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[orznge]

Think Bungie called it the Arena. Think 343 probably used some of that $100 mil and realized people would always find ways to ruin in. Decided they cared much more about their average consumers and fans not getting kicked offline rather than what 69SWAG420 thinks about his 50.

lol yeah they ruined it themselves by making playing against your team a part of the optimal strategy

 

[Amazing Mic]

explain to me exactly why, in the year 2012, it is impossible and furthermore, wrong, to attempt to let players in a multiplayer videogame participate in a competition-based environment

So, essentially, the Arena. The playlist I think I the only one on HaloGAF that played regularly.

I love playing for ranks. But I'll freely admit those circles I played w/ and against are some of the most toxic environments. I won't fault a dev for thinking those circles are shit.

lol yeah they ruined it themselves by making playing against your team a part of the optimal strategy

Population in Season 4 on was booming for sure.

 

[kylej]

orznge stop being so entitled

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Weird, was just playing multiplayer and the Spartan AA's where on the floor lol, I could pick them up to change AA's. It was weird as hell, me and Robbert where just swapping them over.

 

[orznge]

So, essentially, the Arena. The playlist I think I the only one on HaloGAF that played regularly.

I love playing for ranks. But I'll freely admit those circles I played w/ and against are some of the most toxic environments. I won't fault a dev for thinking those circles are shit.

if I recall correctly, in previous Halo games, there were both ranked and non-ranked playlists

 

[orznge]

Population in Season 4 on was booming for sure.

is that sarcasm? I don't know. I bought Reach and sold it not long after because the people who developed the game decided that part of the optimal strategy for me to follow when playing the competitive portion of their game was to kill my own teammates

 

[scar tissue]

I think the Halo 3 ranking system was pretty good. Your overall rank depended on A) your highest skill and B) your XP.
Anyone care to tell me why this system is not in Halo 4?

 

[xxjuicesxx]

So, essentially, the Arena. The playlist I think I the only one on HaloGAF that played regularly.

I love playing for ranks. But I'll freely admit those circles I played w/ and against are some of the most toxic environments. I won't fault a dev for thinking those circles are shit.



Population in Season 4 on was booming for sure.

Please nerd, people didn't play Arena cause they were afraid of competition. They didn't play Arena cause it sucked.
1. First it was ranked individual everyone wanted the kills and didnt work as a team.
2. Bad settings for first four seasons.
3. No instant feedback.
4. Noone cared by the time it was fixed to actually compete in it.
5. Constant rank resetting, I don't have a million hours to play these days anymore, if I get halfway to comepttive games I don't want to restart next month climbing back up that ladder.

Tons of people played Arena here btw. I for one played in probably half the seasons. Certain seasons I went a perfect record yet ended up in Gold. Thats why I don't give a shit about Arena. It was garbage kids playing garbage gametypes that weren't competitive.

Trust me people don't care for games that can't be played competitively. They want to be ranked they just need a proper system, H2 and H3's systems were great besides the cheating. They shouldn't be removing and making shitty systems so people dont cheat they should be tightening their checks and balances of the good system. You don't let one apple spoil the barrel and whatnot. Thats a saying.

Its why kids get bored of tic tac toe after they figure out how to win/tie every game. Its not fun anymore cause you cant play it competively.

 

[Amazing Mic]

is that sarcasm? I don't know. I bought Reach and sold it not long after because the people who developed the game decided that part of the optimal strategy for me to follow when playing the competitive portion of their game was to kill my own teammates

Arena population always sucked. Always around 1k. Funny thing is, it would skyrocket 10-fold when they added a cR jackpot. What sort of message do you think most players (not necessarily the loudest) were giving 343 there?

So these changes came after launch. So did H2's TU. Online community has changed.

I'd probably love your vision for H4, I just don't buy the opinions of many that play competitively that these changes are going to bring everyone back. Those players are looking for something else.

Please nerd...

Again, when was H2's TU? So concerned about competitive yet not grasping how a ladder works. Sorry about your Gold, but if you couldn't take 10 minutes to figure out the system, I really don't know why you are throwing this swiss cheese argument up. It's typical though. Loud voice, minimal substance. No idea why useful ideas aren't being heard.

 

[Talents]

I think the Halo 3 ranking system was pretty good. Your overall rank depended on A) your highest skill and B) your XP.
Anyone care to tell me why this system is not in Halo 4?

Because everyone seems to think things such as boosting is a big deal.

 

[The Demon Headmaster]

We only use your European countries to record secret Halo 4 events, not give you guys equal ground on multiplayer.

Oh well. The handling of these specializations has been so poor. It's an integral part of the game being distributed through pre-order bullshit. And why are certain countries being restricted from this content? Just leaves a really bad taste in the mouth especially because I love Halo 4.

 

[Overdoziz]

Aside from all its problems, i like the core gameplay of halo 4 a lot.

Core gunplay maybe. I'd say the core gameplay would also include the flow of matches which is influenced negatively too much by the random factors that 343 has added for it to be enjoyable to me.

 

[Petrichor]

wut

Edit: Now about the DMR vs BR. How about they just combined them. Have a single shot rifle with a 2x scope. I don't like the burst fire(too much randomness at long range) and the 3x scope on the DMR makes it an absolute monster. There DMR vs BR problem solved.

Or just take the DMR out of the game. BTB would suddenly be worth playing again.

 

[orznge]

Arena population always sucked. Always around 1k. Funny thing is, it would skyrocket 10-fold when they added a cR jackpot. What sort of message do you think most players (not necessarily the loudest) were giving 343 there?

So these changes came after launch. So did H2's TU. Online community has changed.

I'd probably love your vision for H4, I just don't buy the opinions of many that play competitively that these changes are going to bring everyone back. Those players are looking for something else.

it's not about bringing people back so much as having any avenue at all in the game through which you can engage in competitive play where winning and losing is the only thing that effects your rank

 

[Kuroyume]

Or just take the DMR out of the game. BTB would suddenly be worth playing again.

Wasn't in H3 and BTB wasn't worth playing there.

 

[Barrow Roll]

Just want to say, I am absolutely loving some of the panoramas being posted at HBO.

Disgusting low-res 2D image skybox.

Spoiler

I still think that looks pretty awesome.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Again, when was H2's TU? So concerned about competitive yet not grasping how a ladder works. Sorry about your Gold, but if you couldn't take 10 minutes to figure out the system, I really don't know why you are throwing this swiss cheese argument up. It's typical though. Loud voice, minimal substance. No idea why useful ideas aren't being heard.

I got it to Onyx, I understand how it worked, it just worked shitty. Thats why noone played it. The numbers dont lie the population of Halo is down in Reach and H4, and things that those games have in common are really bad or nonexistant ranking systems.

People need to compete. Halo 4 is just a bunch of grinding while you run around looping spawn die, and its meaningless, its not fun. Thats why everyone is leaving, theres no point in playing. The fun is in the competition and grinding to get better.

 

[Amazing Mic]

it's not about bringing people back so much as having any avenue at all in the game through which you can engage in competitive play where winning and losing is the only thing that effects your rank

First, I appreciated your last two replies. Thanks. No sarcasm here.

I'm honestly curious, is the CSR system that'll come sound that insufficient to you? I mean, as much as I dig that stuff, does it really hold that much weight that real-time data in big blinking lights is really necessary?

I read about CSR and thought it was a decent compromise for a really difficult problem. Seriously, I was booted/boosted by about a quarter of my onyx games at the end. It became bigger than the game.

I got it to Onyx, I understand how it worked, it just worked shitty. Thats why noone played it. The numbers dont lie the population of Halo is down in Reach and H4, and things that those games have in common are really bad or nonexistant ranking systems.

People need to compete. Halo 4 is just a bunch of grinding while you run around looping spawn die, and its meaningless, its not fun. Thats why everyone is leaving, theres no point in playing. The fun is in the competition and grinding to get better.

I don't argue that's what you feel. I always felt the Arena would have done better if onyx was 20% rather than 5%, and they had a "highest rank achieved." Things that I think make it less competitive. Even as someone who would prefer to play competitively, I still feel a larger number of people would rather coast rather than earning it. You could ship the game with infinity slayer being the same settings are Slayer Pro, or whatever Diesel's v5 settings are, with visible ranks- I just don't buy that the pop would rise unless that rank system was either easily exploitable or inclusive of everyone (like H3). H2 simply didn't have to deal with the 9th prestige type games on XBL. The alternatives just weren't there. But the game has changed.

 

[Tunavi]

Core gunplay maybe. I'd say the core gameplay would also include the flow of matches which is influenced negatively too much by the random factors that 343 has added for it to be enjoyable to me.

Core gunplay, yeah that's a better description.

 

[Plywood]

Disgusting low-res 2D image skybox.

Spoiler

I still think that looks pretty awesome.

Except that the giant metal phallus is careening its semen into the sky.

 

[kylej]

Arena population always sucked. Always around 1k. Funny thing is, it would skyrocket 10-fold when they added a cR jackpot. What sort of message do you think most players (not necessarily the loudest) were giving 343 there?

That arena sucked dick so do something different.

The fact that your argument boils down to "the people who care about competitive Halo are insignificant because nobody played Arena" is pretty incredible.

 

[CyReN]

and for those that say ranks don't matter.

-----

Most of my "anger" comes from how good the core game is, and the minor things holding it back from making it one of the best titles since h2, I don't think the Lions losing helped too.

 

[Redford]

If there's going to be a comprehensive TU at some point, I hope it isn't announced in an overblown and delayed fashioned like some kind of expansion pack like Reach's TU was. I know it was tied into Anniversary but this time just get it out without the fanfare so we can get on with having fun. That's all I want out of it PR wise.

I'm honestly curious, is the CSR system that'll come sound that insufficient to you? I mean, as much as I dig that stuff, does it really hold that much weight that real-time data in big blinking lights is really necessary?

lol what do you think everything - ie white text, Steitzer spam, barbie dolls - currently in the in-game UI is then? Yup, H4 is a bastion of maturity in that regard, no doubt.

 

[heckfu]

That arena sucked dick so do something different.

The fact that your argument boils down to "the people who care about competitive Halo are insignificant because nobody played Arena" is pretty incredible.

Sorry, there are more of his type so obvi it matters more.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

and for those that say ranks don't matter.

I like when you come in and prove a point with numbers.

Whats David Vonderhaar's position?

I'm sure a million players have played in Halo 4's ranked play....o, wait.

 

[scar tissue]

Because everyone seems to think things such as boosting is a big deal.

You can't have a ranking system without boosting, can you?

As for boosters, let them live their sad little lives. An automatic banhammer for certain behavior and a "report" function would be sufficient.
Anyone who pays for a high level account is going to get absolutely destroyed thanks to trueskill anyway.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

I like when you come in and prove a point with numbers.

Whats David Vonderhaar's position?

I think he's the Online lead.

Yeah

http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/David_Vonderhaar

David Vonderhaar is Treyarch's Game Designer Director,[1][2] and was responsible for the development of multiplayer in Call of Duty: World at War[3] and Call of Duty: Black Ops. He is often seen now as Treyarch's unofficial Community Manager.

 

[CyReN]

Whats David Vonderhaar's position?.

David Vonderhaar IS THE FUCKEN MAN.

He has balls and talks to the community, he doesn't shy around with pansy responses, yea they made a error with taking the Nuketown map pack but he fixed it in a SINGLE DAY. He the one that hired Hastro to work on and do CoD-Casting, along with getting league play in and taking SERIOUS feedback from the community and pro players. They already have a patch out and one of the way for their game.

before someone asks why I don't hop on CoD dick more, I don't like the series that much. It's stale as shit to me but I'll respect people that play it and work on it. Treyarch or Riot should win developer of the year.

 

[Barrow Roll]

Except that the giant metal phallus is careening its semen into the sky.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

 

[Esiquio]

There's a new post on the forums that states they are looking into the issue and are working with "all involved parties to find a solution". See second post:

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst155922_The-Official-Specializations-Email-Thread.aspx

On another note, does anyone have a spare double XP code they are willing to send my way? I do not eat junk food like that but I'm curious to see how it works (i.e. which portions of xp are doubled and how long it lasts). Thanks!

 

[Ryaaan14]

CoD doin everything right, Halo games should become more like CoD

 

[Amazing Mic]

That arena sucked dick so do something different.

The fact that your argument boils down to "the people who care about competitive Halo are insignificant because nobody played Arena" is pretty incredible.

I don't think that's what I'm saying, certainly not what I'm trying to say. Are you telling me that vanilla TS settings were better? I know you thought Reach was garbage, so no way I can prove any point- but seriously, TS settings certainly weren't >>> than Arena, and if gameplay is supposed to be king, then ... man, I just don't know.

As for boosters, let them live their sad little lives. An automatic banhammer for certain behavior and a "report" function would be sufficient.

I haven't the slightest idea of the resources it would take, but a much more strict banhammer would pretty much be the only way you'd be able to get some rank system to work properly

***

LoL isn't selling to a FPS crowd. Probably a more mature demographic, too. Many kids who want ranked FPS play, they go to COD because prestiges are how they rank themselves. You aren't going to ever get them back w/ core Halo.

CSR isn't going to be enough for a lot of people, but i really wish it weren't so. I don't see why you need to bring back a system that had so many issues to be considered legitimately competitive.

 

[Fracas]

So either my xbox is breaking, or Halo 4 is breaking my xbox.. every time I am playing Halo 4 MP it suddenly kicks me back to the dashboard saying my disc tray is trying to open. It doesn't, but I have to open and close it to get it to read the disc. I have the game installed, so maybe it got corrupted somehow? Blah. Im playing some AC3 to see if it happens there.

Are you on a non-slim 360?

I had the same problem with my first 360, your disk drive may be dying.

David Vonderhaar IS THE FUCKEN MAN.

He has balls and talks to the community, he doesn't shy around with pansy responses, yea they made a error with taking the Nuketown map pack but he fixed it in a SINGLE DAY. He the one that hired Hastro to work on and do CoD-Casting, along with getting league play in and taking SERIOUS feedback from the community and pro players. They already have a patch out and one of the way for their game.

before someone asks why I don't hop on CoD dick more, I don't like the series that much. It's stale as shit to me but I'll respect people that play it and work on it. Treyarch or Riot should win developer of the year.

Agreed completely. I'm not a huge fan of the actual game, but Treyarch has proven time and time again that they're interested in what their fans want and how to push their series forward.

 

[u4iX]

Because every so often we need to be reminded.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

CoD doin everything right, Halo games should become more like CoD

In the correct areas this is good advice:

60 fps.
Ranking Systems.
Spectator Mode.
CoD TV.

Unfortunately they took it from all the wrong areas.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

David Vonderhaar IS THE FUCKEN MAN.

He has balls and talks to the community, he doesn't shy around with pansy responses, yea they made a error with taking the Nuketown map pack but he fixed it in a SINGLE DAY. He the one that hired Hastro to work on and do CoD-Casting, along with getting league play in and taking SERIOUS feedback from the community and pro players. They already have a patch out and one of the way for their game.

before someone asks why I don't hop on CoD dick more, I don't like the series that much. It's stale as shit to me but I'll respect people that play it and work on it. Treyarch or Riot should win developer of the year.

I've thought I was burned out on COD, but I've been playing Blops all day and it's fun as hell. The only thing that makes me go "WTF" is when the lag pops up, but that shit happens in Halo 4 too.

In the correct areas this is good advice:

60 fps.
Ranking Systems.
Spectator Mode.
CoD TV.

Unfortunately they took it from all the wrong areas.

Seriously, 60FPS spoils everything else for you.

 

[Redford]

Because every so often we need to be reminded.

Pretty good for a ZP knockoff.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

There's a new post on the forums that states they are looking into the issue and are working with "all involved parties to find a solution". See second post:

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst155922_The-Official-Specializations-Email-Thread.aspx

On another note, does anyone have a spare double XP code they are willing to send my way? I do not eat junk food like that but I'm curious to see how it works (i.e. which portions of xp are doubled and how long it lasts). Thanks!

I suppose "all involved parties" does not include anyone outside of America lol.

David Vonderhaar IS THE FUCKEN MAN.

He has balls and talks to the community, he doesn't shy around with pansy responses, yea they made a error with taking the Nuketown map pack but he fixed it in a SINGLE DAY. He the one that hired Hastro to work on and do CoD-Casting, along with getting league play in and taking SERIOUS feedback from the community and pro players. They already have a patch out and one of the way for their game.

before someone asks why I don't hop on CoD dick more, I don't like the series that much. It's stale as shit to me but I'll respect people that play it and work on it. Treyarch or Riot should win developer of the year.

A lot of the CoD community are hating on him for dismissing the claims of lag issues. I wouldn't exactly praise him as a saint Cyren - also the Nuketown thing didn't get resolved as far as im aware.

Treyarch have been great at pushing things forward though, I have a lot of respect for them.

 

[u4iX]

Pretty good for a ZP knockoff.

It was a soft open for an episode of Pure Pwnage. I loved that web series.

 

[Talents]

Because every so often we need to be reminded.

That may be the best video I've seen in a while.

 

[ElzarTheBam]

EDIT: Hey Elzar, would like to join you guys, but I'm playing with a friend who is pretty bad lol, I promised him to play some games with him. Sorry <3

I took it as a personal insult, I hope you're happy.

So Elzar, Xand, Biggy, bobs, krow, etc. : What did you guys think of my settings? Keep personal ordnance? Remove the SAWs? Make the DMRs have a more obvious spawning point?

Good, I say take out personal ordnance though, don't think it really adds anything. Weapon placements seemed fine, but that saw is still deadly.

And good luck trying to get Xand to post here.

Also GG earlier guys, some excellent CTF matches, apart from when AFK bobs' had a 'sudden' departure. Damn you!

 

[CyReN]

I suppose "all involved parties" does not include anyone outside of America lol.



A lot of the CoD community are hating on him for dismissing the claims of lag issues. I wouldn't exactly praise him as a saint Cyren - also the Nuketown thing didn't get resolved as far as im aware.

Treyarch have been great at pushing things forward though, I have a lot of respect for them.

Yea there are lag issues, but it's as broken as our flinch issue. (imo)

With the Nukedown issue, they do have a playlist with it now.

 

[Orochinagis]

Hey guisessssss, I finally received The Thursday War Book!!!

and I am actually enjoy it so much!!!

Thank you so much Duncan for the Book, it is my first Halo Book btw.

 

[Trey]

Unlock specializations game wide. Let the LE purists bitch. It will be to a much lower and laughable degree than the current furor.

and I am actually enjoy it so much!!!

Thank you so much Duncan for the Book, it is my first Halo Book btw.

The good news is that this is your first book, so if you enjoyed TTW, you're in for a real treat in reading the rest of the fiction.

 

[Ken]

Unlock specializations game wide. Let the LE purists bitch. It will be to a much lower and laughable degree than the current furor.

Woah there. I don't think 343i can handle the terror of online petitions by the Waypoint Forums LE specialists for having their LE devalued even more.

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

Are you on a non-slim 360?

I had the same problem with my first 360, your disk drive may be dying.

Yeah... Ugh. I really hope it was a fluke.. that happened three times in a row.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Because every so often we need to be reminded.

PP was so good, what happened to the new kickstarter thing they had going?

That video was so spot on, and its pretty old, sad to see how far things moved towards the direction he was hating on then.

Yea there are lag issues, but it's as broken as our flinch issue. (imo)

With the Nukedown issue, they do have a playlist with it now.

The map pops up pretty rarely so its not like they did a great job with that playlist.

The lag issues, especially the lag compensation stuff they have going on is pretty obnoxious, I enjoy Blops 2 a LOT and respect what its doing, but some of the hardcore CoD crowd are as annoyed with the decisions made in Blops 2 as we are with the decisions made with Halo.

Hey guisessssss, I finally received The Thursday War Book!!!



and I am actually enjoy it so much!!!

Thank you so much Duncan for the Book, it is my first Halo Book btw.

The Nylund books are really good, you should read Fall of Reach next!

 

[heckfu]

Yea there are lag issues, but it's as broken as our flinch issue. (imo)

With the Nukedown issue, they do have a playlist with it now.

Have they announced when everyone gets Nuketown?

 

[CyReN]

Have they announced when everyone gets Nuketown?

This month (Zombie version(ish)).

 

[bobs...onGaf]

So Elzar, Xand, Biggy, bobs, krow, etc. : What did you guys think of my settings? Keep personal ordnance? Remove the SAWs? Make the DMRs have a more obvious spawning point?

Those where good games! As for personal feedback: I think you should have BR's or DMR's not both, it skews the balance of gunfights having both. Its pretty hard to tell which one someone is holding so its unfair to have DMR's in there as power weapons. Maybe replace the DMR's with Snipers? There are 4 shot kill BR custom settings out there, maybe try those if you stick with the BR? The 5 shot kill BR is not much fun to use. DMR's for everyone would be better if your sticking with 5sk.

Global ordnance is pretty bad, I would say stick to on map power ups, but thats impossible.

I hate Saw's so I would say remove them.

This month.

Thats just the zombies version, not the multiplayer one. I really hope the multiplayer one gets more wide spread.