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[Trey]

I don't think we need to change Halo's movement style from the standard set by 1-3.

I disagree*. Halo stands apart because of quick decision and flexibility during battles, where tactful movement, use of surroundings, and steady aim determine winners from losers, not so much the weapon you have and if you saw someone first.

With that in mind, movement augments to the gameplay could deepen Halo's gameplay. Weapons can become more powerful as defensive options based on skillful use increase, leading to quick, skill-determinant gameplay. You can have threeshotkill weapons if you have to work to kill someone that fast.

*Well, we certainly don't need to change anything. So I disagree on principle.

 

[Tashi]

No equipment please! Such a gimmick, such a failure. Loadouts were pretty awful too but there are some good AA's. (Sprint, evade, hologram...) Fast base run speed(120% in Reach) I'll take Reach's jumping physics too. Shit is tight.

 

[Hey You]

No No AL.

 

[Plywood]

I really dislike how everyone is always wishing for Halo to become like other games.

I don't care for it to play like other games, I just want that canon they keep acting is so important to be put to good use.

 

[The Librarian]

No equipment please! Such a gimmick, such a failure. Loadouts were pretty awful too but there are some good AA's. (Sprint, evade, hologram...) Fast base run speed(120% in Reach) I'll take Reach's jumping physics too. Shit is tight.

You say equipment was a failure, then you say spring and evade are good AAs?!

Gosh, Tashi, you're such a noob.

 

[Trey]

I'll drop it now though, its much too sensitive around here to have the harmless talk.

You are certainly allowed to have your opinion. Nobody is attacking you, merely rejecting your idea. I don't mind AAs (and by extension, Reach). That's grounds to become a certified heretic. It's just talk, man.

 

[squidhands]

Keep that alliteration out of my Halo. Makes me mad.

 

[Reagan's BR]

I don't think we need to change Halo's movement style from the standard set by 1-3. Adding things like sprint and jetpack for Reach was neat but they aren't part of Halo's core elements.

- No sprint. No jetpack. Fast movement, high jump. Nothing more complicated than the movement in Halo 1-3. Press A to jump. Click LS to crouch.

- Remove the AA loadout system. Everyone spawns on equal ground.

- Active Camo and Overshield are powerups on the map like Halo 1-3.

Yes. Agree 100%.

- Bring equipment back (and mix in some AA functionality) but simplify it:

Equipment no longer uses an extra button like in Halo 3 - it behaves just like a weapon now.

You hold X to pick it up, it takes up one of your two weapon slots, you use it with RT. If it's a single-use item you drop it and automatically switch back to your (one) weapon. If it's multi-use you can press Y to switch or hold X to swap with another weapon/item on the ground.

This keeps the added variability of equipment/AAs but forces players to sacrifice one of their weapon slots to carry them around. It might also make equipment more intuitive to use (it's just like a weapon) while freeing up a button on the controller.

What do we get with this extra button? (LB maybe?) INFORMATION

Hold LB for additional HUD info:

- Blue weapon-shaped waypoints appear above power weapon spawn locations with a visual indicator showing how soon that weapon will respawn (or if it just recently respawned). It doesn't give you the exact countdown in seconds, but it does give you a general idea of which power weapon location to head towards next.

- Red triangular waypoints appear above enemies in your teammates' line-of-sight. As soon as the enemy gets behind cover the waypoint disappears. Enemies using the active camo powerup are not spotted (even if moving).

You can still move and fire while holding LB - it doesn't obscure your vision but it does remove your weapon/ammo info, your radar, and your crosshair. (Shield info remains as well as the stylish blue HUD lines.)

You can also press BACK for an overhead map with the same powerweapon info, but that does obscure your vision (and you can't move/aim).

No. No equipment, no AAs. Don't make things easier for the stupid people who refuse to use that microphone that came with their xbox.

 

[ncsuDuncan]

I disagree*. Halo stands apart because of quick decision and flexibility during battles, where tactful movement, use of surroundings, and steady aim determine winners from losers, not so much the weapon you have and if you saw someone first.

With that in mind, movement augments to the gameplay could deepen Halo's gameplay. Weapons can become more powerful as defensive options based on skillful use increase, leading to quick, skill-determinant gameplay. You can have threeshotkill weapons if you have to work to kill someone that fast.

*Well, we certainly don't need to change anything. So I disagree on principle.

Wait, what? Re-read the line you quoted. Are we agreeing that Halo 1-3's movement doesn't need to be changed? Or are you saying we don't need to change things from Reach?

No. No equipment, no AAs. Don't make things easier for the stupid people who refuse to use that microphone that came with their xbox.

Like it or not, Party Chat is here to stay.

I think the power weapon respawn info would be a great way to help bring back that Halo 1-3 conflict - it would bring focus to those points of the map. In Reach there doesn't seem to be that classic struggle.

I remember fighting over the Rockets on The Pit. The sword on Midship. The sniper on Colossus. To me, Halo has always been about timing weapon respawns to gain the advantage. This would bring that to the forefront.

 

[Reagan's BR]

No AAs. No Equipment. No Bloom. Halo 4.

 

[Havok]

What do we get with this extra button? (LB maybe?) INFORMATION

Hold LB for additional HUD info:

- Blue weapon-shaped waypoints appear above power weapon spawn locations with a visual indicator showing how soon that weapon will respawn (or if it just recently respawned). It doesn't give you the exact countdown in seconds, but it does give you a general idea of which power weapon location to head towards next.

- Red triangular waypoints appear above enemies in your teammates' line-of-sight. As soon as the enemy gets behind cover the waypoint disappears. Enemies using the active camo powerup are not spotted (even if moving).ith the same powerweapon info, but that does obscure your vision (and you can't move/aim).

Why should bad players who don't take the time to learn spawn times and locations get a crutch that removes an important skill that separates a great team from just a good one from the game entirely?

Re: fighting over neutral weapons being absent in Reach - that's not the case if the maps are decent. Every match of Beaver Creek starts out that way, with people rushing rockets and OS, and that fight continues throughout the match, in my experience.

You say equipment was a failure, then you say spring and evade are good AAs?!

Gosh, Tashi, you're such a noob.

Sprint is absolutely a better thing than invulnerable camp-heavy Bubble Shields, Regnerators, and nuke-radius Power Drainers, all of which were littered around the map like candy in a game where you were slow by mandate even without the inclusion of Sprint. If equipment had been better implemented, then I could entertain an argument, but it was pretty crappy. Evade, though, I cannot get behind.

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

No AAs.

Spoiler

Sprint can stay

Sprint is as bad as armor lock, it just doesnt pause the game.

With sprint you can make terrible decisions in game and still get away.

 

[Tashi]

You say equipment was a failure, then you say spring and evade are good AAs?!

Gosh, Tashi, you're such a noob.

You're delusional. What sprint did for map movement and jump discovery was substantial. If you take evade as it is, alone and not has a stupid loadout where an entire team can abuse it, it works. And it's damn fun to use. Is it perfect? No, but I think if used properly, it can work.

Loadouts were stock Reach's downfall. Half assed. You can't half implement classes.

 

[Reagan's BR]

AAs as a custom game option?

Spoiler

No AAs

 

[feel]

A bit sad that even in a small community like this one people's opinion on Halo gameplay are so split, because that means that come the day Halo 4 gameplay reveals a bunch of people will inevitably be really disappointed with the gameplay direction they see Halo multiplayer heading in. Would be really cool if everyone could be happy for once, but that just won't be happening.

 

[ncsuDuncan]

Why should bad players who don't take the time to learn spawn times and locations get a crutch that removes an important skill that separates a great team from just a good one from the game entirely?

I answered part of this in the edit above, but here are the two biggest reasons:

- Forge

- Randoms

I don't know where any of the power weapons spawn on Wayont (or pick any random Forge map).

I don't know what timers the multitude of power weapons on Highlands are set to.

I don't want to rely on randoms for that information. MLG can disable the waypoints for competitive play if they want. I want to play Halo, and to me that means fighting over power weapons for control of the map.

 

[kylej]

A bit sad that even in a small community like this one people's opinion on Halo gameplay are so split, because that means that come the day Halo 4 gameplay reveals a bunch of people will inevitably be really disappointed with the gameplay direction they see Halo multiplayer heading in.

I'm done with this franchise if the next one sucks.

 

[Havok]

I answered part of this in the edit above, but here are the two biggest reasons:

- Forge

- Randoms

I don't know where any of the power weapons spawn on Wayont (or pick any random Forge map).

I don't know what timers the multitude of power weapons on Highlands are set to.

I don't want to rely on randoms for that information. MLG can disable the waypoints for competitive play if they want. I want to play Halo, and to me that means fighting over power weapons for control of the map.

I do know where the power weapons spawn on Wayont, and of almost every Forge map in the game by now - why shouldn't that give me the competitive edge instead of everybody being handed that information instead of taking the two minutes to learn it? I don't know when they spawn, though, and a team that has that knowledge will wipe the floor with me and that is all well and good, because they earned it.

They can't and shouldn't be giving gameplay assistance to random players, instead they shouldn't be matching them with full teams. That's an issue that needs to be solved, but making the game artificially easier by removing an important skill isn't the way to go about it.

I addressed your thoughts on weapon spawn fighting not happening in Reach in an edit above, and I don't think that's the case. I see it all the time on good maps. Beaver Creek rockets are always a contested area, and honestly the same idea applies to all of the Anniversary maps and even some of the DLC maps like Anchor 9. Well designed maps will encourage that directed action and bad maps won't. Too bad Reach is mostly bad maps, huh? Weapon placement in this game is 90% awful and the game suffers for it.

 

[Reagan's BR]

A bit sad that even in a small community like this one people's opinion on Halo gameplay are so split, because that means that come the day Halo 4 gameplay reveals a bunch of people will inevitably be really disappointed with the gameplay direction they see Halo multiplayer heading in. Would be really cool if everyone could be happy for once, but that just won't be happening.

Unless Halo 4 is actually H2 + H3 and everyone goes home happy.

I answered part of this in the edit above, but here are the two biggest reasons:

- Forge

- Randoms

I don't know where any of the power weapons spawn on Wayont (or pick any random Forge map).

I don't know what timers the multitude of power weapons on Highlands are set to.

I don't want to rely on randoms for that information. MLG can disable the waypoints for competitive play if they want. I want to play Halo, and to me that means fighting over power weapons for control of the map.

No bad forge maps in MM. Problem solved.

 

[Striker]

I remember fighting over the Rockets on The Pit. The sword on Midship. The sniper on Colossus. To me, Halo has always been about timing weapon respawns to gain the advantage. This would bring that to the forefront.

That still exists. People rush Rockets in Powerhouse, rush Snipers in Asylum, Rockets in Anchor 9, and so forth. The issue you enlist is giving players a handicap by bringing the info right to their screen rather than having them learn the locations and respawn.

 

[feel]

Unless Halo 4 is actually H2 + H3 and everyone goes home happy.

Except ArmorAbility/inertia/Grey/Sprint/Invasion/Bloom/grain/etc lovers.

I'm done with this franchise if the next one sucks.

Me too, two years is enough, I won't sit around for 3 more years waiting for a Halo 5 comeback to roots miracle.

 

[senador]

A bit sad that even in a small community like this one people's opinion on Halo gameplay are so split, because that means that come the day Halo 4 gameplay reveals a bunch of people will inevitably be really disappointed with the gameplay direction they see Halo multiplayer heading in. Would be really cool if everyone could be happy for once, but that just won't be happening.

Yup. This is why 343 will have a tough time with Halo 4's multiplayer. Damned if they do, damned if they don't kinda deal.

My Battlefield ramblings are just for fun, and just daydreaming about a side game. My wants for the core game or much like your wants, but even then we don't fully agree I don't think. It will be most interesting to see what they pull off and to see if they can please long time fans, keep short time fans, and add new fans to the player base. That is a monumental task.

 

[Reagan's BR]

Except ArmorAbility/Grey/Sprint/Invasion/etc lovers.

Aren't Halo lovers.

Spoiler

This is about to get ugly

 

[Gabotron ES]

AA's are cool*, Invasion is cool, bloom isn't cool.

*When implemented correctly.

Show me the toyz Franklez!

 

[Overdoziz]

Aren't Halo lovers.

Boom

 

[senador]

Aren't Halo lovers.

Spoiler

This is about to get ugly

Boom

What? Sure they are. You are just kidding yourselves to think otherwise.

 

[squidhands]

Loadouts were stock Reach's downfall. Half assed. You can't half implement classes.

Monumental truth. Not making loadouts more tailored to the map and gametype was a huge mistake, regardless of the reasons why it never happened.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

So... Looks like we may have to wait another day for the Halo 4 toy reveal?

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

So last night the pro Ryanoob challenged a group of account thieves saying they wouldn't get it. They made this video this morning...

Its kinda funny.


As for the topic at hand, what is so terrible having a new halo game significantly more similar to its roots than what we have in our hands now?

 

[Gabotron ES]

So... Looks like we may have to wait another day for the Halo 4 toy reveal?

No, no... shut up! Make him stop Frankie X(

 

[Steelyuhas]

That is what i'm expecting from Halo series.
64 players, a battlefield set on surface of a Halo.
Fly a squad behind the enemy lines with a Pelican, get in a dog fight with a Phantom, bail out above the enemy base and steal a tank, push on to a capture point, kill all the Covies guarding it and capture it. Covenant classes could be different species, humans could have Marines, ODSTs, Spartan-3s (in SPI) at least.

So, what Invasion should have been.

Spoiler

BF3 is an incredible game, although obviously not Halo

Best shooter I've played in years

 

[Hypertrooper]

Never seen people who are excited about a toy reveal.

Edit.: on a gaming message board in a gaming thread.

 

[erpg]

So last night the pro Ryanoob challenged a group of account thieves saying they wouldn't get it. They made this video this morning...

Its kinda funny.

Of course it's easy. The guy is a big figure with all his information out on the internet, all they have to do is call Microsoft, apparently.

 

[Gabotron ES]

Never seen people who are excited about a toy reveal.

Edit.: on a gaming message board in a gaming thread.

That's what happens after 5 months without Halo 4 news.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

No, no... shut up! Make him stop Frankie X(

Well, Im not sure how late the Toy Show has been open... Or how long its been open to, but as its later, I think it may be getting close to the end of the show for today. Just a guess, I dont know what the actual open and close time are though. =/

 

[Tha Robbertster]

Well he did say very few sleeps so expecting it the next day would be a very optimistic view.

 

[Louis Wu]

I just got temporarily banned from Matchmaking for the first time. I got the warning 2 days ago and have been getting it each time I signed on to live. I haven't quit out of a match in 2 days either. I just quit out of one and now I'm temporarily banned.

I'm curious - how many games did you quit out of 2 days ago?

(I ask because my connection sucked the other night, and I lagged out of 2 or 3 games in the span of a couple of hours. I've been waiting with trepidation for the ban warning.)

 

[Plywood]

I just got temporarily banned from Matchmaking for the first time. I got the warning 2 days ago and have been getting it each time I signed on to live. I haven't quit out of a match in 2 days either. I just quit out of one and now I'm temporarily banned. I'm just gonna get off anyway, too many foreigners.

Spoiler

Raises shield against EuroGAF

OWNED

THEY GOT YOU MAN

SYSTEM WORKS.

Spoiler

Kidding

 

[The Librarian]

You're delusional. What sprint did for map movement and jump discovery was substantial. If you take evade as it is, alone and not has a stupid loadout where an entire team can abuse it, it works. And it's damn fun to use. Is it perfect? No, but I think if used properly, it can work.

Loadouts were stock Reach's downfall. Half assed. You can't half implement classes.

I was half-joking with that response. Evade and sprint simply prolong the combat too much for my liking, in addition to Reach's week-long shield recharge rate and bloom. It's so slow.

 

[Miggytronz]

Get BLOOM permanently outta ma Halo's!

 

[A27_StarWolf]

Boom

Oh hey, you're on HaloGAF now XD. I'm a genius.

It says junior member, but it doesn't feel like you are ;p

 

[Louis Wu]

Of course it's easy. The guy is a big figure with all his information out on the internet, all they have to do is call Microsoft, apparently.

It's ridiculous, actually; he was jacked a week or two ago, got his tag back. At that point, he should have been on a list that made recovering the tag nearly impossible - it's unacceptable that the system allowed a second jack (unless he did something idiotic like use the same password again - which I truly doubt).

My tag was jacked a couple of years ago, and I was put in touch with someone pretty high up once I had it back; they made some changes that made changing account info pretty tough. So either someone seriously fucked up here with Ryanoob's account, or these douchebags have found another way in.

 

[Hypertrooper]

That's what happens after 5 months without Halo 4 news.

People got no LA Noire news for years. And think about Half-Life 3/Episode 3.

 

[Tashi]

I'm curious - how many games did you quit out of 2 days ago?

(I ask because my connection sucked the other night, and I lagged out of 2 or 3 games in the span of a couple of hours. I've been waiting with trepidation for the ban warning.)

I wanna say 2 but it may have been 3. That warning kept coming on though everytime I signed on. It was weird.

 

[ncsuDuncan]

I do know where the power weapons spawn on Wayont, and of almost every Forge map in the game by now - why shouldn't that give me the competitive edge instead of everybody being handed that information instead of taking the two minutes to learn it? I don't know when they spawn, though, and a team that has that knowledge will wipe the floor with me and that is all well and good, because they earned it.

They can't and shouldn't be giving gameplay assistance to random players, instead they shouldn't be matching them with full teams. That's an issue that needs to be solved, but making the game artificially easier by removing an important skill isn't the way to go about it.

I addressed your thoughts on weapon spawn fighting not happening in Reach in an edit above, and I don't think that's the case. I see it all the time on good maps. Beaver Creek rockets are always a contested area, and honestly the same idea applies to all of the Anniversary maps and even some of the DLC maps like Anchor 9. Well designed maps will encourage that directed action and bad maps won't. Too bad Reach is mostly bad maps, huh? Weapon placement in this game is 90% awful and the game suffers for it.

Please direct me to where I can learn Wayont's power weapon spawn locations and timers in two minutes.

In a matchmaking game? Good luck.
In forge? Where do I download the maps? How do I know that is the current version and that it won't change next month?

Of course everyone knows where the power weapons spawn on Anniversary maps. We've known that for 10 years. Even complete noobs can figure out where the rockets spawn on Anchor 9. But how do you figure out the timer?

The map selection in matchmaking is too fluid for a one-time research session. New maps are added, old maps get updated. Ideally Halo 4 will have a more streamlined system for creating and integrating community maps - this is an effort to make those more accessible. If anything, it makes it easier for the best players to win on a strange new map.

This isn't going to magically eliminate the skill gap. Good players that have the map layout memorized will still have an advantage - they won't be wasting time in the HUD and will know the exact spawn time. I'm saying we give players an approximate window: "This sniper is going to respawn some time in the next 30 seconds. It could be 5 seconds, it could be 25."

After the inital rush at the start of the game, the struggle over weapon respawns disappears. The pros might know the timers, but I'm trying to find a way to bring that high-level play to the masses. I'm sorry if that takes away your trump card - you might actually have to win a power weapon through gunplay instead of respawn time memorization.

 

[feel]

They jacked his twitter too.

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

I find it kind of ridiculous how easy it is for people to get into Xbox live accounts. I've had 3 friends of mine have theirs stolen, one of which had a few hundred dollars stolen through. He got the money and account back but it took 3 months of dealing with Microsoft.

Its kind of a joke and Kotaku had an interesting article on it recently. I'll edit it in.

 

[A27_StarWolf]

Boom

Please direct me to where I can learn Wayont's power weapon spawn locations and timers in two minutes.

In a matchmaking game? Good luck.
In forge? Where do I download the maps? How do I know that is the current version and that it won't change next month?

Of course everyone knows where the power weapons spawn on Anniversary maps. We've known that for 10 years. Even complete noobs can figure out where the rockets spawn on Anchor 9. But how do you figure out the timer?

The map selection in matchmaking is too fluid for a one-time research session. New maps are added, old maps get updated. Ideally Halo 4 will have a more streamlined system for creating and integrating community maps - this is an effort to make those more accessible. If anything, it makes it easier for the best players to win on a strange new map.

This isn't going to magically eliminate the skill gap. Good players that have the map layout memorized will still have an advantage - they won't be wasting time in the HUD and will know the exact spawn time. I'm saying we give players an approximate window: "This sniper is going to respawn some time in the next 30 seconds. It could be 5 seconds, it could be 25."

After the inital rush at the start of the game, the struggle over weapon respawns disappears. The pros might know the timers, but I'm trying to find a way to bring that high-level play to the masses. I'm sorry if that takes away your trump card - you might actually have to win a power weapon through gunplay instead of respawn time memorization.

I agree with your comments on streamlining things. I really hope they use that new waypoint feature they came out with in a more effective way. What was it called? Compass? Axis? I don't remember. That would be a really cool way to go about it though.

 

[Louis Wu]

Of course everyone knows where the power weapons spawn on Anniversary maps. We've known that for 10 years. Even complete noobs can figure out where the rockets spawn on Anchor 9. But how do you figure out the timer?

Is this a serious question?

In nearly every playlist right now (I'm pretty sure MLG is an exception), and on nearly every map, power weapons spawn 3 minutes from their last pickup.

How hard is that to learn?

 

[Overdoziz]

Is this a serious question?

In nearly every playlist right now (I'm pretty sure MLG is an exception), and on nearly every map, power weapons spawn 3 minutes from their last pickup.

How hard is that to learn?

I think the Snipers on Asylum spawn every 2 minutes. Same for Boardwalk until they changed it to 3.