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[ShutterMunster]

The glory of Halo 3 launch night.

I'm genuinely curious if people think the game plays better now than a Halo 2, Halo 3 or Halo:Reach online ever did, especially outside NA. All I know is, I don't think I've had a single instance of rubber banding, lag, etc. That best coast dominance.

Pretty much every major game is going to be US dominated, especially shooters.

I've only had two matches where a player was lagging and skipping around the map. The game has been incredibly stable for me. I'm based in NYC.

 

[Twilight Gap]

Tbh someone should host a gaf tournament

Like doubles or something

Not me tho

think we all know Speedy would win, and if he didn't he'd pay off the other team with REQ cards.

 

[Velcoro]

The glory of Halo 3 launch night.

I'm genuinely curious if people think the game plays better now than a Halo 2, Halo 3 or Halo:Reach online ever did, especially outside NA. All I know is, I don't think I've had a single instance of rubber banding, lag, etc. That best coast dominance.

Pretty much every major game is going to be US dominated, especially shooters.

God Halo 3 was something. Some epic memories. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

 

[BokehKing]

The glory of Halo 3 launch night.

I'm genuinely curious if people think the game plays better now than a Halo 2, Halo 3 or Halo:Reach online ever did, especially outside NA. All I know is, I don't think I've had a single instance of rubber banding, lag, etc. That best coast dominance.

Pretty much every major game is going to be US dominated, especially shooters.

Geezus Christ when the north east just went ultra nova
That's a lot of people crammed in a small space that's for sure

(I was one of those tiny lights, never saw that before though, all games should do something like this)

 

[Abinash117]

I


The actual story of Halo is what you get in Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo ODST, and Halo Reach.

The story you're presenting is extrapolated from a lot of expanded universe stuff. I like the universe. It's really cool. I've read almost every novel that was released. But that's not why I play the games. 343i might be presenting a world consistent with Microsoft's lore, but it's tonally inconsistent with the games that I enjoyed playing. I didn't buy into "ONI propaganda," because that's expanded universe bullshit. I bought into the experience of being the Master Chief (and Noble Six and The Rookie).

The best decision Disney made in regards to Star Wars was killing its expanded universe and getting back to basics: what made Star Wars appealing? Why do people go to watch the Star Wars MOVIES? And then they tried (dunno if they succeeded yet) to make a series of movies about that particular feeling. So, yeah, there are definitely elements that would be problematic, like kidnapping kids to make them super soldiers, but... what's "realistic" and what's interesting about Halo/Star Wars are different things.

Halo is different to different people and means different things and sometimes people impose what Halo is to others, the article does that. Bungie and 343 are the ones that really controls that narrative because they make the game. If 343 wants to have the games take place in the expanded universe that is fine and Bungie doesn't then that is fine. 343 decided they want to expanded the lore after the Covenant war and that is something that people have live with and imo if you want to continue on as Chief it was inevitable. I personally think Halo could be more and that's a good thing, but the problem is doing the newer lore in the games.

Halo universe is very big, and the problem I think is that 343 simply just don't take the time to expand the characters and the events in the games. Halo's campaign is sightly too 'traditional' of an FPS. I think the game should be longer and not the if you 'play on harder difficultly level' longer, the story has to be longer. When the game's universe is starting to get more depth, you can't do it justice in a 5-7 hour game. The problem with that is balancing the fun factor and length.

 

[Welfare]

Rumble Rockets available tomorrow + some deals: https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/killed-from-the-gravy

 

[Anfony O]

Guys anyone playing now that wants to team up? My GT: Anfony O

Could really use a team i'm quite alright diamond 3 in team arena

 

[Tawpgun]

TOP TIER GAME WINNING PLAY

This is just the most. The most.

What exactly happened here.

edit:

GODDAMN https://youtu.be/yzBqhL4R-28

 

[Poodlestrike]

Rumble Rockets available tomorrow + some deals: https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/killed-from-the-gravy

Play of the Week this week was legit amazing.

I love some of the tidbits in the art dump too. Book coulda used more of that.

 

[Slightly Live]

THE ART SHOWCASE.

BE STILL MY WEAK HEART

 

[link1201]

Also, for players who log into Halo 5 from Thursday through Sunday, we’ve also got a little Thanksgiving surprise waiting for you. After you’ve stuffed yourself, be sure to jump into the game to grab it.

I am hoping for a turkey emblem. lol

 

[Montresor]

I am hoping for a turkey emblem. lol

Hopefully it's 1,000,000 REQ points and a free 10-hour campaign DLC (maybe an ODST-style campaign exploring Meridian during its glassing?).

 

[SenjutsuSage]

DocSuess, you wrote a technically solid article, but I disagree with damn near everything and mostly for one reason:

You have based your entire vision of Halo and what it's supposed to be on this notion of HEROISM. It's almost as if you fell for the ONI propaganda that surrounds Spartans, that they're super powerful and save their fellow soldiers in a pinch and that Halo theme with the pulsating drums in the background makes us feel like we're doing God's work.

But if there's anything that Halo represents, beyond the fact that EVERYTHING WAS THE FLOOD, it's that humans are and have always been their own worst enemies. You said that you couldn't stand that John-117 had been made a walking war crime or that Dr. Halsey made a mad scientist, but ... are you serious?

You're talking about a woman who scoped out 75 six-year old children (through vaccination of all things), kidnapped them, replaced them in their families with flash clones DOOMED TO DIE. Let me repeat that for you. Kidnapped kids, replaced them with doomed mirror children. Augmented beyond human capacity, causing 30 to die (STILL KIDS HERE) and 12 to be crippled and washed out.

You don't want to think of John-117 as a walking war crime? Boo hoo. That's too bad. He is. Every single Spartan II was a war crime. No amount of whitewashing will change that. You're wearing rose-tinted glasses. Bungie never truly addressed the moral issues surrounding the Spartan II project and 343i, though still not where they need to be narrative-wise, have shown a greater degree of respect to the fact than I ever really anticipated.

You don't think that Cortana's motivations make sense? Fine. But let's not forget that AIs have always had the bigger picture in mind and have never hesitated to take things into their own hands if given the power to. See Mendicant Bias for more. I'm not saying she's right, or that the execution around her return and her plan are flawless, but they work, in the grand scheme of things.

I've stated in this very thread and others that I think there was issues with the narrative and character development in Halo 5, so I don't need to do that again right now. But Bungie's Halo trilogy dismissed the Master Chief's humanity and the sticky, unethical moral ramifications of the Spartan II program almost completely. You don't like 343's Halo? There are many that don't.

But to act as if the ugly background of the central characters doesn't count just because it doesn't make you feel "MASTER CHIEF, HECK YEAH" is damn near disingenuous. What it says is that you don't love the actual story of Halo, you just love a certain feeling you associated with earlier games and are not happy that feeling has dispersed since the propaganda has ended.

This is what I feel best describes a lot of critics of 343's Halo titles. I get the feeling like these people don't actually love Halo's larger and more extended story fiction at all, and instead prefer to be mostly ignorant of that part of the Halo universe. They much rather believe that the Halo Universe only consists of what Bungie has chosen to reveal through the game's more traditional means of storytelling, such as cutscenes and gameplay. Stuff like the terminals are probably just useless noise to But if not for the extended fiction, which for me began with Nylund's Halo: Fall of Reach, I wouldn't even be as big a Halo fan as I am today, so my enjoyment of Halo games has always been deeply intertwined with and augmented by whatever I managed to learn from the books.

Now because I feel like 343i has done by far the best job of bringing both the games and the books together into a single package while also portraying the characters in the games with even more depth than was ever the case before (the type you normally appreciate more in the books), it's only natural that I hold the opinion that their Halo titles are the best I've ever played. Halo 4 and 5 take advantage of the potential for the characters and the universe in ways that I feel Bungie became almost hesitant to do after Halo 2. Don't get me wrong, Bungie's Halo games are great games, but I feel like I wasn't getting the feeling of fulfillment that I felt was necessary from a franchise that's suppose to be as big as Halo is. It bothered me that Halo's universe in the games didn't feel as big budget intense or as movie like as MGS2 or 3. Look at the production value in MGS2 or 3, and then go look at the production value in Halo 3. Why when Halo as a universe is so big and expansive was it seeming so small in comparison to other titles?

It actually annoyed me that COD4's campaign felt a lot more thrilling and exciting to me than Halo 3's despite all the gameplay possibilities and freedom that was available in Halo 3 as compared to COD4.

I was beginning to lose some serious interest in in Halo after Halo Reach even though I felt like it was a superior game overall to Halo 3. With Halo 4 my interest came roaring back, leading to me never being more excited for the next halo game. And as far as I'm concerned, Halo 5 is the best singleplayer first person shooter campaign I've ever played. Even with so few Master Chief and Blue Team levels, you truly felt like you were in the presence of greatness when fighting through and completing those later Blue Team levels. I just really like the different approach to storytelling and the style in which 343 chooses to portray the Halo universe and its characters. It's the kind of treatment I was hoping to see almost immediately when I jumped into Halo 3. And even by comparison to Halo CE and 2, I felt like 3 was a major stepdown in terms of overall production value. I, to this day, still look at Halo 3 as the Halo title made more so for fans of multiplayer than for fans of the singleplayer campaign. Reach represented a much needed course correction in that regard, and I feel like Halo 4 and 5 finally managed to figure out the kind of game universe that Halo is suppose to be in its campaigns.

Long rant, but yea that's how I feel.

 

[Akai__]

I'm not being an ass, but why is it always the same 2-3 guys complaining about lag? There's a ton of people here from overseas, and I never see much complaints from people I know like Ozzy(AUS) and Dani(Ireland?).

Stopped playing anything ranked (except BTB occasionally) because of it. Kept getting shot through walls (already provided a screenshot), which is even more noticeable if you thrust arround corners. It seriously feels like your hitbox stays in place for a whole second, after it decides to move with you. That was actually quite a ride with Shotty Snipes that one weekend. Should have made a montage. I also get this shit all the time in Warzone, but don't care since no ranks. One day, the delay/lag was so bad, that I shot somebody (with a BR) 3 times from behind and 3 times when he turned arround. All my shots connected, but he still gave me a perfect, because I'm appareantly shooting nerf gun bullets. After I watched that in Theater, I was done for the night. I really don't mind losing against better players when I'm getting outplayed (probably comes from my experience in the several sport tournaments I took part and obviously from other games), but when lag/delay gives people advantages that's something I don't want to deal with, because it's rather frustrating.

Pointless to capture stuff like this, because Theater isn't even displaying stuff correctly half the time and there is no way I'll make use of the GameDVR feature mid game, when I play a ranked game, because I donn't have a Kinect to yell at and I want to focus on the current game. Maybe I'll make use of my Capture Card again soon.

You can think of this what you want, but I've seen plenty of people complaining about this stuff on Twitter, Waypoint, Reddit and even Twitch. I don't think this is a very huge issue, but some people are affected and it ruins their experience. I mean, even Frankie said the automated Server Selection is something they are still tweaking (iirc), so they are acknowledging at least this issue.

 

[arimanius]

What exactly happened here.

edit:

GODDAMN https://youtu.be/yzBqhL4R-28

I don't even. Just wow.

 

[link1201]

Hopefully it's 1,000,000 REQ points and a free 10-hour campaign DLC (maybe an ODST-style campaign exploring Meridian during its glassing?).

Well maybe something in between lol.

 

[Glass]

Loved all the artwork in the blog, but man do the Arena screenshots highlight how we desperately need different environments for arena multiplayer.

 

[rakkadakka]

Question #2: Why does the protagonist have to be Chief?

Because that's the writing assignment.

I'm paying you to be a consultant on this game and what we have is going to involve Chief.

What you described sounds cool but I want a compelling game involving the dude who moves units.

 

[Strider]

think we all know Speedy would win, and if he didn't he'd pay off the other team with REQ cards.

I think you'd be surprised just how good some gaf players are that don't post in the thread... They'd probably come out of hiding just for a tournament.

Nevertheless just because we know ahead of time who the favorites are doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun. The Neogaf TLOU tournament was fun as hell and everyone knew TripleWreck's team would win ahead of time. Community tournaments are just fun. Period.

Also watching the meltdowns some people have after getting rekt is hilarious

 

[Ferny]

Man, after putting in some time with COD and Battlefront lately and being put in matches 75% done to then have to go thru another search and load sequence, thank god Halo doesn't have JIP.

 

[BraXzy]

My aiming feels really off tonight. Like the sens curve got worse. Even 2 feels high.

 

[Jumeira]

What exactly happened here.

edit:

GODDAMN https://youtu.be/yzBqhL4R-28

wow wow WOW

 

[Ol No Bones]

Man, after putting in some time with COD and Battlefront lately and being put in matches 75% done to then have to go thru another search and load sequence, thank god Halo doesn't have JIP.

Yes. They made some great decisions with multi. No voting is a huge plus and no JIP is great as well. 343 does listen.

 

[Haines]

The mechanics of this game are so fucking good

But I can't for the life of me get mydlself to reload using the bottom left paddle

 

[Ol No Bones]

My aiming feels really off tonight. Like the sens curve got worse. Even 2 feels high.

I went down from 6 to 4 recently. Really helped me with perfect pistol kills. I just can't play with a high sensitivity anymore. I'm getting old.

 

[ZeezbruhTV]

Each day, teams across the studio are working on not only improving existing experiences – based on your feedback on UI, stats and CSR tuning, customization, BTB spawns and JIP, spectator tools, Warzone Assault trickery, and plenty more – but also new experiences as well, including new maps, weapons, REQs, and beyond

Actually hyped. Plus aiming fixes!

 

[Haines]

Where's that info from

 

[Samurai G0SU]

Hehe the jips will be pleased

Halonwaypoint

 

[link1201]

I can't get my game to get past the loading screen, anyone else having issues?

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

My aiming feels really off tonight. Like the sens curve got worse. Even 2 feels high.

Play a Custom Game on 10 sensitivity, spin in circles a few times, shoot around, etc. then lower back to what you want. Might help.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Yes. They made some great decisions with multi. No voting is a huge plus and no JIP is great as well. 343 does listen.

To be honest I miss the voting, in a full party you could basically control the vote to play CTF a high percentage of the time. Given there are no filters/toggles and no dedicated playlists to objective voting would have been a cherry on top of an awesome multiplayer at launch.

Hehe the jips will be pleased

Halonwaypoint

Fun fact, not a Waypoint moderator anymore. I now have a "Community Leader" rank. JiP is useful but a surrender vote option after 2 quitters would be easier and faster in returning players to the matchmaking pools.

 

[Warm Machine]

I get the problems with the Halo story and just how vast they are trying to make it. It is as if they are thinking Halo universe and trying to tie all of the media into one big super story.

Really if I was MS / 343 I'd peel off 100 million and make a proper movie to kick off a 6-7 movie franchise. Start with Halo 1 as the first movie as it actually has the most concise story of all of the games. Then move forward from there through the series and use the parts of the EU that fit with a film narrative. Just power through the series and set the canon straight.

I swear 343 has spent enough money on in game cinematics, expanded films like Halo Legends, Nightfall, and commercials that they could have made at least two features by now.

 

[AllIsOneIsNone]

I can't get my game to get past the loading screen, anyone else having issues?

Yep, same. I wanna pwaaay!

 

[Juanfp]

Just saw the concept art that they put on the community update, it really incredible, I love it. Like the final art for the game but compared to the concept art they are in different levels.

 

[Jessie.Bristol]

My aiming feels really off tonight. Like the sens curve got worse. Even 2 feels high.

Somewhat the same with me as well, won 3 games and lost 3 games. Some of my aiming felt off (mainly with Sniper and a few questionable plays) but I attribute that to being tired. I knew I shouldn't have gotten on, but I did. The last match did it for me, only 3 captures in Strongholds... that never happens with me. That is when I said "Okay, I'm done." Too tired to go on.

 

[Shrennin]

I can't log into Halo 5. It just stays at "loading" after I press start (or the equivalent of start for the One controller). Any fixes? Known issue? Tried hard reset once already.

Edit:

I can't get my game to get past the loading screen, anyone else having issues?

At least I'm not alone. :/

Double Edit:

I kept it loading and after 5 minutes or so, I got past it. Try waiting it out?

 

[Haines]

Does anyone want to play arena I'm gold

Quitters are killing another attempt at halo fun 4/5 games

Just fucking ban em all for all I care anymore

 

[Samurai G0SU]

Where are the pro tips from speedy blue dude on how he aims so fantastical!i can haz?

 

[Haines]

Oh hai nobody left the last match

Just an afk on our team

Progress right?

 

[Samurai G0SU]

To be honest I miss the voting, in a full party you could basically control the vote to play CTF a high percentage of the time. Given there are no filters/toggles and no dedicated playlists to objective voting would have been a cherry on top of an awesome multiplayer at launch.



Fun fact, not a Waypoint moderator anymore. I now have a "Community Leader" rank. JiP is useful but a surrender vote option after 2 quitters would be easier and faster in returning players to the matchmaking pools.

Did you get tired of modding them? Im wondering how the ui update will look like

 

[Haines]

What ui is everyone talking about

The menu?

 

[ZeezbruhTV]

What ui is everyone talking about

The menu?

assuming lobby things we dont know yet.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

What ui is everyone talking about

The menu?

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/killed-from-the-gravy

Each day, teams across the studio are working on not only improving existing experiences – based on your feedback on UI, stats and CSR tuning, customization, BTB spawns and JIP, spectator tools, Warzone Assault trickery, and plenty more – but also new experiences as well, including new maps, weapons, REQs, and beyond. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking more about what’s to come in the December update, which will be here in well under a month. We’ll be covering Forge, new maps, the start of seasons and other playlist changes, and lots more.

Only sad part is this update probably wont happen until right before xmas. im being a impatient liklbrat.

 

[Haines]

Oh now a quiiter on the other team!

What the fuck is wrong with gamers these days

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Did you get tired of modding them? Im wondering how the ui update will look like

Yes that's the easy way to say it. After the whole MCC backlash I didn't have the volunteer will for it anymore.

 

[DanteRavenkin]

I need opinions: Am I crazy for thinking it's WAY too easy to pin the losing team in their base on Escape From A.R.C.? Every time my team is losing on that map, we can't even get out to make an attempt on the bosses or take another point. The enemy basically just holds us in the base by locking the Base side of the armory, and plants a tank in the tunnel. And then that's it, guaranteed loss. It seems next to impossible to make a comeback when that happens. Just had half my team quit as soon as that happened because everyone knew what was coming.

tl;dr Grumble grumble, I hate Escape from A.R.C.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

Yes that's the easy way to say it. After the whole MCC backlash I didn't have the volunteer will for it anymore.

Oh man i bet it was hard to read some comments on there =/

 

[Strider]

Yo that play of the week O_O damn son

 

[shoreu]

DocSuess, you wrote a technically solid article, but I disagree with damn near everything and mostly for one reason:

You have based your entire vision of Halo and what it's supposed to be on this notion of HEROISM. It's almost as if you fell for the ONI propaganda that surrounds Spartans, that they're super powerful and save their fellow soldiers in a pinch and that Halo theme with the pulsating drums in the background makes us feel like we're doing God's work.

But if there's anything that Halo represents, beyond the fact that EVERYTHING WAS THE FLOOD, it's that humans are and have always been their own worst enemies. You said that you couldn't stand that John-117 had been made a walking war crime or that Dr. Halsey made a mad scientist, but ... are you serious?

You're talking about a woman who scoped out 75 six-year old children (through vaccination of all things), kidnapped them, replaced them in their families with flash clones DOOMED TO DIE. Let me repeat that for you. Kidnapped kids, replaced them with doomed mirror children. Augmented beyond human capacity, causing 30 to die (STILL KIDS HERE) and 12 to be crippled and washed out.

You don't want to think of John-117 as a walking war crime? Boo hoo. That's too bad. He is. Every single Spartan II was a war crime. No amount of whitewashing will change that. You're wearing rose-tinted glasses. Bungie never truly addressed the moral issues surrounding the Spartan II project and 343i, though still not where they need to be narrative-wise, have shown a greater degree of respect to the fact than I ever really anticipated.

You don't think that Cortana's motivations make sense? Fine. But let's not forget that AIs have always had the bigger picture in mind and have never hesitated to take things into their own hands if given the power to. See Mendicant Bias for more. I'm not saying she's right, or that the execution around her return and her plan are flawless, but they work, in the grand scheme of things.

I've stated in this very thread and others that I think there was issues with the narrative and character development in Halo 5, so I don't need to do that again right now. But Bungie's Halo trilogy dismissed the Master Chief's humanity and the sticky, unethical moral ramifications of the Spartan II program almost completely. You don't like 343's Halo? There are many that don't.

But to act as if the ugly background of the central characters doesn't count just because it doesn't make you feel "MASTER CHIEF, HECK YEAH" is damn near disingenuous. What it says is that you don't love the actual story of Halo, you just love a certain feeling you associated with earlier games and are not happy that feeling has dispersed since the propaganda has ended.

This is what I feel best describes a lot of critics of 343's Halo titles. I get the feeling like these people don't actually love Halo's larger and more extended story fiction at all, and instead prefer to be mostly ignorant of that part of the Halo universe. They much rather believe that the Halo Universe only consists of what Bungie has chosen to reveal through the game's more traditional means of storytelling, such as cutscenes and gameplay. Stuff like the terminals are probably just useless noise to But if not for the extended fiction, which for me began with Nylund's Halo: Fall of Reach, I wouldn't even be as big a Halo fan as I am today, so my enjoyment of Halo games has always been deeply intertwined with and augmented by whatever I managed to learn from the books.

Now because I feel like 343i has done by far the best job of bringing both the games and the books together into a single package while also portraying the characters in the games with even more depth than was ever the case before (the type you normally appreciate more in the books), it's only natural that I hold the opinion that their Halo titles are the best I've ever played. Halo 4 and 5 take advantage of the potential for the characters and the universe in ways that I feel Bungie became almost hesitant to do after Halo 2. Don't get me wrong, Bungie's Halo games are great games, but I feel like I wasn't getting the feeling of fulfillment that I felt was necessary from a franchise that's suppose to be as big as Halo is. It bothered me that Halo's universe in the games didn't feel as big budget intense or as movie like as MGS2 or 3. Look at the production value in MGS2 or 3, and then go look at the production value in Halo 3. Why when Halo as a universe is so big and expansive was it seeming so small in comparison to other titles?

It actually annoyed me that COD4's campaign felt a lot more thrilling and exciting to me than Halo 3's despite all the gameplay possibilities and freedom that was available in Halo 3 as compared to COD4.

I was beginning to lose some serious interest in in Halo after Halo Reach even though I felt like it was a superior game overall to Halo 3. With Halo 4 my interest came roaring back, leading to me never being more excited for the next halo game. And as far as I'm concerned, Halo 5 is the best singleplayer first person shooter campaign I've ever played. Even with so few Master Chief and Blue Team levels, you truly felt like you were in the presence of greatness when fighting through and completing those later Blue Team levels. I just really like the different approach to storytelling and the style in which 343 chooses to portray the Halo universe and its characters. It's the kind of treatment I was hoping to see almost immediately when I jumped into Halo 3. And even by comparison to Halo CE and 2, I felt like 3 was a major stepdown in terms of overall production value. I, to this day, still look at Halo 3 as the Halo title made more so for fans of multiplayer than for fans of the singleplayer campaign. Reach represented a much needed course correction in that regard, and I feel like Halo 4 and 5 finally managed to figure out the kind of game universe that Halo is suppose to be in its campaigns.

Long rant, but yea that's how I feel.

Guys thank you so much for typing this long ass post, I've said this so much over the past few days and it's so damn true, Bungie was afraid to embrace the lore that they had in the games and 343 gets hell for finally doing what the all in fans want of them.

 

[Critic]

Oh now a quiiter on the other team!

What the fuck is wrong with gamers these days

maintaining k/d is a struggle