This Modcast was originally broadcast on 12.13.11
Modcast #6 in in the books (or datapad, as it were).
Ladies and gentlemen, start your Elephants – here we go!
Appreciated Points
ATLAS – Things got started with a discussion of the new “Assisted Tactical Assault System”; GrimBrother One set up different scenarios to try it out and found things happened in near-real time which was impressive (sprinting, crouching, etc.)
While he didn’t know if it would be super-useful while in an intense game (there’s a lot going on already, so to go back and forth between two screens can get problematic), he could see another player in a support role.
This could involve tagging enemies, ordnance drops – your ATLAS teammate could call them down to you, right when you need it? It reminded me of almost a UNSC commands role – the higher-ups being able to make decisions and send you help based on the larger scope of the battle, as opposed to you only looking at the firefight directly in front of you.
He also raised the possibility of ATLAS (or at least the concept of it) being used in the campaign. I don’t know what size the game world will be like in Halo 4, but how sweet would it be to have someone doing something on the other side of the map as the main player is on his way there? The support player could lay the groundwork for when the person playing the game proper would arrive, and how difficult it is for them when they get there would depend on the quality of support.
This is more advanced than what we’re looking at now, but you could even have someone working a mini-game while the primary player is shooting his way to a certain point. If the ATLAS player completed the min-game successfully, the enemies are tagged, a more direct path is opened, you get more cR for completion, or something like that. If not, he’s on his own (and request his own A.I. instead of a human player 🙂 )
I of course have no idea if anything even remotely like this is possible or in store for us in the next game, but you never know!
A few more ATLAS thoughts: CruelLEGACEY commented on the the overall interface is great, and the speed and responsiveness were impressive.
Kalamari could see it in an MLG function, gives you something to analyze – makes the “sport” more interesting and engaging.
Rukizzel talked about combining ATLAS and Theater to where you could start on the top-down view, but then zoom in down to your level and watch what’s going on. I think this would be fantastic.
Multiplayer Ranking – This topic has been (and probably will continue to be) discussed elsewhere, so I won’t go into too much of it here.
CruelLEGACEY pointed out that people are making good arguments as to why a ranking system should be used, and how it could possibly improve the quality of the matchmaking experience. Competitive players want to make sure they’re getting paired up accurately.
His first response to that was selecting the option right from the start of matchmaking; it’s there so you can prioritize that in your games.
Kalamari mentioned that there’s never been a perfect system; there were abuses in the Halo 2 and 3 as well.
Does this mean you shouldn’t try to improve the current system? Not at all. But it does mean you should take off the rose-colored glasses when looking at the past.
If I may make a comparison, the “1-50 rank would fix everything” discussion mirrors the “remove bloom and that would fix everything” discussion. Not in what they address, but in the idea that if one change was made, any beef you had with the game would be solved.
However, when a game is good everything affects everything else; it’s all connected, and the “one change” you’re asking for ends up changing everything (usually in ways you don’t like more that your original complaint!)
Grim talked about the ranking system now – about how it’s more representative of your involvement. “The more you play, the more it pays” as he said.
As someone who’s BPR is far from perfect, I have to say this is one of the coolest features of Halo for me. Having a sweet rank doesn’t mean I have to be better than the person I’m playing against! To put it another way, achieving a higher rank is something that is not out of my “Reach.” (see what I did there?)
I know as long as I put in the time and love into the game, I’ll be rewarded with rank and armor. That keeps me going back again in again – the pure fun of it, and the fact that being a Field Marshall is not unattainable.
That’s my opinion on it; but if your main goal was to determine who has the highest skill, I can see how that view would be frustrating.
GBO mentioned a larger issue that could be addressed: what place Halo has in the future of MLG, due to game play changes that happen from one game to the next?
That could be a conversation had by a developer – do we need to specifically service this one area of the community? This goes the same for all communities, whatever they may be about. (Griffball, Forge, etc.)
C-LEG has some final thoughts that wrapped up the multiplayer rank discussion up well; 1.) the idea of changing a game so it’s more something you were good at instead of learning a new game can and should be questioned, 2.) right from the start (back in the original Halo CE) Halo was customized to conform to MLG – the “standard settings” have never been left how they were, and 3.) no other game gives you as much customization to have it however you want. You have more tools to make it however you want across the board than anything else out there (Per Grim – even Forza 4, because Halo has guns!)
Achievements – The last part of the Modcast can be summed up in this way, and I’m on board with this line of thought:
1,) 343, thank you for Halo Anniversary – it is awesome
2.) Please never again make achievements map and game type dependant, especially when there’s no quick and easy way to get the maps
or the game types to come up when you want them.
Playtime soundtrack – All the official Playtime music is now available for purchase! Head over to http://playtimeshow.com to check it out!
Quotes worth Repeating
Quotes from Modcast #6 – relive the good times!
Quotes Worth Repeating
What’s up everybody welcome to the Waypoint Community Modcast it is December … hold on … take two.
Best. Opening. Ever. CruelLEGACEY if you need him!
Banshee!
GrimBrother One at the 1:00 mark. As promised, 15,000 (fake) cR to Grim!
I have returned!
UNSC Warhead reminding us that the gods do walk among us. I would love for him to do my GPS, how sweet would that be?
I think it’s got a lot of potential in the future for interactivity.
Grim sums up his initial feelings on ATLAS.
Do you guys want to tackle the multiplayer ranking right now?
CruelLEGACEY’s question is met with a resounding chorus of “meh.”
This time we’re going to talk about it a little bit more before saying, “Not gonna happen.”
While the journey is important, GBO points out that the destination in the same.
I have to imagine that whatever system they put in place there would always be an equal number of people who are now upset about it. No matter what.
You can’t design by committee …
People need to be prepared to be aggravated.
Three great quotes from Grim that sum up important points about what it means to give, receive, and understand feedback. The last quote of this group was in reference to the fact that no matter what 343 does, it’s not going to make everyone happy.
I don’t think it’s good for either the Halo community or the MLG community to get so wrapped up in changing the game that’s in front of you all the time rather than just, like, learning how to play it as it is.
At the end of the day Halo is a game. It’s not a sport.
It’s healthy to have a certain percentage of the population that can look at things with a with a critical eye…
CruelLEGACEY lays down three nuggets chiseled from the mountain of wisdom. I love the two points stressed here – you need to let each Halo game stand on its own, but that doesn’t mean you don’t ask questions and push for what you see as a quality feature.
They’re like locusts …
Rukizzel with the first of many Independence Day references. If I would’ve been playing attention I could have counted them all! If you really want to enjoy them, you need to do two things: 1.) listen again with the knowledge that CL doesn’t know (at least at first) that they’re quotes (I didn’t either), and 2.) hear Grim’s “exactly!” and a pause right after RK says a quote … you can hear him thinking of the next one 🙂
It’s a completely different experience and you have to treat it as such.
Rukizzel on the fact that Halo Reach is a different game than the previous entries. This leads perfectly into the next quote …
I’m still kind of surprised people haven’t realized that yet.
Kalamari on the fact that Halo Reach isn’t the same game as Halo 3.
I can’t wait for Halo 4 to come out and everyone talk about how great Reach was.
GBO of what will inevitably happen with the next game comes out. For the record, I will try not to be one of those people – I really enjoy Reach! J
Skill is not cannon
A phrase from GrimBrother One that has HUGE bumper sticker potential in my opinion.
I had someone get fifty-seven kills in a Call of Duty game the other day and I’m like “Wha-hut?”
RK’s mentions the craziness that sometimes happens on CoD matchmaking; I particularly like this quote because of the variation on the classic Rukizzel “WHAT!?!” – this one’s slower, more a spoken “why is this happening” than a resounding “are you freaking kidding me?!”
You can go first because I know you had kind of a rant set up so you go ahead and then I will piggy-back on your rant.
Grim stepping aside so CruelLEGACEY can talk about achievements hidden under two levels of specific circumstances.
It’s like herding a bunch of Ritalin kittens
Grim accurately describes the process of trying to organize everyone in your party to get achievements.
That word should have a new meaning for all of us.
Community – that was the word Rukizzel was referring to. I think it’s a great rally cry; each group/community can’t get too deep in their trenches, or it pulls down the entire process. We have the community proper and we have the different pocket communities for one reason – we’ve all got a sweet game to play
Next up, Modcast #7, on Mythic difficulty!
>>>>>>>>>[4730400.4320.432]
>>>>>>>>>[Post tenebras lux]
Knightlys Nexus 
2 Comments