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HiHi, everyone~ I'm happy to receive the title of "MOM" for the month of August, 2012~! Let me start off by thanking anyone and everyone who has ever done something for me, no matter how big or small. Thank you to those who put their trust in me and who believed me to deserve the title. Thank you to everyone who has been here for me. You all know who you are. I'll do my best not to let anyone down. In the time I've been a part of this website I've seen some pretty interesting people come and go. We've had great members stick with us, while those who have chosen to create problems and cause drama have been removed from our wonderful community. It's a bit strange seeing some members, who I remember when they first joined ( I'm not old, shut up! D: ), now becoming senior members themselves. I can say though that I'm happy with how most, if not all, of us have grown and matured in our time here. It's a very nice thing to see. Though I have become MOM, I still don't feel like I've done enough for this website. I do very much enjoy reporting anything that needs attention, helping to keep the shoutbox inline, and helping members out when I can, but I still want to help more and more. This website and community has provided me with so much news and entertainment that I want to do whatever I can to help make it a better place for all. Thank you, everyone, for accepting me as this month's MOM and for feeling I deserve it. ~ CandiBunni

Name that one game, that one evil game that still haunts you in your nightmares. You raged, you died, you didn't want to respawn. What game is it.

I know the people I've spoken to feel the same way, I'm just hoping the majority of the community does too. 343 You’re our last hope… This means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to you too. This is going to be long but it needs to be said. I just want someone from 343 to read it. Please just one person is enough that’s all I ask. Before I get to my point, let me explain how I got into Halo so you can understand where I’m coming from. I’ll try to keep it brief. Way back when I was just a kid everyone from my neighborhood used to play N64 shooters like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Turok etc. and I loved those games. Against my friends I was the best, so being a kid I believed that I was the best in the world… I mean when you’re young and you’re the best on your block, you feel like the best! Then along came PC online gaming. Yep I sucked! Big time. Quake, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield… Not being able to see the other player’s screens was a big reality check. But there was one game that really stuck out. This game was called Delta Force 2. I started playing Delta Force 2 and I actually got pretty good. I even made a name for myself amongst highly skilled players on a few servers. Remembering Sever/Hosts names and joining clans telling yourself “yeah this is where the good people play”. This is how you fount your competition. It became easy to find servers with highly skilled players in it but it was always the same players, with the odd noob sneaking in just to make the numbers for a full game. But it still was nothing compared to Halo 2. When I got Halo 2 after still being the best out of my handful of friends I went online on XBL. I knew what I wasn’t the best but I still went in gunz blaz’n baby! As I played in team slayer I wondered “what is that number beside our names” Seeing the “1” jump to a “3” after one game had me confused but after 2 -3 games I quickly learned what it was… our level. I still didn’t value it just thought it was cool, I thought to myself “I wonder how long it takes to reach the top” around level 10 I came across another player who clearly made a new account. But back then I didn’t know, finishing the team slayer game with 25 kills and everyone else having around 10-5 I thought this guy was some kind of god. I was only level 10 though. As I leveled I realized what the matchmaking system was actually doing, it was matching players of the same skill level together. As I reached level 20 this is where it became harder. I realized I was stuck, I couldn’t get any further for about a whole two months I was level 20. Within this period I came across level 25s and saw one or two level 30’s. I respected them as players. When you see them in the lobby and nobody has been put on teams yet you’re praying, “please put the level 30 on my team pleeease” They was always better than me. I wondered “WTF do they do that makes them sooooo good” but at the same time I was more interested in what it’s like when they go into matchmaking and everyone is level 30. Man that must be though. The leveling system Being able to play with your skill level and test you’re might is great but having something to show and something to lose makes it that much more valuable. Nowadays the leveling system is too soft. Back in Halo 2 I remember getting a level 33 in Team slayer winning three games on it then losing 1 game and BAM! I’m level 32 again. Yea I was pissed but that’s what made me value my level and other people’s. In Halo 3 everyone and their mother had a level 50. It was a very good leveling system still but in the end it didn’t mean anything. It was too easy to get. And Halo: Reach… Arena was clever but it really was not that good. Please Bring back that unforgiving leveling system. Yea their was no legit 50s in Halo 2 but the fact that everyone had one in Halo 3 really didn’t solve the problem. Getting to a level 40 in Halo 2 was God Like. It meant you overcame being Modded, Standby, Super Bounced, De-levelers and quitters to get to that level. Halo 3 may have been solid but the fact that players can lose ten games yet still maintain their level makes no sense. Where’s the sense of achievement? The leveling system in Halo 3 is way too soft. It needs to be more unforgiving! Importance of solid matchmaking Not all of us are competitive I know this and not all of us are in the tournament scene (I’m not) BUT that does not mean everyone cannot appreciate a solid leveling and matchmaking system. I am not in the tournament scene so I know that not all Halo players are competitive, but to play a decent game with players who are genuinely at the same skill level now means finding clans or entering tournaments. For players like me it’s a pain. In H2 (Halo 2) If you brought a low level into matchmaking it would try to math you up with the same odds and it was pretty good at it if I remember. Now I don’t have to find clans or get into the tournament scene to have decent games. It makes it easier for everyone and the casual players still get to play with each other. I was quite oblivious to what goes on at the higher levels when I was stuck at level 20. But if it were not for Halo 2 strict matchmaking I would not have the skill I have today on shooters. Problems of today When I play reach you have nothing to lose I mean arena has too much nonsense and cheap ways to play it such as camo & sniper camping. So arena is a no go. Plus getting to Onyx was the easiest thing ever it was pretty much a joke. So MLG has its only playlist… why is it not ranked? You know it didn’t matter at first it has it had it’s pros and cons. But the big problem was the amount of quitting that goes on. Here is a number of reasons people quit in the first 2 mins of the game in Halo: Reach MLG playlist…. Whole team gets killed Opposing teams controls all weapons One person on your team lagged out Someone is idle for 30 secs after the match began. Your team is losing 10-0 I could go on but my point is on Halo 2 people stayed because you didn’t lose until you lost. Remember when you was down 10 kills it’s 49-39 to the opposing team, everyone is screaming at each other “Don’t Die, DON’T DIE!” that little voice in the background… “I have the sniper” you all play your hardest and pull the win. At the end of the match in the end game lobby everyone is quite and that one guy says… “GET RAPED!” And then leaves LOL oh man Halo 2 those where the days. You see people stayed because they valued their level very rarely people quit. Allow me to touch on COD for two seconds… how often do you get to play in a room where 90% of the players in the game have the same skill as each other and its ranked… Yea not often. You might be luck if you come across 3 people on the opposing team that’s better than you other than that your playing with the consol owners 10 yr old kids. You don’t get to test your skill constantly like you did in Halo 2 nowadays. It’s starting to happen on Halo reach too, just jump in MLG right now. The Value When I told my little cosine about the old halo matchmaking and leveling system he said something funny. When I explained everything he paused for two seconds looked at me then said… “That’s like gambling” lol He’s right! Once you attain a “high level” that you was happy with to go in again to either level up or de-level was a rush. All those hours of hard work and lucky wins on the line. Yesterday your friends couldn’t believe the level you have now you might just lose it. Only Halo 2 made me feel this way because I knew if I lost I might not get it back. Level 35 in team snipers and 30 in hardcore. That was some real levels for me. You know you value your level when you don’t let your friends play on your account, when you finally persuade your closest friend to get Halo 2 and xbl only to then say “Yo I’ll play with you, but not in Team slayer… I don’t wanna lose my level”. Yeah I know some shady **** but it’s the truth and you know it. In Halo 3 I couldn’t care less what happened to my 50 in MLG. Everybody had one it was ridiculous it didn’t have nearly as much value as what a level 30 had in team slayer in Halo 2. To be honest if you could rank everyone levels on halo with the pros being 50 and the noobs being 10, I would probably be a legit level 42. I know this is impossible but atleast make the matchmaking strict enough so that when the best have 50 and play each other the loser goes down a level. At least after two loses on a 50. The Halo 2 Experience VOICE CHAT! Now I understand why people have been muted from the other team but in halo two it was perfect. If you were too far form the opponent they couldn’t hear you. Problem solved. If you want the opposing team to not hear you then give us that option too. We can easily set that in the options menu in Halo 3 I think. But make it the standard to hear the opposing team in ranked. I never used to “talk s***” BUT that was the funniest part about being able to hear peoples reactions as you no scope them on the brink of death or slapping their dead body and hearing them rage… “You think you’re good kid! Huh! Wanna 1v1 me after this!” You guys know who you are lol. I could only imagine how fun it would be if you could hear the opposing team in COD. And that’s a game I don’t play! Even hearing players say sigh and the say “good ****” after you kill them is quite fulfilling no matter how they say it. How we feel I have conversations with people now and then who bring up what shooters are the best and very rarely do they back up why they think COD or GoW is a good game and explain their history on it. After I tell them mine they go quite and just say… “damn I wish I played it”. When I talk to other Halo 2 players we even end up saying lets play some Reach only to find out why we stopped playing it. Halo games as a whole brings something to the table but that online matchmaking just did it for me too. I have only played one other game with a matchmaking system on par with Halo 2. That was Championship Mode on Street Fighter IV. But still you couldn’t really de-level on that but if you could make it to the end of the mini tournament it was always with with someone tough. We wish the next Halo would bring back some memories of Halo 2 but all I ask if to give back that solid matchmaking system it had. I really means a lot to me. Ask around other players will agree and you can still cater to the casual gamers with overall service ranks and all that nonsense. I still play with some of the people I met on Halo 2 just because of how we bonded on trying to reach that next level of skill and playing in matchmaking. A shout out to few old GTs I remember… dx K Bye xb Yo Granny Foo tRxZePPeLiNx The Black Girl I Poppa G I Rambo631862 Don Salchicon Thug Money Abit of Luck I left out a lot of people and may have spelt the names wrong but it’s no biggie if you read please support it. There is so much more I want to say but for now I just wanted to bring Halo 2 matchmaking to the light. (Sorry for the bad grammar and typos you may find but I’m not a writer I’m a gamer that’s just trying to speak up) 343 please bring back Halo 2 matchmaking and all its glory in some way. Peace out DaRealNRG TL:DR: Bring back Halo 2 Matchmaking.

I have no idea how many of you guys no or care but info on the upcoming sequel to relics WW2 RTS Company of Heroes (its called Company of Heroes 2, imagine that) was leaked by a User on NeoGaf who got a PC gamer mag early. It will revolve around Soviet troops fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front. Heres hoping they pull no punches and paint both sides as totalitarian ******** which was exactly what they were (take that Communazis!). LINK!: http://www.escapistm...e-Eastern-Front

Props to for his thread on repairing and general knowledge of the problem known as Red Ring of Death, or Red Dot of Death. I haven't seen a thread on it, so let's talk avoidance. Here are some tips & tricks to avoid an X-Box 360 systems crash. Keep your X-Box horizontal: This may sound odd, but a lot of X-Box 360's have issues with "disc slip". This is when something jars the console and the game disc inside the console slides out of the tray inside the X-Box. This is most likely to happen with consoles that are vertical (up and down, like this | ) There is very little reason why one wouldn't have their console horizontal (like this _ ), but if for some reason or another you need your console to be vertical, take the disc out when the console is not in use. Ventilation: Keep your X-Box in an area where the vents can grab air. Putting your console on wood is your best bet here. Putting it on carpet or other fabrics is a bad idea, because fabric grabs dust which your console will then pull into itself, clogging it's vents. Putting your console on metal is also a bad idea because metal heats up rather quickly. If you are having problems with ventilation, try putting your X-Box on a laptop cooling fan (which you can usually get at Wal-Mart for around 5 USD). Also, make sure the power cord ventilation box is in an area that it won't overheat as well. Proper Cord Connection: If you have your cords connected loosely, then this can cause extreme wear and tear on your connectors and ports. Always double check that they are connected properly. Remember, "Tight is Right". This goes for both the power and the audio/video cords. Make sure that your power cord is properly connected to your X-Box AND to it's ventilation box. Take the Disc Out: Always remember to take your game disc out of the X-Box 360 console before moving the console. Leaving the disc in while moving your console is bad for both the disc and your console. If you move your X-Box with the disc inside of it, the disc could slip loose of the tray and mess up some innards. Proper Cleaning: The only thing you should use to clean your console is air and a dry rag/q-tip. Do NOT for ANY reason get your console wet. Except for the ports, you can clean those using a SMALL amount of white vinegar (thanks again to Private Church for pointing that out). To clean your console, remove any disc in the tray, unplug ALL cords, and use a can of air or blow into your vents, and use a rag or q-tip to dust the outside. Do not take your console apart unless you know how. Taking your console apart will void any warranty that you have, and could ruin your X-Box. Keep it Cool: Don't put your console in an area that it will have difficulty staying cool in (a sunny area, on top of other electronics, under a blanket, so on and so forth). Also be sure to take a break after a long period of gameplay to give your console time to cool down. Try not to leave your console on all day, or even when you are going to the store. Every time you do this, you are playing Russian Roulette with a RRoD or a RDoD as a bullet. Don't Hit the 360: Light taps are fine, but beating your X-Box is like beating your child. Sure, it may still be okay after a few beatings, but you run the risk of killing it. If you are having trouble with your disc tray, either clean it or bring your console to a professional to have them fix it. Well, that does it for this time. Remember, RRoD's and RDoD's can be a bit random. You can follow all of these instructions and still get one. If you DO get one, see the other thread in this forum, which is dedicated to repairing them. If you have further tips, post them here and I will edit them into this post.

As many of you know, the Red Ring of Death (RRoD) is something that plagues almost all Xbox 360 users at one time or another. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the RRoD, here is a brief (or not so brief) explanation. Xbox 360 consoles are power hogs. When paired with a lame cooling fan, power hunger is a no-no. And so, due to overheating, many consoles face an infamous problem: The RRoD. When the console overheats, several key components to the 360 can be easily damaged, causing the RRoD. There are four different types of RRoD, each one discernible by the number of illuminated red rings. These rings are the green controller indicators, but when the RRoD is in play, they flash red. The most commonly seen RRoD is the three ring malfunction. This indicates a general hardware failure. In this RRoD, when the system overheats, the solder which normally makes connections between components on the motherboard heats up to a degree where it actually begins to bend the board, causing the solder to flow in opposite directions, interrupting the electrical connection within the board. The board bends due to two components on the board: the clamps (commonly known as X-clamps) that hold the two cooling heatsinks on the CPU (core processing unit) and GPU (graphics processing unit) in place. These overly flexible clamps bend in the surplus heat, and the board bends with them. Another RRoD is the two ring error. This is a last-ditch, built-in failsafe for your 360. When it begins to flash two red rings, it is warning you that your console is getting WAY too hot, and that general hardware failure will be imminent unless you shut down your 360. The four red ring error can have several meanings. The most common occurrence is when your component video cable, HDMI cable, or the slots in which they fit in, become built up with dust and/or grime, or your cables are broken, and are unable to make a connection. Another problem which can cause the four RRoD is an overheat issue. This overheat problem results when the heatsink paste (a special paste that is spread on the GPU and CPU chips to spread the heat evenly) hardens, or is not spread evenly. This causes the chip to heat up dramatically when in use for only a short period of time, and, if unnoticed/left unfixed, your GPU will burn out, rendering your 360 permanently inoperable. And last, the one ring error. This RRoD is most commonly identified by an E74, E76, or E79 error displayed on the screen. This occurs when your North Bridge chip (this chip acts as a interpreter of sorts, it communicates with both the CPU and GPU) overheats, and scrambles the communication between the CPU/GPU and the rest of the system. There are many possible fixes for each RRoD. There are several fix kits that works the best for repairing both 3 RRoD and 1 RRoD (available here: http://xbrdepot.hostedbyamazon.com/). I have repaired many consoles by means of these kits (**WARNING** Do not attempt this if you do not view the INSTRUCTIONS available on the same website). And yet even it is not the only option. Some people simply overheat their 360 again in an attempt to restore solder connection. For the 4 RRoD, some people just clean their slots/cables with vinegar, which often works. Or a replacement cable may be necessary. Sometimes you need a new 360 if the cable slots are actually damaged. There is an option for repairing the burned out GPU also. You can buy a replacement one online, and after overheating your console to loosen the solder, you can remove and replace your GPU (**WARNING** Do not attempt this if you do not have INTENSIVE EXPERIENCE with repairing electronics). For two RRoD, your best bet is to immediately power off your 360, and hope for the best . There is also a NEW error, found only in the Xbox 360 slims, known only as the RDoD (Red Dot of Death). This new error means general hardware failure, but in this event, it is practically unfixable. There are many people working on trying to develop a fix for it, but at this rate, not enough consoles suffer from it for it to become a big deal. The only method i know of that "fixes it" is to overheat your console. Now this thread is for posting your experiences with the RRoD, telling funny stories of how you were "...only THIS far away from ________, when the infamous red ring..." and for asking for technical help/advice on how to deal with YOUR RRoD. CYA on the forums! -Church

It never really occurred to me how much this video told until it was brought to my attention again recently. The video clearly shows the world Master Chief is or could possibly be on and its massive. There are tons of Forerunner structures and a lot of green areas in the shield world. One of the first important things I found was the moving object at around 0:24. If you pause it at the right time you can see something triangular or pyramidal flying at a high speed with a vapor trail which could possibly be the escape craft used to get off the Forward Unto Dawn or knows? There are a lot of Sentinels and protectors of all different shapes and sizes, some even resemble dolphins at around 1:04. These happen to inspecting what look like drop pods and there are a few there. Throughout the video it is shown that Chief is in a large area with lots of Space to roam, or so it seems. Clearly the story will be linear and will not have you allowed to roam around wherever you want, it will probaby be like Halo 3 and Reach where there are gigantic levels in the campaign but you have to follow a certain path and most of it is scenery that is blocked off. I believe the concept art of the ship from outer space and the Sentinels inspecting it is concept art for cinematics. Then around 1:09 you see large metal things with thrusters which I believe are larger Sentinels or protectors but am open to the possibility of them being ships of some sort. HOWEVER I also notice there at the bottom left what I think is more than one figure. It's definitely not certain whether that's just what the piece of metal whomever (most like John) is standing on is shaped like or there are other figures there but I noticed it as I was going through the video slowly. I believe it is just one more figure on his left and the one's on his right are scrap metal. Or it could all be scrap metal I don't know for sure. Sticking with the same scene you could also see fire on the left indicating something chaotic might be going on along with the groaning sound of the video. Last but not least everybody sees the part after the Halo 4 logo comes up with the shaking camera and a moving image and a big red light. This has been said to resemble a Precursor and I agree to some extent. I could believe this would be a Precursor with more proof. There aren't many Precursors left and to me it'd feel too early to introduce Precursors but if you freeze the video at certain points you can make out some features of a tall creature that kind of resembles Alien. Post theories and ideas of what you think is to come in Halo 4 based on the video.

Would you like the armory to be updated? Yes or No? Why? Would you support the removal of all non-preordered versions of the recon helmet? Personally, all people who wear any recon helmet excluding the pre-ordered version of recon are just jealous of us who pre-ordered. (My opinion. Don't yell at me for it) Bungie>343i

Hello! I am MrWonderful 999, on of three co-leaders of this clan. While we are not exactly a tryhard clan, we like to have fun, and occasionaly have fun at the expense of others. Anyway, we will be hosting tryouts on Saturday October the 15th. If the offer intrigues you, you can message me and ArchedParasite or,XxR3v3ng3xX for further information. Now for reqirements, first we ask that you have a mic, second we ask that you are a fairly decent player, finally we ask that you are of at least 13 years of age due to conversation content.....thanks agian and goodbye