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[Plywood]

http://www.examiner.com/article/halo-4-lead-matchmaking-is-like-being-a-dj-at-a-wedding

We love when game developers engage with the community online because they typically provide interesting insights into the minds of studios that you don't really see in press releases and official interviews. In Halo 4's case, 343 Industries Franchise Director Frank O'Connor responded to a fan's concern on Saturday about matchmaking in the upcoming Xbox 360 title by using a wedding DJ as a metaphor.

O'Connor posted the following at the NeoGAF forums as he tried to artfully and humorously explain 343 Industries approach to coming up with the matchmaking playlists for Halo 4.

"Matchmaking is like being a DJ at a Wedding - you can hook people with the old crowd pleasers - Team Slayer, Bon Jovi - but there are lots of different people at a wedding. Old people, young people, cool people, buttrock fans. A great DJ will pick a playlist that has something for everyone, but adapts to the audience. He or she will start pulling tracks out of his boxes that he thinks the audience is going to like - and when they do, they dance. They have fun. Everyone is happy.

Every now and then he or she will accidentally put in a Macarena or Who Let the Dogs Out, and only Granny Wu will still be dancing, but even she deserves one turn on the floor.

Some of the people at the party will simply plug in their headphones and sit at their own table, head bobbing to MLG, or some other new outfit.

But a great DJ, a truly influential and amazing DJ, will introduce the audience to a track they all love, and that they'll be humming for years.

When our DJs show up at this particular wedding, for the first dance, they'll have a small box of records. Ones they know will work, more or less, and keep people dancing. Adapting to the crowd, growing the selection slowly but keeping it tight, focused, good, that's the hard part. These are new DJs and they have a couple of new tracks.

Cragmire fo leif.

Drop the mic."

 

[TheOddOne]

Muahhahahahahhahahhahahah.

Well played Plywood, well played.

 

[Tashi]

Bahahaha someone actually picked this up as news?

 

[Fersis]

So this is a thread about an article about a post on GAF?

EDIT: Im totally missing the joke isnt?

 

[Arnie]

And some people just want to listen to Linkin Park on repeat.

 

[Grakl]

Nice, hahaha.

 

[Slightly Live]

I wonder what Edge thinks?

 

[WrenchNinja]

So what are dedicated servers?

 

[feel]

In other words, a million playlists with wildly different gameplay rules and no explanations/tutorials in sight.

 

[Slightly Live]

In other words, a million playlists with wildly different gameplay rules and no explanations/tutorials in sight.

Still need help figuring out Team Slayer?

 

[Tunavi]

gaf - internet - gaf

 

[alr1ght]

yada yada yada. There's room for both.

 

[feel]

Still need help figuring out Team Slayer?

If there's 27 Team Slayer playlists, yes.

 

[Sethos]

I love when someone finds an analogy that apologizes for a rubbish system and any counter explanation within that analogy will just make it sound worse.

 

[Pixel_boy]

*squints my eyes* but Wedding DJ and boring and can't get real DJ job's are they trying to say it good or?

 

[Sean]

Kind of a flawed system when you allow the users to vote on the map IMO. It's not so much a DJ but more of a Jukebox.

I feel like the playlist system was initially a great idea to "force" variety on people, but then when the voting system was added, you end up with the problem of playing the same mode/map a TON (ie 95% of Counterstrike players will always pick de_dust, everyone on Halo picks Blood Gulch or whatever).

 

[Bleepey]

 

[Zeal]

Halo 4 is going to be very fucking good. That's what I believe and I'm sticking to it.

Frank and I have bitched back and forth for years over forums about what makes Halo good, what works, and what doesn't work, but everything I have seen and played of H4 just feels right. I'm happy for once that I can sit back in absolute confidence and turn the troll button off.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

So what are dedicated servers?

According to HaloGAF, batshit expectations.

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

 

[Franklinator]

lol, I thought that quote sounded familiar

 

[erpg]

Scott Grill, Console Gaming Examiner wants a NeoGAF account.

 

[Hypertrooper]

Haha. That's amazing. They made a news about it? Oh come on.

 

[RdN]

That actually was a great analogy.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

 

[sullytao]

So, I guess custom game search is once again not included. I really hoped 343 would have at least given it a shot.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

There is no way to please everyone, and any developer who tries to make a game to do that is destined to fail. Pick your audience and stick with it. That's my 2 cents. The difference between a wedding DJ and a video game is that people at the wedding can't leave without potentially insulting the bride and groom. But I won't offend anyone buy choosing not to buy a game that's been watered down.

 

[HiredN00bs]

In other words, a million playlists with wildly different gameplay rules and no explanations/tutorials in sight.

Sounds like a custom browser.

 

[funkystudent]

Bahahaha someone actually picked this up as news?

the examiner regularly picks stuff off GAF for news.


And when I say regularly I mean at least half of the stories I read from them seem to have originated in some GAF thread.


I wonder if the writer has a account here. Say Hi!

 

[MMaRsu]

How about a server browser?

 

[MrDaravon]

How about a server browser?

Doesn't that require dedicated servers though, or no?

 

[Conor 419]

Or y'know, just custom game browsing and dedicated servers. So everyone can play what they want when they want to.

Unrealistic expectations though I guess, games have never successfully utilised such a system before. Also XBL is a free service and we should be thankful for what we get.

Matchmaking has proven to be superior also, Halo 3 matches where teams are trying to out lose the other are the pinnacle of modern entertainment.

 

[GavinGT]

But wedding music always panders to the largest audience possible. I'd be more content if I could just play Team Slayer with BR starts every time.

 

[Spasm]

Instead of segmenting the population at all, MM should work like the Psych Profile.

Choose your preference for game size, your favorite 3 gametypes, then the game matches you up with like-minded individuals from the entire population.

BTB
Slayer, CTF, Neutral Bomb
Go!

 

[TheSeks]

Or y'know, just custom game browsing and dedicated servers. So everyone can play what they want when they want to.

This. Fucks sake, 343... you're supposed to be BETTER for Halo than Bungie. Don't be a Bungie clone. :|

 

[Arnie]

Doesn't that require dedicated servers though, or no?

Server Browser, or game browser, they're functionally the same. Gears of War had a game browser, and it worked magnificently. Not that I'm against Matchmaking, in fact it's been a great help to me, I can just hit 'MLG' and get an optimal Halo experience.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Matchmaking is always inferior to a server browser, it's like you are forced to a wedding with a shitty DJ

 

[DopeyFish]

I really hope that means they're dropping voting

Because I hate the democracy of DJs forcing me to dance to the same song every time

 

[alr1ght]

Doesn't that require dedicated servers though, or no?

No. Killzone 2 has a server browser & p2p.

 

[Danthrax]

gaf - internet - gaf

Should have been the first reply. This is a pretty blatant example.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

Frankies words are like poetry; sometimes hopeful, sometimes depressing.. yet mostly they are baffling. Thus, I think what he is trying to say is that MM will obviously have music.

*searching for match*

'Wuubbb Dubbb Wubbb *monks*'

Obviously.

 

[Seance]

Threadworthy.
I just want the voting system removed. Majority veto works best IMO, so the very worst gametypes don't need to be played and 343 can look at the veto data and remove certain map/gametype combos.

 

[kylej]

So what are dedicated servers?

Kind of a flawed system when you allow the users to vote on the map IMO. It's not so much a DJ but more of a Jukebox.

I feel like the playlist system was initially a great idea to "force" variety on people, but then when the voting system was added, you end up with the problem of playing the same mode/map a TON (ie 95% of Counterstrike players will always pick de_dust, everyone on Halo picks Blood Gulch or whatever).

So, I guess custom game search is once again not included. I really hoped 343 would have at least given it a shot.

How about a server browser?

Or y'know, just custom game browsing and dedicated servers. So everyone can play what they want when they want to.

But wedding music always panders to the largest audience possible. I'd be more content if I could just play Team Slayer with BR starts every time.

Instead of segmenting the population at all, MM should work like the Psych Profile.

Choose your preference for game size, your favorite 3 gametypes, then the game matches you up with like-minded individuals from the entire population.

This. Fucks sake, 343... you're supposed to be BETTER for Halo than Bungie. Don't be a Bungie clone. :|

Server Browser, or game browser, they're functionally the same. Gears of War had a game browser, and it worked magnificently.

Matchmaking is always inferior to a server browser, it's like you are forced to a wedding with a shitty DJ

too many batshit expectations in here

 

[HiredN00bs]

too many batshit expectations in here

Ignorance is never in short supply.

 

[Overdoziz]

The voting system in reach is awesome. Oddball on Sword Base all day, every day.

 

[Arnie]

too many batshit expectations in here

I never said I expected it, or wanted it, I was answering a question somebody posed.

In fact I've been pretty vocal against Connor's fascination for custom game browsing, I don't think Halo needs it, nor do I think it's something a large enough portion of the audience demands.

Ignorance is never in short supply.

Well this post suddenly became painfully ironic.

 

[Satchel]

Personally I never understood why there wasn't just a dedicated playlist for each game type.

One for slayer, one for oddball, one for rocket race, one for CTF, one for Etc etc etc

I know it's kinda close to that in Reach, but the multi team playlist gets annoying when it's basically the only way to get a rocket race.

 

[papersleeves]

gaf - internet - gaf

That shit happens way too often.

 

[Arnie]

Personally I never understood why there wasn't just a dedicated playlist for each game type.

Because there's too many gametypes to sustain this; it fragments the player base way too much, especially when you factor in already divisive paid DLC.

 

[Zezboob]

Not bad.