Father B

That's some DaVinci Code stuff right there, bro. Love it. Some of it feels a bit off to me, but I could just be knit-picking. Overall I think you really have something there. Exciting stuff, adam.

I think/hope Destiny will do for FPS's what Guild Wars 2 has done for MMO's: reshape the ideals that gamers have for the genre.

Well stated. And I hate that I have to disagree. However, I never felt 343 gave up all the goods prior to H4's release. Felt they consciously avoided answering the big questions (balance of AA's in MM, frequency/cost of Spartan Ops seasons, to name two), luring us all in to their black van with candy-coated BS and taking advantage of our vulnerability and naivete. Bungie - Twam love 'em - is doing very much the same. We've actually been given a lot of info, and I'm having difficulty curbing my enthusiasm (believe it or not), but Bungie refuses to answer a very big question (Is PvP in Destiny going to be pay-to-win?), and they will renew my faith unwavering should they give us an honest answer before I pick up the game. I have a knack for making myself look like an idiot, but I'm used to it, and I enjoy playing devil's advocate. Now that that's out of the way: Hey! Glad to see you're still around, Ash.

I would SO be down for a Halo rpg videogame! I've actually thought about it a lot (many pages of an incomplete Halo MB/P&PRPG ruleset can attest to that), and I think what Bungie is doing with Destiny may (may) have been what they wanted to do with Halo if Microsoft never owned it. Wouldn't that be something.

Silent Hill Blood, corpses, entrails and monsters weren't real enough for me. Also, the hilariously large residential streets. My sides still hurt because of that two-minute jaunt to cross the road. (slight exaggeration).

I noticed you didn't say that you were jumping off the Halo bandwagon. That's good to hear. I'm eagerly anticipating Bungie's Destiny, myself, but I'm also aware that we haven't been given any real important gameplay information about it, yet. I hate to be a downer, and I hope I'm just being silly, but how Bungie is handling their Destiny community reminds me of how 343Industries handled its Halo community prior to releasing Halo 4. And you clearly know what came of that. I guess my point, if I have to make one, is, All good things must come to an end. But, hey, maybe it's not through with us yet. Or maybe... C:/end darkpitofdispair.exe

He said he felt that a lot of those details were empty because he never saw any important images or gameplay footage. Personally, I don't care if there isn't enough data for a clear idea of Destiny. I've been waiting on a game like this for about 20 years, dagnabbit! Maybe my faith is misplaced, but I believe in Bungie to deliver. A friend of mine says he feels it's too early for any hype to be accurate. That sparked an hour-long debate, ending in me pointing out his terrible sense of games and my hitherto infallible sense of Awesome when I see it (example: he went against my advice and picked up Too Human when it came out -- he refuses to speak of it to this day). We have politely agreed to disagree on this matter. I will admit that many of the currently known Destiny details are foggy, at best. However, I don't believe Bungie is to blame, but rather it's the fault of whomever leaked intel before Bungie was really ready to go public. Call me biased, but I don't believe that Bungie would risk their reputation on a humdrum project. So I am psyched right up for this game -- I've already lost sleep from the excitement. It just makes me want to happydance. For the next year. Thank you for posting this, Wolf. You're awesome.

Woo! 'Gratz, RedStar. I recall and understand everything you mentioned. Good to see you're still around. I was one of those who vanished under mysterious circumstances. Came back, but now, too, am saddened by how many of my old Shoutbox friends have left us here. I only hope they are doing well and keeping their noses clean. Anyway, this is about you being the MoM of February 2013! THAT'S SO COOL! I trust the community has been good to you during your reign, and continues in your final week. edit: I spelled "meantioned" and never caught it before submitting.

Indubitably, my good man. I agree 100%. I feel the same degree of excitement as I felt for Halo 4 when the First Look vid was released. Then I remembered my slight disappointment upon hearing news updates in the weeks prior to release. So I find myself telling my inner child to sit down before he falls down. Kudos.

i would expect no one but the best in the 343iCF's finest. glad to see i have yet to be disappointed. congratulations Doc. i hope the job treats you well. and Twam save anyone who doesn't.

I'm the anti-troll, rating anybody 5 stars at my leisure. Just because I know what it's like to be given a poor rating for no reason other than being different (my experience via XBL user ratings). It's all just fancy colors and meaningless numbers. The only thing that you need be worried about is your Warning Level, which is ironically more difficult to spot below your user info on the side there. :left:

I'll be in touch through XBL as much as I can. Love gaming with you, even against you for how badly you kick my butt. Only one way to get better though eh? Ain't no school like the oldschool, Shag. The reason I call people here by their original username is to remind them of that. To show new members how close many of us are. Or were. And to remind everybody of those who had a hand in shaping the community. I think we forget how much of a difference some folks have made here without ever being MoM, or staff, or Legendary. In particular, those of us who remember the times before MoM's, Awards, custom titles, Dedicated Member rank, News Group, the current site layout, or even the original layout. Those of us who remember Spectral as a Community Mod, who remember Bob, and A-Dog when he was new here. Point is: This community never became what it is overnight, or because of a select few people. You had as much a hand in it as anybody. And you'll be missed here, Shag.

Aw jeez. That sounds heartbreaking. I could say so much, but... I won't try to relate; I can't. And I'll save my sermons; it seems you need none. I just hope that you are, or will be alright. and that you'll allow yourself to enjoy this Christmas and New Year's - wherever you are, and whomever you're with. Father B.

I like to think that in a parallel universe, I am way awesomer than Master Chief, and people call me Captain General, and my powered armor is painted to look like a tuxedo and has all sorts of gadgetry built into it, like a liquid storage compartment, and a straw, so I can sip on Mountain Dew while killing Covvies!

Then I'm confused. Why make a scoring system that only counts by 10's? If that's the case, they might as well keep the old "1 kill, 1 point" scoring system. Anyway. Thanks, Doctor. I never noticed that before you pointed it out. I just kept seeing the +5, +10, +15, and so on, and figured each time I saw the score that it was because a 5+5 or 5+15 score totaled a number that ended in a zero.

Hi, everybody. I'll warn you now that this post is a bit of a rant, but it has a purpose. I hope it brings to light an evolving situation with our Halo multiplayer in the upcoming War Games of Halo 4, and gets my fellow community members seeing something behind all the hype and anticipation that they may be missing. I'm sure that most of you have seen the videos and heard about the new scoring method implemented in some of Halo 4's MP gametypes, like Infinity Slayer and Regicide). You likely have noticed how much more important it will be to play with skill, and allow teammates who are in advantageous situations to work some of their own magic. After all, when a player who gets 3 kills by Assassinations (30 points each) can earn more points than a player who scores 4 kills by Headshots (20 pts each), don't think think we should worry less about getting an average kill by ourselves and more about your team getting an awesome kill by working together? So if Red Team is aiming for quality of kills, while Blue Team is just going for quantity of kills, Red Team may actually win without even having worked as hard as Blue Team, and actually dying more often than them. Such craziness, but it certainly adds a much greater depth to MP madness. Being more or less hammered-out and ready to play, I have a feeling that the scoring values we've seen aren't likely to change (much, if at all). But who knows. While watching the gameplay footage from a couple of Infinity Slayer matches played by some guys from MLG (Elamite, Neighbor, Hoaxer, etc, you know the videos I'm talking about, but click the link if you don't: http://www.youtube.c...slayer gameplay), it becomes obvious that teamwork will become much more important in H4 WG, particularly in Infinity Slayer. Now, I find myself with a question. Not so much a question that requires an answer, but a question just to think about. It's a question for the entire Halo fan community, and, more importantly, for the lone wolves who play team games and then don't play as part of the team. Are you ready to play nice with your teammates? I can't help but think of Halo players who think only of themselves and their K/D ratio and stats. The kind of players who purposely Yoink your kill when you're in the middle of an Assassination. The kind of players who demand that you give them that power weapon and betray you to get it. The kind of players who have made me reluctant to play MP unless I'm playing with a friend. In games like Infinity Slayer, teams that are evenly matched, and they should be, can have some pretty intense games going on where the scores are neck-and-neck for the lead. Picture this: You're in a match and both teams are within 30pts of victory. You pop an opponent's shield and he rabbits, taking off around a corner. You chase him down, catch up to him and start an Assassination to score the winning 30pts. Suddenly, one of your teammates comes a-trollin' and Yoinks your kill. That guy scores a mere 10pts for the kill, leaving you 5pts for the Assist, and you both lose the match by 15 points. Don't be that guy. It's time to stop competing amongst your own teammates. Even if you end up on a team with a player you hate, rise above it and try to get along. I, myself, last year when I was most active in Reach MP, found myself on teams with former opponents who were at great odds with me. I soon found myself getting along quite well with them. So I know that not all people who seem bad are really bad. They have it in them to play nice. We all do. At the very least, understand that if you see a teammate in a position to score major points for your team, you should let them. Twam willing, karma may yet reign and reward that good behavior. And if you absolutely cannot, will not, and utterly refuse to try to play nicely... Free-For-All gametypes. You want to play matches solo? Go play solo matches. Well, that's enough out of me. I don't know if this will reach the right people, or even if it was necessary. And if it's too long for some people, well that's just sad; go read more books. I don't post often, so I hope that the posts I do make serve their purpose and are well-received. Be well and have fun, everybody. Just not at the expense of one another. Get ready for a new take on the old Halo we know and love. Four months and 14 days left. Blessings of Twam upon you, my children. Edit: The good DoctorB77 pointed out that the scoring system is not as I saw it. In an Infinity Slayer match, the score increases by 10 per kill... Which leaves me to wonder why 343 even bothered to change it from the single-point system, as there isn't then any difference to how rapidly a team reaches the winning score. Sort of a bummer. Even so, the notion of teamwork still stands. Players should be nicer to their teammates and give them their hard-earned time to shine without stealing kills or betraying just because they're doing something that you wanted to do. Ultimately, it's a message of "Play nice, or don't play at all." It's a lesson we learn in Kindergarten. Sort of sad that some people don't remember it.