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[Overdoziz]

No the opposite.

What meant was that they shouldn't take scoring and skill level to determine the drop zone.
I still rather have fixed dropzones with fixed respawn timers what they now did is warn new player who didn't take the effort to study/learn power weapon respawn mechanics/locations.

Taking away a skill that could be a variable what separates a great player from the bad.
Its a shame they take down the learning curve. You now have 2 less thing to remember.

inbe4 games are only quicktime events.

Back to learning for exams dam internet.

Oh, sorry. I read that wrong.
I really hope you get more than a warning 10 seconds before hand. That's too short to properly set up for the spawn. And I honest to god hope there's a pattern and it's not random. Randomness is never good in competitive matches.

 

[soulassssns]

Gotta love a Halo thread. Always filled with doom and gloom from the Halo 3 Zealots.


I personally cannot wait for Halo 4 and its MP.


Power weapon camping does not = skill

 

[The Librarian]

"Halo 3 Zealots." That's a new one.

 

[soulassssns]

"Halo 3 Zealots." That's a new one.

Pun was very much intended. LMAO

 

[Overdoziz]

Always filled with doom and gloom from the Halo 3 Zealots.

Power weapon camping does not = skill

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Now that much of the dust has settled, I’m going to list the comments Frank and David made about the reveal. These things get buried fast, so I’ll put them all in one place.

Podcast and changes in MP:



About the mag, the info inside and the reactions:



Dax wants Master Chief and Cortana to hump:



Forerunner Vision sounds like UAV in COD:



Wildcard power weapons:

Thanks for this. Really shows that we all need to take a breather and see what the multiplayer actually consists of before we have heart attacks.

 

[Tawpgun]

Power weapon camping does not = skill

lol.

Forgive him, he knows not of what he speaks.

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Call of Duty: Halo

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

Call of Duty: Halo

LOL that's totally witty

 

[Mr. Luchador]

LOL that's totally witty

Thanks. It took me several days of brainstorming and whiteboard spirals to come this conclusion. Other options were:

Battlefield: Halo
Need for Speed: Halo
FIFA: Halo

I almost went with FIFA: Halo.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Thanks. It took me several days of brainstorming and whiteboard spirals to come this conclusion. Other options were:

Battlefield: Halo
Need for Speed: Halo
FIFA: Halo

I almost went with FIFA: Halo.

HalOPS

 

[Mr. Luchador]

Man. I should have hired you. This team of eggs have nothing on that. Stupid eggs.

In all seriousness, it does sound as if they're taking a lot of elements from Call of Duty. I'm guessing this has been said several times over the last 20 pages or so. I read the OP and the first page only. Sorry.

 

[Der Flatulator]

In all seriousness, it does sound as if they're taking a lot of elements from Call of Duty.

Yes and no. I think people are reading too much into it. Just because they say "Spartan Ops" doesn't mean it's anything like CoD's "Special Ops", and from the description, it sounds rather awesome.
I'm on the edge until this podcast. Hopefully our nerves will be settled, items clarified

 

[dragonelite]

Yes and no. I think people are reading too much into it. Just because they say "Spartan Ops" doesn't mean it's anything like CoD's "Special Ops", and from the description, it sounds rather awesome.
I'm on the edge until this podcast. Hopefully our nerves will be settled, items clarified

All we really got are concept ideas.
So yeah im also waiting for footage,podcast and information that shows or explains the execution of those concepts. Which is the most important a concept is as good as it execution.

 

[ProXimity]

Frankie, how about clearing up this instant respawn crap?

 

[TheOddOne]

Frankie, how about clearing up this instant respawn crap?

Gameinformer has a timed exclusivity and David/Frank have already stated that they will clearify this on the next Sparkast. No ETA on the podcast though.

Is there sp footage out there? Screens look insanely nice.

Well there is to some extent, the first Vidoc released has some footage. The Vidoc was primairly focused on multiplayer and the makers have said that this will be more of the focus going on with the reveals (they want to keep sp as much a secret so people find it out themselves).

Here is some of it in gif form:

 

[daffy]

Yeah, GameInformee Digital doesn't arrive until April 10. Probably a couple while after that.

 

[TheOddOne]

There always seems to be little info dropped in the community thread that doesn't warrent a new thread, but still is intresting. I'll try to post them here as often as I can. I hope nobody minds

The split between multiplayer and singleplayer when booting up:

Infinity contains every aspect of MP, except campaign co-op.

Instead of seeing

Campiagn
Multiplayer


You will see:

Campaign
Infinity

With new and traditional modes under that umbrella. Infinity will have zero effect on the scale, size, content or appearance of MP spaces.

Customizing everything on system link:

Don't worry, you will have a multitude of options for alteration in custom games.

More clarification on Forerunner vision:

You cannot use Forerunner Vision to see players anywhere on the map. Absolutely not.

Instant respawn in objective based modes:

You assume correctly. (That they won't be enabled in objective based modes)

About the reactions on the reveal:

We fully expected certain segments of the Halo community would have questions & concerns about some content in that particular article. One of the greatest strengths of the Halo fanbass is its diversity. What one segment cherishes as the epitome of what "makes Halo, Halo" another will dismiss in a heartbeat as fluff, or dumbing down or reducing "skill gap."

We have our vision for this Halo experience. We know we'll make some mistakes along the way, and we can't please each and everyone of the millions of people who play Halo with every feature. That being said, I believe the game we're making is special. It retains the essence and feeling of Halo while injecting an energy into the moment to moment gameplay experience that keeps me coming back for more. Even when I don't need to keep playing, I find myself loading up my Spartan IV and once again going to battle.

About Forerunner vision:

Trust me, you'll understand when you see it. Which might not be soon since we're still locking down the visuals on it.

Recoil or spread:

Credit to Havok for pointing this out.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

So the majority of the discussions seem to be focused on multiplayer, understandable, but let’s focus on the newly announced Spartan Ops. Yes, it feels like a rip-off of COD’s Spec Ops at first glance; but the way they present it sounds interesting.

Info we have about the mode:

1. “Think of them as away missions from the UNSC Infinity” – Josh Holmes.
2. Built to be played with your Spartan 4 from multiplayer.
3. The mode let’s up to four players work together on a evolving episodic campaign, comparable in scope and size to the single-player storyline.
4. It is structured like a TV season, each week players get a CG movie that shows the story behind the UNSC Infinity.
5. Along with story, five objective-based cooperative missions will be released
6. The missions being released are new content, offering unseen events, locations, and challenges.
7. You earn “Spartan points” during these missions.
8. Like the campaign, you can set the difficulty to your liking and re-play them as often as you want.
9. They are not paid DLC packs — they are an integral part of Halo 4’s story and will be played out in several months of content.
10. The mode was made to bridge the gap between SP and MP fans.
11. Lead Designer on Spartan Ops is Chris Haluke (previously from Guerilla Games, worked on the Killzone Franchise).

My thoughts:

Sounds like every ambitious undertaking, episodic content always starts out promising but in most cases always fizzles in the execution half way. And let’s be honest, this sounds way to good to be true; not DLC? Free content for months? Surprising to say the least. Sounds like something typical for a season pass.

So, as most of you already know that Firefight is not coming back as a dedicated mode; which means it will not be there when you boot up Halo 4. People have however seen Spartan Ops as a replacement/evolution for Firefight — which makes sense to some degree. What I hope though is that we get to customize Spartan Ops as much as we could Firefight. This mean tinkering with every aspect, such as waves, skulls etc. Usually we can count on Halo modes to be highly customizable, but none of those options where mentioned in the article. Then again, first time experiments are often limited in customizability (Firefight in ODST was bare bone, but great). Hope 343 clarifies this in the future.

I wonder how new this content really is, because usually these types of modes recycle tons of single player spaces. “Unseen moments” could be stuff looking from different perspectives, nothing wrong with that; but I would hardly call that new content. Yes, that sounds very knee-jerk reaction-age. There bound to be new stuff added to the mix, new voice work, going further then campaign etc. The again there is also promise of new locations, which sounds awesome and makes me wonder how further back they might go with the story. I personally hope they go out as make the Spartans as great as the one’s in Reach and give them enough personality; Kat, Emile, Carter etc where all fantastic for the limited time we got to be with them in Reach.

Don’t get me wrong, I might sound too pessimistic but I’m all for new experiments in the Halo universe. Your thoughts?

P.S.: Change the name of the gamemode, Sparten Ops sounds corny.

Spartan OPS really seems like an fucking amazing mode, seriously. Basically we get Halo 4's SP and then we get to play the story of the Spartans IVs as time goes on, if I had to guess it may start before Halo 4's SP and then make its way into Halo 4's timeline. One way or another it sounds awesome, and I hope once the extent of it is over they consider making a paid DLC pack with more.

Btw, I think im gonna add your summary to the OP, it helps spell things out a bit.

Now that much of the dust has settled, I’m going to list the comments Frank and David made about the reveal. These things get buried fast, so I’ll put them all in one place.

Podcast and changes in MP:



About the mag, the info inside and the reactions:



Dax wants Master Chief and Cortana to hump:



Forerunner Vision sounds like UAV in COD:



Wildcard power weapons:

Awesome stuff, I wonder if I should collect those quotes and OP them also..

Call of Duty: Halo

Lol, no, but that would sell like wildfire if they did a true crossover with both game titles in the name. This sounds like Halo, plays like Halo, but has a new way of handling weapons etc, it sounds like a mix of Halo, Black Ops and Gears 3. It sounds good.

 

[enzo_gt]

There always seems to be little info dropped in the community thread that doesn't warrent a new thread, but still is intresting. I'll try to post them here as often as I can. I hope nobody minds

The split between multiplayer and singleplayer when booting up:



Customizing everything on system link:

Appreciated.

Forge is the big reveal I'm looking forward to. I'm guessing they'll take the opportunity at EA to introduce the new enemies. It'd be ballsy, but I don't think they can go up until release not introducing the main antagonists, for marketing purposes namely. Presumably forerunners or deviants of the race. It'd have to become apparent pretty early in the game too unless they want you fighting wildlife to survive a third of the game. (Which is OK too but not what I want to be doing as the Chief.)

 

[Arnie]

Power weapon camping does not = skill

Neither does instant spawning, random weapon drops, unlockable perks which give players gameplay advantages and the ability to see through walls. But you seem fairly stoked about it.

What does that say about you as a player?

 

[JdFoX187]

Neither does instant spawning, random weapon drops, unlockable perks which give players gameplay advantages and the ability to see through walls. But you seem fairly stoked about it.

What does that say about you as a player?

That he's more open to gameplay changes? Or that he's not going to jump to conclusions before all the facts are out there? No, he's just a casual scrub that plays Call of Duty and wants to shit up Halo with its industry-ruining tripe.

 

[zlatko]

This game took the top spot for my most wanted shooter of the year over Future Soldier and Bioshock Infinite.

Straight into meh veins 343.

 

[Raide]

I hope Forge does not get cut. I will be a sad panda if they do.

 

[Ramirez]

Power weapon camping does not = skill

I keep seeing people say this, but who really camps a power weapon spawn all game? If you're allowing people to do that, and actually beat you, you're doing it wrong. The weapons only spawn every 3 minutes or so, what are these people doing the other 2:59?

 

[zlatko]

I hope Forge does not get cut. I will be a sad panda if they do.

I hope it's more colorful i.e not just giant silver arenas. As cool as Forge is in Reach it could use some foliage options, different types of building materials(wood,brick,etc) and the ability to make maps that look like the ones that Bungie/343 make.

 

[Tha Robbertster]

I hope Forge does not get cut. I will be a sad panda if they do.

Forge is already confirmed to be in

 

[Always-honest]

Gameinformer has a timed exclusivity and David/Frank have already stated that they will clearify this on the next Sparkast. No ETA on the podcast though.


Well there is to some extent, the first Vidoc released has some footage. The Vidoc was primairly focused on multiplayer and the makers have said that this will be more of the focus going on with the reveals (they want to keep sp as much a secret so people find it out themselves).

Here is some of it in gif form:

Thanx mister. So no new lengthy stuff.

 

[Izayoi]

The fact that there are some people are eating this shit up makes me weep for the future of videogames.

No, he's just a casual scrub that plays Call of Duty and wants to shit up Halo with its industry-ruining tripe.

You got that much right, at least.

 

[Raide]

I hope it's more colorful i.e not just giant silver arenas. As cool as Forge is in Reach it could use some foliage options, different types of building materials(wood,brick,etc) and the ability to make maps that look like the ones that Bungie/343 make.

Forge is already confirmed to be in

I spent hours and hours in Forge. I do hope 343 give it some love and attention.

 

[Portugeezer]

About weapon drops, since when was time keeping a skill? The matches have timers, not exactly hard to do.

I keep seeing people say this, but who really camps a power weapon spawn all game? If you're allowing people to do that, and actually beat you, you're doing it wrong. The weapons only spawn every 3 minutes or so, what are these people doing the other 2:59?

It's something bad players do, they keep patrolling the same spot even when no weapon has spawned.

 

[KingJ2002]

I liked what i read.

well... the "see through walls" thing isnt something i'm looking forward to

but i hope there's an option to disable perks. I'm sure 343 won't alienate Halo fans.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I hope it's more colorful i.e not just giant silver arenas. As cool as Forge is in Reach it could use some foliage options, different types of building materials(wood,brick,etc) and the ability to make maps that look like the ones that Bungie/343 make.

Good point, I'd also like them to allow a any custom maps 'sever' where people play a fan made map then can vote if it's good or not, the best stay the terrible and joke ones die.

 

[dragonelite]

That he's more open to gameplay changes? Or that he's not going to jump to conclusions before all the facts are out there? No, he's just a casual scrub that plays Call of Duty and wants to shit up Halo with its industry-ruining tripe.

Keep ya hands of my halo.....

 

[Izayoi]

I'm sure 343 won't alienate Halo fans.

Nothing is sacred in the quest for CoDbux. Remember that Microsoft is running the show 100% now. Any illusion of them trying to cater to fans and not to the big money can be safely taken out back and shot.

 

[Raide]

About weapon drops, since when was time keeping a skill? The matches have timers, not exactly hard to do.



It's something bad players do, they keep patrolling the same spot even when no weapon has spawned.

Pro Quake players know all about weapon and power-up timing. Watching them play as they listen out for things being picked up and timings for things re-spawning really is awesome. Same goes for Halo.

Standing still for 3 minutes waiting for something to return is pretty pathetic however.

 

[Surface of Me]

About weapon drops, since when was time keeping a skill? The matches have timers, not exactly hard to do.



It's something bad players do, they keep patrolling the same spot even when no weapon has spawned.

So the random weapon spawns are there to help the bad players, but the bad players are the ones camping the weapons?

I find the whole thing pointless, if you don't know where the weapon spawns are the 2nd or 3rd time you play a map, then maybe games just aren't for you.

 

[Arnie]

That he's more open to gameplay changes? Or that he's not going to jump to conclusions before all the facts are out there? No, he's just a casual scrub that plays Call of Duty and wants to shit up Halo with its industry-ruining tripe.

Don't really know how to take this comment so I'll reiterate my initial comment.

I responded to his comment which implied that he gave an ounce of thought to the use of 'skill' as a means to victory in game. Now, with that being said, it was my retort that the changes listed to multiplayer, without making insane jumps of logic, are at their core changes which reduce the skill gap to victory.

Let me say that we don't know how these changes will be implemented, and David has already come out and said that things like instant respawn won't be in objective gametypes. However, that being said, we can still clarify on a basic level how these changes reduce the skill gap in Halo. Not that that's a terrible thing for some, especially those pining for change. And that's fine.

Instant Spawning: Reduced penalty for death.

Unlockable Perks: Allows players the ability to have an innate advantage over his opponent, thus removing complete balance from proceedings. In prior games any such advantage was built up through in game actions, such as grabbing a power weapon or a power up from around the map. A risk versus reward strategy.

Random weapon spawns: Having weapons spawn at a specific place, at a specific time allows players to better manage how they want to play. If the Sniper spawns at the tower in 12 seconds then you as a team could prioritise that and drop back to pick it up so you can control parts of the map better. If you're a flag down and you're trying to push for a score, dropping back for the sniper isn't a wise move. In this new configuration, without trying to assume too much, you could have a Rocket Launcher drop next to you not because you managed to prioritise that and include it in your strategy, but because elements of luck decided that would happen.

See through walls: You can see through walls.

 

[cluto]

Random weapon spawns: Having weapons spawn at a specific place, at a specific time allows players to better manage how they want to play. If the Sniper spawns at the tower in 12 seconds then you as a team could prioritise that and drop back to pick it up so you can control parts of the map better. If you're a flag down and you're trying to push for a score, dropping back for the sniper isn't a wise move. In this new configuration, without trying to assume too much, you could have a Rocket Launcher drop next to you not because you managed to prioritise that and include it in your strategy, but because elements of luck decided that would happen.

I'd like to add that weapon placement and map design go hand-in-hand. Introducing a random element to weapon spawns has a negative effect on proper Halo map design.

 

[Arnie]

I'd like to add that weapon placement and map design go hand-in-hand. Introducing a random element to weapon spawns has a negative effect on proper Halo map design.

Very good point.

 

[GhaleonEB]

New locations seem to imply new maps, especially if we are gonna learn more about the UNSC Infinity and the hardships of the Spartan IV's.

This whole concept sounds, like I said before, much like a season pass kind of offering. The fact that it is free kind of baffles me, I would expect Microsoft to monetize it. The way they will deliver the content is still not known, so you might be on the money that it is an experiment for next-gen.

My interpretation is that the Ops missions will be set in Campaign, and they have the ability to carve out spaces from Campaign and craft Ops missions around them, releasing those as new 'missions' post-ship. In this way they can take the same approach as with Firefight to further leverage the spaces in new contexts. A mission set on a 'new' space will be a location that a previous Ops mission had not been set. I will be (happily) surprised if there is significant new terrain, skyboxes, etc. created for them.

 

[TheOddOne]

Nothing is sacred in the quest for CoDbux. Remember that Microsoft is running the show 100% now. Any illusion of them trying to cater to fans and not to the big money can be safely taken out back and shot.

Yeah, MS sure went the extra mile to force 343 to update Reach MP to something playable now. Ohh how about helping out MLG? Yeah, MS forced that too.

My interpretation is that the Ops missions will be set in Campaign, and they have the ability to carve out spaces from Campaign and craft Ops missions around them, releasing those as new 'missions' post-ship. In this way they can take the same approach as with Firefight to further leverage the spaces in new contexts. A mission set on a 'new' space will be a location that a previous Ops mission had not been set. I will be (happily) surprised if there is significant new terrain, skyboxes, etc. created for them.

That was my first thought too, then again "The missions being released are new content, offering unseen events, locations, and challenges" does make me think it's new to some extent. Would not be suprised that your right though.

 

[The Librarian]

My interpretation is that the Ops missions will be set in Campaign, and they have the ability to carve out spaces from Campaign and craft Ops missions around them, releasing those as new 'missions' post-ship. In this way they can take the same approach as with Firefight to further leverage the spaces in new contexts. A mission set on a 'new' space will be a location that a previous Ops mission had not been set. I will be (happily) surprised if there is significant new terrain, skyboxes, etc. created for them.

Judging from Firefight experience, and thinking of this as Firefight has been implemented, I hope this isn't the case. I've said this before I think, but playing campaign spaces outside of campaign kind tarnishes them when I replay the campaign.

 

[Arnie]

I think Spartan Ops will be completely new environments and assets, rather than resampled areas from the campaign with fresh objectives and a slightly altered context.

 

[Raide]

I think Spartan Ops will be completely new environments and assets, rather than resampled areas from the campaign with fresh objectives and a slightly altered context.

I am thinking the same. It would not make much sense to have MC running around in SP and then playing SpartanOps in co-op doing the same missions or an alternate viewpoint. Would not really make sense.

I am hoping for a ODST style mode where an alternate story is played out and explained, without MC appearing.

 

[Detox]

My initial impression is that these missions will be completely new areas etc and will already be on the disc. They would just unlock them weekly giving a reason for people to put the disc in every week and to try and retain most of the playerbase.

 

[Oblivionmancer]

To me, the reasonable assumption is that season 1 of Spartan Ops is online pass enabled, included in the price of a new copy of the game, and later seasons are bought piecemeal or via season pass. Which basically seems fine to me.

 

[ElzarTheBam]

I think Spartan Ops will be completely new environments and assets, rather than resampled areas from the campaign with fresh objectives and a slightly altered context.

If spartan ops is VR training missions, I would love to see some of the battles from the books explored.

 

[Ryaaan14]

To me, the reasonable assumption is that season 1 of Spartan Ops is online pass enabled, included in the price of a new copy of the game, and later seasons are bought piecemeal or via season pass. Which basically seems fine to me.

GI says they are all included.

 

[Arnie]

If spartan ops is VR training missions, I would love to see some of the battles from the books explored.

As I understand it they aren't virtual reality.

Perhaps I've misunderstood it, but I thought the competitive environments were virtually simulated inside the UNSC Infinity, with the Spartan Ops being actual combat operations outside of the Infinity. So in the game's fiction, competitive multiplayer represents 'safe' (perhaps not knowing the history of the Spartan programme) training exercises onboard the Infinity inside a virtual arena, whereas the Ops were Spartan IVs leaving the ship to perform combat exercises.

This has sparked two points: The first being that the awesomeness of the Infinity concept as a whole has taken a backseat following the multiplayer debate; and secondly that I need to read Glasslands.