Halo 4 out November 6th!!

Did anyone else notice the huge increase in XP for the weekly challenges? They're 10,000-30,000 XP this week. They're also not terribly difficult:

Campaign
30,000 XP - Complete Reclaimer on Legendary difficulty with the Mythic, Tilt, Tough Luck and Thunderstorm skulls.
10,000 XP - Complete any Campaign Mission on Heroic or higher difficulty with the Mythic, Tilt and Thunderstorm skulls.

Spartan Ops
10,000 XP - Kill 50 Jackals.
30,000 XP - Kill 30 Knights.

War Games
20,000 XP - Get 150 kills with a Precision Loadout Weapon.
10,000 XP - Earn 40 Combat Skill Medals.

Half of those are higher than the monthly challenge, which gives 15,000 XP.

A friend and I did the two campaign challenges at the same time. With the 40,000 XP, I went from level 50 to nearly level 54 in one mission.

I wonder if they were seeing a dropoff in players and increased the XP amounts to lure players back in.
 
If they did its working, I'll probably jump back in this week. After missing a few days a couple weeks ago I came back and my first MP game a teammate plasma'd me in my warthog on purpose. Haven't loaded it up since.
 
Yeah, I was thinking about taking a break from War Games and just playing Spartan Ops so I could play some games in my backlog, but that 30,000 XP from two challenges is pretty tempting.
 
Assuming the XP bump is what you said - trying to reel people back in. Between the dropoff and the Mountain Dew XP thing ending, I guess they're scrambling for incentives.

Grifball sure is nice for getting those hammer and sword kills up for that stance that I'll never, ever unlock for getting a zillion kills with all the Covenant ordinance weapons.
 
[quote name='Wet Ninja']Yeah, I was just taking a wild guess about a dropoff in players being the reason for the XP increase. I haven't paid attention to the numbers.

This doesn't bode well, though:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertc...ut-and-cod-in-at-major-league-gaming-but-why/[/QUOTE]

the article has so many contradictions...

all the "faults" listed for Halo 4 (customization of weapons, kill streaks, etc.) are also in Call of Duty. so that's a copout. even the author realized it and put a quick paragraph to counter it, at the end, by saying, well, since they have always been in COD, it's okay for COD. *roll eyes*

not to mention it glossed over and tried to diminish the fact that Microsoft sign an exclusive contract with a rival upstart gaming league. which means MLG had no option but to drop it.
 
Yesterday I went ahead and cashed out all my Mountain Dew XP codes and attached them to my gamertag, even though I don't have Halo 4 yet. Attempting to read the rules, I was confused. At first I thought I read you must have played Halo 4 before attaching them to your gamertag. Then I started thinking, why?

Does anybody know if the double XP will be sitting there on my account until I start up the game? Or did I just waste them? Just curious. Thx.
 
What a poorly written article that conveys nothing between the two games.

I especially love this part:
At top levels, players used to know where anyone could be on a map, where they could hit them from, and where they were likely to run to, but give them a jetpack and suddenly all that knowledge goes out the window.
Click to expand...

So essentially hardcore gamers are bemoaning the removal of modern day "screen watching." lol The way the article is written is basically saying top competitors can't compete when you remove power weapons from the map, and add in some randomness. i.e. if you can't control the map then you can't compete. That makes it sound more like the top players really aren't all that impressive to begin with by relying on tricks, weapon spawns and map knowledge to dominate.

Boo hoo for them.
 
[quote name='cancermatt']Yesterday I went ahead and cashed out all my Mountain Dew XP codes and attached them to my gamertag, even though I don't have Halo 4 yet. Attempting to read the rules, I was confused. At first I thought I read you must have played Halo 4 before attaching them to your gamertag. Then I started thinking, why?

Does anybody know if the double XP will be sitting there on my account until I start up the game? Or did I just waste them? Just curious. Thx.[/QUOTE]

First they will automatically be used when you finally play Halo 4. Not the wisest move since Spartan Ops gives far more XP. I only cash in a couple at a time when I'm getting ready to play Spartan Ops.

Second, you had until 3/31 to "Apply" the codes to your gamertag.

Third, by the sounds of it, your XP bonus is safe once it's transferred to the Gamertag. So you're good.
 
[quote name='Corvin']What a poorly written article that conveys nothing between the two games.

I especially love this part:


So essentially hardcore gamers are bemoaning the removal of modern day "screen watching." lol The way the article is written is basically saying top competitors can't compete when you remove power weapons from the map, and add in some randomness. i.e. if you can't control the map then you can't compete. That makes it sound more like the top players really aren't all that impressive to begin with by relying on tricks, weapon spawns and map knowledge to dominate.

Boo hoo for them.[/QUOTE]

yeah, that part bothered me. It's basically saying that the more options in the game, the worse it is for the top players. Because then, they can't cover all their bases with a few strategies. For me, the problem with games that have such narrow options is once everyone figures out what the best option is, everyone ends up running the same routes, using the same weapons, the same strategies, etc.
 
[quote name='Wet Ninja']Yeah, I was just taking a wild guess about a dropoff in players being the reason for the XP increase. I haven't paid attention to the numbers.

This doesn't bode well, though:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertc...ut-and-cod-in-at-major-league-gaming-but-why/[/QUOTE]


I didn't even know forbes had game articles like this on their site. So much truth in that article and such a shame too. 343 and Bungie literally turned the Halo series to trash in just two games
 
[quote name='Corvin']What a poorly written article that conveys nothing between the two games.

So essentially hardcore gamers are bemoaning the removal of modern day "screen watching." lol The way the article is written is basically saying top competitors can't compete when you remove power weapons from the map, and add in some randomness. i.e. if you can't control the map then you can't compete. That makes it sound more like the top players really aren't all that impressive to begin with by relying on tricks, weapon spawns and map knowledge to dominate.

Boo hoo for them.[/QUOTE]

I didn't read the article, but the part you quoted is 100% correct. You used to be able to know where you were getting shot from, and predict things much easier if you were a good player. The Jetpack and Camo armor abilities are ruining the game. The Jetpack breaks every map in the game and 343 should have learned from Reach. Active Camo shouldn't make you 100% invisible and shouldn't last nearly as long as it does. Both of them should have been ordinance drops.

As for what you said about top competitors, that's pretty much what Halo was and the definition of being good at it. It's about controlling the map and making sure you have the power weapons. Adding in a random variable shits on everything. If my opponent gets an incineration cannon and I get a speed boost, now that; that is a situation where you can't compete.

[quote name='Strider Turbulence']I didn't even know forbes had game articles like this on their site. So much truth in that article and such a shame too. 343 and Bungie literally turned the Halo series to trash in just two games[/QUOTE]

I think there are a lot of problems with the current state of Halo 4, but even as-is it's leagues ahead of Reach and 3.

Not that it could ever compete with 2, though.
 
Well, thank you Grifball Pro (when motherfuckers actually vote for it, which is rare). Got my First Strikes all done and finally have a different stance to use. Made a lot of progress on other stuff I figured I'd never get anywhere near done with, as well.

I enjoy Halo 4 MP more than I did Reach or Halo 3. Not trash at all.
 
[quote name='Corvin']First they will automatically be used when you finally play Halo 4. Not the wisest move since Spartan Ops gives far more XP. I only cash in a couple at a time when I'm getting ready to play Spartan Ops.
[/QUOTE]

In order to best use the double XP, should I play Spartan Ops before the campaign?

Thanks for the thoughts! :)
 
[quote name='cancermatt']In order to best use the double XP, should I play Spartan Ops before the campaign?

Thanks for the thoughts! :)[/QUOTE]

Not a good idea if you're trying to understand the story. Otherwise, go for it.
 
I think you just want to use your double XP on Spartan Ops rather than the versus multiplayer. You don't gain XP from the campaign do you?
 
Correct. Just do Spartan Ops prior to the MP. You should be good to go on the campaign. How many codes we talkin' about?

Of course this only matters if you want to max out your double XP potential.
 
[quote name='Danil ACE']Not allowing split screen is a mistake[/QUOTE]
Not for this playlist. There are plenty of other playlists where people can bring in guests, and this absolutely shouldn't be one of them.

1) There are going to be a lot of Forge maps. Forge maps lag a ton in split screen.
2) The vast majority of guests that play in split screen usually don't do well & in a playlist that is highly competitive, it's not fair to the other players. If you remember, Halo 2 & 3 had playlists that didn't allow guests so this really isn't anything new.

TL;DR - if you want to play with guests, there are plenty of other playlists to use (hell, even Team Doubles!).
 
[quote name='dirtyvu']the article has so many contradictions...

all the "faults" listed for Halo 4 (customization of weapons, kill streaks, etc.) are also in Call of Duty. so that's a copout. even the author realized it and put a quick paragraph to counter it, at the end, by saying, well, since they have always been in COD, it's okay for COD. *roll eyes*

not to mention it glossed over and tried to diminish the fact that Microsoft sign an exclusive contract with a rival upstart gaming league. which means MLG had no option but to drop it.[/QUOTE]

That's what I was thinking too, the whole time I was reading it. It wouldn't make much sense for MLG to drop Halo 4 because it's too CoD-like and then go for CoD instead.

I'm a casual-intermediate player, so I don't have much interest in the pro scene and don't really follow it much. I just thought it was an interesting point because it seems like MLG has helped Halo multiplayer's longevity in the past. I recognize the differences in Halo 4 and can see where the pros would be upset, but I'm happy with the multiplayer in Halo 4. I liked Reach and Halo 3 as well, though, so it doesn't take much to please me.
 
I guess most know by now, but the Majestic Map Pack is out. There are also two playlists for the new maps, one team based and one free for all playlist.
 
Any truth to the rumors the Halo 4 season pass (or whatever it might be called) might be discounted during this mega sale? I'm guessing since it didn't happen during the Day 1 Halo sale, it may not happen. And with the new map pack out, who knows now?
 
I'm not sure how anyone here would know the answer.

One thing that annoys me. When they added the Majestic Map Pack they removed the previous map pack playlists. Since most people don't have the map packs, that means I'll rarely get to play them. Why couldn't they keep the previous ones too, or at least have a combined one that uses both map packs?

Which brings up the greater point: map packs should be free.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I'm not sure how anyone here would know the answer.

One thing that annoys me. When they added the Majestic Map Pack they removed the previous map pack playlists. Since most people don't have the map packs, that means I'll rarely get to play them. Why couldn't they keep the previous ones too, or at least have a combined one that uses both map packs?

Which brings up the greater point: map packs should be free.[/QUOTE]
You're SOL unless you find a boosting partner
 
I kinda wish I'd taken advantage of the $40 on demand sale, and sold my physical copy on eBay. I got spoiled by having easy access to Reach, without needing to swap discs.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']One thing that annoys me. When they added the Majestic Map Pack they removed the previous map pack playlists. Since most people don't have the map packs, that means I'll rarely get to play them. Why couldn't they keep the previous ones too, or at least have a combined one that uses both map packs?[/QUOTE]
While you should probably post this over on the Halo 4 site forums, I'd expect someone else already has, and that 343i will take no note of it. It's a shame they don't have seperate playlists, with subcategories so that people can find the matches they like.

It's like how the Defiant Map Pack was practically never an option in Reach. I also don't like how they merge all game styles into these DLC playlists. I want to play Free For All, not Free For All Pro or Regicide. I also want to play Team Slayer, not Capture the Flag or some other objective game type.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I'm not sure how anyone here would know the answer.

One thing that annoys me. When they added the Majestic Map Pack they removed the previous map pack playlists. Since most people don't have the map packs, that means I'll rarely get to play them. Why couldn't they keep the previous ones too, or at least have a combined one that uses both map packs?

Which brings up the greater point: map packs should be free.[/QUOTE]
Everyone wishes that would be the case but 343 wants all the money right now.
 
[quote name='Relentless Sheep']Everyone wishes that would be the case but 343 wants all the money right now.[/QUOTE]

What do ya expect? After all, 343i is Microsoft.
 
I don't care that CoD charges for maps. I don't have CoD. I have Halo 4 and the map pass, and I wish I could play all the maps. I am unlikely to buy the maps in Halo 5 or whatever is next. It's not worth it if you aren't going to get to play them much.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I don't care that CoD charges for maps. I don't have CoD. I have Halo 4 and the map pass, and I wish I could play all the maps. I am unlikely to buy the maps in Halo 5 or whatever is next. It's not worth it if you aren't going to get to play them much.[/QUOTE]


It will get fixed man. It was probably just 343 not thinking and made a mistake of forgetting about the first map pack.

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/intel/playlists
that will tell you where you can play the other maps.
 
[quote name='cancermatt']In order to best use the double XP, should I play Spartan Ops before the campaign?

Thanks for the thoughts! :)[/QUOTE]

The double XP tokens do not apply to Spartan Ops. Only War Games.
 
[quote name='DeskLaser']The double XP tokens do not apply to Spartan Ops. Only War Games.[/QUOTE]

What you talkin' about willis? Spartan Ops is the best xp for the time mode of Halo 4.
 
[quote name='DeskLaser']The double XP tokens do not apply to Spartan Ops. Only War Games.[/QUOTE]

This is incorrect. If you do private spartan ops, the tokens do not apply. If you do Spartan Ops matchmaking, the tokens will apply.
 
Spartan Ops matchmaking gives roughly 15k a match with the 2XP(assuming all 4 players finish the match). Don't use them anywhere else.
 
If people are trying to complete their commendations, I've found the Pulse Grenade and Assault Rifle work well together, since they don't seem too effective individually. My Assault Rifle kills have increased by over 200 kills in only 2-3 games played each day over the last 4-5 days. And I've probably earned more than 30 kills with the Pulse Grenade in that same time by using it to finish off people I've weakened with the Assault Rifle when they hid behind cover.

I'm considering trying to use the Pulse Grenades with the Plasma Pistol, since I'd like to progress that if I can.
 
Got an email about the Vol. 2 soundtrack coming out on the 9th of this month. I guess I know why the new version of Never Forget that plays over the credits was not included on the first soundtrack. Ditto for the title screen music. Looks like at least a couple of the bonus downloadable songs from the first one are included on-disc as well. This seems to be the better offering of the two, which I'm sure is why it came out second.

Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Volume 2’ features more stunning, expansive orchestral- electronic opuses which comprise a 20-track digital release, containing all the key themes from the game that we weren’t able to include on the first volume.

11 of the tracks are composed and produced by Neil Davidge with a further 8 by 343 in-house composer Kazuma Jinnouchi. The soundtrack also includes Kazuma's new interpretation of Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori's iconic "Never Forget" from Halo 3.

The tracks on Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Volume 2 are presented in chronological order as they appear in the game, to help bring the listener right into the heart of the Halo 4 experience.
Click to expand...

Soundcloud samples page: https://soundcloud.com/neil-davidge/sets/halo-4-original-soundtrack-2
 
Major Nelson tweeted that the Castle Map Pack for Halo 4 released today. Also, the previous map packs and the Season Pass will go on sale on Friday. Odd start day for a sale:

http://majornelson.com/2013/04/08/halo-4-castle-map-pack/

On Friday, April 12, there will be a “Halo 4” DLC sale for anyone who has not yet purchased the “Halo 4” War Games Map Pass or the first two individual Map Packs. A listing of the sale prices is as follows:

“Halo 4” War Games Map Pass: 1600 Microsoft Points (Originally 2000 Microsoft Points)

Crimson Map Pack: 600 Microsoft Points (Originally 800 Microsoft Points)
 
Pretty insulting to say Season Passes offer a discount, then discount the whole DLC the same week the final map pack comes out. Is it really worth pissing off your fans by trying to get more peoples money? And by doing this, they better make several permanent DLC playlists, since there's no excuse to not have the maps now. It better not become a Halo: Reach thing, where the maps you paid for are rarely seen.

And these new maps feel the same. They're just open areas 'ruined' by oddly placed obstructions, interrupting the pace and making the maps uneven.
 
[quote name='The Ebbtide']

And these new maps feel the same. They're just open areas 'ruined' by oddly placed obstructions, interrupting the pace and making the maps uneven.[/QUOTE]

THIS. That is my main problem with Halo 4. I can get past the COD weapon system and such. But the majority of the maps in Halo 4 are just terrible. From halo CE to Halo Reach, every map had its own identity and feel to it. Themes were all very nice and unique. Halo 4, the majority of the maps are just a brown world with lots of lense flair and UNSC stuff thrown about. Where are our beautiful green forerunner worlds, purple covie levels, a beautiful all white snow level (I know we have one now, but its ugly as sin and barely covered in snow.) What happened to putting effort into maps and making them each something special?
 
Have to highly disagree with you there.

Each map being unique, I guess that's just subjective and based off your perspective but I think you're far from the truth. I can define a map by a few sentences using what makes it unique and people would know what I'm talking about because each map in Halo is unique.
Just the ones for H4:
Wreckage has crashed ships, 2 man cannons and a high cliff to fight over.

Shatter takes place on a green crystal like surface and is a mirrored map consisting of bases, often found with a few Mantis walking around.

Haven is a symmetrical arena like map, consisting of Forerunner architecture, that's tuned for tournament play as flanking can happen any time.

Abandon states exactly that, it's an abandoned base on an exotic jungle like world.

Perdition is set in a future city with many open areas, streets and stairs.

Every map does not just have open space with obstacles, every map has a story and a theme.
 
Definitely want some kind of permanent playlist after Castle has been out for a few weeks. I don't want three separate ones since the playercount will be extremely low, but a Map Pass playlist that only rotates the 9 DLC maps would be great.

Apparently that Vol. 2 soundtrack is a digital-only release. Weak. I'll probably hold out and hope for a disc, as unlikely as it seems now. Not a fan of digital downloads for music.
 
The 2nd map pack was the best IMO (Majestic?). Not sure any of them were a good purchase though because they never come up in any playlists...
 
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