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Halo |OT8| A Salt on the Control Room

AsdGb.jpg
Timothy called.
living-daylights-timothy-dalton-james-bond.jpg
 

Defect

Member
A friend of mine posted this in a bnet group that I am in and it worked for him so...here.

We are devastatingly aware of what the August Matchmaking update did to Reach, it was so bad to the fact that we can get refunded. I [shit] you not, let me explain.

When Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary was released, it fulfilled what it was officially said to do by developers, Microsoft, and the very back of the game case itself. What it did was give us online matchmaking access to all six maps and have up to 16 players in a matchmaking map.

With the August MM update we can no longer play all the maps in matchmaking nor have 16 players in matchmaking on those maps. 343 Industries has now failed to deliver what was officially promised by them and Microsoft. The fact they once DID doesn't matter, Anniversary/Reach is the current Halo game and the players no longer get what was promised.

If you want to be reimbursed in the form of MS points I bet you that you can get ahold of an employee on live chat on Xbox.com, explain the problem, and they'll refund you. I'm doing this right now.

I would also like to point out that it worked, he was given 1000 points to spend on what ever he wanted.

The box does not promise 16 player matchmaking. It says "online multiplayer, 2-16" players. You can play customs online with 16 players. BTB matchmaking was never promised.

I sympathize with the sentiment, but I don't think it has merit. I'm quite surprised to see them offering points for this, and am dubious that is actually the case.

Oh well. I'm going to try this later today to see if I can get refunded for the Defiant/Noble maps since it was a complete waste of money :/
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
You can still be competitive without stats. In fact, I'd say they do really little as opposed to outlining your basics like spreads and weapon use. Analyzing replays is a much better tool for that. The stats in this case not being an advocatation for abolishing a ranking system.

Anyone in sports will tell you.. Both stats and video are critical

Same holds true for video games

Statistics are vital... Halo needs even more, not less.

Things like times killed when killer was in focus

Average walking speed relative to everyone else

Percentage of times you engaged first

Not all in game, of course. But online I wish we had a serious amount of information overload... These stats and many more like it are incredibly useful even though few will know how to utilize the information to their advantage
 
Anyone in sports will tell you.. Both stats and video are critical

Same holds true for video games

Statistics are vital... Halo needs even more, not less.

Things like times killed when killer was in focus

Average walking speed relative to everyone else

Percentage of times you engaged first

Not all in game, of course. But online I wish we had a serious amount of information overload... These stats and many more like it are incredibly useful even though few will know how to utilize the information to their advantage

I think you're thinking of it a different way. I would love to see stats like that, stats that help me to analyze a player more deeply. But people start to care too much about their stats and inflating them, rather than simply accepting what the hard numbers say about their play.

it's a problem in some games.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
A friend of mine posted this in a bnet group that I am in and it worked for him so...here.

The box does not promise 16 player matchmaking. It says "online multiplayer, 2-16" players. You can play customs online with 16 players. BTB matchmaking was never promised.

I sympathize with the sentiment, but I don't think it has merit. I'm quite surprised to see them offering points for this, and am dubious that is actually the case.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
I think you're thinking of it a different way. I would love to see stats like that, stats that help me to analyze a player more deeply. But people start to care too much about their stats and inflating them, rather than simply accepting what the hard numbers say about their play.

it's a problem in some games.

Some people rely on direct stats (K:D) as motivation

You can't just rip that away :p
 
You must have missed the ranking system meltdown from the last OT. I agree with you that you can be competitive without stats, but to remove them would do more harm than good. They provide incentive.
They also provide frustration I imagine. I wonder what the populations of Living Dead and Griffball would be without the types that simply use it to farm kills. I wonder if people would quit less if they didn't feel like being placed on a bad team would just drop their KDR. I feel it does have an effect on the mentality of people going in, and it's a handy thing to look at ever now and then, but even keeping that system can possibly prove to do more harm than good.
 
Some people rely on direct stats (K:D) as motivation

You can't just rip that away :p

I know, it's just an inherent problem with the system that people are going to try to abuse it in order to look better than they are.

You should use a low k/d as motivation to get better at the game, not to cheat the system by, say, dashboarding in CoD in order to stop bad games from being applied to your stats.

There's really no way to fix that that I can think of, besides making sure to put a bunch of failsafes in that count stats no matter what. But people will always try to inflate their stats and that's a shame.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
They also provide frustration I imagine. I wonder what the populations of Living Dead and Griffball would be without the types that simply use it to farm kills. I wonder if people would quit less if they didn't feel like being placed on a bad team would just drop their KDR. I feel it does have an effect on the mentality of people going in, and it's a handy thing to look at ever now and then, but even keeping that system can possibly prove to do more harm than good.

Living dead and griffball are just examples of not using modularity to expand to different gameplay concepts.

Grifball is solely based around scoring points. Living dead is just fun.

They just didnt build in the necessary components in the game to portray the relevant stats. In the end it doesn't really matter
 

Tawpgun

Member
That's a shame. But yeah you definitely get used to it and stop losing track of him the more you know and master his moves. Playing on Though or higher (where one or two hit deaths can happen often out of nowhere) really makes you focus on what you're doing and the combat really shines.







v

yeah, I can see many people not being able
to get past the animal characters in this internet age after they've being robbed of their innocence. Really wish Noogy had gone in a different direction with the characters, even if only so the they didn't turn so many people off.
I'm finding the dialogue/plot oddly enjoyable though
Beat the game two days ago. Combat was amazing, story was ok, visuals were gorgeous...

Wasn't a fan of the furries and the voice acting and writing sounded like it was straight oit of an English anime dub.

And fidget was annoying at times
 
Anyone in sports will tell you.. Both stats and video are critical

Same holds true for video games

Statistics are vital... Halo needs even more, not less.

Things like times killed when killer was in focus

Average walking speed relative to everyone else

Percentage of times you engaged first

Not all in game, of course. But online I wish we had a serious amount of information overload... These stats and many more like it are incredibly useful even though few will know how to utilize the information to their advantage
More stats would definitely be cool, but maybe if they kept them private so that only you could view your own would serve to make them more of a learning tool rather than something to be abused and farmed. I guess I just take on a more "this is why we can't have nice things" approach off the bat.
 

senador

Banned
I tried the demo too and agreed that it was a bit overtalkative, in fact the less a game can convey to me with words the better. Though what do you define as "too much furry weirdness"? Just the fact that the characters themselves are anthropomorphized animals?

Yeah that. Wario64 said in a Tweet that "this game is made for furries." You know, people into animals and dressing up as them and stuff? I can't really get that word out of my head for describing it. Maybe not accurate, but yes I meant the anthropomorphized animal stuff.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
More stats would definitely be cool, but maybe if they kept them private so that only you could view your own would serve to make them more of a learning tool rather than something to be abused and farmed. I guess I just take on a more "this is why we can't have nice things" approach off the bat.

People are inherently dumb

I've had kids bash me all throughout the game as the reason we were losing because my kill count is so low (say 6 kills)

Then we all get to the post game and I'm the only one with a positive k:d on the team

In a way, it makes me feel good to let them see how absolutely stupid they are
 
Yeah that. Wario64 said in a Tweet that "this game is made for furries." You know, people into animals and dressing up as them and stuff? I can't really get that word out of my head for describing it. Maybe not accurate, but yes I meant the anthropomorphized animal stuff.
Haha I was more wondering if it was anything that they were doing more than just their designs. Though if that's too much for you that's unfortunate I guess. The internet's simply ruined that style of character design for a lot of people.
 

heckfu

Banned
Uhh...I didn't quit that game. It went to black screen and when it came back everyone else had 'quit'...don't really know what happened.
 

FyreWulff

Member
A significant problem with server lists is always the player anxiety factor. Doing good? Get kicked by the admin. Team balance? No, the admin will make sure his buddies are always on the same team. And don't get me started on the bullshit that is the Halo 2 Vista server browser list spam and the fact that if you don't like Snipers Foundation or MLG Midship, you're straight outta luck, son.

Also, the CGB would eventually become it's own meta playlist of sorts. Now you're back at square one, except it's a playlist that's annoying to use.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Good games, yall. Sorry for the sudden back out, I didn't want to get locked into another match.
 

feel

Member
I love how it is in CSGO, you can use matchmaking and jump fast into an official no-bullshit Valve owned server with default rules, default player counts and etc, or you can go and explore the community servers list where you can find all kinds of stuff.
 
I love how it is in CSGO, you can use matchmaking and jump fast into an official no-bullshit Valve owned server with default rules, default player counts and etc, or you can go and explore the community servers list where you can find all kinds of stuff.
I'm actually very interested in seeing how they handle it on consoles since it's designed as highly competitive but even has some of the more casual modes that were server mods in the previous versions included by default. I wonder if they'll go the server list and matchmaking route like they do on the PC. PS3 version even has KB/M support from what I hear.
 

Computron

Member
How assured can I be that CSGO will match me with similarly skilled players?

I have never played CS but I imagine I would be decent.
 

Fotos

Member
Played some Halo 3 with my friends and we were winning 47 to 36 and someone on the other team quit and when it went back to the game after black screen the score was tied at 36... wtf?
 

FyreWulff

Member
Tangential thought:

A great thing about original Xbox Live was the way games supported dedicated servers. In a lot of games, you'd sign into Live, then just start your box in Dedicated Server mode, and players would find your box and start playing on it.

For some reason in the 360 era, this stopped. Games that did have them went to the XServer model, which Section 8 used, where you could host an Xbox dedi on a PC.

I think it'd be cool that if a future Halo title gets dedicated server function of some sort, it should work like this:

- Sign onto Live
- Switch to Dedicated Server mode
- Game performs network test to determine which playlists your connection is capable of handling.
- You select a playlist. Your box now enters that playlist in dedicated server mode, where players will be matched onto your box.
- Every time a game is completed on your box, you earn the equivalent of whatever Reach does right now for Game Complete bonus.


People get dedis, idlers can leave their Xbox on and get credits/EXP in a way that actually benefits the community.


I had tons of fun hosting dedis for Rainbow Six 3 and Counterstrike on the OXbox, especially since you could talk to the people on your server and just shoot the shit while you worked on something on your computer.
 
I actually wasn't around for most of the OG Xbox Live stuff so I didn't even know they had that kind of dedicated server option. I think that would be a genius route to go personally.
 
I'm actually very interested in seeing how they handle it on consoles since it's designed as highly competitive but even has some of the more casual modes that were server mods in the previous versions included by default. I wonder if they'll go the server list and matchmaking route like they do on the PC. PS3 version even has KB/M support from what I hear.

Consoles will just have ELO matchmaking, and yes, the PS3 will have KB/M support.
 
Is it bad that I've never played SM64?
I didn't either, didn't have an N64 until way late in the system's life cycle and by then I was all into OoT, Majora's Mask, Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Now I don't know I should play the original on an N64, Virtual Console, or the DS version on the 3DS.

100% both Galaxy games though.
 
I didn't either, didn't have an N64 until way late in the system's life cycle and by then I was all into OoT, Majora's Mask, Smash Bros and Mario Kart. Now I don't know I should play the original on an N64, Virtual Console, or the DS version on the 3DS.
I think the VC version with a Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro is the best current method of playing it. The N64 version is fine, but that controller's analog stick is evil incarnate. The DS version's digital controls make it a step down, and I'm not sure if even the slidepad on the 3DS changes that.

So yeah, pick it up on VC. Have yourself a good time.
 

Sai-kun

Banned
Well I would pretty usually top the scoreboards in Half life 2 Deathmatch.

You're bad until further noti--

actually you're just always bad. forever. that's CS.

edit: unless it's gungame where you're awesome until you get to the nade level and then everyone catches up and one motherfucker manages to knife you to steal a level from you and then you lose and the game is over
 
Tangential thought:

A great thing about original Xbox Live was the way games supported dedicated servers. In a lot of games, you'd sign into Live, then just start your box in Dedicated Server mode, and players would find your box and start playing on it.

For some reason in the 360 era, this stopped. Games that did have them went to the XServer model, which Section 8 used, where you could host an Xbox dedi on a PC.

I think it'd be cool that if a future Halo title gets dedicated server function of some sort, it should work like this:

- Sign onto Live
- Switch to Dedicated Server mode
- Game performs network test to determine which playlists your connection is capable of handling.
- You select a playlist. Your box now enters that playlist in dedicated server mode, where players will be matched onto your box.
- Every time a game is completed on your box, you earn the equivalent of whatever Reach does right now for Game Complete bonus.


People get dedis, idlers can leave their Xbox on and get credits/EXP in a way that actually benefits the community.


I had tons of fun hosting dedis for Rainbow Six 3 and Counterstrike on the OXbox, especially since you could talk to the people on your server and just shoot the shit while you worked on something on your computer.

I championed this exact peer 2 peer but dedicated host box via game mode selection on B.net and Waypoint threads. Neither threads really gathered any following but I still stand by the idea and implementations you mention with Section 8.

They could even have a certified test period where persons like you or myself have extra consoles and connection worth hosting for. Imagine a certified list of these dedicated consoles with regional metadata as well and your rewards idea.

Personally I think this sort of networking model is overdue, that or regional dedicated servers. Although being in Australia I don't like the thought of having to rely on 343i/XBL for Melbourne, Australia based servers. I'd rather certify my console/connection and host for my fellow Aussie gamers.

Now just throw in a mix of clan/group support and the same sort of party restriction we have now e.g. open, friends only, invite only, closed.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Off-Topic but how many of you here are going to get Counter Strike GO this Wednesday? It has dedicated servers, spectator mode and its heavily skill based and I need people to play it with.
 

Caja 117

Member
After Playing some reach tonight I'm almost certain I will only be playing Halo 3 until november 5, the only playable playlist in Reach for me was MLG, and recently it has become as laggy as it is in Halo 3, and the population are almost the same (not to mention Im getting frustrated by the low jump height and nuke nades).
 
Off-Topic but how many of you here are going to get Counter Strike GO this Wednesday? It has dedicated servers, spectator mode and its heavily skill based and I need people to play it with.

Is it 60$ or an arcade title?
I'd really only pick it up for 20$ at most.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Might get the PC version, as it will be updated more.

I was going to get the PC version but all of my friends play on the Xbox, also CS on the original Xbox was amazing and my most played game besides Halo 2 so I have high hopes for the 360 version of this and I HOPE they release CS_Miami sometime in the future.
 
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