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[FyreWulff]

I always assumed that was the firing of the Halo array.

I have to say, the more the back story of the Forerunners are fleshed out - the Librarian, the Composer, etc. - the less interesting and compelling it becomes to me. There was a powerful simplicity to the story of human ancestors sacrificing themselves to stop an unstoppable threat, while sheltering and preserving the seeds of life to blossom in the aftermath. I've always found that really powerful.

This whole business with the Composer, the Librarian planting seeds so that everything that has a happened has been just as she intended, people doing what they are destined to do, Forerunner no longer being human ancestry but this mutating race of humanoids at war with actual humans....not so much. It's just needlessly convoluted.

Yeah, the story is starting to veer dangerously close to "magic" than sci-fi. From Reach to Halo 3, it was all very much plausible that this could be an actual alternate future. Now we're getting destinies and stuff. Uhh.....

How do you know?

Electrical sockets are generally installed at two standard heights: 12", or 18". Eyeballing the height of the Kat cosplayer with the height of the socket off the ground gives me roughly 5'2". The other standard height would make her 7'5", so I'm going to go with the first one

I almost became an architect, going fairly far into it but not quite college. Had to make hundreds of houses in AutoCAD for practice and cleaning up AutoCAD designs for firms, so I have a bunch of not-greatly-useful-in-day-to-day factoids of houses seared into my head.

I think this has also influenced my map design. I see other maps made and they look so organic.. my maps look very architectural and 'real'. When I make games, I always model the world or machines, I can't figure out how to model people or organic creatures.

 

[squidhands]

I suspect the mentality is, you can now spawn with the primary and secondary weapons you want (after unlocking them), so there's no need to place them on the map for people to chase down. But between the rapid cleanup of dropped weapons and the renewed emphasis on mid to long range gunplay, the need for additional ammo is still very much there.

Of course, there's the perk to spawn with extra ammo. And if there were additional guns on the map to pick up extra ammo with, then that perk becomes worthless. So it's possible that this was in part a design decision to make that perk carry more value. It's certainly a consequence of no weapons on the map. Which just adds to the list of ways the basic gameplay is damaged for everyone so a perk can be carved out for it. (Flinch --> Stability being another.)

I hope weapons or refueling crates are added soon.

Can't say that I'm a big fan of removing an old and familiar system to make a new system seem more useful/necessary. At least with Halo 4's armor abilities, there was no baseline tradeoff in movement like there was in Reach.

Speaking of specializations, I wonder how much that will change up how the game is currently played. I've been ranking up pretty fast despite not playing that much, so it makes me wonder if gameplay was actually tailored around specializations more than anything else.

I wanna be cool with Spartan Ops, then I am reminded that I will get recycled levels. Sorry Ellis, had to be frank.

Meh, as long as the combat encounters get more varied, I'm okay with some of the episodes using parts of the same assets.

 

[TheOddOne]

Have you seen next week missions?

No, but keeping my expectations in check.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I suspect the mentality is, you can now spawn with the primary and secondary weapons you want (after unlocking them), so there's no need to place them on the map for people to chase down. But between the rapid cleanup of dropped weapons and the renewed emphasis on mid to long range gunplay, the need for additional ammo is still very much there.

Of course, there's the perk to spawn with extra ammo. And if there were additional guns on the map to pick up extra ammo with, then that perk becomes worthless. So it's possible that this was in part a design decision to make that perk carry more value. It's certainly a consequence of no weapons on the map. Which just adds to the list of ways the basic gameplay is damaged for everyone so a perk can be carved out for it. (Flinch --> Stability being another.)

I hope weapons or refueling crates are added soon.

Weapons not being on the map keeps people from flubbing on taking a different loadout option since they would be able to run to points on a map and pickup the weapon they want, anyway. I'd suggest, not to you, but to 343, that they add universal ammo lockers of some sort, where you can't pick up a weapon, but you can return to that point to refill your weapon's ammo at any time (only personal loadout weapons,). But that would also make the ammo perk less useful.

Perhaps, whenever you get a personal ordnance drop, you should automatically get ammo refills with the drop in addition to the other drops. Or there could be a team ordnance drop for ammo that a team's total medals activates and everyone can use.

Or, maybe an even better idea, they should just relegate personal ordnance drops to containing ammo only, since getting the ordnance in the first place suggests you've been doing well and are about to be or are already out of ammo. Then replace power weapon spawn points on the map like traditional halo.

All my ideas sound good in my head. Then I start to post them and realize they're not so good after proof-reading my post. lol

 

[Der Flatulator]

What's the dealio with Specializations being unlocked to those without LE? Is it gradual or all at once? (I have LE, I just want to get stuff that others can't )

 

[Rev3rb]

I wanna be cool with Spartan Ops, then I am reminded that I will get recycled levels. Sorry Ellis, had to be frank.

 

[Tha Robbertster]

Spartan Ops, episode 3 trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUrWBY535c&feature=youtu.be

 

[Deputy Moonman]

What's the dealio with Specializations being unlocked to those without LE? Is it gradual or all at once? (I have LE, I just want to get stuff that others can't )

I believe you unlock one at a time, and perhaps, with only a limited number of choices early on. I'm only to 41, so I can't answer with any certainty. Kittens was close to hitting 50 yesterday. He would be able to answer your question better than me, I think.

 

[Talents]

Sorry Ellis, had to be frank.

What you did there, I see it.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I always assumed that was the firing of the Halo array.

I have to say, the more the back story of the Forerunners are fleshed out - the Librarian, the Composer, etc. - the less interesting and compelling it becomes to me. There was a powerful simplicity to the story of human ancestors sacrificing themselves to stop an unstoppable threat, while sheltering and preserving the seeds of life to blossom in the aftermath. I've always found that really powerful.

This whole business with the Composer, the Librarian planting seeds so that everything that has a happened has been just as she intended, people doing what they are destined to do, Forerunner no longer being human ancestry but this mutating race of humanoids at war with actual humans....not so much. It's just needlessly convoluted.

So far the forerunners have been handled extremely poorly and it's certainly taken a lot of magic away from the series.

The newer Greg bear and Karen travis novels and now halo 4 has made the technology very generic and un-interesting, same with the characterisations.

I hope they get really creative going forward, but I suppose it's hard to nail something with such mystique.

 

[Der Flatulator]

I believe you unlock one at a time, and perhaps, with only a limited number of choices early on. I'm only to 41, so I can't answer with any certainty. Kittens was close to hitting 50 yesterday. He would be able to answer your question better than me, I think.

I'm 51, Rogue - 1. It's up to 343 which ones they unlock and when.

 

[The P of Poland]

Spartan Ops, episode 3 trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUrWBY535c&feature=youtu.be

They really HAVE let Karen Traviss on the Spartan Ops design team.













AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Gazzawa]

I wanna be cool with Spartan Ops, then I am reminded that I will get recycled levels. Sorry Ellis, had to be frank.

Lol yeah mad hype for the cutscenes at least. Halsey is gonna get her kit off for the lads!

 

[ElzarTheBam]

Lol yeah mad hype for the cutscenes at least. Halsey is gonna get her kit off for the lads!

 

[Trasher]

I always assumed that was the firing of the Halo array.

I have to say, the more the back story of the Forerunners are fleshed out - the Librarian, the Composer, etc. - the less interesting and compelling it becomes to me. There was a powerful simplicity to the story of human ancestors sacrificing themselves to stop an unstoppable threat, while sheltering and preserving the seeds of life to blossom in the aftermath. I've always found that really powerful.

This whole business with the Composer, the Librarian planting seeds so that everything that has a happened has been just as she intended, people doing what they are destined to do, Forerunner no longer being human ancestry but this mutating race of humanoids at war with actual humans....not so much. It's just needlessly convoluted.

I've never agreed with you so much. I'm glad you are articulating the reasons the story didn't work. I really think 343 lost their way with the damn thing. It's like, they resuscitated the franchise and that's all they had to go on (as far as the story)? I even went into this campaign with zero expectations for the story. And the first trilogy's story wasn't done amazingly by any means, but Halo 4's story makes the previous games' look genius. I think you are on to something though when you talk about how it's taking away the mystery of everything. Especially if the answers to those mysteries are a bit of a let down. That's generally the hardest part of telling a story though. Reminds me of how Lost kept losing it's appeal once you kept learning more and more about what was going on (aka how the writers were trying to figure out some way to make sense of all their mysteries and secrets).

As much as I hate the campaign/story, I am actually enjoying the feel and play of the MP quite a lot.

 

[too much eslim]

Not enough people use the light rifle for me to get ammo. Also in many situations it is dangerous to go out in the open to get ammo. I recently had a bad situation where I ran out of ammo and was forced to die.

That is a problem for people who prefer the promethean weapons. 343 should fix this issue before ranks drop. I am not trying to get myself killed just to get a weapon.

 

[Computron]

.
.

.
.

 

[YourExWife]

Yeah, the story is starting to veer dangerously close to "magic" than sci-fi. From Reach to Halo 3, it was all very much plausible that this could be an actual alternate future. Now we're getting destinies and stuff. Uhh.....

Dude. EVERY SCIFI is about magic/religion/destiny/etc. BSG, Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Dune. Halo is just becoming more "serious". Some people might not like that.

 

[Der Flatulator]

.
.

.
.

Gundam Style!

 

[The P of Poland]

Dude. EVERY SCIFI is about magic/religion/destiny/etc. BSG, Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Dune. Halo is just becoming more "serious". Some people might not like that.

His point exactly. Being a plausible alternate future was what set Halo apart and was one of the biggest things I loved about this franchise. Now that's gone.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

His point exactly. Being a plausible alternate future was what set Halo apart and was one of the biggest things I loved about this franchise. Now that's gone.

How is it gone?

 

[Roche]

Dude. EVERY SCIFI is about magic/religion/destiny/etc. BSG, Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, Dune. Halo is just becoming more "serious". Some people might not like that.

Yeah to be fair Halo has never exactly been realistic, it offers reasonably plausible plot lines and allows the audience's suspension of disbelief do the rest.

I think one of the main strengths in Science Fiction is removing some of the rules which restrict us in the real world and seeing the crazy scenarios which arise. That's fairly tough to do when attempting to maintain a plausible future kind of situation.

His point exactly. Being a plausible alternate future was what set Halo apart and was one of the biggest things I loved about this franchise. Now that's gone.

Perhaps it's easier to gloss over some of the inconsistencies in this case, but as far as I can see it was never more plausible than any other science fiction universe out there.

 

[Arnie]

Quick question for someone who hasn't yet played Spartan Ops, is the fiction set before or after the campaign?

 

[Trey]

Quick question for someone who hasn't yet played Spartan Ops, is the fiction set before or after the campaign?

6 months after the events of Halo 4.

 

[Louis Wu]

Quick question for someone who hasn't yet played Spartan Ops, is the fiction set before or after the campaign?

6 months after.

Beaten.

 

[Arnie]

6 months after the events of Halo 4.

Ah, thanks. That sounds really good then.

 

[squidhands]

So new Spartan Ops episode continues to demonize Halsey, great...

Am I crazy, or

Spoiler

was she in handcuffs

at the beginning of the campaign?

I always assumed that was the firing of the Halo array.

I have to say, the more the back story of the Forerunners are fleshed out - the Librarian, the Composer, etc. - the less interesting and compelling it becomes to me. There was a powerful simplicity to the story of human ancestors sacrificing themselves to stop an unstoppable threat, while sheltering and preserving the seeds of life to blossom in the aftermath. I've always found that really powerful.

This whole business with the Composer, the Librarian planting seeds so that everything that has a happened has been just as she intended, people doing what they are destined to do, Forerunner no longer being human ancestry but this mutating race of humanoids at war with actual humans....not so much. It's just needlessly convoluted.

I say this is what happens when you create mystery on a grand scale and attempt to delve into it later down the line. Star Wars and Prometheus are examples of how it can go horribly wrong, but as a non-follower of the fiction I don't have any issues with the storytelling thus far. That may change upon subsequent playthroughs of the campaign (just starting Legendary), we'll see.

Yeah, the story is starting to veer dangerously close to "magic" than sci-fi. From Reach to Halo 3, it was all very much plausible that this could be an actual alternate future. Now we're getting destinies and stuff. Uhh.....

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

shake my motherfucking head that you don't know this quote.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

shake my motherfucking head that you don't know this quote.

Thank you. RockClapping.gif

 

[MaDGaMEZ]

What's the dealio with Specializations being unlocked to those without LE? Is it gradual or all at once? (I have LE, I just want to get stuff that others can't )

I believe come November 30, the people that played within the first 2 weeks will get all the unlocks just like LE people, for all others I believe it is gradual.

 

[Digital Limit]

It's a catch-22, but I'd much, much rather they focus on discouraging leaving than JiP.
See: MOBAs.

But I said this months ago, as soon as they announced JiP. They obviously feel differently. *shrug*

Discouraging leaving? Playing the next match isn't even opt-in, it's opt-out! And people have lives outside games that aren't determinant. Honestly, my feeling is that there should be no discouraging of leaving. The fact that I have to dashboard to leave is dumb. Let people leave. JiP seems to work well enough. I've started matches where the other team is two dudes and it filled up to 8 (BTB) before the countdown finished.

 

[FyreWulff]

Am I crazy, or

Spoiler

was she in handcuffs

at the beginning of the campaign?

I say this is what happens when you create mystery on a grand scale and attempt to delve into it later down the line. Star Wars and Prometheus are examples of how it can go horribly wrong, but as a non-follower of the fiction I don't have any issues with the storytelling thus far. That may change upon subsequent playthroughs of the campaign (just starting Legendary), we'll see.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

shake my motherfucking head that you don't know this quote.

I do know that quote. Doesn't fit what I was thinking, though. I mean come on,

Spoiler

they just go CHIEF YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE

. That element had nothing to do with technology.

 

[Steelyuhas]

To be fair to Microsoft, Halo sales have increased (although by a small margin). MW3 sales where 775 million first day, compared to Blops 2 500 million. Huge dropoff.

MW3 sales were $775 million in the first 5 days.

I could also go with having some spare weapons on the map itself. I played BTB Infinity Slayer last night (for some reason) on Ragarock. It's basically two teams setting up camp on the outer edges of the map and DMRing each other for the entire duration of the game, with the occasional vehicle swinging by before getting instantly EMP'd and naded. But on three or four occasions, I ran out of ammo and there were no spares anywhere. Weapons dropped by other players despawned too fast to be useful.

I still, instinctively, look around for extra weapons laying about at spawn, before realizing there aren't any. Really baffling.

Remember when there was significant number of people here that thought Valhalla wouldn't play well in H4's sandbox back when we were speculating remakes, and then people totally forgot about that and went head over heels when it was announced? And now it sucks.

I'm 51, Rogue - 1. It's up to 343 which ones they unlock and when.

Well not in the U.S. anymore. Everyone who plays the game on Xbox Live by the 20th will get emailed a code to unlock all the specializations by the end of the month.

Edit: beaten

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

I do know that quote. Doesn't fit what I was thinking, though. I mean come on,

Spoiler

they just go CHIEF YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE

. That element had nothing to do with technology.

IMO if humans can be "devolved" from a space-faring race back to the stone age, the Chief thing doesn't really bother me. You could chalk that up to Forerunner religion, just like we have religions today with a single "reclaimer" or head.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I do know that quote. Doesn't fit what I was thinking, though. I mean come on,

Spoiler

they just go CHIEF YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE

. That element had nothing to do with technology.

I agree. To add: Campaign story spoiler.

Spoiler

Didact's force powers. Still not sure how that fits into anything.

I'm doing my usual back and forth on MP. Well not so much back and forth as still having that Halo itch, and going into the game to find Halo 4 almost scratching it. It's like when you have an itch on your back and you ask someone to scratch it and they keep coming close but not actually getting it. That was my experience with War Games last night.

Remember when there was significant number of people here that thought Valhalla wouldn't play well in H4's sandbox back when we were speculating remakes, and then people totally forgot about that and when head over heels when it was announced? And now it sucks.

Yeah. It was such a weird feeling getting my favorite BTB map announced as the remake, and being filled with total dismay.

And while we're on the subject: spawning with a plasma pistol is exactly as big a problem as I expected it to be. I can kill vehicles with ease (spawning with plasma grenades helps out there too). But it also means I never get in vehicles any more and it seems everyone has a pretty short life expectancy in them. It's one of several problems that a lot of people saw coming the moment they were announced, and then played out just as expected.

 

[Poker Face]

Are there any websites to find decent forge maps at yet? I know we can't directly download them from waypoint yet (sigh) but we can do fileshare searches so it's still possible.

 

[squidhands]

I do know that quote. Doesn't fit what I was thinking, though. I mean come on,

Spoiler

they just go CHIEF YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE

. That element had nothing to do with technology.

Isn't that the essence of the Reclaimer title that's been bandied about in all the Halos? Have you always had an issue with that, or is it just in the way that 343 is telling the story?

I agree. To add: Campaign story spoiler.

Spoiler

Didact's force powers. Still not sure how that fits into anything.

I'm doing my usual back and forth on MP. Well not so much back and forth as still having that Halo itch, and going into the game to find Halo 4 almost scratching it. It's like when you have an itch on your back and you ask someone to scratch it and they keep coming close but not actually getting it. That was my experience with War Games last night.

Spoiler

Didact is Magneto

 

[Trasher]

Isn't that the essence of the Reclaimer title that's been bandied about in all the Halos? Have you always had an issue with that, or is it just in the way that 343 is telling the story?

Spoiler

Didact is Magneto

Would be a good MP helmet.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Yeah. It was such a weird feeling getting my favorite BTB map announced as the remake, and being filled with total dismay.

And while we're on the subject: spawning with a plasma pistol is exactly as big a problem as I expected it to be. I can kill vehicles with ease (spawning with plasma grenades helps out there too). But it also means I never get in vehicles any more and it seems everyone has a pretty short life expectancy in them. It's one of several problems that a lot of people saw coming the moment they were announced, and then played out just as expected.

Vehicle situation is worse than Reach, which has got to crushing for people that really like vehicle combat in BTB Halo. I've never lasted in a vehicle not called the Mantis for more than 10 seconds. Even something like the Wraith, which was balanced pretty well in Reach, is now completely useless.

 

[Orochinagis]

So new Spartan Ops episode continues to demonize Halsey, great...

She kidnapped kids, lets put her in jail for save the entire humanity.

So in the Halo Silentium description, it states that:
Does anyone else think that this '' atrocity'' is (Halo 4+terminal spoilers)

Spoiler

The composing of humans so that the Didact can fight the flood? In one if the terminal descriptions, it says that ''as the flood advance, a terrible plan is enacted.''

But novels were retconed too right?

 

[FyreWulff]

Isn't that the essence of the Reclaimer title that's been bandied about in all the Halos? Have you always had an issue with that, or is it just in the way that 343 is telling the story?

Spoiler

Reclaimer was fine because as I understood it, it was Guilty Spark thinking Chief was a Forerunner come back to activate the Halo rings again. He also hinted that he thought a marine that got to the Library first was also a (failed) Reclaimer. It was a generic title that he pretty much applied to any human he saw. And that was Bungie's original intention, that humans were descended from Forerunners.

I would have preferred it if he found a new suit or some sort of technology or something, like he had a choice over it. It changes the previous Halo games from "discovering new worlds/reacting to a threat" to "preordained events"

They could still keep the "Chief gets upgraded" element, just the way they went about it felt kind of creatively lazy.

 

[Tunavi]

get on people lets play

 

[Spiders]

Spartan Ops, episode 3 trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUrWBY535c&feature=youtu.be

The story is becoming very interesting.

Let's hope the missions get better too.

 

[NullPointer]

And while we're on the subject: spawning with a plasma pistol is exactly as big a problem as I expected it to be. I can kill vehicles with ease (spawning with plasma grenades helps out there too). But it also means I never get in vehicles any more and it seems everyone has a pretty short life expectancy in them. It's one of several problems that a lot of people saw coming the moment they were announced, and then played out just as expected.

Different but not broken. I drive vehicles all the time, I just use them differently. As cavalry behind an infantry push, or as a skirmisher on the flanks.

Whats changed is that you don't automatically dominate the battlefield. A forward rush into infantry will get you toasted quickly so you have to be more careful, and you can have long vehicle runs taking enemies out at the margins or providing support.

 

[Hydranockz]

Vehicle situation is worse than Reach, which has got to crushing for people that really like vehicle combat in BTB Halo. I've never lasted in a vehicle not called the Mantis for more than 10 seconds. Even something like the Wraith, which was balanced pretty well in Reach, is now completely useless.

Wraiths are pretty OP though. They can fire a lot closer to themselves and have pretty hefty boosts too.

 

[willow ve]

Vehicle situation is worse than Reach, which has got to crushing for people that really like vehicle combat in BTB Halo. I've never lasted in a vehicle not called the Mantis for more than 10 seconds. Even something like the Wraith, which was balanced pretty well in Reach, is now completely useless.

Different but not broken. I drive vehicles all the time, I just use them differently. As cavalry behind an infantry push, or as a skirmisher on the flanks.

Whats changed is that you don't automatically dominate the battlefield. A forward rush into infantry will get you toasted quickly so you have to be more careful, and you can have long vehicle runs taking enemies out at the margins or providing support.

Gauss Hog and Scorpion still dominate. Although at least the Scorpion is modified a bit...

 

[zlatko]

So I had a great idea for this thread:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=499916

If anyone here wants to do it, photoshop Reach cover with that Armor lock gif of yesteryear that was used quite often around here, or that one little cartoon video that came out around Reach where the guys are freaking out about Reach and at one point play with their boners.

EDIT: Also whoever said Wraith sucks in this game hasn't played with my buddy. He completely tears the other team a new asshole with that thing when he gets it. He says the best means of kills with it is splatters and that the cannon is just fluff, but it works for him like a glove does a hand.

 

[Steelyuhas]

The story is becoming very interesting.

Let's hope the missions get better too.

Don't want to watch that until I finish episode 2 (have to finish the last 2 missions), but my main complaint at this point is that it's supposed to be narrative based, but there is nearly no narrative connection in the actual missions. They are largely go to this area and kill things because killing things.

 

[BigShow36]

get on people lets play

I'm on, invite me for Domination or Demolition.

 

[Gazzawa]

Wraiths are pretty OP though. They can fire a lot closer to themselves and have pretty hefty boosts too.

Zee alin k row had some ridiculous wraith runs on haemorrage in Reach.
The vehicle situation in 4 isnt too bad. but 1hk guns dont leave any room for mistake, whereas in 3 having a warthog usually resulted in a spree.
would like to see a tone down in the # power weapons in 4

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

But novels were retconed too right?

No. All the new ones are canon. 343 recognizes them all. Bungie did not (see: Reach).

Vehicle situation is worse than Reach, which has got to crushing for people that really like vehicle combat in BTB Halo. I've never lasted in a vehicle not called the Mantis for more than 10 seconds. Even something like the Wraith, which was balanced pretty well in Reach, is now completely useless.

Odd. I use the ghost all the time in BTB and do very well. Warthogs do great too. The Wraith dominates on Dominion.