- StateOfRuin
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- Exalted Heroic Member
Register at your local Vault Tec office today! The world might not be there tomorrow...
Halo has a very addictive draw for competitive players, but I think it can go further. It has an epic storyline, a wealth of characters and backgrounds, limitless multiplayer abilities... and it is on this that I would like to elaborate. I will profess, I am no hardcore player, nor do I care about hardcore players and their wants. I am the target casual-gamer who plays many other games besides Halo 3. One thing that I always thought the Halo multiplayer could expand on is drawing players in and getting them attached to their characters.
Let me be clear when I say that I have absolutely no idea what the Reach: Beta will unleash, but I was hoping it would include character and playstyle personalization. Whether I'm playing a green-blooded marine, a fearless spartan, or a member of the Covenant; I want to be able to get attached to my character. The only way I see this happening is if weapons have a little bend in the way personalization and could possibly take damage in combat or incur wear and tear. The same goes for the armor. I loved the armor perms in Halo 3, great idea. Why not take it to the next level and give the pieces you put on your player actual purpose other than aesthetics? Many of the abilities are already there in the custom games lobby. Enhanced radar, speed, gravity, resistance, shields, camoflauge, and so on... I can also see that just by the image so tantalizingly emblazened upon the forum header, our multiplayer experience is in for a change.
I'm sure that the clan requests will be heard, and have been so relentlessly submitted by MLG players since 3's launch, but another personal touch to the cut and dry clan perspective would be to actually have them function as an independant army or faction. Let me explain, as I'm sure this is confusing and probably way too tall of an order, but I am nothing if I am not inventive.
Let's say that in order to start your own clan/faction, you must at least be a Major (according to H3's ranking system.) I would try to find a name that would strike fear into my opponents, something like "Ma5tur Ch33f's Pryv3t Armi" and like in H2, I would imagine that you could recruit in-game. Hopefully, it would be similar to b.net groups in the way that you need activity/min member requirements to keep from being disbanded. So, you get some friends to join in. Great! Next you set-up the clan/faction leaders, these people have control in the group ranks/forums. Afterwards you set up the privy list in which these folks would have no function other than to be separated from the peons because they are awesome for reasons beyond definition... Clan/Faction creation is Done!
Now, let's get to the fun micro-managing obsessive stuff. What makes your clan/fac different from others, besides a myriad of high-pitched voices and plethora of made-up girlfriend names? Here is where you would be issued X amount of credits to customize your group. You might be able to do things such as choose your group's camoflauge; Jungle Foliage/Desert Sand/Urban Camo/Aforementioned Camo Prints with primary/secondary color options... X credits spent. You might want to set matching clan/fac armor avatars (the player's personal avatar would appear smaller underneath.) Maybe you want the group to only wear ODST armor? Well, it'll cost, but everyone will be atypical with you issuing them all either mix and match pieces or complete sets... and your enemy won't be able to tell which of you just no-scope exterminated their squad.
Here is where rank would pull into play within the clan/fac. You can set a credit budget based on rank within the group for weapons. Everyone's playstyle is different, let them work their way up to afford the good stuff. Sergeant so-and-so is allowed 10 credits, 6 for a BR and 1 a-piece for Frag/Sticky Grenades. Wait, maybe he should just carry two frags and stock-up on BR ammo. Yeah, that's better, 6 for the BR and 2 for Frags... and 2 more for a spare clip of BR. Awesome, he is ready to roll-out. Gaining ranks within the group would allow you to be more prepared for a battle. The higher the rank, the higher the credit limit. Ultimately, I would imagine a player having 2 of each grenade, a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, equipment, and then maybe the spare credits enabling custom armor enhancements for in-game use... (such as a NAV-waypoint on the opposite team's high-roller)
Maybe things could go so far as to tailor your initial load-out at the base? All the spare weapons/grenades/equipment/even vehicles could be personalized. It would be possible to do something like this with default object type positions on maps... for example: heavy weapons go here, light vehicles here, bubble shield here... etc. I'm just kind of spit-ballin on this one, allow me to clarify. I want 6 BR's on 30 sec respawn (credits are a little tight now) and I guess all my other weapons (1 Snipe/1 Rocket/2 Pistols/Bubble Shield/Etc) will have to have 120+ sec respawns... MINIMUM (sad face) We could use some support vehicles too, I guess. I think I can afford two chaingun 'hogs in for 360 sec respawn. Okie dokie, load-out is set!
We've got a name, we've got some mean greenies, and we've got our weapons and vehicles purchased for load-out. Let's kick some ass! Fire up the clan-battle lobby and hop right in... and we won, woot! For each victory, a small increase in clan/fac EXP would be attained, go up in rank and you just got a budget increase! Lose enough and your superiors may suddenly want to tighten the belt on your spending... With higher ranks comes prestigious access to better goods/vehicles/weapons/armors. Naturally, you would only play against people with the same access as you... or maybe it would be good to throw you against harder and softer targets for a good fluctuation.
Thank you for reading this far, I have to congratulate you. Most stopped on the first paragraph and will more than probably flame me for posting a wall of text or "trying to change Halo." Like Pokemon, I've caught them all before on different posts. Add your ideas as I would love to hear them, but try to stay on the topic of Personalization. This could be towards weapons/vehicles/armors/enhancements... whatever you can come up with. Again, thanks for reading!