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[Ramirez]

No offense, but I don't know why you look for those spoilers. It'd kill my interest in the game lol.

I've avoided spoilers in the past for all of the Halo games, then after I complete the game, wonder why I ever cared if I knew what was gonna happen. I'm assuming 4 will be the same way for me.

I've had Primordium spoiled twice on here in the past month and I don't even care, the story simply isn't good enough for me to care really...

Also PAX observations:

1) Why were there so many games that were out already
2) Why is their 2 hour long lines for games that will be out in a fucking week or two (Borderlands 2)
3) Holy fuck I'm not even bothering with that Halo 4 line.

It's like I'm paying absurd amounts of money just to look at a booth setup art gallery.

The actual PAX event is always the low point of the trips when I've went...way too many people with too few booths.

 

[Slightly Live]

Halo 4 Story Spoilers and Speculations

 

[Seance]

God damn it there is a halo4 spoilers thread up. Someone just lock that shit, i can't hold back from clicking on a GAF halo thread for long.

 

[Reagan's BR]

Special Guest Artist on Halo 4: Rob Liefeld

Chief's feet will always be behind a rock in every scene.

That guy just had a major meltdown. Did you see it?



And I'll echo some of the comments about Cortana; she seems completely out of proportion.

 

[wwm0nkey]

after being gone for a few hours I just read those spoilers...hype rising even higher!

 

[Reagan's BR]

God damn it there is a halo4 spoilers thread up. Someone just lock that shit, i can't hold back from clicking on a GAF halo thread for long.

 

[senador]

Halo 4 Story Spoilers and Speculations

Thanks. I really hope this doesn't just lead to everyone having the game ruined and it spreading beyond the thread and stuff.

 

[Fracas]

I don't think that's who people think that is.

Don't correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Reagan's BR]

Juices, your immediate attention is required:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=489580

 

[Reagan's BR]

I don't think that's who people think that is.

Don't correct me if I'm wrong

No idea who it is. It was just a kind of 'huh' face and they posted at the same time.

 

[Slightly Live]

Thanks. I really hope this doesn't just lead to everyone having the game ruined and it spreading beyond the thread and stuff.

What more can I do to accomodate the non-spoiler folks? I'll keep all spoiler stuff to the new thread and out of here.

I love spoilers but I respect those that don't and I would never want to hurt their experience.

 

[Fotos]

What more can I do to accomodate the non-spoiler folks? I'll keep all spoiler stuff to the new thread and out of here.

I love spoilers but I respect those that don't and I would never want to hurt their experience.

Ok your avatar is really starting to creep me out...

 

[senador]

What more can I do to accomodate the non-spoiler folks? I'll keep all spoiler stuff to the new thread and out of here.

I love spoilers but I respect those that don't and I would never want to hurt their experience.

Since you found it, I personally would have preferred you kept it to yourself. If they are really that big, there are going to be news articles and shit soon and it's going to spread to other forums. Going to be hard to avoid.

I appreciate you moving it out of here and marking your previous ones. Its other people discussing them I'm worried about as we have learned lately people suck at spoiler tagged discussion.

 

[nillapuddin]

What more can I do to accomodate the non-spoiler folks? I'll keep all spoiler stuff to the new thread and out of here.

I love spoilers but I respect those that don't and I would never want to hurt their experience.

What your doing isnt a bad thing, Im just a huge canon nerd, and I want to read the book in entirety, so Im really trying to not catch a snippet

For the people who dont like the books, I think its almost a fan service to drop snippets, it will give some people some backstory they wouldnt of had otherwise

 

[Ragnarok Flames]

I don't think that's who people think that is.

Don't correct me if I'm wrong

I think it is

Spoiler

Parangosky, but i dont know how it could be her.

, but Slightly apparently thinks its

Spoiler

Halsey

 

[Slightly Live]

Since you found it, I personally would have preferred you kept it to yourself. If they are really that big, there are going to be news articles and shit soon and it's going to spread to other forums. Going to be hard to avoid.

Excuse me, but I did keep it to myself. And have done. For hours.

I found out that other folks found out too and haven't kept quiet about it so I decided to break the news here. Better me than some kid from waypoint - at least I know I'll spoiler protect it.

Thing is, the cat is out of the bag at this point. Better have it controlled and contained otherwise folks like yourself will have things ruined for you. I do not want to see that happen.

 

[Recarpo]

What more can I do to accomodate the non-spoiler folks? I'll keep all spoiler stuff to the new thread and out of here.

I love spoilers but I respect those that don't and I would never want to hurt their experience.

There isn't much else you can do. Appreciate the spoiler thread, those of us who don't like spoilers just have to be careful where we go just like with almost any other big time release.

 

[Ramirez]

You know what would solve all of this?

A MP vidoc...

 

[senador]

Excuse me, but I did keep it to myself. And have done. For hours.

I found out that other folks found out too and haven't kept quiet about it so I decided to break the news here. Better me than some kid from waypoint - at least I know I'll spoiler protect it.

Thing is, the cat is out of the bag at this point. Better have it controlled and contained otherwise folks like yourself will have things ruined for you. I do not want to see that happen.

Ah didn't know that. My bad and apologies. I'll just have to be careful.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The drive home let me organize my thoughts a bit, which I'll take some time to put down tomorrow in a bit of a mega-post or two. Bulleted lists may ensue.

Beyond all the remaining questions and issues, I arrive home with an overall sense of relief about Halo 4. I sometime joke - without actually joking - that all Reach got wrong was player movement, shooting, melee combat and the grenades. I feel pretty good about all those things in Halo 4, which is to say the core of the game is really solid. For all the other moving parts and worries and open questions, that core is there and it's a good one. It's something Reach simply never had, IMO, and it's for that reason that I'm primarily hopeful about the game.

 

[Ragnarok Flames]

DeadGaf post pax

 

[BLAZER]

The drive home let me organize my thoughts a bit, which I'll take some time to put down tomorrow in a bit of a mega-post or two. Bulleted lists may ensue.

Beyond all the remaining questions and issues, I arrive home with an overall sense of relief about Halo 4. I sometime joke - without actually joking - that all Reach got wrong was player movement, shooting, melee combat and the grenades. I feel pretty good about all those things in Halo 4, which is to say the core of the game is really solid. For all the other moving parts and worries and open questions, that core is there and it's a good one. It's something Reach simply never had, IMO, and it's for that reason that I'm primarily hopeful about the game.

After being hands on, did you think halo 4 will be a community success or fall in its numbers like reach?

 

[kittens]

Hey you, me and Kittens need to meet up soon before my school kicks it into high gear.

I'm down. I want to get in on some IRL HaloGAF hang outs. I'm jelly of everyone who got to meet at PAX.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

on a scale of one to yes how much does frankie have a crush on kiki?

 

[GhaleonEB]

After being hands on, did you think halo 4 will be a community success or fall in its numbers like reach?

I think Halo 4 will be more popular than Reach, both because it got the core right (yay) and because a lot of the stuff that has HaloGAF up in arms is also going to help win the masses over/back. The new systems in Infinity Slayer, for instance, and the investment/progression stuff.

And the campaign looks incredible.

Crashing now. Wall o text tomorrow.

I'm down. I want to get in on some IRL HaloGAF hang outs. I'm jelly of everyone who got to meet at PAX.

Where are you guys located?

 

[Devolution]

on a scale of one to yes how much does frankie have a crush on kiki?

You seem to be the one with a crush bro.

I'm down. I want to get in on some IRL HaloGAF hang outs. I'm jelly of everyone who got to meet at PAX.

You still out in the boonies or in one of the quadrants?

 

[senador]

The flag stuff is a bit of a different story for me.

Good stuff. Thanks for that. Enjoyed the read and I agree.

The drive home let me organize my thoughts a bit, which I'll take some time to put down tomorrow in a bit of a mega-post or two. Bulleted lists may ensue.

Beyond all the remaining questions and issues, I arrive home with an overall sense of relief about Halo 4. I sometime joke - without actually joking - that all Reach got wrong was player movement, shooting, melee combat and the grenades. I feel pretty good about all those things in Halo 4, which is to say the core of the game is really solid. For all the other moving parts and worries and open questions, that core is there and it's a good one. It's something Reach simply never had, IMO, and it's for that reason that I'm primarily hopeful about the game.

Well this is interesting coming from you. Get a chance to play CTF?

 

[kittens]

Where are you guys located?

We're both in Portland.

Are three way PMs possible? If so, we should do that, heh.

 

[DeadNames]

We're both in Portland.

Are three way PMs possible? If so, we should do that, heh.

Portland where?


Edit: damn.. Saw that it was Oregon MaineGAF represent.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Options are always good but really, let's please stop hammering in previous Halos to the current Halo. Playlists that just remove the loadouts - neat. Playlists that try to emulate previous Halos but can't quite get there due to engine support and differences: plz stop

As I've said before, I actually agree with this. I think doing watered down versions of previous games within your game just dilutes everything. Even if I hate your choices, I want you to stick with them; give me options for custom games, but don't sprawl matchmaking to half-heartedly kiss asses.

A couple days later, I still hate the idea of the changes for CTF, though, which used to be my favourite mode. Luckily Oddball and Grifball seem to be much improved. The latter being hammer-based means I still won't have much to do with it, however, at least until I move from Europe to the US.

Announcer spam is worrying right now. You are holding the ball, first touch, ball holder, long bomb, nice catch -- all within seven or eight seconds?

Campaign looks honest-to-God fantastic. The quality of the cutscenes is far and away the best in the series, in terms of graphical fidelity, animation, direction... and I like the idea of it being more of a "soap opera", truly.

 

[Slightly Live]

Still shocked the video had major plot points, in readable script form, in plain sight in the video.

Also, folks keep spoilers to the new spoiler thread - Halo 4 Story Spoilers and Speculations

If you like spoilers, there's a massive wall of text waiting for you that spoils most of the major plot points in the game (but not all, obviously) - so stay the hell away if that's not something you wanna know about.

 

[Plywood]

I just look a closer look at the pic.

Why are her knees so low?

Low knees is the new sharp knees.

 

[GhaleonEB]

We're both in Portland.

Are three way PMs possible? If so, we should do that, heh.

Cool, we should find time to get together. Three way PM's sound like a really hot way to PM.

Good stuff. Thanks for that. Enjoyed the read and I agree.

Well this is interesting coming from you. Get a chance to play CTF?

I did, but I never touched a flag. I spent the entire game respawing, since the other team got 1) the Scorpion and 2) the Gauss Hog and 3) the Banshee and spent the whole game making sure we couldn't do anything other than listen to the announcer remind us that we were supposed to be killing the enemy flag carrier.

As I've said before, I actually agree with this. I think doing watered down versions of previous games within your game just dilutes everything. Even if I hate your choices, I want you to stick with them; give me options for custom games, but don't sprawl matchmaking to half-heartedly kiss asses.

Yes. I'll add to this tomorrow, but it's clear that 343 is putting forward a very clear, bold vision for what Halo is now. I want them to fully embrace it. CTF is reborn - let it be CTF as it is now. Don't shoehorn in CTF classic and whatnot in the mix. Just make it CTF. Likewise with their other updates and game systems. This is Halo 4. Embrace it, or not.

By all means offer a stripped down Slayer experience or two that is sans armor abilities/load outs, but that's different from trying to emulate Halo games past. I really want to see their vision for what Halo is now expressed in matchmaking.

.....

Unless that vision involves me respawning because the other team has the Scorpion and Gauss Hog and Banshee, again.


Just set up the swag piles for the kids; this is the stuff that I had two of; there's another bag with dad's goodies and unique items to figure out what to do with. PAX is like Christmas.

Pop Cap's swag was king this year. Plushies, quality walnut hats, very cool magnet punch-out sets (two kinds!). Super high quality stuff, all Plant vs. Zombie themed, all cool as hell.

 

[G17]

Has HaloGAF at PAX confirmed whether theatre mode will allow a party to watch a film together like Halo 3? (removing that feature killed it's usage post-match in Halo Reach)

 

[kittens]

I'm really glad there's a spoiler thread. Please use it, people.

Those PvZ hats are awesome!

 

[Shake Appeal]

Still shocked the video had major plot points, in readable script form, in plain sight in the video.

Maybe 343 aren't quite aware yet that Halo fans go frame-by-frame.

I did, but I never touched a flag. I spent the entire game respawing, since the other team got 1) the Scorpion and 2) the Gauss Hog and 3) the Banshee and spent the whole game making sure we couldn't do anything other than listen to the announcer remind us that we were supposed to be killing the enemy flag carrier.

I heard the Scorpion is 'rad'.

 

[Tunavi]

that vidoc was jaw dropping

 

[Demoncarnotaur]

I try to get over it sometimes but it's like every fucking game man, even this one an AI.

Yeah, I mean its impressive how the really have detailed her, and made her feel more alive, but I think they went too far in making her so curvy now.

Still, I appreciate that it could be worse, and I can still take her seriously as a character... its just the change seems unnecessary. Ah well. I'm beating a dead horse on a ship that has sailed at this point, but it still bugs me.

 

[PNut]

A MP vidoc...

Hot this week on youtube.

 

[kittens]

I'm torn on the new model for Cortana. At times she just looks more naked, but it doesn't feel necessarily objectifying or sexualized. It's just a matter of fact, more realized image of what she was always supposed to look like. But then at times she does seem overtly sexual, and sexualized, and it's at those times that I don't like the new direction. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Omni]

Yeah, I mean its impressive how the really have detailed her, and made her feel more alive, but I think they went too far in making her so curvy now.

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

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

Still, I appreciate that it could be worse, and I can still take her seriously as a character... its just the change seems unnecessary. Ah well. I'm beating a dead horse on a ship that has sailed at this point, but it still bugs me.[/QUOTE]

The hair is the thing that bothers me most.

 

[Devolution]

Check your pms fellas .

 

[Noricart]

Yeah, I mean its impressive how the really have detailed her, and made her feel more alive, but I think they went too far in making her so curvy now.

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

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

Still, I appreciate that it could be worse, and I can still take her seriously as a character... its just the change seems unnecessary. Ah well. I'm beating a dead horse on a ship that has sailed at this point, but it still bugs me.[/QUOTE]

If she was transparent like before it wouldn't bother me as much, but now she looks closer to a person and gives off that odd vibe. The A.I in Halo Wars was super sexualized, but it didn't bother me at all. Cortana on the the other hand... just rubs me weirdly.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Shoutout was at the end of Josh Holmes saying "Hey HaloGaf!" for getting donged on during the second hump day.

"Hey Josh, you salty?"

lol so good.

Spoiler

Get shit on!

I think all this point stuff is going to take griefing in Objective to another level. I'm curious as to what they're going to do to make players want to actually complete the objective because +100 flag cap for one player isn't going to be enough.

There is a large number of point incentives to grab the flag, help the flag carrier, and defend against your flag being stolen and scored, but the real incentive for people to grab the flag will be the same as it was in Halo CE, H2, H3, Reach, and any other game that's ever had CTF, to win the damn game!


I won't be going tomorrow, so my PAX experience is complete. I have to drive 5 hours tomorrow, but at some point tomorrow I plan to make my big write-up about my experience, the game, and any questions that I may be able to answer. The good stuff and my concerns.

Couple random thoughts based on catching up with this thread:
-CTF is fun, fast, and intense. It is very different than any past CTF gametype in Halo? Absolutely. Does that mean that it isn't very good based on its own merit? Absolutely not.
-Got to use the Incinerator Cannon today. The thing shits, absolutely death cannon as some other GAFers found out.
-The core gameplay is good, and it's focused a lot on gunplay, and that gunplay is very good.

 

[kittens]

Just saw the CTF panel demo. The new announcements are sooooo annoying. But I'll probably stop noticing them after a week.

Also hearing that they wanted to make the flag carrier the "ultimate bad ass" made me laugh. The ultimate bad ass who involuntarily picks up the flag and can't set it down to defend themself...

Oh well. I'm still salty, but also still excited.

 

[Garrett 2U]

Just saw the CTF panel demo. The new announcements are sooooo annoying. But I'll probably stop noticing them after a week.

Also hearing that they wanted to make the flag carrier the "ultimate bad ass" made me laugh. The ultimate bad ass who involuntarily picks up the flag and can't set it down to defend themself...

Oh well. I'm still salty, but also still excited.

I think it would be interesting if they buffed the flagnum to be a skill weapon capable of defeating players at close-medium range.
Like a mix between CE and Halo Reach pistol in effectiveness.
Something that was useful in capable hands.

 

[Slightly Live]

I still don't understand why they made the changes to objectives that they did.

Why make the flag and bomb both auto pick up?
Why can't you intentionally drop drop the flag?
Why have you taken options away from the player in these instances?
How do these changes positively affect the way objective is played?

I'm happy to accept these changes and I'll wait to see how it plays out but I'd really like to hear 343's justifications for their new direction. I'm happy that they are taking ownership of Halo in these kind of ways, but it doesn't mean they can't justify or explain themselves.

 

[Shake Appeal]

The weirdest thing to me is that while they've decided to constrain the range of actions available to both individual and team in CTF, they've gone completely the other way with Oddball and Grifball, giving you more options than ever as a ball carrier and as the ball carrier's team, more to consider as the ball carrier's opponent, and tools that will open widen the skill gap for those who invest the time in thinking about them and mastering them.

Did different designers work on CTF and the ball types?

Why make the flag and bomb both auto pick up?

Bomb autopick is even weirder because you could conceivably have situations where someone fires the Oddball at a teammate who is unaware, and the latter suddenly finds themselves holding the ball. I feel like a passing game should be dependent both on the action to pass and the action to catch. Timing the catch should be as important as nailing the throw. Again, this would make the action inherently rewarding (because you have to do something other than be in the right place), and widen the skill gap so players who practice this stuff will be rewarded with possibilities and performance, not just points.

 

[Seance]

Jeff Steitzer...... Never before did i think i would be so goddamn sick of hearing his voice but 343 made it happen:
"YOUR FLAG TAKEN!"
"PROTECT YOUR FLAG!"
"ENEMY FLAG DOWN!"
"FLAGSASSINATION!"
Also he puts way to much emphasis into every word, making it sound forced and awkward. Almost sounds like someone else doing the announcements, just taking the piss out of him.

 

[crazybydefault]

Big thanks to Duncan for the dinner invite! It was awesome!