Daily Archives: 08/13/2013

Frustrations abound for me today…

Posted on by

While you’d think I’d be happy to have just found out that people other than pros have now been invited to the Halo 4 Global Championship, I’m not. Call me jealous. It’s fine. That is an accurate description.

In a previous article:

Halo 4 Global Championship….VERY skewed…

I mentioned my disdain that pro players were being invited to this tournament. Especially given that they hadn’t earned their way there by competing and WINNING a spot in the Halo 4 Global Championship.

Here’s the specific paragraph:
Also, NO frackin’ way I’d invite people in to play that didn’t participate in the competition. If you’re going to invite pro-players (which already scants the competition to a pro winning it all), AND inviting 4v4 teams instead of straight up FFA (some where some were not), then where do you stop inviting people? Community leaders may say they would like a shot too. Do you allow them in? What about those smaller groups/sites/etc (like me for instance) that while not as well known, put their life into Halo? See where I’m going with this? Regardless that those pros being invited have to pay to get Seattle, the point is they did NOT work for it in the ACTUAL competition. Or even if they had and not qualified, then maybe they should not be going…just sayin’.

Now I’ve come to find out that sites like Ready Up Live, GrifballHub and others have been invited. Again, you may think, “Hey, that’s cool community people are getting to go.” I know I should feel that way too, but as I mentioned above, where then do these invites stop? Will lesser known/smaller sites get invites? How about random invites to everyday Halo gamers? I don’t think that’s going to happen for the latter two. With respect to RUL, they’ve had PLENTY of recognition. Dan Hamill AKA Greenskull, last year was invited to go to the set of “Forward Unto Dawn.” There he got to interview various cast members. As well, he got recognition in Halo 4 by way of his hometown being the used as the name of a manufacturer of Halo armor (Look up the War Master armor. “Lethbridge Industrial” is the manufacturer. Dan is from Lethbridge.). He has some kind of relationshisp with Microsoft and has had recognition by them in the form of an award. Now he and some of his staff are getting to go to the Halo 4 GC. With respect, when is that going to end? RUL is NOT a Halo only site. They promote and play many other games. If they were Halo centric and/or ONLY Halo, I would be inclined to feel differently, but I’m not.

I’m not against GirfballHub from being invited. They ARE Halo centric. However, I’m not seeing any of the myriad of smaller lesser known sites being invited to this. My buddy Dust from Podtacular got an invite. I’m happy for him. But again, he’s been around a LONG time and is well known in the Halo community.

…Sorry I wasn’t able to get into Halo earlier on folks. I guess that makes me less of a Halo fan??? Or does it?

I’m coming up on two years now with HaloFanForLife. During that whole time I’ve unfortunately been unemployed. Yet, I still found a way to get the money to create the site, add content, much of which cost me money in the form of toys and other collectibles to review. The few conventions I’ve gone to were again through my own monies. I’ve never let this be known before now but I initially did not have lodging secured for New York Toy Fair. Yet, I was still going to go, even if it meant I would have had to stay in a hotel lobby all night or some all-night restaraunt. I was very willing to make that sacrifice to be at the convention so I could cover Halo. Crazy? Maybe, but it shows the amount of devotion and the lengths I am willing to go through to be a part of the community and to promote Halo.  I have no sponsors for the blog, I have NO advertising. And only just a few weeks ago put up a donation button of which only two people have donated money. I make NO money from my site (like many larger site do) I’m not in this to make money from my fandom. You can call me “stupid” for not allowing myself to cash in on my fandom or using it to propel myself into a business. I”m NOT about that. In fact I had this very discussion last night with fellow fans and gamers. My wish is to be employed by 343. That would be the pinnacle for me and the best most direct way to represent the community.

I know these larger sites do a bit for the Halo community. They are more effective because they are bigger….and they are only going to get bigger when they keep getting all of this recognition. So I direct you towards the smaller sites. Many of us are one person operations. Using myself as an example, I put no less than 4-5 hours a day into my site be it through the blog itself, or social media in twitter and facebook. As well, I game daily typically 4-5 hours a day in Halo. I’d do even more, but much of the rest of the time awake is spent either looking for employment or spending it with my family. Some would say I have no life. I’d say it’s a HALOva life…

So I hope you folks will forgive me if I feel just a bit jealous here. I’m already quite upset with the whole Global Championship tourney. The cheating going on, the disconnect by 343 to recognize said cheating and deal with it head on, etc. Yeah, I know it seems counter to my thoughts on this to want to be invited to a tourney that I feel is fatally flawed. But one reason I’d have liked an invite is just to see that 343 does indeed care about or at least recognizes smaller sites. As well, I want a non-pro to win this. So in that regard, jealousy aside, I do want one of these invited community members to win. And I mean that sincerely.

Beyond all of this, I’m also today dealing with someone on a LEGO collecting site using MY name to promote my reviews of Halo MEGA BLOKS sets. So my identity is being stolen in a sense, by a competitor of a legally binding Halo licensee no less. I’ve contacted the admin of that site and they are NOT being helpful at all.

On top of all of this, I now find that I’m possibly two months from losing my home. Let that sink in and you can see why my day has been horrendous.

So again, forgive me folks if I can’t deal with all of this crap in the appropriate way today. It’s just a bit much to take in. I’m working hard on my blog’s two year anniversary with the LAN event being the biggest portion of that. I’m trying to make a name for myself as well as promote small sites, individual fans of Halo, etc. I’m for the little guy out there as I am one of them too.

Maybe I just need to step away from the computer today. But it’s all still going to be there regardless so what’s the point?

So yeah, I’m extremely frustrated today. So again apologies to you dear readers. I do not mean to upset any of you with my posts, tweets etc. I just need to get this all off my chest. Venting in this manner is much better than trying to keep it in. Well, that’s how I see it anyway.

I guess I should mention this in closing, I suffer from anxiety and depression and yes take meds for that. I do NOT shy away from this condition nor speaking about it publically. One of the unfortunate side effects is that it compels me to react to situation in what others see as over the top reactions. I can’t apologize for this folks. It’s part of who I am. To deny that would be to deny myself. That’s something I won’t ever do. I of course hate that I have these conditions, but it is what it is. Hopefully you can understand me better through this and why I sometimes post the way I do. The ONE thing I know that would virtually wipe that out is finally finding a job again. Can anyone help?

-Sal

“A Fistful of Arrows” by Levi Hoffmeier, a review.

Posted on by

I’ve known about this fan-made comic book for sometime. However, I hadn’t taken the time to check it out.

For those who don’t know, “A Fistful of Arrows” is a comic book created by Levi Hoffmeir. It’s the story of what happens directly after the events of Halo Reach. Specifically the story revolves around Spartan Jun A266.

Without further ado, let’s get into the review of this fun comic book! (click images to make bigger)

fist-ffoaThe first thing I’m going to say is that it’s clear this comic book was created by a fan who is passionate about Halo and his art. The cover alone gives you that sense. The story opens up with a scene from well before the fall of Reach. As to exactly when, it’s not given, however, it deals with Innies (Insurrectionists), so I can only assume it’s some time before Reach. The only thing is, curiously, the former Noble 6 isn’t represented in this comic book. So perhaps the events take place between the time of his death and the start of Reach (the video game). I’ll have to ask Levi about this.

AFoA 05
From the first page’s panels, you can already tell that Levi has put a great deal of effort into creating a fantastic comic book. You get the sense that there is a conflict in Jun that needs to be resolved. All of his fellow Noble teammates sense it.

With efficient pacing Levi moves his tale back and forth between this early Innie event and the battle of Reach.

AFoA 13

Above is but a sampling of his amazing artwork throughout the comic book.

Below we see Emile in all his glory, without the now-classic skull carvings on his helmet that we came to know in Reach.

AFoA 19

Levi does a masterful job of portraying each of Noble’s team members as we known their personalities from Reach. In this respect his writing is fully in keeping with the Halo universe.

His take on an AI superintendent is SPOT ON, as seen by the follow page from his book:

AFoA 28

That page gave me the feels I had from Halo 3: ODST. So here again, Levi has done a great job on blending together the Halo universe we know from the games, into his comic book.

AFoA 30This breathtaking two-page spread in his comic further illustrates his artistic talent. I’d LOVE to have this as a poster without the text bubbles! Levi???

At that point we’re roughly mid-way through the story and Noble squad is pursuing the Innie from the beginning of the tale. Liberal uses of  dark greens and blues help to convey an environment which is currently being hampered by a rainstorm. Couple this with the red colors he uses, it helps to illustrate the important mission Noble is undergoing.

AFoA 41

The page above shows what I was talking about with regards to the greens and blues. IN the story, Jun is keeping an eye on the mission’s target, utilizing several Spartan skills.

Shortly after this page, we jump back to the future events that take place right after Reach, with Jun escorting Halsey away from the action. I don’t want to spoil that part for you if you haven’t read it, so I’m leaving out the bulk of the description of what happens here. I’ll give you these two pages though:

AFoA 65AFoA 68

Again, Levi’s artwork is fantastic. The immediate above image is a testament to that. Classic Armor Lock. The page has strong contrasts of dark and light with bold use of color in the right areas. (Did I just sound like one of those uppity art critic here? Sorry, LOL)

As the story comes to an end, we’re treated to a small event that is reminiscent of one that happened in the Forward Unto Dawn mini-series. (Again, I’ll save that spoiler for you to view yourself.)

The comic book isn’t over though. Levi then continues on details of some of the characters in play in the comic book, as well as showcasing the city of Quezon, where some of his story takes place. There is yet more, but I’ll leave that to you to discover.

A Fistful of Arrows is just about one of the BEST pieces of fan-fic I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Now that it has been revealed that Jun escaped and is ALIVE, via a Halo avatar item, curiously:
Commander Palmer Armor

can we hope that Levi’s tale will be intertwined with and become official canon?

This Halo fan hopes so!

If you’d like to read the comic, download it here.

To see more of Levi’s work, go to his official site here.

-Sal

Follow up to Pro-player cheating in the Halo 4 Global Championship.

Posted on by

Today, I had several tweets to Connor White, the pro-player who admitted to cheating. My position on what he did has not and will not change.

What has changed is my willingness to further discuss this topic with exception to this article. I do NOT want to rock the boat in the Halo community. I do NOT want to be “that guy.” However, that said if I should lose “street cred” over my stance, so be it. It would pain me if I did though. With 343 and community leaders and especially you my readers, fans, and followers. The whole point of my stance is to uphold what I believe SHOULD be the right position for the WHOLE of the community. If others disagree and take the side of Connor here, then it will truly diminish in my opinion the community of Halo. How can we put up with blatant cheating?

It’s safe to assume others have cheated in the Halo 4 Global Championship. What makes it worse with Connor White is his being the co-owner of AGL (Arena Gaming League) and their affiliation with 343 by using Halo in their tournaments. He should never have participated in the competition, let alone cheat in it.

What it seems like Connor isn’t understanding is that his very actions by just PLAYING in the competition can put himself, AGL, 343 and Virgin gaming into some very serious legal recourse if gamers who played in the competition file a lawsuit. It’s called the Federal Statutory Unfair Competition Law. Putting his admitted cheating aside, his very playing in the competition means other gamers could file a class action law suit against 343/Virgin gaming. Connor seems to not realize that his playing knocked out hundreds if not thousands of other gamers from potentially placing in one of the top 4 spots for any week he played in the competition.

Yes, he says he earned his position week 2. However, it’s not his skill that is being called into question. Because he, through AGL, has a business relationship with 343, and that being legally defined as an affiliation, his mere playing regardless of placement causes the whole competition’s legitimacy to come into question.

At this point, the only portion of the contest that has been fair has been the RTX qualifier. The Gamescom qualifier coming up would be the only other portion that would be legit given the restrictions placed on those participating in the in-person portions of this tournament. So what does that mean then? Well, by my description of this, I’m saying the WHOLE online portion of the competition should be scrapped and ONLY those 16 players who will qualify from the in-person convention events should be eligible for the finals in Seattle. Yes, that would likely piss of those thousands of players who put in the time into the competition. However, I would hope that they would see through this to what my proposal means. It means that they in some part would be vindicated. The only ones who would be really affected by disqualfying the online portion of the event at this point would be those who did qualify in the on-line portion. Given that one of them has admitted to cheating and stated others are doing it, DQing what amounts to 16 gamers to this point or 20 by the end of this week, in order to have a completely legitimate pool of qualifiers from the in-person events is the right thing to do, IMO.

That would then completely negate not only Connor’s actions but those others who cheated in the competition. Beyond this, the very idea that alternate accounts were allowed at all, while it may not be illegal, was tacky and NOT in the best interest of fair play and good sportsmanship. How and why 343/Virgin Gaming came to that decision is beyond me.

Again, I want to point out that I am a HUGE supporter of 343 for having continued the Halo franchise. But the decision to allow alt accounts to be okay in the competition is something I can not nor will ever agree with.

Further, due to Connor’s association with AGL, those who were invited to play via AGL contests should ALSO not be allowed to participate. Again, invites to those who did not legitimately secure a qualifying position while not illegal is VERY tacky and unsupportive of the greater Halo community. If those invites are upheld, then at the VERY LEAST Connor White should be completely disqualified from the competition. That decision would be in the best interest for the WHOLE community.

Connor, if you’re reading this, I know it may seem unfair or over the top, the position I’ve taken. However, young man, you MUST realize that your actions may have serious repercussions. With respect to you, I don’t know if it’s that you are too young to understand unfair competition laws or that you didn’t know of them. Or if your playing was truly just to have fun or was motivated by greed and/or to knock out others who might be able to give you a run for the money in the competition. The whole point is, you ARE affiliated with 343 through AGL. Do the RIGHT thing and completely remove yourself from the Halo 4 Global Championship, less you further divide the Halo community, make a mockery of the tournament, and possible cause legal recourse. This would ultimately be a small sacrifice on your part to save face as well as keep from harm 343, Virgin Gaming and AGL. Show this measure of respect for the greater good of the WHOLE Halo community.

Okay all that said, I will no longer comment on this topic. Any replies from Connor or others via tweets that I made earlier today will go ignored. Any replies to this article here on the blog that seek to thrash me will not be posted.

Respectfully,
-Sal