Ray said I should edit this.
The HaloGAF Rainbow Coalition would've nailed your ass to the wall for that.
Ray said I should edit this.
The HaloGAF Rainbow Coalition would've nailed your ass to the wall for that.
Shadders reposted the article, and I read it. I'm a bit flabbergasted by it... it seems to assume that the competitive Halo community is the ONLY Halo community. (I don't know how much traffic THC gets, but I have trouble believing that there are website maintainers (to distinguish from general fans) out there that think that THC (or ANY combination of competitively-focused sites) makes up the lion's share of all Halo traffic.)They deleted the article.
The gist of it was, the "idea" that our website was telling people not to start their own website, because we already had a website.
We responded with "Uh, what?"
That about settled it.
You can see some of my conversations on my twitter about it:
https://twitter.com/u4iXXX
Salt and Halo erotica... I don't think I'm going to like OT8.
That's what I was told, but I thought it was funny.
And isn't it what his gamer name actually means?
a zoojoo, what does your name mean?
Is it your XBL HALO GAMERTAG WHICH IS HALO RELATED?
Well I was way off...
I chose it because it was catchy. Here's the story, when i was a freshman in high school, i sat at a table, and we assigned nicknames to a couple people, there was Jesus, there was Budda, and there was Zues, which was me. The Joo comes from an amalgamated version of Juice, which was my "signature move" like from Super Street Fighter or some shit like that and i made the movement implying rapid masturbation. When i got my gamertag, i made it to THEZoosJoos, cause i like the way it looked, then someone called me a zoojoo, and i liked the sound of it, so that's my name.
This requires a tag.
Shadders reposted the article, and I read it. I'm a bit flabbergasted by it... it seems to assume that the competitive Halo community is the ONLY Halo community. (I don't know how much traffic THC gets, but I have trouble believing that there are website maintainers (to distinguish from general fans) out there that think that THC (or ANY combination of competitively-focused sites) makes up the lion's share of all Halo traffic.)
To be clear: I'm not taking a shot at THC at all. I think you guys rock, and I love what I see from you. I don't even believe that YOU think you're the be-all, end-all of Halo fansites. I'm just astounded that those two guys wrote about you as though you were.
[Disclaimer: Before we even begin, you must read this disclaimer. We are not here to attack an individual, an organization, or a community; we are here to debate an idea and a concept. Any remarks made within the following text are for the sake of a full and open debate. We have no issue with any names—specifically, The Halo Council, whose name will appear repeatedly—included hereafter.
Any individual who attempts to refocus this discussion on specific individuals or organizations will be ignored. He or she, either willingly or unconsciously, will be doing nothing more than producing a red herring, distracting from the actual discussion at hand.
We cannot have a true, passionate debate by tiptoeing around names and ideas. We will be as anonymous as is possible without sacrificing the effectiveness of the discussion. But debates sometimes become passionate and heated. At the end of the day, we all need to remember we are doing nothing more than discussing differing ideas, and we can remain civil after the discussion draws to a close.
To make it perfectly clear: This is NOT about THC or any one individual. It is about an idea. Nothing more.]
An idea has been floating around for a while now within the Halo community. It goes something like this: We must all unite under a single banner, or we will fall apart and be lost forever. We are here today to tell you that this idea is wrong. Furthermore, not only is it inaccurate, but it might even bring harm to the Halo community if followed with too much fervor.
This all began when Everett (Coach Small) approached an individual involved with the Halo Council (who shall remain anonymous). His goal was this: form a working partnership with THC for future projects. (These projects are real, ambitious, and already have a great deal of money invested.) Talks broke down rather quickly, however, when they expanded to a somewhat broader topic. In short, Everett was told that by launching projects independent of THC—specifically, a new website—he would somehow be harming the Halo community.
This is the mentality we are here to obliterate.
Through Unity Comes Division
“The problem with Halo is we have [too many] different sites and different places with content. We need a centralized place and we need to stop people from trying to be their own thing until Halo is back in full force. . . . [M]aking your own website is not the way to go about [things].”
These quotes essentially capture the mentality at hand, so we’ll begin by trying to elaborate on the idea behind them. The belief is that the Halo community must unite under a single banner—to many, that means THC, specifically—if they hope to be reborn into a strong and healthy community once again. But that’s absurd, for a number of reasons.
To begin with, that’s not what this individual’s goal comes off as. We believe that helping Halo is certainly a sub-goal, but it seems that, to a larger extent, the aim here is to protect an entity, not the Halo community. Here’s why.
The statements above resonate as though issued from a self-imposed regulator of all things Halo-content related. The “we need to stop people . . .” part, speficially, caught our attention. Why would this person think he had the right or duty, or that THC had the right or duty, to prevent people from doing things on their own? But what really caught us off-guard was the closing statement: “. . . I wish you the best of luck, but THC will not support you.”
“Okay, so they didn’t like your idea, and now you’re mad,” some of you are thinking at this point. But the projects were never even discussed before the red stoplights began flashing. Even now, this individual has no idea of what projects Everett is continuing to move forward with, which means the issue can’t be with the projects themselves. The only other reason left to red-light a partnership, then, is the fact that the projects and Everett’s aims are to move forward and create something independent of THC, something this individual made quite clear is an unacceptable thing.
It would seem that, if THC’s true goal were to re-empower the Halo community, then it would be supportive of any major projects moving forward that would create content and excitement within the community. But what about when those projects “threaten” the number of hits and members THC has? Well, then that just can’t stand!
(Now, that is being quite harsh. As a matter of fact, THC has done an excellent job of supporting numerous Halo-related projects and content, including interviews and articles written by Gilean. But THC is made up of numerous individuals. Some individuals want to see independent content and sites. Others, as made clear earlier, do not. It’s to those who wish to stamp out other sites and projects we are addressing this message.)
Maintaining the belief that all things must center around a single organization will only lead to division within the community. If this individual was to have welcomed Everett, agreed to hear his project ideas, and move forward and promote them, we would have, in turn, promoted projects by this individual and his organization. This symbiotic relationship secures more hits and followers for everyone involved. It’s a win-win for both parties. After all, last time we checked, YouTube and Twitter don’t limit the number of people one can follow or subscribe to.
But welcome arms were not what Everett received. Instead, he was told that to move forward on independent projects and sites is preposterous, and, by doing so, he’s hurting his community. The only thing causing harm here, though, is that mentality. It’s causing harm, first off, to THC. Why should any website or individual out there plug THC if they can expect no reciprocation? This individual has, in fact, prevented positive potential exposure THC could have received. Furthermore, he has harmedthe Halo community itself, the very thing he claims he wishes to protect. We both strongly believe that Everett’s projects will create a great deal of entertainment and interest within the community. By refusing to support these projects, this individual runs the risk of preventing these projects from ever taking place, and who suffers as a result? The community.
Remember, people have fled from the Major League Gaming forums because of their Nazi-esque rules pertaining to plugging other sites, organizations, etc. Why would people support the same policy when it’s adopted by another organization?
A Single Support vs. Sharing the Burden
All this has led us to another idea, one that wasn’t brought up within the exchange quoted before but that is relevant to the broader belief we’re attacking. Early in THC’s podcasts, the biggest issue raised was the fact that Halo had suffered because it depended entirely on MLG to support its competitions. Now that MLG is not hosting any more Halo Events (at least, for the time being), the competitive scene has taken a major hit. Pros are without major tournaments to attend, which means they’re without paychecks. They’ve been moving in increasing numbers to other forms of competition, or merely disappearing from the limelight altogether!
Now, we must ask a very serious question here: Why would we adopt the same mentality a second time? It was believed that MLG could not prosper without Halo. For a time, that was true. But it has become obvious over the last couple years that the community depended on MLG far more than MLG depended on the community. Why risk repeating history?
Part of what makes the League of Legends and Starcraft II communities so strong is the fact that there are numerous sites pumping out content surrounding these games. This might be news to some of you: Most people don’t want to produce content for nothing. The more money they stand to gain from it, the more content they’re going to put out. Even Gilean is limited in the amount of content he can put forth—despite his love for eSports and writing—because he has to hold down a full-time job, as well.
By trying to bring all the content surrounding Halo under one domain, there is the reality—whether this is the goal or not—that much of the money individuals could stand to gain falls into the hands of that one site. Sure, some people can write for THC as a first-party. But the organization only has so many resources. What happens when they reach their limit? No more additional individuals to produce content will be supported. Which means that the rate at which content is produced peaks out.
Compare this to an idea of there being numerous websites pumping out content. We aren’t sure about this individual, but we get our eSports news from quite a few sources: THC, MLG, Twitter, IGN, Team Liquid, and so forth. We, as fans, benefit from the existence of numerous content-focused sites. Every one of those sites (with one exception) produce content focused on SCII. We love the fact we can get content at a rate far more quickly from numerous sites than at the rate which MLG could, and THC now does, individually pump out for Halo. When there’s only one source, the cogs can only move so quickly. Fans stand to gain far more with numerous sources, and those sources won’t kill each other off but will actually increase the profitability of one another through creating a larger, stronger community.
Unrealistic Goals
Finally, we must point out the hypocrisy of the statements made. Part of the goal of rebuilding the Halo community is the creation of numerous sites focusing on competition and content. Who is this individual—who is anyone—to decide when the time is right for these new ventures to appear.
New sites and homes for competition will come in their own time, when people like Everett are ready to sink their own hard-earned money and time into these projects. This individual, and every individual at THC, should view every new site as evidence that their decreed mission to revitalize the community is being realized. Individuals and sponsors are not going to sink their time and money into a ship they feel is sinking deeper with each passing day. Their renewed faith and desire to take a risk is, in no small part, a direct result of the work this individual and the rest of THC have done.
Every new site. Every new tournament. Every new league. Is a success. To claim otherwise is absurd.
An Open Invitation
We, Everett and Michael, wrote this with the hopes of sparking discussion and debate. We would love nothing more than to sit down with the quoted individual or any other notable figure who disagrees with us and debate the ideas put forth above. Perhaps we missed some major idea. Perhaps we misrepresented a concept. Then set us straight. Because debate is good and healthy, and the Halo community stands to gain a great deal through regular and civil discourses. It will help keep all of us moving in the right direction, and it is all of us—content writers, casters, players, and fans—who are at the helm of this ship. The only way to keep it from running aground is to constantly check and recheck our navigation, and we do that through debate.
.
Is posting in here after a few drinks frowned upon?
YOUR NOSE IS GROWINGI don't think I've actually never done that before. Maybe I should try...
I don't think I've actually never done that before. Maybe I should try...
Why is the mtn dew stuff censored?So anyways, heres the juicy stuff from the last pages of OT7:
Why is the mtn dew stuff censored?
oh and I'm so salty about the LE console armor.
It's Master Chief porn.
So anyways, heres the juicy stuff from the last pages of OT7:
Is posting in here after a few drinks frowned upon?
The thing about unicorns is they're supposed to be rare. These will be about as rare as Halo 3 Legendary editions.
Is posting in here after a few drinks frowned upon?
That's a lot of people buying a Halo 4 console this late into the 360's life span
Remember the Unicorn emblem from 3, ODST, and Reach? Well, remember, they specifically remade it again as a bonus for console purchasers. It wasn't put behind a paywall to justify a terrible Gears 3-style retail DLC bonus from the existing Halo content at all.
-snip-
Halo OT8 - Yu, Yuhas, Yuhas mich!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRVeiJwupo4Halo |OT8| Steelyuhas mad
Forge interview. Literally zero new information, shame.http://www.grifballhub.com/interview-with-halo-waypoint-and-certain-affinity-halo-4-forge/
They didn't even ask about colors...
You're in the land of truth.what the what now?
what the flying crap, where am i? who are you people and what did you do with haloGaf?
i just died
That seems about right. I got to imagine the LightRifle can't be as overpowered as it seems if it's a loadout weapon.
Out of curiosity, what do you think is wrong with Gears 3 DLC?
I think it's been obvious from the start that the Light Rifle was going to be a loadout weapon. It's too similar in role to the BR, DMR, and Carbine for it to be anything else.
See that's the thing. The LE Halo 4 console bundle looks sexy, but I'm saving my investment for the next-gen console.That's a lot of people buying a Halo 4 console this late into the 360's life span
You could say the same for the SAW, but that's an ordnance drop.
I think it's been obvious from the start that the Light Rifle was going to be a loadout weapon. It's too similar in role to the BR, DMR, and Carbine for it to be anything else.
What is the SAW similar to, though? A mounted turret? It's unique, and to me that classifies it as a power weapon and not a loadout weapon.
What is the SAW similar to, though? A mounted turret? It's unique, and to me that classifies it as a power weapon and not an ordnance drop.
I don't like it. I do not like it how it move. But the movement fits to the other UNSC vehicle which still work like today's cars and tanks.So anyways:
Yeah, that basically didn't cover anything new. At all. Ah well, lets just hope there are color options, or texture pallets, or something.
You know. Good times are over for months already.Salt and Halo erotica... I don't think I'm going to like OT8.
A bajillion different weapon and character skins that are forever locked away because you didn't buy it from the 'correct' retailer or didn't have a retailer available at all to you, with no way to get them via normal means. It started creeping in with Johnson in ODST, showed up in Reach, made a terrible debut with actual in-game-changing content with the Grunt Funeral Skull in Anniversary, and now it went full Gears with Halo 4. But not even Gears had this amount of craziness. And now there's emblems from previous games showing up as bonuses.
It's an unfortunate trend in this industry and I'm sad to see Halo start participating in it. When 360 Live shuts down, all this in-game content is lost forever. We will be able to preserve more of Halo 3 for the future than we will of Halo 4. We will be able to preserve more of Halo 1 than Halo 1 Anniversary. That's sad.
edit: i am also of the opinion that Johnson/Grunt Funeral/Reach's Gamestop armor and Legendary flames should eventually be made publically available.
I want as many in-game assets as I can get. At this moment, I need to pre-order from several different retailers (one of which doesn't have a store in my state, another which doesn't have a store in my country), I have to pre-order the Limited Edition of the game and I have to purchase the Limited Edition Console. Assuming I have to follow through with each of those pre-orders, that's eight copies of the game with one of those being the Limited Edition. In total I have to spend at least $560 on the games alone with another $400 for the console. Throwing in sales tax in Alabama, that brings my total up to around $1050 for content that's probably already on the disc.
I'm on crack.
Nah, but Halo 3 soon.
I'm not gonna lie. I've had a few drinks and I want the unicorn armor.
Need 1 more for Oddball Swordbase. Any takers?
Wait, Regen Field has been confirmed as an AA? I thought Frankie confirmed that was in the beta only.
Wait, Regen Field has been confirmed as an AA? I thought Frankie confirmed that was in the beta only.
PUT ME IN COACH.