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Halo |OT12| Last One Out, Get the Lights

Well my submission for BSAngel is done.

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-Vehicles
They're no longer obnoxious, map-dominating forces (other than the Gauss Hog). They're a fun diversion or a tool for flag delivery. Also, don't forget you make these claims without the context of the Engineer's perk. The Plasma Pistol won't be an auto-kill given the downtime is less, and it allows Hogs or especially Mantises to survive double-plasma.

-Assault
Fun gametype? The removal of this gametype follows right down the line in terms of 343's philosophy for change: remove vulnerable, boring downtime. Hiding with a flag? Here, take a gun, enjoy your movement speed and—by the way—there's a waypoint on your head. Now you're fighting for your life. Sneaking around with a bomb? We'll just remove that. Solved. Why do we want to be slow, melee-only guys? It's not fun. Oddball's the exception, but with the increased movement speed, ball-tossing and the already-existing waypoint, it's as frenetic as it needs to be.

-Flag Markers
When you pick up the flag, you should have an icon over your head. It's great! No more frustration about teammates not being able to communicate where the flag went. No more "how'd they even get back" flag captures. Everything's out in the open, and it feels right. Stealth captures were tedious for the flag carrier and frustrating for the enemy team. A flag carrier without a Flagnum was boring and overly vulnerable. Now it's more like running a football downfield than it is being a cat burglar in the night.

My feeling is that people lamenting this change either haven't played enough of the new CTF, or are stubborn derpskidoodles. Grabbing the flag now is exciting, not a chore. I love my Flagnum, I love my increased run speed, I love my one-hit-kill melee (not that it's new, but still) and I love that everyone knows where all the flags are.

I can agree with the above apart from assault and one addition to CTF:

1. Being stealthy with the bomb to arm it or position yourself in the right place and time for your team push is an insane skill, perhaps too niche a skill but I love it and ache for its return as a playlist. I'm happy if it's a recurring rotational playlist but it does need to return at some point. I love my bomb stealth runs, rarely would I go less than 1 in 3 runs and not get the bomb armed. All day through Halo 2, Halo 3 & Reach. Halo is not all about killing the other guy, gametypes like assault were an important staple for variety of gameplay. I'm very good at navigating a map unseen or avoiding conflict or stealth runs...all of which go out the window without assault and the new CTF.

2. CTF should have the old CTF as a rotational variant or swap the playlists every now and again. I do enjoy the new CTF and can see the merits of open waypoints but I do still seek that flag stealth ability. Again when you have teams vs. randoms you lose that solo power play that no flag indicator or dropping flag could provide to even a match or at least make it enjoyable against a regular team squad.
 

MIMIC

Banned
So, I just finished the campaign last night (did my first play through on Normal, like I do with all my games). After it was over, I didn't feel like Halo 4 was anything....special. I absolutely abhorred multiplayer in Reach but I loved the campaign. It's the opposite for Halo 4: multiplayer itself (UI and other things people brought up notwithstanding) is great, IMO....but the campaign just felt like a chore. It kinda felt like a rushed game.

Near the end of the game, I thought that we were gonna get to play the game AS Cortana (which would have been a nice touch), but I guess that was me getting my hopes up, wanting to do something "fun" in the campaign for a change.

Also, I hate how the sound effects were completely redone. Like the warthog's engine and the sniper. There was no reason to do that.

And yes....someone mentioned that the UI is horrible. It really is. Very cheap-looking and not very intuitive...especially in multiplayer. But like I said before: I'm enjoying multiplayer itself a lot more this time around.
 
personal ordnances, Camo, jetpack, Promethean Vision, OP DMR, Complex, Regicide is horrible, lack of consistent weapon spawns, no death X's, bad UI for teammates taking fire/shooting, only 2 great 4v4 maps, double melee

I love getting Personal Ordnances, it's like Christmas every time. I love Jetpacking around the map. I love seeing campers through walls. I love trying to be the camper, invisible through the wall. I love that the Halo Pistol is back (see: DMR). I do hate Complex, but that's one map and you just vote it away. Why are you playing Regicide, anyway? Play with a team. I hated FFA, too, though. Or Rumble Pit, whatever you want. Weapon spawns drop down every 2 minutes. Pay attention to the timer and stay near your favorite drop location. I miss red X's and taking fire/shooting UI bits, but they're not gamebreaking (see: play with friends). There are more than 2 great 4v4 maps, and even if, remember that Reach had zero. And how many times do you want to have to melee someone? Double melee feels perfect: shields and then body. It's one melee in most games.
 

Aberrant

Member
Just playing devil's advocate. I also think there are a lot of positives in the game too.

Potentially with some playlist(s) management over the next few months, game settings/tweaks and the full 50 mission of SPOPS we could see the best Halo to date.

Whether that comes to fruition is another story...

Spartan Ops is terrible. Its a poor mans firefight and nothing more. Sure we get that lovely CG scene at the beginning of each week but apart from that its SHIT! I think I would get more fun out of a noose then Spartan Ops. Also the hyperbole that 343i has put out saying something along the lines of "we believe we got better at Spartan Ops as we went along". BULLSHIT!

The Multiplayer gameplay has some potential if a LOT, and I mean ALOT of tweaks are made as can be seen with a few frequent halogaf posters above posting their complaints. Will 343i implement most of these changes - NO FUCKING WAY!

Everyone should go back and play Halo Reach so Halo Reach can be above Halo 4 in the most played games on xbox live for the month. Lets send these idiotic people at 343i a message.
 

Omni

Member
Near the end of the game, I thought that we were gonna get to play the game AS Cortana (which would have been a nice touch), but I guess that was me getting my hopes up, wanting to do something "fun" in the campaign for a change.

Play as Cortana? Because that wouldn't be incredibly boring at all.
 

Karl2177

Member
If you want me to be 100% honest, I feel like I could creatively make a better Halo game than Halo 4 was. Give me whatever position Marcus was on Reach for Halo 5, and I'll make a game the Halo fans deserve.
 
If you want me to be 100% honest, I feel like I could creatively make a better Halo game than Halo 4 was. Give me whatever position Marcus was on Reach for Halo 5, and I'll make a game the Halo fans deserve.

Go get a job in game design. Make it happen. Halo's not going anywhere. Arm chair game designers to the rescue!
 
Spartan Ops is fantastic. Really picking up as its going on.

I play it Co-op with my friend and we have an absolute blast with it. Still what? 7 more episodes? Awesome.

Multiplayer is great but does need some tweaks for sure. Just like when Halo 2 got that massive patch back in the day. Note the lists people posted on this page for what needs to be fixed.

Dont get trapped in the mass amounts of salt in here people, the game is great. Its the same old people complaining about everything.
 

kylej

Banned
guys, remember, when you're using your phone to take pictures of your TV so you can share screenshots, that's a privilege not a right.
 
Spartan Ops is terrible. Its a poor mans firefight and nothing more. Sure we get that lovely CG scene at the beginning of each week but apart from that its SHIT! I think I would get more fun out of a noose then Spartan Ops. Also the hyperbole that 343i has put out saying something along the lines of "we believe we got better at Spartan Ops as we went along". BULLSHIT!

The Multiplayer gameplay has some potential if a LOT, and I mean ALOT of tweaks are made as can be seen with a few frequent halogaf posters above posting their complaints. Will 343i implement most of these changes - NO FUCKING WAY!

Everyone should go back and play Halo Reach so Halo Reach can be above Halo 4 in the most played games on xbox live for the month. Lets send these idiotic people at 343i a message.

It's fine you have your opinion but I disagree.

I actually enjoyed Reach initially (hated armour lock and double beat down) but then loved the TU settings (but hated the splintered playlists and settings). The later map packs and remakes were very well received by me and for what the engine is today I thought they did very well shoe horning the modern Halo into those old maps and anniversary playlist (I know others will disagree).

For me firefight was boring and I rarely played it. Spartan Ops is much the same but I do play it as I find it a bit fresher and I don't have to try out 1,000's of game settings/spawns/waves etc until I find something I like. I don't want to spend my gaming time in menus and settings as I just like to play from the get go. I spend my workday making decisions, designs and code all day so when I game I actually just like to fire it up and escape with the content or experience.

ODST firefight was great fun but again for me I stopped playing it fairly quickly due to coop latency really.

For the CGI cutscenes and what SPOPS could/will become (see the EP3 mission5 for a taste) I'm happy to pay for such content. I understand what it takes to produce such high level content. Sure I'd like some more varied gameplay/maps over the kill them all and get this switch activated/deactivated but I think things are developing very nicely with SPOPS. You have to remember campaign is their baby and the first few episodes aren't going to entrench into overrunning campaign, especially for those yet to complete it or even purchase the game (remember the first few months see lots of sales past the initial preorders and week one purchasers).

There is more coming from SPOPS, I'm sure of it.

As for feature parity I'd would have liked the return of good connection filter, party grouping/highlight, clans, ranked in game (if it's moderated against cheaters very well). I would have liked a film rendering service (either free or Bungie Pro paid style is fine be me) and the file share to be working day one. I enjoy looking at public screenshots while waiting for matchmaking to find me a game.

As for game mechanics I actually think most of the AA's, tactical/support and unlocks are doing pretty well against each other. It's a different Halo but it takes a few months to get all/most players unlocking specialisations and playlist changes etc. I've been enjoying the game so far and think things will be changing even more over the next 2-6 weeks too. Once we get into JAN 2013 and have the next map pack as well as a quick update I think we can really start to give Halo War Games its real player reviews (both mutliplayer and SPOPS).

Regarding the UI if you use your bumpers when in the section you want to look at it's actually quick and handles things pretty well. Overall I think the UI was too much change to what was working but I can see why they went all Waypoint on it. I'd like to see past titles completion shields show up on the baseball cards so all of them would be small icons etc. The X roster system is OK but it should just be present the whole time really and party details with time remaining and game progress summary stats should have stayed. I'd also like to see some opt-in feedback voting system in game during the post carnage report. It would really help auto-collate stats and game feedback. Like a quick 3-5 ratings you could give...

1. Connection quality (essentially rating host on a per player basis)
2. Map quality
3. Gametype settings
etc
 

GhaleonEB

Member
My feeling is that people lamenting this change either haven't played enough of the new CTF, or are stubborn derpskidoodles.

I really dislike the new CTF, and it's not because I'm a stick in the mud or because I haven't played it enough. It's because I find the new settings less fun. I enjoyed the roles I played in the old CTF, and those roles don't exist now, or were changed into something I do not enjoy experiencing. I find the "flag carrier experience" terrible, and I find myself avoiding grabbing it now much of the time. If I want a giant waypoint over my head I'll play Regicide.

I can see why others might like, it, though, for the reasons you outlined. But to me, the heart and soul of the mode is gone, and with it the appeal. And I dearly miss one flag, which of course would not work at all with the waypoint feature.
 

Aberrant

Member
-Vehicles
They're no longer obnoxious, map-dominating forces (other than the Gauss Hog). They're a fun diversion or a tool for flag delivery. Also, don't forget you make these claims without the context of the Engineer's perk. The Plasma Pistol won't be an auto-kill given the downtime is less, and it allows Hogs or especially Mantises to survive double-plasma.

-Assault
Fun gametype? The removal of this gametype follows right down the line in terms of 343's philosophy for change: remove vulnerable, boring downtime. Hiding with a flag? Here, take a gun, enjoy your movement speed and—by the way—there's a waypoint on your head. Now you're fighting for your life. Sneaking around with a bomb? We'll just remove that. Solved. Why do we want to be slow, melee-only guys? It's not fun. Oddball's the exception, but with the increased movement speed, ball-tossing and the already-existing waypoint, it's as frenetic as it needs to be.

-Flag Markers
When you pick up the flag, you should have an icon over your head. It's great! No more frustration about teammates not being able to communicate where the flag went. No more "how'd they even get back" flag captures. Everything's out in the open, and it feels right. Stealth captures were tedious for the flag carrier and frustrating for the enemy team. A flag carrier without a Flagnum was boring and overly vulnerable. Now it's more like running a football downfield than it is being a cat burglar in the night.

My feeling is that people lamenting this change either haven't played enough of the new CTF, or are stubborn derpskidoodles. Grabbing the flag now is exciting, not a chore. I love my Flagnum, I love my increased run speed, I love my one-hit-kill melee (not that it's new, but still) and I love that everyone knows where all the flags are.

Agree to disagree.

Vehicles should be something to be feared. Now they are worthless.

I have played plenty of CTF. Your points about waypoints above flag carriers heads sounds like a person that doesn't know how to play his role in a team. You either play defensive or offensive when they were no flag markers, now its all offensive (with most people just going for kills and not the flag) because you can defend once the flag gets picked up.

Assault was a fun gametype. Go back to Halo 2, Halo 3 and Reach and you will see. Or just keep rubbing shit on your face (Halo 4) and saying it smells fine.
 
Waypoints should only be used for ONE reason.

To show campers that haven't moved an appropriate amount in an appropriate time.*

*In certain gametypes. (SWAT Snipes)
 

kylej

Banned
Adds waypoint over flag carriers head for no reason so enemy team can see them

Doesn't show invisible people on radar when they're camping

Halo 4 game design(tm)
 

A Penguin

Member
Jesus so much hate in here.
although I must bemoan the horrid UI of looking up my stats online. Used to be a huge stat whore in 3, checking in after every play session. Now I can't be bothered; relevant stats are a chore to look up
 
although I must bemoan the horrid UI of looking up my stats online. Used to be a huge stat whore in 3, checking in after every play session. Now I can't be bothered; relevant stats are a chore to look up

Agreed, the Bungie clean and fast stats method is preferable over Waypoint AJAX everything on one huge page method.
 
Agree to disagree.

Vehicles should be something to be feared. Now they are worthless.

I have played plenty of CTF. Your points about waypoints above flag carriers heads sounds like a person that doesn't know how to play his role in a team. You either play defensive or offensive when they were no flag markers, now its all offensive (with most people just going for kills and not the flag) because you can defend once the flag gets picked up.

Assault was a fun gametype. Go back to Halo 2, Halo 3 and Reach and you will see. Or just keep rubbing shit on your face (Halo 4) and saying it smells fine.

Right, now everyone just goes off and kills. There's less need for the "hey, could you sit in base with the shotgun?" conversation. No, how about we all play the fun part of the game—the part where you're fighting for that flag delivery with teamshots and glory.

And hey, I played Assault back in the day. I was all about crouch walking and trick jumping my way into that Burial Mounds base like it meant something, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed the winning more than the game. Now I can play Halo objective gametypes and not be angry about losing so much, because so few tedious moments of my life were invested.

This is a game after all. More time shooting the stuff, please!

Team Objective or Team Skirmish, for reference, was a nightmare to me. All I ever wanted to play was 2-Flag. Halo 3 teased me with a hopper. I may have saw it momentarily in Reach. But otherwise, it was this smattering of horrible Assault matches where one of my friends has the task of carrying around the boring-bomb. Wee!
 

Tunavi

Banned
I love getting Personal Ordnances, it's like Christmas every time. I love Jetpacking around the map. I love seeing campers through walls. I love trying to be the camper, invisible through the wall. I love that the Halo Pistol is back (see: DMR). I do hate Complex, but that's one map and you just vote it away. Why are you playing Regicide, anyway? Play with a team. I hated FFA, too, though. Or Rumble Pit, whatever you want. Weapon spawns drop down every 2 minutes. Pay attention to the timer and stay near your favorite drop location. I miss red X's and taking fire/shooting UI bits, but they're not gamebreaking (see: play with friends). There are more than 2 great 4v4 maps, and even if, remember that Reach had zero. And how many times do you want to have to melee someone? Double melee feels perfect: shields and then body. It's one melee in most games.
This post...jesus christ.

Jetpacking around the map breaks the map movement.

Pro vision might be a good tactic to defeat campers, but it gives the user a huge advantage over all other players as well.

I play regicide because I love FFA. Sometimes I don't have teammates online that I can play with.

Weapon spawns are random. You never know what's coming or where they will be.

Just because something isn't "gamebreaking" doesn't mean its not worth fixing.

Double melee doesn't work will long halo's killtimes. its not close to "perfect" at all.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
Quick list, no idea if I'll make a bigger one later and I'm likely echoing earlier sentiments from a lot of people here:

Campaign:
It's short, 5 hours or less
No Campaign Theater
Repetitive Firefights
Audio Issues, music sounds very low at times
Campaign is generally: Push button to hold area/to continue to next area, etc
Promethean Kill Order is as follows: Watchers/Crawlers > Knights
Poor Prom. Knight A.I.: They altogether ignore you after a certain distance or forget about you if you go behind cover
Poor Banshee A.I.: Constantly crashes into walls for easy boarding <-I played twice on Legendary and this happened in every level with a Banshee
Covenant on a whole are much easier to kill, examples:
-Elites are dumber/more aggressive in the face of danger and will charge you or stay shooting at you when their shields are down.
-Jackals, due to their new design they're much easier to headshot due to their bigger heads
-Grunts, due to their new design are wide and stick too close to each other which allows for easily wiping out a group with a single grenade, it has also resulted in Grunts shooting each other with the Fuel Rod Cannon.

Multiplayer(without getting into gameplay design aspects or maps):
Frame-drops
Missing Modes
Lack of Customization
Playlist do not inform players what the gametype is about
Lobby UI is non-existent for Party Leader who is left with two giant buttons, PL must refer to Roster List to know who is in the Party
Active Roster is non-existent
Roster List -> Party Details does not display how much time a Friend has left in their game
JIP can throw players into games that are seconds away from finishing
Lag seems to occur fairly often
Killcams not functioning properly
No customizable controls for those who do not like the default set
If Trueskill is actively at work in the game then how does JIP or staying in the lobby after a game affect or factor into this?
XP Cap: Why instill a progression system only to halt a players progress?

Spartan Ops(without getting into assets, gameplay or story):
CG contrast issue when viewing Episodes in-game
Input Lag/Poor Netcode
Cannot play SpOps on Legendary when searching for a game of SpOps

Outsourced Forge: I understand there are a slew of issues with lighting, objects and active Forgers who are disappointed with the selection, please refer to them for a wide and varied insight about the issues with H4 Forge.

Waypoint: Incredibly unfriendly to navigate

Why does this come later?:
Fileshare
Ranking System
Legacy Gametypes?

Other Thoughts:

Campaign:

If the Covenant are going to stick around in the next games, why not mix it up? I would like to see things like Jackals with Swords darting at me, Elites with Jackal Shields playing up support, suicide grunts with Camo. You get the idea, the list goes on. If this is a splinter faction of the Covenant than why are they playing by the same rules?

MP:

Vehicles: By not having their health linked to player health ala Halo 2 are they turning into support more than offense? Without that health link a few players can turn any vehicle into paper-mache, the only way for a vehicle to survive now is to get in and get out and have a good team providing auxiliary fire.
 

kylej

Banned
the playlist manager/team has the most direct influence on your day to day enjoyment of the game. therefore you are not allowed to know who they are and they will not explain any of the logic behind choices or reveal long term plans for updates

Didn't I suggest a playlist management blog as a section of Halo Waypoint? why is there zero transparency with this stuff? completely bizarre. hire juices for real, at least he knows how to play Halo.
 
So tired of bullshit in this game Damn assassinations get me killed every freaking time and i never want to do them. Head shots not registering...
 
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