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[Willeth]

Achievements are instantly uploaded to the Xbox LIVE servers for all games and DLC. No title update is needed there.

Are you guys certain of this? It's not my understanding at all. Can you give me an example of a game that's had achievements added and not needed to patch them - surely the game needs to be patched to recognise the achievement triggers?

 

[Plywood]

Because the same people who are in charge of the sandbox (the area that needs the title update) had to be "bartered by other employees of the studio just to add 3 extra bullets to the DMR", said "I will not freaking put 2 extra bullets into the Magnum" in regards to changing the Magnum from Beta to release and said "It's more idiot-proof and that's all I'll say about that" in regards to changing the Sniper from Beta to release.

Those are the kinds of designers we have to deal with when wanting to change and fix Halo: Reach.

Wow they sound like a smug and stubborn group when they had to have other employees barter with them.

Gonna listen to that pod cast now, here if anyone wants it: http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=26801

 

[Shake Appeal]

Are you guys certain of this? It's not my understanding at all. Can you give me an example of a game that's had achievements added and not needed to patch them - surely the game needs to be patched to recognise the achievement triggers?

You're correct. A patch is needed to the game code so that it recognizes when the conditions for an Achievement have been fulfilled (i.e. when to notify the servers a given user has popped a particular Achievement). Every piece of DLC ever made with Achievements has had one of these, even if they change nothing else about the game.

But I would fully expect a Halo Reach '1.1' at some stage with some weapon damages, etc. tweaked. Halo 2 and Halo 3 both had at least one major one each that I can recall.

 

[brokenwatch]

There have been title updates for both Halo 2 and Halo 3 so I imagine it's pretty likely there will be one for Halo: Reach.

 

[brokenwatch]

dp

 

[Striker]

But I would fully expect a Halo Reach '1.1' at some stage with some weapon damages, etc. tweaked. Halo 2 and Halo 3 both had at least one major one each that I can recall.

What "major" title update did Halo 3 receive? The only change I recall was the melee change, but even after it was still wildly inconsistent in terms of lunge and time. The Halo 2 title update did the most appeal since it helped the best weapon in the game, the Battle Rifle, more consistent with its shots.

 

[Shake Appeal]

What "major" title update did Halo 3 receive? The only change I recall was the melee change, but even after it was still wildly inconsistent in terms of lunge and time. The Halo 2 title update did the most appeal since it helped the best weapon in the game, the Battle Rifle, more consistent with its shots.

Title Update 1.1 fixed the elite commando shoulders bug, changed the melee system, improved matchmaking, fixed various bugs including a BXB combo. Title Update 1.2 fixed more bugs, changed the ranking system to the EXP-based per playlist thing it is now, etc. There were various tweaks to gameplay, too, like the mauler damage being nerfed.

People who bitch about Reach's "lack of polish" have really short memories of what Halo 3's MP offering was like straight out of the gate. The original maplist is really gash, too. As bad as Reach's, with the exception of The Pit and Valhalla, and with even worse 4v4 maps on the whole (Epitaph! Isolation!).

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Gamertag is Jtwo, anyone looking for someone to play with just add me.

 

[cuevas. PhD.]

dp

woah, keep the dirty talk outta here.

and 1.1 should take out armor lock.

 

[GhaleonEB]

People who bitch about Reach's "lack of polish" have really short memories of what Halo 3's MP offering was like straight out of the gate. The original maplist is really gash, too. As bad as Reach's, with the exception of The Pit and Valhalla, and with even worse 4v4 maps on the whole (Epitaph! Isolation!).

I think Halo 3's gameplay was more polished right out the gates compared to Reach, but then Reach has far more variables to juggle. So I'm sympathetic, and hoping there is indeed a set of tweaks incoming.

I can't speak to many of the playlists, because I don't play a lot of 4 v 4 games. But there are literally zero BTB maps I want to play in Reach right now. Halo 3 had three at launch I enjoyed - Last Resort, Sandtrap and Valhalla - the last of which is a classic. Two months out and I've dipped my toes into my favorite Halo game type (which has been the case sine Halo 2) and I haven't gone back to it since.

I've been careful to moderate my commentary on the game ever since my string of mea culpas during the Beta, but I think BTB is unplayable in its current state.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

People who bitch about Reach's "lack of polish" have really short memories of what Halo 3's MP offering was like straight out of the gate. The original maplist is really gash, too. As bad as Reach's, with the exception of The Pit and Valhalla, and with even worse 4v4 maps on the whole (Epitaph! Isolation!).

This. But it seems like I'm the only person who prefers vanilla Snowbound.

 

[Slightly Live]

People who bitch about Reach's "lack of polish" have really short memories of what Halo 3's MP offering was like straight out of the gate. The original maplist is really gash, too. As bad as Reach's, with the exception of The Pit and Valhalla, and with even worse 4v4 maps on the whole (Epitaph! Isolation!).

I think it's more than fair to say that generally there are more contentious issues brought up by the community than there was when Halo 3 launched. Neither game was perfect, but I honestly think Reach would have benefited much more with a few more weeks in development.

Also, I am shocked that folks are doubting the possibility of a title update. I have full faith that if they feel a title update is needed (I think so) then it will be done at some point. The past games received appropriate updates so there's no reason to assume Reach wouldn't.

 

[Slightly Live]

Tippls' slide was titled "Multiple Elements In Place To Enable 30% Non-GAAP Margins" which translates into "Things We Want To Do That We Believe Will Make Us A Lot Of Money"

• Expanding Call of Duty online services and into Asia
• High velocity growth through 2015 driven by online
• Bringing Guitar Hero back up to the overall Activision margin level
• Bungie's new blockbuster game universe
• StarCraft II expansion packs
• New World of Warcraft expansions
• Diablo III
• Blizzard Entertainment's unannounced MMO
• Blizzard Entertainment's growth in Asia, particularly in China
• New opportunities through Blizzard Entertainment's Battle.net
• Increased shift to downloaded games
• Capturing value from Used Games, Prize Play and other adjacent

The To-Do List For The Goliath Of Video Games

 

[Shake Appeal]

I can't speak to many of the playlists, because I don't play a lot of 4 v 4 games. But there are literally zero BTB maps I want to play in Reach right now. Halo 3 had three at launch I enjoyed - Last Resort, Sandtrap and Valhalla - the last of which is a classic. Two months out and I've dipped my toes into my favorite Halo game type (which has been the case sine Halo 2) and I haven't gone back to it since.

I've been careful to moderate my commentary on the game ever since my string of mea culpas during the Beta, but I think BTB is unplayable in its current state.

Reach's BTB is dreadful. Really bad.

If I was a BTB fan, I would be seriously annoyed at the maps on offer. But I like close and competitive 4v4, and I've come around to liking the maps for the most part (except for The Cage, because it's wretched, and Reflection and Boardwalk, because they're not well-managed), and loving Countdown (which is as good a 4v4 map as there is except for Lockout, Midship, Citadel, and The Pit, and I think I might like it more than The Pit, seriously), Zealot, and even Asylum in its bumpy and laggy state. And I think the gameplay is pretty fucking polished, on the whole. It helps that I have no general beef with AL, though individual instances can annoy me.

But whenever I play BTB (or Invasion Slayer) with friends, I feel less inclined to play the game as a whole. It's in a seriously bad way.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Reach's BTB is dreadful. Really bad.

If I was a BTB fan, I would be seriously annoyed at the maps on offer. But I like close and competitive 4v4, and I've come around to liking the maps for the most part (except for The Cage, because it's wretched, and Reflection and Boardwalk, because they're not well-managed), and loving Countdown (which is as good a 4v4 map as there is except for Lockout, Midship, Citadel, and The Pit, and I think I might like it more than The Pit, seriously), Zealot, and even Asylum in its bumpy and laggy state. And I think the gameplay is pretty fucking polished, on the whole. It helps that I have no general beef with AL, though individual instances can annoy me.

But whenever I play BTB (or Invasion Slayer) with friends, I feel less inclined to play the game as a whole. It's in a seriously bad way.

And FWIW, my primary objections to Armor Lock are because of how it impacts BTB gameplay, rather than close quarters. It's not across the board AL dislike. But yeah, the single biggest problem in BTB is the map selection. And then there's a set of sandbox things I dislike, but can learn to live with. But the maps are the big one right now. (I have very high hopes that post-Forgetacular and post-Noble Map Pack, BTB will be a joy again.)

 

[Kuroyume]

What things should a title update fix?

- Bring back the beta rate of fire of the pistol

- Make the plasma launcher useful again... Like it was in the beta

- Make the focus rifle useful again... Like it was in the beta

- Make the plasma repeater useful... It was nerfed right? I recall it being deadly in the beta.

- Nerf the AR. I never understood why they changed it from the beta. It was really useful there. If people didn't pick it up it was because there are so many other options in the game. Boosting the damage output of the thing is retarded given it's range. In the beta I could deal with AR guys with the pistol well. Now they usually win (unless they have shit aim) because there aren't enough bullets in the pistol clip and I have to waste time reloading while the dude continues to shred my health away. Either nerf the damage or decrease the range.

- Changes need to be made to the first stage of Invasion for both maps.

- Decrease the melee lunge. I would like to see it eliminated, but that's not going to happen. It's one thing to have a lunge for the sword, but for all weapons? That's just stupid. At the very least decrease it.

Regarding Armor Lock... It's not an issue at all in BTB.

 

[Azar]

I can't speak to many of the playlists, because I don't play a lot of 4 v 4 games. But there are literally zero BTB maps I want to play in Reach right now. Halo 3 had three at launch I enjoyed - Last Resort, Sandtrap and Valhalla - the last of which is a classic. Two months out and I've dipped my toes into my favorite Halo game type (which has been the case sine Halo 2) and I haven't gone back to it since.

I've been careful to moderate my commentary on the game ever since my string of mea culpas during the Beta, but I think BTB is unplayable in its current state.

I had fun playing it the first couple weeks, but in those cases I was rolling with a party of 6-8. And it was typically fun in spite of the maps and gametypes we were playing, not because of them. I enjoyed Paradiso, but I think that was about it.

 

[Striker]

For one, Sandtrap is far from a classic, but to each their own. There was too much unused landscape, the Lasers were problematic for weapon use, and unless you had a Battle Rifle or power weapon, you had no chance overall. Only Valhalla and Avalanche were decent enough for Objectives and Slayer - the rest were completely forgettable for me.

I do enjoy Hemorrhage and Paradiso at their current stages. The problem lies in having no asymmetrical maps, and that's with the adjustments Bungie can make with Boneyard and Spire. Breakpoint and Tempest look pretty good in what we have seen so far, notably Tempest. Further DLC definitely needs to look upon more smaller symmetrical maps, however.

 

[cuevas. PhD.]

For one, Sandtrap is far from a classic, but to each their own. There was too much unused landscape, the Lasers were problematic for weapon use, and unless you had a Battle Rifle or power weapon, you had no chance overall. Only Valhalla and Avalanche were decent enough for Objectives and Slayer - the rest were completely forgettable for me.

I do enjoy Hemorrhage and Paradiso at their current stages. The problem lies in having no asymmetrical maps, and that's with the adjustments Bungie can make with Boneyard and Spire. Breakpoint and Tempest look pretty good in what we have seen so far, notably Tempest. Further DLC definitely needs to look upon more smaller symmetrical maps, however.

he said valhalla is a classic

 

[xxjuicesxx]

wtf is this shit http://www.avengercontroller.com?

joke right?

 

[MMaRsu]

Armor Lock NEEDS to be changed. Either make it so that it only has one charge, or just remove that pos alltogether :lol

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Because the same people who are in charge of the sandbox (the area that needs the title update) had to be "bartered by other employees of the studio just to add 3 extra bullets to the DMR", said "I will not freaking put 2 extra bullets into the Magnum" in regards to changing the Magnum from Beta to release and said "It's more idiot-proof and that's all I'll say about that" in regards to changing the Sniper from Beta to release.

Those are the kinds of designers we have to deal with when wanting to change and fix Halo: Reach.

(All quotes taken straight from the June 2010 podcast)



Achievements are instantly uploaded to the Xbox LIVE servers for all games and DLC. No title update is needed there.

I hate to say it, but with the little knowledge I have it seems like Sage is behind a lot of the stuff I dont like. I dont like pointing fingers, and hes clearly pleased a lot of people with his work, but I just dont like it.

Raaaaaaage. :lol

Just to make it clear, I mean in terms of balance, I know the dude didnt think up stuff like armour lock.

 

[Striker]

he said valhalla is a classic

It would fit a second tier billing behind my 1st (Headlong, Terminal, and Coagulation) in my book.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Good lord, I kind of felt bad for the opposition.
Want to render the film, but doesn't make sense to buy 50 minutes when I never really use mine.
I've my full 5 and almost always have, so could I ask someone to render it for me, and I'll give the five to anyone who comes to me with a clip to be rendered?

wtf is this shit http://www.avengercontroller.com?

joke right?

:lol :lol

 

[Domino Theory]

wtf is this shit http://www.avengercontroller.com?

joke right?

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

 

[Hey You]

For a title update, I want Alpha Zombies back. That one option gone eliminated many,many Infection gametypes that made Halo 3's Customs awesome.

 

[cuevas. PhD.]

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

haha I love you

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Just played two games with MMarsu. That guy is a beast at elite slayer! :O

 

[Domino Theory]

Are you guys certain of this? It's not my understanding at all. Can you give me an example of a game that's had achievements added and not needed to patch them - surely the game needs to be patched to recognise the achievement triggers?

SC: C after its DLC came out, Crackdown 2, etc.

Why do you think achievements for unreleased games show up on Xbox.com days before they come out?

If you needed an update for achievements then every single retail game would prompt you for an update.

 

[Shake Appeal]

SC: C after its DLC came out, Crackdown 2, etc.

Why do you think achievements for unreleased games show up on Xbox.com days before they come out?

If you needed an update for achievements then every single retail game would prompt you for an update.

Games are coded so that when specific actions/activities/stats match up to a set of conditions, the game goes "hey, you unlocked this achievement I have in my code". It then talks to Live and Live goes "shit, okay, you're right, lemme tick it off my list" and tells your Xbox to pop the notification and play the sound. Retail games have their retail achievements set up by release. When a game adds achievements that were not preconceived by release, the game needs a new set of instructions to know what qualifies as an achievement.

If any game doesn't need a small update when it gets DLC, it means the designers had the DLC achievements devised and perhaps even ready by the release of the game, which is kinda sketchy, but reflects the reality of how many games are made nowadays.

 

[Slightly Live]

A little piece on Halo's voting process, some suggestions and a call to make your vote count.

 

[MMaRsu]

Just played two games with MMarsu. That guy is a beast at elite slayer! :O

Thanks man if it wasn't for you we wouldn't have won though

Although getting 34 kills in multi team is pretty sweet ^^

 

[Hey You]

Humpday Challenge: Seattle Fire Department

 

[The Librarian]

Humpday Challenge: Seattle Fire Department

Literally laughed out loud when I read the opponents. That's great.:lol

 

[neoism]

Because the same people who are in charge of the sandbox (the area that needs the title update) had to be "bartered by other employees of the studio just to add 3 extra bullets to the DMR", said "I will not freaking put 2 extra bullets into the Magnum" in regards to changing the Magnum from Beta to release and said "It's more idiot-proof and that's all I'll say about that" in regards to changing the Sniper from Beta to release.

Those are the kinds of designers we have to deal with when wanting to change and fix Halo: Reach.

(All quotes taken straight from the June 2010 podcast)



Achievements are instantly uploaded to the Xbox LIVE servers for all games and DLC. No title update is needed there.

What was the difference? I don't remember.

 

[feel]

Armor Lock NEEDS to be changed. Either make it so that it only has one charge, or just remove that pos alltogether :lol

Were you playing Elite Sl..

Just played two games with MMarsu. That guy is a beast at elite slayer! :O

..ayer? Oh. Yep, it truly sucks in Elite Slayer.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Heh I love Elite Slayer. Only time I get to dong on people with Armor Lock.


I

usually

do

very

well.

 

[RdN]

Bungie needs to do something about people like this: http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/default.aspx?player=y e l l o w s

He's been away from the game for hours, just getting the bonus.

I really can't believe this game doesn't have a system that detectes when somebody is away for so much time like that.

 

[timetokill]

Humpday Challenge: Seattle Fire Department

Elite Slayer, for all of its fast pace shenanigans, is still a curiosity for many players. And it features tons of Armor Lock, everyone's most favoritest AA.

god damn you bungie

 

[Sai-kun]

A little piece on Halo's voting process, some suggestions and a call to make your vote count.

Whenever I play with you, I swear this is the most oft-repeated phrase :lol

"Come on guys, none of the above!"

"yes dani"

Edit: I really like the new look of the site Very smooth looking!

 

[Ramirez]

I really feel like the range of the NR and DMR ruin BTB, you can be pinged from literally any where on the maps by these weapons. Get the flag out halfway on Hemorrhage? Well too bad because everyone back at the base can hit you with their DMRs no problem. :lol The weapons are even more OP than the BR in a lot of instances.

Voting needs to be like the Arena in every playlist, people troll it like it's going out of style, if you can only see your vote I think you would actually get people to vote for what they want to play, and not what the other team doesn't want to play. Stuff like this just seems so obvious, same as the dropshield in objective, why is it so hard to implement or realize how bad it is?

 

[xxjuicesxx]

I really feel like the range of the NR and DMR ruin BTB, you can be pinged from literally any where on the maps by these weapons. Get the flag out halfway on Hemorrhage? Well too bad because everyone back at the base can hit you with their DMRs no problem. :lol The weapons are even more OP than the BR in a lot of instances.

Voting needs to be like the Arena in every playlist, people troll it like it's going out of style, if you can only see your vote I think you would actually get people to vote for what they want to play, and not what the other team doesn't want to play. Stuff like this just seems so obvious, same as the dropshield in objective, why is it so hard to implement or realize how bad it is?

Our opinions don't matter, what matters is everyone else's opinion, you know, those casual players that just left to go play Black Ops. Now you sit here and play crap that doesn't make sense to real Halo players.

 

[Slightly Live]

Voting needs to be like the Arena in every playlist, people troll it like it's going out of style, if you can only see your vote I think you would actually get people to vote for what they want to play, and not what the other team doesn't want to play. Stuff like this just seems so obvious, same as the dropshield in objective, why is it so hard to implement or realize how bad it is?

I agree. The amount of troll voting is an ongoing issue. Would love to have the Arena vote across each list.

 

[Plywood]

Our opinions don't matter, what matters is everyone else's opinion, you know, those casual players that just left to go play Black Ops. Now you sit here and play crap that doesn't make sense to real Halo players.

 

[Falagard]

I really feel like the range of the NR and DMR ruin BTB, you can be pinged from literally any where on the maps by these weapons. Get the flag out halfway on Hemorrhage? Well too bad because everyone back at the base can hit you with their DMRs no problem. :lol The weapons are even more OP than the BR in a lot of instances.

I think that's a problem with Hemorrhage being too open, rather than with the DMR/NR themselves.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I think that's a problem with Hemorrhage being too open, rather than with the DMR/NR themselves.

Ding.

I think it's both.

I don't. If the map was properly segmented, the range wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Tashi]

I think that's a problem with Hemorrhage being too open, rather than with the DMR/NR themselves.

I think it's both.

 

[Slightly Live]

I think it's both.

Ding.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Its true, Bungie has catered to the casuals for awhile now with the AR starts and randomness and so on, they leave after awhile and you have HaloGAF who spends a asstruckload of time in the game yelling why don't we start with BR's on big maps and other things too.

A question that completely made sense but wasn't rectified until way later than it should have been. Remember spawning with AR's on Avalanche? That was messed up stuff.

Basically they should do it the other way around, please the real Halo fans, because the casual fans truly won't care whats thrown at them they will play for awhile and move on... a lot of my real life friends and coworkers did. They won't look back at this game, meanwhile I will, and I'll get pissed if its still not fixed.

 

[Advance_Alarm]

saying "real halo fans" is as dumb as saying "real americans"

Spoiler

imo