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[GhaleonEB]

In case anyone missed this from the Eurogamer live chat mentioned in this week's Update.

Frank O'Connor: I have been in the US for more than ten years, so that's where the accent went. As for "vehicle customizations", this is the second time I have been asked this in 24 hours, so he must be talking about something specific I said - to reiterate, I don't think I have ever (consciously) hinted that new or customized vehicles were coming. But Forge is an interesting beast and can certainly contain toys unavailable before. One of those will be revealed on Spike TV this Sunday.

And from the Update proper:

Now I’m excited right now. For two reasons. One of them is that Bungie's Studio Manager Harold Ryan and I are off to the filming of the Spike Video Game Awards tomorrow – I don’t know if we’ve won anything, but I do know that the Red Vs. Blue guys made an amazingly funny video for the show and I can’t wait to see it. Rumor has it that it might be the first chance anyone gets to see the new maps…

It’s airing on this Sunday December 9th, 9 p.m EST/PST on Spike TV. It’s well worth your attention.

 

[JdFoX187]

Got all achievements at last, LEGIT also.

Halo's management of strongest wins balancing is so bullshit, instead of a test of skill its whoever has the fattest internet connection wins close range fights, shotgun and melee mostly. I got clips of me full shield shooting the shotgun into someones face the moment I walk around the corner followed by a contacting melee, a second later I'm beat down because in that second the other person can keep dealing damage. Also I've had plenty of experiences where I've shot first but they have had time to turn around, shoot and melee me to death.

Total bullshit, makes me seriously want to just throw the game away now that I'm done with it, but I got RL friends who play online :/

I go home for Christmas so I shall play on a line that should be better quality then my flat's line, see if I get the same results.

I was playing some split screen online last night at a party. I don't know if it was our connections or what, but there was one time where I shot a guy with a mauler twice, his shields are blinking, I have full shields, I melee and he melees me and I die. It doesn't seem to be as bad on local split screen. I guess it's primarily due to the lag.

Hearse brought up a good point about the spawning. It's something that seems to have been buried with the talk of the melee. Striker and I were playing multi team one time at Last Resort. At the beginning of the match, I spawn in the base while he spawns below the bubble shield tower, near the shotgun. He's over there by himself while the two green players spawn RIGHT BEHIND him. Of course, they killed him as soon as the game started.

I've had bad spawns happen to me all the time. It's really bad on Narrows when you're trying to arm the bomb or grab the flag. The spawns do need to be adjusted somewhat. I don't notice them as much on Snowbound as I used to, but they are still a problem. Hopefully, Bungie is investigating.

 

[Diablohead]

I would like to ask the question why someone can just run along up to me and shotgun me point blank for a kill, but when I try and do the same thing I get beat down? same with the mauler as it never works for me.

I have to play this game with range weapons only otherwise I get shafted.

 

[Photolysis]

I would like to ask the question why someone can just run along up to me and shotgun me point blank for a kill, but when I try and do the same thing I get beat down? same with the mauler as it never works for me.

I have to play this game with range weapons only otherwise I get shafted.

Because the good people at Bungie, for some bizarre reason, seem to ignore the concept of latency.

I don't understand why, either. They have some extremely intelligent people working there, experts in networking, yet they refuse to acknowledge that the delay in information getting where it's supposed to, and a lack of regional filters to reduce it, screw a lot of people over.

I really don't understand why people so smart, can be so stupid.

I've even talked to Chris Butcher about it. He knows exactly the kinds of problems latency causes, yet only provides the means to limit it to 200ms, which is almost identical to not doing anything.

If anyone figures this one out, let me know. I'd really like an answer on this one.

 

[Captain Blood]

just out of curiostiy does everyone pretty much have an open nat now a days

 

[JdFoX187]

I'll never figure why Bungie puts GRENADES in a fucking sword game. Guy I play spams genades, gets a final kill in a swords game by that. Getting better at swords though. I think I've figured it out.

EDIT: Bungie had a serious brain fart with swords on The Pit. Turrets? I abused them, I admit. I got a lot of kills with a turret. But seriously?

EDIT 2: Is there something other than Swords in matchmaking? Three games out of four have been swords.

EDIT 3: Swords and more swords. Take this damn game out of Lone Wolves. It belongs in Rumble Pit, but not Lone Wolves.

 

[Ramirez]

Sword games are fucking retarded, the grenades (especially plasmas) and turrets at least add a little spice to a shitty game type.

 

[JdFoX187]

Spice does not equal good. I don't like getting gunned down by a turret when I have no long range defense. It's like the banshee being in team rifles.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I agree with JD, the Turrets in a Swords game is just shit.

It's bad enough in a regular Slayer gametype, where you get someone whoring the Turret all match, but in a Swords game it's ten times worse.

Take that shit out, Bungle.

 

[TheWolf]

High Ground has officially won my 'Most Hated Spawns Award'. can't tell you how many times 3 guys either spawned behind me on the beach or behind me in the base today...

 

[JdFoX187]

High Ground has officially won my 'Most Hated Spawns Award'. can't tell you how many times 3 guys either spawned behind me on the beach or behind me in the base today...

Yeah, that map and Narrows probably have the worst spawns.

 

[Domino Theory]

Well, this coming friday will officially be awesome.

A bunch of people from TXB decided to have a custom game competition to see who can be the first to 25,000 kills. No shields, BR + Pistol starts. I can't wait.

 

[BladedExpert]

Well, this coming friday will officially be awesome.

A bunch of people from TXB decided to have a custom game competition to see who can be the first to 25,000 kills. No shields, BR + Pistol starts. I can't wait.

Holy crap that sounds like so much fun! What map? How many people?

 

[Diablohead]

High Ground has officially won my 'Most Hated Spawns Award'. can't tell you how many times 3 guys either spawned behind me on the beach or behind me in the base today...

WAs sniping last night in a shotty sniper game and my team was working their way up into the top base. Now I know the game makes the opponent spawn away from your team but right behind me as the overshield respawns? :lol

And yes turrets in a swords game is pretty silly, once i've walked around with the turret and got 10 kills easy before being grenaded down.

 

[Domino Theory]

Holy crap that sounds like so much fun! What map? How many people?

Amount of people is undecided. We're deciding on whether to forge a map, or just use a regular map.

 

[Captain Blood]

does anyone have any idea how long 25000 kills would take? I understand players and map would be a factor but i would think it would be 16 players on a medium map

 

[Ramirez]

Spice does not equal good. I don't like getting gunned down by a turret when I have no long range defense. It's like the banshee being in team rifles.

Um, take a different route? Go head on and you deserved to get smoked. It's not like the turret is a game breaker, you move slow as hell and someone can easily use cover and quickly get to you.

All one weapon game types should be removed, they're trash.

 

[TDG]

High Ground has officially won my 'Most Hated Spawns Award'. can't tell you how many times 3 guys either spawned behind me on the beach or behind me in the base today...

I love that map, but there's never been any question for me: High Ground has awful spawns. Just crap. And it really didn't improve from the beta, when I also complained about it, at all.

 

[JdFoX187]

Um, take a different route? Go head on and you deserved to get smoked. It's not like the turret is a game breaker, you move slow as hell and someone can easily use cover and quickly get to you.

All one weapon game types should be removed, they're trash.

Um, take the turret out of The Pit for Swords? Let's not take up for their mistakes. It's not like it's that hard to remove the turrets. I noticed Bungie has removed the radar jammers from matchmaking. So adding/removing items isn't as big of a chore as it was in Halo 2.

But I agree, single weapons agmes should be removed from Lone Wolves.

 

[TheWolf]

fuck, i dropped like 3 levels today in TS. i swear the majority of the time i get put with a shitty team and i'm usually the only one with a positive k/d ratio. :lol

btw, it's kinda lame how my team is always fresh level 30 players and the other team has 3 out of 4 people with 40+ in other ranked playlists. and i'm never on the team with the higher level players...

 

[kuYuri]

Anybody playing Halo 3 right now? I'm in machmaking and looking for people to team up with.

 

[Diablohead]

I was just playing, oh man I really need to vent this out.

Guardian is such a broken map, so is the mauler due to how the game handles close range combat.

Guardian has a hammer, two maulers and a shotgun all on a tiny level, the mauler will rape you even if you deplete their shields because of the melee rule bungie decided to use to piss everyone off. You can shoot someone untill their shield is down and keep the best distance you can on guardian but all they have to do is pull the right trigger and press B for instant win. team dubbles becomes mauler whore matches where nearly all other guns are useless.

I'm sick and damn tired of this melee rule, why did bungie have to break what otherwise is an amazing online experiance, why? :/

When they tested this game did they think about internet lag or was it all lan experiances!? it's flawed.

 

[TheWolf]

yeah, i've kind of grown to hate Guardian.

i actually kind of hate Team Slayer now too. i hate that i go down if my team doesn't finish, or all has negative K/D ratios. i will never get to 40 in it.

 

[alisdair]

You can shoot someone untill their shield is down and keep the best distance you can on guardian but all they have to do is pull the right trigger and press B for instant win. team dubbles becomes mauler whore matches where nearly all other guns are useless.

Ever tried running backwards while shooting? Works for me. Guardian's one of the better maps for doubles. You can escape in lots of directions.

I do sort of agree about the mauler, though, I'd like to see what happens in matchmaking if they up the respawn time to 150s and lower the maximum number on the map to 2.

 

[Diablohead]

Ever tried running backwards while shooting? Works for me. Guardian's one of the better maps for doubles. You can escape in lots of directions.

I do sort of agree about the mauler, though, I'd like to see what happens in matchmaking if they up the respawn time to 150s and lower the maximum number on the map to 2.

Oh yes I do keep distance, just that half the time they will find a way to lunge if you accidently run into part of a wall or something, the mauler is just the weapon of cheapass.

 

[Striker]

yeah, i've kind of grown to hate Guardian.

i actually kind of hate Team Slayer now too. i hate that i go down if my team doesn't finish, or all has negative K/D ratios. i will never get to 40 in it.

Add me, if you want.

Striker029 is the GT. I've been playing TS with two guys on my list.

I'm currently a 35 and the two others are 39 & 40.

 

[DeadCell]

My god that downloaded quickly.

 

[DeadCell]

So, any idea when the Heroic DLC playlist will be up?

 

[JdFoX187]

Add me, if you want.

Striker029 is the GT. I've been playing TS with two guys on my list.

I'm currently a 35 and the two others are 39 & 40.

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

I'm going to be playing custom games on the new maps for a few hours. If you want to join, add Jedeye Sniv as a friend and come on in!

 

[Diablohead]

Hopefully people on neogaf shoot will be playing these maps, right now only one person is on halo 3 :lol

 

[Domino Theory]

Hopefully people on neogaf shoot will be playing these maps, right now only one person is on halo 3 :lol

I'll be on around 10:30 or 11 for a while once one of my college finals are over, if anyone wants to play a nice custom game or MM on the new maps.

 

[blanky]

It's kinda annoying of all the neogaf **** friendslists is that you can't instantly join them.

Although I'm really excited about these new maps and am going to try out foundry for sure.

 

[Wizman23]

Standoff might be the best Halo map ever made.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

I would like to let Bungie know that I love all three maps.

Neutral Assault on Standoff is up there with my best experiences with the series. Rat's Nest is Godly (but where the hell are the trip mines?), and default Foundry is all kinds of awesomeness and mayhem.

I give the Map Pack 3 thumbs up.

 

[Striker]

Played one game of each map.

Foundry is eh, but the toys of Forge will take care of that.

I love Standoff and Rat's Nest, though.

 

[Photolysis]

All 3 maps are excellent. Foundry is essentially thousands of maps in one, once you rearrange the map using Forge.

Standoff brings back some great memories of Blood Gulch; I could swear the ambient noises you hear are identical. Very nice to look at too.

Rat's Nest is good in a weird way. It feels both large and small at the same time.

 

[Blueblur1]

The maps are fan-fuckin'-tastic. I'm so pleasantly surprised.

 

[Domino Theory]

All 3 maps are excellent. Foundry is essentially thousands of maps in one, once you rearrange the map using Forge.

Standoff brings back some great memories of Blood Gulch; I could swear the ambient noises you hear are identical. Very nice to look at too.

Rat's Nest is good in a weird way. It feels both large and small at the same time.

Ha! I knew there was someone else out there who could hear 'em as well.

Standoff is just.. so satisfying to play on. My God.

 

[Photolysis]

Ha! I knew there was someone else out there who could hear 'em as well.

Heh, I guess this suggests I spent too much time playing Halo 1 then; I recognised that Backwash used the ambient noises from Halo 1's 343 Guilty Spark level, before Bungie confirmed it.

I think I might just Forge Standoff when I next load H3 up so it's weapon set is more similar to Blood Gulch (Rockets in the Middle, Sniper rifles at each base, etc). Nostalgia overload!

 

[JdFoX187]

Are the maps in the regular playlists right now or are they just limited to the DLC playlist?

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

I love playing Halo 3 but I have some complaints

Holy shit get rid of swords NOW. also get that bullshit Team Duals out of Social Slayer. SMG/Pistol start off? WTF

Fix the melee, I can't count the times I've been sword lunged with a fuckin mauler.

Why is the battle rifle now like a 8 shot POS unless combined with a grenade?

Other than that its cool.

I'm a level 36 but everytime I'm about to get to a higher level, wtf do you know, swords on Epitaph or the Pit.

 

[DD-11]

I still hate:

Swords only gametype. Who thinks this is fun? Especially on construct?

Being forced to play oddball, VIP, territories, etc when all I really want is slayer, team slayer or CTF. Some nights I just want to play 3 or 4 games, but the chances of getting any of those three gametypes is a number so close to zero that I end up not playing at all.

Too many Grenades. Fuck the trinity.


(I don't have a problem with the maulers or the melee system)

 

[Diablohead]

I love playing Halo 3 but I have some complaints

Holy shit get rid of swords NOW. also get that bullshit Team Duals out of Social Slayer. SMG/Pistol start off? WTF

Fix the melee, I can't count the times I've been sword lunged with a fuckin mauler.

Why is the battle rifle now like a 8 shot POS unless combined with a grenade?

Other than that its cool.

I'm a level 36 but everytime I'm about to get to a higher level, wtf do you know, swords on Epitaph or the Pit.

BR was overkill in halo 2, they got the weapon near perfect now (body shots are still about as strong as a kitten, useless)

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

BR was overkill in halo 2, they got the weapon near perfect now (body shots are still about as strong as a kitten, useless)

The BR was pretty powerful in Halo 2 but now it seems too weak IMO. I had some guy coming at me with an assault who had already taken some shield damage still kill me even though I was tagging near his chest and head. Also BR shots to the back are pointless and a waist of ammo basically.

 

[DD-11]

The BR was pretty powerful in Halo 2 but now it seems too weak IMO. I had some guy coming at me with an assault who had already taken some shield damage still kill me even though I was tagging near his chest and head. Also BR shots to the back are pointless and a waist of ammo basically.

I don't find this to be true. I routinely take guys down with the BR vs AR. I think the BR is perfect right now. I also haven't noticed a difference when shooting someone in the back, maybe I need to pay more attention, but it seems to work for me.

 

[Dirtbag]

I posted this in the single player thread, but it probably belongs in here.

My take on the maps:


Standoff - really amazing. Instant classic. Would have been a good map for the Prowler, as the added passenger can't throw things off too much, given how quickly you can run between bases. Best of the pack for sure.

Rat's Nest - decent to good, I'm not really into big team battles. The ring around the outside is awkward in my personal opinion, as sometimes you and your enemies are running parallel laps and you won't see them for while do to limited visibility. Seems like a great map for neutral assault. Team slayer was awkward, though fighting in the middle area is really good. Love the battles that play out around the bridge area. Equipment makes this map far more interesting as its easy to come by.
EDIT:ALSO, would have been the map to finally break out the gauss hog. Given the line of sight on the map, I think people on foot would stand a pretty good chance against it, and I know alot of us love playing around in the Guass Hog. Maybe that can come in a future iteration of the map.

Foundry - can't really say. Terrible map for 6 vs 6. I think people are giving this map way too much credit in Heroic hopper. I haven't had a chance to play it with 2 vs 2 or 4 vs 4 yet. Requires a ton of jumping. Would have been a really fun map to run around with a hammer (and they cant say it would unbalance the map because the shotgun is on the map by default, and the shotgun owns the hammer any day of the week)... and why didnt this map have spike grenades on it!? It's got perfect level geometry for some spike grenade fun. I also dont like the two major spawn areas (the ones that are next to each other but walled off). A team that spawns in there is essentially cornered off the map, and it makes for a strange level entry point. Like I said, this map probably plays much better with less people, but as it stands I'm really hot and cold on it.

And on a totally random note: I want to add my disappointment that we'll never have a shield-door-less version of Epitaph. I realized the maps potential the other day, and if it wasn't for the constant barrage of shielding, it would be a pretty hardcore map.

I don't find this to be true. I routinely take guys down with the BR vs AR. I think the BR is perfect right now. I also haven't noticed a difference when shooting someone in the back, maybe I need to pay more attention, but it seems to work for me.

The BR is def. toned down in 3. It's very inconsistent over distances, it has some major hit detection issues when shooting someone in the back, it has disproportionate magnetism to the "impossible to miss with AR", And the melee on the AR has much better reach.

 

[DD-11]

The BR is def. toned down in 3. It's very inconsistent over distances, it has some major hit detection issues when shooting someone in the back, it has disproportionate magnetism to the "impossible to miss with AR", And the melee on the AR has much better reach.

For sure. But the AR should beat the BR at close range, even though the BR stands a chance. You're not saying the AR win at medium distance, are you?

The BR isn't intended on being the only gun you'll ever need despite what the MLG crowd says.

 

[Dirtbag]

For sure. But the AR should beat the BR at close range, even though the BR stands a chance. You're not saying the AR win at medium distance, are you?

The BR isn't intended on being the only gun you'll ever need despite what the MLG crowd says.

I really can't stand about 3/4's of MLGers, I find their forged maps to be barren, and even more devoid of fun then the current maps... but I agree with nearly everything they've been saying about the game. Halo 3 needs a patch in a bad way.

You know where I notice the weapon inconsistencies the most... It's never on the first kill, its the double-kills and on. I can outgun like 95% of the halo population 1 on 1 with relatively no problem, but when someone else enters the battle, and I still out play them, but lose because of the randomness, its really irritating.

The BR needs accuracy.

The grenades are too weak (jump to evade now - awesome)

The rockets from the rocket launcher are too weak and too slow.

The mauler lunge is too strong (though the bullets themselves are not as good as the shotguns)

The shotgun could use a smidge more distance.

Weapon switching is too slow (but I can deal with it - especially with forementioned tweaks).

The hammer is pretty pointless in nearly every scenario because you can't switch to it and use it quick enough, and it doesnt have a lunge as long as the sword... don't know what the solution is there.

 

[Diablohead]

Once someone is within abotu 20 feet of you the AR will win most of the time, this is a good thing otherwise everyone would just BR whore again like halo 2