ForgeMonitor

Firefight is great for those without XBL. Here are some ideas I found circulating through the community. 1. Flood: An old idea, but a good one. They need to be terrifying; the maps should be darker for Flood sessions. 2. Immersion: In-game audio; exclusive voice-acting like in Spartan Ops and ODST Firefight. This could be as simple as the character saying "Lock 'n load!" to actually having a conversation with another character. This segways nicely into the next point. 3. Story: The best part about the Campaign is being immersed in a unique character: Master Chief. I'm not suggesting we play as MC in Firefight, but rather as characters we have never played as before: a pair of Spartan IIIs infiltrating a Covenant stronghold; a group of ODST holding off against the Flood (both of these are actual canon stories). 4. Updates: These would happen similarly to Spartan Ops; developers could use existing environments (multiplayer or Forge maps) or create new ones, add AIs, and insert audio to tell a new story every other week. Only a few episodes would be available on-disc, but for those with XBL, it would be an persistent, intriguing experience filled with great fun in addition to lore. This setup allows for some interesting applications. Imagine you're playing Firefight. The setting is a dark, decrepit UNSC research facility. You hear a noise; suddenly, a combat form Flood drops down from the ceiling--and walks right in front of you, seemingly oblivious to your presence. Its otherworldly hissing is stifled by a barrage of dead assault rounds, leaving the monster convulsing in a fit of rage. You rush around the corner into a startled squad of marines whose fingers still clutch the smoking weapons. Their screams delight you as you rip into their pink, juicy flesh. You are Flood. Who's to say it couldn't happen? Only those who don't believe. As well as people who get scared easily. Feedback is welcome.

Playable Elites weren't a priority in the making of Halo 4. 343i would have had to make the character model playable from scratch. I do believe they will be in Halo 5 because the Arbiter will be back. They can use his basic character model as a chassis for others.

What I gather from this is that you don't want Halo 5 to be Halo 5. You want it to be a distorted mess, a butchered combination of the older games (the elements of which would need to be created from scratch and be redundant) and generic shooters. If you want things from the older games, then play the older games. If you want more players on each map, then play Battlefield. If you want maps that take hours to traverse, then play Planetside 2. I myself want Halo 5 to be Halo 5. Also, this thread shouldn't exist. Clearly pinned at the top of the page is "The Official What You Do and Do Not want in Halo 5 Thread"; you have no excuse not to have seen it, although the posts probably aren't worthy enough to be there. Sometimes, people's stupidity makes me almost appreciate that 343i never looks at this forum.

Halo 4 was the second game that was made because Microsoft wanted more money than they already have (the first was Reach, and it showed). 11.7 million people have played Halo 4, and that's all they care about. They don't care that Halo 4's multiplayer population is only 30 thousand of the original half-million. After people buy the game, everything else is irrelevant. They want more players, so they have to make it appeal to a broader spectrum of people, which is why it has degenerated significantly into a generic shooter. 343i doesn't want this, but that's what's going to happen. Unfortunately for Microsoft and all the original fans, the plan backfired; in creating a game that is unlike the originals, they attracted a larger crowd but also alienated the most dedicated part of the Halo community. Notice that once the obsession with money was out of the way (several months post-launch), Halo 4 started getting better and better. The only reason why it isn't a thousand times better is that ninety-nine percent of 343i are working on Halo 5. 343i wants to help but is being controlled. I hate to say this, but you need to adapt. Halo is never going to be the same anymore, but I trust that 343i will do as much as is possible to stay true to Bungie's original mission: It's not about the money; it's about making games that people love and loving the process if making it. Stick around and give them a fighting chance to amend, repair, and improve. See you starside.

That's why I play free-for-all; it doesn't matter if people quit.

Well, 343i can tweak certain playlists and gametypes to do this now that they made weapons modifiable through back-end weapons tuning. To get a better idea of how this will work, check out the thread "Legendary Slayer". http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/27509-legendary-slayer/

It would be really easy to implement my idea for the Pulse AA (which was appropriated and called Drop Surge) by modifying Regen Field. The latter has the perfect range and already generates outward kinetic force. All that need to be changed are the strength and orientation of the pulse, as well as the removal of the regenerating qualities. The sphere should be a translucent, pale blue. Even better, the Pulse Sphere should change color according to team. In free-for-all, it would adapt to your primary armor color.

@PP Yeah, it would be great to work towards earning entire skins, like a stealth ops Spartan or a heavy weapons Spartan with a bandolier. Now that I think of it, a combination of a katana and bandolier add-on would be pretty sweet.

I'm sure there will be a Forge BTB playlist now that Forge Island is here. Anyone else excited for Castle?

My favorite load-out is: Battle Rifle Assault Rifle Frags Thruster Pack Firepower Dexterity It's a great load-out that lets me adapt to any situation with ease. I'm excited to use it in the Castle Map Pack!

Instead of relying solely on the X and my teammates' callouts, I find it easy to determine the enemy's position by noting the disappearing ordnance indicators. Try to adapt instead of getting trapped in the past.

@PP The point is not to bring back Elites but to diversify gameplay that gets repetitive after a while and showcase generally overlooked weapons.

I would like a UNSC weapon called the Lighter. It would fire just one cartridge that engulfes an area that size of a Regen Field in flames. A direct hit means certain death, while the area of effect is good or area of denial. It would be great to use against the Flood.

This thread should be converted into a poll.

At the moment? No. Can it be? Yes. Will it be? I sure hope so. Good luck, 343.

The Flood, so everyone would be united with the knowledge of the Precursors. Just think: there would be no more wars, and everyone would grow pretty Floowers!

@Spark It will definitely be better than Throwdown. It might not be classic because of the ordnance drops, but I feel they are balanced fairly well. You can sculpt and share around the game-type to get a feel for what LS what be like before it even comes out. I'm curious to see what people think of it...

I think it would be even better as a weapon. Let me explain. After you kill a jackal with a Magnum shot to the face, you go over to its body and dual wield the shield. Technically, you could go around holding two jackal shields, but it wouldn't be very effective. You can pocket it and pull out another weapon, then switch over to it again when the fighting gets intense. You wouldn't be able to put it in a load-out, but it would be placebos in Forge. It is dual wield compatible with secondary weapons.

The Arbiter is coming back, and I'm guessing he will be playable; that will give them a basic character model for multiplayer.

Never mind, it's Beaver Creek or Battle Canyon. The small island would be better for it (before I was thinking of Timberline).

Oh! OH!!! What was that one map in Halo CEA with all the trees? Battle Creek? THAT'S the one to build. The big island is perfect for it.

If you want to get known, you might want to save up for a capture card. Also, make friends in the Halo community on YouTube.

@OP I do agree that the Mantis is not the best addition in Slayer gametypes because it locks down half of a large map like Ragnarok. I am, however, excited to see how it plays on Outcast, one of the Castle maps, with the Wraith.

Hopefully this isn't just an April Fools' prank. But Halo 4 has the potential to be the greatest game ever. And trust me, Halo 5 will be a thousand better.

Well, they can balance the weapons easily now with back-end tuning. We might even see a 4sk BR in Legendary Slayer.