[360] Halo Reach: Ghosts of GFF

Yeah, I kinda haven't paid anything for my two years of Gold. Not that I've played online once either but still.

As usual, I'm not so much worried about how this affects me (it doesn't really), but rather concerned as to what MS is thinking. I don't feel this is the kind of thing they should play the "well, they'll pay anyway" card like Activision or something. I mean sure, a number of people will pay anyway, but this is not winning them any favors when this is the time they should be appealing to their audience, not pissing them off.

Also zip, you can't buy the from an american seller, but you can buy them from UK, like play.com or zavvi. Same for MS Points. Unlike PSN cards, MS's codes are not country specific, but market region.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

Also zip, you can't buy the from an american seller, but you can buy them from UK, like play.com or zavvi. Same for MS Points. Unlike PSN cards, MS's codes are not country specific, but market region.

Bzzzzt, wrong.

Points are region specific, subscription cards are not. Feel free to pick them up from wherever for cheap.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Qwarky

Yeah, I kinda haven't paid anything for my two years of Gold. Not that I've played online once either but still.

As usual, I'm not so much worried about how this affects me (it doesn't really), but rather concerned as to what MS is thinking. I don't feel this is the kind of thing they should play the "well, they'll pay anyway" card like Activision or something. I mean sure, a number of people will pay anyway, but this is not winning them any favors when this is the time they should be appealing to their audience, not pissing them off.

You're literally the only person I know who has a 360 and doesn't use it to play online. Without a gold subscription there's not a great deal of point in owning a 360 as far as most people are concerned so yes, everyone will pay anyway.

That said, the only people who can't afford a $10 increase after 6 or so years are the kids who are probably using their parents' credit cards anyway. I imagine Microsoft are pretty happy with their market share at the moment and it's not like Sony have done anything recently to encourage people to buy PS3s. I can't even remember the last time I saw a PS3 ad on tv and I can count the number of PS exclusive titles I'm interested in on no hands.

Like you say, people will butch and moan because that's what the internet is for but all those same people will still buy the subscription and probably the next iteration of the xbox, whenever that might come along.

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Pretty much.

Attempting to get somewhat back on track here, IGN's got a quick montage of a bunch of multiplayer maps we haven't really seen much of yet: Boardwalk, Countdown, The Cage, Asylum, and Paradiso:

YouTube Video

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Not to be a dick or anything, but what exactly is it about the Halo franchise that's made its multiplayer so much better than, say, Unreal or Quake games?

(Actually starting to wonder if I should get this game to play it with you guys even though I'll be miserably terrible.)

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It's not? It's a different style of play than those games by a huge margin, so going into it expecting to be rewarded for the same tactics and conventions is going to get you brutally slaughtered.

Some people like it's conventions more, but it's hardly "better". Do you want a breakdown of what to expect, or something?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by SailorDaravon

Multiplayer ViDoc, Carnàge Carnivàle

SD just said pretty much this.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Agent Di Gun Him

It's not? It's a different style of play than those games by a huge margin, so going into it expecting to be rewarded for the same tactics and conventions is going to get you brutally slaughtered.

Some people like it's conventions more, but it's hardly "better". Do you want a breakdown of what to expect, or something?

I guess not necessarily better, since I was never much a fan of UT or Quake, just why does it have this massive following when the other games seem to only get a fraction of the attention.

Like, I had figured it would be somewhat similar to that UT2k3 (or was it 2k4, I forget) that had vehicles and control points, except with CTF, team deathmatch, etc.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I see mainstream/casual people leaving the xbox360, before they named the 360 when they wanted to buy a console now it's more often a ps3 for whatever reason (usually bluray and "better graphics"), so I would be worried if I was MS, which i bet they are since they keep pumping out commercials and bundles etc etc.

not to go ot or anything.

no homo

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

I guess not necessarily better, since I was never much a fan of UT or Quake, just why does it have this massive following when the other games seem to only get a fraction of the attention.

Like, I had figured it would be somewhat similar to that UT2k3 (or was it 2k4, I forget) that had vehicles and control points, except with CTF, team deathmatch, etc.

Well, UT and Quake were huge when they were new, and there's still people playing them, like counter-strike, just not as much. Just like there was a lot less people playing Halo 2 than Halo 3 by the time the old Live closed.

As for the second para, Halo does have vehicles and many different game modes. Forge allows you to come up with all manner of additional shit too as far as I understood.

Halo was one of the first (at least on console anyway) to mix FPS and vehicles so seamlessly.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

I guess not necessarily better, since I was never much a fan of UT or Quake, just why does it have this massive following when the other games seem to only get a fraction of the attention.

Like, I had figured it would be somewhat similar to that UT2k3 (or was it 2k4, I forget) that had vehicles and control points, except with CTF, team deathmatch, etc.

I think it's mainly due to a few things.

• The mainstream market is more apt to already own an Xbox over a decent PC.
• It's more acceptable to sit in front of a gaming system than a computer for an extended period of time.
• Easier to pick up a controller and play than it is to take a keyboard and mouse and figure out it's controls.
• Controls are half decent.

Just my opinion really, I could be completely off base with those assumptions. Maybe it's just me but I really enjoy the overall story within the Halo series the multiplayer is sort of a second though to me.

How ya doing, buddy?

As sort of a very general answer:

-Halo is generally pretty to look at; a lot of it is the art style and color choices they've gone with.
-Halo is very accessible from a game design and control standpoint, as well as accommodating a wide range of player skill levels.
-Halo: CE revolutionized console FPS games. Regardless of what you think of Halo itself, there is no arguing that modern console FPS games all owe a huge amount to Halo. This is more relevant now simply because when it came out it was so amazing and accrued such a fanbase, that they've carried that fanbase and momentum from game to game.
-Also say what you will about Halo's story, but they've established a good back-story for the universe that works, and have a super recognizable and "badass" main character that people love.
-Ultimately, the games are generally just balanced very well; they polish and polish. With a lot of online multiplayer games (again talking specifically console games here) they either have balance issues, or are broken and/or exploited (see: GoW 1/2, MW 1/2, etc). Aside from the BXR thing in Halo 2 and a very small vocal minority bitching about very specific things, Halo generally just doesn't have these gamebreaking issues like other games often do. They usually have a pretty good sandbox in terms of map design, and weapon and vehicle balance. There's also a certain "feel" to Halo that other console FPS games don't have; the color palette, the certain "floatiness" to your jumps and movements, and other things that just seem to click very well. It's a very "bro" game; a lot of people have just played casually on weekends for years since it's so easy to get in and out of. I haven't played MW2 in about 4 months now; if I went back now I would get destroyed. With Halo, usually after a match or two tops you're back in the saddle.

RR, if nothing else you should check out some of the Reach Firefight videos; even if multiplayer turns out to not be your thing for whatever reason, Firefight/horde mode is always a good time with friends.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

If you do get it, RR, playing through the campaign would give you a good enough grasp of the mechanics for you to not get murdered straight up online then it only takes a few games to learn the strategy, especially if you're playing with some decent players you know.

FELIPE NO

Speaking of which, unless you take your games really seriously (Skills), most of the time it's fun enough just shooting the shit with friends while you shoot shotguns at people regardless of how well you're doing.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Goodies from the BWU and other places.

-Quick Look of Boardwalk. This video in particular has caught a lot of attention since it shows how drastically the recoil on the pistol has been reduced from the Beta (the reticule bloom is still there).

YouTube Video

-Quick Look of Countdown

YouTube Video

-The Legendary Edition download behind the scenes content has been detailed; sounds exactly like the Halo 1/2 commentary provided in the Halo 3 Legendary Edition (which for those that have never seen it, is AWESOME). Still super bummed it's a digital download, but whatcha gonna do?

Quote:

Go inside Bungie and get direct access to the team that created the franchise as they play through their last and most ambitious entry in series, Halo: Reach. To celebrate the event – and to commemorate those fans who picked up the Legendary Edition of Halo: Reach – Creative Director, Marcus Lehto, Audio Director and Composer, Marty O’Donnell, Cinematics and Story Lead, Lee Wilson, and Effects Lead, Steve Scott sit down together to deliver two full hours of exclusive, behind-the-scenes campaign commentary covering unrevealed aspects of Halo: Reach’s production. From concept to cutting room floor, this last look back is the final word on Halo: Reach’s development, straight from the team that built the game.

-Per urk in the BWU, it's not possible to set up credit-farming specific games. Apparently there has been some discussion on this since some people who got retail copies early are playing offline and setting up "ideal" gametypes to earn tons cR. However when you connect to Xbox Live, the game will notify you that the online credit scale works differently, and will automatically scale your offline earned cR to a lower online-scaled amount. This was done intentionally so people who somehow still aren't on Xbox Live can earn their way to the crazier stuff faster then since they're not able to play online and do the challenges, etc. But this system is in place to avoid people abusing that, which is neat that they thought of. You will lose any Armory pieces that you no longer meet the cR or Rank requirements to have once you connect online.


-Bungie had a panel at PAX this weekend, and video is up of it. I'm watching it right now, apparently they go into a lot of detail regarding the very early development, stuff that was cut from the game (was originally going to be Noble Seven, more space battle stuff and boarding) and other cool stuff from what I'm told. 4 parts of the video here:

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

-No one knows if it's accurate or not, but supposed names of the first Reach Map Pack DLCs got leaked out via some sort of completely unconfirmed blog that was then pulled. Was 3 MP maps and 3 Firefight maps. Bungie has confirmed that they are working on at least one map pack.


-Skulls will be available from the start of Campaign, however there will be "other" collectibles to find, which has already been confirmed by leaked copies that there is apparently a "datapad" in each level.


-Interesting tidbit I haven't seen; they've also confirmed that Campaign and Firefight both have Jump OUT capability, but not Jump IN. So this means no more getting screwed by someone leaving the Firefight match which would cause it to end for everyone. Alternatively though this means people cannot join a session already in progress, but it's better than before at least.


-Halo-branded Doritos and Mtn Dew are out in the wild now (although I haven't seen them yet). No Game Fuel is disappointing still though



With the PAX panel over with, there's only one more BWU before Reach releases, and that should be the last of any type of information released (we should be getting launch Playlist details). I'll be working on getting the OP finalized by the end of today (mainly just need to do the image headers) and then that should be about that.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think I am going to buy this videogame and then quit videogames except for this one videogame. Which I will play all of the goddamn time. It doesn't seem like that long since I was playing with you guys in the beta, and yet here we nearly are.

Although I disagree that it's easy to get back in the saddle with Halo. I feel terrible at it whenever I come back to it after a lengthy break.

E: also, holy shit, I just unpacked the whole of the OP, and you are a seriously crazed individual for doing all that work. One correction I noticed: the image you have for The Cage is actually just a regular old Lockout remake that has only appeared for those few seconds in the ViDoc. The Cage isn't really very similar to Lockout, it's just "inspired" by it. You can see a flyaround here.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Daravon.

Own up.

You're on the payroll, right?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Fuck, I wish.

Thanks for the correction Shake, I'll fix that shortly. Also I've been replaying Halo CE, and while I still stand by my easy to get back in the saddle statement for multiplayer (as I've done so a few times this year), maybe not so much for Campaign as I am sucking ass right now in CE.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Model in the full-size Kat armor from the live action commercial dancing to Poker Face in Dance Central.

YouTube Video

I was speaking idiomatically.

I was playing a bit of H3 online over the weekend and either I've improved a lot or there's a ton of kids who've just picked the game up for the first time in forever because I was doing really well in a lot of games. I did keep hitting RB to melee though, didn't realise I'd got so used to that in the beta. Also I'm really looking forward to getting recognition for being a driver in Reach after ending one match with only 4 kills but 15 wheelman medals.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by SailorDaravon

Fuck, I wish.

Thanks for the correction Shake, I'll fix that shortly. Also I've been replaying Halo CE, and while I still stand by my easy to get back in the saddle statement for multiplayer (as I've done so a few times this year), maybe not so much for Campaign as I am sucking ass right now in CE.

I noticed that too with Halo: CE. Specifically when moving from Halo 3 to Halo: CE I've had my ass handed to me. The original feels way more goddamn hard than 3.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well shield recharge time is longer, and there is no recharging health. Those two things would definitely do you harm if you went in with a Halo 3 mindset.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Preordered limited edition... sigh and I said i wouldnt...
See y'all online hopefully. xoxo.

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If anyone is interested, I happened upon some pictures of the Kat model wearing the suit today.

Wearing the Helmet

Spoiler:

Not wearing the Helmet

Spoiler:

A friend of mine showed me her Myspace earlier today as well, where these pictures are also located(Don't currently have the link to it), but supposedly she's a known gamer, something like "something Giggles" can't quite remember.

From pictures of scoreboards she's an avid gamer and can achieve scores in games like Modern Combat that I can't touch.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah, GAF already got all creepy about her with her profile and pics.

Anyway, the new bungie.net is up (I think this may be a couple days old actually), the top navigation bars and how they break down is much more user friendly now. Nothing happens if you go to Reach stats though, it gives you a message saying it's not 9/14 yet :P



How ya doing, buddy?