Bloody Initiate

DRIVER/MANTIS: Primary: DMR (Irrelevant) Secondary: Plasma Pistol (Irrelevant) Grenades: Plasma (Irrelevant) AA: Thruster Pack (Irrelevant) Tactical Package: Wheelman Support Upgrade: Sensor MANTIS (alternate) Support Upgrade: Gunner BTB Primary: DMR Secondary: Plasma Pistol Grenades: Plasma AA: Jet Pack or Regen Field, depending on the map Tactical Package: Mobility Support Upgrade: Ammo Mid-range (Smaller maps) Primary: DMR Secondary: Boltshot Grenades: Frag AA: Promethean Vision Tactical Package: Resupply Support Package: Stealth

Since Reach bumper jumper became much more of a personal preference thing because AAs gave the left bumper new significance (Previously in Halo 3, where bumper jumper was introduced, left bumper was used for something dumb like switching grenades). It took game developers awhile to realize the bumpers were more important than the face buttons. So should you use it? If you want to I recommend avoiding certain AAs like the Hardlight shield and probably the jet pack. What you really need to figure out is how you want to play and what AAs you want to specialize in, because your controller settings will make or break certain AAs. If you do use it, I recommend getting more accustomed to AAs like Regen Field, Autosentry, and others that don't really benefit from the aim stick being used close to the time you use the AA (Camo, usually PV). I think if you DO choose to use it you will be happier with your gameplay overall, but you really need to choose your AAs wisely and change your playstyle accordingly. I think it IS worth the sacrifice, but it IS also a "sacrifice."

My guess is that when 343 took over they had an unhealthy amount of Microsoft interference. Microsoft will want to make sales and maximize profits. Business people looking at call of duty sales numbers will understandably begin to drool, but most business people are often really stupid people. They don't bother researching things or trying to understand a market situation, they just want the numbers. Anyone who has ever been any kind of manager can attest to the people above them having no clue what things look like on the ground. Whoever wanted a lot of the things in Halo 4 that are in Halo 4 was obviously pretty dull, but what we don't know is who it was and whether they were actually in a position to direct the game or instead in a position to pressure the game's director. Either way someone at 343 copied waaaay too much from Call of Duty, I know that for sure.

I've seen a few people saying it's too strong, I disagree, so I wanted to post my argument. My argument is just information because I often find informing someone is the same as persuading them. People generally can make sense of things, they just have to have all the information available to them.

Multiple people I've seen on this forum talked about how the Explosives upgrade is somehow gamechanging or too strong. Awhile ago I found a video series breaking down the various support and tactical upgrades. There are more than one, but this particular series seemed to me to have the best research practices. I'm not affiliated with these guys or plugging a channel, just wanted to share the information I have with people who might not have it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mMfJPX7Guk&list=PLsdm-_tJhSXxVu1NzX4is15ApSDcBK4Xy&index=7 I feel the advantages granted by the explosives perk are relatively modest, especially when you consider that you need to pair it with resupply or grenadier to get the most out of it. I personally used Explosives for a long time on my primary mid-range loadout but recently exchanged it for stealth because I didn't feel I would miss it that much. Occasionally I wish I still had big sticky detonator explosions, but for the most part I think I'm better off not getting spotted on PV. Overall I think the Explosives perk fits right in with the others in that it slightly tweaks things without upsetting game balance. I believe that was the intent, and it was fulfilled. Feel free to discuss the information here or there. I just wanted to share it.

I know they weren't allowed in Ranked lists. I also know why. Why do you keep talking about it like it matters? NO ONE said they were allowed in Ranked lists. With whom are you arguing? About WHAT are you arguing? Why do you "disagree" with my post about the benefits of guests, when not once in the post do I say anything you address in your post? You're having a conversation about a different topic... with yourself.

The problem with your poll is that historically Halo has been a very engaging game on both fronts (Campaign AND Multiplayer). I played the Halo: CE and Halo 2 campaigns over and over again (My Xbox was screwed up an prohibited me from getting Live while Halo 2 was online). The CE campaign was amazing and it was the only Halo you could get without other people (No Live) and the Halo 2 campaign was very hard and ALSO the only Halo I could get without other people (still no Live). At the time my Xbox was also so screwed up that it only played very cleanly coded games like Ninja Gaiden and Halo (It crashed like every 10 minutes standard when playing KOTOR). Halo 2's campaign wasn't as good in terms of campaigns, but it was hard and that's what you wanted if you wanted practice for multiplayer. When I finally got Live and Halo 3 I spent much more time on multiplayer, and of course enjoyed it more, but the campaign was still solid and I never minded jumping back into it with friends to get some achievements or something. Reach's campaign was good, but its multiplayer wasn't as good. Halo 4's campaign was throwaway at best, and its multiplayer could be better. Using just the information you're interested in, I suspect the problem with recent Halo titles is they lack the symmetry of the earlier three.

Nah Bagels is right, guests can be bad teammates for sure, but in the case of this particular player I highly doubt guests are the reason he's having trouble.

Yeah I didn't bother calling him out on that. I looked at your Service Record OP, I have some terrible news for you: You haven't played that many games, you might have started strong but your K/D will eventually level out. Mine started high too, but the more games you play the more accurate it becomes. You were never really a 3.0 kind of guy, or even a 2.0. More games = more accurate K/D, and in the case of someone who trueskill hasn't placed yet More games = lower K/D (Still accurate though). It's all about averages, and I suspect your average K/D isn't done dropping. Just stay away from Grifball if they ever get it, your K/D will never recover.

It's in the game. It appears in ordinance drops in War Games, is on the map in a few maps, and it is the secondary weapon of the pelican in campaign. It's never been as satisfying to fire as it was in Halo 3, but it still works in this game. As far as I can tell it's better than the rocket launcher again, which it WASN'T in Reach.

Yeah but there aren't any ranked playlists in Halo 4.... There were guests in H3, and in Reach (although playlists started reducing amount of local players allowed), and in H2 if I remember correctly. Playing as a guest was the first time I played H2 online, almost the only time I did. I LIKE guests being allowed into matchmaking. Not everyone can afford games, or maybe they want to get a feel for it before they jump into the deep end with their own tags. It was friends allowing me to play as their guests or play on their tags that made me want to play Halo 3 on Xbox Live more than ever, which is why I got the game and a tag of my own. It was experience playing as other people's guests that made me confident I could climb the ranks in Halo 3 on that new tag of mine. It was friends playing as my guests that made playing Halo 3 with my new gamertag so special. That was the best thing I remember in college, playing Halo 3 with my two best friends right next to me, first as my guests and then later one of them on his own tag. It was playing as my guest that got my best friend to decide he wanted a tag of his own. The guest system lets friends play together, and that's the whole point. You're upset about your stats? Forget your stats, you won't have ANY stats if the game doesn't draw new players, and allowing people to play as guests is probably the best aspect of Xbox Live. I'd take guests any day over some fool who thinks his K/D is more important than everyone's good time. Guests make new players, new players make games survive.

They're so adorable in Halo 4! They just sit and wait forEVER! I remember one camping with a sword in a CTF game on Adrift (He was on the pipe ramp that leads up to the top tunnel of each base), he just sat perfectly still while we fought his teammates, hoping we'd come around. Finally when we cleaned up enough of his teammates to approach I just walked around the corner with a boltshot and ruined his life. It was just fantastic! I never had a problem with campers before, but before everyone got high enough to get the stealth upgrade campers were like an endangered species in this game.

Favorite moment in the forums: Probably the point when I realized I'd rather discuss Halo 4 here than on Halowaypoint. I was angry at first when I realized these weren't the official forums (I DO come to complain, if I didn't have any problems I'd be playing more instead, but complaining only makes sense when you believe it can make a difference, which is less likely on a community forum), but then I went over there and saw what a wreck it was and how people ONLY complained and didn't calm down enough to really discuss things. I realized I'd rather talk things over with fans here. I still post there occasionally, and I plan to eventually make some well-organized arguments there, but I'll organize those arguments here. This is a better environment for productive and friendly discussion, which is the real draw of a forum of any kind. Favorite moment in Halo 4: Laughing so hard that I could barely talk after my team and I - all of whom were using Promethean Vision - toyed with and eventually massacred a camper. To me the funniest part was that he didn't think we could see him, but if he could hear us we would have been saying "OF COURSE we can see you!" I have lots of fun moments playing the game, but the ones where me and my friends are laughing tend to feel fonder than a big spree or something. I can benefit from double XP in Halo 4, but not from any of the others. I don't own a PC that can run modern PC games and I have a 12 month gold subscription so 14 day trial is better for someone who needs it.

I don't doubt you're a fan and I won't say you're not, but I do doubt that you are as informed as you could be about the game. I also disagree with a few things you say, but they look like differences we'd have just by being two different people (I thought the campaign was awful, but I don't expect everyone to agree with me, it's subjective). Things you might want to learn more about: -Trueskill -Spawn System (I'm not sure how an instant respawn promotes camping when coupled with 6 second shield recharge delay) -The game in general (For example, you talk of people abusing trueskill but don't seem to understand that it's the game not Trueskill giving them a 5.0 K/D, Trueskill was around in Halo 3 and we didn't see K/Ds like that) I don't think it's a good idea to assume your K/D gives you advanced knowledge of the game, because talent at a video game does not automatically indicate a deep understanding of its finer mechanics. I found myself disagreeing with a lot of your statements not because I feel differently, but because I've experienced and understood something differently. It would be like you saying the sky was clearly green when to me it was clearly blue. The differences are understandable, but a bit too large to dismiss as a difference of opinion.

YES!

I don't know, didn't intend to pretend I did. I just see a weak gametype designed to cater to people who are determined to hate all non-MLG offerings anyway. Bungie made the same mistake with Arena in Reach, I don't know why they bothered. It's someone trying to please everybody including the one who can't be pleased by anybody. Unstoppable Force + Immovable Object The talk of adapting was intended to emphasize my earlier posts in this thread where I suggested the format of "competitive" games might not be the same for much longer. I don't know how much of audience there is anymore for 4v4 radar-less stripped-down gameplay, but I do think the audience is dwindling (If it is, MLG will change their format to survive, and the "competitive" format will change with it).

I don't feel the need to bash this one as much as I did that tank vid, but you can see why/how someone would/could. His enemies are very clearly awful at the game, but he pushes and tries for the kills instead of taking it easy, which at least puts some risk into his performance. When you're obviously way better than your enemy there are two ways you can play: You can phone it in and just let your natural ability and circumstances take you to the top, or you can put in the work to make a movie. This guy is the latter. Games like this one are the reason so many people kept making new accounts in Halo 3 and kept going into playlists like multi-team, they wanted to just relax and not work very hard for their wins. Occasionally when they felt like it they could open up a can and really cut loose on people. It's not so nice for the people on the receiving end though, which is why I opposed it so hard in Halo 3. Without visible Trueskill though I don't think we've seen a lot of new accounts since then. The only concern I would have is the circumstances by which the OP got such garbage enemies to reap on like that. This close after Christmas I'd guess his tag hadn't dipped into BTB much so his Trueskill was low, or this was a video of a custom ("Pathways?"). Either way it's at least an entertaining video. Too bad my friggen brother wanted to play Halo 4's campaign when he got it this Christmas, otherwise I'd be on there annihilating newcomers too. I was really looking forward to it actually, I remember thinking "after christmas there will be a lot of new Halo 4 players who don't know how the game plays yet. Ripe for the reaping!" sadly my bro wanted to waste time on the terrible campaign, I got in a car accident, and now I have to work.

I agree a campaign doesn't gain its quality from easter eggs, but otherwise don't have any problem with easter eggs in a campaign. I would oppose such things in competitive multiplayer for obvious reasons, but to me the real "reward" of easter eggs is the idea of rewarding exploration. It's actually a little frustrating exploring a campaign map's nooks and crannies only to find out that they serve absolutely no purpose, offer no advantage on the enemies, and aren't even very interesting or exciting. I like to explore, I don't always need a huge reward, but I'd like it if map designers EITHER put something worthwhile there OR put the most interesting exploration in combat zones so that in later playthroughs I could approach the conflict from a different angle. The street combat in the Halo 2 level "Outskirts" is a good example of this. There was no scarab gun, but the actual map was very complex with a lot of good perches and pathways. This made fighting the enemies more interesting because they were IN those perches and pathways, and it made exploring the map more fun because you felt like you were continually striking it rich every time you found a new elevated walkway or rooftop apartment in which you could regain your shields. New paths also allowed you to tackle a tough encounter from an angle better than the obvious one. THAT was wonderful. No super secret surprise awesome gun, just rewarding exploration. I want more of that. It was the kind of thinking that made a lot of the covenant go to sleep in Halo: CE. You'd enter a room and find all the grunts sleeping, if you were quiet and careful about killing the patrolling elites you could approach the encounter in an entirely different way. I like those options, and the kind of game developer who makes it possible to approach an encounter in many ways tends to also be the kind of game developer who wants to stick easter eggs in the game, so I'd take the easter eggs if I got richer campaign design out of it.

I understand that completely, I just think I tend to play like one of those people you cannot find. Like I said I wouldn't argue it plays well, just that I play better in it.

I think a type of pike/bayonet thing could work as an alien weapon. It wouldn't even have to kill in one hit, just increase your melee range enough that the other guy can't hit back. Thought of it awhile ago as a full gun actually, would have a performance similar to an unscoped lightrifle but the enhanced melee as a back-up.

I think it's fair to say the gametype "Slayer Pro" also just sucks. Ever looked at the settings? They're pretty lazy. If I was trying to design a competitive gametype I'd try to do it right or not at all. I think 343 just believed they were throwing the dogs a bone, so to speak. As it is I think a lot of "competitive" players need to take a second look at the options available to them, because I'm not sure there's much more than bones left of their version of "competitive" gametypes. Fond as better players are of telling others to "adapt," they have to do some adapting if they want to have an arena other than regular matchmaking.

I can't convince you to love Complex, but it was the first map I played in a smaller playlist that made me feel like I could finally get the hell away from everybody long enough to shoot them. I don't think it plays that well, but I hate how every other map surrounds you by design. Players very frequently spawn just around the corner from you in Haven, and since your shields take so long to recharge a lot of your deaths don't have anything to do with mistakes you've made. Halo 4 will kill you a certain minimum amount, players will kill you the rest of the time. I hate playing against the game and I hate dying because someone got lucky (I also don't like getting kills this way); that's why I hate killcams, because they only make your deaths look more like bad luck. The more distance you put between yourself and everyone else the more you can minimize the influence of chance. I also just do better in larger maps because I feel better in open space and my playstyle tends to keep people at range. In Halo: CE I loved the open outdoor levels and kinda hated the claustrophobic indoor levels. It's the same with me in every game, I like space. Complex offers it.

Promethean Vision. They could have accomplished everything they wanted to accomplish in Halo 4 with just Promethean Vision, instead they went the full CoD and really seriously damaged the game. PV speeds up the game because everyone sees each other (They went a step further giving sprint + faster kill times + better motion tracker + instant respawn, all unnecessary bumps to game speed when you have PV). PV limits camping because you can't hide anymore (They went many steps further by making sure your shields are gone for an eternity, maps have no definsible positions, there's actually a perk that paints a nav point on whoever killed you last, and more). It is a massive change to a game to let players see through walls, but balanced because anyone can have it. PV is all Halo 4 needed to be Halo 4. Instead of settling down when they implemented it they just went nuts and smashed a bunch of stuff that worked great in multiple prior Halo games. We have a BR that forgot how to 4-shot and bleeds ammo, we have a shield that takes 6 seconds to begin recharging, and we have maps which make you run yourself to death just to avoid staying still (which also kills you). Promethean Vision is my favorite thing in Halo 4, because even when it loses a lot of its power due to people running the stealth perk, it's still the single new feature which impacts the game the most.

Exclude all the weapons and vehicles which previously appeared in more than one game. Include all the weapons and vehicles which previoulsy only appeared in one Halo game. More like a Halo 4.5, but I think things would get interesting if the premier marksman rifle was the needle rifle, the mauler was the primary shotgun/CQB weapon, the storm rifle was the number one full-auto infantry weapon, and the sticky detonator/incineration cannon were the new - and only - launchers. Binary rifle would take a new step into the spotlight, but it would have to watch its back against the pistol and SMG from Halo 3: ODST because both were designed for stealth so mechanics would be in place to allow them to sneak better. You could even justify bringing back the old plasma rifle by bringing back the brute version, not sure I'd bother though. You'd basically have a game whose arsenal was based on uniqueness, but weapons would still have a place in the game. Where there was a void you could create something new. You wouldn't have to listen to a lot of complaints about one gun working wrong, because players would only have one example to work against in the past. Also a lot of fun vehicles which had potential in a previous game would gain appropriate upgrades to maintain balance and would drastically alter the look of the field (Hornets, Falcons, Revenants, Spectres, Choppers). Suddenly you'd have a Halo game which looked and felt like Halo but still managed to be new and felt different enough from previous titles to differentiate itself. You'd have a much more prominent place in the game for alien weaponry, which makes sense since you fight aliens in every single Halo game. It would play less like other shooters due to unique weaponry, but more like Halo because all that weaponry played in Halo previously.

I used to have a Halo playlist that I used when running w/my friends, I tended to do fine with it. I think you lose some situational awareness but you feel better and that affects how well you play. It's worth mentioning that my friends were usually on as my guests though, so effectively the Trueskill of every match was much lower than it would have been normally. I could afford to play like an action hero to my chosen soundtrack. Most of the players I get matched up against solo tend to punish heroic behavior. Halo 4 plays so much differently though, (The history I describe above is from Halo 3) maybe I ought to make a playlist and give it a shot.