Daily Archives: 05/15/2013

Would a public BETA have helped Halo 4? How about a public BETA for Halo 5?

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A public BETA for Halo 4 would have revealed flaws in the gameplay. Something 343 could have fixed before it launched. Deadlines aside for a moment, had there been a public BETA AND time enough to make changes/fixes based on player feedback from playing the BETA, we most likely would have had a lot of the features we wanted instead of a lot that we didn’t want. Playlists would have been better from the get-go instead of playing catchup many months after release.

I SERIOUSLY hope 343/M$ has learned their lesson here and gives us a PUBLIC BETA for Halo 5. Not for Campaign/Spartan Ops. Just for Multiplayer.

I’m going to buy the game regardless. However, I’d like to know that my feedback has at least some impact on the final released game. Rather than we not having ANY feedback to give and being asked to trust a NEW company. By the time Halo 5 is released, 343 will no longer be new and a LOT will be expected of them. They won’t be given a “pass” on Halo 5 if it’s screwed up and not darn near completely ready to be released.

-Sal

Should the Didact return? And other possible campaign stories going forward.

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Considering how the Halo 4 campaign played out, the UR Didact (which is the one we saw in the campaign) is dead. And really, I don’t want 343 to pull a switcheroo here and say he’s alive. Not from that fall and not from what he fell in to.

Now the Bornstellar Didact, yet, he should be in the next one. Considering he is the Didact reborn in a sense, he could be trouble. However, there could also be conflict within himself. That being his former Bornstellar persona fighting with his new Didact persona. In this respect WE could play AS the Didact in Halo 5. Similar to how we played as the Arbiter in Halo 2. This would be a nice way to give homage to Halo 2’s campaign but with a new-ish enemy.

Then in Halo 6, the Bornstellar Didact becomes a friendly, again much in the same way as the Arbiter did. Both he and Master Chief are paired up and you go up against the flood who have survived, possibly even a climatic battle with the gravemind itself. As for the other two multiplayer characters? Well, the Arbiter needs to make a return and then either Jul M’dama or another Spartan. Maybe Palmer or Thorne (who is being seen as Chief’s possible replacement now).

In that climatic battle, both the Bornstellar Didact and Master Chief are killed off, thus ending the saga of Chief and giving way to the rise of another Spartan, again possibly Thorne. Let’s not forget that by this time, Thorne will have had plenty of experience and won’t be the same recruit Spartan we see him as in Halo 4’s Spartan Ops.

-Sal

Map Pass/DLC reduced price. Would it be fair or not?

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I bought the map pass. Would I mind if it or the respective map packs were reduced in price? Not now. It’s been a few months since the first one. I say reduce them. Get MORE people playing, rather than watching the population dwindle each day. It’s greed that drives the prices to not be reduced. Nevermind that by reducing them they’ll make at least SOME money AND get some population back…

I’m content with knowing that by buying the season pass I got them for a reduced price from the get go and got to play them immediately as son as they became available without waiting (other than the download). Those of us who bought the pass are well ahead of the curve of those who haven’t bought the pass/map packs yet.

Heck an influx of gamers into these map packs now would be great. Those maps would be played more, those of us who have them would likely be able to farm kills (since we have that advanced knowledge of map layout), etc.

Honestly, how much does M$ think they can milk this? IMHO, I think that there should be a standardized sale on any DLC (not just Halo. 3 months after DLC is released it goes on sale for 75% of cost. At 6 months it’s down to 50%. At a year 33%. That’s the lowest it would ever go then.

Having a structure such as this would allow those who don’t mind waiting, to do so knowing when to expect the sale price to come down. For those of us who have to have it immediately, we pay full price. Again though we have the advantage vs those who haven’t played on the DLC when it gets reduced. Also, for those “first-adopters” (people who pay full price), an extra “reward” could be given for purchasing at full price. In the case of Halo 4 a weapon skin or armor. In general, avatar items.

-Sal

Random Ordnance drops in Halo 4. Fair or not? A discussion.

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Ordnance should be tiered. Plain and simple…

The more kills you get, the better your ordnance gets. Those poorly skilled players who get lucky and get a rocket launcher, wouldn’t anymore. Well, not until they killed a lot of people with lesser weapons.

Being good in Halo 4 doesn’t have much “reward,” especially when you can be killed by someone who got their first ordnance drop and it was an incineration cannon. That person who got the “InCin” then goes on to get a lucky killing spree due to a weapon the really didn’t deserve to get. Which in turn gives than yet another weapon drop…

Really???

The way I see ordnance dropping is that, for every 5 kills you get, (or a combo of kills/assists) you get a new drop. Each successive drop (for 5 kills/assists) is BETTER than the previous. It’s a reward for being BETTER than your opponents and a way to vanquish them quicker. Teams of unskilled players should NOT have a chance to beat skilled players with random drops that give them weapons that even skilled players can’t defend against.

This is one reason why when given the option, I ask my team to vote for NON-Infinity game types.

There really needs to be a CLASSIC playlist that is devoid of Infinity settings. (and ordnance altogether) Bring back TIMED weapons as specific areas on a map. Allow those teams of dedicated and/or skilled players to win because they have knowledge of those weapons spawning and have the skill to hold that area until those weapons spawn.

‘Nuff said.

Why are ODSTs not in Halo 4? A discussion.

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Here’s a basic story line that gives us reasons why ODSTs aren’t present in Halo 4.

First, they ARE still around. Read the Kilo-5 novels (Glasslands/The Thursday War). These happen just prior to Halo 4.

Since the Infinity is home to a disproportionate amount of Spartans (albeit Spartan IVs), there is no need for ODSTs. As has been said, there are many who were previously ODSTs who are now Spartan IVs. Palmer is one of those. Spartans aboard the Infinity can perform the tasks of ODSTs easily.

Now as for a possible reason why they aren’t in the game…

343 wants us to focus on being Spartans, NOT ODSTs. This is one main reason why there is no choice for ODST armor in the game. Yes, the recruit helmet is similar to an ODST helmet and for good reason. It’s kind of the “transition” helmet from being an ODST to being a full on Spartan.

Again, this isn’t to say that ODSTs no longer exist in the Halo-verse as of Halo 4. They just aren’t in the same places that the campaign/Spartan Ops take place.

Personally, I’d love to see another ODST game.

In fact, this could happen with a very interesting story line. Palmer could be one of the stars of this game as could BUCK!

It was said of Buck that, “If he were any better, he’d be a Spartan.” Well, here’s that opportunity. Now that the processes for creating a Spartan from a fully grown adult are now possible within the Halo-verse, it’s quite plausible for Buck to become a Spartan.

So imagine a story where you can play as either Buck or Palmer (and possibly two other not yet named UNSC characters) who start out as ODSTs. Along the way, they are recruited to become Spartan IVs. You’re first few missions are those of them being ODSTs, then the transition to them being Spartans. This could go along quite well with Palmer’s Origin comic book by Darkhorse, coming out soon.

HALOIN-1-FC-FNL660

There are MANY fans of Buck/Nathan Fillion who would LOVE to have him back and active in the franchise again. I’m pretty sure, Nathan would love that too…

An open letter to my readers.

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First I want to apologize for not posting as much lately.

Secondly, I need to ask you folks to say a prayer and/or with me luck. I’ve been unemployed now for 25 months. This has caused a GREAT strain on me. I find myself now in the position of possibly losing my home in two months.

I’ve already gone through unemployment, my 401K, savings, and tax refunds. I’m tapped. Over these last two year+ I’ve learned how to live with less. Now is the time that I may be forced to live without a home.

I’m in advertising by trade and have been a production artist, pre-press technician, graphic designer and art director. As a person in his mid 40s with 15+ years of experience, it’s become increasingly hard to find work. I’ve applied to well over 100 jobs over the course of my unemployment. I believe that I’m not able to find work so easily in part due to the economy. It’s a business’s job market now. They can afford to wait for the right candidate that won’t cost them so much. They can afford to take those with little to no experience and pay half as much as they would for me (someone who could start right out of the gate with practically no training needed).

During this time, I’ve applied TWICE for a position with 343 (yes, THAT 343). I was told by the recruiter the first time I applied that the position was down to me and one other. Now I don’t know if that was true or not and couldn’t get confirmation of this beyond the recruiter.

The second time I applied, it was through a different recruiter. Once again as the first time, I waited weeks which turned into months to hear back about the position, only to have the recruiter stop actively trying to fill the position.

I can’t fault 343 here. Though I do wonder what the heck is going on. I received an e-mail from Frank O’Conner himself. So he is fully aware of my blog. As well, BS Angel used to regularly post article from my blog, specifically the comic books I did of both Forward unto Dawn and Spartan Ops. Those have stopped now and the SpOps ones were not all posted. I found that strange.

Anyway, back to what’s going on with me. The stress level I have now (and I suffer already from anxiety and depression) is at an all time high. I KNOW that were I to find suitable work, that stress would likely be eradicated and I could get back on track with life and the blog.

I mentioned suitable work as I have a few slight disabilities that prevent me from taking just any old job to tide me over until I find a better one. The two most important here are Sleep Apnea and Spondylosis. The first disallowing me from being able to drive for long periods at a time since I can be prone to falling asleep without warning. The second is a condition I’ve had since before my military days that I had to get a waver for. This means I have a bad back and can’t stand for long periods of time, which in turn alienates me from MANY employment opportunities. So while I’d love to be able to take even a crappy job just to be able to pay the bills, with my medical issues, I’m not able to.

So where does this put me? Well, as I stated above, I’ve been out of work for 25 months, money has run dry, I’m limited in employment I’m able to perform and now run the risk of losing my home.

With all this, my attention has not been on the blog as much as it used to be. I hope and ask that you kind readers understand from the above why that is.

HFFL is paid for, for another 15 months, so I’m not worried about losing the site. That’s not the issue. It’s a matter of losing my home that is the biggest source of pain, angst, worry, stress, and anxiety that I face.

For the past 4 months, anything that I’ve posted regarding Halo toy review (with one or two exceptions) my wife has paid for. While I appreciate that, we can’t afford for her to do that any longer. I have been lucky enough that through my contacts with Mega Bloks and McFarlane to have received some free stuff, for which I promptly review here on HFFL. IN the mean time though, I am ashamed for having to ask my wife to pay for toys, especially when we’re in the financial state we’re in.

With all this said, why am I telling you readers?

Well, there may come a time in your life when you need to ask for support, be that in prayer, best wishes, money, work, etc. I’m at this crossroads. I dont’ expect anyone to give me money, and if they did, know that it would go toward my mortgage first as that is the TOP priority. I guess I just want you all to know WHY I haven’t been posting as much and again ask for your understanding and to stick with me/HFFL. While the posts may not be as frequent, I assure you that I’m not absent from the blog. I just have things that are supremely more important that I have to consider first before the blog.

I’m still here and will still be posting. You can bet that whenever things get back on track, I’ll be posting like I used to or even more.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thanks for being a reader of HFFL.

Most respectfully, 
Sal