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[Tashi]

Ok so I spoke to Kevin Franklin today and he has agreed to do an interview for HaloGAF Radio. Woohoo! I really appreciate it. I said that if Kevin agreed to do it, I would take questions straight from HaloGAF. So, here's your chance.

PM me any and all questions you have for Kevin. Reminder: Kevin is the Lead Multiplayer Designer on Halo 4. Here are some basic guidlines

-Don't waste your time with a stupid, obnoxious questions. They won't be asked and they're probably not funny to begin with. Example: "When are you going to fix Halo 4?"
-Don't ask about the TU and what it contains. For example "Will Boltshot be nerfed in the TU?" or "Will the BR get a buff in the TU?" He can't talk about it.
-Don't ask about updates, patches or added features coming to Halo 4 in the "distant" future. For example: "Will spectator mode be added at some point?" He can't answer that either.
-Don't ask about DLC. For example: "Are any of the new maps smaller than Haven?"


Here's what you CAN ask about:

-CSR
-Playlists
-Population
-Player feedback
-Anything else really but keep it focused to multiplayer

Some things that you should know:

-These questions will be asked anonymously unless stated otherwise by question asker
-The interview will be sometime in early-mid February
-If you come up with more questions after a while, feel free to them me the new ones too
-I hold the right throw away any questions I want.

I'll be posting a remind of this throughout the week.

 

[Moa]

Ok so I spoke to Kevin Franklin today and he has agreed to do an interview for HaloGAF Radio. Woohoo! I really appreciate it. I said that if Kevin agreed to do it, I would take questions straight from HaloGAF. So, here's your chance.

PM me any and all questions you have for Kevin. Reminder: Kevin is the Lead Multiplayer Designer on Halo 4. Here are some basic guidlines

-Don't waste your time with a stupid, obnoxious questions. They won't be asked and they're probably not funny to begin with. Example: "When are you going to fix Halo 4?"
-Don't ask about the TU and what it contains. For example "Will Boltshot be nerfed in the TU?" or "Will the BR get a buff in the TU?" He can't talk about it.
-Don't ask about updates, patches or added features coming to Halo 4 in the "distant" future. For example: "Will spectator mode be added at some point?" He can't answer that either.
-Don't ask about DLC. For example: "Are any of the new maps smaller than Haven?"


Here's what you CAN ask about:

-CSR
-Playlists
-Population
-Player feedback
-Anything else really but keep it focused to multiplayer

Some things that you should know:

-These questions will be asked anonymously unless stated otherwise by question asker
-The interview will be sometime in early-mid February
-If you come up with more questions after a while, feel free to them me the new ones too
-I hold the right throw away any questions I want.

I'll be posting a remind of this throughout the week.

Thank you Tashi!

Question about playlists: Can you explain the reasoning behind how you are managing the playlists this time around, including the concept behind rotational playlists, as well as the 'ten playlist limit' that bs angel has mentioned in the past?

Many people, including myself, loved Team Snipers, it was a fan favourite, however, it is stuck behind the walls of rotational right now, and all we know about it is it is coming back soon with revised settings, but no details if it will ever become permanent.

PMed

 

[Shadders]

PMed

 

[heckfu]

PM me any and all questions

.

 

[Moa]

.

Let me just send that PM.

 

[Madness]

I'll admit I used Double XP with the combination of Spartan Ops, but I honestly didn't expect SR-130 to be as short as it was, once I hit SR-50, I remembered someone from 343i saying "one Specialization is like SR-40 to SR-50", to which I thought, this is going to be a really short lived game unless they bring more ranks out.

Believe it or not, people these days love progressing, love unlocking things for ranking up, the fact there wasn't a visible competitive ranking system in-game day one but there was a progressive one supports 343 understood that, but they made it way too short, I'd be going off on a long shot here saying the lack of ranks made the game lose players, but it probably did.

Yes people like unlocking things but the problem is, people become addicted to it as opposed to playing the game. Rather than actually play Team Slayer or something, people in reach would just grind the target locator or play gruntpocalypse over and over.

Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you want to do.

But you admit you had double xp, if you don't mind Moa, can you tell me how many matches you had and whether they were used with Spops first or war games?

I'd say the reason the game lost players is the inclusion of a lot of random elements, the release so close to another more popular shooter and the fact that a large contingent of players on another continent were stuck at SR-70 for months. I don't know the exact numbers of halo 4 players from Europe, but I have two friends from Europe on my friends list. They couldn't progress past 70 and stopped playing in December. Now it's not really the progression factor, but the fact that almost two months after release, people were SR-130 with double xp, using perks like flinch and a lot of European players couldn't.

Maybe they are only a small fraction but it matters because those players will leave and play other games. It's also perhaps why once the east coast of the US goes to sleep, the game population sort of plummets.

I hope 343 improves the system next game. Give those of us who like skill based progression some form of ranks or ranked playlists, and give guys who like the progression a long unlock system a way to grind.

They missed a huge chance. Keep the SR numbers to 50 for visible skill ranks and the badges such as brigadier, colonel, major for grind/xp based play. So you could have someone's profile show them as rank SR-38 but they grind and so they have a badge of a Field Marshall etc. You could have a guy like Tashi who is good be a SR-50 but his visible rank is major because he only plays a little. It would add another level to how people analyze a player. If someone is an SR-50 and like Reclaimer, you know your about to get donged on etc. Or you could have the better badges be saved for every 5 ranks you increase in skill. An SR-35 can never have a general badge etc. He can keep grinding to commander grade 4. And the mythic, reclaimer, inheritor badges can only go to SR-50 guys.

 

[Moa]

But you admit you had double xp, if you don't mind Moa, can you tell me how many matches you had and whether they were used with Spops first or war games?

I think I used around 40 all together, about 5 - 10 of those were used in War Games at first, but then I realized Spartan Ops was a lot better XP, so I hopped into there and started using it.

Especially when I unlocked Fast Tracker & Spartan Ops went Legendary in Matchmaking, it was 17-19k a game.

 

[Ghazi]

I had 193 matches worth of 2XP because I know a lot of people who drink Mtn. Dew but don't play videogames. So I just asked them for the caps/box, I did the same thing during MW3 times when they were doing DewXP for it. I've used almost all mine in matchmaking because I don't really care about rank.

 

[m23]

I had 193 matches worth of 2XP because I know a lot of people who drink Mtn. Dew but don't play videogames. So I just asked them for the caps/box, I did the same thing during MW3 times when they were doing DewXP for it. I've used almost all mine in matchmaking because I don't really care about rank.

So you asked for the 2xp caps yet you don't care about rank?

 

[Ghazi]

So you asked for the 2xp caps yet you don't care about rank?

I didn't care about rank until I realized that I didn't like Halo 4, I got all those caps pre-loaded on my account before Halo 4 came out.

 

[Reagan's BR]

Oh, so you think Fox news is biased...

hmmmm....

 

[Moa]

Crysis 3, doing it right.

 

[Slightly Live]

Crysis 3, doing it right.

Shit, I have to get this on PC. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[The Librarian]

hmmmm....

LOL

 

[Overdoziz]

Crysis 3, doing it right.

Open Demo*

 

[Akai__]

Nice, the Crysis 3 Beta will already be available, when I'm getting home. Hope it's not that bad, like the Crysis 2 Beta was.

 

[Slightly Live]

Boring Crysis 3.

Tried out the two levels. Shot people. Went Invisible.

Same as Crysis 2.

 

[Moa]

Open Demo*

Has Crysis 3 actually went gold yet?

 

[Overdoziz]

Has Crysis 3 actually went gold yet?

The release date is 19 February, go figure.

 

[Moa]

The release date is 19 February, go figure.

dat day one patch

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Some kind of mass banning thread I missed yesterday? Grey names in a lot of threads.

 

[The Real Napsta]

let me know how it is when it happens, also I hope it has a rebalanced DMR, the current balance is boring

The dmr didn't need to be rebalanced.

 

[Overdoziz]

Crysis makes me appreciate the clarity of Halo.

 

[Poker Face]

It's officially january 29th! So are the fileshares working in game?

I just tried to check Most Downloaded and all that stuff.

Getting this as a pop up:

Could not download search details. The Halo 4 server is not available at this time. Please try again later.

then where it usually says NO FILES FOUND it says CANNOT CONTACT THE HALO 4 SERVER. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.

EDIT: Looks like the whole File Share & File Browser is down too.

well thanks for looking. maybe it will be ready later on in the day.

 

[Moa]

It's officially january 29th! So are the fileshares working in game?

I just tried to check Most Downloaded and all that stuff.

Getting this as a pop up:

Could not download search details. The Halo 4 server is not available at this time. Please try again later.

then where it usually says NO FILES FOUND it says CANNOT CONTACT THE HALO 4 SERVER. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.

EDIT: Looks like the whole File Share & File Browser is down too.

 

[Nebula]

It's officially january 29th! So are the fileshares working in game?

Hopefully custom games can start kicking off again. Love to get some mongoose races going.

 

[gAg CruSh3r]

Crysis 3, doing it right.

I will be doing this tonight! I'm excited! Something to get me by until TU and DLC.

 

[Captain Blood]

Pretty cool that Kevin agreed to do the podcast. No softball questions Tashi!!

 

[JHall]

Edit: I PM'd him.

 

[orznge]

edit: oops you said to PM you questions

 

[Tawpgun]

It's awesome Kevin agreed to it, but those are some pretty big restrictions, question wise.

I'll pm you mine later today

 

[IHaveIce]

Yeah I'm also surprised how many things he can't talk about, there are many embargos with Halo 4 it seems.

I will think of some questions and will send you them

 

[Fuchsdh]

FFS guys he's agreeing to an interview, which must take forever to get okayed from above, quit complaining. Plenty of topics that aren't verboten.

 

[Tawpgun]

FFS guys he's agreeing to an interview, quit complaining. Plenty of topics that aren't verboten.

No ones complaining lol.

I'm just saying a lot of my most burning questions have been eliminated, but I suppose it was to be expected. It seems like game development, especially on consoles is always very limited information, hush hush

 

[Orochinagis]

Ok so I spoke to Kevin Franklin today and he has agreed to do an interview for HaloGAF Radio. Woohoo! I really appreciate it. I said that if Kevin agreed to do it, I would take questions straight from HaloGAF. So, here's your chance.

PM me any and all questions you have for Kevin. Reminder: Kevin is the Lead Multiplayer Designer on Halo 4. Here are some basic guidlines

-Don't waste your time with a stupid, obnoxious questions. They won't be asked and they're probably not funny to begin with. Example: "When are you going to fix Halo 4?"
-Don't ask about the TU and what it contains. For example "Will Boltshot be nerfed in the TU?" or "Will the BR get a buff in the TU?" He can't talk about it.
-Don't ask about updates, patches or added features coming to Halo 4 in the "distant" future. For example: "Will spectator mode be added at some point?" He can't answer that either.
-Don't ask about DLC. For example: "Are any of the new maps smaller than Haven?"


Here's what you CAN ask about:

-CSR
-Playlists
-Population
-Player feedback
-Anything else really but keep it focused to multiplayer

Some things that you should know:

-These questions will be asked anonymously unless stated otherwise by question asker
-The interview will be sometime in early-mid February
-If you come up with more questions after a while, feel free to them me the new ones too
-I hold the right throw away any questions I want.

I'll be posting a remind of this throughout the week.

Can I PM about some Dominion suggestions?

 

[Slightly Live]

No ones complaining lol.

I'm just saying a lot of my most burning questions have been eliminated, but I suppose it was to be expected. It seems like game development, especially on consoles is always very limited information, hush hush

They're afraid of the COD guys copying them.

Spoiler

LOl

 

[Poker Face]

No ones complaining lol.

I'm just saying a lot of my most burning questions have been eliminated, but I suppose it was to be expected. It seems like game development, especially on consoles is always very limited information, hush hush

It's a shame, but you know exactly what he would have said about 90% of the questions if there were no restrictions. "Well I can't answer that one right now, but it will be addressed later on." At least this way he should be able to answer most of the questions we ask.

 

[IHaveIce]

FFS guys he's agreeing to an interview, which must take forever to get okayed from above, quit complaining. Plenty of topics that aren't verboten.

Show me a post where somebody is complaining.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Off-topic but recent news of Air Superioroty for BF3 has kind of confirmed BF4 rumors. 60FPS w/64 players on the nextbox!

 

[IHaveIce]

Also Scythe Swat is shit.

 

[TheOddOne]

Off-topic but recent news of Air Superioroty for BF3 has kind of confirmed BF4 rumors. 60FPS w/64 players on the nextbox!

Never did get BF3, but boy will I get the next one if the rumours are correct.

 

[Akai__]

Off-topic but recent news of Air Superioroty for BF3 has kind of confirmed BF4 rumors. 60FPS w/64 players on the nextbox!

That are great news!

 

[User 73706]

You know, Halo CE showed us the ropes, but Halo 2 was the one that added all of those ridiculous levels of innovation for an Xbox game.

Maybe Halo 5 and the Xbox 420 are planning on this as well?

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Apologies for a dumb question but how does a BF3 expansion/DLC prove that the next game will have 60fps and 64 players?

 

[wwm0nkey]

Apologies for a dumb question but how does a BF3 expansion/DLC prove that the next game will have 60fps and 64 players?

Chinese forum had "leaked" details about BF4 but also BF3 DLC which included Air Superiority which was just revealed today. Doesn't confirm really but so far its lining up with the rumors and if the rumors are 100% spot on it actually makes BF4 make sense lol

 

[TheOddOne]

Apologies for a dumb question but how does a BF3 expansion/DLC prove that the next game will have 60fps and 64 players?

By the gods.

 

[Tawpgun]

You know, Halo CE showed us the ropes, but Halo 2 was the one that added all of those ridiculous levels of innovation for an Xbox game.

Maybe Halo 5 and the Xbox 420 are planning on this as well?

Well we can only hope the team is now more in sync, learned their lessons, will put in all the shit they cut and more.

What I HOPE is that Halo 5 isn't just gonna be returning the feature and customization back
To Reach levels. They need to exceed that.

 

[Overdoziz]

I will buy a 720 for a 60fps, 64 player BF4 with theater mode (which is also rumored).

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Chinese forum had "leaked" details about BF4 but also BF3 DLC which included Air Superiority which was just revealed today. Doesn't confirm really but so far its lining up with the rumors and if the rumors are 100% spot on it actually makes BF4 make sense lol

By the gods.

Gotcha. I enjoyed BF3, not as much as Bad Company but enough that I'll most likely grab BF4. Especially at 60fps.

As a note on that. I played CoD for the last week, then went back to Far Cry 3 and wanted to claw my eyes out. The framerate drop is so enormous and screen tearing everywhere. FC3 is a great game aside from that though.

 

[Akai__]

Remember, that the BF4 Beta is comming Q4, this year. Hopefully on the nextbox.