Halo: Reach Forum
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  • Subject: Improvements for Halo Reach's Multiplayer
Subject: Improvements for Halo Reach's Multiplayer

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Hello, the following thread will be long and full of much speculation and opinion, but I ask of you one thing, please keep it respectful and objective. I know China wants their wall back and Humpty Dumpty is sitting on my subject bar, but please don't spam this.
<3 Drew

With Reach still a ways off, and with a community so full of ideas and a need to get their point across, I say we as a community let the fine folks at Bungie what we would truly want for a "King of all Halos" or "The Granddaddy of Multiplayer". I know some of the ideas might be outlandish and seemingly impossible, but that's what all great games are based off of, insane ideas mixed with just the right amount of practicality. To ease your eyes and keep things together, I will make each one of my ideas a separate paragraph or block. I will list off the ideas at no particular order, meaning that the last idea might be better than the first idea. That's enough chit-chat, let's cut to the chase.

Strategic Forge
This little fella' is a game friends and I used to play a lot back in the hay-day of Halo 3. The game we played was complicated and full of "honor rules" but once it became better known it was a blast. The rules were as follows:
*Game takes place on a Canvas (Empty) map
*Two teams of 4-5, red and blue
*Each team would have one "General" (Monitor)
*Monitor is invincible/not allowed to be shot at
*Each side would start with Pistols and no Grenades
*At time increments, new weapons would be allowed to be dropped by the Monitor
Ex: After 30 seconds, SMGs, Plasma Rifles, and Spikers could be placed. After 60 seconds, Assault Rifles, Carbines, and BRs. After 2 minutes, Maulers and Shotguns. 4 minutes, Beam Rifle and Sniper. Etc.
*Vehicles and equipment would follow the same unlocking system as weapons
*All scenery is unlocked at the start of the game
*All items would be split evenly
Ex: Each team gets 3 BRs, 5 ARs, 8 Tube Pieces, 1 Overshield, etc.
*Monitors were not allowed to delete any of the items created by the other team
*First team to 100 kills wins

Now I know what you're thinking, "Man, how are all these honor rules going to working Matchmaking?" Simple, they don't become honor rules; they become rules available for us to set in Custom Games. If you remember Zombies in Halo 2, that entire game types was based on honor rules. It became so popular the Bungie decided to make it a function in Custom Games for Halo 3, and now we have it in match making and custom games and it has become one of the favorite game types of the community. So why not just throw in some Custom Game settings that can involve Forge? Would it really be that hard to give us a setting on when weapons can be used? It would be almost the same as choosing when scenery spawns on a map.

Unlockable Multiplayer
With second accounts reaching the levels of utmost hatred in parts of the community, a fix is almost necessary. Many ideas are out there, such as not being allowed to play until your account is a month old, or not letting an account play online if it's only game played is Halo 3. These all have issues, such as a player using a 48 hour code to play online for their first time ever, or a player only owning one game. I personally feel that my idea might be able to fix that.

My idea is this: Unlocking multiplayer by beating the Campaign on any difficulty level. The immediate problem I came up with when thinking of this, was "What if somebody just doesn't enjoy the campaign? What if they only want to play multiplayer?" I then came upon a revelation, the most amazing words in all of Halo multiplayer. Social Playlists.

Social Playlists have been the driving factor for many players online, they can go in with some guests, enjoy some laid-back fun, play some unique playlists, and everything else in between. One interesting tidbit I've noticed with some Social Playlist regulars is that many never finish the campaign, let alone start it. So why not have Social Playlists available to everyone, Campaign Elitists and Pick-up and Play players alike? That way the "hardcore" battleground of Ranked Playlists would be fought by those who have proved their stripes against the Covenant (and those who paid for more than a 1-month to boost with). Not to mention the campaign, would be a nice little practice ground for players.

Matchmade Campaign
Don't get me wrong, I'm not just venting my frustration of a lack of Firefight Matchmaking. I think that a matchmaking system for Reach could be a very beneficial move. Just look at games like Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty: World at War. Their match made campaigns have turned a quick and simple story mode into a behemoth of a mode worth reckon with.

If Halo: Reach is going to be the amazing finale to the Halo story like they say it is (And I pray to God for Bungie's sake that it is), it's campaign will be a vital key to the life of the game. A game with the story of the same magnitude of Halo: Reach's (Assuming it is amazing) would be doing itself a disservice by not trying to get as many players to play through the game two or three times as possible. However, a match made campaign might also hurt them also. Nobody would want to play it again if their first experience of the story was with a random stranger that speeds through the campaign and skips all the cut scenes.

While this "butcherment" of the story is a serious worry, so is allowing players to listen to their own music in the game. What did Bungie do when opposed with that issue of audio in Halo 3? Well, they let it happen, but at a small cost to the player. In Halo 3 if you try to listen to your own music while playing the campaign, they will allow it, but the normal audio is deactivated. Why you ask? Simple, if you are going to play the game with your hard core rap or bluegrass blasting, chances are you've already played through the game normally. With the inclusion of an "Unlockable Multiplayer", an "Unlockable Campaign" could follow suit. As long as you have experienced the game it is meant to be played, by yourself or with friends (keyword is friends, not random strangers), then you'd be free to hop into matchmaking and beat up some Covies' pick-up game style.

Matchmade Customs
Now we've all probably been in this situation;

Your wife/significant other just made you a big dinner of pie, it was great, except those damn mince meat bones are making you gassy. So you go up to bed, get kicked out of bed because of your thunderous bowels, and decide to go play some Halo. Your pretty tired and just feel like playing some Infection, but oh no! Nobody is online on your friends list to play with you! So disheartened by your lack of insomniac friends, you are forced to jump into the intenseness of matchmaking.

Ok, maybe that doesn't exactly apply to everyone especially those who don't and won't have anybody to fart in bed with (*cough*Stosh*cough), but we have all been in a time where we just want to play some Customs, but don't want to be competitive at all.

So why not just have a Custom Games matchmaking system? Gears of War has one, Burnout has one, now Bruno- erm, Halo has one! Wouldn't it be great to have a way to have a system where we open up a Custom Game, the game is thrown into a hopper, then other players can sort through what sort of Custom Matches are available. Maybe you're looking for a game of Infection on Longshore, just specify the game type as Infection, the map as Longshore, and hop into a game you chose. Well what if there isn't a game that you want? Simple, open up your own and let people find you. It would be great for setting up games if you have a small friends list, or getting un-biased players to play with you on a map you made. All in all, it would add another option to multiplayer fanatics.

Ok, thanks for bearing through that. I have two more posts worth of stuff, so I will reserve two more posts below for when I get those edited and done with. Also, any input and criticism would be great.

  • 10.14.2009 3:19 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

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<Reserved>

  • 10.14.2009 3:20 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

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  • 10.14.2009 3:21 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

<Last Reserved>
Ok, there you guys go, feel free to post.

  • 10.14.2009 3:21 PM PDT
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Positive vibes.

Dang I love these guides/tips and everything for the games. Very nice work, well done.

  • 10.14.2009 3:21 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: a rascal cat
Dang I love these guides/tips and everything for the games. Very nice work, well done.

I wouldn't really call it a guide, more like suggestions.

  • 10.14.2009 3:27 PM PDT

Burn in the flame of my passige

i like the Matchmade Customs idea but you would have to be able to labal it or something like that

  • 10.14.2009 3:50 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: DragonOfHell88
i like the Matchmade Customs idea but you would have to be able to labal it or something like that

Label it in what way? As in label what type of game it is?

  • 10.14.2009 3:54 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: WTF Shadow
Great thread! Could definitely use some fans:)

I like the idea except for unlocking matchmaking. It is a good concept but needs to be thought out more...maybe we could unlock maps. Idk but im definitely gonna give it some thought now!

Quick question...does anyone remember how you got foundation in halo 2? Thanks...

Well, that was one of the driving concepts for my ideas. The way you unlocked Foundation was by beating the campaign.

  • 10.14.2009 4:08 PM PDT
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Matchmade customs = must have. Would have to have quite the category system though to sort through 230494572895247591029 custom games heh

  • 10.14.2009 4:10 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: TPR 10698
Matchmade customs = must have. Would have to have quite the category system though to sort through 230494572895247591029 custom games heh

Well, seeing as how we can sort through hundreds of thousands of screen shots to find just the one we want, I'm betting that sorting through Custom Games wouldn't be that hard.

  • 10.14.2009 4:25 PM PDT

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[*Please note that anything in my posts is likely to be filled with sarcasm, and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to help people, usually*]

Posted by: goheels619
Strategic Forge
Interesting concept. I've always found a lot of fun in actually playing games in Forge mode. But I'm not so sure how well it would work in Matchmaking. Would definitely be more of a Social playlist game.

Unlockable MultiplayerDidn't think I would, but I do quite like this idea too. It was the inclusion and mentioning of "Social" playlists that I liked. Question though: if two people are on the same Xbox with two different accounts, one of which has finished Campaign, the other of which has not, would they both be allowed to play Ranked, or would the system refuse to let them play together?

Matchmade CampaignHrhm. I've always been interested in having more search possibilities for things like Firefight and Campaign, as I'm aware - as you noted - of a lot of other leading games that do it, I'm just not sure if they'd have that much of a demand. On the other hand, it wouldn't hurt to try it out.

Matchmade CustomsA custom-games search would be lovely. I adore this feature on Halo 2 Vista. It would and should be insanely popular on the console games.

  • 10.14.2009 5:18 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: SonicJohn
Question though: if two people are on the same Xbox with two different accounts, one of which has finished Campaign, the other of which has not, would they both be allowed to play Ranked, or would the system refuse to let them play together?

Well in a perfect world, everybody would complete Campaign the second they get the game. In that case however, it would allow them to play ranked.

  • 10.14.2009 5:22 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: SonicJohn
Matchmade CustomsA custom-games search would be lovely. I adore this feature on Halo 2 Vista. It would and should be insanely popular on the console games.

That's in Halo 2 Vista? I might check that out then.

  • 10.15.2009 4:28 PM PDT
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Hey, I don't go on much, but I love Halo.

Posted by: goheels619

Matchmade Customs

Doesn't Rainbow Six Vegas also have that? It seems like it's a popular direction in a lot of games.

  • 10.15.2009 5:18 PM PDT

1.Arkham Asylum, 2.Mass Effect, 3.Halo CE, 4.Mass Effect 2, 5.Halo 2, 6.Splinter Cell Double Agent, 7.Gears of War 2, 8.Medievil, 9.Oblivion, 10.Crash Team Racing

1. More character skins.

I have tons of "Brutes VS Elites, Humans VS Covies, Flood VS Sentinels..." style matches. They'd be great if everyone wasn't a spartan or an elite.
If multiplayer could resemble campaign more, I'd like it more. The idea of "players instead of AI" wouldn't be all bad.

2. Fix the lacks (Unworking gametype options and all weapons not on forge) + add some new or classic options.

If not going into campaign and firefight and whatever else, The End

  • 10.15.2009 5:26 PM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: kalle90
2. Fix the lacks (Unworking gametype options and all weapons not on forge) + add some new or classic options.

By this do you mean how you can't have Carbine starts, etc.?

  • 10.15.2009 6:34 PM PDT

sounds cool. I like it. I hope bungie will do this.

  • 10.15.2009 6:40 PM PDT

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Posted by: goheels619
Strategic Forge

This idea would be pretty cool, but would you be able to set down teleporters?

Unlockable Multiplayer
I like everything about this idea.

Matchmade Campaign
I occasionally might use the matchmaking for campaign, but I would rather just have Firefight matchmaking. But if there could be both then why not.

Matchmade Customs
Reach definitely needs matchmaking for custom games!!! That would be awesome. :)

  • 10.15.2009 6:52 PM PDT

1.Arkham Asylum, 2.Mass Effect, 3.Halo CE, 4.Mass Effect 2, 5.Halo 2, 6.Splinter Cell Double Agent, 7.Gears of War 2, 8.Medievil, 9.Oblivion, 10.Crash Team Racing

Posted by: goheels619
Posted by: kalle90
2. Fix the lacks (Unworking gametype options and all weapons not on forge) + add some new or classic options.

By this do you mean how you can't have Carbine starts, etc.?


+ No multi-team CTF
+ Bomb/Ball/Flag carrier can't drive vehicles even when you turn the option on
+ Maps lacking Forge objects (Why can Sandbox have all, but Sandtrap lacks many?)
...Probably more

  • 10.16.2009 8:35 AM PDT

Spartan119 the Red Raven.
"So officer tell me how it feels to be at the wrong end of that barrel?"

custom games need a searching thing. i love the idea and ure twist on it.

now let me thow my twist to this thread if u will.

now theres ranked, social, other, and now custom playlists
each have there sub sections like lone wolves 2v2 all that.

custom would have number of players like 4 plaers 6 player 8 players and so on and so forth.

u would select a number from the sub sections and then it would form a lobby with that manny people. now here is were my idea comes in.
one person is selected to be the host and he has 45 seconds to select a map and gametype to play. the game then starts and ta da ure playing a custom game. (now for i will get to if the game and or map sucks later but hang with me)

after that game is finished another player is selected at random (from those who havent gone yet) and they choose a map and game type. guests cannot be host but are allowed.

now ure probbably wondering. "what if the map is way not cool or rigged or just poorly made?" well heres the solution.

in game u can bring up the menu and on the menu would be an option to end the game. when u select this option ure vote is cast. if 2/3rds of the players vote to skip (or some other number) then the game will end and the next host will be selected.

now what if theres some 13 year old spaming some terrible music thru the mic or is team killing in game well u can select that player and vote to boot him. once again if a certain number of votes are cast the player is booted from the game.

one last thing.. mabye u dont want to be party leader, well then all u have to do is open the menu and select the option skip turn. it will simply hand the leader to the another person.

this would be a system for custom games and i believe would succeed.


a note on ure 1 month b4 u can play thing. i like the idea that ur account has to be 1 month old to work its a good idea. one flaw tho is people getting xbox live to play this game, it would suck to have to wait a month to play. mabye install this brace after like the first 2 or 3 month after the games release so everyone getting the game has mostly got it.

  • 10.16.2009 8:55 AM PDT

If I had one wish for Bungie.net, it would be to be able to change my username. Even if it cost me Microsoft Fun-Money, Space Bucks, or Stosh Dollars. That is all.

Halo 2 Stats

~AFEM

Posted by: kalle90
+ No multi-team CTF
+ Bomb/Ball/Flag carrier can't drive vehicles even when you turn the option on
...Probably more

I never even noticed those. Thanks for bringing them up.

  • 10.18.2009 2:45 PM PDT