]

Thanks for the huge write up Wu! Damn, I wanna play it so bad. How long does this little event last for? I feel like just showing up at Bryant Park and trying to find where it is lolol ahhhhhh shit.

It was last night - 7-midnight. (Well, I got there at 6:30, and they were nice enough not to kick me out. :) )

[blamite]

If you guys want to have an event in Chicago I will be there instantly. Just sayin'.

[TheOddOne]

Wu, get moving man!

Safe trips!

[VivaciousJazzy]

frinkles, if you guys are holding an event near within say, 500 miles of Chester CA, i'm down. shoot me a pm ;)

My bet is on Pocatello Idaho.

[Tashi]

It was last night - 7-midnight. (Well, I got there at 6:30, and they were nice enough not to kick me out. :) )

That's a lot of play time. Very nice. So it was just a one day thing huh? :(

[Demoncarnotaur]

The mode Claude is refering to actually had ordnance on a timer (like weapon respawns work now) which is absolutely one of the ways it works. Personal ordnance will be on specific playlists and modes. Not a universal feature. The UI on the build from the event has LOADS of temp/placeholder/bugs, etc. There's a reason there was no filming.

Alrighty, so basically there is a complexity of different ways it works, and we only know bits and pieces. Just to clarify there is timed ordinance and personal ordinance?

Im really excited to see and hear more about the game, thats for certain. You guys have your work cut out for you..you are gonna need a huge MP BTS video to explain everything. :lol

[op_ivy]

My bet is on Pocatello Idaho.

i wonder if thats bigger/smaller than chester (pop. 2,298)? --- EDIT: its waaaaay bigger, at 55k!

frinkles, act quick and i can probably reserve 343 the chester elks lodge!

[Kuroyume]

Btw, if it's not in there I think 343 should add some kind of audio notification for your kill kind of like the KZ2 chirp. Some other games featured this but I can't recall off the top of my head which... MGO?

[Louis Wu]

Wu, get moving man! Safe trips!

heh - thanks.

Got packed, realized I told all my clients I'd be gone by now (so email/phone stopped ringing about 30 minutes ago), and now I've got a few minutes to kill - I'm good. :)

[lybertyboy]

Alrighty, so basically there is a complexity of different ways it works, and we only know bits and pieces. Just to clarify there is timed ordinance and personal ordinance?

Yes.

[CyReN]

Also, Trent Richardson, RB Alabama, was a god tier player. But his cousin was like Halo Rain Man. His first ever game (obviously) and he was going BlainOgreWalshy.

How did KC hold up?

[Overdoziz]

Btw, if it's not in there I think 343 should add some kind of audio notification for your kill kind of like the KZ2 chirp. Some other games featured this but I can't recall off the top of my head which... MGO?

Maybe text in the middle of your screen saying "YOU GOT A KILL, YOU ARE SO AWESOME +100 SPARTAN POINTS" is enough.

[Stinkles]

How did KC hold up?

He was on a different pod of four and all the gamertags were numbered so I couldn't tell. I assume good.

[Slightly Live]

Thanks for the impression Wu. Awesome stuff.

[Letters]

When Frankie's ghost dot passes by you really know it's time to press the Back button.

[GhaleonEB]

Alrighty, so basically there is a complexity of different ways it works, and we only know bits and pieces. Just to clarify there is timed ordinance and personal ordinance? Im really excited to see and hear more about the game, thats for certain. You guys have your work cut out for you..you are gonna need a huge MP BTS video to explain everything. :lol

The more I learn about the new game systems, the more I hope there are robust ways to message to players what is included in the game types they are firing up in matchmaking. Ordnance drops? Personal ordnance? Different scoring methods? Really hope there is ample space provided for a description of the game and the options as set up. Reach and Halo 3 were poor at this, but with the added complexity comes an increased need for it.

Don't know how I feel about personal ordnance, even if it's only for FFA. Changes the whole strategy/game especially since it relies on in-game tasks.

We really need context. It's been said that they are confined to specific kinds of game types in matchmaking - but we don't know what.

[Dax01]

heh - thanks. Got packed, realized I told all my clients I'd be gone by now (so email/phone stopped ringing about 30 minutes ago), and now I've got a few minutes to kill - I'm good. :)

Was the DMR 3x scope?