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[Mr. Sam]

Holy mother of God, I despise the - gameplay spoilers for the particularly cautious -

Spoiler

levels where you have to pilot a banshee. Just spent about fifteen minutes systematically destroying gun emplacements, elites with fuel rod canons and other banshees only to have the game checkpoint just as I get plasma pistoled, leaving me in some sort of perpetual death nightmare, forced to respawn and fall out of the battlefield over and over.

Turned off the console, walked away. I want to strangle kittens.

I'm going to have to get a friend to finish this with me; it's just pissing me off too much.

 

[RepairmanJack]

Holy mother of God, I despise the - gameplay spoilers for the particularly cautious -

Spoiler

levels where you have to pilot a banshee. Just spent about fifteen minutes systematically destroying gun emplacements, elites with fuel rod canons and other banshees only to have the game checkpoint just as I get plasma pistoled, leaving me in some sort of perpetual death nightmare, forced to respawn and fall out of the battlefield over and over. Turned off the console, walked away. I want to strangle kittens.

I'm going to have to get a friend to finish this with me; it's just pissing me off too much.

Instant target. I don't think I ever survived more than a minute.

 

[Tain]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think I've come to the realization that I'd have more fun playing the campaign solo. The leapfrog respawning in co-op is lame, and I don't think any of the people I'd normally play this with really enjoy playing with the Iron skull on. Which is understandable, given how hectic things can get.

 

[electricpirate]

But that's my point. Who cares if it's fragmented? This makes no sense! Is it not important to try to provide the fan base with playlists they recognize and love in addition to spicing it with the new stuff which by the way is awesome.

And the love affair with the new stuff will last only so long before people really start getting annoyed. Again why not just give us the whole smash? That fragmentation excuse is not even an excuse. It's just lame. Even if it's fragmented people WILL find that playlist they are craving for no matter how fragmented the playlists are. The whole thing is just stupid and MAKES ZERO SENSE.

So again was it a resource/memory issue?

Reach playlists after the first update

Team Slayer
Team Arena
Arena Doubles
Team Objective
Invasion
Big Team Battle
Team Swat
Multi Team
Rumble Pit
SWAT

(10 total)

Halo 4 Playlists after the 1st update
Infinity Slayer
Big team Infinity slayer
Dominion
Regicide
Flood
CTF
Oddball
KoTH
SWAT
slayer pro

(10 total)

The counts are exactly the same, and Halo 4 has expanded out team objective to 3 seperate playlists (great move guys, I hope the population continues to support this).

There are two main issues I see, 1) whether you want to believe it or not, fragmentation is a pretty major issue. once matchmaking populations drop below ~700 I find the quality drops precipitously; matches become more lopsided, wait times are worse, and lag becomes worse. At Peak time the current lists are fine, but at off hours/Yurop peak time playlists are already getting down near that cliff.

2) They always keep playlists simple at the start, and expand them over time for more niche audiences as people discover their niche in the game.

 

[Ecrofirt]

I would just like to stop in and say that holy hell, this game is hard (playing on Heroic).

I'm loving it.

 

[S1kkZ]

I would just like to stop in and say that holy hell, this game is hard (playing on Heroic).

I'm loving it.

the more i play the campaign, the more i like it (finished it on normal first, then again in coop, now on my heroic solo run). with reachs campaign, it was the exact opposite.

i still hate the jungle level. thats a level that belongs in a cod (super linear vehicle sections), not in a halo.

 

[Uncharted Waves]

Reach playlists after the first update

Team Slayer
Team Arena
Arena Doubles
Team Objective
Invasion
Big Team Battle
Team Swat
Multi Team
Rumble Pit
SWAT

(10 total)

Halo 4 Playlists after the 1st update
Infinity Slayer
Big team Infinity slayer
Dominion
Regicide
Flood
CTF
Oddball
KoTH
SWAT
slayer pro

(10 total)

The counts are exactly the same, and Halo 4 has expanded out team objective to 3 seperate playlists (great move guys, I hope the population continues to support this).

There are two main issues I see, 1) whether you want to believe it or not, fragmentation is a pretty major issue. once matchmaking populations drop below ~700 I find the quality drops precipitously; matches become more lopsided, wait times are worse, and lag becomes worse. At Peak time the current lists are fine, but at off hours/Yurop peak time playlists are already getting down near that cliff.

2) They always keep playlists simple at the start, and expand them over time for more niche audiences as people discover their niche in the game.

Don't really have the time to reply the way I want right now cause I'm on the move but I don't agree with the stuff you said. And why does oddball and moth need their own playlists? Right there they could've filled those spots with multi-team and basic FFA . Oddball and moth should be fused the way they were like in rumble pit. Things could be done better. Just not too happy about how this played out.

Also that bit you mentioned about 700 or whatever you were saying is false.

 

[AndresON777]

why doesn't 343 just do what treyarch did with Blops and not let players vote for the same map more than once? i think nuketown caused that change lol

Lol I played about 6 matches of btb slayer yesterday. All on ragnarok.

Dat mantis

 

[CreateNowSleepLater]

Lol I played about 6 matches of btb slayer yesterday. All on ragnarok.

Dat mantis

I hate ragnarok for this reason. Remove the mantis and it might be playable.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Also that bit you mentioned about 700 or whatever you were saying is false.

It's a subjective opinIon. Saying he's wrong flat out is asinine. I usually still had good games in Teach (albeit with long wait times) as long as I selected for those preferences playing on Euro time early in the US, but depends what the trade off really is.

 

[ultron87]

I want a BTB objective playlist but it seems like it would just be CTF. And I hate the matchmaking CTF rules. Hrmph.

 

[JB1981]

Don't really have the time to reply the way I want right now cause I'm on the move but I don't agree with the stuff you said. And why does oddball and moth need their own playlists? Right there they could've filled those spots with multi-team and basic FFA . Oddball and moth should be fused the way they were like in rumble pit. Things could be done better. Just not too happy about how this played out.

Also that bit you mentioned about 700 or whatever you were saying is false.

i do remember there being like 700 players in the Objective game playlist for Reach for a long, long time. No one played it

 

[AndresON777]

I hate ragnarok for this reason. Remove the mantis and it might be playable.

Mantis should be on every map!!!

 

[DrBo42]

I hate ragnarok for this reason. Remove the mantis and it might be playable.

There's nothing wrong with the mantis. Just takes a coordinated team to take it down in open ground. Or some crazy rogue named DrBo with a plasma pistol secondary.

 

[edgardavids]

Sad to see Pro with such a low population, but not surprised considering SWAT and Black Ops 2 probably ate up a good portion of its population.

tbh the "pro" at the end of team slayer puts a noob like me off.

 

[AndresON777]

There's nothing wrong with the mantis. Just takes a coordinated team to take it down in open ground. Or some crazy rogue named DrBo with a plasma pistol secondary.

I charged one last night with thruster pack and stuck it twice with plasmas.

He was low on health but still, so good.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Holy mother of God, I despise the - gameplay spoilers for the particularly cautious -

Spoiler

levels where you have to pilot a banshee. Just spent about fifteen minutes systematically destroying gun emplacements, elites with fuel rod canons and other banshees only to have the game checkpoint just as I get plasma pistoled, leaving me in some sort of perpetual death nightmare, forced to respawn and fall out of the battlefield over and over.

Turned off the console, walked away. I want to strangle kittens.

I'm going to have to get a friend to finish this with me; it's just pissing me off too much.

You don't have to get in, though, and the game eventually puts you back to a previous checkpoint.

I beat the game on Legendary without ever setting foot in a Banshee.

 

[CitizenCope]

I hate ragnarok for this reason. Remove the mantis and it might be playable.

What? Love using the Mantis and love taking it out.

 

[Pooya]

How the voting is decided when two maps have same votes? Does it depend on level of voters?

It seems Ragnorak wins even if it has same number of votes, happened a few times to me.

 

[REV 09]

I think it gives preference to the maps on the left.

 

[Lima]

I think it gives preference to the maps on the left.

This.

 

[Mr. Sam]

You don't have to get in, though,

It seems I have even less of a chance on foot, what with me having to take on elites with fuel rod cannons while banshees hover overhead. No doubt it's possible. Either way, I don't think I'll be having fun.

and the game eventually puts you back to a previous checkpoint.

It does? Shit. Well, I guess it's a bit late now.

 

[Fuchsdh]

It seems I have even less of a chance on foot, what with me having to take on elites with fuel rod cannons while banshees hover overhead. No doubt it's possible. Either way, I don't think I'll be having fun.



It does? Shit. Well, I guess it's a bit late now.

I never had an issue on foot even on Legendary. That said, it seems like a bad design decision to make a part of the encounter sandbox not worth trying.

Tricking the hunters was a fun achievement.

 

[Hey You]

snip

I totally agree, It's too bare and basic.

 

[Palette Swap]

What kind of fucking stupid challenge is scoring 10 regicides in a game? Is it an incentive to not lead and only kill the king?
Making a shitty weekly challenge a daily as well blows my mind.

 

[exYle]

What kind of fucking stupid challenge is scoring 10 regicides in a game? Is it an incentive to not lead and only kill the king?
Making a shitty weekly challenge a daily as well blows my mind.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure getting 18 Regicides in one match is impossible.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Yeah, it is.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure getting 18 Regicides in one match is impossible.

I got it somehow. still need to get the 80 regicides though

 

[Lima]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure getting 18 Regicides in one match is impossible.

It is not but you pretty much have to boost it. One person goes first and becomes the king. Only the other person will then be able to get exactly 18 regicides in one match as this will put him at 300 points on the dot. Also you have to be careful to not do any assassinations because you will get 30 instead of 15 points for a kill and fuck it up.

The challenge can also glitch out like the Kill-o-Tron challenge from yesterday. Sometimes it will show let's say 10/18 after a match. If you then get 8 more next match you will be awarded with the challenge even though it wasn't done in one match.

Long story short: Yeah it is a fucking dumb challenge. And we had the 10 regicide challenge on Wednesday already.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

It is not but you pretty much have to boost it. One person goes first and becomes the king. Only the other person will then be able to get exactly 18 regicides in one match as this will put him at 300 points on the dot. Also you have to be careful to not do any assassinations because you will get 30 instead of 15 points for a kill and fuck it up.

Long story short: Yeah it is a fucking dumb challenge. And we had the 10 regicide challenge on Wednesday already.

Im pretty sure it is glitched as i got it and have only played a couple regicide games. i def didn't get 18 in one match

 

[The Lamonster]

-Can I unlock the situational campaign achievements on easy mode, like tricking a Hunter etc?

-Any details/timeframe/any info whatsoever on any upcoming patches to this game? What is a good resource to watch out for that kind of info? I used to visit bungie.net all the time for that stuff...

 

[Lima]

-Can I unlock the situational campaign achievements on easy mode, like tricking a Hunter etc?

Yeah you can. Not for the achievements that tell you that you need to be on Heroic or harder obviously.

 

[pringles]

The person in charge of Halo 4's challenges must be the same person who handled Reach's. They're just as shitty.

Wonder if they'll refuse to increase the XP rewards as time goes on as well. Jumping in to Reach 1-2 years after release and still seeing 800-1500xp for challenges, when you need 50k or more for a promotion was quite discouraging and made challenges lose all their value pretty fast.

 

[TheOddOne]

-Can I unlock the situational campaign achievements on easy mode, like tricking a Hunter etc?

-Any details/timeframe/any info whatsoever on any upcoming patches to this game? What is a good resource to watch out for that kind of info? I used to visit bungie.net all the time for that stuff...

- Check the achievement descriptions, some need to be done on Heroic but the rest can be done on easy.
- Halo Waypoint posts bulletins every Tuesday.

 

[IOnEI Falcon]

Man, does anyone feel like you are being pushed around like never before in multiplayer? Haha!

Serious, I don't remember ever having so much trouble pack peddling when there is a teammate behind you blocking your way or just being pushed forward into the line of sight of the enemy by a teammate.

 

[The Lamonster]

^ thanks dudes!

The person in charge of Halo 4's challenges must be the same person who handled Reach's. They're just as shitty.

Wonder if they'll refuse to increase the XP rewards as time goes on as well. Jumping in to Reach 1-2 years after release and still seeing 800-1500xp for challenges, when you need 50k or more for a promotion was quite discouraging and made challenges lose all their value pretty fast.

Yep. Halo 4 is pretty awesome right now, but its longevity really depends on how much 343 is planning to support it going forward. It's in serious need of a significant patch or two and you're right, the challenges need to stay in-line with player progression. Maybe make the reward XP dynamic based on each player's level?

Either way, 343 knocked it out of the park with Halo 4. Now they just need to show the same passion in supporting it going forward.

 

[cleveridea]

so are the spartan ops maps new maps (ie just reusing assets, maps themselves are new) or are they multiplayer maps that we can expect to repeat?

 

[Storm Prelude]

Reached the fourth chapter of the campaign and I'm absolutely loving it.
Way more than Reach. Actually, I forgot why I didn't like it as I did for Halo 3 (my first one).

 

[AkimbO_Arcana]

Someone here who wants to do campaign mission 7 and 8 on heroic with me?

Still need those for the Bromageddon Achievement.

 

[Louis Wu]

What number did YOU get?

 

[Dark Octave]

Why can't I go back tot he first episode of Spartan Ops online anymore? I can still play it offline though.

 

[Lima]

Why can't I go back tot he first episode of Spartan Ops online anymore? I can still play it offline though.

You need to be connected to Xbox Live to even access Spartan Ops so I highly doubt that you can play it offline. Unless you mean matchmaking?

 

[AkimbO_Arcana]

I just played all the missions of episode 2 of Spartan Ops in Heroic but didn't get the challenge "Heroic Episode"?

I did them in Matchmaking with randoms. Do I have to do them alone or in a private game?

The description doesn't comunicate that...

 

[IOnEI Falcon]

Episode 3 trailer is up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUrWBY535c

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I was getting so frustrated ending up on Haven all the time.

Then I ended up on Solace and got just eviscerated by a team camping the high spots with the incinerator.

Come back, Haven.

Come back.

 

[OverHeat]

What number did YOU get?

Wow at no.1

 

[BackdoorBeauty]

When they introduced JIP, they didn't say it would also start games with lopsided teams as the default behavior. FACEPALM

Make with the fixing. Fix it. Broken game starts are broken.

 

[BigTnaples]

What number did YOU get?

Wow. Impressive.

444027.

 

[terrdactycalsrock]

What does everyone thing of the firepower ability? I kinda want it, just because having two primary weapons seems like a really powerful thing. However, I never run out of ammo on my DMR, the DMR works well in close range, and it works well at long range.

 

[Stinkles]

^ thanks dudes!



Yep. Halo 4 is pretty awesome right now, but its longevity really depends on how much 343 is planning to support it going forward. It's in serious need of a significant patch or two and you're right, the challenges need to stay in-line with player progression. Maybe make the reward XP dynamic based on each player's level?

Either way, 343 knocked it out of the park with Halo 4. Now they just need to show the same passion in supporting it going forward.

Maps and tweaks in December. Certain map glitches and exploits can be fixed weekly. You will see ongoing commitment in this vein and serious observation of player patterns and behaviors.