It has been said that you should never return to the scene of a crime. Fortunately for the TTL Gunslingers, and a few distinguished guests, that same pearl of wisdom does not hold true for LAN parties – especially when the scene in question is a beach. Thus, on Memorial Day weekend, Tied the Leader held a repeat performance of last year’s AtLANtica event.
Telling the stories engendered at a LAN party is always a tricky proposition. Photos from the scene usually end up depicting faces frozen in a mask of tactical concentration. The camera is rarely trained on the attendees when the party erupts into exaltation. The competitive electricity in the room escapes the snapshots. The tension and suspense of live competition and social camaraderie defy illustration.
Thanks to the video stylings of one Sunburned Goose, this problem is solved in living, breathing high-definition. We bid you welcome to come along with Goose on his journey. Should you crave a higher resolution of this video documentary, register for a login here, and access the Downloads menu in the lower right-hand corner.
All told, 37 attendees graced us with their presence, their gunfire, and their company. Through the execution of a [not-so] silent auction, $1,200 was raised to benefit wounded combat veterans via the Tied the Leader Foundation. It was, after all, Memorial Day!
This event was many things. It was a vacation. It was a tournament. It was a live assembly of the membership from a virtual social network. It was introductions among new friends and reunions among old friends. It was a fundraiser for charity. Above all else, it was a party.
Tied the Leader is a community that finds it roots in LAN Parties like this one. When we played Halo: Combat Evolved, we didn’t have Xbox Live. We didn’t have hotel meeting spaces or 40” plasmas, either. Events like this one are always a much-needed reconciliation with the truth – that we are gamers in a clan to enjoy ourselves, as well as to enjoy the company of each other.
Next stop… Chicago. For the third time. After all, if one scene is worth returning to, so is another.
To those who attended AtLANtica, 2.0: Thank you, and Good Game.
From the perspective of this gamer, the news coming from Bungie Studios this week is the most important update since Halo 3’s launch. Every citizen in the Halo Nation has been given a new lease, and a warning from the landlord.
All these worlds are yours, except Europa
Sorry… Wrong warning. Wrong landlord. Here is the excerpt in question from the Bungie Blog:
Ranked Big Team will be worth double EXP for the month of June. All restrictions are being removed. If Ranked Big Team does not perform well this month, it may be retired in July.
For those of us who love a solid, challenging 8v8 match, we have one month. The clock is ticking, effective immediately. The maker is watching, data mining, and keeping score. The fate of Big Team Battle hangs in the balance.
This gamer prefers an explosive battle between two teams of 8 gamers more than anything else afforded by the Halo Experience. No other combat scenario, no other playlist, can match the excitement and chaos of 16 gamers clashing on a battlefield like Valhalla or Rat’s Nest.
Big Team Battles are won by teamwork. The fog of war obscures the sniper who can carry his three friends to victory in a match of Team Slayer. The mechanized infantry can joined the fray. We have some room to stretch our legs and roll the machines of war. Every gamer has the chance to shine in the soft glow of heroism, and in our own way.
The question then becomes, who is with me?
Up until now, the prospects of matching up two teams worthy of a big battle have been slim. Finding the perfectly balanced match just took too long. A series of intruiging EXP weekends lured less patient gamers away from the RBTB playlist. The remaining several thousand of us were left with rank restrictions that kept us apart – when all we wanted to do was blow each other up.
No longer!
The safeties have been removed. The fight is about to get tough, and loud. The TTL Gunslingers are ripe to come out of hiding in BTB Social, to play the gametype for which we were built. Strikers, Guards, Pilots, and Snipers are set to play their role – interchangeable parts in the same good game war machine.
And – months of steamrolling poorly-matched teams of houseguests and clanless warriors have made us soft. That’s right. Playing against a team laced with quitters, private chatters, total strangers, and lily-white noobs has taken away our edge.
You want a piece of us? Now is your chance! We will be playing in Ranked Big Team all this month. The combined weight of our active roster will be thrown at our last best chance for a competitive playlist on a grander scale.
Warthog teams will be assembled. Defensive lines will be fortified. Blitzes will be called out and executed. Snipers will… Well, the snipers will do what they always do. They don’t take orders. Get us in your crosshairs and take us down.
Clan Challenges at TTL are suspended until further notice. The new Ranked Big Team playlist promises to deliver that which has been lacking from Halo 3. We aim to go and see that it is well-played.
Jump into the game. We will be there, insuring that it is good.
Our last Panel Discussion among the TTL Community explored those pearls of gameplay that keep Halo Loyalists coming back to their ringworld again and again for their virtual combat needs. While discussions such as these have thrived on fan forums in the past, we found the relevance of the dialogue renewed by the wider variety of choices that are now made available to the Xbox Live gamer. The product of our round-table session ended up on the Bungie Blog, accompanied by a challenge from Bungieblogger Luke Smith, who said:
For our utility, it’d be neat to see them take the flip approach and what Bungie could improve on.
That’s a tough prospect. Constant Readers of this here blog can attest to the fact that TTL is for lovers [and fighters], but not haters. We rarely traffic in criticism. One of the longest running – and most heated – debates on this masthead was sparked when this gamerblogger fired a shot over the bow of people who thought that Halo 2 sucked and that they had the answers to save Bungie from themselves.
Lukems’ suggestions seemed to be an open invitation to the sort of whinning that permeates the forums that Bungie has to moderate in their domain. We stray from complaining in the vein of “Bring back the Halo 1 Pistol.” The games we hype are meant to be played, so we play them, leaving endless analysis and second guessing to the constituencies of other websites.
For the gamer, the notion of constructive criticism can be elusive. Playing a video game is such a visceral and personal experience. The things that occur in a game happen to all of us in real time. Gaming is a far more engaging pastime than the vicarious spoon-feeding of a soap opera or a sporting event. We are at the controls. It is difficult to render an objective analysis of a game without selfishly spouting items from a personal wish list that would make our individual experiences greater from a singular point of view.
Focus-grouping the gamer is a double-edged sword. One on side, the average gamer knows nothing of the punishment of production timelines, the limitations of hardware, or the complexity of corporate marketing strategies. On the other side, it stands to reason that the gamer who spends hours every night playing the game is more intimately acquainted with the gaming experience than the developers to crunched the code.
Providing criticism for a game like Halo 3 – which has been locked, launched, and sold millions of times over – is an even trickier undertaking. There are things that can be changed, and there are things that are bound to code. The game is what it is. Barring the massive undertaking of a patch, the physics are written into law. The maps are set in stone – or titanium. The pace is a permanent constant. The only variables that remain are the way we play the game. What playlists? What starting weapons? What gametypes?
In the effort of being truly constructive, the critic needs to focus on what would make the game best for all that played it, rather than just for them. That challenge was issued to our panel, as an experiment – and as an answer to a request from Bungie. Here is what they came up with…
TTL OboeCrazy: My main wish for a better Halo 3 experience is an option to keep parties together. I hate having to play roulette with social matchmaking, hoping we find a full team to play against, backing out when things are getting hairy, and still sometimes getting split up. I would play ranked all the time for that reason, but that’s not always possible. So that’s what I want: An option just like ‘Best Connection’ or ‘My Language’ ...except it says ‘Don’t Split Party’.
VVilly: Certain game types get play too much in a row. The other day, I played 3 team sniper games in social slayer in a row.
Smackafied: Put the Gauss Hog back in MatchMaking.
Slightly Good: In halo 2 it was a constant frantic pace (that I miss), your running around looking everywhere “going crazy”. Halo 3 just doesnt have that feel for me, I feel like an over weight person trying to run a mile. Like MLG is at 110% speed (I think), and that is almost perfect. If it werent for MLG I would not be back into halo 3 as much as I am now. of course my clan needs me. “clan”.... bringing me to my next topic. wich Willy just mentioned.
TTL Gilthanis: I think the number of playlists needs to be narrowed down to get the population.
ooCRIMoo: I would like to see a larger assortment of game types and map variants available in matchmaking – especially the latter. One of the things I’ve really liked about the recent Living Dead playlists (and I’m not a huge fan of infection) was the bizarre changes to all my favorite maps. Perhaps there could be a “Custom Spotlight” social play list where the highest rated custom maps/game types would be rotated in and out, that would be great for getting some weird and wacky action to mix things up. I know the Halo community has wanted some kind of custom game finder utility for a while, so a custom play list might be the next best thing.
TTL Jericho: What Halo lacks is a ‘gimmick’. CODs gimmick was to add in a huge assortment of weapon upgrades in multiplayer. It was great that Halo 3 offered amour permutations but they were only cosmetic, and it would have been neat to have more or more customizable features to play with. COD is ridiculous in this way. I think Halo is the finest shooter out there. I allows me to interact with my avatar seamlessly, and that’s the goal. But it seems like you need a gimmick these days to get the fans.
The dinh: I would wish for exactly what Oboe said, don’t split my party. Also, maybe add some single-objective to social BTB. And if VIP is going to stick around, give the VIP a better weapon start.
Flatlined: overhauling the matchmaking playlists – the online population is diluted by the fact there are so many playlists. They could easily condense things by changing a few things up. Make Social Slayer up to 5 v 5. Add SWAT and Sniper slayers and objective games into respective Slayer and Objective hoppers. Increase variety (which basically means adding more map variation and gametypes).
American Nightmare: The ability to veto means that, in open play lists, I will rarely get to play anything objective based. I love objective games, but they never get loaded. I’d like to see vetoed objective games replaced with a different objective game rather than a slayer gametype. The weighting of objective games is relatively lower to begin with. If this doesn’t seem to make sense then at least increase the number of objective games to increase when a game is vetoed. I’m sure that can fit into your formulas. The mass population is going to play no matter what, but they’ll pick slayer everyday because it involves less teamwork, if you’re in a team based hopper, you should be expected to play objective games, otherwise go play Team Slayer.
Testa killz: I don’t have much new to add regarding H3 that hasn’t been said, but I’d like to offer a suggestion towards Bungie’s future work. I think the one area that they could improve on would be the scale of their battles. Everything is great about Bungie games, from the action to the art all the way down to the UI (most other games have terrible menu/button layouts). I think their next big hurdle is scale. Huge battles.
TTL Monte: The one thing I would like to see in Matchmaking is simply more variety with BTB. It does get very frustrating to play multiflag and covies mixed with heavy amounts of slayer on only 2 maps. (Valhalla and Sandtrap) VIP gets vetoed 90% of the time. There are so many great gametypes you guys could add, as well as more maps. Last Resort is incredible, but only comes up as a slayer and VIP map. Bomb and flag games were epic on Zanzibar and with the improvements to Last Resort, this would only be better. Neutral bomb is very fun but rarely comes up. KOTH games might be really fun on the big maps, yet I’ve never seen one. I love Covies as a change of pace, but it is far too common in BTB. I’ve actually had a number of times where vetoing covies has led to covies.
TTL Nodak: I also was a die hard H2 player but have been bitten by COD 4 because of the achievements and constant moving forward/leveling up. Reaching certain levels which unlock other weapons over and over again keeps me playing over and over again. I have stopped leveling up in H3. I don’t feel like I am gaining anything. Sure I gain some experience but it is not adding anything to my game. (think “x” number of splatters let’s you unlock a golden warthog that only you can drive) H3 has nice armor customs but weapon achievements would go a long way to bringing me back or armor that adds better protection or has in-game meaning.
BSG Alekat: Covie map variants have been largely ridiculed in my experience. The main aspect of the covie variants that sticks out is the lack of a good passenger vehicle. The Mongoose is your only option for carrying a bomb or flag wielder, and it just can’t compare to the control and staying power that the Warthog offers in the default maps. The Prowler offers a lot in the way of filling that void. Sandtrap covies is especially imbalanced with the presence of so many ghosts. If one team gets a hold of five or six of them, they can watch the entire map and the missile pod is pretty ineffective against them. Replacing two of the Ghosts with a Prowler at each base would bring balance for slayer and objective types for that map variant. Valhallah covies is okay the way it is, but removing one Ghost for the Prowler on objective games, or for whoever is on offense, could make for some good sledding times.
Truth Pastor BSG: Stop splitting teams in social matches. Very frustrating and hard for the party leader to keep backing out when you get an even number of players matched in the party. I can’t tell you how many times we got split because the party leader was in a chat or checking messages or stats and didn’t see the problem.
Codemonkey: I really dislike spawning in the middle of a firefight, or even close to it. I want more gametypes/maps that make you work as a team and not where one good player can win the game for a team. Large maps promote team communication. On small maps you don’t have to wonder a lot where your teammates or the enemies are because, odds are, they’re only a room away and you can hear or see them already. On a large map, if you start heading off in the wrong direction, you likely won’t even see anyone, let alone shoot them.
TTL Max: I miss the symbols above teammates heads during gameplay. They seemed more personal and easy to identify than the callsigns. Of course, I understand that callsigns are useful because they enable us to call out to someone that we don’t know by name. Still, I miss seeing my friends’ familiar symbols above their heads. It would be nice if individual players had the option to either display callsigns or symbols in-game.
Flatlined: I’d actually like the chance to occasionally try out different weapons. For some twisted reason, I’d like the option of improving and working with a Carbine if we’re going to do Covies. Carbines are not found on many maps, and I dont think they turn up in any Covies gametype. Other weapons are on the map but some often remain unused. The Magnum spawns on a few maps but who is going to pick up a Magnum? The SMG is also on a couple maps too but its use is limited too. I don’t mind gametypes like Duals where the SMG gets its 5 minutes of fame, but its a waste of a weapon spawn location for most other matchmaking scenarios.
Rabbit Lettuce: a community playlist.. assign someone, even a council of someones, from the community.. tell them to bring bungie 10 new gametypes/maps twice a month that are made by the community with forge, custom games options, etc.. and just throw that into a “community hopper”.. try to keep the council anonymous so they aren’t flooded with custom maps, just let them go out and search for them.. most people would be glad to volunteer for bungie in this respect.
It took the gaming industry long enough, but they finally caught up with the rich interactive platform that Bungie Studios provides as a venue for social and competitive interaction. Halo is no longer the most widely played game on Xbox Live. This is no longer news. It’s been that way for months now. COD4 took us all by surprise as a remarkable team-based experience. GTA4 reasserted itself as a horseman of the apocalypse, and corrected every mistake that was made by its West Coast predecessor along the way.
What is newsworthy is that there is still a damn good game to be had wearing Mjolnir [or Elite] Armor on Xbox Live. Hundreds of thousands of gamers clash on the virtual battlefields wrought by developers every day. They are the faithful. With so many other relevant offerings competing for their attention, the Halo Loyalists insist on finishing the fight again and again and again. The Halo Nation is, perhaps for the first time, populated by citizens who play their game because it is their favorite – not because it is the only viable avenue upon which their gamertag can travel.
They are the panel for this discussion.
What keeps you coming back to Halo? What is your favorite part of the Halo Experience on Xbox Live? It could be a specific hero moment, like picking up a stranded flag carrier on a Mongoose while defenders close in like a swarm of natives chasing down an archaeologist with a golden totem stolen from the ancient temple. It could be the friends you have made along the way in building your rank.
What is the one unit of joy that has you sticking with Halo?
SN1PEZ: Has to be all the friends I’ve made over the years. Its one thing to get that one-shot or save that is an instant thrill, but the presence of your online friends after every win/loss is a much better feeling.
ooCRIMoo: One easily over-looked aspect is the way the online experience works. Setting up a multi-player game in GTA 4 made me long for Bungie’s simple party-based system. I like that when playing with a less than full team, it’s simple to pick up an extra random player if the chemistry’s right and the wins are rolling in.
BSG Alekat: If I really got to the reason why I sign onto Halo almost every day, it has more to do with the community and Bungie’s support. It’s not hard to fall in love with a game when you love games, but it’s the massive amount of content out there that keeps me coming back.
Whachamacalzmit: Community is key. Those great features of Halo 3 only brought us to this game, but the community is what kept us here. If all my friends migrated to another game and there was no community left for me, I’d probably leave.
AmericanNightmr: I keep coming back because I want to see who’s going to die from… What? Mongoose wheel across the map? You simply never know what is going to happen. Pretty much every time I play I see something that I have never seen before. I can’t say the same for the other titles, and if something unique happens, it still doesn’t compare. That and medals are addicting.
Cleanbeats: I really enjoy the competitive nature that the game offers. No other game has really been able to capture that for me. With playlists like Team Hardcore and the newer community offerings from MLG, the game has that competitive environment built right in.
OboeCrazy: I love the basic game mechanics, and then the matchmaking has such a wide variety of play styles to offer that I always have something I want to do. I can Lone Wolf if I just want to slay. I can BTB if I want the epic army vs army experience. I can play SWAT if I want something fast paced and twitchy. We can load up customs and play all manner of strange and wonderful games. Or go into Forge and make our own, or just play around with all the items. Other games, once finished, are simply finished. There’s always something new in Halo 3.
CodeMonkey: The one thing Halo offers that no other online multiplayer game has so far is the statistical reporting on their website. Bungie did a great job for all the fanboys out there when they built in game stats reporting and then setup a website to display those stats. Their online website community is the glue that holds the Halo community together. No other game studio tries to interact with gamers on a level that Bungie does.
Stuicide: It’s hard to think of just one amazing moment but my favorite would have to be the splatter with a ghost. There is no greater feeling than mowing down unsuspecting people with a ghost. The blasters on the ghost are only an effective tool if you use it to get people to jump so you can bust them open like a pinata on their way down.
Monte: When I play halo, not only do I get my friends by my side, but I get to be someone else, a bad ass BR wielding maniac or a pathetic driver trying to have some fun. It’s new, it’s fun, it’s unique. No other game has given this to me so I still play this one. I’m playing Mass Effect right now and it’s great. I crave the friends and the enemies that halo gives though.
Hard Boiled: The perfect gameplay moment is that well-executed flag cap. When everyone is doing their part and working together for a singular goal, it’s a sweet feeling. You have the sneaky people making moves on the flag. The vehicle teams rolling, giving the carrier that perfect path out, and the defensive team keeping your own base area clean for those last few crucial steps.
Maximobien: I play Halo because I LOVE STICKIES. Getting that stick and seeing the medal pop up never gets old. Of course, the more spectacular and long-distance the better, but every stick is sweet.
Mondo Jay: I think the resources for everlasting fun is what keeps me coming back. COD4 may be a great team game with great moments of FPS glory, but you can’t go back and watch clips of that game in a theater like Halo 3. GTA4 may have a wide open experience to explore and cause chaos, but you can’t customize the city/map to the way you’d like to play it ala Halo 3’s Forge. And a lot of games are great fun online, but the matchmaking system just doesn’t run as smoothly as Halo 3.
Sunburned Goose: What is it about Halo that makes is special, my go-to game besides Gears, COD4, or GTA4? Realism, or the lack thereof. Mancannons, Shields, Plasma Weapons, and Energy Swords, all of these elements and many more add to a story that will never be an experience I will share in real life. Many of the other games I mentioned are variations of real life for me, each of them suffer from the Uncanny Valley hypothesis. Playing GTA 4 or COD 4 builds up a residual feeling, a resistance, because I’m killing Humans which prevents me from picking it up time after time unlike Halo. Shooting a Spartan doesn’t evoke the same emotion in me because the armor is like the pixel version of tanks in my Atari days. He’s human underneath but only part of him.
the dihn: To quote the dinh of the A-Team “I love it when a plan comes together.” A great feeling comes when that flag is planted or bomb planted or sniper is taken out due to some coordination. Nothing like it.
Zeuz Patter: For me, it is the lobby system. It is the only one that works right. It is so easy to get a game. And as hard as it seems to believe, every H3 game is different from the previous one. You could have 3 straight CTF games, and they are all different. Not many games can say that. H3 made a huge improvement on cheating and modding and that is the decisive point.
Fezzer: The Warthog is a beautiful machine. I’ve yet to see any other game EVER implement vehicular gameplay with the elegance and balance that Bungie has achieved. I’ll be completely happy when the Gauss appears in MM again.
[Editor’s Note: Amen, brother]
Milk: Friends, and Halo. They seem to go hand in hand. A lot of communities, and people would not be able to make this experience a memorable one if they were unable to meet online, and through LAN. I would say the one thing that kept me coming back were those two features. LAN, and than later Live.
Flatlined: As I tend to be a Bear style player on objective games, there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to steal a defended flag, or arm a bomb and keep defenders away long enough so it detonates. Even if I touch the flag and know I am going to die fast, just touching it and knowing the other team has to start all over to try to return the flag is a great feeling.
Vi Et Armis: I like the pacing of Halo combat. The style of combat in GTA4 and CoD4 is a little more of a swell and ebb for me, with action being offset by periods of tension while you try find the next foe/objective/sniper who shot you in the head. In Halo, the longest breaks you get are when you die and run straight back into the fray.
The worst thing a gamer can do is make a wager that they can’t win. By that same token, the worst thing a business can do is make a promise to their clients that they can’t keep.
A few weeks ago, I was sharing a Party Lobby in Halo 3 via Xbox Live with a Praetorian by the “name” of Eisen Feuer. He mentioned a financial analysis that we conducted at Tied the Leader some time ago. Remember the one where we explored the value that gamers derive from their pastime, taking into account the time played and money spent?
He put the question to me “I would be curious to know how much steak you guys having coming to you…”
This gamerblogger loves a literary dare as much as other gamers love a good bet. Since then, the question has been tickling my matchmaking-addled brain. Games add up, after all. Time adds up. Medals add up. Steak [it has come to our attention] adds up.
The origins of the Steaktacular Medal are shrouded in shame and satire. Yet, a promise is a promise – especially when it comes to Gunslingers who are serious about their beef. In order to fully understand the debt that has been incurred by Bungie Studios, LLC to Tied the Leader, LLC, we had to go to the drawing boards.
A wise man once said “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” If my boss were to stumble across this blog, it should be said that this same man is also handsome and noble. Moving along…
In order to create a unit of measurement upon which this great counting will be based, we must first assign a value to Steak Dinner. To do this, we will access the Internet’s foremost authority on steak. According to Omaha Steaks, one Filet Mignon averages 7 ounces in weight. If we wanted to take advantage of the situation, we could all order Porterhouses, averaging 24 ounces. We won’t. In recognition of Bungie’s accomplishments in keeping us happily entertained, we will effect a conservative spit of the difference. Thus, our theoretical value for Steak Dinner is to be 12 ounces.
Now, we can move on to exactly how many Steak Dinners have been won by the TTL Gunslingers. Ironically enough, this debt was calculated on the website of the very people from whom it is owed. According to our profiles on Bungie.net, a sample audience of 61 Gunslingers reported that they had won a total of 11,278 Steaktacular Medals – that’s 3,275 ranked and 8,003 social, if you must know. That is everyone from the MLG guy who goes nuts in a game of Team Slayer, to the COD guy who obviously needs to play more Halo.
The average number of Medals won by those Gunslingers is 191. When you multiply that figure by the total number of Gunslingers on our active roster, we arrive at an estimated grand total of 21,983 Steak Dinners. At the risk of seeming shady in calculating an estimated total using a sample audit, we will round our estimate down to the nearest thousand. Thus, Bungie Studios owes Tied the Leader a revised total 21,000 Steak Dinners.
Of course, we can’t put this all on Luke. If Mr. Smith were to attempt personal repayment of this debt, he could expect to spend every night of his life for the next 9 years at a steak house with 7 other Gunslingers – a big team battle fit for a king. That would be cruel and unusual, for reasons well beyond the meat sweats. We would hope that every beef eater int he Halo Nation likes Luke too much to subject him to such torture.
Yet, we Gunslingers got some beef coming our way. Ain’t nothin’ gonna change that, neither. We aim to collect, you see. Fortunately, a Gunslinger usually knows a thing or two about cattle. There is no need to involve a middle man in the form of the restaurant industry.
According to the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, the average amount of tasty meat produced by a cow has increased from about 400 pounds in the 1960s to 585 pounds in 2005. That means that each cow yields 9,360 glorious ounces of mouth-watering carniverousness.
When we multiply the Gunslingers’ estimated count of 21,000 medals by the 12 ounce unit for a Steak Dinner, we arrive at a grand total of 252,000 ounces of pepper-encrusted joy. Since it would be impossible to eat all that meat before it went bad, we would really just rather have the cattle. We are fine to carve them up as the mood strikes.
Dividing our total estimated allotment of beef by the product yielded by one animal, we can safely stake a claim on 27 head of cattle.
Introducing a new feature at Tied the Leader: “Panel Discussions” will feature perceptions and opinions lifted from discussions held on our MidWorld Forum. The Tied the Leader Community is more than one blogger – more than one clan. This rogue column surveys many entities in the fan-driven system of gamer communities. Effective immediately, you can look forward to those gamers having more of a voice on the TTL masthead. Let’s kick things off with a question relative to DLC…
When it comes to new maps, do you prefer remakes? Or would you rather see something completely new and different?
Since the launch of their Xbox Live francise, Bungie Studios has gone to great lengths to keep the Halo Nation on its toes with downloadable content. Just when you knew the best objective route on Valhalla, you had to figure out where to take the flag on Rat’s Nest. Before you could master the laser dash on Standoff, we were introduced to the man-cannon shooting gallery that is Avalanche.
When the topic turns to new maps, fan feedback always turns to remakes. There are gamers who always want to “go home” to their preferred environs in Halo 2. Time-honored fan favorites like Wizard/Warlock or Midship are frequent entries on petitions to retro-fit Halo 3 to accommodate the old stomping grounds. The release of Heroic Map Pack saw enterprising gamers expressing their sentimentality by reForging sites of fond memories in Foundry. With the release of the Legendary Map Pack, legions of MLG-style competitors were silenced with the rebirth of Lockout/Blackout.
What is your preferred approach to DLC? Do you like seeing your favorite maps rebuilt for the fragging of a next generation? Or would you rather see your favorite game developers stretch the legs of their imaginations in the creation of never-before-seen battlegrounds like Ghost Town?
The dinh: I would prefer new maps. Variety is what makes me come back to Halo.
Stuicide: I love having new maps because they evolve in the way people play them and over the course of a few weeks, tactics advance and playing it stays exciting and unique. Compared to remakes, they lose a sense of “What do I need to do next?” Since people have battle tested them.
Gilthanis: While blackout is cool to have, it is not lockout. The little differences eat at me while I play it. However, I still would rather have a new map then a remake unless it was going to be an EXACT remake.
Fezzer: New. But a GOOD remake (like Avalanche) is nice once in awhile.
Sandman: While I enjoy new maps better, having the occasional remake/re-imagined map is fun too. Fighting on both familiar and new battlefields is what makes Halo great!
Quantifier: As I think back about maps like Relic, Terminal, Turf and Sanctuary; as much as part of me would be interested to see them ported to H3, I’d prefer to see brand new maps. Those were all new maps and I’m glad they made them rather than porting more H1 maps.
OboeCrazy: I want brand new. I never want a remake. Avalanche is an awesome map. However, I never played H1 multiplayer…so I never experienced Sidewinder the way many of you did.
Flatlined: In the past, [Bungie] used to answer that if you wanted to play Chill Out, or Midship, you can play Halo or Halo 2 etc. Well, Halo was never online, so the joy that was the Chill Out map, or Chiron, never was seen outside of LAN parties. As for Midship, Headlong etc, I am not sure I’d want to throw in an older title in when we wanna see the glorious Halo 3 graphics at work.
Tortacular: I want the developers to push themselves and let their imaginations rule. That’s how we get completely new experiences like Ghost Town’s vertical play.
Demagogue: It’s kind of fun to tread on familiar ground Halo 3-style as well stage battles in new territory where everyone is a ‘novice’.
BSG Gold: I would prefer new maps, but really anything off Halo:CE is like a new map, because it has never been exposed to Xbox Live before. What I really don’t want to see are any more Halo 2 remakes.
Fate: I love Ghost Town and would much rather spend my money on something new where everyone is figuring it out together. It’s much more fun to learn new ways to play a map from someone that beat you than rehashing the strategies that everyone used in H2.
BSG Alekat: You can’t put the remakes of Lockout and Sidewinder in the same category of course. I’m just going to say I like remakes like Sidewinder where the focus was on capturing the idea behind Sidewinder (epic flag battles), and perhaps holding onto a few familiar pieces like the bridge and snowy terrain.
Hard Boiled: I don’t want to see a developer stifled by public pressure to bring back old maps, because it will stifle gameplay. If I see Midship or Worlock mirrored in a map pack, I’ll play them the same way I played them in Halo 2. I don’t want to have to do that, I want fresh looks and fresh gameplay. That is what keeps me coming back.
Bunny: I love seeing what they do with the new graphics and abilities on the older maps. They never upset me because they really are a new map, they just happen to take a lot of features from the older maps.
CodeMonkey: I would like to see if the game developers can still ‘wow’ me. I want to see more of the game universe than before. I enjoy how Bungie tries to have a back story for each map as to where it is in the Halo universe. The storyline of Halo lends itself to many more possibilities for multiplayer maps and for DLC, I would rather see new visions of those places than remakes of old maps.
Jericho: You can never go home. To date (IMO) none of the remakes have lived up to my expectation with the exception of blood gultch/coagulation. Coag turns out to be better than the original.
Mondo Titan: The New maps have been way better than the remakes (with the exceptions of Coag and select others). i think that the reason for that is the game simply isn’t the same. no fall damage removed the danger/excitement from Hang ‘em High/ Tombstone. the slight changes in physics made memorable jumps/tricks harder, impossible, or nonexistent.
TruthPastor SBG: I am a vehicle guy so gaining Avalanche was great, but the other two maps don’t use vehicles (unless you count the mongoose) on Ghost Town. I feel that H3 is limited on its BTB game maps. I would much rather see big maps like Valhalla and Coagulation.
El Burritoh: I’ve played the old ones, and although I would love to play with the new gameplay on the old maps, I’d rather have new maps if it came right down to that kid of choice. Fortunately, Bungie graciously tries to please everyone! But… I would pay 400 points for a Midship remake alone. That map had a dynamic that is sorely missing from any of the H3 maps.
Mondo Jay: I’ve always liked to see the new and creative maps Bungie can come up with, and as much as I like re-imagined versions of old classics, they’ll never compare to that new car smell of maps like Ghost Town, Foundry, or Standoff… and honestly, if all the new DLC (Legendary & Heroic) had only been Remakes we’d never have newly formed classics like those…
Zeuz Patter: Halo3 is new. So should be the maps. New game-new maps. Hit me with your best shot! I want to fell in love again as I did with Valhalla in the Beta, as I did with Relic on its release.
VVilly: I think this is the best map pack for any Halo game ever, because you get a map from every game 1 from Halo CE, 1 from Halo 2, and a new one from Halo 3. Not everyone is going to like every single map but as a whole I think these 2 remakes were great choices.
Testa Killz: I think the biggest problem with remakes is that it puts unneeded constraints on the creators. Valhalla & Guardian are both great examples of why you interpret & honor the ideals of a map, rather than copy it’s text verbatim.
ooCRIMoo: we all have our different favorite old maps that we’d like to play in Halo 3. the developers could spend all their time remaking maps and STILL not satisfy everyone. It’s better for them to use their resources to make new favorite maps for us, so we have something to bitch about remaking in the next game – “Why won’t Bungie remake Ghost town? It’s my fav they must hate me”
If you have found yourself reading this column, but have never interacted with the TTL Community, you have tasted only a sliver of what lies behind the curtain of this domain. Over the weekend, the TTL Gunslingers completed a full facelift and overhaul on the portal that they use to write their own story about a never-ending battle.
Of course, this story is not just about one clan of gamers. It is about all of the clans that they meet in their quest for a good game. It is about the challengers who come to our house to represent theirs. The players in this tale leave their own round tables to make imaginary war against ours.
Led by a tireless Staff of Captains, the Gunslingers answer all takers of our open challenge. One by one, we match ranks and select matches. Maps and gametypes are exchanged for an evening of rivalry and friendly competition. Relationships are formed. One by one, we sample their game to see if it is good. Amidst the ever changing landscape of the greater gaming community, clans come and go. Alliances rise and fall.
A gaming community is lost without worthy opponents, left to wander matchmaking playlists in search of combatents who finish the fight and speak their lesson true. When the Gunslingers make new friends through the exchange of simulated gunfire, we hold on to them. We follow their respective campaigns, and keep them close for joint strike forces into the madness of Xbox Live.
Of all our lost time spent fragging faceless strangers via the world wide web, it is the friends that we have made along the way that best insure the good game. At the center of this storm is our forum. It is there that we share best practices and fresh recruits with our allies, in the hopes that will not disappear from the virtual landscape. New faces arrive in MidWorld every day. While our own imposed limitations prohibit us from issuing gunbelts to all of the TTL Allies, there is not one among them that does not fit the profile.
Our goal is to unite the clans. Xbox Live is a fascinating platform for social interaction. When gamers form up into platoons, the roleplay takes on a richness that goes well beyond your average free-for-all scenario. For the clans that patrol multiplayer playlists for Halo 3, we want to meet you. For the lone wolves that have always wondered what the clan system is like, we offer a unique shelter that is shared by many.
With as easy as it can be to set up a tournament venue, competitive gaming need not require a ballroom and corporate sponsorship. The plug-and-play convenience of the Xbox enables any gamer to compete for the prize on the same battlefield as the pros – to taste for themselves the excitement of battling to the last in a live environment.
The following is a field report from TTL Cleanbeats, who led a party at a tournament held at an insitution of higher learning. In this combat scenario, the league commissioners were students running a social club. Like any social club, like-minded people converged around a common interest. In this social club, that common interest was laying to one another’s pixels.
We now yield the floor to a sitting Morale Sergeant in the ranks of the TTL Gunslingers. That’s him on the right, adorned in Officially Licensed TTL Schwag, OoRah!
On April 12th, 2008, the University of Michigan Video Gamers Club hosted a Halo 3 tournament on the campus of U of M Flint.
The occasion brought together seven Halo 3 teams from around the area for a day of Halo 3 LAN madness. Tied the Leader was able to assemble a team of 3 Gunslingers and one TTL Ally to bring the “Good Game” attitude to some face to face gaming.
The teams in attendance were: Calamitous Intent, Shazam, Halo Ph33ns, F3AR, Rod Squad, “The 6th team” and Tied the Leader. “The 6th team” had a very tasteless name that I won’t subject you the readers to. It would be even worse if I listed their tags, so I won’t.
The stage was set for a point system bracket, each team earning points and moving to the appropriate next round of play. The system was set up really well, and teams were able to play a couple matches and fight back in to the mix. The game types used were the ever popular MLG settings which translated in to some very intense and very dominating games.
2 stations were set up to allow two matches to be played at the same time. Station #1 comprised of two plasma TVs with each team playing four person split screen. It actually wasn’t that bad, the screens were big enough that you still got a good viewing area for each player. Station#2 was the optimum tournament set up. Eight TVs, allowing each player their own station, set up back to back. Each match alternated back and forth between split screen and station gaming.
When everything was said and done Shazam and Rod Squad were the 2 teams left standing and had to battle it out for the championship match. Both teams fought hard, but Shazam was able to come out in top and take the final match. Congrats to Shazam and all of the rest of the teams for a great day of Halo.
Thanks go out to the U of M Flint Video gamers Club for hosting such a great event. I hope to see many more of these in the future. So until next time, go play Halo!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to an Official Warfare Briefing from the Tied the Leader Institute of Combat Excellence.
What you are about to see is Classified – Access Level: tango-tango-lima.
Prior to the release of the Legendary Map Pack, Bungie Studios welcomed a delegation of crash-test dummies from the ranks of the gamer-centric media. Having conned ourselves a press pass, TTL sent our man on the street – Combat Correspondent L Askan – to conduct advanced reconnaisance on the impending DLC. Below the line, you will access full tactical analysis and file photos for the next three theatres of combat to host the Battle of the Halo Nation.
Blackout!
We may think we know everything about this map from our storied exploits on Lockout, but there is bound to be a surprise or two hidden away among those elevated ramparts. Perhaps the most oft-requested rebuild from Halo 2 is finally being given its due treatment in Halo 3. The Halo Nation is about to learn if they can ever go home again.
TTL: What games did you play on this map?
L Askan: Team Slayer, 1-Flag, Team Ball, 2v2 Slayer, and Free-For-All.
TTL: What was the most striking difference about Blackout that prevented you from porting your Lockout playbook to Halo 3 gameplay?
L Askan: Games on this map were very similar to games on Lockout in H2. In a match of Team Slayer, setting up crossfire between Sniper Tower and Battle Rifle Tower was still the key to victory – with the Sword playing a large role in close-quarters engagements.
We didn’t see any Final Boss-esque Team Ball setups or Carbon-inspired dominance from Battle Rifle tower. But, it did seem that coordinating fire from a position on one side of the map often led to victory. Team Ball is still an absolute blast to play on this map.
TTL: What were your favorite modifications? Which ones will take the most effort to get used to?
L Askan: The small changes made to the ledge areas [around the center] are a welcome change, as well as the removal of some of the jumps that exploited geometry in the original iteration. Some jumps, like the shortcut from top-center to the flag-plant atop the old Battle Rifle tower, are more difficult. Other jumps, such as the one that led from the top-center to the Sniper spawn, have been simplified.
As small a change as it seems, respawning energy cores will also take some getting used to. Lockout had some choice placements for cores. Now that they respawn on a timer, you will need to pay close attention to them [as well as where you’re standing in relation to them] throughout the entire match.
[Editor’s Note: Killing Snipers who camp next to the cores that spawn next to their favorite weapon is still as satisfying as it ever was.]
TTL: Assuming that gamers can ever really be satisfied; will the lads at MLG be pleased with Lockout’s facelift?
Bungie really did us a solid by giving us the most popular H2 map in H3. It would be a shame if this remake was used as an argument to have Midship revived or Warlock remade.
TTL: What was the most effective tactic you observed during your day of playing on this map?
L Askan: The use of grenades and equipment to control doorways and halls. The effective radius of the power drainer makes it an absolute monster on Blackout. Halo 3 equipment adds an entirely new dimension to this map, and should be prioritized as power weapons in an initial rush. The difference between a flag-carrier and a flag-carrier escaping through a bubble shield is one we’re all too familiar with.
Avalanche!
Lesser known but equally revered, Sidewinder is finally being given the Xbox Live treatment. Multiplayer memories from Halo: Combat Evolved include endless flag matches and vehicular battle royales set in the deep freeze. Two games later, the icy horseshoe is back in our arsenal.
[Editor’s Aside: Thanks for the brevity, Jerk! That’s what I get for sending a Sqaud Captain, instead of a Poet.]
TTL: Will vehicular dominance be unquestioned? Are there enough countermeasures strewn across the lanscape to stop the motorpool?
L Askan: Unfamiliar with the term “vehicular dominance”. Please explain.
[Editor’s Retort: You know, that’s when ‘Hog Pilots like me splatter the ever-loving life out of field grunts like you, over and over and over and…]
Vehicles will undoubtedly play the biggest role on Avalanche. The absence of Missile Pods means that the Spartan Laser is of the utmost importance. It will likely be the most sought-after item on this map. Gamers who remember where the Rockets spawned on Sidewinder will know exactly where to go to find them on Avalanche – and there are teleporters in each base to enable a shortcut. Expect many very memorable vehicular battles on this map.
Also, in one-sided objective games, the team on offense has Human vehicles while the defending team has Covie vehicles. It’s a great twist!
TTL: Tell me all about my Snow Hog! Does it really handle differently? Or is it just decorated with new winter camouflage?
L Askan: The snow hog may or may not have a fully automatic Gauss Cannon mounted on it… Kidding, kidding.
While it is sporting a new paint job, it does not seem tp handle differently than on Valhalla or Sandtrap. Avalanche, however, is a cold, snowy place. Where there’s snow, there’s ice… While the ice does threaten a momentary loss of control [and brakes] it is not the skating rink we knew on Sidewinder. Wheelmen are less likely to splatter flag-carriers who choose the wrong patch for dust-off.
TTL: What was the most effective tactic you observed during your day of playing on this map?
L Askan: Air support. The Hornet has been gentled for matchmaking, but it is still an absolute beast. Tanks are important, and hogs are still the best way to transport troops; but air support is going to make or break a rush.
Ghost Town
This is the only true mystery to behold in the Legendary Map Pack. Ghost Town is the new guy that your two old friends bring to the party. Introductions all around, as we start from scratch on this one.
TTL: How would you describe this map in relation to other environments from Halo multiplayer?
L Askan: Ghost Town has a “Sanctuary-ish” feeling to it in terms of the limestone-style buildings, but is infinitely more detailed in its state of decay. The light shading alone is mind-blowing.
Much like Zanzibar, it’s a perfect one-sided objective map, and carries with it the distinction of being equally playable by 16 gamers as it is by 8 gamers. That’s not an easy feat to pull off, but it was mastered through what must have been countless hours of design and test.
TTL: What was the preferred method of negotiating this map? Is this a vehicular scene, or an on-foot engagement?
L Askan: Ghost town is certainly an on-foot affair. A skilled mongoose driver may be able to assist in negotiating a flag extraction from time to time, but the way to “do work” on this map is going to be with your boots on the ground, grinding for a toe-hold and earning your positions.
TTL: What do you foresee being the most popular gametypes on this map?
L Askan: 1-Flag and 1-Bomb first. Because of the numerous routes and defensive positions, one-sided objective games are going to be favorites on this map. It shouldn’t be overlooked for Slayer either, as it played very well in both Team and Free-For-All. You may even reconsider your Auto-Veto-Reflex after playing VIP on this map. It’s just that good.
If you haven’t played Team Duel in DLC slayer yet, I suggest spending some time in that playlist. That gametype would also be barrels of fun on Ghost Town.
TTL: What can you tell us about this map that we don’t know to ask, since we haven’t played [something similar to] it?
L Askan: There is a strong emphasis on multi-level combat in Ghost Town. High-ground advantage is going to be crucial in both Objective and Slayer games. In more than one of the structures on this map, there are three levels. Access between them are fast, fluid, and intuitive.
I suspect that there are going to be new grenade bounces discovered on this map for years.
TTL: What was the most effective tactic you observed during your day of playing on this map?
L Askan: On offense, be sure to use all of the assets you’ve been given. Leaving Rockets or Active Camouflage could come back to haunt you halfway through a round. You’ve got plenty of choices on a route to take, so if you’re encountering a solid defense one way, work another angle.
On defense, keep your head on a swivel and don’t think you’re safe because you’ve got one access point covered. Be prepared to fortify a different position if a teammate goes down. Camping could cost you a ten-second respawn or a lost flag.
Thanks to Bungie Studios for a chance to preview thier latest round of downloadable content. Cheers on a job well done, and keep up the great work. Good games on these new maps are sure to be a slam dunk.
[Editor’s Final Note: The above screenshot is a joke, and in no way meant to imply that Legendary DLC will be host to a basket-odd-ball gametype.]
A brief from the Tied the Leader Intelligence Agency:
It’s fitting that our newest round of Downloadable Content for Halo 3, Produced by Bungie Studios [heretofore referred to as DLC] has been branded the “Legendary Map Pack”. More than the obvious successor to the Heroic DLC Pack, it features two maps that have achieved “legendary” status among the warring citizens of the Halo Nation. Finally, after thousands [millions?] of units of impassioned feedback, gamers will get the chance to view Sidewinder and Lockout through the next-gen prism of Halo 3.
As revealed in advance press from Bungie.net, the names have changed but the simulated combat scenarios are the same. Avalanche is a tunnel-ridden horseshoe of snowbound mayhem that some will remember from Combat Evolved. Blackout is the multi-level thunderdome and competitive standard that most will recall from Halo 2.
The remaining questions are to be answered later this week, through the impressions of those test subjects who have had a preview of what will be downloaded in the land-rush scheduled for April 15th. For many a gamer, this DLC is the answer to a plea or a prayer.
Any surfers curious enough to brave the waves at Bungie.net have witnessed the desperate cries of die-hard fans who could not fully love a new Halo game without a return to the scenes of their old favorite crimes. Never let it be said that Bungie Studios [a limited liability corporation] does not listen to the troops who fight in their cause for global domination.
Of all the new battlefields to be seen, this gamerblogger is most curious about Ghost Town. While it is intriguing to see our favorite battlezones put back under the microscope, this matchmaking denizen is more curious about the new tricks that the makers have up their sleeves. Launching a game and seeing it played has an inevitable impact on a creative process. It was late in the game of Halo 2 that my favorite map, a foreboding island we knew as “Relic”, exploded [very literally] onto the scene. It may be that our next favorite theater of pretended warfare is a place that no one has yet to see.
For the rest of you, April 15th represents your chance to put your money where your forum petition is. You issued the call. Bungie has answered with retro-teraformation of two legends from the lore of Halo multiplayer. Perhaps they even gave rise to a new classic amidst all of that decaying concrete. We need not debate the vaue of this offering. Price is set. Nothing left to do now but shoulder the flame thrower and vote with your wallets.
You thought you finished the fight? That propaganda was there to sell the story. So long as the online census remains strong, and the respawn clock ticks down, the fight need not end. Sound off if you will be on the front lines on opening day with an Oo-RAH! and a Battle Rifle. Time to muster for launch, ye Halo Gamer.
Check back with Tied the Leader this Friday, April 11th to receive a full tactical combat briefing from a Squad Captain in the ranks of the TTL Gunslingers who has experienced the gameplay that will spin off from these maps. Until then, he is sequestered in an undisclosed location with a zombie shotgun and a zippo – you know, in case he has to burn his notes.
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