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[InvincibleAgent]

Glad to hear grenades have a bigger blast radius. 1 grenade should decimate anything within 6 feet, I don't care how much shields you have.

What is Monty Oum's job now? Loved his Haloid video. Loved the end

Are we gonna be seeing sexy chicks in skin-tight suits in Reach?

 

[Hostile Paradox]

Glad to hear grenades have a bigger blast radius. 1 grenade should decimate anything within 6 feet, I don't care how much shields you have.

What is Monty Oum's job now? Loved his Haloid video. Loved the end

Are we gonna be seeing sexy chicks in skin-tight suits in Reach?

http://roosterteeth.com/groups/profile.php?id=4542

 

[Prophet Steve]

Love the new info, but so it doesn't seem that Elites will be in the beta. Too bad because I think that's the best way to test the balancing and since the Elite has other strengths and weaknesses then Spartans that seems pretty important.

 

[Pennybags]

Love the new info, but so it doesn't seem that Elites will be in the beta. Too bad because I think that's the best way to test the balancing and since the Elite has other strengths and weaknesses then Spartans that seems pretty important.

Surely that Spartans vs. Elites mode will be in the beta, right?

 

[Raide]

Surely that Spartans vs. Elites mode will be in the beta, right?

I hope so, it will be interesting to see the differences between the two in actual combat.

 

[squidhands]

Love the new info, but so it doesn't seem that Elites will be in the beta. Too bad because I think that's the best way to test the balancing and since the Elite has other strengths and weaknesses then Spartans that seems pretty important.

Invasion will be in, so Elites will be there. They only mentioned no Elites for Arena gameplay.

So stoked about the information from the podcast. I'm so happy that the pistol will be a viable sidearm for the first time (loved it in H1, but it was ridiculous). The grenade launcher info was awesomely unexpected, but I do have a question about it:
-So if you fire off a grenade and dead-man it, will it detonate if you switch over to another weapon? Seems like it would, but it popped in my head during the podcast. That would make it to be a very interesting weapon indeed. What is the range on the dead-man, I wonder? I can't imagine you'd want to travel across a map virtually helpless while holding down the trigger, but things like this pique my curiosity.

 

[JaggedSac]

I wonder if grenades that have been "dead manned" can be shot or exploded with another grenade. Hopefully they can be.

 

[Prophet Steve]

Invasion will be in, so Elites will be there. They only mentioned no Elites for Arena gameplay.

So stoked about the information from the podcast. I'm so happy that the pistol will be a viable sidearm for the first time (loved it in H1, but it was ridiculous). The grenade launcher info was awesomely unexpected, but I do have a question about it:
-So if you fire off a grenade and dead-man it, will it detonate if you switch over to another weapon? Seems like it would, but it popped in my head during the podcast. That would make it to be a very interesting weapon indeed. What is the range on the dead-man, I wonder? I can't imagine you'd want to travel across a map virtually helpless while holding down the trigger, but things like this pique my curiosity.

Oh sorry, only had read the summary of Dax.

 

[The Librarian]

I mostly agree with what Eazy is saying*, but I would say there is something wrong with the BR in Halo 2 (and Halo 3, to a slightly lesser degree): it's overpowered. Don't get me wrong, I love it to death, it's my favourite gun in a game ever (seriously), but it is too flexible, and too powerful, and it dominates the sandbox. What Ghaleon described about the sphere of usefulness within which the AR/Mag/DMR are all viable -- in different situations, in the hands of different players -- sounds far more nuanced and potentially rewarding than always having to scurry around to find a BR because I'm at a disadvantage without, at almost any range.

I suspect that once we get over our collective BR dependence and play in a more balanced sandbox, we may even grow to like AR starts, because we won't feel so gimped when we spawn.

*This is a great post.

I agree with Shake that the BR in Halo 3 was overpowered, but not as much as it was in Halo 2. It was too much of the go-to weapon in the game, though this could've been a result of the lack of mid-ranged weapons in the game. The BR in Halo 3 was too versatile outside its intended niche. I like all that I've heard when it comes to the making the guns more realistic, and therefore more balanced (firing the trigger repeatedly as fast as you can makes the gun less accurate).

Semi-related, but if the BR were to return in Reach, it'd be pretty different from the one we know in Halo 3 because of the changes Bungie is making to the weapons.

There's been a lot of talk about both the DMR and the pistol, but I'm eager to hear what changes Bungie has made to the AR.

Oh sorry, only had read the summary of Dax.

I dun understand. D:

 

[kylej]

Don't worry about the AR/DMR. You know 1/3rd of the weapons will be worthless like in every Halo game. Everyone will gravitate to pistol/DMR starts while the rest of the cattle will spray each other with camo jetpack ARs until their bong is empty.

 

[Wizman23]

Surely that Spartans vs. Elites mode will be in the beta, right?

I would guess that the Invasion mode/ Spartans vs. Elites is the major reason why Bungie is having the beta in the first place. They have never attempted anything like this in the previous 4 Halo games so the beta is the perfect testing ground for this type of mode. Again, none of us even no for sure what Invasion mode is, but everything we have heard so far points towards it being kind of like a Rush mode in Battlefield where the elites are the attackers trying to destroy things that the Spartan team is defending. The red blocked off doors in the multiplayer trailer suggest that completing the objectives (blowing up generators) opens those areas of the map probably with a new set of objectives to complete. All I know is I can't wait to play as an elite.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I agree with Shake that the BR in Halo 3 was overpowered, but not as much as it was in Halo 2. It was too much of the go-to weapon in the game, though this could've been a result of the lack of mid-ranged weapons in the game. The BR in Halo 3 was too versatile outside its intended niche.

This is part of the reason I cant bring myself to play ODST much, they did a really good job of giving each weapon its own function. That didnt make it fun though, the pistol was a incredibly satisfying weapon, but as it did nothing to shields, it felt like little more than a pea shooter. Its pretty annoying having to carry a plasma pistol/ rifle around just to get rid of shields and I found that I didnt particulaly enjoy using many of the weapons provided. They either had poor precision qualitys and were powerful or were precision weapons but were weak. Personally I prefer precision based gameplay.

To be fair if the H3 BR wasnt as versatile I probably wouldnt still be playing Halo multiplayer much either. I love the fact in H3 that ive got a fun weapon which I can use at any time at any range. I would also argue that the diversity of the gameplay itself is much greater with the BR. I mean it opens up the gameplay in a way that full auto weapons dont.

This is a very selfish viewpoint because the BR breaks all other weapons :lol and anyone who likes the AR based gameplay suffers. This is just my

Spoiler

badly written

personal opinion. I hope the DMR and Pistol arent going down the ODST route, if I need to carry around another weapon to make em useful I might aswell just not use them, and if there arent many other precision weapons im just not gonna have much fun with the game. It already seems like at close range the DMR is outclassed by the pistol (RoF) and I just dont like the idea that im going to have to carry both just because of the different ranges fights can happen at, it almost seems like a convulated game of rock paper scissors.

 

[DualX]

Don't worry about the AR/DMR. You know 1/3rd of the weapons will be worthless like in every Halo game. Everyone will gravitate to pistol/DMR starts while the rest of the cattle will spray each other with camo jetpack ARs until their bong is empty.

Not in every game, Halo 1 had the perfect set especially when it came to the stun feature of the covanent weapons which I believe Reach needs. And with the SMG, and the Spiker gone I'm kinda surprised they haven't said anything about the Mauler or the Sentinal Beam (as in they need to go too).

I wonder if they are going to keep the Carbine in since it seems to act almost exactly like the DMR now.

 

[The Librarian]

This is part of the reason I cant bring myself to play ODST much, they did a really good job of giving each weapon its own function. That didnt make it fun though, the pistol was a incredibly satisfying weapon, but as it did nothing to shields, it felt like little more than a pea shooter.

I loved how ODST made you use everything at your disposal in order to win. For example, if I had the pistol and the MA5C, I'd use the MA5C to strip down a Brute's shields, then use the pistol to finish it off. Had I had a BR instead of the pistol, I'd just use the BR seeing as how there is no reason strip down a brute's shields with the AR. That's what made ODST so much fun for me. To each his own I guess.

 

[Cetra]

I loved how ODST made you use everything at your disposal in order to win. For example, if I had the pistol and the MA5C, I'd use the MA5C to strip down a Brute's shields, then use the pistol to finish it off. Had I had a BR instead of the pistol, I'd just use the BR seeing as how there is no reason strip down a brute's shields with the AR. That's what made ODST so much fun for me. To each his own I guess.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I loved how ODST made you use everything at your disposal in order to win. For example, if I had the pistol and the MA5C, I'd use the MA5C to strip down a Brute's shields, then use the pistol to finish it off. Had I had a BR instead of the pistol, I'd just use the BR seeing as how there is no reason strip down a brute's shields with the AR. That's what made ODST so much fun for me. To each his own I guess.

Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed it on my first run through the game, and I hope Reach campeign also has that feel. Multiplayer wise is a different story though and I really dont appreciate being artificially forced to use weapons I wouldnt otherwise enjoy using.

 

[big ander]

Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed it on my first run through the game, and I hope Reach campeign also has that feel. Multiplayer wise is a different story though and I really dont appreciate being artificially forced to use weapons I wouldnt otherwise enjoy using.

But if every weapon is enjoyable to use...everyone wins. And it sounds like that is what Sage and the Sandbox Crew are trying to do.

Gentlemen, in some Halo related news, I bring you the PAX EAST Red Vs. Blue exclusive (for now) clip.... ignore the laughing.

If you cannot ignore the laughter, blame Blueblur, vhfive, and vhone.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EMRNOI8K

158MB

Hope you enjoy.

thank you

New Bnet article up, Feast of Bones

Awesome article, thanks to Urk and McLees!

 

[Dirtbag]

Not in every game, Halo 1 had the perfect set especially when it came to the stun feature of the covanent weapons which I believe Reach needs. And with the SMG, and the Spiker gone I'm kinda surprised they haven't said anything about the Mauler or the Sentinal Beam (as in they need to go too).

I wonder if they are going to keep the Carbine in since it seems to act almost exactly like the DMR now.

Needler Rifle is the Carbine (Covie Rifle weapon)
Beam rifle = sentinel beam replacement / (covie sniper maybe)

I do wonder what the primary brute weapons will be, now that we know they are in for sure.
I'm kind of hoping for at least one new brute weapon (hopefully something really fierce) and the brute shots to return. How cool would a spike thrower be? Something that shoots more like a crossbow then anything else. A shot that does big damage, but you need to lead shots with it as it's rounds travel a bit slower and maybe has a decreasing arc. I just hope that the brutes fill the "new gameplay mechanic role" so they have a different battle style.

With no dual-wielding, there is no point in having a mauler when we've already got the human shotgun, nor is their a point for an SMG when we have an AR.

Would also be kind of cool to fight rebel humans, so we could go against the human weapons instead of flood + human weapons with poor aim.

 

[electricpirate]

So the podcast made me think of a few things...

1. Melee is now the great equalizer. Literally, once you close that gap, and both players go for a melee, even if you've taken some hits both players are now on equal footing. It also means, more fights are going to lead with a melee, instead of the melee being the finisher. More like the old BXR days. Taking this out farther, Plasma is going to be really advantageous at close range. The ability to quickly drop shields, and get the melee kill will be powerful, especially if you are using the Elite as a roll in, roll out attacker. A tight pack of spartans, and a PP overcharge shot with splash damage will be really powerful.

2. Between dead man's triggers, target-able grenades, and things like the Armor lock, it really sounds like playing as a spartan is going to involve a ton of trap settings, and misdirection plays.

3. I'm thinking Human's and elites have separate Armor Abilities, and that there are more abilities than evade that we haven't seen yet. I'm thinking they will be fairly simlar to spartan Armor types.

4. Since the pisto and the DMR are using the same rounds, I wonder if we'll be able to pick up ammo for one from the other.

 

[Dirtbag]

Can you hold down the melee button when facing a player or attacking them from the side for a fancy finisher?

If yes, what happens when both players try and finish each other by holding B at the same time?

 

[LunaticPuma]

If Brutes are back, but spike grenades are gone, what will Brutes throw? Or will spike grenades be a Brute only weapon?

There also needs to be a medal for killing the victim of an assassination before the executor can finish the kill.

 

[electricpirate]

If Brutes are back, but spike grenades are gone, what will Brutes throw? Or will spike grenades be a Brute only weapon?

There also needs to be a medal for killing the victim of an assassination before the executor can finish the kill.

Luke confirmed it for the final game a few pages ago, as well as one for taking out the monkey on his back.

 

[The Librarian]

If Brutes are back, but spike grenades are gone, what will Brutes throw? Or will spike grenades be a Brute only weapon?

There also needs to be a medal for killing the victim of an assassination before the executor can finish the kill.

Plasmas.

 

[squidhands]

If Brutes are back, but spike grenades are gone, what will Brutes throw? Or will spike grenades be a Brute only weapon?

There also needs to be a medal for killing the victim of an assassination before the executor can finish the kill.

Grunts.

fix'd

 

[The Librarian]

fix'd

Suicide grunts carrying plasmas!:lol

 

[Hostile Paradox]

Suicide grunts carrying plasmas!:lol

 

[Sai-kun]

Suicide grunts carrying plasmas!:lol

Pictured a Brute giving a Grunt with two plasma nades the boot...


..towards the player. :lol

 

[Mr Vociferous]

Not in every game, Halo 1 had the perfect set especially when it came to the stun feature of the covanent weapons which I believe Reach needs.

I've actually become fond of the plasma pistol in H1 as of late. When I play through campaign with my kid, he usually wants all of the bad ass weapons and I'm stuck rolling with that one, but I've found that it's super beastly and it fires at an insane speed.

 

[feel]

Dax gets it.

I wonder if grenades that have been "dead manned" can be shot or exploded with another grenade. Hopefully they can be.

My guess is yes in campaign, and no in MP, as usual.



Can't believe we'll be getting another podcast by tomorrow.

 

[AwesomeSyrup]

The mess that is MW2 makes me appreciate what Bungie does even more.

 

[kylej]

Not in every game, Halo 1 had the perfect set especially when it came to the stun feature of the covanent weapons which I believe Reach needs. And with the SMG, and the Spiker gone I'm kinda surprised they haven't said anything about the Mauler or the Sentinal Beam (as in they need to go too).

I wonder if they are going to keep the Carbine in since it seems to act almost exactly like the DMR now.

I dunno, H1 multiplayer was a pistol fest. If Bungie really makes every weapon feel balanced and useful I'll eat my shoe. I want to believe. I really do. But when I run past plasma rifles and spikers on Narrows 2+ years after launch I question their sandbox balancing. If you can't achieve parity in a weapon set that hasn't changed dramatically in at least 5 years, how am I supposed to believe Reach -- with all its new variables -- will have a balanced sandbox?

As in every game (not just Halo), I see people gravitating towards one part of the sandbox while the 'full experience' is reserved for scrubs.

I hope I'm proven wrong.

 

[LunaticPuma]

Suicide grunts carrying plasmas!:lol

That would be awesome. :lol

 

[Dirtbag]

I hope there are still some unbalanced things. Too much balance and you nullify the power weapons. Hopefully the Pistol / AR starts will fix the AR starts of yore. I also think hitscan is going to do alot more for the ranged weapons then most of you realize in regards to DMR/PISTOL vs AR balance. My only real concern at this point is the spartan lazer, but I'm sure they'll change it up some kind of way.

I also really hope the plasma rifle becomes the weapon I'd rather then an AR. Would be neat to have my DMR/Pistol primary with plasma rifle backup for a change.

 

[Major Williams]

I dunno, H1 multiplayer was a pistol fest. If Bungie really makes every weapon feel balanced and useful I'll eat my shoe. I want to believe. I really do. But when I run past plasma rifles and spikers on Narrows 2+ years after launch I question their sandbox balancing. If you can't achieve parity in a weapon set that hasn't changed dramatically in at least 5 years, how am I supposed to believe Reach -- with all its new variables -- will have a balanced sandbox?

As in every game (not just Halo), I see people gravitating towards one part of the sandbox while the 'full experience' is reserved for scrubs.

I hope I'm proven wrong.

I agree with your overarching point about weapon viability in the sandbox. The spiker and plasma rifle being viable examples in H3.

People simply prefer the use of something familiar (steady action rifle/pistol with ammunition) over something new, unless there is an alternative that runs miles around this familiarity and learning the weapon becomes a necessity. I'm thinking that given Halo's record, we'll see more of this lob-sided combat. Again I hope we are wrong.

 

[DualX]

I've actually become fond of the plasma pistol in H1 as of late. When I play through campaign with my kid, he usually wants all of the bad ass weapons and I'm stuck rolling with that one, but I've found that it's super beastly and it fires at an insane speed.

Yes, especially on the multiplayer side of things. If you catch someone off guard with one of those, you had a very high chance of winning since they wouldn't be able to turn fast enough to do anything (I can fire it like a machine gun). Saved my ass many a time during tourny's.

I dunno, H1 multiplayer was a pistol fest.

Only if you started out with the weapon, and even so it still really depended on the crowd you played with, but I don't feel the same way.

 

[JaggedSac]

Do these podcasts represent this week's info drip?

 

[Slightly Live]

Matchmaking down for anyone?

Do these podcasts represent this week's info drip?

Yep, looks that way. We've one more podcast and the Urkdate to look forward to as well this week.

 

[kylej]

I hope there are still some unbalanced things. Too much balance and you nullify the power weapons. Hopefully the Pistol / AR starts will fix the AR starts of yore. I also think hitscan is going to do alot more for the ranged weapons then most of you realize in regards to DMR/PISTOL vs AR balance. My only real concern at this point is the spartan lazer, but I'm sure they'll change it up some kind of way.

Power weapons are the crux of Halo's gameplay. They don't need to go away. Bungie needs to give people a reason to pick something other than a DMR or pistol up. If they don't it's going to be like Halo 1/2/3.

 

[The Crawf]

Matchmaking down for anyone?

MM not down, just had a game, but it is really slow at finding games.

 

[big ander]

:O The start of the new season of Red vs Blue is amazing. Thanks for putting it up Hostile!

Spoiler

I thought it was a little stupid how Sarge figured out about Simmons and all that. But RvB has always had silly plot progressions like that.
Monty's action sequences are awesome. They really add to the show. Before while watching, I always sort of felt like I could predict that X or Y would happen just because of the limits of the game. But now, anything can happen.
There's no way Wash, Donut, Doc, Actual Church, and Tex are ALL DEAD. I'm sure we'll see the return of all of them.

 

[The Crawf]

From Major Nelson "Matchmaking is in a bad state on Xbox LIVE right now. We're working on it and will resolve it as quickly as we can." MW2 title update seems to be the cause.

 

[Wizman23]

Can't believe we'll be getting another podcast by tomorrow

Is this confirmed? The way Urk put it makes it hard to understand what he was actually saying.

 

[zumphry]

:O The start of the new season of Red vs Blue is amazing. Thanks for putting it up Hostile!

Spoiler

I thought it was a little stupid how Sarge figured out about Simmons and all that. But RvB has always had silly plot progressions like that.
Monty's action sequences are awesome. They really add to the show. Before while watching, I always sort of felt like I could predict that X or Y would happen just because of the limits of the game. But now, anything can happen.
There's no way Wash, Donut, Doc, Actual Church, and Tex are ALL DEAD. I'm sure we'll see the return of all of them.

Spoiler

I couldn't stop laughing during that Sarge part with him explaining it all to Grif. I was getting worried a bit last season that the humor was dying out, but the Waypoint episodes and this made me happy to prove that I was wrong. The CGI sequences were weird at first, but they grew on me.

For Donut dying, I think I've heard that Dan, the guy who voices him won't be able to work with RoosterTeeth as much due to being too busy, but that's all from reading their message boards after last season's ending, so I can't put too much credence into that :lol .

 

[big ander]

Spoiler

I couldn't stop laughing during that Sarge part with him explaining it all to Grif. I was getting worried a bit last season that the humor was dying out, but the Waypoint episodes and this made me happy to prove that I was wrong. The CGI sequences were weird at first, but they grew on me.

For Donut dying, I think I've heard that Dan, the guy who voices him won't be able to work with RoosterTeeth as much due to being too busy, but that's all from reading their message boards after last season's ending, so I can't put too much credence into that :lol .

Yeah, Recreation was weird because it was kind of funny, but had nearly no action. RT said their entire plan behind the season was for it to be jokes and moving characters into position, but the jokes weren't very good.
And RTs message boards really are a joke, frankly. So I don't know if it's good to trust anything from there

Spoiler

I hope you're wrong. :/

 

[zumphry]

Yeah, Recreation was weird because it was kind of funny, but had nearly no action. RT said their entire plan behind the season was for it to be jokes and moving characters into position, but the jokes weren't very good.
And RTs message boards really are a joke, frankly. So I don't know if it's good to trust anything from there

Spoiler

I hope you're wrong. :/

Yeah, though, it was a good season.

Spoiler

same here

We might want to make a RvB thread, or something.

 

[Ramirez]

I dunno, H1 multiplayer was a pistol fest. If Bungie really makes every weapon feel balanced and useful I'll eat my shoe. I want to believe. I really do. But when I run past plasma rifles and spikers on Narrows 2+ years after launch I question their sandbox balancing. If you can't achieve parity in a weapon set that hasn't changed dramatically in at least 5 years, how am I supposed to believe Reach -- with all its new variables -- will have a balanced sandbox?

As in every game (not just Halo), I see people gravitating towards one part of the sandbox while the 'full experience' is reserved for scrubs.

I hope I'm proven wrong.

I think the biggest glimmer of hope is that the sandbox lead has changed, and were no longer stuck with someone who is purposely bad at the game balancing weapons. :lol

 

[Hostile Paradox]

:O The start of the new season of Red vs Blue is amazing. Thanks for putting it up Hostile!

You're welcome. Hope I don't get sued or something over this...

 

[The Librarian]

Wait... the new season of RvB is up? Cause I want to watch it!

 

[bobs...onGaf]

You're welcome. Hope I don't get sued or something over this...

That Monty Oum (Sp?) guy is amazing, I loved Haloid, and has done amazing things for the clip you put up, those action sequences were INCREDIBLE, RVB has always been more comedy less action now hopefully that will change. Either way hes going to add a LOT to RVB. The CG looked like Halo 3 and wasnt jarring at all which was a HUGE suprise, simply amazing!

Dax look for a post Hostile made with a link in it, the vids in there.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I think the biggest glimmer of hope is that the sandbox lead has changed, and were no longer stuck with someone who is purposely bad at the game balancing weapons. :lol

Sage truly is the great bearded hope.