Support NeoGAF

[xxjuicesxx]

Yes, but I'm still on Backflips side, its an absolute pissing away of a great game by Bungie at the moment. If you are happy with the current state of H3's MM service there is something wrong with you. I've all but pretty much quit. Congratulations Bungie you've managed to lose a pretty hardcore fan (sure it doesn't mean shit to you because theres millions more). I've resorted to H2, I'll be buying MW2 and playing that probably exclusively when its released. Purchased Sacred 2 for PC just waiting for that to be delivered. Its really a fucking shame cause I tried, I bitched and I bitched, I've been here for months telling Bungie what needs to be done. Yes some are opinion but some aren't (Like Snipers being a playlist and Party Splitting off, these are just FACTS) Maybe I'll play some custom weekends and shit and I'm still going to continue to bitch in this thread in hopes something is done, because this game has potential, it really does, and its sad to see this happen.

/over dramatic speech

 

[backflip10019]

You know backflip, normally I wouldn't agree with juices, but he's right. Your constant bitching isn't going to help at all (not to diss you or anything, because I hate the party splitting just as much as you do). But if you're frustrated, just bailout as soon as you can.

I'll come into Halo 3 every so often and play a few games. If I get even remotely frustrated, I just stop playing for a few days or maybe even a couple weeks. I don't want to push through the frustration and consistently play and just get even more upset (like what it's been doing to you every day and now).

Might I suggest Sacred 2, Halo 2 or Gears 2 now that Epic has permanently fixed the smoke grenades? Just hop on Halo 3 every saturday for customs where you KNOW for a fact you'll get a BR, you'll play the maps you want to play, the gametypes you want to play (followed by the rules that are suited depending on the map if CTF is played) and the people you want to play with, with no splits, no-micers or anything that plagues MM negatively.

Yeah, I'm starting to think the same thing. I'm just getting frustrated in nearly every aspect of the game. I guess it's time to put down the sticks and play something else.

The only thing that irks me is that there really aren't many other split screen online multiplayer games out there that can compare to H3. I like playing with friends on the same Xbox and there aren't many alternatives out there. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Bear in mind that Bungie employees often have both public and private gamer tags, and testing done internally at the studio for matchmaking would most certainly be done on private tags or even generically assigned boxes/accounts. So I don't think looking at an employee's gamertag is the best way to evaluate their Halo 3 playing.

And I don't see how it's especially relevant in any case.

That said, I would also prefer party splitting be turned off in Social, as it does cause more problems than benefits in my experience.

 

[BladedExpert]

I'm not sure there are any benefits. Does it do anything to cut down on wait times to find games? In Social Slayer? Which rarely dips below 30,000 players? Seriously?

 

[Tashi]

If I didn't like the MLG gametypes as much as I do, I probably wouldn't be playing much either. (((

 

[FourDoor]

If you guys complain about being split in the 5v5 hoppers, imagine what it's like in BTB late at night when the population drops significantly and the party leader has to keep an eye on the counter to make sure the party doesn't get split. Nothing is worse than having a party of 8 and having 2 of your teammates shuffled over to the other side at the last second...

 

[EazyB]

You know backflip, normally I wouldn't agree with juices, but he's right. Your constant bitching isn't going to help at all (not to diss you or anything, because I hate the party splitting just as much as you do). But if you're frustrated, just bailout as soon as you can.

I'll come into Halo 3 every so often and play a few games. If I get even remotely frustrated, I just stop playing for a few days or maybe even a couple weeks. I don't want to push through the frustration and consistently play and just get even more upset (like what it's been doing to you every day and now).

Might I suggest Sacred 2, Halo 2 or Gears 2 now that Epic has permanently fixed the smoke grenades? Just hop on Halo 3 every saturday for customs where you KNOW for a fact you'll get a BR, you'll play the maps you want to play, the gametypes you want to play (followed by the rules that are suited depending on the map if CTF is played) and the people you want to play with, with no splits, no-micers or anything that plagues MM negatively.

Halo 2 has party splitting and Gears 2's awesome grenade tags makes playing it worse than colonoscopy. And when's the last time you've honestly went more than a week without playing Halo? :lol

Sacred 2 OT: You fuckers are going to be so far ahead of me by the time I get my 360 back that I'mma be way too far behind. I kinda regret buying it already.

 

[Stinkles]

Bear in mind that Bungie employees often have both public and private gamer tags, and testing done internally at the studio for matchmaking would most certainly be done on private tags or even generically assigned boxes/accounts. So I don't think looking at an employee's gamertag is the best way to evaluate their Halo 3 playing.

And I don't see how it's especially relevant in any case.

That said, I would also prefer party splitting be turned off in Social, as it does cause more problems than benefits in my experience.

Exactly. Although I am not a Bungie employee, I am a video game expert/professional. I myself have two gamertags. One for just chillaxin' - it's like, a 33 or 35 or something. And I also have a top secret level 50 for when discipline needs to be administered to helpless MLG pros. Or as I call them "scrnubs [scu-r-nubz]."

If I ever play against anyone less than a 47, I rage quit because the challenge isn't enough. Sometimes if matchmaking isn't producing enough challenge, I set my own. Like, only use single Spiker, or Nade and Melee only.

 

[Domino Theory]

Halo 2 has party splitting and Gears 2's awesome grenade tags makes playing it worse than colonoscopy. And when's the last time you've honestly went more than a week without playing Halo?

Sacred 2 OT: You fuckers are going to be so far ahead of me by the time I get my 360 back that I'mma be way too far behind. I kinda regret buying it already.

Halo 2 doesn't have party splitting, but yeah, Gears 2's frag grenade tagging sucks.

 

[EazyB]

Halo 2 doesn't have party splitting, but yeah, Gears 2's frag grenade tagging sucks.

Almost made it a week

But yeah, Halo 2 certainly does have party splitting:
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Out of the 6 matchmaking games we playeds, our party was split in half of them. Party splitting is definitely there, if not even more prevalent than in Halo 3 due to the smaller population.

 

[Stormtrooper30]

Might I suggest Sacred 2, Halo 2 or Gears 2 now that Epic has permanently fixed the smoke grenades? Just hop on Halo 3 every saturday for customs where you KNOW for a fact you'll get a BR, you'll play the maps you want to play, the gametypes you want to play (followed by the rules that are suited depending on the map if CTF is played) and the people you want to play with, with no splits, no-micers or anything that plagues MM negatively.

This. GAF Customs is the answer to everyone's problems. I don't even relaly play Halo outside of Saturday night fun times. The only MM I ever play is Team Snipers when I'm alone and then the Bbl Exp playlist when I'm with other people. Maybe some BTB. But yea, we should all just play customs. Then the bitching will stop.

And even though Halo 2 has party splitting, it's superior map set and fundamentally faster paced gameplay place it leaps and bounds over Halo 3.
Speaking of other games, what's with the Sacred 2 hype? It's received average reviews on most reveiw sites and doesn't look too slendid in videos.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I strongly encourage as many people as possible to play GAF Customs Saturdays. We have this one awesome map that supports 16 people and is totally neat, you'll have a good time on it. So if say, 16 GAFers got together this Saturday and played like three game on it, you'd all leave satisfied and refreshed and bursting with joy.

Also, I should have another map done for Saturday.

 

[The Librarian]

Exactly. Although I am not a Bungie employee, I am a video game expert/professional. I myself have two gamertags. One for just chillaxin' - it's like, a 33 or 35 or something. And I also have a top secret level 50 for when discipline needs to be administered to helpless MLG pros. Or as I call them "scrnubs [scu-r-nubz]."

If I ever play against anyone less than a 47, I rage quit because the challenge isn't enough. Sometimes if matchmaking isn't producing enough challenge, I set my own. Like, only use single Spiker, or Nade and Melee only.

When setting your own challenges, do you lower your standards? You say you'll rage quit when playing against someone less than a 47, but if you are setting up your own challenges, will you lower that rage quit level to 35? 42?

 

[Stinkles]

When setting your own challenges, do you lower your standards? You say you'll rage quit when playing against someone less than a 47, but if you are setting up your own challenges, will you lower that rage quit level to 35? 42?

No. If I play against anyone less than a 47, or if for some reason, their Four-shot fails (even latency) I literally vomit custard down my front. Even if I have not previously consumed custard.

 

[The Librarian]

No. If I play against anyone less than a 47, or if for some reason, their Four-shot fails (even latency) I literally vomit custard down my front. Even if I have not previously consumed custard.

You are a very unforgiving person.

 

[Stinkles]

You are a very unforgiving person.

Forgiveness is for scrnubs.

 

[Striker]

The playlist management is my primary disappointment. Otherwise, I'm a large fan of the game and gameplay aside from the Spartan Laser.

I've been trying to figure out a way to count laps in a race gametype for a while, and I think that might be the solution. A single hill that doesn't need to be contested, with a point limit. There would probably need to be something to prevent people from just sitting in the hill, but a man cannon embedded in the floor would work just fine, I think.

Remember Halo: CE's variation of "Race"? Why do they keep removing these things!?

 

[FourDoor]

No. If I play against anyone less than a 47, or if for some reason, their Four-shot fails (even latency) I literally vomit custard down my front. Even if I have not previously consumed custard.

I think a FFA match needs to be played by the former and current BNet weekly update folks. From what I remember, the alumni to present roster is:

KP
Frankie
Luke
Urk

Who was doing the BWU back in the H2 days again?

 

[The Librarian]

I think a FFA match needs to be played by the former and current BNet weekly update folks. From what I remember, the alumni to present roster is:

KP
Frankie
Luke
Urk

Who was doing the BWU back in the H2 days again?

AR starts, of course.

 

[Shake Appeal]

I strongly encourage as many people as possible to play GAF Customs Saturdays.

Play Saturday mornings and you have yourself a deal.

 

[The Librarian]

Play Saturday mornings and you have yourself a deal.

Ghal is on the west coast, that's not going to happen. :lol

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Bear in mind that Bungie employees often have both public and private gamer tags, and testing done internally at the studio for matchmaking would most certainly be done on private tags or even generically assigned boxes/accounts. So I don't think looking at an employee's gamertag is the best way to evaluate their Halo 3 playing.

And I don't see how it's especially relevant in any case.

That said, I would also prefer party splitting be turned off in Social, as it does cause more problems than benefits in my experience.

Yes I just meant I really hope Shishka the person who is IN CHARGE of the playlist management of Bungies current Halo game is playing the game more than once every 19 days. You know just so he has a general feel of how the MM experience is going. Thats how its relevant, perhaps he doesn't see how often he is getting split because he only plays ten games every 19 days and its usually the dbl exp he made that week (other week). I fully expect that to be the case too (that he has more than one account).

And Eazy some of those games in H2 don't even count cause I'm pretty sure I remember we were over the size of one team anyways so splitting had to occur. But since every H3 playlist has so many people in it I don't feel like atm we should have to get split when we go into Grifball with 3 because it decided instead of finding another individual player for each team it found a team of two and now splits a player up.

Although that said I'm even against people going in to social playlists with more players than what makes up one team in that playlist. This was traditionally how the first boosters worked, and has caused nothing but trouble in Halo. If you really have that many people invite a few more friends to play teams or start an FFA custom. Or at least if you are going to allow this to occur remove the point of Exp tied to a social game so theres no incentive to cheat or fuck around by doing that.

 

[Arnie]

There goes my second 360.

 

[Shake Appeal]

My being timezowned aside, I'm pretty much done with Halo 3, although the matchmaking playlist issues everyone else is bitching about don't bother me so much.

My main problem is that not only have I been addicted to Left 4 Dead since November, but Left 4 Dead's dedicated servers have spoiled me, and now I can't play Halo 3 against Americans for more than a few minutes without wanting to hurl a controller. Every time I die I experience that slight 'time warp' effect, which I used to notice less, but now feels as if the game is slapping me in the face and sneering, "Nah, this is really what's happening on our side of the Atlantic." So I pretty much play custom games with European-based friends on Monday nights, and that's it.

Because of this I am playing at nowhere near the standard I used to, and that in turn makes it less fun, which means I play less... and so on until ODST is released. I hope.

 

[vhfive]

I strongly encourage as many people as possible to play GAF Customs Saturdays.

sat. customs is seriously the most fun i have playing halo

also ghal your ridiculous love for mapmaking is making me realize that i have to get my act together and finally finish this map i have been working on for a while

Sacred 2 OT: You fuckers are going to be so far ahead of me by the time I get my 360 back that I'mma be way too far behind. I kinda regret buying it already.

i think my brother is getting it tomorrow so i shouldn't be that high when you get it

Spoiler

depending on when that is

 

[Domino Theory]

Shake, haven't you heard? The top three LIVE games use P2P netcode and that's all that matters!!!

 

[Striker]

There goes my second 360.

 

[Mr Vociferous]

I strongly encourage as many people as possible to play GAF Customs Saturdays.

I'll definitely try to make it, dude.

Who was doing the BWU back in the H2 days again?

Frank and Brian did those, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[EazyB]

There goes my second 360.

Welcome to the club

Yes I just meant I really hope Shishka the person who is IN CHARGE of the playlist management of Bungies current Halo game is playing the game more than once every 19 days. You know just so he has a general feel of how the MM experience is going. Thats how its relevant, perhaps he doesn't see how often he is getting split because he only plays ten games every 19 days and its usually the dbl exp he made that week (other week). I fully expect that to be the case too (that he has more than one account).

Whoever is in charge of the playlists should be playing it very frequently and if they don't have enough time to do so Bungie should dedicate more resources to MM upkeep. I mean other companies like IW don't do much at all either but that's not to say Halo 3 wouldn't benifit tremendously from such support.

And Eazy some of those games in H2 don't even count cause I'm pretty sure I remember we were over the size of one team anyways so splitting had to occur. But since every H3 playlist has so many people in it I don't feel like atm we should have to get split when we go into Grifball with 3 because it decided instead of finding another individual player for each team it found a team of two and now splits a player up.

My point was that there is undeniably party splitting in H2, even when the party isn't over the size limit. It just seems to me people forget these things, along with SMG starts, during their nostalgic comparisons of Halo 2.

It also wasn't supposed to be an argument in favor of party splitting. I fucking hate party splitting and find it's completely inexcusable. Even it does improve MM times marginally, the resulting games are oftentimes not even worth playing. If I'm in a party with some buds I've done so for a reason; I want to play with them, know they're fairly competent, and want to shoot the shit. I've never heard a remotely decent argument for party splitting and don't expect to.

i think my brother is getting it tomorrow so i shouldn't be that high when you get it

Spoiler

depending on when that is

Cool. The worst thing about the game is that it doesn't play well with a party with wide level spread. Other than that it's pretty neat. Wizards and stuff.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I'll definitely try to make it, dude.

I should mention that they're not a one-time event that if you don't get in on time are locked out from; we played for over four freaking hours last week, on about a dozen different maps, with a few new ones cropping up each week. Lots of people hop in and out during the night.

But not this week. This week, all sixteen of us are going to join up at the same time for at least three (3) BTB games.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

But not this week. This week, all sixteen of us are going to join up at the same time for at least three (3) BTB games.

Why not make it customs then? We can change flag settings and other things.

And I'll be ready for customs/BTB on Saturday. Gone last week and internet sucked too much the week before that.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Why not make it customs then? We can change flag settings and other things.

And I'll be ready for customs/BTB on Saturday. Gone last week and internet sucked too much the week before that.

I'm talking about customs. And jokingly hoping that enough of us arrive at once that I can get three films for a BTB map I want to submit to Atlas.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

I'm talking about customs. And jokingly hoping that enough of us arrive at once that I can get three films for a BTB map I want to submit to Atlas.

Entrenched?

A pity if so. That map is long overdue

 

[GhaleonEB]

Entrenched?

A pity if so. That map is long overdue

Yup, that's the one. Most we've had in customs since the last update was 7v7, and I can only submit one film with less than 8v8.

I haven't had any luck asking around for other groups to help. There's an offshoot of the Atlas group on b.net focused on testing maps, but they're just doing sign ups for 4v4 maps right now.

 

[EazyB]

Yup, that's the one. Most we've had in customs since the last update was 7v7, and I can only submit one film with less than 8v8.

I haven't had any luck asking around for other groups to help. There's an offshoot of the Atlas group on b.net focused on testing maps, but they're just doing sign ups for 4v4 maps right now.

Did Shishka ever explicitly say they had to be 8v8?

You could always submit it for 4v4. I know the map wasn't created for it but I'd guess Utah Mambo wasn't either but its creator submitted 4v4 videos and now it's in Team Mythic. I mean that map uses more of the map than even yours, vindictive, and wastelands (both of which are in BTB).

 

[Stormtrooper30]

I hope we can get 16 people this Saturday. If memory serves me correctly, we've only had a full party of GAFers on Customs night maybe once. 8v8 on Entrenched would be awesome though. Vehicular mayhem would insue.

Speaking of Atlas, how is Sanctum coming, Vhfive?

 

[Shishka]

Did Shishka ever explicitly say they had to be 8v8?

You could always submit it for 4v4. I know the map wasn't created for it but I'd guess Utah Mambo wasn't either but its creator submitted 4v4 videos and now it's in Team Mythic. I mean that map uses more of the map than even yours, vindictive, and wastelands (both of which are in BTB).

Submit films for the hopper you think your map fits in.

 

[Sean]

I'll definitely try to make it, dude.

Frank and Brian did those, if I'm not mistaken.

Frankie was so good at those weekly Halo 2 updates, he'd be talking about silly things such as a palm tree and I would get hyped as hell. :lol

Whoever is in charge of the playlists should be playing it very frequently and if they don't have enough time to do so Bungie should dedicate more resources to MM upkeep. I mean other companies like IW don't do much at all either but that's not to say Halo 3 wouldn't benifit tremendously from such support.

I hope that with the next Halo game the playlists will update dynamically somehow. Have it so that whenever gametypes are getting consistently vetoed it decreases the weight of them on the fly or something like that. Dunno if those are unrealistic expectations, but it'd be better than relying on Shishka to do anything.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Did Shishka ever explicitly say they had to be 8v8?

He never answered the question here or when I posted it in the Atlas Q&A thread, but the consensus among those who did was the same rule applied to BTB - (maybe) one game of 7v7, but the other two need to be 8v8. Which makes sense. I'm just getting desperate at this point. A week and a half to build, and four weeks of testing/refining. Now going on two weeks of trying to get an 8v8 game on the final setup.

Submit films for the hopper you think your map fits in.

I'm trying!

 

[Stinkles]

Frankie was so good at those weekly Halo 2 updates, he'd be talking about silly things such as a palm tree and I would get hyped as hell. :lol.

Palm trees are serious bizniss. I still remember playing rocket basketball with fallen coconuts on Ivory Tower.

 

[Mr Vociferous]

Frankie was so good at those weekly Halo 2 updates, he'd be talking about silly things such as a palm tree and I would get hyped as hell. :lo

He had a weird hang up on water too.

Seriously though, there was no small amount of attention paid to those updates by myself. Those udpates along with the E3 2003 trailer were the main reason I paid attention to B.net during H2 and H3 development. And then there were the vidocs, which were like weekly updates on crack cocaine.

 

[Sai-kun]

He had a weird hang up on water too.

Seriously though, there was no small amount of attention paid to those updates by myself. Those udpates along with the E3 2003 trailer were the main reason I paid attention to B.net during H2 and H3 development. And then there were the vidocs, which were like weekly updates on crack cocaine.

This so hard. Also the weekly water updates were amazing.

 

[NOKYARD]

A week and a half to build, and four weeks of testing/refining. Now going on two weeks of trying to get an 8v8 game on the final setup.

i can bring as many friends as you need to fill the party for the test - what time Saturday?

 

[NOKYARD]

also

see, he plays

 

[GhaleonEB]

We usually play from around 6:00pm pacific time until everyone gets tired; last few weeks it's run 3-4 hours. So any time in that range that works.

 

[NOKYARD]

3-4 hours.

it takes me that long to just get warmed up

see you there

 

[Oozer3993]

If God is cruel and the Cavs lose Thursday, then I'll probably be on for Customs on Saturday. I can't promise I'll be happy though.

This so hard. Also the weekly water updates were amazing.

My thoughts to a tee. I followed the Weekly Updates religiously during H2 and H3.

 

[EazyB]

My thoughts to a tee. I followed the Weekly Updates religiously during H2 and H3.

A lot of that has to do with there being upcoming releases. I have faith in Urkleton, right now there's only so much content that they can talk about since map releases are few and far between and ODST hasn't really even been revealed yet. But yeah, old man Frankie was a master of creating hype out of nothing (trees, water, etc.)

 

[Striker]

http://www.forgehub.com/forum/competitive-maps/70945-scorpio.html

A person on FH created another Gemini map. Looks better than the past map I had seen posted. Still, a walk-through would be much better. Gah -- need my 360 back. :[

 

[Tashi]

If God is cruel and the Cavs lose Thursday, then I'll probably be on for Customs on Saturday. I can't promise I'll be happy though.

Don't worry the Cavs will

Spoiler

definitely not

win.

Also, more importantly, your avatar. I fuckin love "Chuck"

Spoiler

Yvonne *drool*