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Halo The Master Chief Collection |OT| Halo Never Died, It Was Just Missing In Action

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Dat balance.
You may be joking, but, personally, i think it's a dumb joke based on a misunderstanding of the game. There really is more to the game than just spamming the pistol. The sniper rifle is definitely useful at long range while the shotgun is useful at close range and going around corners. The rocket launcher is a no-brainer power weapon. Everything else, while not as good as the pistol, is still serviceable outside of the needler.

I don't understand where this idea comes from that balance should mean every weapon is of the same power and function. All that does is lead to redundant weapons, which I'd argue has nothing to do with balance. I want something functional that has a supporting cast - (Pistol --> supporting cast) (BR --> supporting cast). That system works. Halo CE's weapons were by and large unique and useful in specific situations. And the pistol brings balance by freeing players of worrying about finding the better weapon. The pistol is the perfect weapon to compete. Everyone starts with it and has equal footing. That allows players to focus on the game rather than the weapon, which is "true" balance in my opinion.

It's sort of like baseball players using a bat to hit the ball in a baseball game. Does the fact that players only hit the ball with a bat make the game unbalanced?

"Where is the variety in baseball bats?"
"Why don't they let players use something else to hit the ball?"
"OMG everyone is swinging for home runs! That's not fair..." Well duh. Don't you want to put points on the board? The focus of baseball isn't on the bat, but the player and his ability to use the bat. The same is true for the pistol in halo ce. The focus shouldn't be on the pistol, but on the rest of the game and the player's ability to use the pistol and supporting weapons in said game. If people want random weapon variety for the sake of variety, they should go play a different first person shooter imo. There's a reason Halo:CE makes such a good competitive shooter for tournaments and the general public (at least it used to).
 
Dat balance.
You can activate Camo quicker with automatics and the Shotgun, so if you picked up Rocket/Camo, any competitive player would drop the Pistol so they could shoot a Rocket, switch to AR to instant Camo, switch back to Rocket without exposing yourself for long. Also:
FUNKNOWN iXi said:
To describe it shortly, the Pistol was never really broken. CE's sandbox was very limited because it was the only weapon that was used midrange aside from the Sniper, so the fact that people call it broken is unfair in that respect.

Now compare it to the other weapons in their respective roles:

  • PR/PP vs Pistol -> PR/PP had stun and would dominate the Pistol close range. If the Pistol won, then good job.. Doesn't mean the weapon is broken because there could be many factors that played into that (player skill, out of ammo, low health, etc.)
  • AR vs Pistol -> AR had 60 shots and had an incredibly quick melee, and what made it more useful was that you could use it to activate Camo quicker by shooting a bullet.
  • Shotgun vs Pistol -> Shotgun was an absolute monster. Nothing else to say about it.
  • Sniper vs Pistol -> This is obvious.
  • Rocket vs Pistol -> This is obvious.
  • Needler was useless.

By giving weapons certain traits you increase their uniqueness and viability in the weapon sandbox.
You'd really just be better off porting the entirety of the game to a newer engine.

I know in certain parts of the community that'd go over like a lead balloon, but it really is possible to make a later Halo engine emulate older ones.

I mean hell, Reach Anniversary could have gotten there with some more time and budget.
This is what I was hoping for with H2A, adding a Pistol that couldn't be dual wielded.
 
First match in the new patch: finda a game quickly and we vote on maps. The. It divides us into 5v2 teams then crashes to the lobby. I see things are quite still the same.
 

MAX PAYMENT

Member
Played an awesome game of CTF on infinity. Ended in an intense stalemate.

THIS is what I bought it for. I need things to go this well regularly
 
You can activate Camo quicker with automatics and the Shotgun, so if you picked up Rocket/Camo, any competitive player would drop the Pistol so they could shoot a Rocket, switch to AR to instant Camo, switch back to Rocket without exposing yourself for long. Also:


This is what I was hoping for with H2A, adding a Pistol that couldn't be dual wielded.

What situation would this happen that would necessitate dropping the pistol?

Get camo, shoot single bullet with AR to activate camo, drop AR to pick up Rockets, keep pistol.

Unless you pick up rockets first which seems the opposite of what you would do and I cannot think of many maps that allow you to do all that in a quick manner other than Hang 'em High, Derelict, Prisoner? But again, it seems counter-intuitive, it seems you'd always want camo first to help disguise the fact you're going for Rockets.

EDIT: Chill Out and Damnation too, except the flow of Damnation, if spawned in the right spot, is to get OS, grenade jump, then get rockets, still allowing yourself the pistol.
 
You may be joking, but, personally, i think it's a dumb joke based on a misunderstanding of the game. There really is more to the game than just spamming the pistol. The sniper rifle is definitely useful at long range while the shotgun is useful at close range and going around corners. The rocket launcher is a no-brainer power weapon. Everything else, while not as good as the pistol, is still serviceable outside of the needler.

I don't understand where this idea comes from that balance should mean every weapon is of the same power and function. All that does is lead to redundant weapons, which I'd argue has nothing to do with balance. I want something functional that has a supporting cast - (Pistol --> supporting cast) (BR --> supporting cast). That system works. Halo CE's weapons were by and large unique and useful in specific situations. And the pistol brings balance by freeing players of worrying about finding the better weapon. The pistol is the perfect weapon to compete. Everyone starts with it and has equal footing. That allows players to focus on the game rather than the weapon, which is "true" balance in my opinion.

It's sort of like baseball players using a bat to hit the ball in a baseball game. Does the fact that players only hit the ball with a bat make the game unbalanced?

"Where is the variety in baseball bats?"
"Why don't they let players use something else to hit the ball?"
"OMG everyone is swinging for home runs! That's not fair..." Well duh. Don't you want to put points on the board? The focus of baseball isn't on the bat, but the player and his ability to use the bat. The same is true for the pistol in halo ce. The focus shouldn't be on the pistol, but on the rest of the game and the player's ability to use the pistol and supporting weapons in said game. If people want random weapon variety for the sake of variety, they should go play a different first person shooter imo. There's a reason Halo:CE makes such a good competitive shooter for tournaments and the general public (at least it used to).

Just so you know man, I wouldn't change a thing in the Halo CE sandbox.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Just so you know man, I wouldn't change a thing in the Halo CE sandbox.

If we're talking multiplayer only? I'd make the CE AR more powerful/reduce clip like later games and decrease the time for super combine on the needler or increase the speed of the projectiles. I'd probably make the pistol a 4SK as well but I'm a godless heathen.
 

Booshka

Member
If we're talking multiplayer only? I'd make the CE AR more powerful/reduce clip like later games and decrease the time for super combine on the needler or increase the speed of the projectiles. I'd probably make the pistol a 4SK as well but I'm a godless heathen.

I'd only make the Pistol a 4sk if there was a way to 3sk with a headshot damage modifier to shields. That way only the super pros would be landing crispy 3sk's, 4sk's would be more common. I think a headshot damage modifier on shields could be decent for Halo, it would have to be low, like 1.2x damage, nothing too game breaking, but enough of an impact so that a 4 shot can turn into a 3 shot, or an AR with tighter accuracy and bursts to the dome could do some more damage.

Has there ever been a way to put headshot bonus damage onto Shields in Halo? I think it would be cool to try out, could speed up the TTK for expert players, while still keeping the usual TTK at around the same rate for most players. Widen dat skill gap a little bit more.
 
Completed Halo 2's campaign last night, and have just started 3. Halo 3 has always been my favourite, and now playing it in 1080p and 60FPS has just made it better. Bungie did a fantastic job at actually making Brutes fun to fight. I can't imagine what the game would have been like if they were the same bullet sponges they were in Halo 2.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I'd only make the Pistol a 4sk if there was a way to 3sk with a headshot damage modifier to shields. That way only the super pros would be landing crispy 3sk's, 4sk's would be more common. I think a headshot damage modifier on shields could be decent for Halo, it would have to be low, like 1.2x damage, nothing too game breaking, but enough of an impact so that a 4 shot can turn into a 3 shot, or an AR with tighter accuracy and bursts to the dome could do some more damage.

Has there ever been a way to put headshot bonus damage onto Shields in Halo? I think it would be cool to try out, could speed up the TTK for expert players, while still keeping the usual TTK at around the same rate for most players. Widen dat skill gap a little bit more.

I don't believe there is any mechanic to do that. I can see the argument for such a mechanic, but on the flipside I can see how it would feel like an inconsistent weapon for most players as a result.

Completed Halo 2's campaign last night, and have just started 3. Halo 3 has always been my favourite, and now playing it in 1080p and 60FPS has just made it better. Bungie did a fantastic job at actually making Brutes fun to fight. I can't imagine what the game would have been like if they were the same bullet sponges they were in Halo 2.

I appreciate the fact that once a Brute's shields are down, they're down. It prevents the sorts of situations where you feel like there's no way to cut down enemy numbers without getting killed yourself, while at the same time cranking the numbers up so they can provide a different sort of challenge. That assault up the ramp in Crow's Nest of the Brute Pack is a gameplay scenario that couldn't have existed with Elites.
 

Enordash

Member
*shudders*

I'm always curious what peoples' skill levels are when they say things like this.

You might be really good at it, I have no idea.

I tend to believe people who complain about BR starts are absolute shit at the game as that's my personal experience.

EDIT: Also fuck people who vote Midship Team Slayer...people never goddamn remember that map has PLASMA WEAPON STARTS

I'm not here complaining about BR starts, but I like AR/SMG starts because it gives me even more of an advantage when I grab a BR and control a portion of the map. Maybe some people don't think easy kills are fun, but I definitely like an easy game from time to time.
 

keezy

Member
I know there's other people who bought this console exclusively for MCC. I'm not interested in trying to get a refund for my game. I'm looking to sell my Xbone. What's the best place to do this? I'd rather not mess with EBay and I'd prefer cash as opposed to in store credit. Does best buy do this?
 

RowdyReverb

Member
http://xboxclips.com/Alex+Sobecki/ba82213c-d27f-4e6e-b72f-b8c34f0f584d

This gave me a good chuckle earlier, online is still crap for me, so I'm stuck continuing my playthrough of the entire series.

Lol. Wonder if this bug is somehow related to the turbo melee bug in vanilla Halo 3

AR/SMG starts are cancer.


ESPECIALLY SMG starts.

Bungie admitted they were a mistake.

But 343 kept them in :(

I guess that it encourages players to explore the weapon sandbox more when they don't spawn with a jack-of-all-trades. That's the only rationale I can think of. I prefer BR starts, but that's not to say AR starts don't have their place.
 
343, why no Banshees on Gephyrophobia?

because every CE BTB mod runs with the wrong settings, should be Xbox and PC Classic modes but instead we have super weird CTF modes with vehicle setups that are just wrong

sadly no one has gotten into BTB matches until the very latest patch so this wasnt being discussed or discovered by a larger scale of players yet
CE BTB matches just arent fun with their current vehicle setups :/
 

RowdyReverb

Member
because every CE BTB mod runs with the wrong settings, should be Xbox and PC Classic modes but instead we have super weird CTF modes with vehicle setups that are just wrong

sadly no one has gotten into BTB matches until the very latest patch so this wasnt being discussed or discovered by a larger scale of players yet
CE BTB matches just arent fun with their current vehicle setups :/

Is this why Blood Gulch doesn't have a Scorpion tank? I thought it was a default vehicle on the map
 

Overdoziz

Banned
I guess that it encourages players to explore the weapon sandbox more when they don't spawn with a jack-of-all-trades. That's the only rationale I can think of. I prefer BR starts, but that's not to say AR starts don't have their place.
Encourages me to select the quit option really quickly.
 

TTUVAPOR

Banned
I cant fucking believe it, theres br bullet refunding...aka packet loss...in halo 2 annv.

At first i thought the sound was messed up, i wasnt hearing a consistent three shot burst but then i watched my ammo counter on te br and what do ya fucking know? Br bullet refund. Now i aee why im not killing people with four shots...fucking bullets are missing from each shot...seriously? This shit from halo 3 is back in halo 2 annv?

Im utterly speechless. Makes me not want to ever play h2 annv again.


I thought br was hitscan in h2 annv...guess i was wrong
 
I know there's other people who bought this console exclusively for MCC. I'm not interested in trying to get a refund for my game. I'm looking to sell my Xbone. What's the best place to do this? I'd rather not mess with EBay and I'd prefer cash as opposed to in store credit. Does best buy do this?

Craigslist.
 
What situation would this happen that would necessitate dropping the pistol?

Get camo, shoot single bullet with AR to activate camo, drop AR to pick up Rockets, keep pistol.

Unless you pick up rockets first which seems the opposite of what you would do and I cannot think of many maps that allow you to do all that in a quick manner other than Hang 'em High, Derelict, Prisoner? But again, it seems counter-intuitive, it seems you'd always want camo first to help disguise the fact you're going for Rockets.

EDIT: Chill Out and Damnation too, except the flow of Damnation, if spawned in the right spot, is to get OS, grenade jump, then get rockets, still allowing yourself the pistol.
I'm talking about the benefit of instantly going Camo right after every Rocket shot. You can't shoot them in rapid succession like in Halo 3 for example, so using the Rockets on a map like Hang 'Em High leaves you quite vulnerable because of how deadly the Pistol is. Same situation on any map really, the benefit of instantly going Camo by switching to an automatic/Shotgun.

It's by design, Bungie made using automatics/Shotguns with Camo activate instantly after you shoot or switch to it.
 

RowdyReverb

Member
Encourages me to select the quit option really quickly.

Picky, picky! Quitting is rude. Your teammates might stick around with you in your favorite game/type/map, even if it wasn't theirs. Wouldn't you want to do the same for others? Sorry if you were joking, it's just that the selfishness of quitting and unbalancing the game for 9+ other players because the game wasn't to one's liking really irks me. Being a team player means taking one for the team every once in a while.
/rant
 

TTUVAPOR

Banned
Why?

TzBIIFfh.jpg
 

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
I cant fucking believe it, theres br bullet refunding...aka packet loss...in halo 2 annv.

At first i thought the sound was messed up, i wasnt hearing a consistent three shot burst but then i watched my ammo counter on te br and what do ya fucking know? Br bullet refund. Now i aee why im not killing people with four shots...fucking bullets are missing from each shot...seriously? This shit from halo 3 is back in halo 2 annv?

Im utterly speechless. Makes me not want to ever play h2 annv again.


I thought br was hitscan in h2 annv...guess i was wrong

This sounds like an explanation for what I'm experiencing.
 

Tawpgun

Member
Picky, picky! Quitting is rude. Your teammates might stick around with you in your favorite game/type/map, even if it wasn't theirs. Wouldn't you want to do the same for others? Sorry if you were joking, it's just that the selfishness of quitting and unbalancing the game for 9+ other players because the game wasn't to one's liking really irks me. Being a team player means taking one for the team every once in a while.
/rant

Sometimes I stick around in SMG start games but I feel like quitting every second.

I get that people justify AR SMG starts because it makes them pick up other weapons.... but those weapons are fucking garbage anyway.

Having an SMG/AR makes me just run for the BR spawns to pick one up. If there isn't a BR there I feel so helpless.

Just give me a damn BR so I can have fun combat.
 

TTUVAPOR

Banned
SMG/AR starts depends on the map, I think. On larger maps with a lot open space without cover, you definitely need to start with something like the BR, or else you're left completely helpless.


... What am I looking at?


Ummm... Ammo counter reads one.
 
SMG/AR starts depends on the map, I think. On larger maps with a lot open space without cover, you definitely need to start with something like the BR, or else you're left completely helpless.


... What am I looking at?

He has a single bullet left. He should never have a single bullet left.
 
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