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The Trans-Halo community Co-Op Campaign and Spartan Ops Night

What is it?
A co-op playthrough of Halo 4's campaign mission, with the goal of discussing and discovering more about the game's fiction. Also defending humanity from alien threats through use of exotic weaponry. That too.

We're inviting people from HaloGAF, FUD, and HBO--any Halo player out there who likes Halo's fiction and wants to talk about it is welcome.

When is it?
Today (Monday), 8PM EST! This mission for this week is Mission 3. Expect it to last around an hour or more (we're doing this Legendary, the way it was meant to be played, and poking around the level is encouraged. This isn't RC Master's video game school.) FUD will also be running a Spartan Ops run-through of Ep 3 at 10pm EST, so you can play some campaign and still find some battle bros to power through Ops if that's your cup of tea.

How do I get a piece of the action?
Message Postmortem (GT: FinalPOSTMORTEM), and be online by 8pm (a few minutes before would be best, so we can jump into sorting into four-person teams and get into the mission quickly). We're not sure exactly how many people we're going to have, so the sooner we get everyone together, the faster we can be.

Any questions, let us know here or via XBL message (My gamertag is Pixelfox.)

 

[GrizzNKev]

lol - If you're playing BTB (or even REGULAR slayer) on Ragnarok, and you're in a position to count every single bullet I fire from my sniper... you're doing it wrong.

What if I only had 8 bullets, but a new sniper spawns just before you pop up to take me at long range? You'll STILL get sniped in the head, but it won't be because I had an extra 4 bullets.


What if I don't have awareness, but my teammate says 'crouching guy right outside your door, left side.' You'll still die, but it won't be because of my loadout.


I suppose this could happen. I haven't seen it yet, but it could happen.

What if you throw a nade at me, but you don't have explosives... but one of your teammates puts a single DMR round into me just as I jump? I'll die, but not because of your loadout.


Yeah... I guess this section shows (once again - I guess I knew this before) that you and I like different Halos. Yours sounds really boring to me.

The thing that you've pointed out yet seemed to claim as insignificant is the differing level of effort put forth to achieve the same results. In the Halo 3 version of the scenarios, we required familiarity with the map, and increased communication. You acknowledged this. Going in with randoms, this is going to be a detriment. Going in with a team that knows how to call shots and claim weapons, the level of fun is increased to a degree that I have never felt from another game.

Tension is what this game lacks, the anticipation, prediction, planning, acting. What makes a team a team. In team gametypes, this is an essential part of Halo. Allowing things like customized loadouts, perks, AAs, and ODs remove predictability and balance. The result of the game came directly from the actions of the player from the second a round starts to the second it ends, and nothing else. It was about predicting human interaction and strategies, instead of reacting to unpredictable usage of weapons, perks, or armor abilities that can't be determined until you've been killed by them.

When the game's chaotic elements have increased to what they are, the tension disappears. There's no reason to track where the enemy has gone or what weapon they have, because forming a strategy around it is pretty much useless.

Here's a fun logical connection to make.

"How did I die?"

Halo 4's inclusion of killcams is an obvious indication of where the game has gone. In game like Halo 3, where outcomes depended on knowledge and skill rather than random number generators and big flashing weapon spawns, a good player always knew what killed them, and how. You knew the enemy team got the sniper. You knew you accidentally walked into their line of sight while distracted by a firefight with another player. You were always aware of these things. It was a necessity for survival.

The assumption that we should be shown how we were killed from the perspective of our killer tells us that 343 knows we can't possibly be aware of things happening in the game. Awareness is no longer a key player. Why?

 

[RepairmanJack]

I know people will love the flag carrier option, which is why i figured it would be so subjective. My lack of replayablility may also be stemming in part from my friends slowly picking this game up. But the weapons randomly dropping is not helping the cause for me. Yes, like you say, starting weapon drops are set. But the random drops during gameplay is a change that I dislike after playing it so much. I enjoyed the tension of realizing during a close match that I hadn't checked the rocket spawn in awhile, only to then get slapped by a rocket in the face. Now I think to check weapon spawn only to be greeted by a grenade drop.

In addition since it's pretty much only power weapons dropping I find myself using my starter weapon all the time. It's inevitable that I'll use my precision weapon of choice over pretty much anything else. This just sucks the variety out of the game for me - running around and picking up an SMG or a Plasma Rifle was fun for me as I enjoyed mixing up my approaches to throw off an attacker. Now this is strictly limited to loadouts.

Ragnarok has actually been holding up pretty well for me - on game types without instant respawn things almost feel right again. But with my previous concerns I just can't shake the feeling that this won't hold my interest.

what are your feelings on the join in progress feature? has it helped/hurt your experience?

Pretty so/so on JIP. My only big issue is games starting with less people. When a game starts 5vs2 or 8vs4 it can be pretty ridiculous especially in an objective game. Then people come into a game that they're already down and they are more likely to just quit right away.

When it works well I think it works perfectly fine. It just doesn't seem to work well too often.

My issue is more the fact that the game lobby automatically goes into looking for the next game after the match. This doesn't work for Halo. It can work in games like COD where a lot of times there isn't a huge skill gap in apponents(not a knock on the game there is just a lot more varied players and less of a skill gap that's present), but in Halo there is most definitely a skill gap and it's most likely very common. If someone get's completely whiped out by a team playing together they do not want to stay in the same lobby and go through it all over again. Everybody ends up backing out anyways so just get rid of this auto search, at least for the entire lobby. If people don't react quick enough they either get into a game they don't want to be in and quit, or everyone backs out leaving one team and the game starts and ends immediately. It just doesn't work and makes for less actual play time and a worse experience.

 

[UnholySpectacle]

Is the Mantis respawn time on Meltdown BTB just stupidly short or something?

I've noticed this too. It seems that there are always 2 running around all the time on that map.

 

[Palette Swap]

Looking at the challenges for this week on mobile waypoint, I only see 2 (recycled) spartan ops challenges. Will more be available whenever Ep 3 hits?

 

[PeterVenkman]

Pretty so/so on JIP. My only big issue is games starting with less people. When a game starts 5vs2 or 8vs4 it can be pretty ridiculous especially in an objective game. Then people come into a game that they're already down and they are more likely to just quit right away.

When it works well I think it works perfectly fine. It just doesn't seem to work well too often.

My issue is more the fact that the game lobby automatically goes into looking for the next game after the match. This doesn't work for Halo. It can work in games like COD where a lot of times there isn't a huge skill gap in apponents(not a knock on the game there is just a lot more varied players and less of a skill gap that's present), but in Halo there is most definitely a skill gap and it's most likely very common. If someone get's completely whiped out by a team playing together they do not want to stay in the same lobby and go through it all over again. Everybody ends up backing out anyways so just get rid of this auto search, at least for the entire lobby. If people don't react quick enough they either get into a game they don't want to be in and quit, or everyone backs out leaving one team and the game starts and ends immediately. It just doesn't work.

that's been my experience as well. Back at launch I had many games where the TEAMMATE JOINED sound clip played frequently. Recently however I will start and end games with lopsided numbers. Backing out of a lobby is one of my default reactions in Halo but the game discourages that by shoving me in game after game of in progress matches. If you stay, however, it goes ahead and continues the search, not taking into consideration what you mentioned (skill gap) and that some people are just looking at results or watching the EXTRA LONG credit gain screen. Why would I want to play another match against the same people who just trounced me or who I just destroyed?

 

[soxinthebox]

Following on from that Knight discussion I agree they aren't much fun to fight due to that bullet sponge feeling.
I never minded flood in the past games as they mixed up the pacing and you didn't have to worry about shields so other weapons could be switched in effectively.

If they removed the shielding from Knights that would probably go part of the way to fixing it because as it stands its not fun whenever they are present in an encounter.

 

[JB1981]

Is it me or does Halo Waypoint kind of suck? I wanted to see my stats for each individual weapon. Does such a stat not exist?

 

[IOnEI Falcon]

Looking at the challenges for this week on mobile waypoint, I only see 2 (recycled) spartan ops challenges. Will more be available whenever Ep 3 hits?

Probably, it would be weird to only have 2 this week when we have had more in the past.

 

[RepairmanJack]

that's been my experience as well. Back at launch I had many games where the TEAMMATE JOINED sound clip played frequently. Recently however I will start and end games with lopsided numbers. Backing out of a lobby is one of my default reactions in Halo but the game discourages that by shoving me in game after game of in progress matches. If you stay, however, it goes ahead and continues the search, not taking into consideration what you mentioned (skill gap) and that some people are just looking at results or watching the EXTRA LONG credit gain screen. Why would I want to play another match against the same people who just trounced me or who I just destroyed?

My mention of skill gap more had to deal with peoples tolerence for facing the same apponents. In COD from my experience it has never really been an issue for people. People seem less likely to go into games with a party, there is more people in every game and there is less of a skill gap so people tend to not care or not even realize they are facing the same people over and over.

In Halo it's the exact opposite of all of that. Even in BTB most the time people go into these games with a party and it allows for less mix up of the teams so you end up facing the same people often and it's more noticable.

I didn't play Reach much so I can't recall how it was then, but at least in three you had to make the decision to join up and if you didn't it just searched in the party that you were in. JIP I think can work with Halo, it may just need a little tweeked when dealing with game starting with less people. The game lobby staying together after every game is something that I just don't think can work. Or maybe like you said, the long credit screen and carnage report, are just making this happen a lot more frequently then I ever noticed in Reach or 3.

Is it me or does Halo Waypoint kind of suck? I wanted to see my stats for each individual weapon. Does such a stat not exist?

It sucks. I do think there is weapon breakdown though. I'm pretty sure I saw that.

 

[Louis Wu]

When the game's chaotic elements have increased to what they are, the tension disappears. There's no reason to track where the enemy has gone or what weapon they have, because forming a strategy around it is pretty much useless.

See, it's this sort of hyperbole that makes discussion difficult.

If it were really 'useless', why would full teams be so much more successful in Halo 4 than groups of randoms?

If it were really 'useless', why would so many people be coming to forums like this one and saying "I hate going in solo!"?

Can't we start from a place where we agree that it's different than previous Halos, to the point where you need to develop NEW strategies, rather than jumping right to 'it's useless'?

 

[Continuity]

So I finished the campaign on Heroic in about 6 hours. Some thoughts, mostly on the story(for whatever reason)

-Scoped rifles are king, no surprise here, anything without a shield and be easily picked off with headshots while anything bigger and be worn down from a safe range.

-The flying drones that the knights spawn are my favorite enemy concept-wise, I like the idea of a multipurpose enemy that acts as a force-multiplier for everything else around it, they're always the first thing to die.

-I don't find the knights to be all that bad, maybe I need to play on legendary. I think they should take advantage of their defense and use their sword more often, when I fight knights there's no sense of danger because they rarely flank or close in on you, but when they do it's quite terrifying, if they're more aggressive I think the fights will be much more interesting.

-Loved the interaction between chief and Cortana, personally hoped for more backstory on the relationships between Cortana and Halsey(They definitely had some interesting interactions prior to chief).

-

Spoiler

QTE for the final boss, really? And it's not even an engaging QTE either, the prompt literally tells you everything you're suppose to do. Worst ending sequence in the series IMO

-

Spoiler

Chief's reaction to Cortana dying was awkward and adorable, like the way it should. The writing and voice acting for that sequence was quite subtle, I thoroughly enjoyed that sequence.

-

Spoiler

Letting Cortana die was a bold move, looking forward to seeing how that changes chief's behavior, the epilogue shows that he is attempting to interact with other people more and be more human ("Cortana died so I have to impress real girls now ;_;"), we could be seeing some significant character development for chief in later games.

-Still no explanation on why the human and covenant are hostile again (even before the

Spoiler

didact

appeared), Elites were my best bros 5 years ago, I miss that.

 

[GrizzNKev]

See, it's this sort of hyperbole that makes discussion difficult.

If it were really 'useless', why would full teams be so much more successful in Halo 4 than groups of randoms?

If it were really 'useless', why would so many people be coming to forums like this one and saying "I hate going in solo!"?

Can't we start from a place where we agree that it's different than previous Halos, to the point where you need to develop NEW strategies, rather than jumping right to 'it's useless'?

It's not at all hyperbole. You've taken my statement completely out of context in order to defend something I'm not even complaining about.

I was talking about weapon tracking. A core element of Halo multiplayer. When there can be more than one rocket launcher, more than two snipers, more than one spartan laser, etc. on a map at any given time, and there's absolutely no way to determine who has what and when, then it is not possible to use that information to your team's advantage.

Playing with friends will always make the game fun, even if you're losing. Communication between teammates will still be able to let you know where an opponent is, making them easier to kill. These things are obvious and present within most multiplayer games.

What made Halo special to me was that its strictness in certain gametypes allowed a team to handle a wealth of information, and interpret that information, using it to outplay the opposing team. That, all on its own, is a kind of skill.

Halo 4, as it is right now, does not provide the player with anywhere near the amount of useful information that previous Halo games did. It breaks the teamwork environment that made the game feel tense and competitive.

The game is still fun. I enjoy playing it. I like the sandbox, I like jumping high, and sprinting is fine by me. I like capping the flag and getting headshots. Dominion is super cool. It's just not exciting. This isn't a demand to 343 to change everything about the game either. There's plenty of room for new players, or people who don't like the same thing as me. That's the point of having more than one playlist. I got a really, really good taste of the Halo I love in a few games of SWAT with a team of friends. We were inventing our own callouts for the maps, and a guy who had never played Halo before was picking up on it really quickly. I'm just hoping that a playlist or two that appeals to people such as myself has some kind of permanence in the online environment, seeing as how those features are quite obviously built into the game.

 

[squidhands]

Spartan Ops Episode 2 really cemented my dislike of Prometheans.

I started my Legendary run over the weekend, and I found something interesting that I'll have to try and replicate in SpOps once I get the Hard Light Shield in a loadout.

A Scattershot PromKnight charged me, I threw up the shield. It confused the hell out of him and he literally stopped trying to kill me. I kept the shield up as long as I could to get behind him, and was able to assassinate him with ease. I was able to do this two more times in exactly the same way. Had to stop for the night, or else I would have tried it a few more times.

If anyone else can replicate this in SpOps or campaign, it would be the most laughable way to kill an enemy in Halo ever.

 

[S1kkZ]

can i haz spartan-ops ep. 3 now, please?

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Really enjoying the MP so far but a few things that I think they should consider to make it really shine:

• Nerf the range on the charged boltshot shotgun blast. Way too powerful for a secondary imo.
• Nerf / readjust camo and PV to be slightly less annoying. Increase recharge times, lower active times, whatever. I feel like they both slow down / impact the flow of the game too much.
• Remove instant respawn. On smaller maps it's way too easy to sprint back into a firefight you just lost to get the last few shots on your opponent or backup your teammates.
• Personal Ordinance should be on a tiered system ala COD kill streaks where you could either cash in or store your ordinance to get access to a higher level of weaponry:

Tier 1 - Nades, Overshield, Speed Boost, Needler, Saw
Tier 2 - Damage Boost, Shotguns, Swords
Tier 3 - Rocket Launchers, Snipers
(Probably would need to be readjusted / reworked depending on map / gametype but you get the idea)

Anyway, just my two cents.

 

[TheOddOne]

 

[S1kkZ]

today..not "soon". guess it wont be up until tonight (german time).

 

[Louis Wu]

It's not at all hyperbole. You've taken my statement completely out of context in order to defend something I'm not even complaining about.

I was talking about weapon tracking. A core element of Halo multiplayer. When there can be more than one rocket launcher, more than two snipers, more than one spartan laser, etc. on a map at any given time, and there's absolutely no way to determine who has what and when, then it is not possible to use that information to your team's advantage.

Playing with friends will always make the game fun, even if you're losing. Communication between teammates will still be able to let you know where an opponent is, making them easier to kill. These things are obvious and present within most multiplayer games.

What made Halo special to me was that its strictness in certain gametypes allowed a team to handle a wealth of information, and interpret that information, using it to outplay the opposing team. That, all on its own, is a kind of skill.

Halo 4, as it is right now, does not provide the player with anywhere near the amount of useful information that previous Halo games did. It breaks the teamwork environment that made the game feel tense and competitive.

The game is still fun. I enjoy playing it. I like the sandbox, I like jumping high, and sprinting is fine by me. I like capping the flag and getting headshots. Dominion is super cool. It's just not exciting. This isn't a demand to 343 to change everything about the game either. There's plenty of room for new players, or people who don't like the same thing as me. That's the point of having more than one playlist. I got a really, really good taste of the Halo I love in a few games of SWAT with a team of friends. We were inventing our own callouts for the maps, and a guy who had never played Halo before was picking up on it really quickly. I'm just hoping that a playlist or two that appeals to people such as myself has some kind of permanence in the online environment, seeing as how those features are quite obviously built into the game.

Sorry, my mistake; you responded to my comments about how tactical packages don't actually break Halo gameplay, so I assumed you were discussing the same topic.

Yes, it's true, there are more power weapons on the field in Infinity Slayer than was the case in previous Halos. I would disagree, though, that this breaks the game's ability to be competitive, or to offer teams with the ability to communicate the chance to use their skill to come out on top. Weapon tracking was just one single skill in the game, and using it well certainly helped - but did not win games on its own. So the added complexity of additional power weapons complicates the equation - but doesn't ruin the sandbox.

And there IS a playlist that doesn't allow ordnance drops - many, in fact. (All the objective ones, plus SWAT and Slayer Pro.) So if what's most important to you is maintaining weapon control... play something other than Infinity Slayer. You've got lots of choices.

Obviously, that's my opinion.

 

[Palette Swap]

I started my Legendary run over the weekend, and I found something interesting that I'll have to try and replicate in SpOps once I get the Hard Light Shield in a loadout.

A Scattershot PromKnight charged me, I threw up the shield. It confused the hell out of him and he literally stopped trying to kill me. I kept the shield up as long as I could to get behind him, and was able to assassinate him with ease. I was able to do this two more times in exactly the same way. Had to stop for the night, or else I would have tried it a few more times.

If anyone else can replicate this in SpOps or campaign, it would be the most laughable way to kill an enemy in Halo ever.

I'm totally going to try that. I'm not much of a shield guy (I'm a holo asshole) but that sounds fun.

 

[GrizzNKev]

Sorry, my mistake; you responded to my comments about how tactical packages don't actually break Halo gameplay, so I assumed you were discussing the same topic.

Yes, it's true, there are more power weapons on the field in Infinity Slayer than was the case in previous Halos. I would disagree, though, that this breaks the game's ability to be competitive, or to offer teams with the ability to communicate the chance to use their skill to come out on top. Weapon tracking was just one single skill in the game, and using it well certainly helped - but did not win games on its own. So the added complexity of additional power weapons complicates the equation - but doesn't ruin the sandbox.

And there IS a playlist that doesn't allow ordnance drops - many, in fact. (All the objective ones, plus SWAT and Slayer Pro.) So if what's most important to you is maintaining weapon control... play something other than Infinity Slayer. You've got lots of choices.

Obviously, that's my opinion.

Tactical packages do as well. And the other parts of loadouts. And instant respawn. And ordinance drops. And having weapon spawns pointed out on the HUD. And killcams. Each little thing detracts in its own way from the overall experience I was describing. I want more than a playlist without ordinance. I want a playlist that feels like Halo. Then I can stick to that, along with all the other people who like Halo, and we can form our own society of talkative scavengers and never bother anyone again.

 

[Louis Wu]

Tactical packages do as well. And the other parts of loadouts. And instant respawn. And ordinance drops. And having weapon spawns pointed out on the HUD. And killcams. Each little thing detracts in its own way from the overall experience I was describing. I want more than a playlist without ordinance. I want a playlist that feels like Halo. Then I can stick to that, along with all the other people who like Halo, and we can form our own society of talkative scavengers and never bother anyone again.

But... but...

I like Halo.

 

[GrizzNKev]

But... but...

I like Halo.

No, Louis Wu clearly does not like Halo. Because I said so.

 

[Louis Wu]

I... do not like Halo.

 

[GrizzNKev]

I... do not like Halo.

Good.

 

[Ghost_Protocol]

After listening to the soundtrack by itself, I have no idea why 117 wasn't blasting on maximum volume during that final final battle. Instead of that weird electronic gunk. Would have been epic.

 

[TheOddOne]

Louis Wu is smexy. His website needs to get with the times though.

Spoiler

Lolz

 

[GrizzNKev]

Louis Wu is smexy. His website needs to get with the times though.

Spoiler

Lolz

oh shit pwnt

sick burn

 

[JB1981]

Really enjoying the MP so far but a few things that I think they should consider to make it really shine:

• Nerf the range on the charged boltshot shotgun blast. Way too powerful for a secondary imo.
• Nerf / readjust camo and PV to be slightly less annoying. Increase recharge times, lower active times, whatever. I feel like they both slow down / impact the flow of the game too much.
  [*]Remove instant respawn. On smaller maps it's way too easy to sprint back into a firefight you just lost to get the last few shots on your opponent or backup your teammates.
  [*]Personal Ordinance should be on a tiered system ala COD kill streaks where you could either cash in or store your ordinance to get access to a higher level of weaponry:
  

Tier 1 - Nades, Overshield, Speed Boost, Needler, Saw
Tier 2 - Damage Boost, Shotguns, Swords
Tier 3 - Rocket Launchers, Snipers
(Probably would need to be readjusted / reworked depending on map / gametype but you get the idea)

Anyway, just my two cents.

I like the bolded. Recharge times on AA's isn't really feasible since there is a perk to speed up recharge times.

I think it is a good thing that the power weapon spawn locations appear on the HUD for all players to see. This is a feature they added to the Gears series in Gears 3 and I appreciated its inclusion in Halo 4. In past Halos, I alway resented the idea of having to "memorize" the maps in order to know where the Power weapon spawn locations were. It always put me at a distinct disadvantage, particularly if I was rolling solo. If your team didn't communicate you were basically fucked. Now, I also do not like that in Halo 4 there can, at times, be a multitude of enemy players with power weapons of their own (rockets, snipers, etc) and with what is seemingly an infinite amount of ammo.

 

[Louis Wu]

Louis Wu is smexy. His website needs to get with the times though.

Spoiler

Lolz

I... do not like the times.

 

[GrizzNKev]

I... do not like the times.

Honestly though.

I think it's feasible to ask for a small corner of matchmaking to be catered to ye olde halo fans. They can put it under FyreWulff's "fold" so only the bravest people enter.

P.S. You do like the times if you don't like Halo. Get your opinions straight.

 

[Karl2177]

lol - If you're playing BTB (or even REGULAR slayer) on Ragnarok, and you're in a position to count every single bullet I fire from my sniper... you're doing it wrong.

What if I only had 8 bullets, but a new sniper spawns just before you pop up to take me at long range? You'll STILL get sniped in the head, but it won't be because I had an extra 4 bullets.

What if I don't have awareness, but my teammate says 'crouching guy right outside your door, left side.' You'll still die, but it won't be because of my loadout.

I suppose this could happen. I haven't seen it yet, but it could happen.

What if you throw a nade at me, but you don't have explosives... but one of your teammates puts a single DMR round into me just as I jump? I'll die, but not because of your loadout.

Yeah... I guess this section shows (once again - I guess I knew this before) that you and I like different Halos. Yours sounds really boring to me.

I think what bobs is getting at is the unpredictability of the player and not the unpredictability of the game. Let's say you've created a tactic which involved sneaking up the caves on Valhalla, with some redundancies in case you are spotted, like a Hardlight Shield. Now let's say you know that the opponent just respawned, so they have 2 grenades. What you don't know is if they have the explosive perk on or if they have the +1 grenade perk on. Opponent throws 2 grenades, so you think it's over time to start shooting him. But he has a surprise 3rd grenade that takes away your shields and he ends up killing you based on his loadout. Now it's not like you can see that opponent has +1 grenade perk.

I know in previous Halo games(sans Reach), the unpredictability came from what happened in the sandbox. Now it's happening in the menus.

 

[Louis Wu]

Honestly though.

I think it's feasible to ask for a small corner of matchmaking to be catered to ye olde halo fans.

343 decided to go whole hog in the conversion process; they've put their mark on EVERYTHING. I suppose that's a gamble, because it risks alienating people like you. (Heh. Maybe 'risks' is not a strong enough word.) There are certainly things I wish they'd left alone (or intact). But that's the choice they made. And my choice at this point is to accept it, or to move on to other games. (I'm fine with accepting it.)

P.S. You do like the times if you don't like Halo. Get your opinions straight.

I'm full of contradictions. Just ask my wife.

 

[GrizzNKev]

I think what bobs is getting at is the unpredictability of the player and not the unpredictability of the game. Let's say you've created a tactic which involved sneaking up the caves on Valhalla, with some redundancies in case you are spotted, like a Hardlight Shield. Now let's say you know that the opponent just respawned, so they have 2 grenades. What you don't know is if they have the explosive perk on or if they have the +1 grenade perk on. Opponent throws 2 grenades, so you think it's over time to start shooting him. But he has a surprise 3rd grenade that takes away your shields and he ends up killing you based on his loadout. Now it's not like you can see that opponent has +1 grenade perk.

I know in previous Halo games(sans Reach), the unpredictability came from what happened in the sandbox. Now it's happening in the menus.

Yeah bruh I just went over this. Turns out he doesn't like Halo.

343 decided to go whole hog in the conversion process; they've put their mark on EVERYTHING. I suppose that's a gamble, because it risks alienating people like you. (Heh. Maybe 'risks' is not a strong enough word.) There are certainly things I wish they'd left alone (or intact). But that's the choice they made. And my choice at this point is to accept it, or to move on to other games. (I'm fine with accepting it.)


I'm full of contradictions. Just ask my wife.

I'm going to keep buying and not accept. I mean, I went as far as getting my game box signed by some 343 dudes. They're cool in my book. They just need to see the results of their experiment, evaluate, and make adjustments. They have time and resources and talent. They can get it right.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Starting to encounter some strange bugs:

1) On Ragnarok duplicate vehicles spawned. Yup, two of everything. Pretty fun!
2) During the match everyone switched load outs. Very strange.
3) Saved load outs reset frequently.
4) Randomly do not have the ability to sprint.
5) Randomly spawn without primary weapon.

2. is something you can do on purpose, I assume you were playing with a team and they all mentioned not intending to do it? Haven't had that one.

4. I got this, it was also during one of the quite random but semi frequent periods of heinous lag. couldn't run at all, people teleporting etc.

3. had the loadout reset once. it was annoying and I hope it never happens again.

Now it's not like you can see that opponent has +1 grenade perk.

but you'll remember next time

 

[Naked Lunch]

Haven alone shits on every Reach map from a great height.

Too bad thats the only good map in the game...

 

[RepairmanJack]

Too bad thats the only good map in the game...

So wrong. Outside of Abandon every map is easily decent to good. There is none outright unplayable, Abandon comes close but it can at least be decent for Flood and Regicide.

 

[TheOddOne]

So wrong. Outside of Complex every map is easily decent to good. There is none outright unplayable, Complex comes close but it can at least be decent for Flood and Regicide.

Fixed, brah.

 

[GrizzNKev]

So wrong. Outside of Abandon every map is easily decent to good. There is none outright unplayable, Abandon comes close but it can at least be decent for Flood and Regicide.

Exile is great on everything but Dominion. If you're playing with randoms you can tell whether you'll lose by which side you spawn on.

The maps are good overall but we desperately need more of them.

 

[Uncharted Waves]

Once again why does oddball and KOTH have their own playlist?

Right now they have FFA Throwback which includes Oddball and KOTH but so far it's just oddball and KOTH. I have not gotten one option for basic FFA. Was this intentional? This is how it should be to free up some playlists but they need to include basic slayer in the FFA throwback rotation. C'mon 343.

Also why do I see sr-12s being paired up with 58s. Is this for real? You guys can't be serious right now.

 

[RepairmanJack]

Fixed, brah.

Complex is probably one of my favorite maps. I don't think it works well with CTF though. The side with the garage has a much easier path to run the flag, but the other side has an easier chance to camp the flag position. Garage side almost always wins, at least it seems.

Exile is great on everything but Dominion. If you're playing with randoms you can tell whether you'll lose by which side you spawn on.

The maps are good overall but we desperately need more of them.

I haven't had too much experience with Exile. What I've played of it I have loved, it really feels like a big battle when you're playing on it. I haven't noticed much issues on Dominion though, what's the issues with it?

The Dominion maps I haven't liked too much is Meltdown and Vortex. Both maps I like otherwise though.

Definitely ready for more maps though. I am really hoping for at least one small-medium semetrical arena style map.

 

[VanquishUK]

Don't know if this has been said but where is team snipes was really looking forward to playing some snipes but i don't see it.
All i see is the new FFA thing.

 

[Uncharted Waves]

Also I see we have some idiots who do nothing but camp and snipe on the rooftops of Complex even in oddball and KOTH games. Also looked like we had two 58s teaming up against the other players. *sigh*

 

[REV 09]

So wrong. Outside of Abandon every map is easily decent to good. There is none outright unplayable, Abandon comes close but it can at least be decent for Flood and Regicide.

Abandon is a great map imo. 2nd favorite small map after Haven. I think all the maps are good to great. Some don't work on certain playlists though (complex CTF)

 

[JB1981]

Also I see we have some idiots who do nothing but camp and snipe on the rooftops of Complex even in oddball and KOTH games. Also looked like we had two 58s teaming up against the other players. *sigh*

the refuge of players looking to boost their k/dr

 

[RepairmanJack]

Abandon is a great map imo. 2nd favorite small map after Haven. I think all the maps are good to great. Some don't work on certain playlists though (complex CTF)

I don't get the Abandon love at all. Even on team based games it plays like an FFA. Spawns are speradic and random there is no real line of sights outside of seeing the top of the lift room and seeing the cliff from that room. It's basically just a fight for that top room because there is really nowhere else to have a good vantage point. Anywhere along the side ledge is completely covered by trees. You need to use Jetpack at all times otherwise you have to run out of your way to get to higher ground.

I could go on and on, the map just doesn't work at all for me.

 

[GrizzNKev]

Complex is probably one of my favorite maps. I don't think it works well with CTF though. The side with the garage has a much easier path to run the flag, but the other side has an easier chance to camp the flag position. Garage side almost always wins, at least it seems.



I haven't had too much experience with Exile. What I've played of it I have loved, it really feels like a big battle when you're playing on it. I haven't noticed much issues on Dominion though, what's the issues with it?

The Dominion maps I haven't liked too much is Meltdown and Vortex. Both maps I like otherwise though.

Definitely ready for more maps though. I am really hoping for at least one small-medium semetrical arena style map.

On that map, one team spawns near two objectives, another team spawns near one. It's an uphill battle.

 

[REV 09]

I don't get the Abandon love at all. Even on team based games it plays like an FFA. Spawns are speradic and random there is no real line of sights outside of seeing the top of the lift room and seeing the cliff from that room. It's basically just a fight for that top room because there is really nowhere else to have a good vantage point. Anywhere along the side ledge is completely covered by trees. You need to use Jetpack at all times otherwise you have to run out of your way to get to higher ground.

I could go on and on, the map just doesn't work at all for me.

i have never used jetpack on that map and do very well. The top middle area is a good vantage point, but it's also a killzone...you can get naded to hell up there and shot at from multiple directions. I feel that i can hang back in the trees or on the beach and pick people off just fine. The fact that it is an area that is somewhat fought for reminds me of older Halo maps.

 

[Palette Swap]

Don't know if this has been said but where is team snipes was really looking forward to playing some snipes but i don't see it.
All i see is the new FFA thing.

I'm probably talking out of my ass here but considering SpOps 3 wasn't live last I checked, there's still a chance not all of today's updates are up yet.

 

[Uncharted Waves]

the refuge of players looking to boost their k/dr

People that do this are WEAK.

Also because of this oddball and KOTH have the potential to become shit games. It's simple. boosters can run to the dedicated playlists of Oddball and KOTH now and pick off people who are truly trying to follow the objective.

They will also now run to the FFA throwback playlist which is just Oddball and KOTH.

Boosters need to be banned PERMANENTLY. So sick of these idiots who ruin the game for others.