zig8
04-20-2011, 03:44 PM
Probably a bit of an overstatement, since the brand name of Halo alone would probably sell more than enough copies for it to be profitable for any company for a long time to come... but sales alone don't make something successful, at least in my personal opinion. If that were true, than I would consider Britney Spears to be a good musician, and singer... which I don't. I think it's safe to say that Halo won't be going anywhere any time soon, but my concern as a dedicated Halo fan who has purchased and played every Halo title (including the PC variations) is what the next steps are for the franchise, and what it's new owners can bring to the table in terms of features and direction that will bring a breathe of fresh air to other dedicated fans of the series. In this thread I'll list, in no particular order, a ton of my own personal ideas as to what 343 can bring to the Halo franchise that would get me excited and willing to dedicate further playtime to this franchise, and not leave it behind for the next best thing, like many other gamers are today for games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, Gears of War 3, and various other new titles.
Public Dedicated Servers
For years, playing Halo on the console has been plagued by a peer-to-peer connection that is reliant on the host's network. The host is often chosen by the player who has "the best connection", whatever that means. Unknown to the rest of the players is just exactly what is happening on this players network during gaming sessions. Who knows if another member of this players' family is streaming movies on netflix, browsing facebook, downloading multiple torrents, has a computer with an active internet connection that is diseased with malware and spyware, etc. Whatever the case may be it often results in poor game connections, dropped games, or worse. Even if the connection happens to be good, if the host decides to rage quit the game the other players are forced to wait at a black screen while the host switches, and the game is ruined by weapon respawns and various other factors.
On the PC platform, Halo:CE and Halo 2 Vista introduced dedicated servers. For the most part, these servers worked wonderfully and were determined not by a peer-to-peer network, but by the "usually stable" network of the server that the game was running off of. Server administrators could create playlists that would continuously loop different gametypes, maps, and rule settings as well as blacklist people, kick people, and keep order. Players could search for games that THEY wanted to play, on servers that THEY wanted to play on, rather than being dictated to them by a playlist developers have determined, and randomly matched up with players from all around the globe in gametypes and maps that they vote for randomly. Connections were not always stable, and lag was still experienced, but the play experience was more consistent and players were able to browse for servers which were low pinging for their own personal playing experience. Gears of War 3 is currently utilizing Dedicated Servers, so there should be no excuse as to why this can't be implemented for the Halo franchise. XBOX Live costs $50.00 USD a year, and that should be more than enough for a subscriber to be treated with respect enough by Microsoft who should offer Public Dedicated Servers to it's clients, instead of games based off of unreliable peer-to-peer connections.
Private Dedicated Servers
Not only should Microsoft be supplying Public Dedicated Servers to XBOX Live for general gameplay, but they should also be offering Private Dedicated Servers to individuals who want to rent and purchase their own. Teams/Clans/Organizations and even individual players could rent a Private Dedicated Server for Halo, for example, and would be the owner and administrator of that server, who could then dictate the gametypes/maps/rules rotation as well as player capacity limits, kicks/bans and other administrative options. This would be healthy for the community, not only due to reliable connections, but also so that players have more control over how, when, and where they want to play the game.
At http://www.gameservers.com/, an example of a privately owned dedicated server company, Counter-Strike 1.6 game servers are sold for only $12.95 a month with a 10 player capacity. Microsoft could offer similar prices and make even MORE money, a wise business decision for them, or could sell Private Dedicated Server software to third party companies and allow business similar to GameServers to sell them.
Custom Game Browser/ Dedicated Server Browser
Matchmaking is cool, but there should be more control over how an individual player wants to play the game. Custom Games are great, but how often do you run into the dilemma of finding more people to play custom games with you? Most of the time you are sitting around looking for those extra few people to join so you can get a 4 versus 4 going, and you are limited to the friend lists of those people available in your own room. A Custom Game Browser would relieve this issue, and would allow for random players to search for currently open Custom Games that are not full and able to join. Players would freely flow in and out of games all day long, you would be able to meet and form relationships with a wider array of players, and the game's community would strengthen overall.
A Dedicated Server Browser would be the same concept, and games could be listed in order by Ping (Connection), Players waiting in the lobby, Gametypes, Maps, Rules, etc. This gives the player complete control over the game, allowing for us to play Halo how WE want to play it, not how Bungie decides we will play it.
Simultaneous Console/PC Release
There is no question that it is possible for a console game to be cooperative with a PC game. The Halo franchise is also no stranger to the PC platform. Halo:CE and Halo 2 were both developed for the PC, but Halo 3 and Halo: Reach opted out of PC ports due to the blunders and failures of it's predecessors. Let's look though at why exactly the PC ports of Halo failed.
First of all, both PC ports were released years after the game had already launched on the XBOX console. The reason for this is obvious, Microsoft simply wanted people to buy XBOX's. Fair enough, as the Halo franchise is probably the number one reason why XBOX is so successful today. So, for the most part... it worked. Another reason is because the ports weren't developed specifically for the PC, they were developed for the console and than ported to the PC, which makes a big difference in quality. Halo 2 Vista was better developed than Halo:CE PC, but the fact that the game required Windows Vista and ran on the, than currently very restrictive "Games for Windows" platform, it failed miserably at even getting off the ground.
Looking at the failures of Halo on the PC, it's obvious what needs to be done if the Halo franchise wants to break grounds on the PC front. The next Halo title must release simultaneously on both the XBOX and PC platform. Forget the PS3, forget the Nintendo, Halo is and always will be Microsoft. So, in the interest of keeping exclusivity, Halo should be developed simultaneously for both the XBOX and PC platforms, and the two should cooperate with each other using XBOX Live/Windows Live. This will not only bolster the use of the unpopular Games for Windows platform, but it will expand upon the already substantial player base of the Halo franchise. There will be a much larger number of active players playing the game, and a huge increase of competitive players as well. The game should include both controller, and mouse/keyboard support (as the XBOX controller is already plug-and-play with any standard computer that uses a recent version of windows), and players should be able to play against one another whether or not they are playing on the XBOX or on a PC.
Fully functional Map Editor + More custom options
Forge World is great, but I'm wondering why it isn't just a completely open source map editor. One of the best things about the Halo franchise has been it's capabilities to be customized and tweaked, yet still to date there aren't enough options for players to customize Halo. What do I mean? Well for example, why can't we tweak the bloom, the grenade damage, or shot damage individually? Why can't we edit already established maps like Zealot, or Countdown by removing walls or changing textures? Why are we forced to use a map editor that has currency limits, and similar textures on basically every available editing piece? How come we can't upload our own textures or models and create a Halo Total Conversion title, like people were able to do when they created Counter-Strike out of Halflife?
One of the most amazing things about Halo on the PC platform was the capability to fully customize and transform the game. http://www.halomaps.org/ has some examples of just how interesting things can get when players have the tools necessary to transform the game into what they've envisioned. MLG, for example, would be able to develop it's very own competitive tournament mode without any limitations as to what was possible. Look at what they've already done with Forge World alone, and imagine the possibilities if the limitations were gone. Developers shouldn't be afraid to give players the tools and options they need to create something they themselves could never imagine.
Spectator Mode
There is simply no excuse for not allowing players to spectate and watch people play the game live as it's happening, other than connection concerns which would be solved by my Dedicated Server suggestions above. Almost every FPS game I've ever played on the PC platform has had a spectator mode come STOCK with the game. For competition, spectator mode can be used for referees needed for competitive matches or leagues, or shoutcasters used for broadcasting and commentating on games live as they are occurring. Believe it or not, this strengthens a community ten fold and has been a miserable experience watching it absent from over 4 iterations of Halo on the XBOX platform.
Consistency
FPS players demand one thing, consistency. The Halo franchise has been plagued by numerous drastic changes to functions that already worked time and time again. We've gone from pistol starts 3 shot, to BR starts 4 shot (with a horrible spread that was eventually patched), to DMR starts 5 shot. We've watched epic maps get remade into garbage, and we've experienced inconsistent damage tables for weapons and grenades throughout Halo's existence. We've recently seen our powerups that worked perfectly fine as they were, get turned into equipment loadouts that completely failed us. Make up your mind! With every new Halo title comes a new multi-player experience, and that is a huge "no no" to FPS players, especially COMPETITIVE FPS players. Just look at what happened to Counter-Strike when it made the jump from 1.6 to the Source engine, as an example.
Advice to 343 would be to keep what works, cut out what hasn't, and bring Halo back to it's roots by creating a simple yet consistent formula. My personal opinion would be to create a multi-player only Halo title that would be expanded upon with updates, and to continue the story with Halo 4 without multi-player. Of course this is debatable.
------------------------------------------------------
If something similar to this sort of approach was taken with the Halo franchise by 343, it would show me that they are serious about addressing the concerns of the community and would keep me interested in continuing my further support of the title. If they instead choose to recreate Halo:CE without any of the above mentioned features, and than release Halo 4 shortly afterwards with a brand new multi-player experience it will show me they are simply trying to make more money and don't really give a fuck about quality. Halo is a great FPS, and the only FPS I have been dedicated to for 9 years now since the release of Halo:CE on the PC platform in March of 2002, yet it has always been lacking the basic functionality of FPS games that have predated the Halo franchise and set the standards of the FPS industry years before Halo was even born.
343 should also embrace Halo's competitive community, even more so than Bungie did. They will never find success in catering to the flaky casual gamers who jump onto the next flavor of the month game at every chance they get, and should respect the opinions and concerns of the competitive community who dedicate themselves to the game for a much longer period of time, have a better understanding of the game's mechanics, and have brought the Halo franchise longevity and legendary moments throughout it's existence.
I understand that my suggestions are generally from a PC player's perspective, but keep in mind that the PC platform originated the First Person Shooter and set the standards long before Halo made it's debut. Halo should conform to these standards and expand upon them, rather than many of the above features being mysteriously absent for over 4 titles now.
Feel free to debate/criticize or make your own additions but I've said my piece for the most part.
Good luck 343.
Public Dedicated Servers
For years, playing Halo on the console has been plagued by a peer-to-peer connection that is reliant on the host's network. The host is often chosen by the player who has "the best connection", whatever that means. Unknown to the rest of the players is just exactly what is happening on this players network during gaming sessions. Who knows if another member of this players' family is streaming movies on netflix, browsing facebook, downloading multiple torrents, has a computer with an active internet connection that is diseased with malware and spyware, etc. Whatever the case may be it often results in poor game connections, dropped games, or worse. Even if the connection happens to be good, if the host decides to rage quit the game the other players are forced to wait at a black screen while the host switches, and the game is ruined by weapon respawns and various other factors.
On the PC platform, Halo:CE and Halo 2 Vista introduced dedicated servers. For the most part, these servers worked wonderfully and were determined not by a peer-to-peer network, but by the "usually stable" network of the server that the game was running off of. Server administrators could create playlists that would continuously loop different gametypes, maps, and rule settings as well as blacklist people, kick people, and keep order. Players could search for games that THEY wanted to play, on servers that THEY wanted to play on, rather than being dictated to them by a playlist developers have determined, and randomly matched up with players from all around the globe in gametypes and maps that they vote for randomly. Connections were not always stable, and lag was still experienced, but the play experience was more consistent and players were able to browse for servers which were low pinging for their own personal playing experience. Gears of War 3 is currently utilizing Dedicated Servers, so there should be no excuse as to why this can't be implemented for the Halo franchise. XBOX Live costs $50.00 USD a year, and that should be more than enough for a subscriber to be treated with respect enough by Microsoft who should offer Public Dedicated Servers to it's clients, instead of games based off of unreliable peer-to-peer connections.
Private Dedicated Servers
Not only should Microsoft be supplying Public Dedicated Servers to XBOX Live for general gameplay, but they should also be offering Private Dedicated Servers to individuals who want to rent and purchase their own. Teams/Clans/Organizations and even individual players could rent a Private Dedicated Server for Halo, for example, and would be the owner and administrator of that server, who could then dictate the gametypes/maps/rules rotation as well as player capacity limits, kicks/bans and other administrative options. This would be healthy for the community, not only due to reliable connections, but also so that players have more control over how, when, and where they want to play the game.
At http://www.gameservers.com/, an example of a privately owned dedicated server company, Counter-Strike 1.6 game servers are sold for only $12.95 a month with a 10 player capacity. Microsoft could offer similar prices and make even MORE money, a wise business decision for them, or could sell Private Dedicated Server software to third party companies and allow business similar to GameServers to sell them.
Custom Game Browser/ Dedicated Server Browser
Matchmaking is cool, but there should be more control over how an individual player wants to play the game. Custom Games are great, but how often do you run into the dilemma of finding more people to play custom games with you? Most of the time you are sitting around looking for those extra few people to join so you can get a 4 versus 4 going, and you are limited to the friend lists of those people available in your own room. A Custom Game Browser would relieve this issue, and would allow for random players to search for currently open Custom Games that are not full and able to join. Players would freely flow in and out of games all day long, you would be able to meet and form relationships with a wider array of players, and the game's community would strengthen overall.
A Dedicated Server Browser would be the same concept, and games could be listed in order by Ping (Connection), Players waiting in the lobby, Gametypes, Maps, Rules, etc. This gives the player complete control over the game, allowing for us to play Halo how WE want to play it, not how Bungie decides we will play it.
Simultaneous Console/PC Release
There is no question that it is possible for a console game to be cooperative with a PC game. The Halo franchise is also no stranger to the PC platform. Halo:CE and Halo 2 were both developed for the PC, but Halo 3 and Halo: Reach opted out of PC ports due to the blunders and failures of it's predecessors. Let's look though at why exactly the PC ports of Halo failed.
First of all, both PC ports were released years after the game had already launched on the XBOX console. The reason for this is obvious, Microsoft simply wanted people to buy XBOX's. Fair enough, as the Halo franchise is probably the number one reason why XBOX is so successful today. So, for the most part... it worked. Another reason is because the ports weren't developed specifically for the PC, they were developed for the console and than ported to the PC, which makes a big difference in quality. Halo 2 Vista was better developed than Halo:CE PC, but the fact that the game required Windows Vista and ran on the, than currently very restrictive "Games for Windows" platform, it failed miserably at even getting off the ground.
Looking at the failures of Halo on the PC, it's obvious what needs to be done if the Halo franchise wants to break grounds on the PC front. The next Halo title must release simultaneously on both the XBOX and PC platform. Forget the PS3, forget the Nintendo, Halo is and always will be Microsoft. So, in the interest of keeping exclusivity, Halo should be developed simultaneously for both the XBOX and PC platforms, and the two should cooperate with each other using XBOX Live/Windows Live. This will not only bolster the use of the unpopular Games for Windows platform, but it will expand upon the already substantial player base of the Halo franchise. There will be a much larger number of active players playing the game, and a huge increase of competitive players as well. The game should include both controller, and mouse/keyboard support (as the XBOX controller is already plug-and-play with any standard computer that uses a recent version of windows), and players should be able to play against one another whether or not they are playing on the XBOX or on a PC.
Fully functional Map Editor + More custom options
Forge World is great, but I'm wondering why it isn't just a completely open source map editor. One of the best things about the Halo franchise has been it's capabilities to be customized and tweaked, yet still to date there aren't enough options for players to customize Halo. What do I mean? Well for example, why can't we tweak the bloom, the grenade damage, or shot damage individually? Why can't we edit already established maps like Zealot, or Countdown by removing walls or changing textures? Why are we forced to use a map editor that has currency limits, and similar textures on basically every available editing piece? How come we can't upload our own textures or models and create a Halo Total Conversion title, like people were able to do when they created Counter-Strike out of Halflife?
One of the most amazing things about Halo on the PC platform was the capability to fully customize and transform the game. http://www.halomaps.org/ has some examples of just how interesting things can get when players have the tools necessary to transform the game into what they've envisioned. MLG, for example, would be able to develop it's very own competitive tournament mode without any limitations as to what was possible. Look at what they've already done with Forge World alone, and imagine the possibilities if the limitations were gone. Developers shouldn't be afraid to give players the tools and options they need to create something they themselves could never imagine.
Spectator Mode
There is simply no excuse for not allowing players to spectate and watch people play the game live as it's happening, other than connection concerns which would be solved by my Dedicated Server suggestions above. Almost every FPS game I've ever played on the PC platform has had a spectator mode come STOCK with the game. For competition, spectator mode can be used for referees needed for competitive matches or leagues, or shoutcasters used for broadcasting and commentating on games live as they are occurring. Believe it or not, this strengthens a community ten fold and has been a miserable experience watching it absent from over 4 iterations of Halo on the XBOX platform.
Consistency
FPS players demand one thing, consistency. The Halo franchise has been plagued by numerous drastic changes to functions that already worked time and time again. We've gone from pistol starts 3 shot, to BR starts 4 shot (with a horrible spread that was eventually patched), to DMR starts 5 shot. We've watched epic maps get remade into garbage, and we've experienced inconsistent damage tables for weapons and grenades throughout Halo's existence. We've recently seen our powerups that worked perfectly fine as they were, get turned into equipment loadouts that completely failed us. Make up your mind! With every new Halo title comes a new multi-player experience, and that is a huge "no no" to FPS players, especially COMPETITIVE FPS players. Just look at what happened to Counter-Strike when it made the jump from 1.6 to the Source engine, as an example.
Advice to 343 would be to keep what works, cut out what hasn't, and bring Halo back to it's roots by creating a simple yet consistent formula. My personal opinion would be to create a multi-player only Halo title that would be expanded upon with updates, and to continue the story with Halo 4 without multi-player. Of course this is debatable.
------------------------------------------------------
If something similar to this sort of approach was taken with the Halo franchise by 343, it would show me that they are serious about addressing the concerns of the community and would keep me interested in continuing my further support of the title. If they instead choose to recreate Halo:CE without any of the above mentioned features, and than release Halo 4 shortly afterwards with a brand new multi-player experience it will show me they are simply trying to make more money and don't really give a fuck about quality. Halo is a great FPS, and the only FPS I have been dedicated to for 9 years now since the release of Halo:CE on the PC platform in March of 2002, yet it has always been lacking the basic functionality of FPS games that have predated the Halo franchise and set the standards of the FPS industry years before Halo was even born.
343 should also embrace Halo's competitive community, even more so than Bungie did. They will never find success in catering to the flaky casual gamers who jump onto the next flavor of the month game at every chance they get, and should respect the opinions and concerns of the competitive community who dedicate themselves to the game for a much longer period of time, have a better understanding of the game's mechanics, and have brought the Halo franchise longevity and legendary moments throughout it's existence.
I understand that my suggestions are generally from a PC player's perspective, but keep in mind that the PC platform originated the First Person Shooter and set the standards long before Halo made it's debut. Halo should conform to these standards and expand upon them, rather than many of the above features being mysteriously absent for over 4 titles now.
Feel free to debate/criticize or make your own additions but I've said my piece for the most part.
Good luck 343.