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Halo |OT14| They call it Halo

Arnie

Member
Everyone I know in real life that has an Xbox owned Halo 3.
Approximately 1/4 of those people bought Reach.
Zero of those people bought Halo 4. Yes, zero.

Gaming habits changed, people grew up, moved on, whatever. Also Halo changed and became not Halo. If 3 to Reach to 4 was the same incremental change as 2 to 3 the gaming landscape would be much different.

I know for a fact that if Halo 4 actually resembled Halo 3 then two of my housemates who were avid players of the latter, would've bought the game. They saw me playing it, however, and despaired. If you're looking to assuage the disappointments of Reach, Halo 4 is a pretty diabolical tool to use.

FIFA is brilliant, everyone needs to get on that.
 

Nowise10

Member
Spartan Ops Season 2 better be free.

Why should it? Season 1 part 2 A(the one coming next Monday) is coming with 13 new maps we havent played before, all free. I think that is pretty amazing. Im willing to pay money for that much new content.
 

Enfinit

Member
It'll be next fall so... I dunno if I'll get it. I'll probably get FIFA games on a 2 year cycle

I'm not big into sports titles, however I never understood how Madden/FIFA/NCAA/NBA2K/etc. fans bought games on a yearly cycle. Games like CoD are one thing given that the yearly cycle alternates between developers, however yearly sports titles have always made me wonder the quality of such games.


HaloGAF FIFA league lets do it!
I'd be down. Although I use Man. City so I'm a bitch.


Spartan Ops Season 2 better be free.
I highly doubt it. It'd be a major load of content for it to be free. I'd assume they're going to do a season 2 and have it take place in actual new locations (that we haven't been to before), with a deeper storyline. Probably will put it on the marketplace for 800 MS points.
 

Karl2177

Member
So Halo 2 is still fun. Started my Legendary runthrough on H2V to get the Legend achievement. Got through the first cutscene and Armory. Then went through Cairo Station with only 2 deaths. Then I did Outskirts without any deaths. I'm actually pretty pumped to do Metropolis after work tonight.
 
I'm not big into sports titles, however I never understood how Madden/FIFA/NCAA/NBA2K/etc. fans bought games on a yearly cycle.

Same here. What changes are made year to year for sports games besides graphics and rosters? I feel like they can't really improve/add that much and justify a 60$ pricetag for a yearly release.

Wonder how Microsoft feels after dumping all of that money into Halo 4 production for it only to be in the 4th spot 2 months after launch.
 
Why should it? Season 1 part 2 A(the one coming next Monday) is coming with 13 new maps we havent played before, all free. I think that is pretty amazing. Im willing to pay money for that much new content.
Do you really think that? I cannot imagine it to be honest. Or was it sarcasm?
 
I'm not big into sports titles, however I never understood how Madden/FIFA/NCAA/NBA2K/etc. fans bought games on a yearly cycle. Games like CoD are one thing given that the yearly cycle alternates between developers, however yearly sports titles have always made me wonder the quality of such games.



I'd be down. Although I use Man. City so I'm a bitch.



I highly doubt it. It'd be a major load of content for it to be free. I'd assume they're going to do a season 2 and have it take place in actual new locations (that we haven't been to before), with a deeper storyline. Probably will put it on the marketplace for 800 MS points.

Regarding FIFA, plenty of people want up to date statistics for teams and players. Updated graphics and physics would almost be secondary to that. In the past, it wasn't possible to update effectively without a new release. Perhaps a shift is coming? Maybe not.
 

Tawpgun

Member
Sports games add new modes, change up other modes, and get new gameplay mechanics and improvements

At least they ADD features....
 
I'm not big into sports titles, however I never understood how Madden/FIFA/NCAA/NBA2K/etc. fans bought games on a yearly cycle. Games like CoD are one thing given that the yearly cycle alternates between developers, however yearly sports titles have always made me wonder the quality of such games.

Stability, knowing they are going to get essentially the same game, with a little better graphics.

I feel some other games could take a closer look at this.
 
I'm not big into sports titles, however I never understood how Madden/FIFA/NCAA/NBA2K/etc. fans bought games on a yearly cycle. Games like CoD are one thing given that the yearly cycle alternates between developers, however yearly sports titles have always made me wonder the quality of such games.
Fans of sports games tend to buy their consoles only for those games. They get their one game a year and are content.
 
Halo 4 drops to 4th most played game on XBL

http://majornelson.com/2013/01/17/live-activity-for-week-of-january-7th/

Edit: beaten...by a lot

lmao already!

image.php
 

Enfinit

Member
Stability, knowing they are going to get essentially the same game, with a little better graphics.

I feel some other games could take a closer look at this.

Fans of sports games tend to buy their consoles only for those games. They get their one game a year and are content.
Regarding FIFA, plenty of people want up to date statistics for teams and players. Updated graphics and physics would almost be secondary to that. In the past, it wasn't possible to update effectively without a new release. Perhaps a shift is coming? Maybe not.

I'm a very casual sports games player (other than NFL Blitz), so the only reason I see justifying yearly purchases would be for exactly what you all said - updated roster/stats, more realistic graphics, and altering the physics if need be.

However, would this theoretically be possible to do without publishing a yearly game? Take FIFA, for example. Would it be possible to alter the physics and update the stats/roster from a yearly or bi-yearly title update, instead of pushing a new physical game? Graphical updates may be harder to accomplish this way, however.

Although it's like comparing apples to airplanes, I could see a future where console games, and in this case it especially applies to sports games, are somewhat like PC games (more specifically WoW), where a player buys one copy and purchases updates/patches/TU's online that are cheaper than the initial copy.

For example, a player buys a physical copy of just FIFA (without a year) for $60 when it is released. 6-8 months later, EA pushes major title update v1.1 that includes new stats, rosters, altered physics, etc., which, in today's industry, would mean a new physical game. However, in this scenario, players may upgrade their FIFA to v1.1 for 1200 MS points, and EA publishes the new FIFA digitally, and it runs off the original FIFA disc. If a player were to purchase the $60 FIFA post v1.1, they would be eligible to upgrade to whatever current version FIFA's at for free.

I'm not necessarily sure if that would make a game more popular, however it would ensure that more players make the transition to the newer title, ala FIFA '12 to FIFA '13. Publishers could then release a new physical copy when something substantial warrants it, i.e. using a new engine or a new generation of consoles. The only downside is that players wouldn't be able to purchase older sports games, like FIFA '10.

Just a theory. For myself, if this were the case I would certainly be more inclined to purchase sports games. But that's just me.

The bulletin was a whole lot of fucking nothing.
If you go in with no expectations, you'll never be disappointed.
 
BS Angel is advertising a Lockout remake on Waypoint.

How to download:
1. Go to the Infinity menu on Halo 4
2. Click "Start" and go to "Settings & Files"
3. Go to "File Browser" then "Map Variants"
4. Go to "File Share Search" and type in "Big Papa SaLoT"
5. Download and have fun!!

Lol.
 

Louis Wu

Member
Dude, I enjoy playing the game too (gasp!) but come on now. The color might not always be red, but a competent team that gets ring control is quite difficult to remove from that position, especially with a combo of jetpacks and camo. The vast majority of opponents' spawns are going to be cliff side or in the forests and you have perfect sightlines to all of them. I wouldn't even have such an issue with this if both teams had an equal chance to establish this position from the start of the game, but that's not the case. Spawning each team in opposing forest areas would be much better. Symmetrical spawns on Haven need to be implemented as well, while we're at it.
I wouldn't say for a minute that that building isn't a powerful structure. All I said was that my experience has not been that one team blows the other out because of position.

I had to go pretty far back to find 5 non-SWAT games on that map in my history... but here are the last 5:

655-595 (Regicide)
600-470 (Inf Slayer)
600-300 (Inf Slayer)
300-214 (Oddball)
655-640 (Regicide)

Only one of those is a legitimate blowout (the 600-300 Inf Slayer game), and the Regicide matches are actually really close. (That last one is less than a single King kill.)

::shrug:: With the exception of the middle Inf Slayer match, I don't see anything in there that would warrant a rage quit, and those ARE representative, at least in MY experience, so I'd guess that changes have been made to the map since that Bulletin was written last summer.

That's all I meant. (Well, that and that the interpretation that 343 was giggling at the rout is pretty offensive to the team.)
 

Homeboyd

Member
BS Angel is advertising a Lockout remake on Waypoint.

How to download:
1. Go to the Infinity menu on Halo 4
2. Click "Start" and go to "Settings & Files"
3. Go to "File Browser" then "Map Variants"
4. Go to "File Share Search" and type in "Big Papa SaLoT"
5. Download and have fun!!

Lol.
Well then
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
Why should it? Season 1 part 2 A(the one coming next Monday) is coming with 13 new maps we havent played before, all free. I think that is pretty amazing. Im willing to pay money for that much new content.
I think you're overselling these maps.
 

Enfinit

Member
Why should it? Season 1 part 2 A(the one coming next Monday) is coming with 13 new maps we havent played before, all free. I think that is pretty amazing. Im willing to pay money for that much new content.

Just because we haven't played the maps in Spartan Ops doesn't mean we haven't seen the maps in campaign and matchmaking. I'm fairly confident the environments in Spartan Ops Season 1B aren't new.

Season 2, on the other hand, should be totally new, unseen environments.
 

willow ve

Member
I think you're overselling these maps.

And those maps will be used only in Spartan Ops. Which is only, somewhat, fun with multiple players... and then episodes are only available on a weekly timeframe.

They need to go ahead and scrap any and all plans they had to produce a season 2 of Sparty Ops. Split that team in half. 1/2 of them work on the CGI and just release a Waypoint/webisode of the story. The other 1/2 of them work on matchmaking, fileshare, finding balance, custom options.

What bizarro world do you live in where development personnel are interchangeable and can do everyone else's job?

Yes it's not a 1 to 1 correlation. There are already people working on Spartan Ops cutscenes (modelling, scripting, direction, mo-cap, voice talent, etc.). They stay on that. There are already people (assuming Season 2 is new playspaces) working on new maps - they can use these same skills to work on mutliplayer areas (lighting, geometry, modelling, etc.).

The rest of the talent pool (as you so eloquently pointed out isn't interchangeable) gets either requisitioned to work on things that they know how to do or gets downsized so they studio doesn't continue to pour resources into a gametype that is only marginally used by the community.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
And those maps will be used only in Spartan Ops. Which is only, somewhat, fun with multiple players... and then episodes are only available on a weekly timeframe.

They need to go ahead and scrap any and all plans they had to produce a season 2 of Sparty Ops. Split that team in half. 1/2 of them work on the CGI and just release a Waypoint/webisode of the story. The other 1/2 of them work on matchmaking, fileshare, finding balance, custom options.

What bizarro world do you live in where development personnel are interchangeable and can do everyone else's job?
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
BS Angel is advertising a Lockout remake on Waypoint.

How to download:
1. Go to the Infinity menu on Halo 4
2. Click "Start" and go to "Settings & Files"
3. Go to "File Browser" then "Map Variants"
4. Go to "File Share Search" and type in "Big Papa SaLoT"
5. Download and have fun!!

Lol.

Is that so?
 
Yeah, I need a source for this. I know asking for sources is annoying to read, but I just don't remember that at all. Well even so, it still shouldn't take that long. TU's for Halo 2, 3 and now 4 came out around a few months post launch. They had more than enough time to compensate for the Anniversary update in September.

Re: Bungie patch on Reach

Weren't the details of Bungie's Reach support and 343 handover in the Activision contract, and it specified that 343 would issue a TU if they wanted to, and that Bungie was only allowed to make that first DLC and do matchmaking support for the first 6 months?
Long post, sorry:

Nothing was ever officially announced but it was hinted at. Megalo, the game type editor for Reach seems to point towards some sort of post release patch though. The whole development of Megalo was intended provide post game support for Reach. They tested it with Halo chess and some of the other gametypes that fell under insane category in the gametype list. It seems highly unlikely that they would have spent so much dev time on Megalo to not actually use it. Megalo was developed specifically to make patches like 343's Reach TU possible. With the way the Halo engine worked before Reach changes like zero bloom would not have been possible without directly editing the .map files which was not really something they could have done. So they had developed the tools to patch the game post launch but they never used it which leads me to believe something happened post launch that made them change their plans. The megalo Q&A seemed, to me at least, to be Bungie hinting at their desire to make a TU and the scope that the TU could have encompassed. So while I say they planned a TU I mean they had planned to do one before the game was even released but it looks like something to do with the upcoming transition stopped them from doing so. We can only guess as to what happened but the most plausible answer is that 343 told Bungie to provide playlist support but not patch support so that 343 could patch Reach for the sole purpose of CEA.

Here is the Q&A, it is an interesting read

Question 3 seems to hint at Bungie originally planning a patch:

3 . Who or what group in Bungie made the decision to throw out the tried and trusted gametype setup from previous Halo titles, and why? Was it hard to convince the studio to go for what was definitely a risk?

I did. Megalo started as an experiment/toy just after we shipped Halo 3. It was definitely a risk, but the benefits of iteration and creating new gametypes/fixing bugs post-ship were pretty obvious. At that point we didn't know what the handoff plans with MS were though.
So, it looks like Bungie was planning a patch.

The idea of Megalo is pretty awesome. It all works via scripts and isn't too difficult to use. In the interview it mentions that they had a gametype where people dropped random weapons when they died. Apparently that gametype only took 15 minutes from the idea to actually playing it. This actually has some implications for Halo 4. In theory, because Halo 4 uses Megalo too, someone at 343 could write a script that disabled sprint and it wouldn't take too long to complete it. This means true classic settings are possible.

Going back to Reach; here are some posts from David Ellis regarding the CEA update:
It wasn't a matter of not wanting to do it, but rather it was outside the scope and scale for the TU.

The Anniversary slayer magnum has different bloom and ROF fire settings.

As you can see, they could have changed the DMR's rate of fire but chose not too. It wouldn't have been too much extra work to fix that thanks to Megalo. So 343 did not fully commit to the Reach TU despite the fact that they had the tools to do so. If they can change the ROF on one gun they can do it on two. This leads me to believe that the Reach TU was really just a way to push the sales of CEA because the magnum was the essential change to be made. This is why I don't like people saying " You don't understand how hard it is to make a patch!!". I understand they it takes time and testing and that it could take a couple months before they are happy with the changes they have made. They have great tools at their disposal to ease the process though. Actually, we could have had true classic settings at Halo 4's launch if they had really wanted to make them. This is why I am also frustrated with 343 and why I complain often; 343 has the power to make a lot of changes to Halo 4 and could have had classic game types at launch but they have, thus far, chosen not to use the tools they have at their disposal.




Sorry, I kind of jumped around between Bungie's patch, what 343 could already be doing for Halo, and their decision not to change the ROF in CEA slayer. The short of it is Bungie set themselves up to make a patch but something happened that stopped them short of actually making it.

Perhaps someone else can shed some light on the possibility of Bungie patching the game.

Edit:

Oh, one more thing I need to add. The modded gametypes that people are enjoying in Halo 4 are essentially modified like Megalo gametypes. You don't need a TU to change gametype values. The TU part of the Reach update was really just for sword block and bleed through, it had no effect on bloom. The bloom issue was handled by the introduction of new gametypes.

This means that 343 could fix a lot of Halo 4's issues without a patch. In fact, they could have already fixed them.

I know people joke that modders have fixed Halo 4 gametypes before 343 has but it is actually true. 343 has the tools to make the same changes that modders are making. Actually, 343 has an editor for that particular purpose, the modders are making these changes without the great editor that 343 has.
 
http://majornelson.com/2013/01/17/live-activity-for-week-of-january-7th/

Call of Duty Black Ops 2
Minecraft
FIFA 13
Halo 4

What the fuck is this?

Sucks. Your AAA title on your console. Beaten by a cross platform games and a $20 arcade game. As I said before, this is still sad however I feel about the game. None of us want Halo to die, we just want REAL Halo.

Maybe this wakes 343i up? Surely they can't wait until Halo 5 now, thats 2 years from now min. People move on man.
 

BigShow36

Member
Wonder how Microsoft feels after dumping all of that money into Halo 4 production for it only to be in the 4th spot 2 months after launch.

They don't care much about longevity, they want people to buy the game and then buy a different one within a few months. Why do you think they push so hard to sell "season passes" before the games are even out now. They know that a lot of players will leave the games after a few months, so they sell hard while the hype is high. I don't blame them for it either, it's up to the players to become better consumers.

None of us want Halo to die, we just want REAL Halo.

I want this bastardized shell of "Halo" to die.
 
Just because we haven't played the maps in Spartan Ops doesn't mean we haven't seen the maps in campaign and matchmaking. I'm fairly confident the environments in Spartan Ops Season 1B aren't new.

Season 2, on the other hand, should be totally new, unseen environments.


The problem with Spartan Ops is they presented it like it was this great storytelling experience when it really just turned out to be firefight limited. Limited in options etc.

Again, they can fix this. Use the DLC maps more and have the cutscenes in the middle and end of the chapters as well. You really only need to watch the videos to get the story out of it.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
They don't care much about longevity, they want people to buy the game and then buy a different one within a few months. Why do you think they push so hard to sell "season passes" before the games are even out now. They know that a lot of players will leave the games after a few months, so they sell hard while the hype is high. I don't blame them for it either, it's up to the players to become better consumers.

There's a problem here, though; Halo games are developed on a 2-3 year cycle. They need longevity. This game is dying (yes, I think at this point "dying" is an appropriate term), and unless there's a major TU/unannounced Halo game for 2013, the player base will move on even more than they already have. I don't even know if this game will be in the top 10 in a few months. It sure as hell won't survive for 2-3 years.
 
They don't care much about longevity, they want people to buy the game and then buy a different one within a few months. Why do you think they push so hard to sell "season passes" before the games are even out now. They know that a lot of players will leave the games after a few months, so they sell hard while the hype is high. I don't blame them for it either, it's up to the players to become better consumers.



I want this bastardized shell of "Halo" to die.

No you don't. If MS see's Halo is a dead horse they will put the franchise down. Look at Sony and Twisted Metal. They fucked that game up and Sony would not even give it DLC. You will never see another one. Its all about money.

The answer is 343i has to convince MS to keep developing for the title. I'm sure there are budget issues as they did not plan to have to go back into full time dev to fix half the game. That's not an easy pitch when you hit your sales already.

Plus, most of the people who would buy the maps probably already have.
 
There's a problem here, though; Halo games are developed on a 2-3 year cycle. They need longevity. This game is dying (yes, I think at this point "dying" is an appropriate term), and unless there's a major TU/unannounced Halo game for 2013, the player base will move on even more than they already have. I don't even know if this game will be in the top 10 in a few months. It sure as hell won't survive for 2-3 years.
I think Microsoft is trying to go with an annual release of some kind with 343.

Well, there have been annual releases since Halo 3.
 

BigShow36

Member
There's a problem here, though; Halo games are developed on a 2-3 year cycle. They need longevity. This game is dying (yes, I think at this point "dying" is an appropriate term), and unless there's a major TU/unannounced Halo game for 2013, the player base will move on even more than they already have. I don't even know if this game will be in the top 10 in a few months. It sure as hell won't survive for 2-3 years.

I didn't say they wanted them to buy another Halo game in a few months, just another game on their console. MS knows that in a couple years people will buy the next Halo game, but in the meantime they want them buying other stuff on their console.

No you don't. If MS see's Halo is a dead horse they will put the franchise down. Look at Sony and Twisted Metal. They fucked that game up and Sony would not even give it DLC. You will never see another one. Its all about money.

The answer is 343i has to convince MS to keep developing for the title. I'm sure there are budget issues as they did not plan to have to go back into full time dev to fix half the game. That's not an easy pitch when you hit your sales already.

Plus, most of the people who would buy the maps probably already have.

Yes, I do. I'd rather have no Halo than what we have now. Let MS focus on a new IP or other projects rather than the continued degredation of my most treasured game.
 
Megablocks finally moved to Halo 4's Designs, still no Halo Wars Vulture. =(


There's a problem here, though; Halo games are developed on a 2-3 year cycle. They need longevity. This game is dying (yes, I think at this point "dying" is an appropriate term), and unless there's a major TU/unannounced Halo game for 2013, the player base will move on even more than they already have. I don't even know if this game will be in the top 10 in a few months. It sure as hell won't survive for 2-3 years.

With Incoming Black Ops Map Pack, Crysis 3, Aliens in terms of Multiplayer Halo 4 is pretty much screwed.
 
Yes, I do. I'd rather have no Halo than what we have now. Let MS focus on a new IP or other projects rather than the continued degredation of my most treasured game.
I'm in the same boat, if it meant that all the population sucking up Reach and 4 would be in 3 instead. It wouldn't be ideal, but it would be so much better.
 
http://i.minus.com/jymzSvogO4zd9.png[IMG]

[IMG]http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdcr8i5wup1qfbhp5.gif[IMG]

Kind of shocked that those are my stats. Sniper is way easier to use then in Reach.[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/UjWyI.png

Yeah, I also feel like it's easier, especially the beam rifle.


*sigh* I was so naïve, I really trusted them. In my mind I was like "just wait and see, they're going to shut some mouths", everything changed since the game leaked and we started to get details of everything that was removed, and how the game has turned out to be.

I really try to love Halo 4, as I do with every other Halo game, and yet it seems like 343 try its best to make me dislike Halo 4 and the future of Halo.
 
Wonder what the taxes, registration, insurance, etc., costs are on that.
Anyone smart would take a cash option or sell it immediately.
Why should it? Season 1 part 2 A(the one coming next Monday) is coming with 13 new maps we havent played before, all free. I think that is pretty amazing. Im willing to pay money for that much new content.
It's not free, season 1 is part of the $60 you pay for the game.

Also, 13 new maps that we haven't played before? lol

App > War Games: Matchmaking > Go to the second page (See the >> above) > Scroll down and there it is.

Nope, that's only for each gametype. There is no way to look at overall weapon stats for War Games.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami

When I first saw this gif, I was "Holy shit, they did it. Halo's back!". The gametype BR Slayer implied a return to set starting weapons. The strafe looked so nice, as did the animation. Warhouse appeared to be an instant classic. Then you had Devo's and Domino's writeup, and it appeared 343 had captured lightning in a bottle.
 
Anyone interested in classic settings should read my post above. I'm echoing a lot of things that have been said in the past, but the short of it is that 343 could easily have implemented true classic settings in both Reach and H4 but has chosen not to.
 
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