- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I don't know if this has been done or not, but here it goes -
Bungie New Members Guide 1.0
By jpjoie
////Comments -
Ok, this is for new members of the community that have either never been on forums,
or aren't really too familiar with them. This guide covers information on how to get along,
meet new friends, customize your profile, and a whole lot of other things. I hope that this
helps many new members, and remember - WELCOME TO BUNGIE COMMUNITY FORUMS!
////Contents
1.1 Introduction [After you've created your account]
1.2 Setting up your profile
1.3 Profile Page
1.4 Halo 3 Service Record
1.5 Guide to becoming a successful member
1.6 Conclusion
////1.1 INTRODUCTION
Congragulations! You are now a part of one of the largest game community world wide! Bungie.net!
By now you have already registered and verified your activation, so now your wondering "What do i do?"
Well thats what this guide is for! So lets get to the point. Your going to want to give your profile
correct information, and possibly a signature and avatar that represents what type of gamer you are.
This next section will explain how to do this [for new members who aren't used to forum interfaces].
////1.2 SETTING UP YOUR PROFILE
Ok, now once you have logged in, click your username at the top right corner of the screen.
This will bring you to your profile page. This page displays your Halo 3 service record, along with your
halo 2 record. You have the main tabs which read - Profile - Saved Threads - Message Center - Groups. We will
get into that later. But for now, click "Edit Profile" right above the tabs.
Now here you can change your Avatar and Profile Page background. Once you've finished selecting, click save changes.
It should now update your preview with what you have chosen. Now click the "Profile Information" tab in that same view.
Here you enter your address, country, city, email, signature, etc...
You can also choose if you want your Gamertag to be displayed on your profile [If you have linked it to your Bungie.net profile]
The last tab "Blocked Users" isn't really important right now. So now you've set up your profile. The next section will explain in
more detail the profile page.
////1.3 PROFILE PAGE
Ok, now on your profile page, you should see the information you've just entered in the options.
Great, but now we will find out what the other tabs are.
-----SAVED THREADS
This section is pretty much self explanatory. Here are all of the threads you have chosen to archive/save.
Inorder to do this, while viewing a thread, on the top right corner above the first post, you see the links -
"New Topic" and "Save Thread". So you click the link, and it archives it for you. Do this for your most favorite
threads, try not to add a bunch as it will look like spam.
-----Message Center
This section is for messages from other members. Its like a forum email. You can send and recieve messages from your friends or other people
on here. You can message users by finding one of their posts, and at the very bottom, it has "message user". Click it and it will open up a page similar to
the postings interface. From here you should know what to do. Another thing to avoid spam, is when your recieving a message from someone who is bothering you, or
you don't know, then click the link that says "Block" at the bottom of the message the user has sent you.
----Groups
Groups are certain communtiys that are local to eachother, or just a bunch of people who want to have fun.
You can find a group, or create one yourself. However, note that before creating one, your account must
be active for at least 14 days. You can find more info on that by clicking on the "create new group" button.
//////////PROFILE PAGE CONCLUSION
So now you know how to save threads, use messages, and join/create groups. This forum can be alot of fun, especially
to new people. There are two more sections that we will go through, and we'll be finished. Don't worry, your on your way to
becoming a successful community member!
////1.4 HALO 3 SERVICE RECORD
Ok, for many of you new Halo 3 gamers, incase you hadn't noticed, Bungie has added a Service Record containing information about
everything you do. Yes, they're watching your every move. It keeps track of your achievements, your screenshots/videos, your game stats,
and of course, your character picture. So heres a little guide on using it.
----Hi-Res Screenshots
This section is for the screenshots you take in a Theatre mode in Halo 3. You must be connected to Xbox Live for these
to automatically sync to your profile page. You can have up to 30 screenshots at one time. But when you start adding more, the old ones
will be earased clearing space for the new ones. Your best screenshots should be saved to your Service Record Gallery. Only the top screens
showing all of your glory go there. You can also publish screenshots on the forum for all members to see. This published thread will appear in the
"Halo 3 Files" forum.
-----Fileshare
Pretty much the same thing as Hi-Res screenshots, but here you can upload videos, and film clips. You can still upload screenies, but not many people do.
To upload a video, when your ingame, press the start button. Then go to fileshare. After that, you can click on an empty slot, and upload anything there.
Say you upload a video, you can publish it to the forums, and people will be able to see that awesome spree you were doing. They have the ability to download it straight to their
xboxes. You can also upload Forge maps into the fileshare to share your custom enviroments, or gametypes with the world.
----Game History
This page displays all of the games you've played. It includes - Gametype - Date - Map - Playlist - and Place.
You can switch from Multiplayer to Campaign views.
On the right hand side, it gives you the latest game you've played, along with the place you came in, score, average life, best spree, total kills, and most killed.
Below that is Top Medals Earned, and Game Assets.
----Career Stats
This page displays your tools of destruction. It shows each weapon you've used, and how many kills you have obtained by it. Above that, it
shows your total amount of kills and deaths, along with your Kill/Death Ratio. To the left of that is the map list where you can see the specifit
info for that certain map. On the right of that is your medals chest. It shows the medals you have achieved, along with the number of times, and a short description. You cannot
view medals you haven't achieved. You can switch the list from Ranked to Social to see the differences if you choose. Now there are two extra tabs next to that page - Achievements and
Ratings History.
----Achievements
This pretty much just shows all of the achievements you've earned in Halo 3. They don't show the ones you haven't earned. They display the # of gamerscore points you get
by obtaining them. On the left, you can see your latest achievement with its stats.
----Ratings History
This page displays your rank in multiplayer. It gives you the amount of experience and skill you need to
reach a certain level. On the left of it is your experience stats.
It shows your highest skill, total EXP, Lifetime EXP, EXP penalties, and Next Promotion, and current rank.
- EXP Penalties
Exp penalties result from quiting a game that is in progress. You leave a game, you get penalized.
Simple as that.
----Service Record Page
The service record page features all of the links to the pages discussed above. ALso, it displays your latest screenshot, your last match played,
your player profile [picture], your overall stats, and some of your latest achievements. So you can kinda get how most of this works now.
////GUIDE TO BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL MEMBER
Ok, to become a great member, you have to have an open and positive attitude. Once you become familiar with these forums, you should start helping
other new members, as this tutorial has helped you. Treat members with the respect you would want them to treat you with. I notice that if you flame someone,
you get flamed. If you act nice to someone, you get someone doing something nice for you to. Try helping out people who are stuck with things, be active in open discussions
and things contests or activities that make this forum great. Do something to make the community better if possible. And remember, that you are helping one of the greatest Game Community
ever known, Bungie.net!
////CONCLUSION
I hope this tutorial has helped many new members. I remember when i first joined the forums, a tut like this could have helped me alot.
I hope people will come to these forums and experience a good time. If you have anything that you think should be added to this tutorial, then
please leave a comment, or message me. And for some of you guys who think "This stuff is easy, everyone should know this" well most people don't. Infact,
a large percent of the people signing on here for the first time haven't been on forums before. I remember what it was like to join my first forum, i was confused. I had
to learn how everything worked. So don't refer to them as n00bs or any other thing to bring them down. I hope this community expands past any limits.
Thanks Bungie for creating such an awesome community! Keep it alive!
[Edited on 10.30.2007 6:48 PM PDT]