Support NeoGAF

[CrazedArabMan]

Usually most testing is done under NDA and in a secure location for security purposes - the further away you live the more unlikely it is that you'd be able to physically participate.

Bungie aren't amateurs either, they know about security. They wouldn't let Alpha or Beta builds out in the wild or risk them hitting the unwashed public.

If you are lucky enough to live nearby and even luckier to get selected, it sounds like a chance of lifetime for any fan.

We also have no idea of what Bungie have in mind for this program so I wouldn't rule anything out at this point but I'm thinking local fans should get all over this.

I wouldn't necessarily say you have to be close, just look at combattesting.com and the amount of people from around the world they have to help test out games under NDA and so on. They also are managed very professionally and catch leaks pretty quickly.

The problem I see is picking people from the Bungie community, we all know how well they behave themselves. *rolls eyes

 

[Shake Appeal]

I seriously doubt this is local, hands-on testing (for the most part). It's more likely to be online betas of their next game, and maybe allowing people into test playlists for Reach, with possible test maps. This could be part of their way of bubbling things to the top: have a reasonably select number of people play playlists and maps certified as 'beta' on a large scale.

That'd be sweet.

Yeah, and reading it back it sounds like something I am just wishing for desperately, and so is unlikely to actually happen. Fucken Bungle.

 

[Slightly Live]

I seriously doubt this is local, hands-on testing (for the most part). It's more likely to be online betas of their next game, and maybe allowing people into test playlists for Reach, with possible test maps. This could be part of their way of bubbling things to the top: have a reasonably select number of people play playlists and maps certified as 'beta' on a large scale.

That'd be sweet.

 

[The Librarian]

That being said I want to commend Ninja on Fire for his work thus far. He has been far more prolific (to put it lightly) than his predecessor. We've had more matchmaking changes in two months than we got across 3 years of H3. Well done, bro.

...No we haven't.

 

[Lazslo]

...No we haven't.

Yeah there was a bunch of changes during H3 but NoF has done a great job so far

 

[enzo_gt]

from the bnet thread:

Black Ops already needed a title update? What a joke. :lol

Damn, we really have come so far that title updates are frowned upon. Devs need to stop supporting games post-launch altogether.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

The problem I see is picking people from the Bungie community, we all know how well they behave themselves. *rolls eyes

Us included.

But yeah, Shake's probably closer to the truth on what it is.
Also, fuck quitters (can't actually find the game on Bnet... which is frustrating).

 

[Major Williams]

Yay Page 343.

Spoiler

(unless you're one of those 100 posts per page elitist folks)

NoF has done a great job listening to the community and actually making changes in a timely manner. I'd say 3 months into launch I am more happy with the playlist changes thus far in Reach than this phase in Halo 3's lifecycle.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Yay Page 172.

NoF has done a great job listening to the community and actually making changes in a timely manner. I'd say 3 months into launch I am more happy with the playlist changes thus far in Reach than this phase in Halo 3's lifecycle.

Agreed. Good effort put in. Once again, the maps are the weakest link right now. Not sure I feel compelled to play another game on Boneyard, they stopped being fun a while ago, and we stopped voting for it.

 

[Plywood]

So I committed suicide while at the back elevator/lift because I threw a plasma grenade down at an enemy while going up. :|

 

[kylej]

I... agree with kylej?!

Good post.

Thank you.

...No we haven't.

Maybe not literally, but it sure feels like it, doesn't it?

 

[Falagard]

If you are lucky enough to live nearby and even luckier to get selected, it sounds like a chance of lifetime for any fan.

We also have no idea of what Bungie have in mind for this program so I wouldn't rule anything out at this point but I'm thinking local fans should get all over this.

I play tested Halo 1 when I was living in the Seattle area in 2000/2001. I was on a list for Microsoft play testers and got called in a few times for different games, but the time with Halo was the best

They basically took 20 people or so, gave us a piece of paper with controller mappings (a button jumps, etc.), then let us play a few levels and just watched us play. There was a questionnaire afterwards and a general "what do you think of the game" meeting with the whole group.

Afterwards they gave us a choice of software or games from a list of Microsoft products.

 

[electricpirate]

re: Invasion

It maintains a pretty solid player base; right now it has more players than snipers, Team Arena, 2v2 Arena, Team Objective, and living dead. Dedicated players, though not the competitive community have been asking for human vs. covenant MP since Halo CE. It's a mode that serves a relatively large niche in the community.

It's a pretty unique mode, and It's about the only playlist with a really large player base where I see regular objective games. I think it adds a lot to the game, and I'm glad bungie added it in.

Now, that doesn't excuse how poorly the Invasion maps play in BTB, or the poor choices they made for BTB maps.

 

[enzo_gt]

Agreed. Good effort put in. Once again, the maps are the weakest link right now. Not sure I feel compelled to play another game on Boneyard, they stopped being fun a while ago, and we stopped voting for it.

:lol @ the edit.

 

[Raide]

Finally hit Major! Wooo! :lol

 

[FourDoor]

Usually most testing is done under NDA and in a secure location for security purposes - the further away you live the more unlikely it is that you'd be able to physically participate.

Bungie aren't amateurs either, they know about security. They wouldn't let Alpha or Beta builds out in the wild or risk them hitting the unwashed public.

If you are lucky enough to live nearby and even luckier to get selected, it sounds like a chance of lifetime for any fan.

We also have no idea of what Bungie have in mind for this program so I wouldn't rule anything out at this point but I'm thinking local fans should get all over this.

Look at Pimps at Sea, aka Halo 3 Alpha. The Alpha builds were being run at Bungie and MS employee homes to do real life testing.

Releasing out games in the "wild" like that to internal MS and Bungie employees will be 100x different than releasing out "Alpha" tests to people outside of their organization. But then again Bungie public Beta's are typically the what, the 3rd or 4th build anyways so our public Alpha that we may graciously get an invite for may actually already be in its 3rd or 4th internal build.

I'm just curious if I need to apply for a job at Activision so I may qualify to internally Alpha test Bungies next game. LOL

Spoiler

I'd apply at Bungle but they don't want me. hahahaha

 

[Devolution]

re: Invasion

It maintains a pretty solid player base; right now it has more players than snipers, Team Arena, 2v2 Arena, Team Objective, and living dead. Dedicated players, though not the competitive community have been asking for human vs. covenant MP since Halo CE. It's a mode that serves a relatively large niche in the community.

It's a pretty unique mode, and It's about the only playlist with a really large player base where I see regular objective games. I think it adds a lot to the game, and I'm glad bungie added it in.

Now, that doesn't excuse how poorly the Invasion maps play in BTB, or the poor choices they made for BTB maps.

In my opinion playing as elites sucks. In previous Halos there was at least the beam rifle. In invasion games in which the elites can also pounce on snipes, that's what happens more often than not.

When Invasion was first introduced I thought it would have more players, more chaos right off the bat, and generally be a big tug of war. Instead if anything it's worst characteristic is that it's boring and I spend more time trying to get somewhere than play. In fact most of the big team maps suffer from that Sandtrap symptom. What makes invasion worse is that you're trying to get to the same zone repeatedly but have to run a marathon to get there.

The absolute lulziest thing I've seen thus far, is when me and some team mates had another team so much on lockdown that Daravon was literally spawn assassinating some guy ad nauseam. He literally would not get a different spawn to save his life. It's crap like that, that just makes this game a joke sometimes.

 

[Hydranockz]

If you’re interested, please complete the following steps:

1. Sign into your Bungie.net Profile
2. Navigate to your Profile Page
3. Select the “Edit Profile” tab and click on the “Profile Info” option below
4. Check the box for “Updates on how to become a Bungie Beta Tester”
5. Make sure your Email Status is “Valid/Active”
6. Make sure your Country and State information are correct
7. Save your Changes

US only, ok urk. Seriosuly, alarm bells should be ringing pretty loudly at this point. Dani is still waiting on his own SI onesie from the Bungie Store. What makes you think they could give us (outside of the US) any kind of testing experience?

Also, why isn't my Legendary statue individually numbered as was advertised quite a lot?

Great games with Zeouterlimits. I'd have to say my experience differs greatly from Ghaleon's as quitters are rampant and black screens do weird stuff to the game. My brother gets a double kill in the wraith, meanwhile my friend betrays me by accident. Any mathematician can deduce that the score for us at this point should have been 1. No, it was -1 after the black screen. The 2 was at the top of our team, a bunch of zeroes and followed by the -1 at the bottom.... yet, the total score was -1.

 

[Domino Theory]

Why yes, Bungie, I'll glady beta test Halo: Reach without reticule bloom.

Also, page 343 ftw!

 

[Zeouterlimits]

I spend more time trying to get somewhere than play.

Invasion Spire says "Huh?" Is a surprisingly compact map and the best Invasion has to offer currently.

 

[Dug]

I'm just wondering, sorry if this is a bit off topic, but am I the only one that hasn't gotten their confirmation email from b.net? (Requested for one about 2 weeks ago, still haven't gotten it.)

 

[Falagard]

I've been playing Arena nightly and really enjoying it. I'm pretty average and sitting at Bronze at the moment, but I don't have any one to play with and I think the constant randoms are bringing me down.

I need people to play with, so send me a friend invite right now!

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamertag=Falagard

 

[Gui_PT]

I'm just wondering, sorry if this is a bit off topic, but am I the only one that hasn't gotten their confirmation email from b.net? (Requested for one about 2 weeks ago, still haven't gotten it.)

It says my e-mail is valid/active but haven't gotten any Carnage Reports yet =\

 

[electricpirate]

I've been playing Arena nightly and really enjoying it. I'm pretty average and sitting at Bronze at the moment, but I don't have any one to play with and I think the constant randoms are bringing me down.

I need people to play with, so send me a friend invite right now!

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/MyXbox/Profile?gamertag=Falagard

Fellow Bronze level player who digs arena, I just added you .

 

[RdN]

It says my e-mail is valid/active but haven't gotten any Carnage Reports yet =\

Same here.

 

[Hey You]

@saf_1_m Yup! Non-US residents are welcome to apply! You can just leave the field for State blank.

http://twitter.com/bungietweets/status/5410413638328320

 

[Kuroyume]

So am I the only one who only has the name field in the profile page? It's missing everything else like country and state.

 

[Devolution]

Invasion Spire says "Huh?" Is a surprisingly compact map and the best Invasion has to offer currently.

Are you kidding? I played a game in which we got the core almost to the capture point. Could only spawn at the flag base and would just be blown up by a banshee when we got halfway across (and there was no other route). Rinse. Repeat. Spawns on Spire are still quite aways away at times.

 

[Captain Blood]

One thing I miss is just how much freedom there seemed to be while moving around in Halo 3. I remember going to play CoD or Gears then hopping back to Halo 3 and feeling like a straight jacket had been taken off of me. That feeling isn't there for me any more with Reach. And not to be a prick but Eazy and were playing Reach a couple weeks back and hopped over to Halo 3 for a couple games and sure enough in regard to movement I felt reborn. :lol

 

[Arnie]

Well Bungie, you've just seen a couple of pages ago a slice of my dedication towards analysing and evaluating your products, somehow though I think you'll choose Joe "JustinTV" Shmow from the Seattle area over me, the thoughtful Englishman.

One thing I miss is just how much freedom there seemed to be while moving around in Halo 3. I remember going to play CoD or Gears then hopping back to Halo 3 and feeling like a straight jacket had been taken off of me. That feeling isn't there for me any more with Reach. And not to be a prick but Eazy and were playing Reach a couple weeks back and hopped over to Halo 3 for a couple games and sure enough in regard to movement I felt reborn. :lol

Completely agree. Reach multiplayer makes me sad. I still play it from time to time though, whilst crying. Maybe if they'd had me on their test team this could have been averted.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

One thing I miss is just how much freedom there seemed to be while moving around in Halo 3. I remember going to play CoD or Gears then hopping back to Halo 3 and feeling like a straight jacket had been taken off of me. That feeling isn't there for me any more with Reach. And not to be a prick but Eazy and were playing Reach a couple weeks back and hopped over to Halo 3 for a couple games and sure enough in regard to movement I felt reborn. :lol

Yeah, I feel more than the bloom or armour lock the movement takes away joy from Reach, thank god its not as bad as the beta!

Is Eazy actually perma banned? As much as he was a dick towards the end, he always had good posts when it came to analysing stuff.

The thing is, it seems like 90% of my posts here are bitchy these days, and I hate that, because quite frankly I would rather not post than just post to say dickish stuff. For me a lot of my frustration with Reach comes from the fact that Halo is hands down my favourite series of games and has a pretty unique formulae, I can go play a million realistic shooters, so a game that gives me such freedom of movement and precision gunplay is literally like 'removing a straightjacket'. (Halo also had a ton of other characteristics that I feel have been lost with Reach). So to see my favorite game morph into something I just dont enjoy sucks, I wont be able to get anywhere close to a Halo experience anywhere else. Halo 3 is just too laggy/ dead for it to be as much fun now. Im posting critism because I want 343 to return to the old formulae with theyre game, but I very much doubt they will.

I have to apologise for being a negative poster recently, and Reach gives me enjoyment in its own right, but the fact that there will probably never be another Halo 1 2 or 3 type game just dissapoints me.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Yeah, I feel more than the bloom or armour lock the movement takes away joy from Reach, thank god its not as bad as the beta!

Is Eazy actually perma banned? As much as he was a dick towards the end, he always had good posts when it came to analysing stuff.

Yeah, he's perma.

I don't really get the complaints about movement or game mechanics. All of those things I actually like in Reach, it's the quitting that bothers me the most.

If I could be guaranteed a full game every time I would still be playing the shit out of it.

 

[Captain Blood]

Yeah, he's perma.

I don't really get the complaints about movement or game mechanics. All of those things I actually like in Reach, it's the quitting that bothers me the most.

If I could be guaranteed a full game every time I would still be playing the shit out of it.

Wait you have had problems with quitters?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Wait you have had problems with quitters?

:lol :lol

I know, I know. It's getting old, it's just really frustrating because I think Reach is superior to every other game.

 

[krakov]

Spawns in Invasion are pretty broken, unless you can spawn on your battlebro there is pretty much only 1-3 other spots to choose from. And if your bro quits, well, yeah.

I like the idea on boneyard where you can spawn in safety and have access to vehicles that the enemy can't get to. Wish it was used more.

I also agree that the Elites are gimped, but it's not that big of a problem in regular Invasion.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Halo Reach Legendary is 75 dollars.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002I0HCVK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Halo Reach Legendary is 75 dollars.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002I0HCVK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Yeah, someone mentioned that last page.

So much for it being "rare."

Way to lie to the community Bungie, and shame on some of us for believing it.

 

[Rorschach]

Yeah, someone mentioned that last page.

So much for it being "rare."

Way to lie to the community Bungie, and shame on some of us for believing it.

It's your own fault for believing it after 3 straight times of it not being true. :lol

 

[Miggytronz]

hell yeah PERFECTION on team snipes!

22 kills

 

[cuevas. PhD.]

Yeah, someone mentioned that last page.

So much for it being "rare."

Way to lie to the community Bungie, and shame on some of us for believing it.

Yeah, when they said it on the video I was excited.



the lie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGRW8R-rvWM

 

[Miggytronz]

im online right now anyone wanna play?

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

It's your own fault for believing it after 3 straight times of it not being true. :lol

I didn't say it wasn't my fault. I know I was an idiot for believing it.

 

[feel]

Invasion might be the worst waste of resources in Bungie's history. Few people asked for Invasion and even fewer play it now that it's here. Invasion decimated BTB with its terrible maps, and obviously sapped resources from the multiplayer side considering the quality of the maps.

At the very least Forge World should've had a color palette option, so you could make your Lockout remake blue or make green hall and yellow banana on your Pit remake. Instead we have these swathes of gray blocks draped across a landscape that brings the engine to its knees. Reach's forge options aren't as bad as Sandbox or Foundry but they're still pretty damn bad, and the maps it allows for are in no way an acceptable alternative to maps that use unique assets. I don't care how many man hours and pints of blood it took to make Pinnacle in Forge; it feels weak. The idea that somehow Forge contests or a Community section of matchmaking will be the great savior of Reach is laughable. I haven't played a single Forge map in either H3 or Reach that was better than even a mediocre original map. To me, more Forge maps in matchmaking means I'm less likely to play on the few good maps already in the game.

Bungie's reliance on Forge Maps is especially confusing given the exceptional quality of the Campaign and surprising amount of Firefight maps/options. Honestly it feels like milestones were missed during production, and for some inconceivable reason it was the multiplayer maps that slipped through the cracks.

I think it was Ramirez a few weeks ago who summed it up best when he said Bungie needs to stop catering to the casuals. They clearly don't give a shit. The casuals will play whatever nonsense they're given. Moments like Bungie adding that "hilarious" armor lock segment to the end of the map pack trailer are a whole lot harder to take when there's this much dissatisfaction over the maps and AAs. Ribbing the hardcore community feels less like a friendly wink and more like a defiant punch in the shoulder.

Damn. Great post.

This game desperately needs a TU that fixes most of the main complaints of the community (fuck the casuals and what they enjoy, they don't have a clue and they're leaving anyways) and a pack of five or six original small/midsized maps (charge a kidney if you must, we will pay).

 

[minasodaboy]

If this beta thing has anything to do with 'the next big thing', the whole massive public testing signup screams mmo-something-or-another.

 

[CrazedArabMan]

If this beta thing has anything to do with 'the next big thing', the whole massive public testing signup screams mmo-something-or-another.

I just got a massive sad face with the mention of mmo.

 

[Plywood]

hell yeah PERFECTION on team snipes!

22 kills

You, me, we gotta play sometime.

add meh: Xenolock

 

[Hydranockz]

The testers thing is linked to Aerospace if that sign-off was anything to go by. "It"

 

[enzo_gt]

Yeah, he's perma.

I don't really get the complaints about movement or game mechanics. All of those things I actually like in Reach, it's the quitting that bothers me the most.

If I could be guaranteed a full game every time I would still be playing the shit out of it.

Yeah, now I don't know why I feel like I'm in the minority but, I'm having more fun in Reach MP than any other Halo. Perhaps this is because of the blatantly better weaponset (AR and DMR are balanced together PERFECTLY IMO). Sure the maps aren't as good I've realized as of now, but man I've had some good runs.

I'm so glad the DMR is what it is. Bungie have perfectly taken the god-gun BR and balanced it perfectly while still keeping the satisfaction in killing someone. Watching competitve Halo at times is like watching paint dry, because the weapon use is limited to (pretty much) the sniper and BR/DMR. I don't see much fun in watching the same fraction of the sandbox being used.

This will probably upset people with hard-ons for MLG in this thread, but that's how I feel, and had to get that off of my chest. :lol

 

[GloveSlap]

Yeah, now I don't know why I feel like I'm in the minority but, I'm having more fun in Reach MP than any other Halo. Perhaps this is because of the blatantly better weaponset (AR and DMR are balanced together PERFECTLY IMO). Sure the maps aren't as good I've realized as of now, but man I've had some good runs.

I'm so glad the DMR is what it is. Bungie have perfectly taken the god-gun BR and balanced it perfectly while still keeping the satisfaction in killing someone. Watching competitve Halo at times is like watching paint dry, because the weapon use is limited to (pretty much) the sniper and BR/DMR. I don't see much fun in watching the same fraction of the sandbox being used.

This will probably upset people with hard-ons for MLG in this thread, but that's how I feel, and had to get that off of my chest. :lol

I disagree. I don't find using the DMR anywhere near as satisfying as the BR. The DMR is also redundant as hell since it is pretty much just a magnum with more bullets. It wouldn't be necessary at all if the magnum clip wasn't so damn small to begin with.

 

[enzo_gt]

I disagree. I don't find using the DMR anywhere near as satisfying as the BR. The DMR is also redundant as hell since it is pretty much just a magnum with more bullets. It wouldn't be necessary at all if the magnum clip wasn't so damn small to begin with.

You can pop off the Magnum much faster though, isn't that why it compliments the DMR so well? It's versatility is limited by it's range, and because of such, it fairs much better in it's particular range category.

My problem with the BR is that it simply was a god gun. I guess you can have fun with only using one gun in every single circumstance aside from "power" weapons, but to me that just shows the limited versatility -or boringness- of the weaponset vs. a more balanced one.