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Halo 2 Map-Pack Cover Art
- Thread starter FiRez
- Start date
(Cold-Steel
Member
LOL watch them use the same "Earth." campaign all over again.
SpeedingUptoStop
will totally Facebook friend you! *giggle* *LOL*
Looks fake.
Cold-Steel
Member
FiRez said:
I know, it would just seem funny if it actually happened.
"I need a weapon." *cue multiplayer montage*
It's good to pay together.
Cold-Steel
Member
Ramirez said:
Well it was the original idea. Zanzibar's a pretty good example and many of the new maps are based around urban settings.
Cold-Steel
Member
The original design intention was to be a full out all-blown war online between Covenant and Spartans, kinda like Conquest from MA2: Lone Wolf.
Because of the rush to product launch and the difficulty in implementing these things quickly enough, I think a lot of the original ideas were shelved for Halo 3.
Because of the rush to product launch and the difficulty in implementing these things quickly enough, I think a lot of the original ideas were shelved for Halo 3.
Squirrel Killer
Member
Wario64 said:
There's really only one way to prevent that... require the disc to play those maps. But that seems so kludgy and clumsy that, given that the maps are going to be free in a few months anyway, I tend to think that Bungie's going to go ahead and just allow the disc sharing free-for-all.
Cold-Steel
Member
Hero said:
It's possible that they might link it into your Gamertag, have some sort of CD key, or just instead of the Halo 2 disc you use the Multiplayer Expansion disc.
Although I highly doubt that. Plus it would just seem stupid.
border said:
Halo:CE is one of the best games that I played in my entire life, But Bungie deserve all the critiques of the Halo 2 SP (even this) not because the campaign isn't about save the earth, but mostly because it doesn't compare to excellent, epic, well development SP mode of H:CE and some unnecesary gameplay changes, In short words if this game was called Halo: Tournament I will not have any problem with it.
FiRez said:
no
http://halo.bungie.org/oldnews.html?item=12565
but it probaby is the first time its been posted here.
i actually really like it, and like that it is very similar to the standard box art
I doubt that they are just going to let you download the maps to the hard drive. Too much money would be lost from people sharing discs and pirates just loading up the maps with pirated copies (then playing on Live with the new maps).
I think the map pack will be a fully-functional multiplayer-only disc.
I think the map pack will be a fully-functional multiplayer-only disc.
Totally missed the point...FiRez said:
Cold-Steel said:
Well the only real reason they're releasing it via the disc is for the people without LIVE, so to try and link it to your LIVE gamertag would be self-defeating, same with the CD key.
Also, if you just use the multiplayer expansion disc then I think people would be pissed off. A lot of people bought it for multiplayer, if you could play multiplayer of Halo 2 + new maps for just 20 bucks then there'd be a lot of hell.
Like I said, I don't see any other way besides an installation. They can't control this content without pissing a lot of people off. It'll probably self boot and create another save on the Xbox HDD.
Squirrel Killer
Member
border said:
The maps are going to be free in 3-4 months, how much money are they going to lose then? It could go either way, but given Bungie's rep (even with all the missteps they've made), I'd bet they're more likely to let people share than go to extremes to twart such sharing (again, the maps are going to be free in short order anyway.)
border said:
I could see them going this route, but if they do, I hope they include all the multiplayer levels. "OK, we're going to play Zanzibar next, everyone swap disks!" would suck hard.
If the maps are going to be free eventually, then why isn't this disk 10 bucks instead of 20? Why don't they just release all the maps on Live immediately -- for free? Obviously they are looking to turn a sweet buck on this whole deal, and letting people share the disc is going to cut into that.
I'd bet that the Map Pack contains all the old and new maps, and you just play off of it. On the bright side this means that "OMG LOLZ WHERE"Z MY EARTH CAMPAIGN?!?!" people can sell off their copy of Halo 2 and just play the multiplayer map disc. It would also be a nice low-cost option for people that like to have LAN parties but don't want to pay $50 for extra copies of Halo 2.
I'd bet that the Map Pack contains all the old and new maps, and you just play off of it. On the bright side this means that "OMG LOLZ WHERE"Z MY EARTH CAMPAIGN?!?!" people can sell off their copy of Halo 2 and just play the multiplayer map disc. It would also be a nice low-cost option for people that like to have LAN parties but don't want to pay $50 for extra copies of Halo 2.
Funky Papa
FUNK-Y-PPA-4
If you look closely the flag guy is giving us the middle finger!
Squirrel Killer
Member
border said:
Well, if they released it for $10, why not $5? If $5, why not free plus shipping and handling? People like to nitpick huge corporations (and not without good reason) but really, the reasons that Bungie have given that the maps are not all free, immediately, make sense. It would be a huge strain on their servers given the likely size of the maps, non-Live users need to be accomadated, with a dash of cost recovery (not only on development, but also retail overhead).
I don't have any insight into the actual Bungie/MS plans anymore than you do, but it seems to me that given the headaches involved with preventing disc sharing, the fact that the maps will be free relatively soon, and the various PR hits that Bungie's taken with Halo2's release, that a sharing-friendly, non-price gouging position is a distinct possibility.
border said:
So earlier, you mention how Bungie is just looking to turn a sweet buck, but now you think that they'd let people set up a 4 Xbox Halo2 LAN party for $80 instead of $280 (Halo2 @ $50 * 4, & Halo2 MapPack @ $20 *4)? Yes, that would be another nice option, but if I was a betting man, I'd bet on that they'd let you share a disc.
Autoupdate for Halo 2 coming on Monday! Just posted in the Bungie weekly whats update:
Well you'll still have to wait. TIL' MONDAY! Yep, the Autoupdate will be available on Monday April 18th, to fix cheats, bugs, glitches and gasp – tweak some important weapon balance issues. Next time you log in after it's available (it'll be spread out to mitigate server loads) you'll get a message alerting you to its presence. Don't worry if you don't see it first thing Monday morning, it'll show up in your neighborhood eventually.
Well you'll still have to wait. TIL' MONDAY! Yep, the Autoupdate will be available on Monday April 18th, to fix cheats, bugs, glitches and gasp – tweak some important weapon balance issues. Next time you log in after it's available (it'll be spread out to mitigate server loads) you'll get a message alerting you to its presence. Don't worry if you don't see it first thing Monday morning, it'll show up in your neighborhood eventually.
IntestineBoy
Sasquatch of 1000 (hairy) colons
The update is up, nothing much about the maps, just more about the update, which is coming on Monday.
What headaches are involved with preventing disc sharing? You just make people use the disc to play the new maps. Meanwhile Live users get their accounts frozen if new maps show up on the HD without a record of sale. Piracy prevented, sales maximized.Squirrel Killer said:
Nearly all of the hardcore LAN folk have already bought their multiple copies of Halo 2. A $20 multiplayer-only version would be a nice solution for those times when someone shows up with an extra Xbox but no copy of the game.....it would also make retailers a lot more likely to stock a multiplayer map pack whose value will reduce to $0 in less than a couple months. If the disc retains some functionality, they are assured that they can still move copies after all the content on it becomes free.
EDIT: At any rate, I guess we'll know as soon as we get a bigger version of the box art. If it says "Copy of Halo 2 Required" on it, then we can assume it's just an install disc. If there's no such disclaimer, I would probably assume that the new maps play off the disc and are not moved to the HD.
Squirrel Killer
Member
border said:
Hrm... let's see...
border said:
Headache #1 - Require a secondary disc to play new maps (see Headache #3 for "What if they put all the MP maps on one standalone disc" response)
border said:
Headache #2 - Record of sale? What if I buy the retail package, how do they record that sale? If Live was Steam, that'd be a more workable option, but as it stands, that'd be a headache for MS to track.
border said:
Headache #3 - They're still "leaving money on the table", which you claimed they'd never do. How many million Xboxes don't have a copy of Halo2 yet? And remember, the content only becomes free to those users that have Live. For non-Live users, it'll still be worth $20.
You may be right, I have no idea. I just tend to think you're not. There are supporting arguments for both options. Regardless, we'll find out who's right in a few weeks.
God damn, border, you're really thick-skulled.
While Bungie/MS could release the Expansion with the entire multiplayer in there with the original maps plus the new ones, the odds are not in your favor.
Why?
- As I said before, a lot of people who bought Halo 2 would probably feel cheated, since for less than half of MSRP you can have 90% of the game available.
- Recording sales? How the hell do you intend for them to do that? Is this disc supposed to have a serial number that's supposed be scanned at the time of purchase? Way, way, way too much trouble. Even if inside it came with the code and you had to activate it online, still more trouble than it's worth.
- Compatibility issues. No doubt Bungie will continue to make new maps for Halo 2, so what happens when they want to release the second batch of levels? Make people buy another 20 dollar disc with the multiplayer stuff on it? It just doesn't sound right.
Regarding the previous question/comment, I suspect that it's going to be just like a patch update for PC games. Halo 2 multiplayer v1.1 after installing the necessary files to your Xbox via the game disc. I imagine for LAN v1.1 wouldn't even be able to system link with someone who doesn't have the patch update themselves.
As it is, they're charging 20 bucks for it. I doubt Microsoft/Bungie cares if people pitched in / swapped / traded the Expansion Disc to install on their Xboxes since they're going to be making tons of money off it anyway.
While Bungie/MS could release the Expansion with the entire multiplayer in there with the original maps plus the new ones, the odds are not in your favor.
Why?
- As I said before, a lot of people who bought Halo 2 would probably feel cheated, since for less than half of MSRP you can have 90% of the game available.
- Recording sales? How the hell do you intend for them to do that? Is this disc supposed to have a serial number that's supposed be scanned at the time of purchase? Way, way, way too much trouble. Even if inside it came with the code and you had to activate it online, still more trouble than it's worth.
- Compatibility issues. No doubt Bungie will continue to make new maps for Halo 2, so what happens when they want to release the second batch of levels? Make people buy another 20 dollar disc with the multiplayer stuff on it? It just doesn't sound right.
Regarding the previous question/comment, I suspect that it's going to be just like a patch update for PC games. Halo 2 multiplayer v1.1 after installing the necessary files to your Xbox via the game disc. I imagine for LAN v1.1 wouldn't even be able to system link with someone who doesn't have the patch update themselves.
As it is, they're charging 20 bucks for it. I doubt Microsoft/Bungie cares if people pitched in / swapped / traded the Expansion Disc to install on their Xboxes since they're going to be making tons of money off it anyway.
What I was suggesting is a disc that contains all 18-19 maps....a complete multiplayer-only version of Halo 2. Not some disc-swapping lamery.
Somebody that doesn't have Live and hasn't bought Halo 2 by now will most likely want the full version anyhow, and the multiplayer-only disc would be there for LAN enthusiasts or owners without Live that want to update. I don't think they would really be cannibalizing Halo 2 sales.
If you buy the retail package then you are going to be playing off the disc (in the scenario I proposed). That's the record of sale. The only people who will be playing off the HDD would be those who bought through XBL, and Bungie will have a record of their sale.
I specifically said that a record of sale would be required for those using maps stored on the HDD (see above). And you're calling me thick-headed =PHero said:
Considering that they hand out those XBL Trial Cards like candy, I might think twice about that. All you'd have to do is sign in once, download everything, cancel subscription. Assuming that the alternative is true and the map pack is swap-friendly, how much faith will retailers have in the product if they know that everybody will just be borrowing it from a friend (or videostore) and getting all the content for free?
Somebody that doesn't have Live and hasn't bought Halo 2 by now will most likely want the full version anyhow, and the multiplayer-only disc would be there for LAN enthusiasts or owners without Live that want to update. I don't think they would really be cannibalizing Halo 2 sales.
Huh? This situation is totally unavoidable regardless of whether the disc is share-able or not. Of course people without Live are going to have to buy another upgrade disc if new maps are made -- how else are they going to get the new maps?Hero said:
You also have a lot more faith in Bungie than I do anyhow. Given that this has taken more than half a year and Xbox 360 is fast approaching, I'd bet good money that it will be the first and last map update for Halo 2.
Squirrel Killer
Member
border said:
The easiest way for Bungie/MS to avoid introducing disc-swapping lamery is to just load the maps to the HD, and accept that they're only going to get 8 big fat sacks of cash instead of 10. It is possible for a company to not squeeze out every last dime, even if it's not likely.
border said:
Didn't all of those cards expire on 3/31/05?
border said:
Agreed there.