Father B

But we also don't want Halo to be guilty of the same thing CoD has been accused of: being the same game in a different skin. We want the "feel" of multiplayer to remain the same, but we also want to see innovations that add to that feeling. Otherwise, we can all just go back to H3 multiplayer if that's what we want (until they shut us down, anyway).

Does anyone else smell troll? Strayphe, you're either way behind on the Halo 4 news, or you're barking up the wrong tree. I'd reiterate what Ms Mystic said, but she has a way with words that I don't think I can top right now. Twam bless you.

Hi and welcome to the community. I feel I should apologize for my fellow community members who may have replied out of anger at feeling offended by your OP. Your opinion is your opinion and you are entitled to have it, same as anyone. For future reference, you may want to refrain from making general statements like "...how bad that game is," and instead state it for what it is: your opinion. For example: instead of saying, "...how bad that game is," you could have said, "...how bad I think that game is," where the "I think" translates into "in my opinion." Y'know? On topic: I was right behind you, thinking, "This guy seems to have at least an average understanding of what he's talking about," as I read your OP and your replies to others. That is, until I read this: To use your example of a player running along when you toss a well-timed grenade, "luck", as you put it, would still be as much of a factor to whether you scored that kill even without Sprint (or any other AA). If that targeted player simply stopped moving, it would have the same effect on that plan as if he had used Sprint to dash on by. "Luck" has always, and will always play a very large role in the Halo games. Its effect on "tactical play" has been the same - consistently random - since H:CE. We can try to control our opponents position and direction with well-placed grenades, firing-lanes, and control of the right power weapons. We can try to plan our attacks all we want, but if our opponents have even one course of action that they can take to avoid falling victim, then it all comes down to luck whether or not they take that opportunity. As for AA's being a "problem", I don't know what to say. I've never been a big fan of the name "Armor Abilities". I think they should have been called "'SPARTAN' Abilities" because, for example, Sprint and Evade aren't technically abilities made possible by the 'MJOLNIR' system, but are things all 'SPARTANs' can do, with or without 'MJOLNIR'. There are only three AA's I've found to cause a problem between "balanced gameplay" and "fun utilities" from my perspective. Active Camo Armor Lock Jetpack. The first lets you hide in plain sight and makes me look at CoD campers with admiration (which is just wrong for me to do). The second makes you virtually invulnerable for five seconds and makes the multiplayer action grind to a halt too often for me to be cool with it (doesn't stop me from using it to survive nade-spamming, which I also find distasteful, and I found myself using it to survive my own team's haphazard nade-tossing more often than the opponents'). And the third has proven terrible to me for allowing players to exploit a map's architectural flaws and the oversights on boundaries, effectively ruining what little balance the multiplayer maps had in Reach. Apologies to anyone who disagrees with me on any particular point. Twam bless you.

Hi, JayJ47. Welcome to the community. Just wanted to quickly suggest that you should introduce yourself more formerly in our Introductions/Goodbyes forum if you haven't done so already. On topic: I believe you have a point about using AAs that don't have huge, potentially game-changing effects, but I don't think the Jetpack should be included in that grouping. Your suggestions for keeping Drop Shield, Evade and Sprint are good, and I think Hologram should be included as well. These are four abilities that do not keep an individual from harm by hiding him/her, or by tossing up an impregnable shield around them, nor do they allow an individual to relocate to areas that may be inaccessible to those on foot. Those three (Active Camo, Armor Lock and Jetpack), to me, were always the major issue, especially when an entire team takes the same one. Regarding the balancing of the harmless AAs (Drop Shield, Evade, Hologram and Sprint): I think they're already pretty well-balanced against one another. I feel, though, that if there's one problem with these four, it's that they may not have enough of an impact on a match to be worthwhile. Anyway, that's my two cents. Twam bless you!

There are lots of sources predicting the end of the world (or the end of the world "as we know it"). And the dates on which these globe-shattering or world-changing events are supposed to happen simply don't corroborate each others' stories. You want a list of possible (I use the term loosely) Doomsday events? http://www.wired.com...oomsday_pr.html I've gone through it a bit and some of the things I read there made me chuckle. My 2 cents: The end of the world. I scoff at the concept.

I just read some of the comments on the article's page. Not many people who commented seem to believe the story. Some believe the possibility of using a game like CoD to "train" for combat, but feel the communications bit is unreliable. All in all, I don't think it'll matter. "If it's not one thing, it's another."

ZB-85 Seems like he's always around when you're just lookin' for someone to chat with. Uses big, bright blue text for easy identification and reading of his Shouts. Never seems to miss an opportunity for a funny one-liner. Knowledgeable on the Haloverse Very likeable fellow.

UNSC Frigate: the Apple of Eden UNSC Cruiser: the Vermillion Sky UNSC Battleship: the Black Hole Sun (won't you come and wash away the rain - black hole sun, won't you come, won't you come) I don't want a Covvie ship. They're so purple. Not that there's anything wrong with purple. I just like grey better, that's all.

I like it, Choot. The edges of the SPARTAN-IV are a bit "Umm..." but overall it's inspiring.

Never leave us, ZB. Never, ever, ever! You belong here, ZB. You can try to leave, but your soul will remain with us. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever.

Okay, I'll answer it, but you understand that there's no such measurement as a "cubic ton", right? I'd rather eat 2-what's-it's of sand (little by very little, over many, many years). WYR... star opposite Megan Fox, or Rosie Huntington-Whiteley?

The rat in my brain got in his exercise wheel and turned this out on the subject: CE, H2 and H3 multiplayer was/is fast and chaotic. It was alive and unhinged. Things happened in matches that have left some players bewildered to this very day. It was brilliant because everybody had the same tools at their disposal, so nobody could outright claim any degree of unbalanced gameplay. And the Ranking systems in H2 and H3 organized the hardcore and the casual players into separate folds without players even realizing that it was happening. It matched you against other players of apparently similar skill and mindframe. The systems weren't perfect, but they were on to something good, and it helped keep the players happy. Reach multiplayer, I believe, was meant to be slower and more ponderous. It was, I believe, an attemp at merging the science-fiction of Halo with science-fact. It implemented innovations that required a good bit of skill, imagination and quick thinking to use well. It was also meant to serve simultaneously as a prequel for CE, as a hype-generator for CEA, and as a simple time-killer between H3 and H4. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if part of Reach's terrible assimilation by the Halo fans was due to a combination of personal feelings amongst Bungie's people: a mix of sadness at the loss of their baby, bitter resentment at Microsoft for "taking" it from them, and the excitement of being free from their clutches. There are those who consider Reach to be a standalone game, one that is not truly Halo. But I consider it to be like H3:ODST: an amusing stop on the road to H4, and a small taste of the innovations going into it. Well, the rat's tired now and needs his rest. Go with the blessings of Twam, my children.

And now 130! You're speeding right along, DJ. Good work, and blessings of Twam upon you.

Oi! I got a mention! Gratz on making Dedicated, Luke. Keep up the good work.

I love it, Mayhem. Excellent point. Excellent advice. If I may, I would just like to add a few points of advice of my own. They should be common sense to most of us, but here they are anyway: 1. Stay out of it. To members who are not part of such arguments and disrespect, if you happen to see one in progress please refrain from taking sides or joining in with your own opinions. No matter if one of the members involved is a friend of yours or not, or if you happen to agree with one side of the argument or the other, the best thing you can do is stay out of it. 2. Clear the Shoutbox. When an argument breaks out in the Shoutbox it would help our mods by lessening the time it takes from them, and alleviating the stress that they may endure, if we outright stop our conversations in the Shoutbox. It would make identifying the situation and the individuals involved much easier, and allow for swift disciplinary action should any need be taken. 3. Flag a mod. Our community has grown quite a bit in the last year (that's right, we're gonna be 1-year-old soon!), and our moderators have their work cut out for them without having to worry about the Shoutbox. They don't always catch incriminating behaviour in the Shoutbox right away, and may need some help from we who care. A gentle PM about the issue may go a long way to securing the integrity of our community. Thanks in advance for your community excellence, my children, and blessings of Twam upon each of you.

What I took from the article: The iPad and similar tablet PC's are just mobile devices and will be nothing but mobile devices. When you're at home, you (probably) have a desktop PC to surf the web on. When you want to game, you have better, more powerful systems on which to do so. When you want to watch media, you have a TV you (might have) spent big money on, connected to a home theater system (or close approximation) on which to view movies, television programs, et cetera. The only thing I read in the article that says a mobile device has any real function in your home is the part where it said that they would serve as a hub for connecting multiple separate electronics. So the question is: How long until other businesses make their own, cheaper devices that do the same thing? Mobile devices need to stop trying to be anything but mobile devices. Attempts thus far have glistened with the shine of novelty, but that will wear off with the introduction of better, less expensive replacements.

Good news to me. But did anyone else catch the Halo 4-Kinect relation there? What does it mean? WHAT DOES IT MEEEEEAN!

I don't think it makes much of an impact one way or another, Drifter. However, if the numbering of paragraphs means something that you believe is necessary, then I can't imagine why you should leave it out. Regarding indentations here on our forums, I'm not sure if the BBCode for indenting works or not. *Tests* Yup! It works. [indent=1] Tra la laaa. This is the paragraph that I want indented. [/indent] Just be careful with it, because the forum's post editor likes to see you struggle with formatting and will demand a virgin sacrifice before it reliquishes control back to you.

Awww, ZB! I hope things turn out alright and that you're not gone too long. You'll be missed, bud. Take care of yourself.

Oh man. I've been there, Anarchy. I hope you get things worked out soon so you can come back to us. Until then, take it easy, eh.

Hey there, Aragnaroc. Welcome to 343i.org - the friendliest Halo community on the internet. Respect is a huge deal here, so if that's no problem for you, then you'll fit right in. So, again, welcome to the community, and I look forward to seeing you around the forums.

Now, RedStar, let's not put our feet in our mouths. By your logic, it also wouldn't matter what armor pieces or upgrades we had because we wouldn't be able to see them in-game, either. I can respect what you're saying; however, whether it's the armor itself or the paint coating that armor, it's all about how we want others to see us. Or in the case of those who want pure black paint (which they'll never get), it's about how they don't want others to see them. On topic: Absolutely, Bubonic. I'm right there with you. I'd like to see things get fancy, but I wouldn't mind just simple schemes, either. Examples: • A half-and-half vertical-split scheme where one side of your armor is [red] and the other is [white] (where red and white can be any colours you want). • Half-n-half horizontal-split scheme where from the waist up your armor is [red] and the lower half is [white] (again, where red and white can be any colours you want). • A quartered scheme where your left leg and right arm are [red] and your right leg and left arm are [white]. • A scheme where your limbs are [red] and your body is [white]. • And so on... Simple ideas, you know? Nothing super fancy. What I've always wanted, though, was to be able to paint certain large segments separately. For instance, your "boot" (foot, lower leg, and knee), or your "gauntlet" (hand, forearm, and elbow), as well as your helmet and upper torso armor (upper chest/back). I'll keep dreaming, though, and just hope they make even part of my fantasy a reality.

Very possible! I like the way your brain works, StealthP.