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Halo |OT15| Beta-tested, GAF approved

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Yes. It was funny, now it's just sad. Campaign challenges appear to be starting another of the same boring loop through each mission that they've been on since launch as well. Separating out challenges into subsections has really hurt them, as it's obvious that the pool for each is really lacking in both quality and quantity of challenges.

I'm convinced there's some technical mess that's not allowing them to change it. It's pretty embarrassing.
 

Booties

Banned
Not at all. My list is 2>CE>4>3>ODST>Reach

IjGGOR1.gif
 

Havok

Member
I'm convinced there's some technical mess that's not allowing them to change it. It's pretty embarrassing.
I figure that has to be the case. Seems like the backend for the challenge systems in both Reach and Halo 4 must be pretty complicated (and somewhat automated), since we still see stuff like Link Up to Bungie.net appearing for 1 cR in Reach...eleven months after Bungie stopped handling Reach stats. So they recognize that there's a problem, but can't remove it from the pool and opt to just change the payout.

I really wish there was a good, easy-to-use resource to tally Halo 4 challenges like the really excellent page Wu had for Reach where you could search for each challenge by name. I've been working on a challenge article for a while now but every time I go back to it I get frustrated having to go through fansites that list the challenges day by day. Without an API it seems like such a pain in the ass to get any good searchable information.
I swore the one in Reach was always super low. Maybe not 4, but like 12k at times. Unless I'm crazy.
The weeklies started out really low (the second weekly was just 1500 cR), but at the same time, the progression system ramped up so slowly in Reach that it made a little bit more sense. Bungie didn't really scale up the payouts very well further along in its lifetime when people needed exponentially more credits to level, but 343 did a decent job of that when they took over.

Honestly, the way 343 has had a firesale on challenge XP, multiplying rewards and dividing requirements by 2-5x so early in the game's life is maybe slightly troubling. Either they want people to rocket through the progression and have all the gameplay items or they aren't seeing the retention they were expecting.
 

Homeboyd

Member
I swore the one in Reach was always super low. Maybe not 4, but like 12k at times. Unless I'm crazy.
You're crazy... Monthly challenges didn't exist in Reach. But yes, there were some bad payouts in Reach that 343 helped to bring up to worthwhile #'s.

Regardless, the golden elite challenge was the kind of challenge I loved to see. Sure there were the "kill X enemies" "get Y assists" "complete this mission with these skulls" but there were so many variables and options compared to h4's system. They are the same damn thing day after day, week after week and month after month. They're so uninspired. Just sucks... I don't care to do any of them.

I used to look up the challenges on my phone in reach almost daily to think about how to tackle them before I jumped on later. I don't even bother to look them up anymore.
 

Zoolader

Member
So too late to submit my FFA map to that contest, or is today the last day?

Never got to playtest it, but it's pretty and reminds me of High Ground.
 
I think it's really interesting how diverse the opinions are on the MP in the original trilogy.

Some really great discussion going on in HaloGAF today.
 

Zoolader

Member
Maybe. My first was Halo CE then 2, then 3.

But I love 3 because of the additions of Forge, Theater (and including screenshots and clips), and the custom game options. Those were more than enough to keep people in the already great multiplayer mode the game had. So I can see why some people would choose 3 above others.

Halo 3 did create the best experience playing customs with friends. You get most of the classic Halo gameplay formula, along with the addition of forge and theater. With forge being able to edit maps, I was able to cater much more to my friends playing styles, as their skills varied greatly. Just changing weapon layouts and spawning made maps play completely different. Watching clips or sharing screenshots from previous Halo get togethers was also alot of fun and a way to retell stories. Those two things added so much longevity and excitement to the game, also let me get creative and play map maker. That puts Halo 3 above Halo 2 imo. Too bad Reach ruined the classic gameplay and Halo 4 is missing half of Halo 3's features. As competitive gampeplay goes, sure Halo 2 is king. What would be a perfect Halo game is Halo 2 gameplay mechanics, Halo 3's game options, armor varients and color pallete, Halo 4's technical prowess minus overly bloom lighting, and a real map maker and custom game browser.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Nice to see HaloGAF submitting maps for the contest. I'll be testing maps this weekend for sure.
 

CliQ

Member
Nice to see HaloGAF submitting maps for the contest. I'll be testing maps this weekend for sure.

Yeah I started working on it when I saw Sythe in doubles. It inspired me to make a 2v2 map and then they announced the contest, so I started to focus on that. Took me a while to make. It's in my fileshare if you want to download it.

GT - xCliQuEx
 
See this is the problem. It wasn't Bungie's canon. It was Microsoft. They commissioned the book after the success of Halo:CE, no one knew what Halo would become. I think this was another factor in the growing gulf between the studio and it's parent company. Was Halo Bungie's? Or was it Microsoft's?

Fall of Reach came out in 2001, and while Bungie tried to utilize it's story or established canon, they ultimately wanted to be in control of their own destiny with regards to their final Halo game. In their words, it was the definitive Halo from the people who brought you Halo. It's different now, because studios generally have a say in what can or cannot be written for books, ie Mass Effect series and now 343 overseeing ALL halo related developments.

It's why I bring up Star Wars Episode VII so much. Disney and JJ Abrams are going to take the series in a new direction. The problem is, there is decades of established canon. But that was before Disney or Abrams was involved. What if they don't utilize what is written? The movies are the primary medium and will probably recon what was established. If Episode VII is a damn good film, would you really hate it because it didn't involve Mara Jade Skywalker, Thrawn etc?

Your Star Wars analogy is good. Most of the Die Hard's did not like the prequels anyway. Similar to how the community disliked changed in Reach. The issue here is 343i took almost everything people did not like and multiplied it x10. If they were trying they could not have made a game that alienated the core community. The frustrating part is the mechanical part of the game is well done, it sucks on purpose.
 

CliQ

Member
Your Star Wars analogy is good. Most of the Die Hard's did not like the prequels anyway. Similar to how the community disliked changed in Reach. The issue here is 343i took almost everything people did not like and multiplied it x10. If they were trying they could not have made a game that alienated the core community. The frustrating part is the mechanical part of the game is well done, it sucks on purpose.

Who is the core community in your opinion?

Ahh!
 
Halo 3 Kill times are best Kill times.

In fact, Halo 3 is the best halo period. Whoa calm it CE bros and H2 nerds I know you are going to argue that either of those games are better but face it. Halo 3 was the pinnacle of what made Halo great without all the garbage those 2 games had being in the way. It had better balance than Halo CE and a more well rounded and useful sandbox and less glitches than Halo 2.

Equipment was better than AA's hands down and loadouts suck. Halo 3, Team Slayer, The Pit ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

Yes

Halo 3 was the best. There's a reason we're all so mad about the changes since then.

and Yes
 

heckfu

Banned
The Core, the people who played Halo MP to death, still play Halo 4 despite the issues and argue with each other all day on HaloGAF and other boards because they love Halo but Halo 4 sucks.
I say this with as much respect as I can and want to convey this isn't a dig, but I think you have a wayyyy over inflated self worth and that the post I quoted is a very narrow point of view.
 

Ken

Member
Suns have cores. Maybe throwing Requiem into the sun was a way of saying the core will eat up whatever 343 throws at them.

Maybe.
 
I want to say Halo 3 was the pinnacle of Halo, overall. Reach is the only one that beats it on features, but the gameplay was changed a lot from the original trilogy, so it's not really hallmark of what Halo was (it's sad that I have to relegate it to the past tense). I would say Halo 2 had better maps and MM than Halo 3, but the abundance of cheaters really threw off the experience, and it had the benefit of no competition. But if you want an example of what game best exemplifies the overall "classic" Halo experience, not just the gunplay/balance, then Halo 3 is it: Forge, Coop, Theatre, Fileshares, Custom Options, etc. Not to mention the best designed Campaign encounters, period, and no game I've played since has come close. That's not to say it's my favourite Halo, though, just the best example of a Halo game, and effectively the last one we got.
 
I say this with as much respect as I can and want to convey this isn't a dig, but I think you have a wayyyy over inflated self worth and that the post I quoted is a very narrow point of view.

Fuck it, let me save you all the trouble


Halogaf_zps38f6cce8.jpg





Just kidding. All I mean really is there is a casual audience who probably rolls with these changes a lot more and a core audience that takes every little thing about the game more serious. I consider the term core though to apply to anything. Like there are core Star Wars fans as opposed to those who just go and see the movie.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
When's that Kevin Franklin interview? I can't wait.

I haven't heard back in a couple weeks so either he's forgotten or extremely busy. My guess is a mix of both. I'll shoot him an email this weekend and see what's up. We're recording a podcast tonight so it will probably be the show after this one that has the interview.

And yea, I can't wait either.

Yeah I started working on it when I saw Sythe in doubles. It inspired me to make a 2v2 map and then they announced the contest, so I started to focus on that. Took me a while to make. It's in my fileshare if you want to download it.

GT - xCliQuEx

Will do. Thanks.
 
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