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[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

On a separate note I'd like to see 343i give away all the DLC maps for free and make it a required download to play online multiplayer. I never had an issue with Bungie doing this 3 months after DLC release. I think for Halo 4 now would be the right time to do this, before E3 and months before the next gen consoles hit XMAS this year.

 

[Nowise10]

On a separate note I'd like to see 343i give away all the DLC maps for free and make it a required download to play online multiplayer. I never had an issue with Bungie doing this 3 months after DLC release. I think for Halo 4 now would be the right time to do this, before E3 and months before the next gen consoles hit XMAS this year.

When did Bungie ever do this besides for the Heroic map pack

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

When did Bungie ever do this besides for the Heroic map pack

Didn't they do it all through Halo 3 and like half of Halo 2? Either way I think it's a fine way to get money from early adopters and then provide something for the community to increase the variety and retention for multiplayer across the board.

 

[Poker Face]

When did Bungie ever do this besides for the Heroic map pack

All the Halo 2 maps were free at some point. Maybe not the last map pack with the two remakes, but all the others were.

 

[FUBAR McDangles]

All the Halo 2 maps were free at some point. Maybe not the last map pack with the two remakes, but all the others were.

Nah I'm pretty sure all of Halo 2 maps were free eventually.

I didn't get to play Halo 2 online until after the 360 launched and I was able to get all of the DLC maps for free.

And Halo 3 had one map pack free for a bit only because they were running some promotion that failed and a bunch of people downloaded it for free anyway, I think. Maybe that was a different game, who knows.

But XBL has been having tremendous sales for the past few months(I was able to pick up GR:FS and Split/Second for a combined $25 just the other day, awesome deals IMO), and I would love to see Microsoft/343i put the map packs on sale. As in like combined 1200 points for all three map packs.

In other news, I have seen a lot of people on my friend's list get back into Halo the last week or two. One of my best friends got back into Halo 4 just this week for whatever reason. Texted me saying it was pretty fun and when I told him about all of the weapon tweaks coming he got pretty pumped.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Is xbox live really down? Great.

 

[Nori Chan]

Sometimes when I get a multi kill in Halo the Ke$ha song 'Warrior' starts playing in my head.

You're insane for listening to that.

 

[HigherLevel]

Is xbox live really down? Great.

It is? This is why forcing online with the Xbox One is beyond stupid.

 

[daedalius]

It is? This is why forcing online with the Xbox One is beyond stupid.

No, it's not down.

 

[Fracas]

Is anyone on at the moment?

 

[jdouglas]

So I was playing some Halo 3 and I thought to myself "You know what would make this game amazing? sprint and ordnance."

...

So this "Turbo" update will make BR 4 shot? Will it lower the fire rate?

...

GT is "iLove My Fruits" if anyone is ever in the mood to play (halo 4...I DO like the game tbh).

 

[The Real Napsta]

Ok for real this was going really well for a while. If you're not going to talk about H4, go to the HaloGAF thread in OT community please.

Internet police

 

[willow ve]

Live might be up, but this was the laggiest Halo 4 has been in a month or so. Not worth it. Can't wait until the balance update resets all the host data yet again.

 

[Plywood]

Live might be up, but this was the laggiest Halo 4 has been in a month or so. Not worth it. Can't wait until the balance update resets all the host data yet again.

I can't wait until they spend 10 million on dedi's.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I can't wait until they spend 10 million on dedi's.

I'm hoping Xbox One is used as dedicated matchmaking servers heavily with the next gen Halo title

Spoiler

and I get a regional or leased personal server right near my house

.

Bulletin is up. You can also chat about the bulletin here

 

[Orochinagis]

I'm hoping Xbox One is used as dedicated matchmaking servers heavily with the next gen Halo title

Spoiler

and I get a regional or leased personal server right near my house

.

Bulletin is up. You can also chat about the bulletin here

Increase damage and reduced bullet spread for most of the weapons, I wonder if the mounted turret got the same buffs as the warthog.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Increase damage and reduced bullet spread for most of the weapons, I wonder if the mounted turret got the same buffs as the warthog.

I doesn't appear so as they didn't mention it. One thing I have concern about is the BR vs DMR in a shoot to melee engagement. The BR already shoots faster and now only requires 2 shots with a melee for the kill. The DMR takes 3 shots and a melee so essentially the DMR is going to lose any CQC with a melee finish.

I hope it doesn't play out like that.

 

[willow ve]

I'm hoping Xbox One is used as dedicated matchmaking servers heavily with the next gen Halo title

Spoiler

and I get a regional or leased personal server right near my house

.

Bulletin is up. You can also chat about the bulletin here

So glad Bravo is writing most of the Bulletins now. Kid doesn't treat the community like it's show and tell on our first day of school.

Can't wait to play under the new settings. 4 Shot BR will take some getting used to. And Carbine sounds like it will be the best for small maps.

I doesn't appear so as they didn't mention it. One thing I have concern about is the BR vs DMR in a shoot to melee engagement. The BR already shoots faster and now only requires 2 shots with a melee for the kill. The DMR takes 3 shots and a melee so essentially the DMR is going to lose any CQC with a melee finish.

I hope it doesn't play out like that.

Wasn't that always the intent of the sandbox in Halo 4? I thought it was said the BR would beat the DMR at close/medium range, but would lose out more frequently the farther away your opponent was. I'm pretty sure this was talked about even pre-launch as a design decision (which didn't really work due to insane bullet magnetism/auto head shots from the DMR at almost any range).

 

[HigherLevel]

Does the line about new weapons drops on all the maps mean static locations?

 

[Orochinagis]

I doesn't appear so as they didn't mention it. One thing I have concern about is the BR vs DMR in a shoot to melee engagement. The BR already shoots faster and now only requires 2 shots with a melee for the kill. The DMR takes 3 shots and a melee so essentially the DMR is going to lose any CQC with a melee finish.

I hope it doesn't play out like that.

Than god, it feels bad when a long rage weapon beats most of automatic weapons at close combat, still the DMR damage and rate of fire are unchanged so still can win at medium range.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Interesting.

Lastly, the multiplayer design team has been updating all of Halo 4’s maps with new weapon (ordnance) locations, new weapon drops, updated starting and objective spawns, and even new Forge objects to diversify and balance gameplay. For example, Haven now uses Red / Blue spawns, lifts, and colored halls across all game types, Abandon has some crates added as well as a central, equidistant Overshield for optimized map flow, and much more. Some maps have received updates to vehicle locations and selection as well. We expect these updates to slightly change up the way these maps are played and help freshen up the Matchmaking experience.

Can't wait to hop on Monday.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Wasn't that always the intent of the sandbox in Halo 4? I thought it was said the BR would beat the DMR at close/medium range, but would lose out more frequently the farther away your opponent was. I'm pretty sure this was talked about even pre-launch as a design decision (which didn't really work due to insane bullet magnetism/auto head shots from the DMR at almost any range).

Than god, it feels bad when a long rage weapon beats most of automatic weapons at close combat, still the DMR damage and rate of fire are unchanged so still can win at medium range.

I'm all for weapons having their roles and I agree with the intention of the sandbox for BR to be mid range king. This makes me wonder why the DMR then needs to have a red reticule reduction due to the community response. Now we have the dominant BR back but the long range king gets a nerf?

Two shots only though? Even the AR/storm/suppressor may struggle against the BR/melee...

Anyhow I'll reserve proper judgement until I actually play some game with the new settings.

Did the SAW really need a straight buff in damage without any (documented) adjustments to its difficulty to use? It already tore through players at a ridiculous distance with practically zero effort.

2-shot+melee Battle Rifle kills seems really silly to me. Melees are powerful enough (more than enough, really) as it is.

(and because I feel it bears repeating each week, boosting vehicle damage is an incredibly poor band-aid that ignores the right solution to the vehicle viability problem, which is changing the health and loadout systems)

I think the SAW required the buff to be viable against the new automatics buff, seems reasonable. It's role is to overpower the autos.

For some of the vote variants they have altered the loadouts and removed stickies and plasma pistols. BTB Infinity could use some loadout tweaks but I'm not sure they can keep the custom loadouts and exclude certain things. I think it's a case of fixed loadouts or custom loadouts.

 

[Havok]

Did the SAW really need a straight buff in damage without any (documented) adjustments to its difficulty to use? It already tore through players at a ridiculous distance with practically zero effort.

2-shot+melee Battle Rifle kills seems really silly to me. Melees are (more than) powerful enough as it is.

(and because I feel it bears repeating each week, boosting vehicle damage is an incredibly poor band-aid that ignores the right solution to the vehicle viability problem, which is changing the health and loadout systems)

Glad they're finally fixing the launch maps and base player speed, though...I wouldn't have expected them to revisit those. All in all, a few baffling decisions out of however many is a better ratio than usual.

 

[Mabef]

I just want some sweet carbine action.

 

[Karl2177]

Most of that actually sounded fairly good. Wish the Magnum went to 5 shots, but what can ya do besides fly out to Seattle on Microsoft's money?

 

[Hydranockz]

Did the SAW really need a straight buff in damage without any (documented) adjustments to its difficulty to use? It already tore through players at a ridiculous distance with practically zero effort.

2-shot+melee Battle Rifle kills seems really silly to me. Melees are powerful enough (more than enough, really) as it is.

(and because I feel it bears repeating each week, boosting vehicle damage is an incredibly poor band-aid that ignores the right solution to the vehicle viability problem, which is changing the health and loadout systems)

The AR was my biggest downfall when using the SAW.

 

[PrivateWHudson]

LTTP...just finished up halo 4. Wtf did I just play? Crawl and press RT to win the game. Christ! This felt like the Spider-Man game my kids play. Each section had a big room in the beginning where I could pick a weapon, then I couldn't find any ammo fit the damn thing once I ran out. And what did that grenade with the bubble do? I got a shit ton of them so I tossed them out there, but I'm not really sure if they were doing anything.

Anyway, don't want to shit up the thread, just confused and needed to rant.

 

[Mabef]

LTTP...just finished up halo 4. Wtf did I just play? Crawl and press RT to win the game. Christ! This felt like the Spider-Man game my kids play. Each section had a big room in the beginning where I could pick a weapon, then I couldn't find any ammo fit the damn thing once I ran out. And what did that grenade with the bubble do? I got a shit ton of them so I tossed them out there, but I'm not really sure if they were doing anything.

Anyway, don't want to shit up the thread, just confused and needed to rant.

I didn't grok the new grenades during my first playthrough either. The sound effect has a loud pop at the end, making me think it would have some sort of frag-like radius damage at the end, but I don't think it does. The sfx should drown out, not pop.

 

[Nowise10]

LTTP...just finished up halo 4. Wtf did I just play? Crawl and press RT to win the game. Christ! This felt like the Spider-Man game my kids play. Each section had a big room in the beginning where I could pick a weapon, then I couldn't find any ammo fit the damn thing once I ran out. And what did that grenade with the bubble do? I got a shit ton of them so I tossed them out there, but I'm not really sure if they were doing anything.

Anyway, don't want to shit up the thread, just confused and needed to rant.

All I can say is you're doing it wrong.

 

[Orochinagis]

LTTP...just finished up halo 4. Wtf did I just play? Crawl and press RT to win the game. Christ! This felt like the Spider-Man game my kids play. Each section had a big room in the beginning where I could pick a weapon, then I couldn't find any ammo fit the damn thing once I ran out. And what did that grenade with the bubble do? I got a shit ton of them so I tossed them out there, but I'm not really sure if they were doing anything.

Anyway, don't want to shit up the thread, just confused and needed to rant.

I was really embarrassed in that moment because I was playing coop with three of my friends and got speechless because I said to them to play it fully and they hate Halo.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

The end wasn't that bad people. I'm still on the fence on how they should have handled it. I dislike boss battles a LOT in first person shooters, so I'm not sure how else they could have ended it without the QTE and without a boss battle.

 

[PrivateWHudson]

All I can say is you're doing it wrong.

Was there a way to fight the final guy? I must have missed it. I played the way I've always played halo. Just the title games though, I missed out on osdt and reach.

 

[Nowise10]

The end wasn't that bad people. I'm still on the fence on how they should have handled it. I dislike boss battles a LOT in first person shooters, so I'm not sure how else they could have ended it without the QTE and without a boss battle.

It definitely wasn't the best way they could have ended it, I think an ending battle would have been the best way, but with the same outcome of shoving a grenade into his suit and him falling off the edge.

 

[PrivateWHudson]

The end wasn't that bad people. I'm still on the fence on how they should have handled it. I dislike boss battles a LOT in first person shooters, so I'm not sure how else they could have ended it without the QTE and without a boss battle.

I didn't need a boss battle, but cortana was holding him down, just let me shoot him, and toss a frag to detonate the nuke.

 

[heckfu]

The end wasn't that bad people. I'm still on the fence on how they should have handled it. I dislike boss battles a LOT in first person shooters, so I'm not sure how else they could have ended it without the QTE and without a boss battle.

It was pretty bad IMO. I just felt so deflated at how anticlimactic it was.

 

[Nowise10]

Was there a way to fight the final guy? I must have missed it. I played the way I've always played halo. Just the title games though, I missed out on osdt and reach.

No, that is the actual ending of the game. I mean the "It felt like spiderman" part, and where you cant find ammo, or how the Pulse grenade doesnt work. You think you would stop using that grenade after seeing it isnt good at all.

Also the only areas I can think off that you start out in a room and have weapons to choose is on Shutdown, and (maybe) Dawn.

This is actually making me want to go play the campaign

 

[PrivateWHudson]

Oh, the felt like Spider-Man was because of therandom stuff like - move the sick to climb the ladder in the beginning and then you never use it again. Or the - quick press LT to plant the grenade at the end. Just dumb non skill based out of nowhere shit.

How do you use those grenades? I only used them because there were no other games to use.

Did I miss a tutorial? The animations gave no clue as to what they were doing.

 

[Nowise10]

Oh, the felt like Spider-Man was because of therandom stuff like - move the sick to climb the ladder in the beginning and then you never use it again. Or the - quick press LT to plant the grenade at the end. Just dumb non skill based out of nowhere shit.

How do you use those grenades? I only used them because there were no other games to use.

Did I miss a tutorial? The animations gave no clue as to what they were doing.

I agree that those QTE honestly didnt need to even be in the game at the start and end, and you cant really use Pulse grenades. They suck, completely. I've only gotten 3 kills with them since Launch.

But you haven't mentioned anything else from the campaign other then the QTEs and pulse grenades sucking. The story from start to ending was good (although may have gotten somehwat confusing near the end), the level design and battles were fairly good, was polished with nearly zero bugs.

All in all I thought 343 for the most part did a nice job on the campaign.

 

[Barrow Roll]

Pretty good update, most interested in seeing how they've updated all the launch maps.

 

[J10]

The end wasn't that bad people. I'm still on the fence on how they should have handled it. I dislike boss battles a LOT in first person shooters, so I'm not sure how else they could have ended it without the QTE and without a boss battle.

They could have ended it with actual real gameplay - the kind that the other 99% of the game is made up of.

343 too proud to make another 'hog run?

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Oh, the felt like Spider-Man was because of therandom stuff like - move the sick to climb the ladder in the beginning and then you never use it again. Or the - quick press LT to plant the grenade at the end. Just dumb non skill based out of nowhere shit.

How do you use those grenades? I only used them because there were no other games to use.

Did I miss a tutorial? The animations gave no clue as to what they were doing.

Try using them as a direct throw at the enemy you want to kill, the initial expansion will drop their shields and then you one headshot kill them from there, same for multiplayer. You can aim at their feet but I almost prefer aiming it at their knees/waist. Think of it as a frag grenade in reverse. They're also useful for blocking an enemy path or EMP style halting.

They could have ended it with actual real gameplay - the kind that the other 99% of the game is made up of.

343 too proud to make another 'hog run?

Please no more vehicle based mission, wasn't there already 2-3 of those in Halo 4 campaign? I just tune out when that occurs, it's fine for about 5 minutes of a mission but there was 2 whole missions like that with Halo 4 and I would have raged if the game ended that way to make it 3.

I totally agree the QTE was a crap way to end the game. The boss battle was literally already done design wise too. They could have used those cool portal/forerunner appearing mancannons to chase down a repeatedly fleeing Didact with Cortana getting/losing her grip while you the player in control have to grenade and shoot to kill the Didact. Some interesting set pieces between seeing him, around the level and then ending up on the final hardlight bridge with a stockpile of grenades to then trigger the final scene. I would have been far happier with that sort of mini boss battle.

I thoroughly enjoyed Regret and that whole room/encounter as well as Tartarus and the other characters being involved there. Why not do that again?

 

[PrivateWHudson]

I agree that those QTE honestly didnt need to even be in the game at the start and end, and you cant really use Pulse grenades. They suck, completely. I've only gotten 3 kills with them since Launch.

But you haven't mentioned anything else from the campaign other then the QTEs and pulse grenades sucking. The story from start to ending was good (although may have gotten somehwat confusing near the end), the level design and battles were fairly good, was polished with nearly zero bugs.

All in all I thought 343 for the most part did a nice job on the campaign.

Honestly, I couldn't follow the story. The MC and cortana part was pretty good, but the rest just seemed off. You're here, you're there take out five shields that are on a platform. Lots of killing robot dogs and knights. I don't know why, but elites, grunts, jackles, hunters, and the flood just didn't feel as tedious. Obviously there was some of that, but it felt tacked on just to give the game continuity.

Wasn't bad, just didn't feel like halo.

 

[Fracas]

Campaign would've been so much better if the Covenant and UNSC weren't involved.

 

[daedalius]

Wow, 2 burst + melee and increased movement speed all the time jumped out at me. Wasn't expecting those.

Hopefully the new ordnance means static weapons on every map, but I doubt it :| that would be too amazing.

 

[Obscured]

Sounds like a good update. Still unsure why they couldn't throw this out or have a beta playlist to test it while they worked through it, but it does sound like they have put some work and thought into it. Can't wait to go into Throwdown by myself, it is going to be a BR destruction zone, I can already feel the target on my back.

Interesting about the increase in movement speed, was that one of the settings when everyone flew out to test, that is the first I've heard of it.

 

[malfcn]

I think the ending QTE could have used a little more battle. You fought through a swarm of Knights, and then reach the QTE. Fighting through a swarm and then some kind of battle with the Didact would have sufficed. Even if it were a few more Knights or something to cross the Hardlight Bridge.

No mention of 'nades in the Bulletin?
Never heard of the base traits changing til now.

 

[Duji]

Most of that actually sounded fairly good. Wish the Magnum went to 5 shots, but what can ya do besides fly out to Seattle on Microsoft's money?

Do we really want a weapon with crazy bloom to have a decent kill time?

 

[kittens]

You're insane for listening to that.

I was a Kesha naysayer until just last week. I've had friends telling me how amazing she is for like the whole past year, and especially since Warrior came out. I always saw the appeal, but didn't feel it myself... Until last week. All aboard the Kesha train now.

It was pretty bad IMO. I just felt so deflated at how anticlimactic it was.

Those are the exact words I've used to describe it. Especially deflated. It just wasn't satisfying. Also, Cortana's death wasn't clear to me... Like, I never really got the impression that she died. I haven't played the ending since launch, so my memories are fuzzy. I need to just cruise through it again on Heroic. I don't have the willpower or interest in playing through on Legendary.

Campaign would've been so much better if the Covenant and UNSC weren't involved.

Totally. They should have been introduced in the second act (of the trilogy). Man, I had so many ideas / dreams of what the Halo 4 campaign could / should be, and it just did not measure up.

 

[Madness]

Really liking the moves 343 is making. Increase to player movement? Fixing up spawns and weapons on launch maps etc.

As for the ending. It was pathetic. What was wrong with the way we fought Tartarus or 343 Guilty Spark? Something better than a crawl QTE.

How about Master Chief has to dodge Didact's binary rifle shots, wait till Cortana slows him down, we use an incineration cannon on him. Earth is getting composed etc. Make it much better than it was. Even the illusion of a battle is better than a QTE. He was this ancient evil, killed a lot of researchers, attacked Earth, and we didn't even get to fight him at all.

Can't wait for this weapon tuning update. Just hope I can finish the last two castle achievements before they switch back to majestic.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

I need to just cruise through it again on Heroic. I don't have the willpower or interest in playing through on Legendary.

I'd recommend just doing normal mate, Heroic is almost like legendary regarding bullet sponges and ammo. The cut-scenes won't change between normal or heroic so why bother. I've been putting off my legendary run as I just don't want to play against crazy bullet sponges, Ugh!