This is What Halo is About

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Having fun with friends is what makes Halo what it is. This is a quality that no other FPS has. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Titanfall, they’re all 100% geared towards competitive play. But Halo’s always been balanced with friendly fun in such a way that no other game can compare.

Halo 4 was a bit amputated in this regard, with the weird lobby systems and gametype limitations.

If I may give some advice, since Halo 5 will have dedicated servers, allow for rented servers, à la Battlefield, so that people can run Custom Games servers along with the normal Ranked servers. In my mind, doing this would make Halo 5 a very, very successful game.

2

Online custom games would be awesome, I love that idea. It would also provide a great opportunity to meet other Halo community members. Further expanding the friendly Halo community :slight_smile:

3

> Online custom games would be awesome, I love that idea. It would also provide a great opportunity to meet other Halo community members. Further expanding the friendly Halo community :slight_smile:

Exactly!

4

> > Online custom games would be awesome, I love that idea. It would also provide a great opportunity to meet other Halo community members. Further expanding the friendly Halo community :slight_smile:
>
> Exactly!

I hate seeing good threads that don’t get any attention. I think having Custom Matchmaking would be great or atleast when you start a custom game you can make it so random people can join.

5

> > > Online custom games would be awesome, I love that idea. It would also provide a great opportunity to meet other Halo community members. Further expanding the friendly Halo community :slight_smile:
> >
> > Exactly!
>
> I hate seeing good threads that don’t get any attention. I think having Custom Matchmaking would be great or atleast when you start a custom game you can make it so random people can join.

I much rather have a Custom Game browser, not matchmaking for custom games, for Custom games, it should be a browser based system, NOT a matchmaking system.

6

> > > >
> > >
> > > Exactly!
>
> I much rather have a Custom Game browser for Custom games, it should be a browser based system, NOT a matchmaking system.

This a Billion times.

7

> I much rather have a Custom Game browser, not matchmaking for custom games, for Custom games, it should be a browser based system, NOT a matchmaking system.

I might have played a total 5 custom games in my hundreds of hours of Halo 3, Reach, and 4.

They’re not for me, but I value what they do for the community. Action Sack wouldn’t exist today if it weren’t for Custom games so it gets my utmost respect.

I’m with Weird Stealth, though, if it were browser based then I’d be way more inclined to join in occasionally.

8

> I might have played a total 5 custom games in my hundreds of hours of Halo 3, Reach, and 4.
>
> They’re not for me, but I value what they do for the community.

It’s the exact opposite for me :slight_smile:

I’ve spent way more hours in local custom games and forge than in online MM in Reach.
My friends and I have had our own (serious & nonsense) ideas and preferences of settings, gametypes and maps and Reach was just great to design the ideas and preferences.

I.e: I think default Infection/Flood has always been one of the dullest playlists/gametypes in Halo.
But with custom games and forge you were able to create fantastic survival mode experiences.

However, I think one of Halo’s major strengths has been the social/community/custom aspect with custom games and forge.
Unfortunately with Halo 4 it has either stagnated or even regressed in that regard instead of improving and expanding it.

9

Having fun with friends is not something that Halo possesses exclusively.

Your inability to have fun with friends, while playing other FPS games, is more a reflection on you & your friends, and less a reflection on those other games.

But dont worry, you are not alone. Lots of gamers fall into the fanboy box, because its comfortable in the box. So, if you wanna think that Halo is the only FPS capable of producing fun among friends… fine. Enjoy your box.

10

> Having fun with friends is what makes Halo what it is. This is a quality that no other FPS has. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Titanfall, they’re all 100% geared towards competitive play. But Halo’s always been balanced with friendly fun in such a way that no other game can compare.

Oh, I guess I hallucinated me and my friends having fun with Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.

11

> If I may give some advice, since Halo 5 will have dedicated servers, allow for rented servers, à la Battlefield, so that people can run Custom Games servers along with the normal Ranked servers. In my mind, doing this would make Halo 5 a very, very successful game.

This. A thousand times this. I would be so freaking happy with this. It should definitely happen. I mean, one of the main things the Halo community has always asked for is a Custom Game Browser. Dedicated Servers allows Rent-A-Servers, which allows what the Halo community has been asking for years.

Plus, if the Rent-A-Servers goes well enough, Map Packs may end up being free.

12

> > I might have played a total 5 custom games in my hundreds of hours of Halo 3, Reach, and 4.
> >
> > They’re not for me, but I value what they do for the community.
>
> <mark>It’s the exact opposite for me :)</mark>
>
> I’ve spent way more hours in local custom games and forge than in online MM in Reach.
> My friends and I have had our own (serious & nonsense) ideas and preferences of settings, gametypes and maps and Reach was just great to design the ideas and preferences.
>
> I.e: I think default Infection/Flood has always been one of the dullest playlists/gametypes in Halo.
> But with custom games and forge you were able to create fantastic survival mode experiences.
>
>
> However, I think one of Halo’s major strengths has been the social/community/custom aspect with custom games and forge.
> Unfortunately with Halo 4 it has either stagnated or even regressed in that regard instead of improving and expanding it.

I think literally played over 9,000 Custom Games in Halo 3. Infection, Juggernaut, Crazy Forge Maps, VIP, Assault and all sort of other game modes was what drove me in Halo 3. You know what, that just gave me and idea.

13

> > Having fun with friends is what makes Halo what it is. This is a quality that no other FPS has. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Titanfall, they’re all 100% geared towards competitive play. But Halo’s always been balanced with friendly fun in such a way that no other game can compare.
>
> Oh, I guess I hallucinated me and my friends having fun with Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.

Yeah, I totally believe that is possible.

14

I disagree

I think the most unique thing about Halo is it’s Sci Fi Universe , Story and characters .

Halo is the only shooter that still has a focus on Storytelling and making a great campaign and building a massive universe .

Multiplayer is fun , but its not as important as Campaign and Halo universe .

15

> Online custom games would be awesome, I love that idea. It would also provide a great opportunity to meet other Halo community members. Further expanding the friendly Halo community :slight_smile:

This is essentially what made H2 so darn fun to play!

Who here remembers Tower of Power for instance? Everybody just coming in together with their party members and having so much fun playing custom games.

I had this one gamemode called King of the Hell. It was always on Midship, hill down in the pit. 2 minutes to win, everybody spawns with random weapons. Thing is: we would always play it with waaaaaay too many players. There was this glitch in H2 where you could essentially bring in more than 16 players into a single game. Imagine the game above with 24+ people going crazy with random weapons.

I’ve played Tower of Power with more than 16 people so many times, and it was an absolute blast every time.

From H3 on Bungie and 343i tried to give us playlists with such random gametypes…but it never really captured that feeling of just haning around with some guys having fun doing crazy stuff.

Then again: for that to come back you would also need people to use their headsets again! Communication = fun.

16

> > Having fun with friends is what makes Halo what it is. This is a quality that no other FPS has. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Titanfall, they’re all 100% geared towards competitive play. But Halo’s always been balanced with friendly fun in such a way that no other game can compare.
>
> Oh, I guess I hallucinated me and my friends having fun with Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.

I never said you couldn’t have fun in other games. What I’m saying is that Halo’s been losing its identity, especially with Halo 4. Halo started out as a fun, awesome game you would play at a friend’s house with other friends. There was no Xbox Live back in 2002.

And that’s what games are about: fun. Grand Theft Auto V became the best-selling game of all time because of this. Was it because of the MLG circuit? Was it for competition? Was it for rank and bragging rights?

No, it’s because it’s FUN.

Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Titanfall all heavily gear towards competitive play. Stats, ranks, unlocks, et cetera. But Halo has always had a healthy balance. It brought us Forge, Theater Mode, Machinima, and all that stuff that seems now forgotten.

That’s why I was very upset when people were saying that the lack of a visible skill system in Halo 4 was killing the game. Really? There wasn’t a visible skill system in Halo 1 or 2. Yet we herald those games like gospel. It also wasn’t in Halo Reach, but that was an incredible game regardless. In Halo 3, all I remember the skill system being good for is as a business for people to sell Level 50 General accounts on eBay.

But Halo 4 seems to be so focused on this competitive demographic, trying to draw in that crowd, when countless other franchises (Medal of Honor, Crysis, etc.) have tried and failed in that regard. If people want Call of Duty or Battlefield style competitiveness, they’ll play those games.

Now, am I saying there can’t be a competitive aspect? Certainly not. I just know that if more focus is put on that than on the fun, friendly aspects of Halo, then it’ll just be another FPS in the crowd, chasing after the Call of Duty’s and the Battlefields. And no one wants that.

What I’m saying is, Custom Games, Forge, Theater Mode, and all that stuff was pretty amputated in Halo 4. All the great things from Halo Reach (like the appealing menus, various options, expanded Forge, expanded File Sharing system, etc.) are either lessened or diluted in Halo 4.

Halo 4 is a solid game. I love it. But, in regards to multiplayer, it’s the farthest Halo has drifted away from what it once was. I don’t recall ever, ever being in a large Custom Games lobby in Halo 4.

17

Many friends (outside of xbox) dont understand why I like Halo more than Call of Duty or Battlefield. They prefer realistic, competitive, games, (and yes, i do get a bit competitive now and then), but for the most part I just want to have fun, playing with my friends. And the Halo series are perfect for that.

18

> Having fun with friends is not something that Halo possesses exclusively.
>
> Your inability to have fun with friends, while playing other FPS games, is more a reflection on you & your friends, and less a reflection on those other games.
>
> But dont worry, you are not alone. Lots of gamers fall into the fanboy box, because its comfortable in the box. So, if you wanna think that Halo is the only FPS capable of producing fun among friends… fine. Enjoy your box.

And even if Halo REALLY IS the only FPS him and his friends find fun, where’s the problem? You’re being condescending for no reason.