Dawn Wolf

I'm going to invent a new word. It's going to be something like, Intellectual Bait. What it is are conclusions that one CAN draw, but in reality, the conclusions are extremely easy to jump to. And are in fact, generally speaking, wrong. The irony is that the person THINKS they are smart for jumping to said conclusions, but in reality, they only came to those conclusions because they are solely lacking on insight in the matter, or really did not try to think about the issues very hard. They came to said conclusions quickly. And for everyone that actually UNDERSTANDS the matter, they look like fools. That would be applied here. Person sees similarities to CoD. Person jumps to conclusion that game plays like CoD, and attempts to be clever/hip/smart by making this shocking discovery apparent to others. Normal people realize game plays nothing like CoD, and the original person is caught. They came to a bait conclusion. And in reality, they don't understand the situation really at all.

Give flood weapons in custom games. Take away their shields, or at least buff pistol/damage output for humans. That is all.

I would like this. Really, it's the Halo 3 model, and it worked pretty well. Ranked playlists are serious competitive gametypes, social playlists are a bit of this and a bit of that. Unfortunately, it sounds like they're just going to slap a rank on each of the preexisting playlist. Which is... A bit odd. We'll see. I can see how the random aspect of ordinance could be an issue. I mean, I could argue that at least speed boost can be really useful, but I can't justify a needler or pulse pair being equal to a sniper, saw, or whatever. They could easily fine tune the drops for ranked play. You can even do it yourself in custom games I believe. They could have it so each drop has access to at least ONE of the following: Sniper type weapon, Shotgun type weapon, Rocket type weapon. Then with the other two slots it can be a powerup, or more specialized weapons like Needler, SAW, or frags. Just as long as a decent power weapon comes in each drop, I think it'd be alright. But more than this, I think it would be interesting to see a playlist, or at least game variants in the playlist that play without ordinance and weapons on the map. Both would be interesting to see. There's good things about both. I don't really mind ordinance weapons despawning quickly, but I don't think map default weapons despawn. Like, if you go into forge and put weapons around the map, I think they will stay there. I'm not sure about how fast they despawn after the player is killed though. That's probably what you meant, now that I think about it. Disagree. I've never agreed with some competitive gamer's hate for the radar. There's nothing uncompeitive about radar. Sure, no radar can encourage team work and communication, but it also introduces a lot of randomness. You know, the thing pro players are always complaining about in the smallest of quantities? You see a hell of a lot more assassinations, hiding behind things, and it's way easier to get the drop on people without radar. I don't really see how radar makes things less skill based, or encourages camping. With radar, you have to crouch to sneak around. Without it, people just run behind you. With radar, when two people see each other one radar, and engage, there's much less luck than if one stumbles upon the other. It's part of Halo for a good reason. Sure, it can slow the game down a little. Make things tense. But that's another thing. Slow gameplay =/= unskilled or easy gameplay. It's the calm before the storm. If there's just a constant storm (lol MLG Amplified all day 24/7) it really leaves something to be desired. I like some of what MLG has to say about competition, but it gets to a point where the game starts playing more like Quake and less like Halo. Halo is slower. This is good.

Source? And dear god, this thread.

Naw. The Light Rifle is fine, the BR is still useful, and the Carbine can actually beat a DMR.

I don't really agree that the BR works much better up close, since if the DMR player has the skill to often hit the 5 shots up close anyway, how can you get better than that? But what IS true, is that the BR can really help pick up kills. Quickly spraying weak targets more commonly gets the kill before he can get away than with the DMR. Sometimes. It's pretty satisfying when people die mid burst.

Enters thread about map opinions. Berates user for not hating maps like the does. Complains about maps being too big. Complains about the Boltshot. Facepalm.

This thread has so much to disagree on. But instead, I'll just say... Am I like the ONLY person that actually really likes Halo AND CoD? Who doesn't feel the need to insult ONE of these games randomly with every post?

It's not just games that have this sort of model, it's everything, since the beginning of trade. Buying "Bulk", or a whole thing is often easily the best "Deal" per dollar. But the extra things you want cost much less, but still have much less value per dollar. It's where a lot of times a lot of the money was made. Now, before whining kids starting playing video games and buying DLC, it was understood that as long as you wanted the extra little stuff more than you wanted your 10-20 dollars, it was a good trade. Both parties got something they wanted. Gamers seem to be oblivious to old as dirt economics stuff. Like, "Oh god, why us?!" It's the whole world. If you don't think the DLC is worth the money, don't buy it.

I won't say the Boltshot isn't at least a bit OP, but other than that, I will go ahead and have to disagree. See, I liked Armor Lock. People complained about it WAY too much. In the context of that, I would agree with the people who said to adapt. AL, while powerful, was the easiest AA in the game to counter. It was the only one that instantly made you become 100% predictable. What goes up must come down, as they say. It rooted you in place, and once you came out, provided people weren't stupid and stood right next to you, could easily take you down. With a lot of the other AA's, they could be used against you actively in a limitless amount of ways. When someone starts sprinting, there is no "Counter". When someone used Armor Lock, you pack up and toss a nade. Sure, it could hard counter swords and what not, but Sprint made them twice as good too. Balance. And on Halo 4, the thing is, the game is very fast, and kill times are possibly the fastest they have ever been. The DMR/BR/Whatever kills quickly. Power weapons are slightly less dominating because of this, which is fine. But it also means that all weapons need to step up. While it's true Halo has never had a one shot starting weapon, it's also never had a lot of other things. Like regen fields. Needlers kill faster than ever. The sandbox has changed. This isn't Reach, and the Boltshot is not completely unreasonable. I'm not saying it's not 100% balanced either, it's very arguable. But all in all, H4 is a different game.

I love how some people rant endlessly on how the game has to play 100% on skill, call the AR a skilless weapon, and then ask for AR forced starts again. Amazing.

I both agree and disagree. People whine WAY too much. I feel the DMR is not too far overpowered. Logically speaking, it was bound to be the default all around good weapon on concept alone. Accurate, powerful, semi auto. Sound familiar? That being said, the BR and Light Rifle are also viable, easily. Even if the DMR is "better", that doesn't mean the other weapons are not all but as deadly. And the Carbine is as it should be. It's hard to use, but it can actually BEAT the DMR theoretically. Same as it has always been in that respect. If they made it just one shot stronger, then IT might be OP. Balance is fragile. I'm reeeeeally on the fence when it comes to the Boltshot. I use it, and I admit it. It often seems a little too good. There's definitely a strong argument there. The thing is, it DOES have it's disadvantages. Not saying they warrant it's strengths. The Plasma pistol is certainly still good. The BS does not make it obsolete. It does a multitude of jobs well. If you're playing a tight game on Adrift? Of course the BS is going to be the go to secondary. But the PP is still fine. The magnum? Well... I think it's roughly balanced. It's one shot weaker than the DMR. But, it fires faster. It makes a good compliment to CQC primaries. I don't know. I will go ahead and disagree with the "Get better" agument for the Boltshot. It's not about that. It's about the options it opens up for you. That you wouldn't have with any other basic weapon.

I agree. We need it back. AT LEAST IN CUSTOMS. GOD.

lol @ thread title. Some supportive posts here though. To clearify about the Light Rifle discussion. Clearly, scoped it's 4 shot (headshot) kill. Now, it CAN be a 5 burst kill, but they have to be perfect. The last burst breaks the shields mid burst. If you didn't land almost every single shot, and if the very last shot isn't in the head, it'l take 6.

That's funny, I almost never use it, and I generally do just fine. Are you "forced" to use Mobility so you can catch up to people that are? Are you "forced" to use Sensor so people don't always outrange you on radar? I swear there was a such thing as "dodging grenades", and killing people without "relying on grenades" as well. I don't know. I still get kills/assists with my slightly weaker frags.

Anyone who says that Halo (Any of them) plays like CoD does not understand basic game design. Even SWAT with ordinance and killcams would play nothing like CoD.

Recon. IMO, it's the closest to classic Halo, what I'm used to. It's pretty close to H3 in most ways. Switched to it upon H4. And 2 sensitivity. Yes, 2. I take pride in it. lol.

This. But, they should probably clarify on the commendation.

It's relatively, and sadly logical that each 360 Halo would natural lag more than the last game, what with more and more being squeezed out of the hardware. Looking at H3 and H4, I'm almost surprised H4 can even RUN 4 player splitscreen as well as it does. It's a sad fact, but a fact nontheless. Try to live with it. It could be worse. (Reach forge maps dear god)

Post play impressions: In general, I like the maps. Putting aside the issue of the lack of small maps, the maps themselves are fun. Harvest is a decent 4v4 map, some interesting things going on in it. Shatter actually brings a muddy (lol) green aesthetic, separating bit from the others. It flows... Sort of odd, IMO. I can't easily figure it out yet. The teleporters in there make it all the more confusing. Seems like a map wtih some fun potential though. CTF seemed fun on it. Some crazy long sightlines too. Shatter however, is probably my favorite. The harsh sunlight really does add something different on it, and the map itself is a blast on all the objective game modes I played on it. The structures flow well with the combat, and in general it's a scrapyard themed map done right, something I think is rare. I expected to like it least.

I agree. Ragnarock and Relay for sure should be in 4v4. Complex and Settler should be in 8v8. Erosion should be in both perhaps. I frankly feel like possibly one of the other BTB maps could work for 4v4. Like longbow.

Moar Haven leik mapz. Please. O:

1v1?

It's awesome. It needs to replace Regicide. I miss VIP. Oh the things you can do with VIP that you can't do with Regicide. Sigh.

The maps look alright. But as been said, there's really two huge issues with the map pack. 1. The maps are just too big. Not that big maps are bad, but the ONE map that will be 4v4 compatable will be quite a large one as it is. The other two maps will not be in 4v4. So, Team Slayer, which arguably is in the most need of new maps, is only getting ONE map. And it's not even a "Small, Arena map" like people seem to want. 2. The maps seem to lack variety in setting and art design. I thought, unlike many, that the starting variety was decent. Not as good as H3 of course (Snow, Sand, Forrest, Industrial Complex, Indoor Facility, Forrunner, Covenant, my god), but still decent. Haven and Solace bring a cool and warm flavor respectably, and Adrift, Complex, and Abandon bring a little something to the table as well. It is true though, that the maps all, except Haven, Ragnarock, and maybe Exile, all seem to garner a brownish, non vibrant color palate. The DLC maps, however, look to be EXACTLY THIS. The maps in general just have a pretty similar artistic feel. We'll see. That said, the maps look alright. Possibly really good. I'm not sure yet. Either way, I'm excited to get some more maps.