Offline Multiplayer Request

Games Halo 5: Guardians
#1

I’ve always wanted to be able to play Halo multiplayer offline against bots, but never been able to, so I want to find out how many of you think this would be a good feature for Halo 5: Guardians. I’ve always liked that feature in games such as Shadowrun and Counter Strike, and would love to be able to do that in a Halo game.
I understand that it helps promote Xbox Live gold subscriptions, but at the same time it feels like we are forced to buy it in order to enjoy playing a game we already paid for. The only other option we have is to make a LAN party, but who can do so on a daily basis? I think it’s also good practice for newcomers who want to get used to it before playing online and getting destroyed by veterans.
I don’t think it’s too much to ask for, since all enemies on campaign and spartan ops are basically bots themselves, so I think it makes sense to have multiplayer bots with difficulty levels Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary.
What do you guys think?

Discuss.

#2

Also, I forgot to mention that once the servers go offline (over time) there’s no way to enjoy the multiplayer, like Halo 2 on original xbox.

p.s. I know about XBC but it’s honestly too much hassle.

#3

I’ve wanted bots for years, but the chances of it happening are slim to none.

#4

> What do you guys think?
>
> Discuss.

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst252541_Bots-In-Custom-Games-Halo-5.aspx

Here’s what the community thinks. I’ve posted my view on the matter a few times in that thread. Overall, I feel it is a unnecessary addition.

#5

I think Bots would be a good addition to the game. For people with limited access to internet it’s a good way enjoy features you wouldn’t normally be able to enjoy. Either way, I would just want some form of off line play. Whether bots, firefight. Idea - Flood horde mode.

#6

> > What do you guys think?
> >
> > Discuss.
>
> https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst252541_Bots-In-Custom-Games-Halo-5.aspx
>
> Here’s what the community thinks. I’ve posted my view on the matter a few times in that thread. Overall, I feel it is a unnecessary addition.

The opinion you posted in that thread was about bots in Match Making. Nowhere in the OP’s post does he mention such a thing. What he’s clearly suggesting is bots in private/offline matches, which I have enjoyed in many games.

#7

> <mark>The opinion you posted in that thread was about bots in Match Making. Nowhere in the OP’s post does he mention such a thing.</mark> What he’s clearly suggesting is bots in private/offline matches, which I have enjoyed in many games.

First, thanks for looking over my opinions in the other post. This OP is saying bots in private/offline matches is basically what I assumed the other thread was about as well. 1 human (either with team bots or not) VS a team of bots. My own experience has been a general lack luster of fun playing bots in private matches and is a unnecessary addition to Halo games. I would not be a fan of it’s inclusion. But it’s nice to hear that you and the OP enjoy that addition in other games, I hadn’t heard from many that do.

Also, in retrospect, if Microsoft/Bungie could have added a final update to H2 before removing their servers to have offline bot multiplayer/match making games would have been a novel idea and allowed me to have a reason to pop H2 back in the Xbox. But a offline multiplayer doesn’t generate revenue for Microsoft, and that’s a tough sale.

#8

I think it would be beneficial to the multiplayer experience and sales of the game, because I firmly believe that there are players out there who do not enjoy playing online. Whatever their reasons are, maybe they aren’t with the competitive feel of matchmaking or they aren’t necessarily up to par skill wise, after playing Spartan Ops with many different players, I noticed a lot of people who were level 130s but had very low wargames stats. If there are a group of players that exclusively play offline or co-op, then I think a bots mode could be beneficial to these players and make them more satisfied with their game, possibly giving them an incentive to buy more DLC in the future (since they would have unlimited access to it at all times, whereas in matchmaking the map you play on isn’t always the one you vote for, with maps like Exile and Ragnarok being voted for every time). For those who cannot connect online (whether it’s because the servers are offline or they can’t afford a stable internet connection), bots also gives them the chance to experience what multiplayer has to offer.

#9

> > <mark>The opinion you posted in that thread was about bots in Match Making. Nowhere in the OP’s post does he mention such a thing.</mark> What he’s clearly suggesting is bots in private/offline matches, which I have enjoyed in many games.
>
> First, thanks for looking over my opinions in the other post. This OP is saying bots in private/offline matches is basically what I assumed the other thread was about as well. 1 human (either with team bots or not) VS a team of bots. My own experience has been a general lack luster of fun playing bots in private matches and is a unnecessary addition to Halo games. I would not be a fan of it’s inclusion. But it’s nice to hear that you and the OP enjoy that addition in other games, I hadn’t heard from many that do.
>
> Also, in retrospect, if Microsoft/Bungie could have added a final update to H2 before removing their servers to have offline bot multiplayer/match making games would have been a novel idea and allowed me to have a reason to pop H2 back in the Xbox. But a offline multiplayer doesn’t generate revenue for Microsoft, and that’s a tough sale.

Yeah, I enjoyed them in Killzone 2 and in both versions of Conker’s Bad Fur Day. They’re great for when you just want to play at your own pace or can’t go online. I know they’re not for everyone but then again, neither is playing online.

You hit the nail on the head there, Halo is Microsoft’s number one marketing tool and has long been used as the spokesperson (or spokesgame) of Xbox Live. Realistically I don’t think they’d eat into their sales of Gold subscriptions, but executives are hardly willing to take that risk.

#10

> I firmly believe that there are players out there who do not enjoy playing online… maybe they aren’t with the competitive feel of matchmaking… I noticed a lot of people who were level 130s but had very low wargames stats… I think a bots mode could be beneficial to these players… For those who cannot connect online… bots also gives them the chance to experience what multiplayer…

Felony stop trying to be a voice for a hypothetical Halo player. Giving suggestion for a game mode that you yourself don’t play doesn’t help add useful content to Halo. It’s really simple to give examples on to why something should be added, but if you yourself don’t have a positive experience with bots from other games then don’t be the voice for a gamer you’ve made up.

However, eben gibbon king is an actual fan of bot modes from other games, so his opinion on the matter carries an extreme amount of weight. He played them in Killzone & Conker, so I’m genuinely curious as to why he finds enjoyment with bot modes and how it could relate to his Halo experiences in the future.

#11

> However, eben gibbon king is an actual fan of bot modes from other games, so his opinion on the matter carries an extreme amount of weight. He played them in Killzone & Conker, so I’m genuinely curious as to why he finds enjoyment with bot modes and how it could relate to his Halo experiences in the future.

To address this question, it really comes down to a few different aspects. For one, multiplayer plays completely differently to Campaign and Firefight, so even if they’re there they don’t satisfy the same offline itch. Now for me personally, that multiplayer is best with the immediacy of friends, that is to say, being in the same room. For most people, myself included, that basically means a maximum of four people. Great for some of the smaller maps, but if we want to play a vehicular based map, or game types such as CTF it causes problems. That’s one place bots can come in. You’re still mostly going to be playing with/against your friends, but the gametypes work better with the addition of some extra enemies and allies on screen, even if they aren’t the greatest replication of human players. In Conker’s Bad Fur Day there were multiple game modes and many settings for the bots. If you had them on normal difficulty they were just competent enough to pad the game out in a meaningful way. Crank the difficulty up and they could be a serious challenge. I’ve always preferred split screened gaming to online due to the immediacy I mentioned before, and bots really improve that.

There’s also a matter of how I play alone. Sometimes, playing online and getting competitive is great, other times I just want to choose all the settings, the maps and the gametypes and have a short relaxing fight. Firefight and campaign require a bit more commitment, but playing customs with bots lets me have a short relaxing burst of fun when I need it. I should also note that I come from a place where internet connections leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes playing online is just downright painful. I’m sure dedicated servers will provide some improvements, but with my own connection being the way it is, that will only go so far. If I can play those same modes offline, it’s just less frustrating.

Anyway, I hope you can see where I’m coming from. I know it’s not a feature that will improve the game for everyone, but there are those of us who’ll get a lot more mileage out of it with something like bots there to keep our interest.

#12

> To address this question…

That was compelling and a true opinion on bots, not just a hypothetical Thank-you. I’m genuinely curious to try a Conker game with bots, my Call of Duty experience with bots was just lame and horrible.

If Halo had bots, (I’m a Objective game type fan) I think it would be funny at first, and then extremely aggravating trying to accomplish goals with bots. Assault with bots that blindly run into the base to plant… No buenos.

#13

> > To address this question…
>
> That was compelling and a true opinion on bots, not just a hypothetical Thank-you. I’m genuinely curious to try a Conker game with bots, my Call of Duty experience with bots was just lame and horrible.
>
> If Halo had bots, (I’m a Objective game type fan) I think it would be funny at first, and then extremely aggravating trying to accomplish goals with bots. Assault with bots that blindly run into the base to plant… No buenos.

Both Bad Fur Day for the N64 and Live and Reloaded for Xbox made use of bots in different ways. Many of the gametypes were objective based and they tended to work fairly well. Some bots would go for turrets, some for vehicles. Some would head out and just kill opponents and some would head for the objective. If done well they can work great. I agree that they shouldn’t be in Match Making games, but they I feel they can only improve customs.

#14

@CHX H8 ME,

I too had posted in that other thread, with the atypical reasons for including bots, such as offline play, and MP oriented target and map practice, but I guess I didn’t really share my experience with bots in other games, and how I enjoyed them there, so I will here.

As I said in the other thread, I didn’t get Xbox Live until about a month before Halo 4’s release, and the LAN party that I went to had dispersed by 2008.

Late 2008 I met a good friend who enjoys video games like me. I had an Xbox, he had a PS2, GameCube, and a Wii.

We shared Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and 007 Nightfire between the systems we had. He had the Super Smash Bros series and I had the Halo series.

We almost never played Halo. It was no fun only being able to play 1v1s that I would always own him at.

We often played Super Smash Bros, which he would own me at, but I was able to enjoy it more because we could team up against the bots in that game. We could not do that in Halo, due to its lack of bots.

We also played a lot of the SWBF series and 007 Nightfire games that I had mentioned. These games were a blast to play, thanks to their bot modes for MP. The AI were dumb, but they played the game well enough to make it a challenge, and it was fun to team up against them with my friend.

I had a much more social and fun experience playing these other games than Halo because they had bots and Halo didn’t.

Fast forward to several months ago, when Gears of War was free for Gold. I got the game, beat the story, and then had nothing to do with it after that. Gears of War MP is dead these days, with no bots, and with only pros left to frustrate new players. Being so new to the series, I had no intention of getting owned in a game that I had no experience with. So I did not play its MP.

A few months later, Gears 2 and 3 are on sale, I didn’t want to buy them for only story, since I was inexperienced with its MP, but a couple of my friends recommended them because they had offline playable modes such as Horde, Beast, and Versus bots.

So I got the the two games, and enjoyed them much more because I could play them offline and practice against the bots.

Eventually, I was confident enough to venture into online MP, and enjoyed it a bit more because I had been able to practice against the bots.

(Continued in next post)

#15

(Continued from last post)

I eventually enjoyed Gears 2 and 3 enough to buy the DLC, and started achievement hunting.

There was this achievement called ‘Annex: now with execution rules’. For this achievement, you had to win a match of Annex (a king of the hill type mode), on a certain 8 DLC maps and it HAD to be done in Gears 2 Matchmaking.

Thankfully, Gears 2 social Playlists are DLC required, and unlike Gears 2’s ranked playlists, social had bots and JiP. The fact that it was possible to get a match with only bots is the only reason I even attempted to go for the achievement.

However, the bots are set to Insane (aka Legendary) in Gears 2 matchmaking, and the playlists were just populated enough to ensure that every match had about 50% experienced players and 50% Aimbots (the bot AI).

This was probably the hardest and most rewarding achievement I have ever obtained. Trying to fight through ruthlessly accurate and aggressive bots who NEVER missed and ALWAYS pushed for the objective, and the incredibly smart and resourceful human players was so equally challenging I really feared both. And having to wait for matchmaking to cycle through Gears 2’s 29 maps a few times just so I could get a match on, let alone win, on 8 of the maps, just added to the challenge.

The point is, I now am somewhat of a Gears fan now, and only because I had bots to practice against in custom games to introduce me to the series.

Now imagine how that could help Halo. I also have a better social experience with real life friends in games that have bots than ones that don’t.

I’m a BIG supporter of including bots in custom games for Halo.

#16

Also, I should point out that Titanfall is a bad example of bot implementation.

Instead of the bots being equal to the players in damage, hitboxes, and movement, they instead are literally designed to be nothing but cannon fodder.

They are slow and mostly stationary, and have such weak damage output that they take 20 seconds to kill you most of the time.

So in Titanfall, bots are nothing but a boring, XP grinding, distraction. They are no fun in Titanfall.

Thanks for reading,
SMARTAN 427

#17

I have enjoyed playing against bots in every game that I’ve tried them in.

I lived them in perfect dark. I enjoy playing against them with my kids in CoD.

I would love boys in halo. Ive wanted them since CE.

#18

@Smartan
Thanks for elaborating on your bot experience. I almost wrote you off completely saying you enjoyed bots in Smash Bros cause that’s really just a fighting game. Every fighting game ever has “bots”…
However it sounds like you had an extremely positive experience with Bots in Gears, so much that you shelled out Money for more Gear games. I wonder how isolated of a case that is or if others are like that as well. (bots=profit)
@Pajama Dad
I could see playing against bots with your children would be highly more entertaining than going onto Live.

Smartan I’d say the fact that the bots you experienced in Gears basically convinced you to spend money on more Gears game is about the most valid reason yet to include bots into Halo. Other than that I’d say including a feature that allows users to get a multiplayer experience without having to actually purchase Live is the toughest sale. This is Microsoft we are talking about…

#19

> 2533274895683392;5:
> I think Bots would be a good addition to the game. For people with limited access to internet it’s a good way enjoy features you wouldn’t normally be able to enjoy. Either way, I would just want some form of off line play. Whether bots, firefight. Idea - Flood horde mode.

Exactly. Give us people that live in the country-side more things to do