We at Podtacular have gotten the chance to do an interview with the Lead Multiplayer Designer for Halo 4: Kevin Franklin.
In this interview we anwser many questions asked on the Waypoint forums.
On the issue of having 600 points instead of 60, it seems obvious to me that they changed it because if a kill was 1 point, an assisst would have to be 0.5 point which would’ve looked awkward. They could’ve made assisst 1 point and kill 2 points, but then the total score would’ve been 120 and it would’ve been just more mathematically complex to figure out the standing kill scores rather than just easily removing the last 0 in whatever score you had against 600.
Good podcast, even if a bit late (it was recorded like 10 days ago?) 
Wow. People have been criticizing 343 for the lack of response for weeks now, and we finally get one, and the thread gets no replies?
Summary for the lazy:
-Complex wall glitch fixed. The update should go live next week.
-They’re open to adding more custom game options. It is possible for them to add a race gametype, but they want to focus on bug fixes for now.
-They are checking the forums and their twitter accounts regularly, as well as playing online and testing the game themselves online.
-They plan to add forge maps into matchmaking, but again, bug fixes come first.
-Eventually they plan on adding things like the insane gametypes from Reach, which should increase custom game opportunities exponentially.
Thanks for the summary. I’m one of the lazy people.
Also, thanks OP.
> Wow. People have been criticizing 343 for the lack of response for weeks now, and we finally get one, and the thread gets no replies?
>
> Summary for the lazy:
> -Complex wall glitch fixed. The update should go live next week.
> -They’re open to adding more custom game options. It is possible for them to add a race gametype, but they want to focus on bug fixes for now.
> -They are checking the forums and their twitter accounts regularly, as well as playing online and testing the game themselves online.
> -They plan to add forge maps into matchmaking, but again, bug fixes come first.
> -Eventually they plan on adding things like the insane gametypes from Reach, which should increase custom game opportunities exponentially.
So, to quickly summarise,
343i have admitted that the shipped game we payed money for, is in actual fact a Beta!!
> Wow. People have been criticizing 343 for the lack of response for weeks now, and we finally get one, and the thread gets no replies?
>
> Summary for the lazy:
> -Complex wall glitch fixed. The update should go live next week.
> -They’re open to adding more custom game options. It is possible for them to add a race gametype, but they want to focus on bug fixes for now.
> -They are checking the forums and their twitter accounts regularly, as well as playing online and testing the game themselves online.
> -They plan to add forge maps into matchmaking, but again, bug fixes come first.
> -Eventually they plan on adding things like the insane gametypes from Reach, which should increase custom game opportunities exponentially.
Thanks for the summery. All good news.
Good thing the bugs are the main priority, seems like most developers these days don’t understand that bugs/glitches should be #1 on the list.
> On the issue of having 600 points instead of 60, it seems obvious to me that they changed it because if a kill was 1 point, an assisst would have to be 0.5 point which would’ve looked awkward. They could’ve made assisst 1 point and kill 2 points, but then the total score would’ve been 120 and it would’ve been just more mathematically complex to figure out the standing kill scores rather than just easily removing the last 0 in whatever score you had against 600.
>
> Good podcast, even if a bit late (it was recorded like 10 days ago?)
Its unnecessary. As it stands your points score does not reflect your share of the kills as it includes assists and various other points.
If the game was 1 point per kill then your number of kills would be more clearly comparable with the overall game score.
The points system can be whatever it wants to be as it has no influence on the game score.
I personally find the points system very gimmicky. You get points for everything, its basically pointless.
> On the issue of having 600 points instead of 60, it seems obvious to me that they changed it because if a kill was 1 point, an assisst would have to be 0.5 point which would’ve looked awkward. They could’ve made assisst 1 point and kill 2 points, but then the total score would’ve been 120 and it would’ve been just more mathematically complex to figure out the standing kill scores rather than just easily removing the last 0 in whatever score you had against 600.
Assists don’t count toward the team score. They could’ve made 60 kills goal and separate personal scoring system, just like in Gears of War. Anyways, I don’t really care if it’s 600 or 60. Not a big deal.
> They could’ve made 60 kills goal and separate personal scoring system, just like in Gears of War. Anyways, I don’t really care if it’s 600 or 60. Not a big deal.
Agreed, it’s not a big deal. However, in a game like Team Regicide, where there are extra points for killing the king, then it’s not just down to kills. So I like the fact they’ve kept it consistent across the game types.
> Wow. People have been criticizing 343 for the lack of response for weeks now, and we finally get one, and the thread gets no replies?
>
> Summary for the lazy:
> -Complex wall glitch fixed. The update should go live next week.
> -They’re open to adding more custom game options. It is possible for them to add a race gametype, but they want to focus on bug fixes for now.
> -They are checking the forums and their twitter accounts regularly, as well as playing online and testing the game themselves online.
> -They plan to add forge maps into matchmaking, but again, bug fixes come first.
> -Eventually they plan on adding things like the insane gametypes from Reach, which should increase custom game opportunities exponentially.
So in the summery, theres no mention of the major concerns of alot of the community
first off, alot of older halo players feel that ordance drops in slayer modes ruin the ‘map control’ aspect that previous halo games were known for. Don’t agree with the older halo players and i personally find that concept to be dated, but its a major concern being widely expressed.
Secondly, no mention of forge fixes.
and lastly no mention of moving complex to BTB where it belongs, and removing ragnorok from some of the 5vs5 playlists (koth,ctf. I don’t mind ragnorok in btb, but that map is just way too freaking big for any form of 5vs5.
Atleast no mention of them in the summery. listening to the podcast now.
So they say they’re focusing on bugs first…do they mention other bugs than Complex wall glitch? Or is that just a catch-all so they don’t have to worry about getting behind and not delivering on their promises?
I think he phrased it :fixing wall glitches like the one on complexe" meaning he is also including others that are known.
At the end of the interview he asks the community for what do they most use in swat, the br or dmr? and to let him know on his twitter so they can work with balance issues.
> Wow. People have been criticizing 343 for the lack of response for weeks now, and we finally get one, and the thread gets no replies?
>
> Summary for the lazy:
> -Complex wall glitch fixed. The update should go live next week.
> -They’re open to adding more custom game options. It is possible for them to add a race gametype, but they want to focus on bug fixes for now.
> -They are checking the forums and their twitter accounts regularly, as well as playing online and testing the game themselves online.
> -They plan to add forge maps into matchmaking, but again, bug fixes come first.
> -Eventually they plan on adding things like the insane gametypes from Reach, which should increase custom game opportunities exponentially.
Cause they didn’t fix anything but a couple of wall glitches. Everything else is postponed until they fix the wall glitches. No mention of a ranked playlist, no mention of any of the concerns of competitive players. Why is 343 playing the game themselves. It’s clear by now with all the glaring issues in Halo 4 they have no clue what they are doing.