For the well-educated Halophile, there is a flood of news to whet that appetite for Halo 3. Bungie Studios has always been masterful about keeping us in just the right amount of suspense about what wonders are being cultivated for us in their fortress of solitude. The parade of hype that came out of E3 last week kept us up way past our collective bedtimes, downloading trailers and live action shorts aimed at the heart of any self-respecting fanboy.
The final question remains to be answered… Will Halo 3 sport a clan system similar to that which was so lovingly enjoyed throughout online play in Halo 2? For communities like Tied the Leader – and many, many others – that question looms like a shadow over everything we have built on the foundation of Bungie’s offering.
If you checked out the most recent issue of the Blue Skittle Magazine, you may have enjoyed Dweezle’s article about the impact of the Halo 3 Beta on various communities. This overlord-blogger was invited to contribute – say a hearty thankya! Most of my comments dealt with the absence of a clan roster, and how that plunged the Gunslingers into chaos. See page 10! I was not complaining, mind you. It was a Beta, after all.
The question remains, however. Will a gaming community forged in the fires of Halo 2 be given the tools to extend our campaign onto the battlefields of Halo 3? Will Halo 3 follow the path of the Beta, and use the Xbox 360’s blades to pull our friends into the game?
I had the perfect opportunity to ask this question. Alas, in the moment of truth, I chickened out.
In a nightclub in New York City, I had Frankie cornered. He was right where I wanted him. I could have thrown it out there. Six simple words: “Will Halo3 have a clan system?” Perhaps I was just not ready to have my night ruined by learning that the answer was “Nope!” You don’t spoil a good buzz brought about by free Gin with bad news.
Now, certainly, we will be able to use our friends lists to create a network that will keep the Gunslingers unified in the game. It is not as if we will disband our clan if we are not recognized by the software. Nay, friends. We have grown rather close to one another in dodging your bullets on countless occasions.
However, that clan list affords us a number of advantages. To anyone who may become distracted by imitators, we can always direct them to our roster. “You got teabagged by someone with TTL before their name? Did you see them listed in our clan?” A seat in our lineup guarantees accountability. A Gunslinger is a gamer on our list. Accept no substitutes.
This gamer keeps tabs on 200 other gamers who claim citizenry in the Halo Nation. 100 of them are Gunslingers – the ones on our clan list. The other 100 are recruits or allies from other gaming communities that have – or will – challenge us to a friendly match. With the removal of a clan list, our capacity to create community among the gamers who embody the Master Chief will become halved.
For this gamer, Community is the most value byproduct of the Halo 2 Experience. Many a Gunslinger has alluded to the fact that “I wouldn’t still be playing Halo 2 if it wasn’t for you guys.” For many, the clan system is a crucial enhancement for the multiplayer pastime. The extension of that experience remains a mystery.
This late in the development game, it would be futile to create some sort of grassroots movement. You will see no petitions or rants on this site. This will either happen, or it will not. For those of us who want to see the name of our clan proudly displayed next to the tag on our gamercard, we have no recourse but to wait, and hope, and pray.
[crosses fingers – goes to play Halo]
Good write-up Deej. I really can’t imagine Halo 3 without a clan system. I think it would be a serious blow to the community that Bungie has always strived to cultivate and grow. I realize that the inclusion of the 360 dashboard makes things more complicated, but surely that’s not an unsurmountable hurdle. I have faith.
During this post beta hangover the lack of clan system has become my biggest fear for H3. I no longer worry about weapons balance or vehicles now that I have experienced playing with out my trusty clan list. During the beta I had to remove friends and allies who were not in the beta in favor of Gunslingers who were….not easy choices to make. I sincerely hope that the clan system returns so I will not have to add more Gunslingers to my already full (and suddenly too small) friend list. I too will wait with crossed fingers until we learn more. Please Bungie do not let us down.
It seems so weird to me that they haven’t mentioned a single word about a clan system. Maybe they want to harbor some cool features for a while. I keep hoping it’s just another Friday away.
This sure would make me job at TTL easier…
I’ve seen some other 360 games mention Clan Systems, so I know it’s still possible, but I’ve yet to see one as well working as Halo.
I have complete faith in Bungie on this, and think H3 will have a “clan” system or perhaps something even more robust (don’t you just love that word – say it again with me – “robust”). They probably haven’t mentioned it either because it’s such a given, or because they’ve improved it so dramatically that their electing to keep it behind the curtain for now.
I see absolutely no reason why there wouldn’t be a clan system in Halo 3. I think the chances of being clanless are about the same of them saying “oh and in this one Chief is a chick cuz we love boobies.”
Also, whiskey > gin
I feel that H3 has a need for a clan. I am wrapped up in Chromehounds with the Gunslingers as well as the Halo community. I know the clan is possible. It will be very refreshing to see all the members of TTL put together in one place as in H2. Takes a load off of my shoulders to look through my friends to find all the gunslingers that need to be brought in.
I do see an upside for Bungie though. Without this clan system, won’t get timmies getting names such as xXPWNDXx or 734B4G1Nu. But they dealt with this problem in H2. I still dont see why it couldn’t be integrated into H3.
Keep at it Bungie. Make a good choice. We support it 100%!
I guess, you are right, we just have to wait and see…. I hate waiting. And more so on something that has such an importance. But truth is that if we survived the Beta, we will survive the actual game. I just keep hoping.
No clan support? You mean I need to by ANOTHER tag just to fit 100 spaces for friends?
Just some info you guys might like to know.
When I wrote an article about the clan system and other improvements a couple weeks ago it was confirmed that at least one Bungie employee saw it.
Upon speaking with him, it was explained to me that these ideas should have been submitted about three months ago due to the fact that the game is almost upon completion and changes like these most likely will not be added. However, he did appreciate the ideas and suggestions which was cool.
I did bring up the suggestion of a possible XBL update after the release to possibly add any of these features mentioned in my article to the game. Hopefully this is possible and taken into consideration.
My biggest worry is that if the clan system is not in the game as of yet, that it can not be added in the future. I guess we’ll just wait and see.
Actually, Ex…
That is promising. I would rather know that they said “It’s too late for revisions to the clan system” than “Thanks for the ideas, but we are not building a clan system…”
The only thing is though, he never said anything about the clan system at all to me. To sum it up, he just said thanks for the ideas but its pretty much too late for them.
There was no hint of whether or not there will be a clan system of any kind in Halo 3. (I’m assuming he couldn’t say though because he could get in trouble)
Bungie, if you’re reading this…
“Please Sir, could I have some more?”
I think we will be okay in the end. Either clan lists will remain the way they are in H2, or we will get a revamped type of friends list…Perhaps something with more slots and sortable by what game you play with said friends?
I don’t see a reason why there wouldn’t be a clan list in H3, but I could be wrong. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
If Bungie doesn’t include a clan system then they are fools. And fools they are not. I’m not worried. But it is a bit strange that there’s no clan system in XBox Live itself. Maybe there will be and maybe it will come to XBox Live at the same time as Halo 3 arrives.
My take on the lack of a clan list in H3 beta is that the beta was a contest/draw to get in. I believe Bungie released the version of beta they did the way they did because it wasn’t clans getting invited but individuals. There probably shouldn’t have been enough people from any one clan to need a clan list….or maybe they were testing to see if it would be missed.
Either way, nice article.
The answer is in. No Clan support for Halo 3. This is a disaster for someone who is in a large Halo 2 Clan.
No promise of XBL additional FL support either, at this time.
I suggest you start being heard on the matter.
“Being heard” will do what, exactly? If it’s not in the game at launch—and as I understand it, that is ALL that they’ve said thus far—then posting on various forums and blogs isn’t going to get it in. It doesn’t matter how many people you get, or how erudite they are, or even who you know at Bungie: we, as the fan base, cannot change anything at this point.
At first I was worried, but (even assuming they never add clan support in any fashion) what exactly will this do? I already have all my clanmates on my list so I can play 360 games with them. The clan support in Halo 2, once they ditched clanmatches, was useful only in that it gave you another 100 slots (which from what has been said got them in a little trouble). As we play more games than Halo now—well, at least I do—a Halo 3 only clan system wouldn’t really do that much anyway.
What would make the most sense, of course, is a Live-wide clan system. Some people (Odysseus from PG stands out in my mind) have said they think this is coming in the next update, but I’m skeptical. Either way, it’s then a Microsoft issue and not a Bungie one, and so proclaiming our righteous indignation isn’t going to do anything.
This is actually my first time visiting the site but on the latest bungie podcast Frankie says the only reason Halo 2 had a clan list was so the players could have another friends list. Halo 3 Clan Support will be up and running via Bungie.net before the game is released.