Official Halo 3 Beta Thread

[Klitzy]

So guys...Who all is in? What do you guys think?

My gamertag is Klitzy712 and Ill be all over that stuff until it ends.

Anyway, in my opinion, it is pretty damn good. I am not sure about the whole "utilities" thing but thats really my own complaint. Also wish all the beta maps weren't so huge but thats no big deal. Anyway, hope to see everyone on there.

[comhcinc]

how is this official?

[magunwarrior]

Do not question it!

[chuckles]

how is this official?

Klitzy is THE class president of his school. If he deems it to be official.. who are we to question it?

-chuckles-

[bobafettjm]

I had a lot of fun today playing with everyone. I don't really like it very much when playing with a bunch of random people though. Also I don't think the maps are too huge at all, as a matter of fact after playing so much COD 3 they seem REALLY small.

[Klitzy]

Klitzy is THE class president of his school. If he deems it to be official.. who are we to question it?

-chuckles-

Hahahaha that is awesome...

[drghoo]

Wow! Someone needs to give comhcinc a massage!! j/k fellow TRSer! I've been freakin out havin a blast playin the beta. And everyones been pretty friendly and talkative believe or not. That's made the matches alot of fun. We'll see how long that lasts but I'll enjoy for now. Aside from still running into standby's from people dropping out(plz Bungie figure some way to fix that!) the gameplays been pretty awesome. I still giggle like a little girl when all the explosions from grenades and brute shots go off! See you guys in there!

-Slayton22

[kwok_talk]

Wow! Someone needs to give comhcinc a massage!! j/k fellow TRSer! I've been freakin out havin a blast playin the beta. And everyones been pretty friendly and talkative believe or not. That's made the matches alot of fun. We'll see how long that lasts but I'll enjoy for now. Aside from still running into standby's from people dropping out(plz Bungie figure some way to fix that!) the gameplays been pretty awesome. I still giggle like a little girl when all the explosions from grenades and brute shots go off! See you guys in there!

-Slayton22

Like the avatar.

Do you need to have a gold membership to play?

[magunwarrior]

I had a lot of fun today playing with everyone. I don't really like it very much when playing with a bunch of random people though. Also I don't think the maps are too huge at all, as a matter of fact after playing so much COD 3 they seem REALLY small.

Valhalla is my favorite map be far, snowbound sucks in my opinion, and High Ground is a bit iffy for me.

My favorite game type now is Territories, which was in my opinion, the worst game type in Halo 2, and they really made assault more fair to the attack team.

I'm gonna get on in a few if anyone wants to play.

[magunwarrior]

Do you need to have a gold membership to play?

Sadly, yes.

But I have a 48 hour trial code I could give you ;)

[magunwarrior]

I've got a video from a rumble pit match where I destroyed these guys compressing right now.

[magunwarrior]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcukQyHKeOM

[kwok_talk]

Sadly, yes.

But I have a 48 hour trial code I could give you ;)

Oh very much appreciated, Magun! I’m not dying to have to play it right now, but I’ll hit you up if I change my mind

[Carbon Eclectic]

Just thought I'd give my two cents on why this beta offers the best Halo multiplayer experience. So, here's something I posted on another board (http://www.bigsushi.net/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3849). Please keep in mind that I wrote this IM humblest of O:

Last night the Halo 3 Beta and I spent some much needed quality time together :). It's by far the best Halo multiplayer experience I've had with Halo on and offline. Halo 2 is a great game, no doubt about it, but there were some changes in the gameplay that led to a lot of frustration, frustration that I never had when I played Halo 1. So how does Halo 3 deal with these issues that I (and a lot of people in the Bungie.net posting community) have? Here's how:

1. Starting with the assault rifle
Let's face it, even the snobby MLG elite were right when they coined the saying "spray and pray" in reference to starting off with the SMG. It gets pretty annoyingly monotonous when you've killed/died by the same SMG bullet hosing over and over again. The only decent use the SMG has is when it's paired with another decent dual wieldable weapon. So when players start with the SMG they immediately pick up another dual wieldable weapon which takes away the options for using grenades or the melee quickly w/o having to drop the other weapon. Starting with the assault rifle fixes all of these SMG related issues and also improves gameplay by actually giving the player a starting weapon that, when used properly, can be deadly, especially with a headshot.

2. Adding a wild card to the battlefield: equipment.
The inclusion of equipment simply mixes up the fights, it adds that possible 4th option outside of shooting, nading, or melee attacks. Even when playing against the most skilled players, dropping a bubble shield or power drainer into the fray can still catch the opponent (and even your teammates) off guard and forces people into changing and adapting the way they are fighting in a particular dogfight. The trip mine is also a great way to level the playing field when up against vehicles.

3. Balancing the Plasma Pistol
The infamous noob combo of battle rifle and plasma pistol has been drastically powered down. The plasma pistol has a much shorter homing range and when the trigger is held down to maintain the charge on the pistol, the energy (ammo) is drained with it. This is definitely one of the most needed nerfings in all of online shooters.

4. Mobile Turrets, they're super bad
Remember when the only way to stop a vehicle was to either have the Rocket Launcher or a very strong personal relationship with God Almighty (or Jeebus) and a lucky grenade? Well, the days when a walking Spartan is just another candidate for vehicluar manslaughter are over. Turrets can now be taken off of their mounts and can be used to mow down those pesky warthogs. Just last night I completely shredded up a warthog killing the three occupants inside with just a decent spray down from a minigun turret. Oh, there's also a MissilePod turret too that works a lot like a rocket launcher with less power that's compensated by a fast firing rate.

5. The Spartan Laser
No explanation needed, it's a freaking laser!

6. Every weapon has its use
Of course I prefer some weapons over others, but the hesitations I had when picking up a Brute Shot, a plasma rifle, or a Needler (especially the needler) are gone. Every weapon has its use and its own unique way of delivering deadly blows to the opponent. I actually caught myself looking for the needler. Ladies and gentlemen, hell has frozen over.

Is there anything I missed?

[magunwarrior]

I'm super happy that they really nailed the weapon balance.

For instance, you have to know how to use the damn spartan laser, or you won't hit shit.

And the needler isn't a piece of shit now, you can kill people fairly easy with it.

And Dual spikers=bad ass.

[drghoo]

Carbon awesome breakdown! Magun remind me to be wary of playing with you if we get snipers...YIKES!!!! Great video and nice work squeezing that thing down and getting it uploaded so quickly.

[drghoo]

Like the avatar.

Do you need to have a gold membership to play?

Thanks kwok! And you should seriously consider at least trying XBL. It rocks!

[magunwarrior]

Carbon awesome breakdown! Magun remind me to be wary of playing with you if we get snipers...YIKES!!!! Great video and nice work squeezing that thing down and getting it uploaded so quickly.

I wasn't filming while I was playing, I saved the video of the match and filmed that. I would have done terrible seeing how both hands were holding my laptop :D

[cvprosperoust]

I played the beta today for the first time, and played through all the levels and game modes. I have to say I was very impressed. I loved Halo 2, but didnt have an original xbox, only 360, so I haven't played it very much, mostly just with friends. The beta ran very smooth online with no slowdown or lag, something I experience on Halo 2 even with my fast connection. The weapons are really well balanced and and the new stuff is great. So far I'm really Higher Ground, but Vahalla isn't far behind.


I can't wait for the rest of the maps and the full game to come out.

And my gamertag is prosperoust.

[Crzy8sal]

Does anyone know how to choose the game type? I seem to only be able to choose between ranked or social, and between slayer, team slayer and team skirmish... And when I get matched up, it seems to randomly decide if it does a slayer match, king of the hill, VIP, CTF, team slayer etc etc. I can't find the option to decide which I want to play anywhere, it just choses it randomly?

I wanna play capture the flag but it won't let me...:o

[Carbon Eclectic]

Does anyone know how to choose the game type? I seem to only be able to choose between ranked or social, and between slayer, team slayer and team skirmish... And when I get matched up, it seems to randomly decide if it does a slayer match, king of the hill, VIP, CTF, team slayer etc etc. I can't find the option to decide which I want to play anywhere, it just choses it randomly?

I wanna play capture the flag but it won't let me...:o

You can't select which game types you play. You are completely at the mercy of the playlists that Bungie has set. The only way you have any type of control over what game type you play is if you choose rumble pit (free for all slayer), team slayer, or team skirmish (ctf, assault, or VIP)

[Crzy8sal]

You can't select which game types you play. You are completely at the mercy of the playlists that Bungie has set. The only way you have any type of control over what game type you play is if you choose rumble pit (free for all slayer), team slayer, or team skirmish (ctf, assault, or VIP)

Please tell me that's only in the beta. Cause if that's the way it'll be handled in the full versoin than that SUCKS. Especially since the only game modes I get all the time are slayer or VIP. I would really like to be able to choose other game types if I wanted to.:(

I remember playing Halo 1 online on the PC (had it on Xbox but had no Xbox live...) and you could change a lot of the settings, more than I expected you to be able to, and I loved it. I'm really disappointed that in H3 you ban barely change anything at all.:(

Enjoying the game otherwise, it's good. The equipments are really fun.:D

Really does need some anti-aliasing though...

[bobafettjm]

I am sure there will be quite a bit more options in the full version.

[bobafettjm]

Wow do I stink.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/bobafettjm/ouch.jpg

[Carbon Eclectic]

Please tell me that's only in the beta. Cause if that's the way it'll be handled in the full versoin than that SUCKS. Especially since the only game modes I get all the time are slayer or VIP. I would really like to be able to choose other game types if I wanted to.:(

In the final game you will be able to set up custom matches in which you can tweak a ton of game settings including the game type. These matches will only be available to those you invite into the game and will be UNranked.

[Casework]

Wow do I stink.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b27/bobafettjm/ouch.jpg

Hahah, nice.

Carbon: Snobby MLG elite? Heh. You could have omitted that phrase and you would have kept a lot of credibility in my eyes. Pretty good write-up anyway.

[bobafettjm]

Well it looks like you can have custom games now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okOKakhgTQc

[Carbon Eclectic]

Carbon: Snobby MLG elite? Heh. You could have omitted that phrase and you would have kept a lot of credibility in my eyes. Pretty good write-up anyway.

I'm just being honest. I'm not on the forums to say what you want to hear :).

[Casework]

Honest implies that your analysis is correct. If you know any of the people who run MLG or are the so-called "elite" and wish to demonstrate how they are "snobby" then please do so. But, a lot of those same people are close friends, acquiantances, and people I know from home, so please do not classify an entire group of people on a small percentage of immature users. You could easily do that for any other community.

[Carbon Eclectic]

Please don't put words in my mouth. I did not refer to the entire MLG as the "snobby elite." I am actually good friends with a number of MLG sponsored players and they understand what I mean when I refer to the "snobs" of MLG. I speak of the ones that can only find value in playing Halo only when they are playing with their specified rules. So grow some thicker skin, read the posts with a slightly more open mind, and don't be so easily offended.

[Casework]

I wasn't going to reply to you... but, offended? Come on. I'm just making the comment that it's really not needed to pass judgement on people because of a few bad eggs. Just because I reply to what I believe is a false statement or interpretation doesn't mean I'm up in arms about it. You're giving yourself way too much credit.

[Carbon Eclectic]

I'd rather not reply, but I guess I must just to better explain why I posted my response to your statement. I passed judgement on the "few bad eggs", nobody else. Instead of just reading what I wrote, you decided to take a few liberties in your interpretaion and accuse me of stereotyping an entire community, which I did not. In other words, instead of just reading the plain text of what I wrote, you decided that I was bashing an entire community. Please don't be so presumptuous and instead just read the text.

[bobafettjm]

Ok ok, back to the happy stuff. Did anyone try out a custom game yet? Hey Jeff, Dan and Alex, I guess we wouldn't have had to leave that game you guys were filming if we had known about this sooner.

[Klitzy]

Ok ok, back to the happy stuff. Did anyone try out a custom game yet? Hey Jeff, Dan and Alex, I guess we wouldn't have had to leave that game you guys were filming if we had known about this sooner.

Yeah...The whole custom game thing is awesome.

[JohnnySwift]

I lent my copy of Crackdown to a friend. He's giving it back to me on Tuesday. I'm pretty stoked to try out the beta!

I'm also stoked to get the downloads for Crackdown off of Live.

On that subject - has anybody downloaded the extras for Crackdown? If so, is it worth it?

[scoobydiesel]

On the etra's for crackdown, i digg em. but i've been playing the beta more...

Not a big fan of snow levels...

[bobafettjm]

The downloads are totally worth it if you already like the game. They add a ton of new content and makes it really fun.

[magunwarrior]

I'm already tiring of the beta, I mean there are only three maps and one is absolute shit. I know this is just really to stress test their servers and all that jazz, but come on, throw us another map.

[scoobydiesel]

i would like more maps but im glad they gave us 3 instead of 1 :)

[mormonrage]

Why doesn't anyone like Snowbound? At least it's scaled appropriately for the size of parties in the beta. Valhalla is cool, but it's absurd for 4-vs-4.

[scoobydiesel]

i dont hate snowbound i just like highgrounds more. SB i just stay undergroun and shotty/stick people :)

[masherscf]

I just wanna be in GameSpot on June 7 when the great "Crackdown" sell-off begins.

[magunwarrior]

I'm sure as hell keeping my copy of crackdown, I would have bought it without the beta.

[scoobydiesel]

i wont be selling crackdown any time soon. Its the funnest game i have bought in awhile, It was too short tho but i hope they give us more downloadable stuff.

But sadly i know your right masher, alot of people will be selling their crackdown copies once the Halo 3 beta is over....or trying to.

They will need the money to buy Halo 3 come What was it Sep 25th? or whatever....Going to be a crazy Fall semester for me, Both Halo 3 and GTA.

Crap.

[bobafettjm]

I won't be selling Crackdown either, I would own it even if there was no Halo beta.

[bobafettjm]

Wow just read this at bungie.net

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=news&cid=12488

Like any good chef we're making some changes to the recipe in the Public tastetest we call the Halo 3 Beta. This week we're making our first change to the Matchmaking Playlist . We're swapping out Team Training and adding in Big Team Training. In Big Team Training players will play 6v6 on High Ground and Valhalla. In addition to some existing modes look for some new modes in Big Team Training, like Multi Flag CTF on Valhalla. Additionally, we've made some slight tweaks to the Team Skirmish playlist that should add greater variety in the opponents you'll face.

[magunwarrior]

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comics/20070209.jpg

[fino35]

Crack down is awesome, the beta was just a bonus for me. I'm down to the last 10 agility orbs. With the new content released, I'll keep playing this one for a long time. Sadly my GH controller is collecting dust.

[scoobydiesel]

haha nice comic.

That is some cool news about the 6v6 that will make me enjoy Valhalla more.

[magunwarrior]

I'm more of a skirmish guy myself, I could see how Valhalla could be annoying in a slayer match, but I find it perfect for Territories and Assualt. High Ground for CTF, and VIP for Snowbound, because I love getting the shotgun and pwning people in the tunnels.

[scoobydiesel]

Yeah Thats my downside on Valhalla is i always play it in slayer and its just not very fun i guess, Snowbound has grown on me as i do the same thing as you...stay hidden in the tunnels like a little rat :)

Still not big on Territories i dunno why....

[bobafettjm]

I am excited for Big Team Battle. I guess now there is hopes that they will give us more stuff to test out as well.

[magunwarrior]

I thought Territories ws the worst gametype in Halo 2, but now it's my favorite, it's very tactical, something the Halo games really lack.

And I've been playing Rainbox Six:Vegas a lot the past few months, so it's good to have some tactics.

[scoobydiesel]

I will give it more trys soon(territories) like you said kinda, its not something im used to really playing i guess.

[bobafettjm]

I was actually not a huge Halo 2 online fan. I really liked playing it when it was with friends, but on live with other people I didn't really like it.

[Carbon Eclectic]

I actually really enjoy Snowbound. It's a good place to mix up long range and short range combat.

[masherscf]

I'm sure as hell keeping my copy of crackdown, I would have bought it without the beta.

Crackdown aside. The way they're marketing it, many people are gonna by "Crackdown" just to get a play the Halo 3 Beta. Does anyone know what happens after June? Are they going to release it to everyone, or discontinue the beta?

[magunwarrior]

Crackdown aside. The way they're marketing it, many people are gonna by "Crackdown" just to get a play the Halo 3 Beta. Does anyone know what happens after June? Are they going to release it to everyone, or discontinue the beta?

They'll discontinue it, but you can still buy a copy of Crackdown and get that beta.

[Carbon Eclectic]

So yeah, about the Beta....

Matchmaking has been updated and now includes Big Team Slayer!

With the addition of this new game mode, the Banshee has been added to the available vehicles when playing Big Team Slayer on Valhalla. Enjoy!

[masherscf]

They'll discontinue it, but you can still buy a copy of Crackdown and get that beta.

No, It's my understanding that the availability of the beta through "Crackdown" ends in June. Does that mean you get to keep playing if you've already got it or will they shut off everyone?


The Halo 3 multiplayer public beta edition is available only for a limited time. After the beta period expires, the Halo 3 beta option on the Main Menu in Crackdown will no longer be available.

Are they being purposely vague or am I just dense.

[magunwarrior]

I know that, I'm saying you could buy crackdown now and still get into the beta.

It ends June 10th BTW.

[masherscf]

I know that, I'm saying you could buy crackdown now and still get into the beta.

It ends June 10th BTW.

Seems like a lot of dough to spend just for a handful of weeks. I'm not really interested in crackdown.

[magunwarrior]

To each his own I suppose.

[masherscf]

To each his own I suppose.

But, But, I love the Halo... I guess I can play Halo 2 again. :(

[magunwarrior]

Well it's either Crackdown or wait...

[masherscf]

Well it's either Crackdown or wait...

I'll save the money for the actual article. I'd only get owned online anyway. By the time I got any good, they'd shut me off. I'm not sure why I got the XBOX live gold, I never have time for playing online.

[scoobydiesel]

i really love xbox live just since 360 i havnt played much online, crackdown is a game i hope to play online soon but they messed it up or something? delts ur info....

halo 3 beta is sweet online of course...

[JohnnySwift]

Never got into Halo 2 online - I guess because I sucked at it.

Although - I've been playing a bit of the Beta, and I'm having a blast.

I just bought a new LCD HD television today - and man, the Beta looks great on it. (I'm comparing it to the 19" LCD monitor I was using before the tv purchase)

So all in all - I'm having fun with the Beta. Still getting my ass served to me though.

My gamertag is, Johnny Bishop if anyone wants to go a few rounds. (Gears and Catan are also options I'm good with. Perhaps a hand of UNO?)

[bobafettjm]

I guess some people have found the sword and Wraith in the beta now using the custom game glitch.

http://www.gametab.com/news/920347/

[Carbon Eclectic]

and the pistol :D

[masherscf]

I just wanna be in GameSpot on June 7 when the great "Crackdown" sell-off begins.

A lot of used crackdown...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1301/769796678_e7d6833c57.jpg

[magunwarrior]

Not surprised, most people only bought it for the beta, I still have the game, because I like it.

[masherscf]

Not surprised, most people only bought it for the beta, I still have the game, because I like it.


I almost bought it. I've heard good things. However, I don't have time for it right now.

[magunwarrior]

I've pretty much done everything, but it's still fun to hop in every now and then and rope someone in for co-op.