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Halo |OT15| Beta-tested, GAF approved

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Those population numbers. Wow. And I thought Reach being at 90k peak concurrent was bad. Rough times for Halo =/. And Tashi, where be dat KF interview?

I just recorded it like 6 hours ago. I have to edit out some shit and get it through the PR machine before I can release it.

Let me tell you something, 1 on 1 interviews like this are fucking hard.

Got some good questions and some good answers though so I appreciate Kevin was able to do that for us.
 
I just recorded it like 6 hours ago. I have to edit out some shit and get it through the PR machine before I can release it.

Let me tell you something, 1 on 1 interviews like this are fucking hard.

Got some good questions and some good answers though so I appreciate Kevin was able to do that for us.

Awesome, look forward to listening to it.
 

Madness

Member
I just recorded it like 6 hours ago. I have to edit out some shit and get it through the PR machine before I can release it.

Let me tell you something, 1 on 1 interviews like this are fucking hard.

Got some good questions and some good answers though so I appreciate Kevin was able to do that for us.

Its done? Can't wait to listen to it.
 
I just recorded it like 6 hours ago. I have to edit out some shit and get it through the PR machine before I can release it.

Let me tell you something, 1 on 1 interviews like this are fucking hard.

Got some good questions and some good answers though so I appreciate Kevin was able to do that for us.
That's great to hear, and props to both you and Kevin for doing it.
 
I just recorded it like 6 hours ago. I have to edit out some shit and get it through the PR machine before I can release it.

Let me tell you something, 1 on 1 interviews like this are fucking hard.

Got some good questions and some good answers though so I appreciate Kevin was able to do that for us.
Was it via skype? It's gotta be difficult to have a conversation with someone when you don't know them well and can't see their body language in response to your questions. Thanks for doing that, Tashi. Really looking forward to hearing it.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Was it via skype? It's gotta be difficult to have a conversation with someone when you don't know them well and can't see their body language in response to your questions. Thanks for doing that, Tashi. Really looking forward to hearing it.

Yea it was Skype. That wasn't the problem though, I have no issues with that on the podcast.

The problem was that I couldn't naturally engage in conversation. There were about 1000 things that came up in my head while he was speaking. And if I were just chatting and not recording an interview I could act on those things and have an actual conversation. With this though, you have a limited amount of time and a set of questions you wanna get to on top of realizing what you can and can't ask on the fly. It's pretty dry.

Kevin handled it like a Pro though. There were a couple unscripted questions that actually did just come up naturally that weren't planned at all and Kevin handled it great.

I gave him the list of questions beforehand just so he can point out which he can and can't talk about. I'm not going to say which, obviously.
 
Yea it was Skype. That wasn't the problem though, I have no issues with that on the podcast.

The problem was that I couldn't naturally engage in conversation. There were about 1000 things that came up in my head while he was speaking. And if I were just chatting and not recording an interview I could act on those things and have an actual conversation. With this though, you have a limited amount of time and a set of questions you wanna get to on top of realizing what you can and can't ask on the fly. It's pretty dry.

Kevin handled it like a Pro though. There were a couple unscripted questions that actually did just come up naturally that weren't planned at all and Kevin handled it great.

I gave him the list of questions beforehand just so he can point out which he can and can't talk about. I'm not going to say which, obviously.
Add some Halo 4 soundtrack in the background. :-D
 
Yea it was Skype. That wasn't the problem though, I have no issues with that on the podcast.

The problem was that I couldn't naturally engage in conversation. There were about 1000 things that came up in my head while he was speaking. And if I were just chatting and not recording an interview I could act on those things and have an actual conversation. With this though, you have a limited amount of time and a set of questions you wanna get to on top of realizing what you can and can't ask on the fly. It's pretty dry.

Kevin handled it like a Pro though. There were a couple unscripted questions that actually did just come up naturally that weren't planned at all and Kevin handled it great.

I gave him the list of questions beforehand just so he can point out which he can and can't talk about. I'm not going to say which, obviously.
I cannot wait to hear it. Unfortunately people will complain about his answer that he has no clue about the game. Sadly enough.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
LTTP, but damn, that 33k peak.

343 needs to open their eyes.

ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?
 
ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?
Totally out of topic, but I am sorry for not joining your games the last few days. Haha. I even told you to shoot me an invite, but I shortly went offline after I had sent you that message.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?

This is something I have brought up before. I think it does to a degree, but not to the degree HaloGaf (or others) want to believe. The market has clearly changed. Who knows the exact reasons for the drop, 343 does need to do something to get it moving up again though.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?

Honestly here is what I think when playing Halo 4 due to the unlock system and ect.

"Call of Duty does it better and I miss Halo having an identity......why am I playing this again?"

I also am getting tired of the unlock and perk system in general to be honest even in Call of Duty yet weirdly I am 100% ok with it in Battlefield.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Totally out of topic, but I am sorry for not joining your games the last few days. Haha. I even told you to shoot me an invite, but I shortly went offline after I had sent you that message.

no problem. i didnt see your apology message till yesterday! i sware, either notifications only sometimes work, or i just tune them out while playing. i totally understand.
 

Madness

Member
ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?

Core gameplay. Ranks is a big one, but I feel the gameplay turns a lot of people off. I know for me, I get frustrated from playing Infinity or BTB Infinity to the point where I just want to turn off the damn console.

It's just not fun. And sure some people like it, hiding on rocks invisible, promethean vision, boltshot and like 5-6 power weapons in play at all times, but not me.

Loadouts in general have really fucked the gameplay up. Completely removed Map play out of the equation. Just pick a good spot and start shooting. No more looking for weapons, no more fights on key corridors. Just stand still and shoot. If you die, respawn and kill the guy whose shield isn't back. Add in dumb perks like ammo, or unlimited sprint and you've broken what the game was.

It comes down to CoD. Let people use whatever they want at all times. But that's not Halo, it never was.

Just my opinion.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Core gameplay. Ranks is a big one, but I feel the gameplay turns a lot of people off. I know for me, I get frustrated from playing Infinity or BTB Infinity to the point where I just want to turn off the damn console.

It's just not fun. And sure some people like it, hiding on rocks invisible, promethean vision, boltshot and like 5-6 power weapons in play at all times, but not me.

Loadouts in general have really fucked the gameplay up. Completely removed Map play out of the equation. Just pick a good spot and start shooting. No more looking for weapons, no more fights on key corridors. Just stand still and shoot. If you die, respawn and kill the guy whose shield isn't back. Add in dumb perks like ammo, or unlimited sprint and you've broken what the game was.

It comes down to CoD. Let people use whatever they want at all times. But that's not Halo, it never was.

Just my opinion.

Why do you still play Infinity stuff? You have other options now.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Core gameplay. Ranks is a big one, but I feel the gameplay turns a lot of people off. I know for me, I get frustrated from playing Infinity or BTB Infinity to the point where I just want to turn off the damn console.

It's just not fun. And sure some people like it, hiding on rocks invisible, promethean vision, boltshot and like 5-6 power weapons in play at all times, but not me.

Loadouts in general have really fucked the gameplay up. Completely removed Map play out of the equation. Just pick a good spot and start shooting. No more looking for weapons, no more fights on key corridors. Just stand still and shoot. If you die, respawn and kill the guy whose shield isn't back. Add in dumb perks like ammo, or unlimited sprint and you've broken what the game was.

It comes down to CoD. Let people use whatever they want at all times. But that's not Halo, it never was.

Just my opinion.

and that is echoed in a lot of halo enthusiast sections of the web... but these people arent why the population is so low (at least IMO).

there has been a drop off for all halo games. the sci-fi shooter in general is dwindling, just look at the gears franchise. military shooters continue to dominate, and now there is battlefield as well as cod to turn to.

Why do you still play Infinity stuff? You have other options now.

this reminds me - if 343i and their infinity vision of halo is really responsible for the lower popularity of halo 4, why does halo 4's BTB have far and away the largest population whereas throwdown has amongst the smallest? not directed at you tashi
 

FyreWulff

Member
I wonder what effect cutting out everyone without a large enough hard drive had on the population.

Because I get a feeling a notable amount of the long tail population in Halo 3 and Reach were on Cores or 4GB Slims, considering Halo 3's DLC availability didn't explode until Mythic, which let Cores play all the DLC and the entirety of matchmaking.
 

willow ve

Member
this reminds me - if 343i and their infinity vision of halo is really responsible for the lower popularity of halo 4, why does halo 4's BTB have far and away the largest population whereas throwdown has amongst the smallest? not directed at you tashi
I think this is in part due to when play lists are released. In the beginning you had Infinity and that drove a load of players away from the experience (see halo charts). By the time throwdown was launched in 4 or classic in Reach the large population that wanted this type of game at launch had largely moved on.

It would really only work to compare them if they were all launch game types.

The players that are still playing months after launch are those that actually enjoy the loadout or infinity systems so at this point the numbers are inherently skewed.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
I wonder what effect cutting out everyone without a large enough hard drive had on the population.

Because I get a feeling a notable amount of the long tail population in Halo 3 and Reach were on Cores or 4GB Slims, considering Halo 3's DLC availability didn't explode until Mythic, which let Cores play all the DLC and the entirety of matchmaking.

you know, i do think that has had an effect. anecdotal i know, but this weekend my 12 year old nephew came over and told me he doesnt play halo 4 anymore because none of his friends do. the reason? the mandatory install for MP. i would have never even considered that as much of a barrier before
 

rakka

Member
downloaded forge island, hadnt done much research on it so was expecting something like forge world (finally!)

was kind of disappointed.

also, population numbers seem to be worse than reach mid 2012. only going by evening numbers in my time zone though.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
you know, i do think that has had an effect. anecdotal i know, but this weekend my 12 year old nephew came over and told me he doesnt play halo 4 anymore because none of his friends do. the reason? the mandatory install for MP. i would have never even considered that as much of a barrier before

He best get ready for next gen.
 

willow ve

Member
you know, i do think that has had an effect. anecdotal i know, but this weekend my 12 year old nephew came over and told me he doesnt play halo 4 anymore because none of his friends do. the reason? the mandatory install for MP. i would have never even considered that as much of a barrier before

All of my brothers and in laws are using arcade edition xboxes. They all loved Halo but all 5 of them didn't buy 4 due to the mandatory install.
 
ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?
Those examples are largely responsible, but not the sole reasons. There are a lot of good games that just came out (alas I have no money for frivolity), so that's also detracting from the numbers for the time being. I also have been hearing that the game that 343 cribbed so many ideas from is a better experience if you're into that kind of thing.

Why do you still play Infinity stuff? You have other options now.
Throwdown is a harsh mistress if you go in alone and are not the best player, especially with that playlist's population.
 

Omni

Member
All of my brothers and in laws are using arcade edition xboxes. They all loved Halo but all 5 of them didn't buy 4 due to the mandatory install.
I'm using an Arcade model actually. Managed to pick up a 250GB HDD from Ebay for $30 (not MS official, but does the trick) though

I wonder how big MS will push the HDD next-gen
 
Now a question came into my mind to ask Kevin Franklin. I hope someone did ask it, but I fear not. Playing Infinity CTF(what a piece of shit), I would like to know if 343i is able to restrict the Personal Drops to specific weapons on specific maps. It is clearly unfair game if one team gets the Binary Rifle on Ragnarok as his first drop. I mean the opposite team gets a big advantage to attack.

Anyway, Infinity CTF is a piece of shit, but I had to play it. (JIP)
 
Legendary Slayer might be the thing for you.
I hope against all hope. The Doubles settings are fantastic and even the other variant is more fair than the crap that goes on in the regular Infinity playlist. Looking forward to hearing more details about it.

I'm just worried that creating ANOTHER playlist will further splinter the meager population and make it more difficult to make proper matches. Objective is a shameful wasteland.


Infinity CTF is a piece of shit
Because it needs to be quoted as much as possible until it dies the unceremonious death it so richly deserves.
 

Tawpgun

Member
Now a question came into my mind to ask Kevin Franklin. I hope someone did ask it, but I fear not. Playing Infinity CTF(what a piece of shit), I would like to know if 343i is able to restrict the Personal Drops to specific weapons on specific maps. It is clearly unfair game if one team gets the Binary Rifle on Ragnarok as his first drop. I mean the opposite team gets a big advantage to attack.

Anyway, Infinity CTF is a piece of shit, but I had to play it. (JIP)
It's unfair by design bro
 
It's unfair by design bro
No. Ehm... yes it is kinda, but you still restrict it by not allowing long range weapons like Sniper, Beam Rilfe or Binary Rifle to be part of the personal ordnance drops. Balance the drops for the maps.

Now, I am heading to the gym to get some sports done.
 

Omni

Member
What are you guys talking about? Both teams have the same chance of getting power weapons. It's completely balanced

:lol
 

willow ve

Member
I'm using an Arcade model actually. Managed to pick up a 250GB HDD from Ebay for $30 (not MS official, but does the trick) though

I wonder how big MS will push the HDD next-gen
With 50 GB game discs I can't imagine there will be mandatory installs. Even a 1 TB drive would only hold 15 games (+ DLC, patches, arcade games, apps, OS, etc.) Unless they're planning to have 1 TB drives as their standard I can't see the mandatory install for all games.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
With 50 GB game discs I can't imagine there will be mandatory installs. Even a 1 TB drive would only hold 15 games (+ DLC, patches, arcade games, apps, OS, etc.) Unless they're planning to have 1 TB drives as their standard I can't see the mandatory install for all games.

i think the rumor is the base model being 500gb. also, i wouldnt think that most games will be anywhere near 50gb, even if the format supports that. i am completely ok with mado installs so long as 1) we can play, as rumored, while the game installs 2) it drastically cuts down on load times 3) allows us to play a game without the disc in the tray (i can dream).
 

DeadNames

Banned
ok, serious question. do you all really think halo 4's population numbers have anything to do with infinity, gameplay unlocks, spawning pp's, or no visible ranks?

it feels like a half baked CoD. plus it's frustrating and I have no incentive to play.

I'd expand on it, but I'm on mobile.
 

Brolic Gaoler

formerly Alienshogun
it feels like a half baked CoD. plus it's frustrating and I have no incentive to play.

I'd expand on it, but I'm on mobile.

IMO infinity slayer is fine, most of the MP is fun, it's just certain things that make it suck (like the bolt shot, camo, shitty maps etc).

My other problem is I hardly have time for games anymore given my new career and still maintaining my weightlifting hobby. Gaming has dropped of DRASTICALLY.
 

Obscured

Member
I never quite get the argument that if it wasn't available at launch then it doesn't matter and won't have any effect. It would seem that more hardcore players would also fall in a demographic that is more tied in to information sources where they might become aware of changes made that might interest them.

I asked this question before, but how do you turn the casual player (let's brainstorm some new more useful terms) into a core player? I like how League of Legends introduces a new player to basics, but also the community and BO2 did some of the same stuff.

You can either make a shallower game or create a deeper game that allows players to enter at a shallow level and get comfortable before venturing deeper. There were some elements to past Halos that did the later, but not to nearly the degree it needs to continue growing an audience.
 
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