2 important social mechanics

[SixWaysToSunday]

Just want to say this really quick and see if people agree with me:

 

> Perma-mute should NOT be in Halo4.

> The Party-up option should RETURN in Halo4.

 

These 2 mechanics have opposite affects on a game. The party-up option makes people want to play together and get to know each other. When I started playing Halo3 I immediately friended 4 guys because I ranked up with them all night. So in my experiences, party-up makes players be more social or atleast use their mics.

However, perma-mute has the opposite and negative effect. Instead of giving players a reason to communicate, it tends to punish players who talk alot. I played Reach for a few days by myself and I had a 1 day perma-mute already (I was not cursing or verbally attacking people) and that makes me never turn my mic on in MM. For some reason that 1 day perma-mute killed my enthusiasm in Reach. Thats why I think barely anybody uses their mic in Reach, they got a taste of the perma-mute and it stopped them from just talking.

 

Its late when Im writing this so Im sorry if its alittle convoluted, but the point Im trying to get at: Party-up makes people want to play the game because they can meet others and have fun, perma-mute dissuades mics and socializing because you can lose the ability to communicate for really no reason.

 

So yeah.

[Lᴜᴋᴇ]

I can certainly see what you are saying about the Party Up option. When I played Halo 3, a long long time ago, it was great, especially if you find players who have mics and that you really enjoy playing with.

[Iиversiσn]

I agree with both your points, but mainly 343i bringing back the "party-up", option. I have made a ton of good friends and teamates with that system. I'm not really sure what you mean by "perma-mute", I don't think I've ever seen something like that. Does it mean if you talk too much you just get muted and other players can't hear you?

 

Thanks,

-MaGIIXz

[SixWaysToSunday]

I agree with both your points, but mainly 343i bringing back the "party-up", option. I have made a ton of good friends and teamates with that system. I'm not really sure what you mean by "perma-mute", I don't think I've ever seen something like that. Does it mean if you talk too much you just get muted and other players can't hear you?

 

Thanks,

-MaGIIXz

 

 

In Reach when you are muted a certain amount of times, you become automatically muted in every lobby. So nobody can hear you and theres nothing you can do about it. However, players can still turn that mute off to listen to you (kinda like giving you the benefit of the doubt). Its one of the more hidden mechanics of the game which youve encountered without realizing it.

 

What happens is, players without mics or players who just want some quiet mute the people using their mics, which eventually translates into a perma-mute for those mic users. So essentially your mic becomes worthless for no real fault of your own. And that makes people not want to use their mics, which is part of why Reach feels so dead IMO.

 

Hope that helps!

[Kurt S-501]

I agree completely. Party-Up was great in Halo 3. It also allowed custom games to be played without having to invite people. I hope that it returns in Halo 4.

[RedStarRocket91]

Perma-mute is a darn shame.

 

Think about it. You're in a match with two French speakers, who're using their mics effectively to communicate information to each other - who has power weapons, where enemies are hiding, organising an attack: all the sort of stuff that means they play much better. However, if you don't speak French, all it does is distract you, so of course you'd mute them, so that you could concentrate properly.

 

But under perma-bans, that doesn't work. They get punished for using their mics properly. That just doesn't make sense.

[SixWaysToSunday]

Exactly! You put it much more eloquently Rockstar. And then theres the dreaded perma-perma-mute, where it is impossible to unmute somebody!

[Archangel Tyrael]

I agree rhe mute is stupid, just mute them from in game haha. The Party up is good for people who want to do all you said, i liked it in halo 3.

[Zamio]

I agree with the party up option. Me and 2 other guys worked toogether quite a lot on Team Slayer so we stuck together.

 

When I kept my mic open, I always had a lot of background noise. This probally annoyed everyone else. I never have been perma-muted though. Strange.

[fzdw11]

If I want quiet game play, I rarely go and physically mute individual players. Take a moment, turn your audio options to mute all, and it just quiets everybody, without handing out perma-mutes from selecting individual players.

 

I agree that the party up option was a nice feature. Liked it much better than Reach's idea of just staying in a lobby, and maybe being played on the same team with them again.