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Halo |OT10| The Calm Before The Storm

blamite

Member
Aaaaaand stream is down.

Vortex looks kind of nice though. That Forge map doesn't look too bad either. I mean, it looks bad, but it doesn't look like it plays too bad.
 

Smeghead

Member
COD carrot without 1-50 works for COD all right.
Arguably Reach's system, while similar, didn't work because it didnt' reward players "properly".
Working skill matching plus proper COD-like progression system, i reckon that will work for most people. Well, new people. Halo vets might not be so keen on it, based on HaloGAF.

I don't care for skill-ranks myself but skill matching is important.
Just because it works in one game doesn't mean it's going to work in another.

They should be able to find a way to please both parties with the amount of experience at 343.

Shame because halo was the last bastion in regards to arena shooters, now it's an after thought they have to retcon.
 
Also the way they are going about not revealing any info and being so secretive is deplorable.

I hope I'm wrong and they have something up their ass.
Deplorable? We've gotten monthly updates since March, and hefty weekly updates since August.

Up their ass? That's generally not where illusionists hide things.

No need to hope that you're wrong.
 

Woorloog

Banned
...which is why they're now adding ranks?

Well it worked all right. Guess they want to enhance it?
...
Or something. Don't think it is necessary, rewarding unlock system is probably enough for many people.

Wait.
BLOPS2 will have skill ranking (and matching?)? Glad i bailed out from that series.
 
Well it worked all right. Guess they want to enhance it?
...
Or something. Don't think it is necessary, rewarding unlock system is probably enough for many people.

Wait.
BLOPS2 will have skill ranking (and matching?)? Glad i bailed out from that series.

Why is that a bad thing?
 
Deplorable? We've gotten monthly updates since March, and hefty weekly updates since August.

Up their ass? That's generally not where illusionists hide things.

No need to hope that you're wrong.

HiredN00bs, join 343 so they can implement a good version of Arena

People are desperate for ranks
 

Smeghead

Member
Deplorable? We've gotten monthly updates since March, and hefty weekly updates since August.

Up their ass? That's generally not where illusionists hide things.

No need to hope that you're wrong.
I'm talking specifically about levelling system, the rest is standard fare for a halo game.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Why is that a bad thing?

Well, for me it would be. Don't have enough temper control for serious COD.
COD was the ultimate casual game for me. And i'd like to keep it that way, if i were playing it still (doesn't mean i oppose changes there, COD does need a lot changes, more than BLOPS2 brings to draw me back).

EDIT if it were to keep casual, fast MM in addition to ranked matches, no problem with skill ranks then.
 
Deplorable? We've gotten monthly updates since March, and hefty weekly updates since August.

Up their ass? That's generally not where illusionists hide things.

No need to hope that you're wrong.

Cavity searches exist for a reason.

Someone cavity search 343 asap!

Well, for me it would be. Don't have enough temper control for serious COD.
COD was the ultimate casual game for me. And i'd like to keep it that way, if i were playing it still (doesn't mean i oppose changes there, COD does need a lot changes, more than BLOPS2 brings to draw me back).

I guess I agree - to an extent with modes like Regicide and Infinity Slayer Halo 4 is going a similar way. A seperate stripped down ranked playlist would work though - I think CoD would have to be the same way - with the ranked stuff segregated away from the core modes.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
'good version' and 'arena' in the same sentence.

Yuck.
Based on Frankie's comments...

giIFp.png
 
HiredN00bs, join 343 so they can implement a good version of Arena

People are desperate for ranks
Actually, if this is the first XBL mainline Halo game to lack a ranking system, and if there are a substantial amount of players craving one, this sounds like a job for the amazing Halo community to solve!
 
Does somebody want to trade the Strider and Scanner helmets in exchange for the skins/emblems/whatever comes with the Limited Edition come release? I decided I'm going to shell out the extra for the Specializations unlock and Season Pass.

Also, can we get a confirmation that the tracks that come with the Limited Edition OST will be lossless? I bought Reach's from Sumthing Else or whatever it was called and they were just 320kbps and had really weird tagging. Digital or not I'd just like a confirmation, not necessarily even format (I can work with FLAC, WAV, whatever). It's the only thing keeping me from pre-ordering.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Does somebody want to trade the Strider and Scanner helmets in exchange for the skins/emblems/whatever comes with the Limited Edition come release? I decided I'm going to shell out the extra for the Specializations unlock and Season Pass.

How are you going to do that? The helmets are tied to the War Games Map Pass (and i reckong the LE stuff is in one code, including LE version of WGMP).
And people don't buy code for WGMP, they buy MSP and then buy the WGMP, so trading that is going to be difficult.
Correct me if i'm wrong.
 

Omni

Member
Question about Halo Waypoint on the Xbox.

Why the hell do we need to download the entire app again every time there is a new update? It seems to be incredibly inefficient.
 
Does somebody want to trade the Strider and Scanner helmets in exchange for the skins/emblems/whatever comes with the Limited Edition come release? I decided I'm going to shell out the extra for the Specializations unlock and Season Pass.

Also, can we get a confirmation that the tracks that come with the Limited Edition OST will be lossless? I bought Reach's from Sumthing Else or whatever it was called and they were just 320kbps and had really weird tagging. Digital or not I'd just like a confirmation, not necessarily even format (I can work with FLAC, WAV, whatever). It's the only thing keeping me from pre-ordering.

I'm down for that. I'll trade the LE for those ugly bastards :]
 

kylej

Banned
even with ranking system news, Forge mains my biggest disappointment BY FAR with Halo 4. If they actually got competent people to review community maps + added selectable colors and day/night cycles (seasons, even), etc, it would go such a long way to making community maps palatable. as of now I don't want to ever play on a boring grey blockfest again. put MLG Sanc into playlists and nothing else.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Question about Halo Waypoint on the Xbox.

Why the hell do we need to download the entire app again every time there is a new update? It seems to be incredibly inefficient.

Is nothing compared to BF3. Don't complain!

Seriously, yeah, it is frigging annoying. Don't think there's ever been a title update for that, only re-downloads. Of course it is an app, and maybe it can't be patched like a game.
 
even with ranking system news, Forge mains my biggest disappointment BY FAR with Halo 4. actually get competent people reviewing community maps + colors and day/night cycles (seasons, even) would go such a long way to making community maps palatable. as of now I don't want to ever play on a boring grey blockfest again. put MLG Sanc into playlists and nothing else.

Disappointing but I hope to at least see some decent remakes.
 
I think Forge maps will have a place in MM, but they should only have like 2 maps from each pallet in rotation at any one time to avoid the awful repetition of bland confusing visuals.

even with ranking system news, Forge mains my biggest disappointment BY FAR with Halo 4. If they actually got competent people to review community maps + added selectable colors and day/night cycles (seasons, even), etc, it would go such a long way to making community maps palatable. as of now I don't want to ever play on a boring grey blockfest again. put MLG Sanc into playlists and nothing else.

I'm with you on that, while forge has seen tweaks, it was primarily just making it do the same thing but easier. I really wish the would have addressed the visual side of things, and gave more freedom to the forger.

I thought the vidoc was supposed to be up at 6

I have no idea where that time came from tbh.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Well that was a waste

the screen should have said DEFEAT after that shit
:lol For reals.

I was ok with the Chopper being gone, because I knew there was gonna be some SICK Forerunner vehicles to make up for it

"whoops"
A Forerunner chopper with morphing, levitating, independent pieces would have been amazing. It's huge missed opportunities like this that make me feel cynical about 343. Sometimes Halo 4 feels like one step forward, two steps back. I just made a big list of everything I do and don't like about Halo 4... And the 'don't like' list is twice as big. But there's three big, fundamental improvements that Halo 4 definitely has going for it: good maps, good weapon sandbox, and good movement speed + jump height. That alone will make it better than Reach, at least.

Also: All these juniors that I've never seen before are making me nervous. : tin foil hat :
 

r_c_takedown

Neo Member
:
A Forerunner chopper with morphing, levitating, independent pieces would have been amazing. It's huge missed opportunities like this that make me feel cynical about 343. Sometimes Halo 4 feels like one step forward, two steps back. I just made a big list of everything I do and don't like about Halo 4... And the 'don't like' list is twice as big. But there's three big, fundamental improvements that Halo 4 definitely has going for it: good maps, good weapon sandbox, and good movement speed + jump height. That alone will make it better than Reach, at least.

Halo 4 has a lot of potential, that's what keeps me optimistic. Sure, they could have done a lot more, added a few more features, but it looks fun to play from what i've seen. If it's fun, i couldn't care less about what it does and doesn't have.

Reach blew it. On paper, it sounded awesome! For some reason though, it just wasn't fun.
 

orznge

Banned
even with ranking system news, Forge mains my biggest disappointment BY FAR with Halo 4. If they actually got competent people to review community maps + added selectable colors and day/night cycles (seasons, even), etc, it would go such a long way to making community maps palatable. as of now I don't want to ever play on a boring grey blockfest again. put MLG Sanc into playlists and nothing else.

When has any developer under the control of a publicly traded company been able to make changes in a game where the effort for implementation weighs more than the potential quarterly profits that would result from adding it? There are just way way way way way too many layers of bureaucracy that exist for this game or any future game in this series to be on the level that people (who are halfway self-aware about its design and playing it a decade later for some weird reason) want it to be.

Look at fighting games developed by Capcom Japan. Look at Starcraft 2. I'm sure other people could provide examples of this kind of thing happening. What I'm getting at is people shouldn't hold their breath for another 10 years because whatever it is that they want implemented is probably never going to happen. Luckily there's a lot of really good FPSes out there with small but dedicated communities.
 
Halo: Arena

I've been saying this for years, they need to make a Halo game that's solely 4 v 4. All small maps like Midship, Lockout, The Pit, etc., no AAs, no armor mods, no loadouts, BR starts, only power weapons and rifles, MP only of course, skill based ranks, and downloadable. No custom armor either, just classic Mark VI. Would be so good, but will never happen.

I don't mean to say I'm not excited for Halo 4 by this post. It looks great, but the above stuff is what a large, or maybe just vocal minority portion of the Halo fanbase want. Why not do both?
 

mhi

Member
Halo: Arena
I've been saying this for years, they need to make a Halo game that's solely 4 v 4. All small maps like Midship, Lockout, The Pit, etc., no AAs, no armor mods, no loadouts, BR starts, only power weapons and rifles, MP only of course, skill based ranks, and downloadable. No custom armor either, just classic Mark VI. Would be so good, but will never happen.

Genius, but would never be greenlit.
 
I have a feeling fast ground or air-based Promethean vehicles (henceforth known as Prom Limos) wouldn't be technical "vehicles," rather ridiculous combat enhancements. For example, a speeder bike may not have a seat--it might contour Chief into that position, but I'd bet that he'd be suspended in midair while all the floating parts gyrated and rotated around his frame to allow faster movement. I'll whip up a sketch of the Batpod + Lightcycle forerunner baby before the end of this weekend.
 
All of your posts on the visible rank have really made me reflect on it. And I have to say I agree with you guys. I don't think I would have heading into Reach, but thinking back on it now...

Reach died off way faster with me and my friends than Halo 3 did. A lot of that was Armor Lock, but thinking back on it now, I think the visible rank plays a huge part.

Shake Appeal listed out a bunch of the reasons, and I agree with them. I was never great at the game -- usually hovered around 35 as an average. But it still made every match feel important and made me want to improve.

I think another aspect that made it important for me though was that I could get a quick glance at the room and see who the good players were, and tactically who I should be more careful around, who was around my level, and it affected how I played.

Beyond that, when I had an amazing game and styled on a highly ranked player, I felt really, really awesome. When I lost to a few low-ranked players, I knew it was probably time to stop for the night. the matches had meaning and I went into every game really amped to do well and improve.

Yes, H3's system was fucked in a few ways, especially with alt-accounts and people boosting like that, and it affecting other players in an overly-negative fashion, and also the sort of "cap" you would hit over time as opposed to being a really true measure of recent ability as opposed to lifetime.

Anyway, with all of this info in mind, I'm thinking I'm going to reduce my preorder to the regular edition. I don't mean this as a big melodramatic post, but I've been considering it for a while now and considering how quickly Reach died out for me, if the same happens with H4 I'll have wasted my money on maps I'll never play on.

Hopefully 343 changes their minds and adds the visible ranking system in there.

I wanted to add to this that I think the reasoning for these changes, alongside just the facile "copy CoD" argument, is a narrow-minded focus on removing "negative emotions" from the Halo experience.

Halo 2 and Halo 3 had some of my most wild emotional swings -- high-flying joy at a great match, or serious fury at poor ones, etc. The thing is, these highs and lows defined the game and made it addictive... yeah, I would stop playing sometimes when the lows got to be too much, but I'd always come back because I wanted that serious high.

Basically, what was happening with Reach and seems to be happening with Halo 4 is they're trying to treat us all like we're Marge's when we were Homer's all along.

Credit to anybody that posts the quote I'm referring to there.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
So whatever happened to the ViDoc?
It's coming. No one knows when. There were rumors of 6pm tonight, but that obviously didn't happen. I've also heard rumors of tomorrow at Noon -- dunno what time zone.
 
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