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A Halogaf Community Thread: The Old Becomes New

I'm getting major Halo 3 vibes in the Razorback gif above. The sand, the trees, the blue skies and Forerunner metal. I love it.

Haven’t played Halo it what is probably a decade properly, after multiplayer e3 action have just started the play through all over again since Xbox & 360s.

It actually made me hype for Halo multiplayer.
Yes! I'm feeling very excited to play some Infinite. Hopefully we will get flighting news soon. Nice to see some familiar faces too!
 

He was that close lol.

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😎😂
 
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I truly hope Infinite does not cater 50% of the game to Arena modes and maps like Halo 5 did. Bring me back to Halo 1-3 "default" Halo and maps please. Playing MCC just solidified how skewed 343's curation/sustain of matchmaking maps and gametypes is; which still caters to arena/esports even when just playing social. The competitive modes are fine like that (I get that), but social is a fucking shitshow of curation.

The last 10 games, literally small arena maps with sweat squads vs randies and no objective in sight. Not one game wasn't on Guardian, Midship, Lockout or remakes of them. It's bad enough I have to play on Asia or US servers at night (day I can find Aussie matches) but to top that off with arena slayer against stacked squads all the time is hot Halo garbage.

For me Infinite needs to return fun competition and the wild sandbox of Halo e.g. 4v4 light vehicles/slayer/OBJ and not bloody eports rammed down my throat even in social. Games like Fortnite/Apex etc all kill arena games out there e.g. Valorant or Rogue Company. Just more fun to be had over limited maps and neutered sandboxes.

This is also where PvE modes really drive home fun for me. I'm pretty sadened Infinite hasn't revealed anything PvE related or even a roadmap of it being included at some point.
 
I truly hope Infinite does not cater 50% of the game to Arena modes and maps like Halo 5 did. Bring me back to Halo 1-3 "default" Halo and maps please. Playing MCC just solidified how skewed 343's curation/sustain of matchmaking maps and gametypes is; which still caters to arena/esports even when just playing social. The competitive modes are fine like that (I get that), but social is a fucking shitshow of curation.

The last 10 games, literally small arena maps with sweat squads vs randies and no objective in sight. Not one game wasn't on Guardian, Midship, Lockout or remakes of them. It's bad enough I have to play on Asia or US servers at night (day I can find Aussie matches) but to top that off with arena slayer against stacked squads all the time is hot Halo garbage.

For me Infinite needs to return fun competition and the wild sandbox of Halo e.g. 4v4 light vehicles/slayer/OBJ and not bloody eports rammed down my throat even in social. Games like Fortnite/Apex etc all kill arena games out there e.g. Valorant or Rogue Company. Just more fun to be had over limited maps and neutered sandboxes.

This is also where PvE modes really drive home fun for me. I'm pretty sadened Infinite hasn't revealed anything PvE related or even a roadmap of it being included at some point.
Have you played Halo 1 - 3? It was mostly just that.
 
Have you played Halo 1 - 3? It was mostly just that.

Of course, 10,000s of times and no it wasn't mostly that at all. The dominant population was always "default" Halo during games 1-3. Maps like -
  • Zanzibar flag or bomb over slayer.
  • High ground
  • Standoff
  • Coagulation
  • Terminal
  • Sidewinder
  • Boarding action
  • Burial mounds
  • Containment
  • Ivory tower
  • Relic
  • Turf
  • Waterworks
  • Headlong
  • Ghost town
  • Longshore
  • Valhalla
  • Orbital
MLG and HCS has never had the same or higher population as "default" Halo during or after the era of Halo 1-3. Halo 4,5 and MCC push eports maps and modes like Lockout, Midship and remakes down your throat so much it's a total waste of what's on the social playlist of MCC. Social is a double up of competitive and shows me 343's agenda outside of BTB for example.
 

II_JumPeR_I

Member
Infinite will have sbmm and focus on skill aswell lol
So it will be worse for folks who just wanna chill in social.
Btb MCC haa become such a sweatfest. I had two matches in a row where my team won 100 to 99...
This isnt fun anymore. The sweats rather play social than ranked which i dont get why.
 
Infinite will have sbmm and focus on skill aswell lol
So it will be worse for folks who just wanna chill in social.
Btb MCC haa become such a sweatfest. I had two matches in a row where my team won 100 to 99...
This isnt fun anymore. The sweats rather play social than ranked which i dont get why.
What is sbmm? I'd like to see a change in the ranking system, myself. Go back to a 1-50 style and give a little more incentive to try and rank up. More than anything though I want a playlist I can queue solo for team slayer and objective and be paired with other people playing solo. Randoms shouldn't be getting matched up against full teams, at least give me a choice. As long as that is a thing I think I'll be happy. Also I wouldn't mind seeing the game slowed down a bit too. I think that could be accomplished by removing Sprint, but I won't go down that rabbit hole lol. If the levels are well designed with Sprint in mind it should be okay.
 
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I don't know what y'all are talking about. The MCC has very robust social playlist options and maps. All I ever play is social games. I never play ranked anymore. I just want to kick back and have fun with Halo. That was sorely missing in 5 until way later after I lost interest.
 
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I don't know what y'all are talking about. The MCC has very robust social playlist options and maps. All I ever play is social games. I never play ranked anymore. I just want to kick back and have fun with Halo. That was sorely missing in 5 until way later after I lost interest.
And if Infinite has a focus on BTB maps that will also help.
 
This update mostly goes over updates to halowaypoint and the halowaypoint app.




Some random quotes:
Chris Blohm: "We are focused on adding to the player experience every season. We will look at what worked and see if we want to do more of it. If something did not work, we will learn from it and do better in the future. We want to experiment, learn, and listen with every release and make the game better for everybody. Also, it should be noted that along with progression and customization pieces, seasons will also debut big (and small) features that make the game a larger, more fun experience."

While we’re still on the topic of customization though, the team teased that there may be a few other aspects of player customization that we haven’t seen yet. Can you tell us now or will we have to wait a bit longer?
Chris Blohm: "
Not quite yet. Knowing Uny and crew though, there are undoubtedly glimpses coming up which will be obvious or just barely hidden out of view."

Joseph Staten:
"
At the center of our plans is a goal to deeply root your Multiplayer character in the larger Halo universe and give them a vital, active role in the Halo story moving forward. How exactly we’re going to do this in the Seasons and years ahead… Well, we’re not ready to share details yet. But I can share that we picked “Heroes of Reach” as a Seasonal theme for very specific reasons: Reach has a rich history; it’s a key location for Spartans of old and a focal point for a new generation of Spartans preparing to wrestle with the perils and mysteries of a galaxy that has fundamentally changed after the events of Halo 5."
 
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It would be quite a thing to see this morph into something akin to a shared common area with proximity chat and quick contextual button invites to join fireteams or clans etc. Imagine something like Destiny's tower but you can chat with people in the common areas and easily press one button to match up or have areas you walk into that automate and realtime update LFG systems across platform app/integrated features or discord for example. Simple and quick.

They could really make a very social game with more curation of players and fireteams beyond just matchmaking. A ton of these features are based on existing systems too, what a usability improvement and probably not that crazy on the development requirements either. Ship It 343!

Also -

Chris Blohm: There’s one note from Ryan in regard to Seasons that I’d like to jump in on. We want players to have cool content, activities, events, and rewards over the course of the season, but we do not want to demand that players play a ton of hours every week of the season to complete everything. We want players having fun in Halo, not grind it like it’s a job.

I think I have a new man crush. Perfect strategy Chris!

The vNext Waypoint site and app are looking nice. I just hope they really open up statistics, the current Waypoint doesn't even track what map you played on etc. Bring back Bungie levels of heatmaps and give the API some real love and support for things like Halo Tracker to really go nuts.

Those Service Awards are looking real nice -
waypoint-service-awards-1120-e997a2a88fd34b8a90ee3b1819d53def.png


I still cannot believe this game is basically 5 months away and the flood gates haven't really opened up. Waiting in cryo but having bad dreams and getting twitching, need some thawing out.
 

YukiOnna

Member
Well, Staten's message leaves me assured he isn't planning on killing or replacing Chief in the first of Infinite's story campaign. Interesting about how MP will seemingly have its own story/lore going?
 
Good Cannon Fodder this week.


54Z669G.png

Not really a spoiler but details that lead up to the start of Halo Infinite:
"As you may have been piecing together throughout previous trailers and information drops, Halo Infinite’s campaign begins roughly six months after the UNSC was ambushed at Zeta Halo. During that time, the UNSC has been mounting a resistance on a shorn fragment of the ring, desperately trying to hold out long enough for hope to arrive. In Halo: The Rubicon Protocol, you’ll get a glimpse of humanity’s struggle to survive amidst a growing Banished occupation that takes place in that period."

"To be clear, this adventure stands on its own—but if you find yourself enjoying and eager to learn more about some of the scattered stories you might encounter while playing the game, then Halo: The Rubicon Protocol will be right up your alley when it drops next March."

54Z669G.png


"This week we launched Season 7 of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which focuses primarily on Sangheili customization items. If you’re interested in learning more about some of the lore behind the armors we added, check out Issue 114. But that’s not all we added!

To celebrate the upcoming Halo Infinite, we’re adding the prototype for the Mk.VII helmet—KEYSTONE—into Halo 4 within the MCC. It’s a pretty awesome opportunity to look ahead to the studio’s latest brand-new adventure by placing a small piece of it in our first one."

cf_keystoneclean-343f3ddd8a11426bbe421e3901892dcc.jpg
 
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So I went back and watched the 4K 60fps multiplayer reveal on my 65" HDR Samsung. Holy shit, what a difference to even my 28" HDR 4K PC monitors and a crappy live stream low bit rate YT. There is a ton of detail I was missing really, seeing it in full glory in my living room has me getting hyped. There is brilliant lighting, animation, detail and more. The gameplay is where I focused in rewatches and it's looking top notch, the levels seems really well laid out, the sandbox is on show beyond esports and everything is looking real fucking snappy too. Reviewing elements I was passing over before, such as the ring blocks, they have nice detail to them in multi vs the campaign reveal so far. I'm wondering how much they have updated in campaign based on what I'm getting hyped about in multi too, hype rising. I have watched that trailer a few too many times now, I admit it.

I've been chatting to some of my regular Halo buds and there are still some who are like I was before, skeptical but will play and now there are some others amping up their hype along with me. I mean...finally a new Halo is coming. It's sinking in. Sure I want to see more campaign, lots more, but part of me is also excited to just play it with mystery and the unkown. When I think about how they're introducing Cortana being deleted it's at least starting to have mystery to it. I hope it's not all banished throughout the whole game, I'd like to see deeper and darker threats after the first act of wiping out the banished etc. Get rid of the predictability, let the misson change and give us real progress in the campaign story please.
 
So I went back and watched the 4K 60fps multiplayer reveal on my 65" HDR Samsung. Holy shit, what a difference to even my 28" HDR 4K PC monitors and a crappy live stream low bit rate YT. There is a ton of detail I was missing really, seeing it in full glory in my living room has me getting hyped. There is brilliant lighting, animation, detail and more. The gameplay is where I focused in rewatches and it's looking top notch, the levels seems really well laid out, the sandbox is on show beyond esports and everything is looking real fucking snappy too. Reviewing elements I was passing over before, such as the ring blocks, they have nice detail to them in multi vs the campaign reveal so far. I'm wondering how much they have updated in campaign based on what I'm getting hyped about in multi too, hype rising. I have watched that trailer a few too many times now, I admit it.

I've been chatting to some of my regular Halo buds and there are still some who are like I was before, skeptical but will play and now there are some others amping up their hype along with me. I mean...finally a new Halo is coming. It's sinking in. Sure I want to see more campaign, lots more, but part of me is also excited to just play it with mystery and the unknown. When I think about how they're introducing Cortana being deleted it's at least starting to have mystery to it. I hope it's not all banished throughout the whole game, I'd like to see deeper and darker threats after the first act of wiping out the banished etc. Get rid of the predictability, let the mission change and give us real progress in the campaign story please.
Adding some mystery to the campaign story would go a long way. You're right about Halo feeling predictable, which hasn't helped the series. I'm excited to hear that Infinite is looking even better in HDR. I'm in the process of moving and haven't been able to watch anything on my tv. My laptop that I'm typing on currently is only 1080p. I can't wait to get all settled into my new house. Hopefully it's in time for some infinite flighting.
 
Well, Staten's message leaves me assured he isn't planning on killing or replacing Chief in the first of Infinite's story campaign.
I certainly hope that'd what he's getting at.

I've seen theories that they may kill Chief and replace him with our own multiplayer Spartan, kind of like a Destiny thing. I think that'd be a horrible idea for multiple reasons, but his statement is vague and can be read either way.

To me it seems like they're hinting at something like Spartan Ops coming back, it was similar to what he's talking about with your Spartan becoming the main character of a storyline, but it sucked ass and was dropped immediately after Halo 4. I always liked the concept but they have to up the quality of execution significantly if they're gonna try it again.
 

YukiOnna

Member
I certainly hope that'd what he's getting at.

I've seen theories that they may kill Chief and replace him with our own multiplayer Spartan, kind of like a Destiny thing. I think that'd be a horrible idea for multiple reasons, but his statement is vague and can be read either way.

To me it seems like they're hinting at something like Spartan Ops coming back, it was similar to what he's talking about with your Spartan becoming the main character of a storyline, but it sucked ass and was dropped immediately after Halo 4. I always liked the concept but they have to up the quality of execution significantly if they're gonna try it again.
Describing it as "latest installment in Chief's story" hopefully means more stories to come. I think Staten is just doubling down on the fact that Infinite is still going to be a platform and the last Halo game for a while. We'll get stories with our Spartan (possibly in the form of that Spartan ops?), stories with Arbiter, etc. and bigger campaigns with the Chief. I'm guessing it's basically going to become like MCC is now but for newer games.
 
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YukiOnna

Member
Should be fine. I think he wouldn't have given the near year long delay otherwise since it turned out to be much longer than most expected. It's good to know this game isn't one of those make or break ones imo.
 
If Halo could survive the flaming shitshow that was the launch MCC/H5 years (which I consider to be the darkest period in the franchise’s history by a pretty wide margin) I don’t really see Infinite killing it either, unless it’s an absolutely massive Anthem/Avengers type failure.

I haven't watched the actual vid but I think McCaffrey was trying to goad him into a "If Infinite's bad the franchise is done" type answer for headlines. Phil just said that instead.
 
I haven't watched the actual vid but I think McCaffrey was trying to goad him into a "If Infinite's bad the franchise is done" type answer for headlines. Phil just said that instead.
Yes this right here. I wouldn't worry about that article one bit. Just journalists being journalists, asking shit questions for a story.
 


While not as exciting as Halo Infinite news, it's still nice to see what plans are in the works for Halo in terms of esports. I found this section encouraging:

"And I know we’ve talked about pro players and pro teams almost exclusively today but rest assured, Halo Infinite esports is an open format and ecosystem. These partnered teams will need to earn every HCS Point they get, and we will have ways for amateur players to rise in the ranks and compete against the top pro teams on a regular basis, and live events will be open."

That is perhaps one of the more exciting aspects of competition imo. I love seeing newcomers to the game or unknown players climb up the ranks and compete against the pros. I'll be loosely following the info as it comes out. They are still talking about releasing info later this Summer (which isn't really that far away) and I'd assume that might coincide with flighting. Guess we just have to wait and see for now.
 
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Helghan

Member
When I think about how they're introducing Cortana being deleted it's at least starting to have mystery to it. I hope it's not all banished throughout the whole game, I'd like to see deeper and darker threats after the first act of wiping out the banished etc. Get rid of the predictability, let the misson change and give us real progress in the campaign story please.
I can't imagine them really deleting Cortana, she'll still have a huge role to play in the story. Otherwise they would've thrown the 2nd biggest character and the whole Halo 4-5 story in the garbage.
 
I can't imagine them really deleting Cortana, she'll still have a huge role to play in the story. Otherwise they would've thrown the 2nd biggest character and the whole Halo 4-5 story in the garbage.

Would be really something for Cortana to be deleted from the domain, where she'd have enormous advantage and time spent master it and replication or organic/machine forms etc.

In other news, thank you random enemy for betraying just enough for this clutch 2v4 win at the final buzzer on my ALT -

 
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Would be really something for Cortana to be deleted from the domain, where she'd have enormous advantage and time spent master it and replication or organic/machine forms etc.

In other news, thank you random enemy for betraying just enough for this clutch 2v4 win at the final buzzer on my ALT -


I actually enjoy those rare games where it's a race to kill more players on the other team faster than they can kill your lone remaining teammate. Always a feel good moment when you pull it off.

Also still no solid info on a flighting release. The wait continues.
 
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54Z669G.png



Edit: That's a false alarm on the flighting update. Just more of the same (be sure you're signed up for flighting bla bla bla), but still no release date.
 
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Debatable but no doubt it could end up being fantastic:
I actually agree with this. Bots in Halo is one of the things I've been wanting basically forever, and I'm ecstatic to see it's finally happening. Always loved playing against them in Battlefront 2 (OG) and Black Ops 1. It's not only good for newbies but it's also good for when you wanna just fuck around and have fun without engaging with ultra sweaty tryhards, and if they're compatible with custom games/forge options it'll be even better.
 
I actually agree with this. Bots in Halo is one of the things I've been wanting basically forever, and I'm ecstatic to see it's finally happening. Always loved playing against them in Battlefront 2 (OG) and Black Ops 1. It's not only good for newbies but it's also good for when you wanna just fuck around and have fun without engaging with ultra sweaty tryhards, and if they're compatible with custom games/forge options it'll be even better.
Yeah bots will be nice. I'll be interested in seeing how well the AI is and whether we will be able to adjust the difficulty. I remember trying to improve my aim in Halo CE by starting 4 player marches on Longest. Id hook up 4 controllers and run around the map trying to get 3 shot kills on the non moving players since I was by myself.
 
Yeah bots will be nice. I'll be interested in seeing how well the AI is and whether we will be able to adjust the difficulty. I remember trying to improve my aim in Halo CE by starting 4 player marches on Longest. Id hook up 4 controllers and run around the map trying to get 3 shot kills on the non moving players since I was by myself.
You can definitely set the difficulty. Here's the options they've shown so far.

nMkoLiO.jpg


Honestly even if Infinite sucks, this one thing will get me to play because it's been a dream of mine since... fuck, 2001 I guess.
 
The pistol alone going from a plastic looking toy to a metal looking gun speaks volumes to the polish of the game now. I wish they'd show more campaign, the wait is looong but I'm excited for Halo again.
 
I'm sticking with my November or December prediction.

Although to be honest I'm still not 100% convinced it's coming out this year, wouldn't be surprised at all if there's another delay. We're in July now, they really need to start spilling shit soon.
Everyone is waiting for flighting to begin and it's already July. If they did delay the game it would have to come out early 2022 at the latest. Though I still think it will release this year.
 
I reckon they're holding out as it's still pushing dev and polish hard so keeping the release date flexible between NOV-DEC is paramount still. If it was smooth sailing they'd of had the flighting, beta and massive info dump already. I'd guess they'll go for the anniversary date and have DEC in their back pocket in case of delay again.
 

Havoc2049

Member
I think the game is coming in hot and heavy. They probably wanted to commit to a November date, but to be on the safe side, just put out a Holiday 2021 date. I think the latest we'll see it is two weeks before Christmas.
 
While I don't want to wait longer, just before Christmas would be an epic time to release. But I'm still hoping for November at the latest. So I got a new job, moved, bought a house, and am now in the process of unpacking everything. Hopefully I should be all set up and ready to game again soon. Still playing on my sad Sunset Overdrive edition Xbox One lol.

Ha the thread for this Halo post is humorous. Everyone is tired of waiting.
 
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While I don't want to wait longer, just before Christmas would be an epic time to release. But I'm still hoping for November at the latest. So I got a new job, moved, bought a house, and am now in the process of unpacking everything. Hopefully I should be all set up and ready to game again soon. Still playing on my sad Sunset Overdrive edition Xbox One lol.

Ha the thread for this Halo post is humorous. Everyone is tired of waiting.

Congrats on the house. Nothing like rewinding the clock with an OG Xbox, takeaway dinner and playing with your TV sitting on a cardboard box.
 
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