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[NullPointer]

After playing CoD for this short amount of time, I'm really beginning to appreciate the fact that, even in Halo 4, if you get shot you still have a good chance of survival.

That right there is the main reason I play Halo rather than other games. That Spartan survivability also helps to mitigate the effects of lag. So when I'm lagging in COD, which is often, I'm dead before I knew what hit me, or none of my shots register, where in Halo it'll just seem like I'm getting downed in 2-3 shots instead of 5. Its a tiny window of opportunity, but you can work with it.

 

[EagleBurnn]

There weren't any good maps for Oddball in Reach so instead of making good maps they 'fixed' it by making the ball randomly explode and spawn in a random location to prevent camping (which is caused by bad map design).

If only there was a map editing mode to fix such problems

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Not only that but it'd have Co-Op Campaign (both Covenant, and Human perspective playable) and Vs MP too. Custom games able to use custom map editor made maps.

In Co-Op You'd divvy up half the squad to one player and half the squad to the other player. Use live chat to strategize. N destroy missions together. Eventually you'd get vehicles. Holy fuckkk.

 

[Rev3rb]

Very tiny nerf if that.
Yes on scattershot
Boltshot sucks.
Skill ranking good.
And give us some fucking DMR/BR ammo on the maps. Geez.

Definitely this.

I've had to either:

1. Wait for teammates to die to get more ammo
2. Just let someone kill me

because of zero ammo

 

[J-Roderton]

And, of course, bouncing a grenade 90 degree style off a wall and killing the dude chasing behind you in 1-2 shots.

I suck at COD.

 

[NullPointer]

And, of course, bouncing a grenade 90 degree style off a wall and killing the dude chasing behind you in 1-2 shots.

I suck at COD.

I remember doing that with the pro pipe in Quake. Good times

The more I think of additions 343 brought to the table in Halo 4 the more I think they succeeded in making the game more accessible. Where the failed is in leading the playerbase towards more skill based playlists that remove those training wheels.

A short, shallow XP system that introduces weapons and AAs and perks is fine, but then move players towards pro playlists for emblems, stances and armor customization that has static spawns and either no perks, or all perks enabled. They still get their long term progression system and challenges, but without sacrificing too much from their longstanding playerbase.

Its the no-sprint, no-AA stuff that I don't see happening really.

 

[EagleBurnn]

And, of course, bouncing a grenade 90 degree style off a wall and killing the dude chasing behind you in 1-2 shots.

I suck at COD.

Most people who play Halo are (by most I mean me). Halo does have a pace to it and requires patience at times. Did you see the limited CoD MLG tournaments (lol)? Those guys never let go of sprint and would shoot for half a second (if that) and then go at it again. Halo's Theater can't even speed up the game that fast. It's fucking crazy.

My friend's good at CoD and sucks at Halo because all he does is charge groups of guys thinking he has an M16.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Yea god forbid you guys should be aware, use radar effectively (when possible) and communication in CoD. So you see the enemy first.

No. Course not.

Its just all bullshit that boils down to who sees who first! Its no skill involved you cant be good or bad you just play and hope you see the enemy first!

You guys will cry about anything. Adapt.

 

[Enter The 36 Chambers]

We still posting gifs of girls or is that the old OT??

 

[Sr Kitsune]

Games aren't getting dubbed. They are getting localized. Huge difference, because the studios, which are doing the localization aren't getting video material in most cases. That's why they can't do a perfect lip synch.

Also, I know, how you feel about this, but maybe this is a thing, which will change for next gen. If we are getting Blu Rays, there should be enough space, for some more language options, hopefully.

Yeah, I know I just forgot the exact term. I did tweet to 4JStudios about how the "Creeper" is called "reptil"(yes, reptile) and they answered they would check that with the location team.

And when I was lurking someone asked if in Halo 4 we will be able to change the MM announcer changing the idiom of the console(like in Halo 3 and Reach), with David Ellis answering that unfortunately the didn't have enough space on disc for that. So hopeful with bluray we can recover that option.

 

[Overdoziz]

CoD takes no skill, it's all about who calls in the nuke first.

 

[The Henery]

I've always had a problem with static weapon spawns in these games, but considering how those spawns are now highlighted from across the map, that's been solved for the most part. I still think personal ordnance is a godsend in training players on power weapon use.

Just tweak some things in the TU (tiny tiny nerf to DMR, tighten up the spread on the scattershot, bigger nerfs to boltshot and camo), get rid of any jetpack camping spots that can't be reached on foot or with jumps, and add skill rankings.

At the bolded: I always assumed the campaign was where new players go to get a hang of the sandbox. Also, personal ordnance in Halo 4 omits more than it opens. The vast majority of the time I get a Needler, Saw or a Shotgun/Scattershot (sometimes the icon will say Shotgun but drop a Scattershot). All mid-tier power weapons. I've used the Rockets and Sniper Rifle dramatically less often than I have in previous Halo's because of personal ordnance. I feel nowhere near proficient enough with the Sniper in Halo 4 as I'd like to be because I cannot use it with ay regularity or guarantee (medium maps such as The Pit, Asylum and Boardwalk, to name a few, all had two snipers spawning every three minutes).

Agreed on the TU. Nuke Camo. The way I'd delimit the DMR's overbearingness would be to reduce its scope from 3x to 2x. Would improve BTB dramatically.

Yeah, I've said it a million times, but this is the #1 thing I dislike about Halo 4. Fixed weapon spawns with fixed timers are cool for two main reasons:

1. Fighting for power weapons encourages map movement, map control, and team work.

2. They're predictabile, which is important for a few reasons:

• You start a match, run to a weapon spawn, see that it's gone, and know none of your team mates went for it -- so you know the enemy has it.
• To some degree, you can predict player movement even beyond the beginning of a match. You know people are going to be checking on weapon spawns on a regular basis, even if they aren't timing the respawn.
• You know to be cautious in certain areas and sightlines.
• You can, to a reasonable degree and if you pay attention, judge how much ammo is left in an enemy's power weapon.

All of this encourages you to rely on communication and situational awareness, rather than the dumb luck of Halo 4.

Agreed.

 

[Enter The 36 Chambers]

Courtesy of the infomercial gif thread...

 

[CyReN]

I don't care for the gameplay much, but the COD series does a lot of community/matchmaking things correctly. The COD Community Managers do a great job keeping on top of exploits and such (there are tons more than in Halo).

Treyarch really doesn't have a community manager, Vahn just steps up and works to improve the overall game. It isn't about a paragraph of excuses or what could be. It's about the love for that said community and the strive to make it better.

Recent proof - http://360icons.com/forums/showthread.php/27654-Universal-Ruleset?p=342514#post342514

Hello,

This is perhaps the closest we've been to a universal rule set across sites and the game itself. It's our intention to finalize this in-time for Champions Series, Season 3.

[Rules]

As far as bans go, that might by the lowest percentage of content banned ever. Which isn't saying all that much.

The right thing to do would be to allow teams to have 1 or more votes for content restrictions for each match type they play - but that feature is well beyond the scope of what we can do right now.

Nonetheless, when I look at it objectively, we still have some [small] victories.

You've banned less. So we support you more (in-game features & promotion). The stream viewers go up.

You seeing how this works, yet?

We are not banning the FaL, but we will tune it. We need Assault Rifles in this mix badly.

I need something else from you to keep this going.

From a viewing experience, 3 game modes are going to wear thin very quickly. What's it going to take to get Domination back in this mix. It's unfortunate that it's not played at the highest competitive levels. Domination is a magnitude more popular in pubs than Capture the Flag.

You should be thinking about switching it out or adding it on top of.

I can't yet explain fully explain why a finalized set of published restrictions, and game modes variety, are so important other than to tell you that you will WANT Season 3 of Champions to be something we are both happy with because it will largely determine your entire year.

We have just over a week to work this out. Let's go.

Vahn

 

[JHall]

Watching Ninja try to play CoD on stream is pure gold.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

CoD takes no skill, it's all about who calls in the nuke first.

Halo takes no skill, it's all about who calls the Binary Rifle first.

 

[Striker]

There weren't any good maps for Oddball in Reach so instead of making good maps they 'fixed' it by making the ball randomly explode and spawn in a random location to prevent camping caused by the bad map layout..

There hasn't been many good Oddball maps, period. At least in Halo 2/3/Reach. Maybe Guardian in Hardcore/MLG rules, because fuck equipment with that. Warlock, Midship, and Lockout are absolutely maps suited for it. But other than those, there's really no much for it. Same goes for King of the Hill.

Now in H4 they're everywhere. Only combo that does not exist is Oddball/Ragnarok.

The guns sound better than every Halo game that came after (Maybe except the Sniper)

Plasma Rifle, Assault Rifle, and Sniper say no.

The Banshee and Ghost had some unique sounds to them that were missing from games after also

 

[Garrett 2U]

Treyarch really doesn't have a community manager, Vahn just steps up and works to improve the overall game. It isn't about a paragraph of excuses or what could be. It's about the love for that said community and the strive to make it better.

Recent proof - http://360icons.com/forums/showthread.php/27654-Universal-Ruleset?p=342514#post342514

Damn, I really wish we had this support. Ugh, it hurts.

 

[NullPointer]

At the bolded: I always assumed the campaign was where new players go to get a hang of the sandbox.

If you had to fight to hold and area so you could retrieve a dropped weapon and get back into the fight, sure, but that's not how campaign plays out. If it did I'd absolutely agree.

That's my biggest gripe with multiplayer game design right now - you'd think the campaigns would act as better tutorials, but they really don't. You can explore how the weapons handle, but that's about it. Spartan Ops does a better job here as it does include reinforcement drops close to the action.

 

[JHall]

If they nerf my FAL, I'm going to be so pissed.

 

[J-Roderton]

Halo takes no skill, it's all about who calls the Binary Rifle first.

That fucker never shows up for me on personal ordnance.

 

[NullPointer]

COD is about positional play and who has the better connection.

That fucker never shows up for me on personal ordnance.

In a recent game of Exile I grabbed a binary off the map, took down some blues, then earned an ordnance drop with another binary. It was a massacre.

 

[Barrow Roll]

Halo 5 will explore a Palmer-Arbiter love story. What happens when two legendary warriors share love across species?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih0AhAG24Uo

 

[Dirtbag]

I remember doing that with the pro pipe in Quake. Good times

The more I think of additions 343 brought to the table in Halo 4 the more I think they succeeded in making the game more accessible. Where the failed is in leading the playerbase towards more skill based playlists that remove those training wheels.

A short, shallow XP system that introduces weapons and AAs and perks is fine, but then move players towards pro playlists for emblems, stances and armor customization that has static spawns and either no perks, or all perks enabled. They still get their long term progression system and challenges, but without sacrificing too much from their longstanding playerbase.

Its the no-sprint, no-AA stuff that I don't see happening really.

I remember a time when Halo was considered the most accessible FPS on the market and it just so happened to be the era with the highest skill gap. Everything is always just dumbed down more, and more, and more. We really are heading for idiocracy

 

[J-Roderton]

COD is about positional play and who has the better connection.


In a recent game of Exile I grabbed a binary off the map, took down some blues, then earned an ordnance drop with another binary. It was a massacre.

Can't go wrong with a regular ol' fashioned sniper rifle, but, that binary rifle is fun. I'm working on forerunner ordnance commendation. Taking for evvvvvvvver.

 

[Overdoziz]

There hasn't been many good Oddball maps, period. At least in Halo 2/3/Reach. Maybe Guardian in Hardcore/MLG rules, because fuck equipment with that. Warlock, Midship, and Lockout are absolutely maps suited for it. But other than those, there's really no much for it. Same goes for King of the Hill.

Now in H4 they're everywhere. Only combo that does not exist is Oddball/Ragnarok.

KotH and especially Oddball only work on a very select number of maps. For some reason Bungie and now 343 don't understand this and decide every single time to make us play the gametypes with awful settings (Random hills, 30 second hills, bad hill locations, random Oddball spawns, Hot Potato lol etc.) on maps that aren't suited for them. MLG shows how to make these gametypes work very well, but Bungie and 343 haven't caught on sadly.

 

[NullPointer]

I remember a time when Halo was considered the most accessible FPS on the market and it just so happened to be the era with the highest skill gap. Everything is always just dumbed down more, and more, and more. We really are heading for idiocracy

That's what COD changed, big time. Its truly pick up and play, fast, fluid, intuitive, and offers lots of short and long term challenges that are rewarding to achieve.

You can't go back in time, but you can refine and evolve.

 

[Reagan's BR]

I think simple would be most accessible. Perks, AAs, and more random features only serve to make the game more confusing and overwhelming to someone who has never played before. Everyone spawning with the same basic attributes, however, is much easier to understand.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

COD is about positional play and who has the better connection.

Actually right now Blops II has the most lag compensation of any CoD ever. In fact a ton of people are calling for it to be lessened and removed as it makes for some really shitty gameplay. (Generally people prefer live action rather than heuristic based suggested action) You get to an actual point where you are trying to ignore the fact that lag will always exist across the internet, and it ends up hurting the gameplay because its not as sharp as what actually happened within the players game. AKA overcorrection. Kind of like someone saying yea you defintely shot him, but were gonna give it to the other guy who shot you better, but after you actually killed them.

Do you actually play CoD or do you just talk about it like you know whats going on?

 

[NullPointer]

Do you actually play CoD or do you just talk about it like you know whats going on?

I play nothing pro wise, but spent a fuckton of time in MW1/2 and Black Ops 1 multi. I loved it, and loved it exactly for that positional play, but lag in that game truly kills. Didn't mean to shit on it with that summary - I just think Halo has positional play and far more.

Lag always exists yes, but I think that longer kill times helps to mitigate some of those effects. Not by a lot, but enough to make a difference. Gears had potential here too, but the lag and focus on rolling shotgun kills turned me off of that one too.

 

[User 73706]

I wonder if Loadout Ammo Crates would work. Like, rather than place each weapon, it'd just be a UNSC crate with some Forerunner/Carbine ammo slapped in it too. Put it in bases or something. Bam, everyone gets more ammo (save for Storm Rifle/Plasma Pistol users).

 

[BlueScrote]

Teyarch does, Infinity Ward doesn't. IW's games might as well have a middle finger as the main menu.

I thought MW1 and 2 had decent support. I didn't play enough of 3 though.

Treyarch really doesn't have a community manager, Vahn just steps up and works to improve the overall game. It isn't about a paragraph of excuses or what could be. It's about the love for that said community and the strive to make it better.

Recent proof - http://360icons.com/forums/showthread.php/27654-Universal-Ruleset?p=342514#post342514

God I wish 343 was more like this.

Yea god forbid you guys should be aware, use radar effectively (when possible) and communication in CoD. So you see the enemy first.

No. Course not.

Its just all bullshit that boils down to who sees who first! Its no skill involved you cant be good or bad you just play and hope you see the enemy first!

You guys will cry about anything. Adapt.

Halo takes no skill, it's all about who calls the Binary Rifle first.

ozrnge? Is that you?

 

[Ghazi]

I wonder if Loadout Ammo Crates would work. Like, rather than place each weapon, it'd just be a UNSC crate with some Forerunner/Carbine ammo slapped in it too. Put it in bases or something. Bam, everyone gets more ammo (save for Storm Rifle/Plasma Pistol users).

Would've worked great for Dominion, that and maybe 1 power weapon spawn would've made that gametype bearable. I feel like I'm playing BTB Heavies (minus the extra people) when I play Dominion.

 

[MrGreencastle]

I wonder if Loadout Ammo Crates would work. Like, rather than place each weapon, it'd just be a UNSC crate with some Forerunner/Carbine ammo slapped in it too. Put it in bases or something. Bam, everyone gets more ammo (save for Storm Rifle/Plasma Pistol users).

But then you nerf the ammo perk. The game was designed with those perks in mind to balance out the limitations of the sandbox, in my eyes. ie: Stability, Stealth, Ammo, etc.

Its sad, because unless there's a relatively large sandbox rebalancing patch incoming (which probably could have been all done in a beta), we likely won't see anything like that added in the game.

 

[Havok]

I wonder if Loadout Ammo Crates would work. Like, rather than place each weapon, it'd just be a UNSC crate with some Forerunner/Carbine ammo slapped in it too. Put it in bases or something. Bam, everyone gets more ammo (save for Storm Rifle/Plasma Pistol users).

It has its ups and downs. People who have less popular loadout items don't have as hard of a time keeping their weapon, but you lose the ability to balance out ammo availability on a case-by-case basis by placing weapons in non-optimal locations (ex: a DMR user could be forced to retreat from the hill to get more ammo, but a less effective BR user wouldn't have as long of a run to make to even things out).

You also run the risk of encouraging camping, especially if you put those things in the base (which is inherently an optimal location given the gametypes we have). No reason to leave the base if you can ping people with your rifle the entire game without having to move.

It's not a tradeoff I'd be comfortable making, if just for that issue popping up.

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

ozrnge? Is that you?

lol

 

[xxjuicesxx]

lol

No he was more like "hahahahahaahahah"

Halo anyone? Don't care which game...

I'll do Reach in an hour when I get off work.

 

[Computer]

343 We need a classic playlist! Put that in your Monday update thanks.

 

[Overdoziz]

So I've been trying to come up with a way to properly consolidate Halo 3's playlist while keeping all maps and most gametypes in while still allowing people to acquire all achievements. I've probably missed some stuff, but this is what I've got at the moment:

Ranked

Playlist: Lone Wolves (8 player FFA)
Gametypes: FFA Slayer
Maps: Guardian, Narrows, The Pit, Blackout, Assembly, Citadel, Heretic, Cold Storage, High Ground
Notes: High Ground is in for the Mongoose Mowdown and Two for One achievements

Playlist: Team Slayer (4v4)
Gametypes: Team Slayer Pro
Maps: Guardian, Narrows, The Pit, Blackout, Assembly, Citadel, Heretic, Construct
Notes:

Playlist: Team Doubles (2v2) (DLC required)
Gametypes: Team Slayer Doubles
Maps: Guardian, The Pit, Blackout, Assembly, Citadel, Heretic
Notes: DLC required because without it you're stuck with only a couple of maps

Social

Playlist: Rumble Pit (8 player FFA)
Gametypes: FFA Slayer, Infection
Maps: Guardian, Narrows, The Pit, Blackout, Assembly, Citadel, Heretic, Cold Storage, High Ground, Isolation, Foundry, Epitaph, Snowbound, Ghost Town
Notes: Infection is in for the Delicious Brains and Zombie Repeller achievements, exp resets every month for the Vidmaster Challenge: 7 on 7 achievement

Playlist: Team Social (4v4)
Gametypes: Team Slayer, One-Bomb, One-Flag, Multi-Flag, Neutral Bomb, KotH, Oddball
Maps: Guardian, Narrows, The Pit, Blackout, Assembly, Citadel, Heretic, Construct, High Ground, Isolation, Last Resort, Snowbound, Foundry, Ghost Town, Orbital, Longshore, Cold Storage, Sandbox
Notes: 50% weighting on Slayer

Playlist: Big Team Battle (8v8)
Gametypes: Team Slayer BTB, One-Bomb BTB, One-Flag BTB, Multi-Flag BTB, Neutral Bomb BTB
Maps: Valhalla, Sandtrap, Last Resort, Rat’s Nest, Standoff, Avalanche, Longshore
Notes: 50% weighting on Slayer

Gametypes

FFA Slayer
BR/AR starts, 25 score limit, radar on, 5 second respawn

Team Slayer Pro
BR/AR starts, 50 score limit, radar off, 5 second respawn

Team Slayer
BR/AR starts, 50 score limit, radar on, 5 second respawn

Team Slayer BTB
BR/AR starts, 100 score limit, radar on, 5 second respawn

Team Slayer Doubles
BR/AR starts, 25 score limit, radar off, 5 second respawn

Infection
Humans: Shotgun/Pistol starts, radar off
Infected: Sword starts, radar on (enemies always show up), 3 second respawn

One-Bomb
BR/AR starts, 4 rounds, 1 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 1 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 5 second arm, 10 second timer, 3 second disarm
Only on High Ground, Last Resort, Ghost Town, Longshore, Orbital

One-Bomb BTB
BR/AR starts, 4 rounds, 1 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 1 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 5 second arm, 10 second timer, 3 second disarm
Only on Last Resort, Avalanche, Valhalla, Longshore

Neutral Bomb
BR/AR starts, 3 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 2 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 5 second arm, 10 second timer, 3 second disarm
Only on The Pit, Sandbox

Neutral Bomb BTB
BR/AR starts, 3 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 2 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 5 second arm, 10 second timer, 3 second disarm
Only on Valhalla, Standoff, Rat’s Nest, Avalanche

One-Flag
BR/AR starts, 4 rounds, 1 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 1 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 10 second recovery, flag cooldown off
Only on High Ground, Last Resort, Ghost Town, Longshore, Orbital

One-Flag BTB
BR/AR starts, 4 rounds, 1 score limit, 10 second respawn, 1 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 10 second recovery, flag cooldown off
Only on Last Resort, Avalanche, Valhalla, Longshore

Multi-Flag
BR/AR starts, 3 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 2 minute sudden death, 15 second reset, 5 second recovery, flag cooldown off
Only on Narrows, Heretic, The Pit, Sandbox, Assembly, Citadel

Multi-Flag BTB
BR/AR starts, 3 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 2 minute sudden death, 30 second reset, 10 second recovery, flag cooldown off
Only on Valhalla, Avalanche, Rat’s Nest, Standoff

King of the Hill
BR/AR starts, 1 grenade at spawn, 250 score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 3 hills, sequenced hill movement, 2 minute hills
Only on Guardian, Blackout, Construct

Oddball
BR/AR starts, 200 second score limit, radar on, 10 second respawn, 1 ball spawn, 30 second reset
Only on Guardian, Blackout

Gimme the keys, 343!

 

[FyreWulff]

Lone Wolves and Team Slayer in their current configuration, Social Slayer and BTB in their current configuration, 7 on the 7th is a combination of all the remaining popular gametypes from other lists in a 5v5 format to allow the rest of the achievements.

BTB is all DLC req'd, Omega 7th on the 7th is also all DLC required.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

So you cant play SWAT or Snipes anymore? Thats terrible.

 

[FyreWulff]

So you cant play SWAT or Snipes anymore? Thats terrible.

You can't play SWAT or Snipes currently anyway. Those playlists are bottomed out in population.

A Halo 3 consolidation has to lose playlists, otherwise you're not consolidating.

 

[Overdoziz]

Lone Wolves and Team Slayer in their current configuration, Social Slayer and BTB in their current configuration, 7 on the 7th is a combination of all the remaining popular gametypes from other lists in a 5v5 format to allow the rest of the achievements.

BTB is all DLC req'd, Omega 7th on the 7th is also all DLC required.

Yeah, but I'm also trying to make matchmaking gametypes/map combination less shitty, although that would mostly be too much to ask at this point. Lone Wolves and Social Slayer have some turrible gametypes in it.

So you cant play SWAT or Snipes anymore? Thats terrible.

At this point in Halo 3's life cycle they're some of the less important playlists, and I say that as someone who really liked the gametypes.

 

[Tawpgun]

Problem is a lot of the games design problems emerged because of other bad design decisions.

The loadout system means combat is more unpredictable, yes, but it also means you have the ability to pack in things that really should be restricted on some playlists. Spawning with plasma grenades in general just leads to suicide sticking. Being able to spawn with a plasma pistol also ruins the vehicle play.

And because the loadout system was made so universal and absolute you can't do things like restrict weapons from being in certain loadouts.

Another problem is the perk system. What happened here is obvious. They literally took traits and things Halo players have ALWAYS been able to do before, such as pick up grenades, have grenades be not firecrackers, have plenty ammo from your main weapon, to know where power weapons are spawning and more... and they had the player only be able to choose what abilities they wanted in the name of increased player customization and as they put it, choosing your playstyle. Playstyles are just that, playstyles. They emerge from the way you play the game. Halo 4's system doesn't help you tailor something to your playstyle, it restricts you to a certain playstyle per loadout. I've heard a pro of the custom classes is more player freedom but it did the exact opposite, it created PLAYER RESTRICTIONS per loadout. Why do this? Because CoD did it? Because it is a TERRIBLE idea for Halo.

The games mechanics are literally sabotaging other mechanics. They literally introduced PROBLEMS for the player like not knowing where ordnance drops, not being able to function in a vehicle for more than 5 seconds, running out of ammo, and more and then gave you bandaids for them. But heres the thing, you can only pick 2 cuts to heal at any given time.

Makes no fucking sense and the worst part is, I believe 343 won't do a damn thing to change this. They dug themselves into a bad design hole and now if they change it people and the media are going to complain about Halo going backwards. Because unfortunately for us people ate that shit up. The vast majority of Halo players will probably be mad they can't pick perks to give them advantages when in reality the majority of the things those perks enabled you to do would be given back to the player. I hope they'll prove me wrong, but right now I see no signs of them doing so. It's terrible because 343's takeover of Reach gave me hope. They removed or modified bloom, they removed certain armor abilities from certain playlists.... They acknowledged how bad armor lock was, and it honestly seemed like they UNDERSTOOD Halo.

And then they went and made Halo 4.

 

[FyreWulff]

Yeah, but I'm also trying to make matchmaking gametypes/map combination less shitty, although that would mostly be too much to ask at this point. Lone Wolves and Social Slayer have some turrible gametypes in it.

You're not accomplishing less shitty by converting Halo 3 into a 100% BR start game in an update years after the game came out. The in-game population spoke when they veto'd BR starts enough that Bungie lowered the BR start gametype probability in an update.

The longer a game is out, the less radical/different the changes will be just from the nature of updates. Hence why I'm saying just delete and merge playlists in their existing configurations.

Even with my config, BTB is 100% BR, Lone Wolves and Team Slayer are easy to get BR starts in, and the majority of merged gametypes are BR start. I think you're forgetting that they essentially converted Social Skirmish into Team Throwback, which was 100% BR start.

 

[Overdoziz]

You're not accomplishing less shitty by converting Halo 3 into a 100% BR start game in an update years after the game came out. The in-game population spoke when they veto'd BR starts enough that Bungie lowered the BR start gametype probability in an update.

The longer a game is out, the less radical/different the changes will be just from the nature of updates. Hence why I'm saying just delete and merge playlists in their existing configurations.

AR + BR, big difference. Should've done that from the get go. But yeah, just merging and cutting playlists would be a big improvement over what we have right now.

 

[BlueScrote]

Problem is a lot of the games design problems emerged because of other bad design decisions.

The loadout system means combat is more unpredictable, yes, but it also means you have the ability to pack in things that really should be restricted on some playlists. Spawning with plasma grenades in general just leads to suicide sticking. Being able to spawn with a plasma pistol also ruins the vehicle play.

And because the loadout system was made so universal and absolute you can't do things like restrict weapons from being in certain loadouts.

Another problem is the perk system. What happened here is obvious. They literally took traits and things Halo players have ALWAYS been able to do before, such as pick up grenades, have grenades be not firecrackers, have plenty ammo from your main weapon, to know where power weapons are spawning and more... and they had the player only be able to choose what abilities they wanted in the name of increased player customization and as they put it, choosing your playstyle. Playstyles are just that, playstyles. They emerge from the way you play the game. Halo 4's system doesn't help you tailor something to your playstyle, it restricts you to a certain playstyle per loadout. I've heard a pro of the custom classes is more player freedom but it did the exact opposite, it created PLAYER RESTRICTIONS per loadout. Why do this? Because CoD did it? Because it is a TERRIBLE idea for Halo.

The games mechanics are literally sabotaging other mechanics. They literally introduced PROBLEMS for the player like not knowing where ordnance drops, not being able to function in a vehicle for more than 5 seconds, running out of ammo, and more and then gave you bandaids for them. But heres the thing, you can only pick 2 cuts to heal at any given time.

Makes no fucking sense and the worst part is, I believe 343 won't do a damn thing to change this. They dug themselves into a bad design hole and now if they change it people and the media are going to complain about Halo going backwards. Because unfortunately for us people ate that shit up. The vast majority of Halo players will probably be mad they can't pick perks to give them advantages when in reality the majority of the things those perks enabled you to do would be given back to the player. I hope they'll prove me wrong, but right now I see no signs of them doing so. It's terrible because 343's takeover of Reach gave me hope. They removed or modified bloom, they removed certain armor abilities from certain playlists.... They acknowledged how bad armor lock was, and it honestly seemed like they UNDERSTOOD Halo.

And then they went and made Halo 4.

Excellent thoughts on the effect loadouts and the perks have had on the sandbox.

So I've been trying to come up with a way to properly consolidate Halo 3's playlist while keeping all maps and most gametypes in while still allowing people to acquire all achievements. I've probably missed some stuff, but this is what I've got at the moment:

Ranked


Social


Gametypes


Gimme the keys, 343!

I continue to be amazed by the quality of thought a lot of the community puts into some of these posts. I think in the past day HaloGAF has put more thought into the H3 playlists than 343 ever has.

 

[FyreWulff]

AR + BR, big difference. Should've done that from the get go. But yeah, just merging and cutting playlists would be a big improvement over what we have right now.

Also I'd really like to see Multi Team stick around but if it's never going to actually keep 2-person teams together, fuck it. Walk it off the plank

 

[EagleBurnn]

So you cant play SWAT or Snipes anymore? Thats terrible.

I thought you were talking about Halo 4. My multi-paragraph rant pants were about to go on.

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

And then they went and made Halo 4.

Camo is still an AA, improved too. This cannot be said enough.


-EDIT-

I wonder if had they released Halo 4 with BR/AR playlists, if people would've complained about the AR being powerful or would've been glad to have a solid starting loadout. For me it would've been the latter.