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Halo: Reach Beta Thread

The shield doors really need to be kept on the spawn points in Invasion Slayer. I played three games yesterday where all the Elites did was spawn camp. It wasn't fun on either side. :\
 
GhaleonEB said:
I haven't had a chance to play it, but the setup makes me think they're testing how the player traits balance against each other. Elites are supposed to be more powerful, by design: faster native speed, more health, faster shield recharge, full health recharge, evade maneuver. Honestly I was kind of surprised when they announced Spartans vs. Elites Slayer, but I thought they'd tip things over to the Spartans with better load outs for them. But no load outs at all makes me think they're testing just how much better Elites really are, starting each side with more equal footing through the game. Only one grenade is also a tell, since there will be fewer grenade kills and more from mêlée/weapons fire, meaning the player traits are much more of a factor. I have a feeling that just as NT1 is a Firefight test, the SvE is a balancing test.

We are all just bacteria in Bungie's petri dish, after all.
Click to expand...
It's an experiment, I'm sure; it'll bound to be unbalanced with how strong the Covenant's shields are and how faster the Elites are and can maneuver with evade.

As for Network Test 1, Stunner and I were discussing this last week. He's got a pretty nifty idea which I may be tend to believe true, if Bungie does feel it's acceptable and can work.
6 players in NT1, set from a direct-pull campaign map...
 
After playing this for a while I realized two things:

1. Reticle bloom sucks.

2. Driving a vehicle is like getting into a moving deathtrap. They are too easy to kill.

That is all
 
mescalineeyes said:
well, I finished 2 games with hat many "points"? I don't fully get it.

but I guess the higher the number, the better, right?
Click to expand...
Sure, but for example having daily ratings of 1700 won't necessarily mean much or put your in a high division if you're only beating low level players. It's only a measurement of how good you did against people of similar trueskill level (hidden) in each day.
 
Striker said:
As for Network Test 1, Stunner and I were discussing this last week. He's got a pretty nifty idea which I may be tend to believe true, if Bungie does feel it's acceptable and can work.
6 players in NT1, set from a direct-pull campaign map...
Click to expand...
NT1 is a Firefight test. The area is pulled from campaign and tweaked/rigged for Firefight, such as the weapon drops, ammo caches and objectives to defend. There's more stuff than onscreen being tested in the background.
 
GhaleonEB said:
I haven't had a chance to play it, but the setup makes me think they're testing how the player traits balance against each other. Elites are supposed to be more powerful, by design: faster native speed, more health, faster shield recharge, full health recharge, evade maneuver. Honestly I was kind of surprised when they announced Spartans vs. Elites Slayer, but I thought they'd tip things over to the Spartans with better load outs for them. But no load outs at all makes me think they're testing just how much better Elites really are, starting each side with more equal footing through the game. Only one grenade is also a tell, since there will be fewer grenade kills and more from mêlée/weapons fire, meaning the player traits are much more of a factor. I have a feeling that just as NT1 is a Firefight test, the SvE is a balancing test.

We are all just bacteria in Bungie's petri dish, after all.
Click to expand...
Huh. I've been wondering where that eye looking down on me is from.
 
GhaleonEB said:
NT1 is a Firefight test. The area is pulled from campaign and tweaked/rigged for Firefight, such as the weapon drops, ammo caches and objectives to defend. AI is simulated in the background.
Click to expand...

Truth. There's even a
Firefight gametype in the Beta code itself, that can be access via mods on that map alone, though no AI spawns or anything like that.
 
Been lurking in the thread for awhile now and wanted to give $.02 on the new Division format.

I think the idea behind the Arena ranking players 1-8 in each match and then feeding it into TruSkill without the Halo 3 deceleration is a great idea. Many times in Halo 3 I found myself wishing for a "ladder reset" of sorts.

The point I wanted to raise was with the lack of feedback that you get from only seeing a number from 1 to 5. I know in my group of friends we all pretty much got our division and have not strayed from it. Part of the fun of a ladder system, I think, is watching how you climb and fall as the "season" goes on. I have also been playing a lot of the SC2 beta and find myself wanting to log on there more, even though I prefer the gameplay of Reach, based on the fact that at the end of each game I can check out the ladder and see how I'm doing. With reach I know I am a '2' and I will probably be a '2' no matter how many games I play.

I think the Arena would be a lot more interesting if they at least give a little feedback into how you are doing within your division as you play matches (does not need to be overly granular, but "top 20%, next 20%, etc." would be awesome as it might actually fluctuate night to night).

I know Bungie has stated that you'll get to see how you did within your division at the end of the season, but I think playing for a whole month to get some feedback will take some of the fun out of it. I know Ferex alluded to a further break up during his posting spree saying

"There will be some subdivision within divisions when the competition is most heated. Think "Gold Division, Top 5%""
Click to expand...

So if this is something already planned but just missing from the UI at this point, disregard this post entirely :D
 
niroth said:
With reach I know I am a '2' and I will probably be a '2' no matter how many games I play.
Click to expand...

Not really. I went from Onyx -> Silver -> Gold. You can move up and down during a season. Heck, even multiple times like myself.


...but I do support showing somehow subdivisions within a division. I hate not knowing if I'm about to drop down or go up a division.
 
GhaleonEB said:
NT1 is a Firefight test. The area is pulled from campaign and tweaked/rigged for Firefight, such as the weapon drops, ammo caches and objectives to defend. There's more stuff than onscreen being tested in the background.
Click to expand...

Links?

Also, something weird happened to me yesterday playing the Reach Beta: the game started clicking for me.

I was used to the flow of the game, the reticle bloom and Arena was BARELY frustrating for me compared to the first few times I played it when Arena went live. I'm starting to get used to everything new that Reach has to offer.

I still hope for a slight movement speed and jump height increase as well as significantly toning down the simultaneous bullet kills and beatdowns (hate that shit so much), but otherwise, I'm finding my groove with the game (got my Onyx back after dropping down to Gold :D).
 
Ajemsuhgao said:
Truth. There's even a
Firefight gametype in the Beta code itself, that can be access via mods on that map alone, though no AI spawns or anything like that.
Click to expand...
Imagine a Firefight mode that let you play on teams, as in NT1. But instead of two teams of Spartans, one team of Spartans with the high ground and weapon advantages, and the other players got to play as Elites, alongside the rest of the Covenant waves attacking.

Or, play squad of Elites pinned down by and advancing swarm of Marines, dropped off via Pelican.

I have. [/irresponsible speculation]

Why are we using spoiler tags?
 
DeadFalling said:
Not really. I went from Onyx -> Silver -> Gold. You can move up and down during a season. Heck, even multiple times like myself.


I do support showing somehow subdivisions within a division. I hate not knowing if I'm about to drop down or go up a division.
Click to expand...


It seemed like there was a lot of fluctuation the first few days as more and more people got rated and we all got pushed into our correct spot. Since then though its been pretty static. Maybe we are an enigma, but I find myself missing something like watching my 1-50 blink in the Halo 3 lobby post game. By no means am I saying to go back to that system, the deceleration killed it, but I think maybe a little more granularity would make it feel more rewarding.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Imagine a Firefight mode that let you play on teams, as in NT1. But instead of two teams of Spartans, one team of Spartans with the high ground and weapon advantages, and the other players got to play as Elites, alongside the rest of the Covenant waves attacking.

Or, play squad of Elites pinned down by and advancing swarm of Marines, dropped off via Pelican.

I have. [/irresponsible speculation]

Why are we using spoiler tags?
Click to expand...


No idea why we were using spoiler tags. You did yours in spoiler tags, and I followed for some reason. :lol
 
niroth said:
It seemed like there was a lot of fluctuation the first few days as more and more people got rated and we all got pushed into our correct spot. Since then though its been pretty static. Maybe we are an enigma, but I find myself missing something like watching my 1-50 blink in the Halo 3 lobby post game. By no means am I saying to go back to that system, the deceleration killed it, but I think maybe a little more granularity would make it feel more rewarding.
Click to expand...

I was Onyx the first few days then dropped to Silver, and just today went up to Gold. I do miss the 1-50 system of Halo 2/3, but maybe this system will be better to view your performance in the long run. I know the Halo 3 system worked perfectly as they intended, but it wasn't satisfying for the user. (I got to level 45 in I think like 3 or 4 playlists. Couldn't ever get above that, but I was going in solo every time.)


I really want something that changes from game to game. Even something simple such as dots representing the percentile you are in or anything would be nice. It would be the best of both worlds, since this season system is a very nice way to reset ranks every month.

Will there be a system to view players past rankings so we can see our own or opponents performance over multiple months?
 
Domino Theory said:
Links?
Click to expand...
First, what's in a name? Network Test 1. Something they have not tested before on a network. They've been doing so for multiplayer for months. So it's something else.

On the networking side, from the guide:

This is a test of the Halo: Reach multiplayer net code under stressed conditions.
Click to expand...

ManCannon said a ways back in this thread that they'd be able to talk about why they ran NT1 closer to ship. So they're testing something they can't talk about yet. Not to mention, the existence of Firefight is not exactly a secret.

Ammo cache, from a video of someone exploring the Overlook map:

2h8cy1x.jpg


That's inside the Spartan spawn box at the top of the hill. Just like the weapon racks in ODST.

From the same video - which I can't find - the three power weapons that get dropped off via Longsword on the map is called a "weapon drop", just as they are in Firefight from ODST. We'll see that in person tomorrow.

And then there's the map itself:



A long, elevated map, broken into tiers. Spartans spawn at the top of the hill in a spawn box with extra ammunition on the racks. Covenant spawn at the bottom of the hill and work their way up through the three sections of the map, each of which has lines of cover to weave through. That's half the Firefight maps from ODST.

Their goal, of course, is to take out the generators. Generators Bungie has said are not likely to be in a multiplayer gametype, but are clearly fully functional, detailed assets placed and tuned for some kind of multiplayer experience. They're going to show up somewhere.
 
GhaleonEB said:
ManCannon said a ways back in this thread that they'd be able to talk about why they ran NT1 closer to ship. So they're testing something they can't talk about yet. Not to mention, the existence of Firefight is not exactly a secret.

Ammo cache, from a video of someone exploring the Overlook map:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2h8cy1x.jpg[/IMG

That's inside the Spartan spawn box at the top of the hill. Just like the weapon racks in ODST.

From the same video - which I can't find - the three power weapons that get dropped off via Longsword on the map is called a "weapon drop", just as they are in Firefight from ODST. We'll see that in person tomorrow.
[/QUOTE]
GB's Ask Me Anything video?
[url]http://www.giantbomb.com/ask-me-anything-halo-reach/17-2381/[/url]
Click to expand...
 
DeadFalling said:
I was Onyx the first few days then dropped to Silver, and just today went up to Gold. I do miss the 1-50 system of Halo 2/3, but maybe this system will be better to view your performance in the long run. I know the Halo 3 system worked perfectly as they intended, but it wasn't satisfying for the user. (I got to level 45 in I think like 3 or 4 playlists. Couldn't ever get above that, but I was going in solo every time.)


I really want something that changes from game to game. Even something simple such as dots representing the percentile you are in or anything would be nice. It would be the best of both worlds, since this season system is a very nice way to reset ranks every month.

Will there be a system to view players past rankings so we can see our own or opponents performance over multiple months?
Click to expand...

I'd guess the first few days Onyx was more due to a large percentage of players not having ratings yet. Your jumping from Silver to Gold certainly shows it happens, though. The problem with the Halo2/3 system to me was how they had to decelerate true skill which led to everyone getting "stuck" and making fake accounts.

I think they've already solved that with Arena, we just need need a little more feedback on how we are doing to keep it interesting. 1-5 dots or something like you mentioned below our division star is exactly what I'm talking about, especially now that your trueskill is free to roam based on a bad losing or wining streak, I think the extra granularity would go a long way in keeping it interesting and keeping people motivated "oh god i lost 4 in a row and i am about to fall from silver to bronze".

Sounds like we're saying the same thing, really :D
 
GhaleonEB said:
First, what's in a name? Network Test 1. Something they have not tested before on a network. They've been doing so for multiplayer for months. So it's something else.

On the networking side, from the guide:



ManCannon said a ways back in this thread that they'd be able to talk about why they ran NT1 closer to ship. So they're testing something they can't talk about yet. Not to mention, the existence of Firefight is not exactly a secret.

Ammo cache, from a video of someone exploring the Overlook map:

2h8cy1x.jpg


That's inside the Spartan spawn box at the top of the hill. Just like the weapon racks in ODST.

From the same video - which I can't find - the three power weapons that get dropped off via Longsword on the map is called a "weapon drop", just as they are in Firefight from ODST. We'll see that in person tomorrow.

And then there's the map itself:



A long, elevated map, broken into tiers. Spartans spawn at the top of the hill in a spawn box with extra ammunition on the racks. Covenant spawn at the bottom of the hill and work their way up through the three sections of the map, each of which has lines of cover to weave through. That's half the Firefight maps from ODST.

Their goal, of course, is to take out the generators. Generators Bungie has said are not likely to be in a multiplayer gametype, but are clearly fully functional, detailed assets placed and tuned for some kind of multiplayer experience. They're going to show up somewhere.
Click to expand...

I was thinking along these lines vaguely, but your posts have been a great analysis which I would say confirms it in my mind. Nice!
 
niroth said:
I'd guess the first few days Onyx was more due to a large percentage of players not having ratings yet. Your jumping from Silver to Gold certainly shows it happens, though. The problem with the Halo2/3 system to me was how they had to decelerate true skill which led to everyone getting "stuck" and making fake accounts.

I think they've already solved that with Arena, we just need need a little more feedback on how we are doing to keep it interesting. 1-5 dots or something like you mentioned below our division star is exactly what I'm talking about, especially now that your trueskill is free to roam based on a bad losing or wining streak, I think the extra granularity would go a long way in keeping it interesting and keeping people motivated "oh god i lost 4 in a row and i am about to fall from silver to bronze".

Sounds like we're saying the same thing, really :D
Click to expand...

So it's settled then. Get on it Bungie!:lol
 
Argh. It's so irritating watching replays of people do the exact same things I do, four body shots-one head shot...and seeing them get a kill, even when their reticule is wide as hell.

Here I am trying to play the game 'properly' and people will just luck out and score a headshot with their spread far wider.

I think this game just hates me. :lol
 
DeadFalling said:
So it's settled then. Get on it Bungie!:lol
Click to expand...

Keeping the fingers crossed that its something already planned that just needs a little more UI / B.net work like the Daily Challenges and stuff built into the rewards system!
 
dslgunstar said:
Argh. It's so irritating watching replays of people do the exact same things I do, four body shots-one head shot...and seeing them get a kill, even when their reticule is wide as hell.

Here I am trying to play the game 'properly' and people will just luck out and score a headshot with their spread far wider.

I think this game just hates me. :lol
Click to expand...

I have to say I hate watching the montages of people lucking out. I know people say its a designed 'tactic' that spamming when close is better, but from a skill point of view that simply waters down the game, it takes no skill to know when ure in reasonable spam range, and essentially if 2 Pistol users are close range the luckier dude will win. I really think that this is bad gameplay, if Bungie are going to add reticule bloom, go all the way and weaken shots at full bloom to discourage spamming?

You can probably tell that im still being a manbaby over this, but it absolutely sucks being on a spree, and having a player run at you firing as fast as he possible can, I can kill AR user who sprays at me, but a Pistol spammer is lethal. I think this is also why I hate the double headshot thing, staying alive when having intense fights is more satisfying to me than actually getting the kill.
 
I got placed in bronze, and at first I was bummed, then I started playing and its a dongathon in there. I feel like a man amongst boys in there.
 
Dax01 said:
What time is Generator Defense going up tomorrow? Same time as Invasion last Friday?
Click to expand...
They haven't said, but both the Beta and Invasion went up around the same time. So I'd expect the same, mid-morning pacific time.
CrazedArabMan said:
Or 6 person firefight because Noble team has 6 people, it seems weird that the game type is only 3v3.
Click to expand...
I'd forgotten about that. In ODST, you played as the characters from the game, complete with in-game dialog. They could carry that over as well.
 
Dirtbag said:
I got placed in bronze, and at first I was bummed, then I started playing and its a dongathon in there. I feel like a man amongst boys in there.
Click to expand...

What's your tag? I dropped from Gold to Bronze thanks to inactivity and backed up by a horrid couple of days, but if you need a competent teammate to battle out of there with, let me know.

It sucks, because I know Im a Gold level player, but all my friends are in Onyx. So when I play with them, I get matched up against Onyx players (or their true-skill approximates) and get, for lack of a better description, FUCKING ANNIHILATED. :D
 
Striker said:
It's an experiment, I'm sure; it'll bound to be unbalanced with how strong the Covenant's shields are and how faster the Elites are and can maneuver with evade.

As for Network Test 1, Stunner and I were discussing this last week. He's got a pretty nifty idea which I may be tend to believe true, if Bungie does feel it's acceptable and can work.
6 players in NT1, set from a direct-pull campaign map...
Click to expand...

Or 6 person firefight because Noble team has 6 people, it seems weird that the game type is only 3v3.
 
Anyone else noticed sticky grenades behaving weirdly in the beta? I've got a clip of mine going straight through a guy just now. Not cool on top of having 2 sword lunges not count :(
 
GhaleonEB said:
Imagine a Firefight mode that let you play on teams, as in NT1. But instead of two teams of Spartans, one team of Spartans with the high ground and weapon advantages, and the other players got to play as Elites, alongside the rest of the Covenant waves attacking.

Or, play squad of Elites pinned down by and advancing swarm of Marines, dropped off via Pelican.

I have. [/irresponsible speculation]

Why are we using spoiler tags?
Click to expand...

HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE!!!!!

If this happens I will explode in every meaning of the term.
 
Photolysis said:
Anyone else noticed sticky grenades behaving weirdly in the beta? I've got a clip of mine going straight through a guy just now. Not cool on top of having 2 sword lunges not count :(
Click to expand...

I posted a bunch of anecdotal evidence yesterday suggesting the complete opposite. Could post a ton more today from another game.

I never had a single issue with sticking folks - although Dax seems to be on the same boat as yourself.
 
Dani said:
I posted a bunch of anecdotal evidence yesterday suggesting the complete opposite. Could post a ton more today from another game.

If never had a single issue with the sticking folks - although Dax seems to be on the same boat as yourself.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it seems much more like a connection related issue rather than a bug.
 
AwesomeSyrup said:
Also why are vehicles more fragile than a 90 year old woman?
Click to expand...

They also move as fast as a 90 yr old woman. =/

Ghaleon, that was awesome defense in that vid you posted.

GhaleonEB said:
Imagine a Firefight mode that let you play on teams, as in NT1. But instead of two teams of Spartans, one team of Spartans with the high ground and weapon advantages, and the other players got to play as Elites, alongside the rest of the Covenant waves attacking.

Or, play squad of Elites pinned down by and advancing swarm of Marines, dropped off via Pelican.

I have. [/irresponsible speculation]
Click to expand...

Bungie, please call this man while you're making your next game. 343, please also call this man as you work on the next Halo.

You're describing a large-scale version of Counter-Ops from Perfect Dark. Which would be awesome.

And to all my Steel brothers, feel free to send me a friend invite or game invite (GT is Wolffen). I would be happy to fight by your sides (I've yet to play with any GAFfers this week!).
 
GhaleonEB said:
I haven't had a chance to play it, but the setup makes me think they're testing how the player traits balance against each other. Elites are supposed to be more powerful, by design: faster native speed, more health, faster shield recharge, full health recharge, evade maneuver. Honestly I was kind of surprised when they announced Spartans vs. Elites Slayer...
Click to expand...
Propaganda campaign to remind us that Elites are to be FEARED, not scorned, as they were in H2 & H3.

I like!
 
bobs99 ... said:
So this is interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKFBJXnbtqQ

If Elites can use armour lock I presume that the animations for almost everything can be shared between the 2 models?

Dani do you still have that Spartan Evade video? I would love to see that. :D
Click to expand...

:lol :lol

The Elites look hilarious when they sprint. I know it's not supposed to happen, but I just love how they look like their bodies are stiff with their legs going crazy fast. :lol :lol

Anyone going to be on for some Grab Bag/Arena tonight?

NOKYARD said:
Propaganda campaign to remind us that Elites are to be FEARED, not scorned, as they were in H2 & H3.

I like!
Click to expand...

Oh, totally. When playing SvE last night, I totally got flashbacks to Halo 1/2 and Fighting Elites. Got me re-excited for the Campaign, even though Matchmaking isn't as good as it should be right now.
 
Memphis Reigns said:
Hey Bungie. WTF. Did you really just ban me for quitting a match?
Click to expand...
rofl

I think they probably banned you from quitting a BUNCH of matches. (How many have you quit this week?)

CozMick said:
Perma-banned?

Quitting in a damn beta is punishable?

That shit is lame.
Click to expand...
It's a 15-30 minute ban - hardly permanent. Just enough to remind you that when you quit, you fuck the game up for the rest of us.
 
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