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Halo |OT14| They call it Halo

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
First time Halo has dropped this quickly.

Yeah, people don't like Halo 4, people don't like Halo, people only like shooters with "Duty" in the title, who knows. I have no reason to be stressed over some number on a chart though. It's the second highest populated shooter on all of Xbox Live. Not a bad thing.
 
But for how long? The decrease should not be taken slightly.

Exactly. At the end of November, Halo 4 dropped to thesecond place. At the end of December, it already was in 3th spot. Now, in the middle of January, it's already 4th on the list. I don't think the trend will continue this way, but it should be a really concerning development for 343.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if it drops below DOTA 2 or even counter strike 1.6. These are amongst the top played on steam (pc games!). Actually I hope it drops below 1.6 because a legendary FPS like that deserves better than being beaten by an incompetent xbox developer.


iVo4Uo7wkcZhg.gif
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Here is my honest thoughts on Halo 4 after awhile with it.

The Good:
-Good SP with a story that would have been better if the terminal video's were not locked away.
-Great engine!
-Aiming/movement is WAY better than Reach
-Oddball is fun as hell
-Barebones gameplay (no sprint/instant spawn) is beyond amazing.

The Bad:
-WHY THE FUCK WERE THE TERMINALS LOCKED AWAY IN SO MANY MENUS!? Also they should have just been part of the game and not unlockables, just give us skulls for that.
-Not too many open areas in SP but that didn't upset me too much.
-The *hit 3 weak point* boss battle would have been so much better if the Didact came out to attack you right before activating one.
-Instant respawn
-This perk shit? Needs to fucking go
-Camo AA
-Bolt Shot
-Custom loadouts killing vehicle combat (PP and Plasma grenades), I dont care what you say this has had a major effect on vehicle combat and not a good one.
-Horrible MP UI, GIVE US MORE INFO! also just call it "matchmaking, custom games and ect, hate to say it but when a normal person boots up Halo 4 they wont know what the fuck "Infinity" is

Basically, cut out all the clutter and you have a great game.

What I want to see:
-More community interaction
-Acceptance to mistakes and putting effort into changing them
-Give us back options so we don't have to rely on modders
-Some changes would require a massive update or to redownload all of MP again? DO IT! (since we can download MP would this be possible?)
-Red X's added (relates to above)
-UI changed
-Bare bones playlist
-1-50 rank system
 
This is progress. I'm honestly surprised MW3 didn't sneak up above it.

Also, isn't this the lowest a Halo game has EVER been during a normal run? IE Reach/3 etc., are lower now but I don't think they ever fell to 4th while they were the most current Halo game on the market. I'm not even sure 3 ever dropped below second a full two or three years after launch.
Sad to see. :|

At this rate I expect it to go down to 50,000 players and drop out of the Top 5 before February ends.

Title Update is basically going to make or break this game it seems (for most players)
 
Sad to see. :|

At this rate I expect it to go down to 50,000 players and drop out of the Top 5 before February ends.

Title Update is basically going to make or break this game it seems (for most players)

The TU in a nutshell:
-Railgun buffed
-DMR given a 10x scope and made an ordnance weapon. However, bandwidth limitations means it has to stay in loadouts.
-Boltshot has additional clip size but can no longer headshot.

<3 bsangel
 

rakka

Member
had a shitload more fucked up games than usual today. either terrible lag, or playing against whole teams of organized camo / jetpack abusers, or JIP into matches that are pretty much over, or playing 1v4 with JIP not working at all. and on top of that, more often than not I'm given teammates that do nothing other than shoot their own feet.

and when I added the gf in for some splitscreen, the framerate was horrendous on pretty much all fucking maps aside from maybe adrift and haven. much worse than splitscreen in previous halos.

Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.
 
At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if it drops below DOTA 2 or even counter strike 1.6. These are amongst the top played on steam (pc games!). Actually I hope it drops below 1.6 because a legendary FPS like that deserves better than being beaten by broken game.

wait why are we comparing pc game performance against the xbl activity charts?
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Since Im pretty sure my post last page was skimmed over, would it be possible for them to make major changes to Halo 4 by having us re-download the MP portion of the game?

I am honestly curious about that or how much and what could be changed.
 

TheOddOne

Member
Since Im pretty sure my post last page was skimmed over, would it be possible for them to make major changes to Halo 4 by having us re-download the MP portion of the game?

I am honestly curious about that or how much and what could be changed.
I have some ideas about that. Will update this week maybe with an analysis.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
Holy shit, it's already 4th? Seriously, 343 needs to wake up.

This game sold how many copies? And it can't hit a peak population of 100k?
 

TheOddOne

Member
Because I mean if the entirety of MP was downloaded....hell we could get some very drastic changes if they went that way.
My idea in nutshell: introduce pre-set loadouts, with everybody having the same baseline features (no way to customize Tactical Packages and Support Upgrades). Personal Ordnances are turned off, Global Ordnance act as static locations with pre-set spawning timers.

Microsoft is really difficult with changing .exe files (Go read the Skullgirls debacle). Even though 343 is MS, I don’t think they would even allow them to do it.
 

CyReN

Member
It's sad to see the game still dropping but they pulled every measure to push their fan base away while not attracting new people.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
My idea in nutshell: introduce pre-set loadouts, with everybody having the same baseline features (no way to customize Tactical Packages and Support Upgrades). Personal Ordnances are turned off, Global Ordnance act as static locations with pre-set spawning timers.

Microsoft is really difficult with changing .exe files (Go read the Skullgirls debacle). Even though 343 is MS, I don’t think they would even allow them to do it.

If they give Minecraft free updates Im sure they will let their own studio change the .exe
 

willow ve

Member
Since Im pretty sure my post last page was skimmed over, would it be possible for them to make major changes to Halo 4 by having us re-download the MP portion of the game?

I am honestly curious about that or how much and what could be changed.

I have some ideas about that. Will update this week maybe with an analysis.

Because I mean if the entirety of MP was downloaded....hell we could get some very drastic changes if they went that way.

That is a very interesting idea. However I doubt they can implement a mandatory 4GB download across the board. If they did choose this route I guess it would end up fracturing the falling population even more. You would have certain players that either A) can't download something that large and are stuck without the update or B) choose not to download it and are put into the "fallback hoppers".

I really like the idea of a complete overhaul to the multiplayer, however we all know that just can't really happen. It would be better at this point to change as much as they can within the sandbox they've already created - for instance they can remove Hard Light Shield, Camo, and Jet Pack as they don't have achievements tied to them - drop global ordnance, etc. But to completely overhaul everything in matchmaking is essentially making a new game (which will be called Halo 5).

My idea in nutshell: introduce pre-set loadouts, with everybody having the same baseline features (no way to customize Tactical Packages and Support Upgrades). Personal Ordnances are turned off, Global Ordnance act as static locations with pre-set spawning timers.

Microsoft is really difficult with changing .exe files (Go read the Skullgirls debacle). Even though 343 is MS, I don&#8217;t think they would even allow them to do it.

Basically this.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
That is a very interesting idea. However I doubt they can implement a mandatory 4GB download across the board. If they did choose this route I guess it would end up fracturing the falling population even more. You would have certain players that either A) can't download something that large and are stuck without the update or B) choose not to download it and are put into the "fallback hoppers".

I really like the idea of a complete overhaul to the multiplayer, however we all know that just can't really happen. It would be better at this point to change as much as they can within the sandbox they've already created - for instance they can remove Hard Light Shield, Camo, and Jet Pack as they don't have achievements tied to them - drop global ordnance, etc. But to completely overhaul everything in matchmaking is essentially making a new game (which will be called Halo 5).



Basically this.

Who said it would be that big? we already had to download the MP mode so just have us redownload it with the major changes in place, shouldn't be much bigger than the already mandatory size.
 

TheOddOne

Member
If they give Minecraft free updates Im sure they will let their own studio change the .exe
I think those are actual patches, which are really small incremental updated, instead of significant changes. The Skullgirls game wanted to completely change characters, models, stages, music and more. That is basically just overhauling the whole game, which I would love to see be done on a console games, shows balls and actually shows the community that they care.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
Modern Warfare 3 will take Halo 4's spot on the chart in less than a month.

It's no longer insulting 343, no "omg you killed Halo", just hard numbers. This game is dying, and fast. The vast majority of players do not like this game. Big changes have to come.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
I think those are actual patches, which are really small incremental updated, instead of significant changes. The Skullgirls game wanted to completely change characters, models, stages, music and more. That is basically just overhauling the whole game, which I would love to see be done on a console games, shows balls and actually shows the community that they care.

Actually I am pretty sure magic 2012/2013 actually did this. You HAD to redownload the entire game to get the changes and it even registered as a new license on your Xbox when you did.
 

willow ve

Member
Who said it would be that big? we already had to download the MP mode so just have us redownload it with the major changes in place, shouldn't be much bigger than the already mandatory size.

I'm just guessing a bit as it is a requirement for anyone to play Halo 4 multiplayer to have a minimum of 4GB free on their hard drive. This works fine for most players as you simply install the game from the disc (thereby not using up download limits and/or taking a few hours to download).

If they completely reworked the multiplayer it would basically be a new game. Which would require far too much time, effort, money, etc., and wouldn't really give them any bang for their buck.

They can, however, simply implement changes within their setup. As has been stated the removal of custom loadouts, replacing random global ordnance with static predictable ordnance, removal of camo, etc., could go a long long way toward fixing some of the more egregious errors in the game.
 

FyreWulff

Member
They don't need to have people redl Halo 4's multiplayer. Since they don't support LAN version inter-op, they can just include the new bits in the patch and apply them to the existing files.
 
From the bulletin - "[Halsey] was an interesting character for us, as she&#8217;s someone the hardcore fans knew from the novels, but was essentially a new character for most of the players who only knew the fiction of the games."

ummm wasn't she a big part of Halo Reach? Didn't George or whoever call her Mum or something a bunch? or was that someone else
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Christ you guys care about that position too much.

I was thinking they cared more about the way the user base is dwindling so quickly, rather than the ranking itself, per se. For people who still love or at least like the series, it's a reasonable thing to worry about.

I wonder how 343 is interpreting the active player numbers. The game sold very well. But the active players do seem to be dropping somewhat quickly.
 

Alchemical

Neo Member
Here is my honest thoughts on Halo 4 after awhile with it.

The Good:
-Good SP with a story that would have been better if the terminal video's were not locked away.
-Great engine!
-Aiming/movement is WAY better than Reach
-Oddball is fun as hell
-Barebones gameplay (no sprint/instant spawn) is beyond amazing.

The Bad:
-WHY THE FUCK WERE THE TERMINALS LOCKED AWAY IN SO MANY MENUS!? Also they should have just been part of the game and not unlockables, just give us skulls for that.
-Not too many open areas in SP but that didn't upset me too much.
-The *hit 3 weak point* boss battle would have been so much better if the Didact came out to attack you right before activating one.
-Instant respawn
-This perk shit? Needs to fucking go
-Camo AA
-Bolt Shot
-Custom loadouts killing vehicle combat (PP and Plasma grenades), I dont care what you say this has had a major effect on vehicle combat and not a good one.
-Horrible MP UI, GIVE US MORE INFO! also just call it "matchmaking, custom games and ect, hate to say it but when a normal person boots up Halo 4 they wont know what the fuck "Infinity" is

Basically, cut out all the clutter and you have a great game.

What I want to see:
-More community interaction
-Acceptance to mistakes and putting effort into changing them
-Give us back options so we don't have to rely on modders
-Some changes would require a massive update or to redownload all of MP again? DO IT! (since we can download MP would this be possible?)
-Red X's added (relates to above)
-UI changed
-Bare bones playlist
-1-50 rank system

This is a great post. I didn't skim over it. It pretty much perfectly sums up my feelings on the game, even though I'm yet to buy/play it. (The negatives far outweigh the positives in my mind, rendering the likelihood of me buying this game without these fixes highly unlikely.) If I heard that everything in this post was addressed (a big if, I'll give you that), Microsoft could finally have my money. I'd buy it. And I'd likely play the hell out of it (well, one playlist, at least).
 

Sordid

Member
From the bulletin - "[Halsey] was an interesting character for us, as she&#8217;s someone the hardcore fans knew from the novels, but was essentially a new character for most of the players who only knew the fiction of the games."

ummm wasn't she a big part of Halo Reach? Didn't George or whoever call her Mum or something a bunch? or was that someone else

He called her ma'am iirc.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Goddamn, Microsoft is inconsistant as buck :(

YUP! So Im sure if Magic can do this so can Halo 4 if they decide they want to go down that route.

Also I only know this because my friend flipped shit when it didn't work anymore after he got it from a license transfer XD
 
Already beaten by Sai-Kun but anything involving a saxophone can never be a negative thing.



The problems and perks in Halo 4 should've never happened in the first place. I would love to have been lurking at 343 as the decision to keep Camo as an AA was made. What happened there?

Inexcusable:

H1 never having XBL.
H2 being taken off of XBL, twice.
H3 BR.
ODST without MM support.
Reach. Just Reach.
H4 with a new studio and the same/worse mistakes being made. And no GL or Mk.V.


Screw it all though. I still love this franchise but shit if I'm not pissed at how it's been handled..
Yeah. I only complain because I like the franchise. I want a high quality experience.


Holy shit, it's already 4th? Seriously, 343 needs to wake up.

This game sold how many copies? And it can't hit a peak population of 100k?

Its almost as if Halo fans would prefer an experience like Halo1-3. But 4th place already. Well, I've been thinking about getting FIFA anyways.
 
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