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[Madness]

A lot of you guys are really being ridiculous. Criticizing technical problems for a beta almost one year in advance of the game launch. This isn't even a beta. This isn't even an alpha. There is so much time left to fix the issues.

You'd be right to be annoyed or concerned if this was 2 months before launch, but it's not. They needed to call it a beta because that's what everyone calls them. They needed it up and running within a month of MCC launch. This is just to give you a taste of what Halo 5 "arena multiplayer" version is like. To get some feedback regarding how maps are being used, where people are dying, what weapons are being used, how often, what abilities, to get bugs/glitches early, to target potential problems etc.

Having the beta so early before launch is unprecedented for consoles. The only one I can even remember was Gears 3, which was largely done but Epic/MS delayed launch of the game, with the beta then taking the initial launch spot which was delayed by a couple of months. We're 11 months out still here.

 

[Twilight Gap]

Disagree completely. None of those things you've mentioned are holding this game back in the least. This is the most fun.i've had with Halo MP in a long time and far more of a natural progression of Halo game play then 4 and Reach were.

i feel the opposite. this game's simply going downhill in a different direction. it could be great with some overhauls, but they're never going to happen.

 

[Gravemind IV]

Get better at aiming. Lower sensitivity. The lack of aim assist is exposing YOUR flaws.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand then we have the increased bullet magnetism.

Also, I am digging the new light rifle, both in visuals and sounds. It seems to be pretty decent this time around too, I think the scoped in shots are 3SK? Although it does seem to be hard to get headshots with it, more so than the BR anyway.

 

[CoCo_CoCo]

But HALO cannot stay still as a product. They also have to make a game for the next generation and these kids like CoD.

And to be fair: If you want to old HALO thats what the MCC is for (the problems aside which should hopefully be ironed out in the coming months ...)

You can bring Halo into "Next Gen" without changing it's formula, Halo seems to be the only big shooter franchise that is changing it's formula. CoD still feels like CoD if you play WWII or Modern, Battlefield feels the same in each version.

For some reason Halo feels different in each version, who is the maniac telling Bungie/343 to change change change after every Halo???

 

[Jarrod38]

A nice little double kill I got.
http://xboxclips.com/MonsterTard+06/c373dffc-c274-40c5-8cc4-75e070bfe8ae

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Guess I've been in some laggy servers then, I'm on target but sometimes it's more than 4SK. I had footage of me being dead on and shields would take forever to pop with it.

5 retail will have dedi's right?

could be the lag, yes. I can tell from one match to the next when lag of some kind is affecting my kills. I'll get credited for a kill 2 or 3 seconds after my last bullet was shot, replays won't show the damage I appeared to do in exchanges. that sort of thing.

that said, yea...I think I have about 800 kills with the BR and ~700 of them are headshot kills. feels fine as long as you can lay down hits on the noggin.

Also...

I was grinning from ear to ear when I finished a match with a double kill on a single sniper bullet. I don't remember what the announcer said, but I think he busted a nut.

 

[CloudyTuba]

Aaaaaaaaaaaand then we have the increased bullet magnetism.

Also, I am digging the new light rifle, both in visuals and sounds. It seems to be pretty decent this time around too, I think the scoped in shots are 3SK? Although it does seem to be hard to get headshots with it, more so than the BR anyway.

I love the new light rifle as well. Feels so good. It kills fast but it feels even harder to use than the BR or DMR. Does it have less autoaim or less magnetism than other weapons? And of course it's only a map pickup, no starts.

And while playing I didn't notice any time where I was getting wrecked too often by it, so it feels balanced to me. Powerful but not overpowering.

Besides the SMG which I think needs a nerf, and maybe taking away headshot multipliers for auto weapons, I'm loving the weapon balance in this game so much that I'm actually becoming worried that they may mess it up before release. I pretty much want them to leave most weapon performance how they are.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I love the new light rifle as well. Feels so good. It kills fast but it feels even harder to use than the BR or DMR. Does it have less autoaim or less magnetism than other weapons? And of course it's only a map pickup, no starts.

I can't say I'm impressed with that weapon. Not sure what it is. It feels good to get a kill with it, but it's very hard to close the deal with it given the amount of cover available.

 

[Strider]

Ground pound FTW

http://xboxclips.com/Sensei+Strider/ce277b63-9f23-49dd-abd9-2f5554c34c3b

 

[Jessie.Bristol]

could be the lag, yes. I can tell from one match to the next when lag of some kind is affecting my kills. I'll get credited for a kill 2 or 3 seconds after my last bullet was shot, replays won't show the damage I appeared to do in exchanges. that sort of thing.

that said, yea...I think I have about 800 kills with the BR and ~700 of them are headshot kills. feels fine as long as you can lay down hits on the noggin.

Also...

I was grinning from ear to ear when I finished a match with a double kill on a single sniper bullet. I don't remember what the announcer said, but I think he busted a nut.

Yep, that is called a "Snipultaneous."

 

[Ryde3]

I agree that we all need to relax about technical issues, it IS a Beta and the point is to discover these problems so they can be fixed for release... BUT, I'm experiencing the same problems with both MCC and Halo 5 beta where if I'm alone I can find games just fine, but with a party it's 10x harder/impossible. Also, regardless if I'm in a party or game chat, voice chat cuts in and out. The fact that it's in both games makes me wonder if its Xbox Live itself or just 343's servers or...

 

[Septic360]

Yeah the light rifle is brilliant. I'm surprised how many people skip the weapon at the start.

 

[Trike]

why does the female spartan have such a noticeable increase in ass size and shrinkage in covering for said ass

lady spartans need ass protection too

 

[Havoc2049]

For people complaining about bad teammates and carrying your team and de-ranking or being new to Halo and getting owned, 2v2 and 4v4 Team Slayer has always been the most competitive game type in Halo. In the past, when I go into Halo multiplayer solo, I usually try to avoid 4v4 Team Slayer, as it can sometimes get frustrating playing with randoms (although sometimes you get matched with randoms who are really good). When I'm solo, I usually play BTB playlists or Lone Wolf/Rumble Pit playlists.

Also, it is only a Beta, no need to get caught up in your rank and k/d ratio, as it will all be wiped here a few weeks. Just have fun, test the game out, provide some constructive criticism or praise, improve your skills and get familiar with the gameplay.

 

[tootsi666]

Yeah the light rifle is brilliant. I'm surprised how many people skip the weapon at the start.

It's not effective enough at medium range and 'wasting' your weapon slot for long range only is risky. SMG is better for most situations and Magnum is a better sidearm. Light Rifle is good if opponents have Sniper control though.

 

[JaggedSac]

Ranking, I will say, is broken. It doesn't reward your skill, only if your team wins.

Tisnt broken good sir.

 

[JimiNutz]

I'm itching to get back on this game!
I've barely had time this weekend to fit in more than about 5 games of Team Slayer but I'm desperate to get back on and play.
Easily the most addictive Halo for me so far. Its still very rough around the edges and in need of refinements but the core gameplay is sublime. Seems really well balanced and fun to me.

 

[Jessie.Bristol]

Tisnt broken good sir.

It actually is in the Beta. It definitely does not work correctly. Forgoing all of my previous comments about it, I have seen people when they qualified (and have significantly worst KDA and W/L Ratios) place higher then me. Sometimes they would place Gold II or III or Onyx and have far worst overall stats.

 

[backflip10019]

Yeah, Breakout is not for me. No fun at all.

 

[rrc1594]

lol people can't aim so the BR sucks

 

[flamingotripod]

lol people can't aim so the BR sucks

seriously, learn to aim with the BR folks

 

[op_ivy]

really liking the new maps. eden feels terrific, more so than empire, and while i love regret, i'm still confused by the layout somehow and the visibilty is the worst of the bunch so far. really hard to see people hiding in shadows and through some of the dense foliage while moving up some of the ramps. BR starts are nice too. now longer am i forced at spawn to find a weapon i like. i'm doing MUCH better when i'm not getting sprayed and prayed by ARs constantly.

 

[backflip10019]

Why the fuck are there SMG starts in Breakout. Destroys the balance of what should be a competitive mode.

 

[jay23]

It's harder to land 4 shots in this game because of all the movement. People run instead of trying to out br someone.

 

[Compsiox]

It doesn't suck. There is just barely any auto aim. So......people just need to get better at aiming. It's still a 4 shot kill, like the "real" halos.

I'm very good on PC. THATS ALL I NEED

 

[op_ivy]

breakout really needs teammate icons or a modified radar showing only teammates.

 

[Chitown B]

Cheers for understanding and honestly, I don't mean to come off as a whining prat but when I'm sitting there streaming a game and all my friends and naysayers are watching, when previously I've told them how great the game is, I just end up looking like a fool too when I'm sat in a lobby for 10 minutes struggling to find a game or in a US lobby and they can see it's all laggy.

I cannot pretend to be a game a dev so pardon me for my ignorance when I identify issues as minor ones.

Believe me, I'm not whinging for the sake of it.



The game, like I've said before, is brilliant. Unlike a few skeptics, I think everything from the sprint, clamber, thrusters etc beautifully compliment the Halo formula. It's smooth and when you're in a game from the same region, it's just brilliant.

When I refer to matchmaking I mean how you're grouped up in teams. Far too often I'm up against pro players and I'm not even a gold rank and have people who haven't even attained a rank on my team. Their kda and win loss ratio is negative and that's a stark contrast to that of my opponents.

I'm pissed off too. I'm constantly teamed up with kids going 0.2 KD while I pull 2.0 and we lose. However, I'm hoping that it's chalked up to the fact that it's a beta and they just want a mix to test. I really hope and believe that once it's out next fall the ranking will be fixed so you actually rank more based on your contribution than simply W/L. And that we won't be playing in games with randoms who are not ranked.

 

[Celestia]

An interesting thing about the ranking system, two of my friends finished their placements last night. One won 9/10 games and was placed in Silver 2. The other won 8/10 and was placed very high in Gold 3. Not sure what happened there, he had a worse K/D.

 

[SomeOneInaHat]

It's not effective enough at medium range and 'wasting' your weapon slot for long range only is risky. SMG is better for most situations and Magnum is a better sidearm. Light Rifle is good if opponents have Sniper control though.

For medium range try two zoomed in shots followed by an un-zoomed shoot. The first two shots will knock out shields and then you'd want to un-zoom because the LR fires faster when un-zoomed.

The LR is a 3 Shot Kill Machine.

An interesting thing about the ranking system, two of my friends finished their placements last night. One won 9/10 games and was placed in Silver 2. The other won 8/10 and was placed very high in Gold 3. Not sure what happened there, he had a worse K/D.

Your gold friend won against better people.

 

[Chitown B]

It's harder to land 4 shots in this game because of all the movement. People run instead of trying to out br someone.

yeah, welcome to 2010. Been happening since Reach. Good thing here is at least their shields don't recharge while running.

 

[The Lamonster]

okay I'm LTTP but just watched some H5 beta streaming and WOW this is not Halo.

What is up with the bro spartans? I guess 343 does not understand spartans because they should be the most disciplined and serious ranks in the military. They would not be high fiving and shit.

And what is up with the audio? Sounds like Call of Duty with all the radio chatter. Fuck, man. I am really disappointed with the direction this series has seemingly taken.


edit: and apparently all spartans are American

 

[Chitown B]

An interesting thing about the ranking system, two of my friends finished their placements last night. One won 9/10 games and was placed in Silver 2. The other won 8/10 and was placed very high in Gold 3. Not sure what happened there, he had a worse K/D.

yeah it makes no sense. My friend went like 4/10 and got Silver. I went much higher and I'm stuck in bronze. I'm a much better player yet I can't get out of Bronze. I actually won 10 games in a row last night - started at Bronze II, ended at Bronze II.

 

[jem0208]

Tisnt broken good sir.

I'd argue it is.

A ranking system is meant to be a reflection of your skill as a player. A system which doesn't actually take your personal performance into account at all is not a working system.

The current system is not a representation of your skill, it's a representation of your luck with matchmaking. And as such in its current form it fails to achieve the most basic premise of a personal rank.

 

[op_ivy]

An interesting thing about the ranking system, two of my friends finished their placements last night. One won 9/10 games and was placed in Silver 2. The other won 8/10 and was placed very high in Gold 3. Not sure what happened there, he had a worse K/D.

i'm not arguing its without faults, but supposedly the system bares in mind the opponents you face as well as win/loss. so, presumably, the gold friend faced tougher opponents, hence the higher ranking.

 

[Chitown B]

okay I'm LTTP but just watched some H5 beta streaming and WOW this is not Halo.

What is up with the bro spartans? I guess 343 does not understand spartans because they should be the most disciplined and serious ranks in the military. They would not be high fiving and shit.

And what is up with the audio? Sounds like Call of Duty with all the radio chatter. Fuck, man. I am really disappointed with the direction this series has seemingly taken.

1) yeah the bros need to be removed

2) the chatter helps when your team isn't talking, which is most of the time. I like it. It lets you know the situation on the field, like you would have if you were in an MLG game.

 

[SomeOneInaHat]

I'd argue it is.

A ranking system is meant to be a reflection of your skill as a player. A system which doesn't actually take your skill into account at all is not a working system.

The current system is not a representation of your skill, it's a representation of your luck with matchmaking. And as such in its current form it fails to achieve the most basic premise of a personal rank.

Its reflective of how you work as a team in team playlists for teams.

Spoiler

Teams

 

[rrc1594]

I thought the new Spartens were more talkative and least well broken?

 

[Natiko]

Your gold friend won against better people.

Explain how me and my friend played all ten of our Breakout qualifying matches together and got different placements. That makes zero sense.

 

[Poodlestrike]

okay I'm LTTP but just watched some H5 beta streaming and WOW this is not Halo.

What is up with the bro spartans? I guess 343 does not understand spartans because they should be the most disciplined and serious ranks in the military. They would not be high fiving and shit.

And what is up with the audio? Sounds like Call of Duty with all the radio chatter. Fuck man. I am really disappointed with the direction this series has seemingly taken.

From the top:

1) Haven't played it, but it's already "not Halo." Aight.

2) 343 understands Spartans just fine. There are 3 (major) types of Spartans, IIs (like the Chief), IIIs (like Noble sans Jorge, who's a II), and IV, like Palmer, Thorne, and the rest of the Spartan Ops crowd. The last kind differs from the others in that they were already Marines when they joined the program, and that's who we're playing as in MM. While they're (generally) disciplined in the field, it's sort of bizarre to think that they'd be 100% serious during a competitive training exercise.

3) Audio design is fantastic, easily some of the best in the series. Spartan chatter in particular stands out as being significantly more useful than it seemed at first blush.

EDIT: For your edit, I'd be kind of surprised if they didn't offer some sort of voice customization in the full release. So they probably won't all be American.

 

[JaggedSac]

It actually is in the Beta. It definitely does not work correctly. Forgoing all of my previous comments about it, I have seen people when they qualified (and have significantly worst KDA and W/L Ratios) place higher then me. Sometimes they would place Gold II or III or Onyx and have far worst overall stats.

Those stats are meaningless unless you know the ranks of those who were played against. KDA is meaningless regardless for these particular playlists.

 

[Chitown B]

I'd argue it is.

A ranking system is meant to be a reflection of your skill as a player. A system which doesn't actually take your skill into account at all is not a working system.

The current system is not a representation of your skill, it's a representation of your luck with matchmaking. And as such in its current form it fails to achieve the most basic premise of a personal rank.

This. @Stinkles. Please respond.

 

[tootsi666]

For medium range try two zoomed in shots followed by an un-zoomed shoot. The first two shots will knock out shields and then you'd want to un-zoom because the LR fires faster when un-zoomed.

The LR is a 3 Shot Kill Machine.

It's ROF is too low to get two shots of while scoped consistently against skilled players and ADS animation is too slow to re-scope during a duel. DMR and BR have more consistent kill times. Light Rifle is more of a support weapon while your teammates draw enemy fire.


Edit. Ranking system is fine. Maybe 50-49 wins shouldn't give as much points as 50-10 wins though. It's all about winning. It's not about your performance and personal skill, it's about your matchmaking performance in a team.

 

[jem0208]

Its reflective of how you work as a team in team playlists for teams.

Spoiler

Teams

No it's not. You could be the best player in the world who is an absolutely incredible team player. However if the rest of your team is bad and you lose you're still going to lose the exact same amount of points as the other people in your team who are the same rank as you. Even if their performance was 0 kills, 0 assists and 20 deaths and yours was 20 kills 0 deaths.

It doesn't reflect your skill at all.

 

[Jessie.Bristol]

Those stats are meaningless unless you know the ranks of those who were played against. KDA is meaningless regardless for these particular playlists.

Read Natiko's post. The Ranking system makes no sense as it currently exists.

 

[Chitown B]

I thought the new Spartens were more talkative and least well broken?

wat. Spartens. Least well broken.

?

 

[mcfrank]

Lost 4 games in a row by less than 10 where I was positive and someone on my team was 3-18 or 2-16. Lost most of a rank. Awesome.

 

[Natiko]

I'd argue it is.

A ranking system is meant to be a reflection of your skill as a player. A system which doesn't actually take your personal performance into account at all is not a working system.

The current system is not a representation of your skill, it's a representation of your luck with matchmaking. And as such in its current form it fails to achieve the most basic premise of a personal rank.

I don't think the ranking system is necessarily broken (though it does appear to have some quirks that need to be worked out). I think the skill based matchmaking is broken. I've seen games where I got matched with such bad people and put up against such good people that I only lost a point. Proper skill based matchmaking shouldn't even setup such a one sided match. When I'm with people either unranked or below silver while I'm a gold, and the opponents have two more onyxes, a semipro, and a pro something has gone wrong.

 

[JaggedSac]

No it's not. You could be the best player in the world who is an absolutely incredible team player. However if the rest of your team is bad and you lose you're still going to lose the exact same amount of points as the other people in your team who are the same rank as you. Even if their performance was 0 kills, 0 assists and 20 deaths and yours was 20 kills 0 deaths.

It doesn't reflect your skill at all.

It will level out. Ranks are initially wonky while people head to their proper placements. Matchmaking levels out. Just as often will the other team have the shitty folks too. Wish we had match data online to lol at.

 

[The Lamonster]

3) Audio design is fantastic, easily some of the best in the series. Spartan chatter in particular stands out as being significantly more useful than it seemed at first blush.

EDIT: For your edit, I'd be kind of surprised if they didn't offer some sort of voice customization in the full release. So they probably won't all be American.

My issues with the audio wouldn't be a deal breaker if 343 allowed audio settings (unlike Bungie). I hope they give us several customization options and the ability to flat out disable it if we want.

I like the sounds of the guns and Steitzer sounds great, but all of the cliche sergeant chatter is a real turn-off.

 

[Poodlestrike]

wat. Spartens. Least well broken.

?

Makes sense if you insert a comma (or 2).

"Least, well, broken."

Which they are, on account of not being former child soldiers.

My issues with the audio wouldn't be a deal breaker if 343 allowed audio settings (unlike Bungie). I hope they give us several customization options and the ability to flat out disable it if we want.

I like the sounds of the guns and Steitzer sounds great, but all of the cliche sergeant chatter is a real turn-off.

Again, man, while some of it isn't terribly useful ("Got a DMR!"), it can be extremely helpful at times. Knowing that your team has the sniper, that they've spotted an enemy at a certain location... it's like playing with a reasonably well-coordinated team, at least in terms of information flow.