Support NeoGAF

[willow ve]

Dug this out of the Bulletin along with Haloathon and some sweet dudes on Twitter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIkaod3wQKg

More info here: http://www.littleenglishhaloblog.com/2012/11/hidden-messages-in-halo-bulletin.html

I love the easter eggs they drop on bulletins from time to time.

Spoiler : the gist of the easter egg -

Spoiler

This one talks about how terminals are hidden in game, but are played through Waypoint. It also mentions they are different than Alpha Halo terminals which required a code to be entered to play. In Halo 4 you just need to find the terminal to unlock the meida.

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

Too lazy to use Waypoint?

I can see that you just missed my point entirely. Black Ops offers extensive stat tracking just by clicking a dudes name and viewing his combat record. So before I play a game, I can quickly skim through stats and see how I am stacking up against my opponent. Using Waypoint to complete the same task I can do in Black Ops in 15 seconds would take roughly 30 minutes.

 

[Poker Face]

can other players see your SR...?

Yes.

http://i.imgur.com/fJVqW.png

(linked the picture in case people don't want to see matchmaking lobby)

Are there any multiplayer streams happening?

Machinima's "Early Access Stream"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_o9y79QrIE

 

[Aggrotek]

Are there any multiplayer streams happening?

^Thanks PF!

 

[Genesis Knight]

I can see that you just missed my point entirely. Black Ops offers extensive stat tracking just by clicking a dudes name and viewing his combat record. So before I play a game, I can quickly skim through stats and see how I am stacking up against my opponent. Using Waypoint would to complete the same task I can do in Black Ops in 15 seconds would take roughly 30 minutes.

30 minutes, hehe. That's good.

But yeah, it's less convenient.

 

[Arnie]

I just hope the TrueSkill in Halo 4 is more accurate than previous iterations.

As do I, and I want some expansion from 343 on the thinking behind skilled ranking in Halo 4. What they've specifically done to improve matching, and why they felt visible ranks weren't required for Halo 4.

I won't be truly happy with the decision, but I'll be content knowing they've addressed it fully, and hopefully I'll respect their opinion.

 

[orznge]

is there an API for Waypoint

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

30 minutes, hehe. That's good.

But yeah, it's less convenient.

lol I know I am exaggerating, but Waypoint is extremely unintuitive as it is right now. The Combat Record from Black Ops is one of my favorite things about that game though, so much detail...

 

[Zeouterlimits]

is there an API for Waypoint

No real talk of it so far.

 

[Omni]

is there an API for Waypoint

Nopeeeeeeeee.

...

I don't care about skill, I just hope that I don't get put in matches where I'm up against a full party all the time. Like in Reach... Where I'm forced to hide for 15 minutes because we're getting spawn killed. Only in Halo 4 it'll be worse because they can call power weapons more often than before in the only 'big team' playlist.

 

[neoism]

wonder how many badkids will be playing launch week just to make it go by fast before going to Blops2...

 

[Beckx]

Nopeeeeeeeee.

...

I don't care about skill, I just hope that I don't get put in matches where I'm up against a full party all the time. Like in Reach. Where I'm forced to hide for 15 minutes because we're getting spawn killed.

The presence of Paradiso and Boneyard had a lot to do with that, too. Never had it happen outside of BTB, where you had teams of inheritors spending their entire day trapping on those maps.

Edit: I think it happened on Breakpoint too, but who ever saw that in matchmaking?

 

[CyReN]

why are we googling stuff?

 

[Project]

I understand and accept that frustration, but I found it so unobtrusive in the grand pantheon of players that the latter part of your anxiety (which I've bolded) never came to fruition. I always felt that I was playing with people relatively skilled to me, and I was safe in the knowledge that anyone truly out of their depth would eventually be pushed by the tide back down to the shallow water.

I'm not ignorant to the old system's problems, but again, I don't and never did find them severe enough to justify an outright kibosh of visible ranks, certainly.

These are exactly my thoughts as well. Very well spoken for.
To all those who lawn bowl, I wasn't trying to offend anyone. I've lawn bowled once, and it was an intermediate in developing my argument. No personal bashing was meant, I was just trying to get across what Arnie was saying above me. I love knowing what relative skill level I am compared to others without having to attend an MLG event. That is all.

On a side note, I just watched the FuD, and I must say the show is incredibly well done. When I first heard about it I was extremely skeptical since most of the stories I like that are turned into movies are completely butchered (Eragon is my go to example on this front), but FuD is not even remotely the same. Well done 343, you have really brought a whole new piece to the table we know as Halo and I am loving it.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

LOL at Tashi Ceiling.

To be honest, none of the Google results from any posts really mean much. 3/4 of the hits are probably unrelated to the intended topic.

 

[Striker]

Dominion is BTB, so there's that.

And these are just launch playlists; when they know what the community wants they will restructure things.

Explains why Reach's BTB went from CTF/Assault to Slayer/Heavies as 343 took aboard. Hmm.

 

[Aggrotek]

The snake emblem is back!

 

[FyreWulff]

Spoiler

your face when you find out i didn't edit this picture

 

[willow ve]

Explains why Reach's BTB went from CTF/Assault to Slayer/Heavies as 343 took aboard. Hmm.

But they have all the voting data from Reach pregame lobbies...

Amazing.

 

[neoism]

The presence of Paradiso and Boneyard had a lot to do with that, too. Never had it happen outside of BTB, where you had teams of inheritors spending their entire day trapping on those maps.

Edit: I think it happened on Breakpoint too, but who ever saw that in matchmaking?

lol I must be the only one that loves boneyard that map has always been good to me...

 

[Rtas]

I can see that you just missed my point entirely. Black Ops offers extensive stat tracking just by clicking a dudes name and viewing his combat record. So before I play a game, I can quickly skim through stats and see how I am stacking up against my opponent. Using Waypoint to complete the same task I can do in Black Ops in 15 seconds would take roughly 30 minutes.

Theres an app for that for a reason......

 

[Arnie]

I don't care about skill, I just hope that I don't get put in matches where I'm up against a full party all the time. Like in Reach... Where I'm forced to hide for 15 minutes because we're getting spawn killed. Only in Halo 4 it'll be worse because they can call power weapons more often than before in the only 'big team' playlist.

That's certainly something I hope they address. Halo 3 ranked used to pair with party size, which worked in terms of balancing out the matches. Reach wasn't as selective in that regard, and often threw parties of four up against a team of randoms. That was actually one good way of distinguishing against Ranked and Social, because in Ranked you knew certain measures were taken to ensure team parity, obviously as much was actually possible.

Also, put me in the camp that really enjoyed FUD despite being massively skeptical beforehand. It's really well done, and tells a pretty engaging story. I've still got the final two episodes to watch but I'm genuinely looking forward to them, which isn't something I anticipated a couple of months ago. Has their been any discussion to air them on television?

 

[Omni]

The presence of Paradiso and Boneyard had a lot to do with that, too. Never had it happen outside of BTB, where you had teams of inheritors spending their entire day trapping on those maps.

Edit: I think it happened on Breakpoint too, but who ever saw that in matchmaking?

Yeah, I guess. Doesn't help that I only ever play BTB. I'm at the age now where competitive gaming really doesn't interest me... and by 'competitive' I mean any slayer match that has less than 10 players in it. Doesn't matter how well I do, I just don't find it fun. I play Halo for the story and to screw around in BTB.

Hopefully the experience is better in Halo 4.

 

[Project]

The presence of Paradiso and Boneyard had a lot to do with that, too. Never had it happen outside of BTB, where you had teams of inheritors spending their entire day trapping on those maps.

Edit: I think it happened on Breakpoint too, but who ever saw that in matchmaking?

In OBJ if you played Zealot at all, I'm pretty sure one variant had only spawns under the red or blue base. Ive had a To4 just camp with a sword, shotgun, grenade launcher, and someone with a DMR and just obliterate my team each round of spawning. It was quite frustrating.

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

Theres an app for that for a reason......

WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!! PUT THIS SHIT IN THE GAME SO I DON'T HAVE TO RELY ON ACQUIRING THIS DATA FROM EXTRANEOUS SOURCES!!!!!!!! /rage

Seriously though, you missed the point yet again.

 

[Overdoziz]

Spoiler

your face when you find out i didn't edit this picture

Spoiler

Too easy?

In OBJ if you played Zealot at all, I'm pretty sure one variant had only spawns under the red or blue base. Ive had a To4 just camp with a sword, shotgun, grenade launcher, and someone with a DMR and just obliterate my team each round of spawning. It was quite frustrating.

That's interesting because Zealot doesn't have a Shotgun nor Grenade Launcher on it.
And it happens when the enemy grabs your flag, it forces you to spawn underneath your base, its hilarious.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

And a chill pill is needed.

I'm at the age now where competitive gaming really doesn't interest me...

I don't know if it's fair to say it's an age thing.

Ram's still got the urge and he spends his days shouting at clouds.

 

[FyreWulff]

Spoiler

Too easy?

Your language looks funny

 

[Project]

That's certainly something I hope they address. Halo 3 ranked used to pair with party size, which worked in terms of balancing out the matches. Reach wasn't as selective in that regard, and often threw parties of four up against a team of randoms. That was actually one good way of distinguishing against Ranked and Social, because in Ranked you knew certain measures were taken to ensure team parity, obviously as much was actually possible.

Also, put me in the camp that really enjoyed FUD despite being massively skeptical beforehand. It's really well done, and tells a pretty engaging story. I've still got the final two episodes to watch but I'm genuinely looking forward to them, which isn't something I anticipated a couple of months ago. Has their been any discussion to air them on television?

I agree. I am praying that the matchmaking conditions will match parties depending on party size. I hated playing a To4 with 3 singles on my team. I much prefered the Halo 3 method where teams of 3 match against teams of 3 (plus or minus a single) and teams of 4 play against strictly teams of 4 (in the ranked playlists).

You're going to love the last episode man. It's incredibly well done and provides a small but awesome foundation for the Halo series.

 

[CyReN]

Zoeken!

and it's begun, the first skill rank matches of Halo 4.

 

[Rtas]

WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!! PUT THIS SHIT IN THE GAME SO I DON'T HAVE TO RELY ON ACQUIRING THIS DATA FROM EXTRANEOUS SOURCES!!!!!!!! /rage

Seriously though, you missed the point yet again.

Not really, Halo 4 is already packed to the limit as far as I'm concerned, and to me being able to retrieve the data using my phone or laptop is far simpler than navigating through an in game screen, especially if I want to check a new opponents KD or win loss ratio in the middle of the game. Stop being lazy

 

[Overdoziz]

Your language looks funny

Een oeroud kwaad steekt de kop weer op.

 

[willow ve]

When does the MLG stream start?

 

[Arnie]

Do you only play MP games with ranks? Because I've been playing games since the 80s, and most of those didn't have a ranking system. You know what you did when you wanted a "real" competitive game? You joined a tournament or an online ranking ladder like Gamebattles. That's still an option these days right? I mean I'm old as shit, so that stuff may be relics of the past.

You're a cool guy, Alien, so I know you'll take this well, but I had to go back and quote this because I'm doing some reading for an essay on free speech and an interesting quote popped up:

"...ages are no more infallible than individuals; every age having held many opinions which subsequent ages have deemed not only false but absurd; and it is as certain that many opinions, now general, will be rejected by future ages, as it is that many once general, are rejected by the present. "

John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

Basically, because something was applicable at one stage in the past, doesn't make it similarly applicable in the future. Quite like skill, truth is all relative. As is life, as is progress.

 

[Devin Olsen]

I'll be home in a few hours with Halo 4. For those of you that have it, add me and we can play some games together.

GT - Devin Olsen

 

[Omni]

Play ball?

I don't know if it's fair to say it's an age thing.

Ram's still got the urge and he spends his days shouting at clouds.

Oh, I meant personally. I totally get that some people still love it. Just seems that the older I get, the less I care about how well I do in a game of Halo, haha. Or any game for that matter.

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

Not really, Halo 4 is already packed to the limit as far as I'm concerned, and to me being able to retrieve the data using my phone or laptop is far simpler than navigating through an in game screen, especially if I want to check a new opponents KD or win loss ratio in the middle of the game. Stop being lazy

So let me get this straight, you are honestly telling me that removing yourself from the game to a phone or laptop, in which you are then forced to navigate to either a website or app, and then manually search every players name in the lobby one by one is actually EASIER than simply selecting a players name within the lobby and having instant access to all their stats? What fucking world am I living on right now?

 

[willow ve]

So let me get this straight, you are honestly telling me that removing yourself from the game to a phone or laptop, in which you are then forced to navigate to either a website or app, and then manually search every players name in the lobby one by one is actually EASIER than simply selecting a players name within the lobby and having instant access to all their stats? What fucking world am I living on right now?

Agree - Why stats aren't available in pregame lobby is beyond explanation.

 

[BigShow36]

Nopeeeeeeeee.

...

I don't care about skill, I just hope that I don't get put in matches where I'm up against a full party all the time. Like in Reach... Where I'm forced to hide for 15 minutes because we're getting spawn killed. Only in Halo 4 it'll be worse because they can call power weapons more often than before in the only 'big team' playlist.

Another cool feature of recent CoD games is the Mercenary playlists, where only singles can join the matches.

 

[Project]

@Cyren, I just checked out THC 2.0 - Looks fantastic.

Do you remember the old MLG website which had top threads, and top videos on the front page? I always enjoyed watching the most viewed uploaded clips just for curiosity and interests' sake. I think that would be a great addition to THC 2.0 because everyone loves to see awesome halo clips, and I know I would love somewhere where I can see the community showcasing their talents all in one place. Just an idea when I clicked on the video section. Theres a lot of potential to that site. Awesome job.

 

[J10]

What fucking world am I living on right now?

One where ranks are super serious, apparently. LOL

 

[Beckx]

lol I must be the only one that loves boneyard that map has always been good to me...

It's very possible that you're a bad person, but I don't want to judge.

 

[Booties]

Not really, Halo 4 is already packed to the limit as far as I'm concerned, and to me being able to retrieve the data using my phone or laptop is far simpler than navigating through an in game screen, especially if I want to check a new opponents KD or win loss ratio in the middle of the game. Stop being lazy

You're really dumb.

You can compare every player in a lobby before a match in blops. You have to not only have a phone or laptop to do this in halo, but you have to also spend 10 minutes getting the data. Its not longer useful when you're either already playing or after the match.

Duuuuuuuh

 

[Arnie]

Fucking hell, this book I'm reading's a gold mine if you transfer all it's messages into the ranking debate:

'But governments and nations have made mistakes in other things, which are not denied to be the fit subjects for the exercise of authority: they have laid on bad taxes, made unjust wars. Ought we therefore to lay on no taxes, and, under whatever provocation, make no wars?'

Because ranking wasn't perfect in prior games, does that mean we shouldn't employ ranking ever again?

One where ranks are super serious, apparently. LOL

LOL

 

[NobleGundam]

Need 4 GAFfers to PM me to get each DEXP Code now.

I got you covered Heckfu.

 

[The Librarian]

Oooh okay, sounds good.

and I agree; that would be pretty cool.

Love your avatar.

That FUD episode was just... terrible.

I'm shocked.

Worse than any of the previous ones.
The great acting that we saw earlier? Gone.
The great scripting? Gone.
Plus,

Spoiler

Chyler's death was so poorly staged. When did she get hit? With what? We're not shown. The area of her body that took the hit wasn't even exposed. She was a much better character than say, JJ, and she got a horribly cheesy death.

Just bad.

What parts did you think had great scripting?

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

When does the MLG stream start?

This. Anyone know when it starts?

 

[NobleGundam]

Aight. Got the 4! Enjoy guise

 

[Project]

This. Anyone know when it starts?

I believe it is going to be around 5. But don't quote me.

 

[AllIsOneIsNone]

Screw Ranks, having an decently accurate representation of your current skill level is worthless. Hell, since we're going that far, lets just get rid of game wins and losses, completely...You'll know in your heart that you won. And lets not count kills or deaths either. We don't want non-competitive players to feel bad about seeing they lost or got fewer kills.

Spoiler

A smidgen of team downer in my coffee this morning, sorry