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[ViewtifulJC]

RIP in peace Plywood

 

[StalkerUKCG]

The comments from Josh seem promising, anyone agree?

I want to believe

 

[GrizzNKev]

The comments from Josh seem promising, anyone agree?

It sounds to me like they might try to accommodate people who like balance better at H5 launch while still moving forward with Infinity BS as the basis for 'new' Halo.

So, no. I won't get my hopes up until I see proof.

 

[Nowise10]

I don't like this OT

 

[Syphon Filter]

I don't like this OT

why not?

 

[ViewtifulJC]

The comments from Josh seem promising, anyone agree?

Have you learned nothing from Halo 4?

 

[Nowise10]

why not?

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds. Plus the note saying not to buy the map packs.

I'd rather have someone with some (maturity...?) make an OT, as this honestly is just childish looking.

 

[Steelyuhas]

The comments from Josh seem promising, anyone agree?

No, acknowledging complaints doesn't design a game.

---------

I've really been dropping plenty of "lol wuts" when ready about the MM updates lately.

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds.

Because HGS

 

[Rickenslacker]

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds.

It's a hint towards a HaloGAF easter egg, so try and figure it out.

 

[The Real Napsta]

Best OT since Kyle's. Great job booties.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Have you learned nothing from Halo 4?

i did,waiting and seeing how halo 5 is before even considering getting 720 .

 

[CyReN]

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds. Plus the note saying not to buy the map packs.

I'd rather have someone with some (maturity...?) make an OT, as this honestly is just childish looking.

are you going to buy the map pack?

 

[Tashi]

The following playlists will use individual scoring and measure your performance against all others in the game. This ensures that the players who play the best in each match will have their CSR adjusted accordingly. Players who win consistently in these playlists will rank up faster than they will in the playlists that use team scoring.

Uhhh ohhhhh

Playlists that use individual scoring:

Infinity Slayer
Big Team Infinity Slayer
Rumble Pit
Multi-Team
Team Action Sack
Flood
Team Snipers
Regicide
SWAT

Infinity Slayer - Casual settings
BTB Infinity - Casual
Rumble Bit - Makes sense
Multi-Team - Casual
Action Sack - Casual
Flood - Casual
Team Snipers - Kinda makes sense
Regicide - Makes sense/Casual
SWAT - Kinda makes sense

The following playlists will use team scoring, and your CSR will be based off wins and losses. This system rewards players who work towards the objective and win the match. It will take longer to rank up in these playlists.

Playlists that will use team scoring:

Castle Team DLC
Team Objective
Capture the Flag
Dominion
Team Throwdown
Team Doubles
Grifball

Castle Team DLC - Sure why not
Team Objective - Makes sense and is necessary
CTF - Makes sense and is necessary
Dominion - Makes sense and is necessry
Throwdown - Makes sense and is necessary
Team Doubles - Makes sense and is necessary
Grifball - Both casual and hardcore but it certainly makes sense and is necessary

In the mainstream playlists, we sort players by their performance (score) after every match, regardless of whether their team won or lost. The system will expect the players with the highest CSR values to rank consistently higher in the match. So if you bring all your awesome friends into those playlists and they dominate while you end up at the bottom of the scoreboard, your rating will NOT be carried by them; it will decrease instead. Your friends’ CSRs won’t change much since the system already expects them to do well. For these playlists, it will be very hard for friends to carry another player without bringing down their own CSRs and risking losing a lot of matches.

Mainstream = Casual

Interesting setup considering it doesn't really promote competing for rank with your friends. You'll be competing AGAINST your friends for kills and power weapons to rank up faster than they will.(Especially considering you could win and level down) That was the problem with Arena (the competing against your friends part). However, I do think that the major difference is that Arena was all the competitive community had(in the beginning) and these "mainstream" playlists are just that, mainstream/casual. Ranks don't matter and if you happen to want a rank in Action Sack and Flood, it's there for you. This is a surprisingly nice solution and I'm actually pretty thrilled to see that 343 recognizes which playlists are competitive and casual. That's significant.

We use this in the mainstream playlists because it is incomparably faster at finding the skill of the players and making sure better players get into challenging matches in a timely fashion (and newer players get into fun matches in a reasonable timeframe as well). Our priority on these main playlists is on fast, fair Matchmaking instead of having a pure skill measure. It is also for this reason that we would not consider these playlists as competitive, and the resulting CSRs more of a fun, skill-related value than a pure skill measure.

That makes sense. For those who don't care about ranks, it will be business as usual in the casual playlists.

In select playlists, instead of updating CSR based on the rank of every player, we will update based on the total skill in each team and who won the match. This makes teamwork as important as your solo play. The CSR on these playlists will be technically more pure from a competitive point of view. It will also take longer for these CSRs to converge but when they do, they will more accurately represent a player’s ability to help their team win. To get a 50 in the more prestigious playlists will require players skilled enough to consistently bring the win to their entire team so that they can be matched against better and better players.

Totally cool with all this. Expected and necessary

Now, can you then carry a worse player? In a sense, yes, but only as high as the average skill of the group. Two 40s won’t bring a 10 up to a 40, but instead they will all end up around 30. Does that accurately represent that 10’s skill? Well, if that 10 plays alone, then no, it is grossly overestimating that player’s skill. However, if that player ALWAYS plays with two 40 CSR friends, then 20 of that player's skill is playing with the right friends.

This is interesting. It's the mixed party thing in Halo 3. Does the game search matchmaking based on Average skill as well? Would it search for mixed parties or would it go by the highest ranked player? I wonder how that all works.

If you leave early once a match has started, it treats it as if you were the lowest rank in the match for the individual-scored playlists and as a loss on the team-scored playlists. Players that join in progress are currently treated as if they had played the entire match. That said, in our selected, more competitive playlists, there will be rules in place to mitigate the effect. Namely:

-You can only join in progress during a small window of time in the beginning of the match, so those players will still have time to contribute meaningfully to the match.
-Friends are not allowed to join a game in progress. Only random players searching through Matchmaking can join during that 60-second window.

The rules for these playlists restrict the amount of noise from Join-in-Progress since that feature is only possible during the first few moments of the match. They also help improve the purity of CSR in these playlists. We plan on putting in these Join-in-Progress parameters as close to CSR launch as possible.

First part makes sense and is necessary. That's expected.

For the team ranked playlists, Join in Progress is there for randoms in the first 60 seconds. I think that there's some value to this in that often times matches start without full teams because people backout before the game starts. However a minute might be too long. A lot can happen in a minute especially in objective gametypes. If you look at CTF and Extraction, going down a Point in those gametypes with uneven teams is very possible in the first minute. It makes me very cautious about going into matchmaking alone, especially in playlists where I care about my rank. I think though if you're already in the game when a uneven match starts, getting a player or 2 to fill the spots and at least try to salvage a ranked match is kinda nice.

We are actively investigating occasional CSR resets, both globally and for certain playlists. Reasons for resetting ranks include overhauls to CSR calculation, Halo 4 game updates, and events and promotions centered on CSR. Resetting CSR is not something we’re taking lightly so when we do reset it, we’ll be sure to provide ample messaging describing the reasons for doing so.

I'm cool with this. The MLG playlist in Halo 3 could have used a reset or two considering the vast vast majority of the players got a 50.

No mention about guests though, which is potentially a real issue. I would hope 343 would rule guests out of the more competitive playlists but leave them in the mainstream/casual playlists. That would seem to fit in line with their current direction for CSR.

Overall, I'm still really bummed I'll have to keep looking on Waypoint to see my rank go up or down. However, the division of these mainstream and competitive playlists and 343's recognition of the difference legitimately surprised me and I'm pleased about that. In the end though, I'm looking forward to getting my 50 in Throwdown and Doubles. If and when these other competitive playlists get good, I would certainly like to play those as well.

Also, want to give a Congratulations to the Forge FFA Contest winners. Big Congrats to HaloGAF's own ShiftyKiwi for Opus. Definitely my favorite map out of the bunch. Nice job man!

 

[Nowise10]

are you going to buy the map pack?

Yeah I was planning on it

 

[Korosenai]

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds. Plus the note saying not to buy the map packs.

I'd rather have someone with some (maturity...?) make an OT, as this honestly is just childish looking.

It's just a thread on an internet forum.

 

[orznge]

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds. Plus the note saying not to buy the map packs.

I'd rather have someone with some (maturity...?) make an OT, as this honestly is just childish looking.

Same here. Some of these OTs have such an unprofessional vibe to them. If I ran this place and you wanted to make an OT you'd have to go through the NeoGAF PR director and get the lowdown from 343 on what they'll allow in the OP.

 

[Steelyuhas]

This is interesting. It's the mixed party thing in Halo 3. Does the game search matchmaking based on Average skill as well? Would it search for mixed parties or would it go by the highest ranked player? I wonder how that all works.

Fairly certain that the game searches based on average trueskill of the party (in H3, Reach, and H4).

 

[Tashi]

Fairly certain that the game searches based on average trueskill of the party (in H3, Reach, and H4).

Oh ok. Thanks.

 

[vhfive]

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds. Plus the note saying not to buy the map packs.

I'd rather have someone with some (maturity...?) make an OT, as this honestly is just childish looking.

no one reads the OP after the first 5 pages so who cares what is on it

 

[Nowise10]

no one reads the OP after the first 5 pages so who cares what is on it

Its taints the thread as a whole

Although you are right, I'd still like it to be better

 

[Havok]

For the team ranked playlists, Join in Progress is there for randoms in the first 60 seconds. I think that there's some value to this in that often times matches start without full teams because people backout before the game starts. However a minute might be too long. A lot can happen in a minute especially in objective gametypes. If you look at CTF and Extraction, going down a Point in those gametypes with uneven teams is very possible in the first minute. It makes me very cautious about going into matchmaking alone, especially in playlists where I care about my rank. I think though if you're already in the game when a uneven match starts, getting a player or 2 to fill the spots and at least try to salvage a ranked match is kinda nice.

As to the bolded: just use the Network menu trick to back out of JIP games before it goes to the loading screen. It's what I have to resort to nearly every time I play.

Totally agree about a minute being a long time to be placed into a match. I still desperately wish for a JIP toggle, because the beginning of the match is really interesting and I hate not getting to participate in the opening rush. It's a life or death period, a team that loses the rush to every one of those starting weapons (because, say, they're a man down) is in a seriously dangerous position and can pretty easily be pushed back for a capture.

I still cannot fathom why they let people - scratch that, entire teams back out of pregame lobbies. I understand it's a carryover from their rolling lobbies that don't have an intermission (something that is bizarre on its own), but c'mon. Your playerbase is already going to take every opportunity and exploit available to them to make sure they get a favorable match (either by looking at enemy KDR or just the map/gametype pool), don't further empower them to do so. If somebody backs out in the pregame lobby...restart the damn matchmaking process until you find someone to fill in the gap. It's what I've wanted Halo to have for years now, and JIP isn't fast enough to make up for it. I like the idea of JIP as it applies to social experiences, but it does a lot of harm along with the good.

 

[Obscured]

Still catching up. The end of the last OT seemed to be going so well, and then... what... happened? Seems like whatever seeped a bit into this one.

FyreWulff's video of using the Wii-U controls still makes me feel wobbly, I don't think I've ever seen such an accurate portrayal of intoxication in video game form (how it looked on screen, not that he was drunk).

Seemed like a pretty good bulletin, seems like a fair amount of thought went into how they were going to approach the Skill Ranks. I like how they laid out some of the thought process of what they were going for and why they made those decisions.

I've been satisfied with this game (while wishing for more on some fronts), but haven't felt like I understood how 343 came to some of the decisions they did and kind of chalked it up to being a fairly fresh group of people working together and hadn't gotten to that gelled state yet. I kind of feel like maybe they are getting there. Looking forward to what continuing support looks like.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

http://www.twitch.tv/sometimesimepic/old#

 

[Tashi]

holy shit juices

As to the bolded: just use the Network menu trick to back out of JIP games before it goes to the loading screen. It's what I have to resort to nearly every time I play.

Totally agree about a minute being a long time to be placed into a match. I still desperately wish for a JIP toggle, because the beginning of the match is really interesting and I hate not getting to participate in the opening rush. It's a life or death period, a team that loses the rush to every one of those starting weapons (because, say, they're a man down) is in a seriously dangerous position and can pretty easily be pushed back for a capture.

I still cannot fathom why they let people - scratch that, entire teams back out of pregame lobbies. I understand it's a carryover from their rolling lobbies that don't have an intermission (something that is bizarre on its own), but c'mon. Your playerbase is already going to take every opportunity and exploit available to them to make sure they get a favorable match (either by looking at enemy KDR or just the map/gametype pool), don't further empower them to do so. If somebody backs out in the pregame lobby...restart the damn matchmaking process until you find someone to fill in the gap. I like the idea of JIP as it applies to social experiences, but it does a lot of harm along with the good.

I try that trick! It hasn't worked for me for some reason. It doesn't let me click through to change my network. It used to work but doesn't now.

And yea, I wasn't even thinking about the power weapons and stuff. Overshield is a such a huge factor in Throwdown.

I use that back out thing when I get gametypes that I don't like. It is cheap though.

I hope they have the means to tweak JiP relatively quickly.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Can I marry her?

Spoiler

I don't care how many people she has fucked

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

Oh we're staying here? Reposting because it's that amazing:


BattleBlock Theater is the greatest fucking game ever. Go download that shit right now.

I haven't laughed this hard in so long.. but make sure you play it co op for the best experience lol - I actually cried.

Whoa, that's out!? I've been looking forward to it for so long I missed the release date!

Yup, sneakily came out today. It's cool alone, but playing with a friend is hilarious.

I wish I had somebody to play it with. My brother only acknowledges the existence of CoD now so he's out of the question.

If they'd made it for the 3DS I'd have bought it Day 1.

Add me on XBL. GT: a zoojoo

 

[Havok]

holy shit juices

I try that trick! It hasn't worked for me for some reason. It doesn't let me click through to change my network. It used to work but doesn't now.

And yea, I wasn't even thinking about the power weapons and stuff. Overshield is a such a huge factor in Throwdown.

I use that back out thing when I get gametypes that I don't like. It is cheap though.

I hope they have the means to tweak JiP relatively quickly.

Oh, bizarre. It never works for me when I'm in a party with someone, but it always works when I'm searching solo.

Backing out pregame feels kind of scummy sometimes, but it's the only thing that's saved my sanity in playlists like CTF. So often the voting block is Settler CTF/Infinity/Infinity and if I couldn't back out I just wouldn't play it. There is a lot of garbage in some of these playlists (so it's still a Halo game), and it's pretty hard to blame people for forcing what might as well be a "None of the above" vote.

 

[GrizzNKev]

That woman is not very attractive....

Halo.

 

[Tashi]

Oh, bizarre. It never works for me when I'm in a party with someone, but it always works when I'm searching solo.

Backing out pregame feels kind of scummy sometimes, but it's the only thing that's saved my sanity in playlists like CTF. So often the voting block is Settler whatever/Infinity/Infinity and if I couldn't back out I just wouldn't play it.

Ohhh that might be the problem! But I was sure I tried to do it in Doubles yesterday but I could be mistaken.

I'm hoping that since 343 recognizes Infinity BTB and Slayer to be more mainstream and casual, that they'll remove the Infinity Gametypes from the playlists that they deemed more competitive for CSR. It only makes sense.

 

[Stellactic]

So I fired up Halo 4 after being completely let down by it on release. And holy balls this game stinks. And I see they reintroduced the quit ban. I've stuck with halo since day one and I really wanted to get back into this one, but I believe I'm going to let this one go. Sadly I had more fun on Reach, but this game is just not fun to me. Once I saw the quit ban I knew it would be the end. It is sad times Gaf.

Any good FPS multiplayer games out there currently, or am I going to have to wait for Bungie to revive the genre?

 

[Obscured]

For the team ranked playlists, Join in Progress is there for randoms in the first 60 seconds. I think that there's some value to this in that often times matches start without full teams because people backout before the game starts. However a minute might be too long. A lot can happen in a minute especially in objective gametypes. If you look at CTF and Extraction, going down a Point in those gametypes with uneven teams is very possible in the first minute. It makes me very cautious about going into matchmaking alone, especially in playlists where I care about my rank. I think though if you're already in the game when a uneven match starts, getting a player or 2 to fill the spots and at least try to salvage a ranked match is kinda nice.

Hadn't thought about that, but I'll probably run into that a lot. Seems like I am always solo for those playlists, and as I'll be solo probably shoved into JIP matches a lot. Oh well, I guess there will be some challenge for me to see if I can overcome it. Hopefully it won't end up actually happening that often.

 

[Rickenslacker]

So I fired up Halo 4 after being completely let down by it on release. And holy balls this game stinks. And I see they reintroduced the quit ban. I've stuck with halo since day one and I really wanted to get back into this one, but I believe I'm going to let this one go. Sadly I had more fun on Reach, but this game is just not fun to me. Once I saw the quit ban I knew it would be the end. It is sad times Gaf.

Any good FPS multiplayer games out there currently, or am I going to have to wait for Bungie to revive the genre?

Quake Live, CS:GO, TF2

 

[Barrow Roll]

Oddball Sword base anyone?

 

[xxjuicesxx]

That woman is not very attractive....

Halo.

Not everyone can pull in 10s every night...

Can I marry her?

Spoiler

I don't care how many people she has fucked

Shes engaged.

 

[wwm0nkey]

They could have used better wording in the Bulletin when regarding the backlash from GDC. It just seemed like they thought it was the only hard core competitive community complaining or something when that is far from what is happening.

I hope its just bad wording.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Shes engaged.

Lucky fella.

 

[Trasher]

I don't get why Bugs bunny is plastered all over the cover, or the cheap sparkly .gif that looks like something from an advertisement on a website you didnt mean to go on, and it looks like it was made within like 30 seconds. Plus the note saying not to buy the map packs.

I'd rather have someone with some (maturity...?) make an OT, as this honestly is just childish looking.

That wasn't very nice.

 

[Tunavi]

So I fired up Halo 4 after being completely let down by it on release. And holy balls this game stinks. And I see they reintroduced the quit ban. I've stuck with halo since day one and I really wanted to get back into this one, but I believe I'm going to let this one go. Sadly I had more fun on Reach, but this game is just not fun to me. Once I saw the quit ban I knew it would be the end. It is sad times Gaf.

Any good FPS multiplayer games out there currently, or am I going to have to wait for Bungie to revive the genre?

Murder Miners

 

[GrizzNKev]

Not everyone can pull in 10s every night...

I do.

I call her, "girlfriend"

 

[Plywood]

RIP in peace Plywood

I didn't ask for this.

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

I do.

I call her, "girlfriend"

/tear

 

[CyReN]

They could have used better wording in the Bulletin when regarding the backlash from GDC. It just seemed like they thought it was the only hard core competitive community complaining or something when that is far from what is happening.

I hope its just bad wording.

It's a common trait.

• Bandwidth (We take it as literal when it's just development time)
• War Games (343 calls mp, we call it multiplayer)
• Competitive (People who play any form of mp, we take it as "MLG Players")

These are totally different words for the community.

 

[The Real Napsta]

I do.

I call her, "girlfriend"

Try calling her by her first name. They like that.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

I do.

I call her, "girlfriend"

Just stop, you're embarrassing yourself.

 

[J10]

So I fired up Halo 4 after being completely let down by it on release. And holy balls this game stinks. And I see they reintroduced the quit ban. I've stuck with halo since day one and I really wanted to get back into this one, but I believe I'm going to let this one go. Sadly I had more fun on Reach, but this game is just not fun to me. Once I saw the quit ban I knew it would be the end. It is sad times Gaf.

Any good FPS multiplayer games out there currently, or am I going to have to wait for Bungie to revive the genre?

Bungie ain't reviving shit. A pseudo-MMO FPS in development for five years will have a lot to recoup, especially after marketing. You can be sure they'll be catering to the lowest common denominator like every one else with brain dead gameplay mechanics. Either enjoy what you're getting or find something else to play.

 

[GrizzNKev]

/tear

Try calling her by her first name. They like that.

Just stop, you're embarrassing yourself.

Cortana


10/10 QT3.14

 

[Twilight Gap]

Best thing about Halo 4

 

[Purplemage]

I'm down for Reach if anyone else is still on it. I've had enough 4 tonight.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Cortana is modeled from Holly Michaels.

 

[heckfu]

I would get on Reach but I'm about to get on Bioshock Infinite for the next 4 hours.

I literally woke up and wished work was over so I could play...been a while since that's happened with any game.