upton889

I realize that I very well could change the gamertag to something similar, something that fits, etc. but there's nothing else that I would want. I'll just tell you, the one I want is "Kayen" which is my gamertag right now with no X's. The story for that is, when I had AOL internet, the Matrix was coming out with sequels and I was a fan. AOL had a thing that gave you your Matrix name when you entered your real name. My Matrix name was Kayen. I've wanted the original gamertag ever since. Apparently somebody beat me to the punch lol. Vplus, I forgot about the "Itz" tags out there. That might be my best option. I'm just keeping it simple. It's not a big deal if I can't get it. I've had this one for years but it kinda sucks that nothing can be done. You would think Microsoft would do something more about it.

So I want to change my gamertag and there's only one I want. Coincidentally enough, it's already taken. When I send the gamertag a friend request on Xbox Live, the gamer picture shows the white xbox symbol, indicating it hasn't been in use in a LONG time. No gamerscore. No activity. No nothing. And always says offline. Never says the user was online at any point in time. I know it's not being used. I've called microsoft and they say they release gamertags when the gamertag is idle for 7 years. I've been checking on the gamertag for years but it's always unavailable. Any suggestions or help from somebody that has been through the same process? Any help is appreciated.

I was a legit level 43 in Halo 2 and yes I do miss that system when I look at Halo Reach's system today. Those late nights I spent trying to level up. It took work to obtain those levels and it motivated almost everybody to become better (and people did become better for the most part). As far as the true skill system being flawed, I disagree. In Halo 3 there weren't near as many cheaters as in Halo 2. Even though cheating isn't a good thing, all of that cheating speaks volumes as to what levels meant to people. Whether 343 hides ranks or not, people will find a way to exploit any ranking system. There's almost no way around it. I would rather have a system that drives almost all Halo players to be better and is a better indicator of skill, than what we have in Halo Reach. All that said, I'm excited to see what Halo 4 has to offer.

The problem with 1v1 is that host plays to big of a factor. If 343 can somehow find a way to dampen host advantages then I'm all for it.

I'm so glad they toned down the jetpack. If no armor ability is overpowered (like many were in Halo Reach) the gameplay will be better and more balanced.

343 owes it to us players who have been playing matchmaking since it's beginning to put in a playlist consisting of classic halo. I'll play almost all of the Halo 4 playlists but it would give the newer players a chance to experience what Halo was in the Halo 2 and 3 days.

Not a bad idea! Never heard that one before! That would be a fun playlist!

I want to see how this works but this certainly changes the game a little bit. I'm not sure if it's good or bad though. Wouldn't this take away some of the challenge of earning oddball time?

The thing about 1v1 is that having host makes a LOT of difference. If 343 can somehow avoid host advantages then a 1v1 playlist would be great!

Lockout! That's one of the greatest maps of all time in my opinion. Midship and Warlock were also some of my favorites. The Pit and Guardian were probably my favorites from Halo 3 with Zealot and Countdown from Halo Reach. 343 doesn't need to continue the trend of making maps complicated with all kinds of different floors and levels to each map (ex. Sword Base). These maps don't play well at all, especially in your average team slayer game. The constant battling and gunfire of simple and mostly symmetrical maps in Halo 2 and 3 made the game a LOT more exciting. I also hope they make the maps look better from Halo Reach, which just feels like a lot of bluish-gray shades to me (except for Zealot).

Twinreaper, I definitely respect your game experience. Nobody denies any of that. Single matches do prove who is better most of the time and you are right when you say competition is about proving you are better than your opponent. But when somebody uses armor lock to be completely impervious to fire, or when jet packers flank from whichever direction, there's no stopping any of that. Certain armor abilities can be countered in certain situations. This is true. But most of the situations you encounter, those abilities can't be countered. It isn't as simple as "If you can't kill the the AA users, that's your fault," like a lot of people say. Using those abilities against somebody does not show who is better. If you can no longer battle against those abilities then the competition is hindered, which makes the game less competitive. The worst halo players can kill just by using certain AA's, not by using their skills to prove who is better.Halo 2 and 3 were indeed more competitive in the ways I used them in. Just my opinion.

To anyone who says Halo isn't a sport, here it is as definied in the merriam-webster dictionary Sport (noun): a source of diversion: recreation Halo is indeed a sport and almost every single person that plays it uses it for recreation. Destroyaaa I agree with you 100% and always have. Anybody who didn't enjoy Halo 2 and 3 matchmaking like the other millions of people that did, could never understand. Halo Reach sold very well, but look at the numbers of people playing it today as opposed to the numbers in Halo 2 and 3? It's ridiculous and it's not a coincidence. Halo 2 and 3 in comparison to Halo Reach are by far more competitive, both in the sense of the game itself (armor abilities being the most notable difference) and in the playlist ranks, which gave people motivation to play the game. People actually tried and kept coming back to the game to get better so they could increase their rank. Having said that, I think we should wait until Halo 4 comes out to form any conclusions.

I'm completely aware of jet packers in the game. The problem is when they flank as I said in the last post. Sure, they're easy to kill when they come at you from above 1 on 1, but if you're a one shot or fighting somebody else you don't get a chance to look in the air. Awareness won't fix that problem.

That's the million dollar question isn't it? I guess we'll have to wait and see but so far it looks promising.

It looks like the sniper has improved EVERYTHING about the sniper for Halo 4. I also think taking out the sniper bloom of Halo Reach will be an improvement to the gameplay as well.

Thank you for the post! The shotgun looks great. I hope that it's more towards Frank's opinion at 0:07 and powered down slightly rather than up. The others said that it was more powerful. I can't tell you how many times I've been sniped with a shotgun in Halo Reach, especially by the host.

The BPR would actually be a good measure of skill. Good point on that Viva. Any system will be exploited in some way and certain players will always buy high ranked accounts. If 343 tries to make a system that attempts to avoid cheating and account buying then they are naive to that fact. Halo 2's system was the toughest to rank up in and most of the time showed a person's true skill but I liked how Halo 3's system combined playlist ranks with exp. Even though Halo 3's system had it's flaws, I think Bungie had the right idea with that. But overall the tougher system of Halo 2 showed somebody's true skill level.

I do indeed use that to my advantage when they give away somebody's position. I never said I use them, I just don't understand why they're in multiplayer. Comic relief is available in the campaign from the sources mentioned by tallgeese. Great idea on that armor tallgeese.

Hardly anybody plays arena because it failed. Speaking from experience, not near the amount of people quit in Halo 2 and 3 as compared to Halo Reach and it was for a reason (because the 1-50 systems were in place, which is completely different from the division system). You'll have quitters in any game but the goal is to downsize quitting, which the ranked playlists of Halo 2 and 3 did.

I have no preference on whether the spartan laser is a 4 or 5 shot weapon. It sounds and looks great.

You might be onto something humanoids. Good creativity! You're going to have cheaters in any system. Whether it's credit farming, boosting, etc., you can't avoid it and any system will be exploited. If 343 tries to make a system that avoids all cheating then they are naive of this fact. The only problem with Halo 3's system is that it was almost impossible to rank up after you have accumulated so many wins. Players should be rewarded with a level no matter how many wins they've accumulated. Other than that I like the combination of XP and playlist ranks.

Reach failed because XP means nothing and there's so many people on there that don't care about winning or losing. I guarantee if they had ranked competitive playlists like in Halo 2 and 3 there would be a LOT less quitters because people would actually care about winning. That's the way it used to be and it worked.

I agree. This is just another reason why Halo Reach is the worst of the Halo FPS franchise. Halo isn't about comic relief. Those effects were pointless and some of them can even give away your position. Why would anybody want that?

Oh my goodness. The spartan laser sounds amazing!

Well said man. Agreed.