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The Halo 3 Beta Thread

I love this game. I haven't had this much FUN in a game in a long time.

But I do have some complaints, so let's get those out there.

I think I'm about a 5-6 player, but you go up rankings when your team wins (apparently, because I sucked in a game our team won and went up). So because I got matched on a team with some pros I have to play against better and better players on average...and get even worse as a result. It's not about the ratio, which is providing a nice goal but really doesn't matter, but about fun. Playing in games I'm not yet good enough to compete in isn't fun to me. And it's not like you really have a chance to improve when you get killed every 19 seconds. :( I have a 6 rating in team slayer but 10 in the other two modes. My k/d is under 1:1 so I don't know how that happened...

Spawns really have a big effect on the game, too big IMO. I can't count the number of times two enemies have spawned behind me. You can guess the result.

I hate Valhalla. Honestly. I used to dislike it. Now it's an automatic veto. It's just way too big. I guess it would be ok for 8v8 or something, but it seems so random. You can be going down one side of the map, looking from side to front like a good soldier and get sniped from the other side by a guy poking his head out from hiding. Hey, can't complain about that. I mean, it's fair and everything no problem...good job, sniper dude. But it's not fun, especially when you've walked halfway across the map because the mancannon is too obvious and the vehicles are gone. When I have to play this map I stay in the base and wait for people to come to me. You may disapprove, and yes it's incredibly boring, but anything else I could do would only hurt the team due to my constant dying.

Now for some comments.

I very often have, by far, the worst +/- even when I finish, say, second on the team. It's annoying and only fuels my persecution complex.

People are already really good at sticking. ****.

Why do I always choose the wrong direction after I kill someone and get hit by their grenade?

Where do all these teammates come from when I'm chasing someone down?! There's one guy on my radar but as soon as I start shooting someone, here comes Timmy.
 
chase said:
I hate Valhalla. Honestly. I used to dislike it. Now it's an automatic veto. It's just way too big. I guess it would be ok for 8v8 or something, but it seems so random. You can be going down one side of the map, looking from side to front like a good soldier and get sniped from the other side by a guy poking his head out from hiding. Hey, can't complain about that. I mean, it's fair and everything no problem...good job, sniper dude. But it's not fun, especially when you've walked halfway across the map because the mancannon is too obvious and the vehicles are gone. When I have to play this map I stay in the base and wait for people to come to me. You may disapprove, and yes it's incredibly boring, but anything else I could do would only hurt the team due to my constant dying.

You could always use the Mongoose to get across Valhalla.
 
RyuHayate said:
You could always use the Mongoose to get across Valhalla.

Yup, great idea. It would be even better if a buddy would hop on to ride brokeback style...

3 medals in one kill, if the other team has the spartan laser
 
Ugh, I just ran into one of those kids that camps out at the Spartan Laser area in Highground until he gets it, then kills 5 people with it, then picks up the sniperrifle and then camps out at the Spartan-spot again. And it wasn't even in Ranked. :(
 
I have a question for all the hardcore Beta players. Is it possible to kill a VIP with one shot from the spartan laser?

I've killed the VIP in one shot when he was riding a Mongoose on Valhalla, but I barely scratched his shield when he and 2 buddies of him were riding the Warthog, the damn thing was flying across the whole map but at least two of them survived.

Does it depend on how many passengers there are or where I hit the vehicle/driver?
 
chase said:
I love this game. I haven't had this much FUN in a game in a long time.

But I do have some complaints, so let's get those out there.

I think I'm about a 5-6 player, but you go up rankings when your team wins (apparently, because I sucked in a game our team won and went up). So because I got matched on a team with some pros I have to play against better and better players on average...and get even worse as a result. It's not about the ratio, which is providing a nice goal but really doesn't matter, but about fun. Playing in games I'm not yet good enough to compete in isn't fun to me. And it's not like you really have a chance to improve when you get killed every 19 seconds. :( I have a 6 rating in team slayer but 10 in the other two modes. My k/d is under 1:1 so I don't know how that happened...

Spawns really have a big effect on the game, too big IMO. I can't count the number of times two enemies have spawned behind me. You can guess the result.

I hate Valhalla. Honestly. I used to dislike it. Now it's an automatic veto. It's just way too big. I guess it would be ok for 8v8 or something, but it seems so random. You can be going down one side of the map, looking from side to front like a good soldier and get sniped from the other side by a guy poking his head out from hiding. Hey, can't complain about that. I mean, it's fair and everything no problem...good job, sniper dude. But it's not fun, especially when you've walked halfway across the map because the mancannon is too obvious and the vehicles are gone. When I have to play this map I stay in the base and wait for people to come to me. You may disapprove, and yes it's incredibly boring, but anything else I could do would only hurt the team due to my constant dying.

Now for some comments.

I very often have, by far, the worst +/- even when I finish, say, second on the team. It's annoying and only fuels my persecution complex.

People are already really good at sticking. ****.

Why do I always choose the wrong direction after I kill someone and get hit by their grenade?

Where do all these teammates come from when I'm chasing someone down?! There's one guy on my radar but as soon as I start shooting someone, here comes Timmy.

Don't worry, I'm very much like your profile. My K/D profile is horrible and once I get into a game with really good guys I don't stand a chance. Still, quite often I manage rather ok even in Rumble Pit which is only about my skills. My rating there is the highest. I've been playing a lot but pulling that K/D ratio up is just hard.

As a proof

# Total Kills: 965
# Total Deaths: 1419
# Kill/Death Ratio: 0.6801
# Total Assists: 480

:(
 
Valhalla is fine - if you spawn in the bases. Sometimes you'll spawn far to the left or right and just start trekking it to the other side. You need to be close to a Mongoose or near the Man Cannons, because otherwise their notion of "getting back in the action as quickly as possible" isn't working.

There is a Mongoose near the bubble shield, but by the time you've run to it, you're probably being shot at from afar, or you might as well walk over to the middle of the map and get youtself a Spartan Laser.

So spawns need to happen closer to home. It's also a pain when you're doing 1 Bomb and you get spawned out where it'll take you a minute to walk back.

RE: Plasma Pistol - Maybe I should start using it then during certain playmodes. I haven't played too much VIP yet, but I'll give it a shot next time.

I like how the Brute Spiker's sound really heavy when they shoot. Also the single-spiker reload animation is awesome.

One thing I don't like about it is how the Spiker looks to the player when they use it. When you see it in shots like this:

Type-25_%22Spiker%22_Carbine.jpg


or this:

746px-Spikers.jpg


It looks fine, but from the HUD it looks.. I don't know.. like you've got a limp wrist?

800px-Halo-3-20070511050212876.jpg


Like it's jutting out way too far in front of the player, and looks like you're holding onto a hose. :lol It doesn't look "right" to me at all.
 
@ Chittagong

I have the same problem, but I haven't played since yesterday because I hate to start up a game just to get owned, so my ratio is still acceptable:D

I've reached my maximum level in team slayer and rumble pit, whenever anyone in a match really knows what he's doing, I get owned.
 
chase said:
I love this game. I haven't had this much FUN in a game in a long time.

But I do have some complaints, so let's get those out there.

I think I'm about a 5-6 player, but you go up rankings when your team wins (apparently, because I sucked in a game our team won and went up). So because I got matched on a team with some pros I have to play against better and better players on average...and get even worse as a result. It's not about the ratio, which is providing a nice goal but really doesn't matter, but about fun. Playing in games I'm not yet good enough to compete in isn't fun to me. And it's not like you really have a chance to improve when you get killed every 19 seconds. :( I have a 6 rating in team slayer but 10 in the other two modes. My k/d is under 1:1 so I don't know how that happened...

Spawns really have a big effect on the game, too big IMO. I can't count the number of times two enemies have spawned behind me. You can guess the result.

I hate Valhalla. Honestly. I used to dislike it. Now it's an automatic veto. It's just way too big. I guess it would be ok for 8v8 or something, but it seems so random. You can be going down one side of the map, looking from side to front like a good soldier and get sniped from the other side by a guy poking his head out from hiding. Hey, can't complain about that. I mean, it's fair and everything no problem...good job, sniper dude. But it's not fun, especially when you've walked halfway across the map because the mancannon is too obvious and the vehicles are gone. When I have to play this map I stay in the base and wait for people to come to me. You may disapprove, and yes it's incredibly boring, but anything else I could do would only hurt the team due to my constant dying.

Now for some comments.

I very often have, by far, the worst +/- even when I finish, say, second on the team. It's annoying and only fuels my persecution complex.

People are already really good at sticking. ****.

Why do I always choose the wrong direction after I kill someone and get hit by their grenade?

Where do all these teammates come from when I'm chasing someone down?! There's one guy on my radar but as soon as I start shooting someone, here comes Timmy.

Valhalla really isn't that bad. It's my favorite map, actually. Just stick with a friend or communicate a lot with your teammates and you should be fine. Don't wander off or you'll get sniped or ambushed or taken out by dudes on Warthogs. We played against guys like you, who hide in the base, and it was the weakest game yet. That is just weak sauce, hiding in the base.
 
on the subject of how the spikers look: the first time I saw someone running around with dual spikers I was struck by how 'apelike' it made him look, and then I realised how awesomely appropriate that was, and grinned.
 
yeah, Valhalla has grown slowly to become probably my favourite map, which is bizarre because it really needs more than the 4v4 the beta provides, and I traditionally don't like large maps (didn't enjoy Blood Gulch in either of its incarnations very much, whereas my deep-seeded love of the small maps, and the mid-sized Zanzibar of 2 suggests that High Ground should be my runaway favourite, and I do think that map is excellent too). I think it's just vastly improved design: there are many, many more cover points, hills, ridges, paths, caves etc. that shield you from dominating sniper/laser fire and set up a lot of smaller battlefields within the one. that design becomes very obvious on the revamped Territories gametype, which I can't wait to try out as 6v6 or 8v8, even though I also traditionally dislike BTB.

(I did have one game of Team Slayer where the other team ended up with both snipers and the laser in the middle and it was a bloody mess, especially after one of our team dropped out. final score was something ridiculous like 50-17, but the missile pods and the increased availability of BRs meant it didn't feel overwhelmingly unfair.)
 
Shake Appeal said:
chase's post is amazing, would read again

It's cool you disagree. Don't have to get sarcastic about it.

RyuHayate said:
You could always use the Mongoose to get across Valhalla.

As I said in my post: "But it's not fun, especially when you've walked halfway across the map because the mancannon is too obvious and the vehicles are gone." Which, in my experience, they usually are.

JB1981 said:
We played against guys like you, who hide in the base, and it was the weakest game yet. That is just weak sauce, hiding in the base.

I agree. I don't like doing it from the standpoints of principle and fun. But even more weak sauce and even less fun is walking for a minute without seeing anybody and dying...then doing it again...then again... Not for you of course, because you're probably the one doing all the killing.

I've been on a good team --which is different than being on the same side as a talented group of players-- in about 3 out of 114 matches...and I've been on a good communicating team exactly zero times. And it's getting worse as people get better.
 
Rlan said:
Like it's jutting out way too far in front of the player, and looks like you're holding onto a hose. :lol It doesn't look "right" to me at all.
QFT. That's what I thought when I first used it. I though maybe it's just me. I now got sorta used to it but it would still be good if they fixed this.
 
Shake Appeal said:
yeah, Valhalla has grown slowly to become probably my favourite map, which is bizarre because it really needs more than the 4v4 the beta provides, and I traditionally don't like large maps (didn't enjoy Blood Gulch in either of its incarnations very much, whereas my deep-seeded love of the small maps, and the mid-sized Zanzibar of 2 suggests that High Ground should be my runaway favourite, and I do think that map is excellent too). I think it's just vastly improved design: there are many, many more cover points, hills, ridges, paths, caves etc. that shield you from dominating sniper/laser fire and set up a lot of smaller battlefields within the one. that design becomes very obvious on the revamped Territories gametype, which I can't wait to try out as 6v6 or 8v8, even though I also traditionally dislike BTB.

(I did have one game of Team Slayer where the other team ended up with both snipers and the laser in the middle and it was a bloody mess, especially after one of our team dropped out. final score was something ridiculous like 50-17, but the missile pods and the increased availability of BRs meant it didn't feel overwhelmingly unfair.)
the missile pod is absolutely key to taking out warthog spammers.

And chase: i'm not a great player by any means. I'm getting better, my kills are above my deaths now and I have a lot of assists, but hiding in the base is just ... how is that even fun for you?

Just learn the layout of the map (where the good weapons spawn) look for equipment like the bubble shield and trip mine and you should be fine. Don't even bother with the AR on Valhalla. You don't stand a chance unless you have a BR as your default weapon on that map.
 
thekad said:
1) Everyone can use them.

2) They are not unstoppable, at all.

They are not cheap.

Dude, don't make me go all fishhook on your ass, you cheating little jerkface. I'm this close.
 
Chase nailed it. Valhalla is a horrible map. I'd rather have Snowbound, which is both a pleasure for long-range ppl and close range-ppl. Doesn't touch High Ground in the least, but it's fun.

Valhalla is never fun. Same goes for VIP, btw. VIP on Valhalla just takes the cake.
 
JB1981 said:
the missile pod is absolutely key to taking out warthog spammers.

And chase: i'm not a great player by any means. I'm getting better, my kills are above my deaths now and I have a lot of assists, but hiding in the base is just ... how is that even fun for you?

It isn't...but it's more fun than the alternative at this point in my playing.

Anyway, I don't want to keep going on about my dislike of a map so I'll let it go. But I did want to get it out there.
 
I <3 Valhalla. The design is excellent in that it is not the snipers haven that Blood Gulch/Coagulation became, because it has more undulating terrain and the river valley. Some of the best games I've played are in there. That said, it will be MUCH better with 6 vs 6 than it is now. 4 vs 4 just isn't enough for a varied attack strategy with Assault. I also don't think it makes a particularly good Slayer map - but then I have yet to play a good Slayer map. :p
 
They really need to do something about the gametypes. I absolutely hate rockets variants, crazy king, oddball etc... and almost always one or two people leave right off the bat (assumign the veto fails) so I'm not the only one.

How about a 'pure' matchmaker that leaves out all these other modes? Have another one just for all the other gametypes so if people want to play them they can.
 
Redbeard said:
They really need to do something about the gametypes. I absolutely hate rockets variants, crazy king, oddball etc... and almost always one or two people leave right off the bat (assumign the veto fails) so I'm not the only one.

How about a 'pure' matchmaker that leaves out all these other modes? Have another one just for all the other gametypes so if people want to play them they can.

You are testing the game for Bungie. Right now, as accommodating as they are, they're probably more concerned with capturing stats then they are adjusting playlists. That said, you can bet we're going to see some updates so that feature can get worked out too.

Patience.
 
I like Valhalla, it's a great map! So many little hiding places, and so many ways to attack your opposite base. Of course it's not the best with 4v4, but for BTB I'm sure it will be loads of fun.

The only problem I have with it is that it seems the team whos man cannon shoots them into a stream has a much better sniping position than the other team. The other teams side seems on much more of an incline, where the river side is more level.
 
Redbeard said:
They really need to do something about the gametypes. I absolutely hate rockets variants, crazy king, oddball etc... and almost always one or two people leave right off the bat (assumign the veto fails) so I'm not the only one.

How about a 'pure' matchmaker that leaves out all these other modes? Have another one just for all the other gametypes so if people want to play them they can.

This is a beta man. You know what's the purpose of Betas right?
 
Chittagong said:
Jesus Christ. What the **** happened overnight. I was doing fine in Rumbe Pit last night, finishing on the better half usually. Now I started again and I'm taking a true humiliation, everybody else getting 15 - 25 kills, I'm getting 2-5 kills.

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I couldn't get anything going last night.
 
Sean said:
Spike grenades do everything that plasma ones do but they're more powerful (sticking the VIP with a plasma grenade won't kill him but one spike grenade will) and they're more useful since they stick to walls/surfaces.

I've had the opposite experience with sticking the VIP. On a stick, spike grenades wouldn't kill Mr. VIP while plasma grenades would kill him. On Snowbound I switch to the brutes while I'm inside and the plasmas while out in the cold.

Of course I thought that a single frag grenade wouldn't kill me while I was at full health and that happened to me last night so my perceptions on grenades might be entirely screwed up.
 
Shake Appeal said:
I've had a few frags take someone clean out, but they were effectively standing on the grenade.

I've gotten several double/triple kills from frags on what I think were fully shielded opposition standing together within a few steps of the explosion. Do the actual fragments cause the damage perhaps?
 
DJ Sl4m said:
I want to play the beta sooo bad, but I refuse to buy shitty Crackdown for it.

Crackdown is a great game. Not to mention the time is ticking. Halo 3 beta ends after June 10. Even if you purchase Crackdown you could sell it to GameStop after the Beta (Value will probably drop, but you will get something).
 
Francias Castiglione said:
I've gotten several double/triple kills from frags on what I think were fully shielded opposition standing together within a few steps of the explosion. Do the actual fragments cause the damage perhaps?
I've been wondering that. You can see what appear to be actual shards of the grenade in the explosion - they could cause additional damage.
 
Total Kills: 117
Total Deaths: 119
Kill/Death Ratio: 0.9832
Total Assists: 55

with never playing halo 2 multiplayer for more then 2 hours.

halo 3 is more balanced and much better, dont get all the 1up people saying its not newb friendly
 
One complaint about the laser. Maybe somebody can verify.

It seems to hit through trees and rocks. If you're at the edge, you can clearly see it clip the geometry and the path of the beam is broken, but you still die, your corpse clearly behind cover. Happening to anyone else? Lag?
 
Sanjay said:
Total Kills: 117
Total Deaths: 119
Kill/Death Ratio: 0.9832
Total Assists: 55

with never playing halo 2 multiplayer for more then 2 hours.

halo 3 is more balanced and much better, dont get all the 1up people saying its not newb friendly
I think the balance is what helps to make it noob friendly. In Halo 2, new players did not know which weapons to grab - and often just ran around with the SMG expecting to survive. In Halo 3 you can hold your own with the default AR, and pretty much everything you pick up.
 
Anyone know who has the highest Rank and skill level? Well not who, but what rank and skill level they are? I got up to 22 in Skirmish and I'm a Gunnery Sergeant and I ran into a Captain last night. Guy must be playing non-stop.

Anyway, it'd be nice if Bungie sent out a survey after the H3 beta is over to get everyone's opinions on certain weapons, maps, modes etc. It'd be a lot easier to get feedback that way than reading through millions of Forum posts.

Also I really hope that Fast Forward, Rewind, and even edit are implemented into H3's saved film system. It's awesome but sometimes I want to cut like a 10 second clip out of a 18 minute video. It would be nice to be able to just save that tiny clip.

And here's my stats up to today. I'll be playing a lot more later today.


Combat Stats
Games: 112
Last Played: 5/20/2007 9:07:10 AM

* Total Kills: 1546
* Total Deaths: 1210
* Kill/Death Ratio: 1.2777
* Total Assists: 549
 
GhaleonEB said:
I think the balance is what helps to make it noob friendly. In Halo 2, new players did not know which weapons to grab - and often just ran around with the SMG expecting to survive. In Halo 3 you can hold your own with the default AR, and pretty much everything you pick up.

Speaking of, just had a guy named Krazy Sniper 1 camp my base in assault and I grabbed an SMG and a couple of plasmas, hopped a mancannon over to four, and rained death down on him from above. Then he quit.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I think the balance is what helps to make it noob friendly. In Halo 2, new players did not know which weapons to grab - and often just ran around with the SMG expecting to survive. In Halo 3 you can hold your own with the default AR, and pretty much everything you pick up.



Well in Halo 2, if it was two dual wielders against each other, who ever would shoot first would most always win (unless they suck I guess). But the whole "if you aren't dual wielded you're dead" gameplay really effected Halo 2.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
Anyone know who has the highest Rank and skill level? Well not who, but what rank and skill level they are? I got up to 22 in Skirmish and I'm a Gunnery Sergeant and I ran into a Captain last night. Guy must be playing non-stop.

Ram was 34 in team slayer as of yesterday. =O
 
urk said:
One complaint about the laser. Maybe somebody can verify.

It seems to hit through trees and rocks. If you're at the edge, you can clearly see it clip the geometry and the path of the beam is broken, but you still die, your corpse clearly behind cover. Happening to anyone else? Lag?

Definitely lag - in normal circumstances, if you're behind cover, you're fine, and I've never seen or made the laser clip the geometry - but I've had a few times in lag-filed matches where I was no doubtedbly around the corner in time, sometimes way around the corner, and I die by laser without even seeing it... most likely on his screen I was still on my way to that corner...
 
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