Bungie talks Halo: Reach multiplayer (I hope you enjoy reading!)

----Ok, before we get this show on the road let me indulge you on this little piece of wisdom (straight from the horse's mouth) ----

Note: for this portion of the update we're gonna be working from a purely hypothetical standpoint. To properly explain Reach's matchmaking options without giving away too many secretz and without cementing any ideas permanently into your impressionable noggins, we gotta play a little bit fast and loose. Details, as always, are subject to change. Don't form any lasting attachments.

Ready?

__________

Active Roster

Q. Briefly 'splain what Active Roster is and why I should care about it. (Yes, technically this is not a question.)

A. The Active Roster is the result of our lobby and Party system getting together with the Friends List, with Player Details getting on the action too.

Basically, the familiar list of players on the right side of the lobby now displays more than just your own Party. If you have it set to Xbox LIVE Friends, then it displays your Friends right there in the Roster. You can select them, see what they're doing, see if there's room in their Party, and join them. If a couple of Friends are in the same Party, you can see that right there. If you didn't like digging through the Guide to see who was doing what, you're going to appreciate how much easier this is.

And if you're already in a party and just want to check people out, the Player Details display right there in the lobby now. Less navigating sub-screens. All of the customized Spartan and Elite models look hot on display, too.

Example:

[See how this shows you everyone on your Friends list who is playing Reach? It'll show you what they are playing, how much time is left, and who is winning. You can also queue their party so you join as soon as that match is over. No more waging an invite war in order to jump into a friend's party]

(From Shacknews article, link below)
Queue-Joining -In Halo 3, it was difficult to join friends that were already playing in a match. You had to wait until they were finished. If you started a game while you waited, they would then have to wait for you. Instead of going back and forth, Reach will support queue-joining. Simply put, Reach will automatically join up as soon as your friends are joinable.

____----____

---This is from the Bnet Boards ___Link___---

1. If you and your friends are in different leagues you can still play together.
2. .Format will be 2v2,4v4...but they arent limited to just those formats (btb type maybe?)
3. Divisions are not set by rank milestones (like how H3 you needed X amount of EXP and a Level __ to be a ____)
4. Playlists support Spartans Only, Elites Only, various mixtures, player selection, et cetera.
5. Arena playlists will probably not mix the two.
6. Each season (probably a month) the ranks will be reset in Arena and will be placed in your Service Record both in-game and on Bungie.net (baseball card like said in Shacknews article)
7. Maps and gametypes can be tweaked for the seasons on Bungie's discression but nothing should be ruled out for the playlist yet.
8. Objective isn't in the Arena yet mostly because it is hard to establish "who did better on the team" because they have to add in flag captures and stuff.
9. The Arena system is for honor and glory. Basically it adds more of depth to gameplay and stops the fat kids on second accounts.
10. All divisions are skill based so not everyone will hit the top division (i.e. level 50)
11. All rank beside the divisions will be hidden because Bungie is using a pure truskill system.
12. Players will be starting with very similar starting weapons if not the exact same (speculate if you will)
13. It will be harder to exploit the Arena system
14. That being said the Banhammer is still evolving.
15. Maps will be tweaked a little for Arena playlist.
16. Winning in team games still matters. But turning in a poor performance on a winning team (i.e., being carried by more skilled teammates) will not be a good way to level up.
17. As soon as are Rated on enough Days (e.g., 5 days), you'll see what Division you're in. You can go up or down from there, but it'll give you some idea of who your peers are.
18. Arena rank will work completely seperate from other playlists.
19. Arena games will still go in theatre mode.
20. Players wont be able to boost by switching languages anymore.
21. There are no plans to implement a clan system specifically for Arena. If we did Clan support (not saying we are, mind you), we would support them across the board
22. Currently the only playlists which will display a playlist specific ranking/rating/etc are Arena. (I dont know if this means all other ranks will be hidden which could be disapointing0
23. Arena will be present in the Beta
24. Still a chance of an MLG playlist.
25. Divisions arent permanent you will start right at 0 each season even if you were in Onyx.
26. Quitting will count as a loss, and if you do it too much, the Banhammer will apply a special new kind of punishment targeted specifically at quitters.
27. Bungie Staff feels the need of margeritas to answer calls from the community (speculation?)
28. Vetoing in Arena will be more for picking the map then map/gametype.

-----So How Does Arena Work?-----

Luke's not so subtle tease from earlier in the year makes a little more sense now, eh? The internal analogy for the Arena comes from Top Gun and, more specifically, from the "Greenie Board" employed by Naval pilots. In the real world, no matter your military rank, the only thing that matters on the Greenie Board is the execution of each individual landing. In the case of Arena, that's your individual play.

Does that mean team play isn't important? Nope. It's intrinsic. If you want to hole up all by your lonesome or go totally Rambo, you're not utilizing your resources effectively. And your rating will certainly reflect your poor judgment if the other team capitalizes on your selfish play. It's not just your kills-per-death ratio that informs where your game rating ends up; we're able to weed through a wealth of relevant statistical information to make the right call.

We plan on digging in and exposing all the under the hood mechanics that make it work properly soon. The formula that calculates your rating WILL be made publicly available so you can see exactly what actions increase or decrease your rating calculation. In fact, in the current Alpha version, it's displaying right in your HUD as the mysterious numerical oddity I previously described in not-so-rich detail. When you're playing well, you watch your rating increase in real time. When you do something inadvisable (say, maybe betray Luke with an errant grenade), you see the negative impact immediately. Whether or not the HUD itself is the final resting place is something we're sorting out internally. Likely, it'll be shown on the scoreboard. No matter where it ends up though, you will be able to see where you stand, in game and on the fly.

For now, all you need to know is that yes, Arena is the ultra competitive experience on tap for Halo: Reach and that we want you to rip it apart in the Beta come May. If you think you can break it, boost it, or otherwise find a way to game it in your favor, we want you to expose those weak spots and hit 'em hard for massive damage. As with everything we're discussing here today, everything is subject to change and we have the resources and bandwidth to respond and adjust as needed.

That's why we're running an Alpha right now. That's why we're planning an internal Beta. And that's why we're inviting millions of players to pounce on our public multiplayer Beta in May.

And again, keep in mind that while Arena is tuned to appeal to the darkest and deadliest corners of your competitive side, Reach will make full use of all the tricks of the trade to give you good reason to step into other Playlists with tons of options to explore and plenty of game types to dig into. In fact, we expect all flavors of matchmaking to be equally tasty. You'll get to experience plenty of 'em in the Beta as well, including delicious new stuff like Invasion

(I tried to put that all^^^ into a Spoiler tag, but GS won't let me :( )

*Reserved* Because this weeks Weekly Update is HUGE!

In Halo 3, we'd throw a map and game variant your way and if you didn't like it, you had to shout "Veto!" repeatedly at the top of your lungs and then lament the fact that nobody else mashed the X button with you or that the secondary option wasn't really something you wanted to play either. That's lame.

*From the Shacknews story*
In Reach, you'll have a greater degree of control over what games and maps you're playing. Once you're matched into a squad, the game will provide a default map and game variant, but also provide up to three other alternatives. Majority rules, but if a playlist demands special treatment, we can configure blind or no vote options as well. We're flexible like that.

Matchmaking Connection Options -The options for finding games in matchmaking will be more open to the player, if they so choose. If you only ever want to play in games with a good connection, that can be set in the options. If you only ever want to play against players of a similar skill, that can be set. The same goes for finding players that speak to same language.

Social Settings -In addition to these connection options, players can rate themselves along four axes to add another layer of criteria to the matchmaking. These won't trump anything else, but it will help Bungie build better teams. Players will define their play$tyle in the following four categories:

• Teamwork - Team Player vs. Lone Wolf
• Motivation - Winning vs. Having Fun
• Chattiness - Chatty vs. Quiet
• Tone - Polite vs. Rowdy

I Like Dat UI

Me too. Reach's menus are lookin' slick, aren't they? Candland didn't think so. He was visibly shaken when he saw the screens we were delivering to Shacknews. He wants you to know that what you're looking at is all placeholder. Expect significant polish to be liberally applied the aesthetics from now until we ship.

Which may or may not be in September. Seriously, we really don't have a date lined up, regardless of any rumors you may have heard (or any hypothetical, seasonal Arena scenarios Tyson Green may have presented in his Shacknews interview).

When we zero in on a ship date, we'll make a whole lot of noise about it.

Bungie Weekly Update 03.19.10

Shacknews Article -- Read off of THU Boards

• Shacknews Article #2 -- This time they speak with Luke, Tyson, Lars, and Brian

Wow, nice, that matchmaking looks beautiful!

I think this is getting little replies because someone posted a monster - similar looking - thread a day agoSaltyMeatballs

That was the Shacknews thread, yeah. I referenced that in here.

This is just Bungie explaining anything that may have been...fuzzy from that. Such as Arena and Active Roster

sweet pics!

I still play Halo 3 on a regular basis, and these new feature on Reach cater to me and my friends directly....awwwwesome.

As I read through that, I noticed that the custom content is no longer 100 max, but in the thousands! Thank god for that improvement! :D

Also did anyone else notice what they said about the DMR and Magnum? Both can take down a Spartan in the same number of trigger pulls!

This really is sounding like the definitive Halo, by the guys who made Halo.

Im really excited for this game. I just started playing Halo3 online a few days ago and love it not to metion the super fun campaign. My view on Halo has completely changed except for the piece of garbage called ODST. djsifer01

[QUOTE="djsifer01"]Im really excited for this game. I just started playing Halo3 online a few days ago and love it not to metion the super fun campaign. My view on Halo has completely changed except for the piece of garbage called ODST. Sandvichman

[QUOTE="Sandvichman"][QUOTE="djsifer01"]Im really excited for this game. I just started playing Halo3 online a few days ago and love it not to metion the super fun campaign. My view on Halo has completely changed except for the piece of garbage called ODST. Ninja-Bear

Not one person has bash on this topic yet. maybe its because they can't be bother with the huge wall of awsomeness?

A little upset that thee background menu might be in the full game.

Not one person has bash on this topic yet. maybe its because they can't be bother with the huge wall of awsomeness?

A little upset that thee background menu might be in the full game.

TheShadowLord07

This has the potential to be the best halo game to date.I cant wait to play the beta,and obviously the full game.

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

Rekunta

The definitive Halo game this gen.

[QUOTE="TheShadowLord07"]

Not one person has bash on this topic yet. maybe its because they can't be bother with the huge wall of awsomeness?

A little upset that thee background menu might be in the full game.

Ninja-Bear

I agree, but like Bungie said, it might be in the full game. shame I really like too

Thank you so much, i cant wait for this game.

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

Rekunta

And what exactly does "Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously" mean? Halo is one of the games with a SMALLER player count (16 max) I think you're maybe thinking of Zipper Interactive lol.

Anyway, the MULTIPLAYER beta is about a month away, so naturally they are going to feed us MULTIPLAYER information in the build up.

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

Rekunta

Also SP=10 hours MP=Infinite

Wow and I was thinking that they couldn't have added any more features to halo 3 and they add a ton more. Halo has by far the most features of any CONSOLE AND PC multiplayer game. They did all that and created a new engine in 3 years. hopefully the gameplay won't feel rushed.

Wow and I was thinking that they couldn't have added any more features to halo 3 and they add a ton more. Halo has by far the most features of any CONSOLE AND PC multiplayer game. They did all that and created a new engine in 3 years. hopefully the gameplay won't feel rushed.

civic_misfit

[QUOTE="civic_misfit"]

Wow and I was thinking that they couldn't have added any more features to halo 3 and they add a ton more. Halo has by far the most features of any CONSOLE AND PC multiplayer game. They did all that and created a new engine in 3 years. hopefully the gameplay won't feel rushed.

lafiro93

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

Rekunta

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

Rekunta

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

Rekunta

1) They have already shown us a lot of the single player

2) It would be silly to show too much. I personally don't want the SP spoiled.

3) The MP beta is coming soon. This information is building up the hype for it. People might see this and think, "I think I'll buy ODST now."

Nice work Bungie, can't wait to play.

[QUOTE="Rekunta"]

This pisses me off.

Nice article, but it sounds like, once again, Bungie is making multiplayer the main focus. Halo 2 and 3 suffered because of this. That multiplayer was not the main focus of the original CE (due to Live's lacking infrastructure at the time) is a large reason as to what made it so great. They HAD to concentrate on the singleplayer to compensate for the shallow multi. I can appreciate having both, but both single player AND multiplayer should be afforded the same amount of care and attention. How about some campaign developer diaries? How about showing some levels, some huge open environments and massive battles that were the hallmark that made Halo what it is today?

This is all conjecture I know, but given that the exact same routine happened before 2 & 3 were released, it looks to be exactly the same case this time around. Multiplayer focused previews only. It only is helping to confirm what I've come to fear: Bungie cares not for anything other than how many people it can throw onto a map simultaneously; all other considerations are afterthoughts. With a game of such potential, it's a shame that half of it is being squandered in lew of the other.

vashkey

I know this isn't the best example but Mass Effect 2 managed to alleviate those problems even though it was the conduit section of a trillogy and both the beginning and end of it were breathtaking. Of course that game didn't have multiplayer, but I guess that's the point I am trying to make - you shouldn't have to compensate from the single player experience.

Saying that a game was a sequel is no excuse even for bungie, you have to put lots of effort into making the player feel like he isn't just continuing where he left off or finishing without a sense of accomplishment; forgetting Halo 3's shortcomings, that was what made Halo 2 such a failure.

For all the people talking about the Reach campaign, this is the only thing mentioned in the Weekly Update about it:

Campaign, On Approach
Speaking of making noise, Marcus and Joe continue to deliver the tasty development tidbits over at Noble Actual. This week, they're talking a little bit of campaign. In lieu of stealing their thunder, I'll just let you stumble on over and read their musings for yourself.

(NobleActual Article)

So much focus on the Beta has been amazing and we've made some major improvements to the engine and many across multiplayer. So, now we're beginning the shift toward focus on the campaign again. I'm super excited about giving some love to the huge number of new campaign features that have been waiting patiently for the Beta dust to settle.

Even in the absence of getting 100% engineering support, our next full campaign playtest is nearly ready to be hammered on at the labs. It is already in a state of major improvement over our last playtest, which was just a few weeks ago. This is the most fun part of a project – when all the planes circling around in development space begin landing.

-Marcus

I didn't read all that, my eyes hurt right now. Can anyone tell me if there will be an option for customizable browsing for games? As in, you can join games strangers make? You know the one thing that annoys the hell out of me when Bungie never puts in. This is why I believe that whole sandbox thing and Forge thing failed in Halo 3. They only made it so you can only join your friends to do that stuff.peanutbudduh

Alright everyone,

Maybe I went a bit overboard. If there has been "TONS" of single player info, than my apologies.....but please point me to it. Every preview on this site pertains to multi. So where is this MASSIVE amount of campaign info? I've seen the trailer, but that doesn't constitute anything.

[QUOTE="peanutbudduh"]I didn't read all that, my eyes hurt right now. Can anyone tell me if there will be an option for customizable browsing for games? As in, you can join games strangers make? You know the one thing that annoys the hell out of me when Bungie never puts in. This is why I believe that whole sandbox thing and Forge thing failed in Halo 3. They only made it so you can only join your friends to do that stuff.rolo107

ha! find the weak spot and attack it for massive damage. Well played.

Is this "arena" mode the main competitive mode? I stopped reading about half way through cause thats all I was seeing.