Any Halo Players out there?

[spunkee311]

Just got the new Halo 3 ODST. So figured I'd ask here if anybody plays and wanted to get a group going and do some Firefight/Multiplayer.

[Conspiracy101]

right here! im surprised by two things. 1. none of my friends r playin it 2. theres no matchmaking! wtf? Hollywood CGD if you wanna send me an invite

[AyaneMatrix]

I don't have a 360, but if there are any people here that have PS3 and play Killzone online, I'm available for a game!

By the way, how is the single player campaign; is it any good?

[spunkee311]

The absence of Matchmaking is mind boggling. I keep having to spam the forums to find people to play. None of my friends have it either.
Bungie's excuse for not including multiplayer is that they wanted to make it more "intimate" and to make you play with your friends more.
That's a sweet way to put it. But the reality is, is that they are working full speed ahead on Halo: Reach and had deadlines for ODST and just couldn't fit everything in.
Bungie stated from the beginning that this was just supposed to be a small add on and Microsoft saw the dollar signs and forced them to rush it just a tad bit.
Don't get me wrong, still an excellent game. But no matchmaking for Firefight (and the lag) is just a huge mistake.

The campaign was actually (and surprisingly) pretty good. I actually think its the best Halo game (story wise and overall fun) since the first game.


I have Killzone 2 as well. Great campaign game. Horrible multiplayer

[quagmire_uk]

Question: since you guys are complaining about Halo ODST not having matchmaking, I assume that is a standard feature of Xbox 360 games. Do any Xbox 360 multiplayer games have server browsers? As in, you can see a list of games in progress/games about to start and actually choose which one to join?

Because I'm mainly a PC gamer and that's a standard feature in PC multiplayer. The PC community has been going WTF at the fact that Red Faction Guerrilla has finally been released for PC half a year after it came out on consoles, and there is no multiplayer server browser, just automated matchmaking. It's incredibly annoying since there's about 10 different game modes, and and if you specify a particular game mode than there might be no one else interested in that game mode so you sit around for five minutes before giving up. The only way to be sure of actually playing a multiplayer game with anyone is to choose "all" and get put into a totally random gamemode with a random player count and random game settings.

I don't really see how this is progress, compared to traditional server browsers that would let you see every game that was in progress and choose which one you wanted to play in. Hell that's been around since Unreal and Half-Life and Quake II. How is being randomly put into a random game a better sytem? What is this matchmaking nonsense? Is it supposed to match you up with people of equivalent skill? Doesn't really work cause there aren't enough people actually playing the game, players are happy to play with ANYONE, they don't want to be restricted by experience level.

I've been thinking of getting an xbox 360 or a PS3 (or BOTH) but if multiplayer is a case of being randomly dumped into a random game then I'm not really seeing the appeal of playing console games online.

Bizarrely in Red Faction Guerrilla there's no text chat either. On Xbox 360 everyone has a microphone headset, but not the case on PC, on PC everyone has KEYBOARDS. It's the first multiplayer game on PC where you can't type "lol" or "you bastard" or "nice shot" to the other people you are playing withm, the only way to communicate is with a microphone, and only about one in ten PC gamers has a microphone. I have one, but I often play games at 3am and would rather not be loudly swearing into a microphone and waking people up.

[spunkee311]

Question: since you guys are complaining about Halo ODST not having matchmaking, I assume that is a standard feature of Xbox 360 games. Do any Xbox 360 multiplayer games have server browsers? As in, you can see a list of games in progress/games about to start and actually choose which one to join?

Because I'm mainly a PC gamer and that's a standard feature in PC multiplayer. The PC community has been going WTF at the fact that Red Faction Guerrilla has finally been released for PC half a year after it came out on consoles, and there is no multiplayer server browser, just automated matchmaking. It's incredibly annoying since there's about 10 different game modes, and and if you specify a particular game mode than there might be no one else interested in that game mode so you sit around for five minutes before giving up. The only way to be sure of actually playing a multiplayer game with anyone is to choose "all" and get put into a totally random gamemode with a random player count and random game settings.

I don't really see how this is progress, compared to traditional server browsers that would let you see every game that was in progress and choose which one you wanted to play in. Hell that's been around since Unreal and Half-Life and Quake II. How is being randomly put into a random game a better sytem? What is this matchmaking nonsense? Is it supposed to match you up with people of equivalent skill? Doesn't really work cause there aren't enough people actually playing the game, players are happy to play with ANYONE, they don't want to be restricted by experience level.

I've been thinking of getting an xbox 360 or a PS3 (or BOTH) but if multiplayer is a case of being randomly dumped into a random game then I'm not really seeing the appeal of playing console games online.

Bizarrely in Red Faction Guerrilla there's no text chat either. On Xbox 360 everyone has a microphone headset, but not the case on PC, on PC everyone has KEYBOARDS. It's the first multiplayer game on PC where you can't type "lol" or "you bastard" or "nice shot" to the other people you are playing withm, the only way to communicate is with a microphone, and only about one in ten PC gamers has a microphone. I have one, but I often play games at 3am and would rather not be loudly swearing into a microphone and waking people up.

Well from my experience since I play heavily both offline/online on both systems I can say that PC is a whole different ball park. And if you are a PC gamer, you might not like the console world.
The whole server thing list, well there is only one or two games that I've seen that have that. And that is Gears of War 1. And Unreal Tournmaent 3 and Lost Planet.
Most multiplayer/online games have automated matchmaking. (halo 3, Gears2, COD4, COD:waw) Since PC gamers are used to picking and choosing with a server list, you might not like the online console games.
Red Faction Guerrilla I did play on the 360. And that is one of those odd games (along with Gears 2) that actually groups playlist together. You might play Team Death Match or you might play Capture the flag. I think 2 or 3 different gametypes are group together and you can choose from other ones that are grouped together as well. Same with Gears 2. You pick Elimination, and you either play Warzone or Execution.
With that being said, I love automated matchmaking. Halo 3 and COD4, Resistance 2, Resistance, Uncharted 2 (beta) COD: WAW, all have an excellent matchmaking. Yes they do group you with other players with "similar" skill and experience. And Halo 3 and COD4 probably do the best job at this.
PC gamers are usually more picky in what they want to play, therefore they prefer the serverlist. Console gamers just want to play and want to play fast. It took to long to find a game in Gears 1 with their server list and when you did find a game sometimes it would be full by the time you got in and kicked you back to the main screen.
Its just easier to have automated matchmaking, especially if you play with friends to just send an invite to your buddies, be in a group party and join a game.
If you are looking to play online, get a 360. If you are looking for more a single player type experience, get a PS3.

[renyaowu12]

that's cool !
i really want to play halo 3.
but i dont have 360
i just play halo 2 on pc!

[quagmire_uk]

Thanks spunkee311, that was really informative.

Dammit, I like both singleplayer and multiplayer, and I like some titles on 360 and some on PS3... aaargh! Heh.

I can certainly see the advantages of automated matchmaking. I think the best route forward is for games to have both. (Actually I think Unreal Tournament 3 has both - there is some kind of "quick start" or "quick game" option on the PC which just throws you into a random game without using the server browser. Left 4 Dead has that too, you can either use the matchmaking system to join a random game, or you can use the server browser to pick a particular one out.)

I guess the problem in Red Faction Guerrilla on the PC is that there aren't that many players - always enough to have a game, but not enough to have a choice. That means there is no point in there being any playlist other than the "all" playlist - if you pick one of the playlists like Siege or Demolition or whatever then chances are you won't get to play anyone, the other players will all be in an anarchy game. The advantage of a server list is you'd be able to see if there actually are any siege games or demolition games or whatever going on at any particular moment.

Also, i'm a big believer in being able to join a game half way through a match. I guess making everyone join a lobby first and then all start the game at the same time is supposed to make things more fair, especially in a team game... except there's nothing stopping people from LEAVING games half way through and causing teams to become unbalanced anyway. It would be handy if additional players could join the game! And that way if a siege game started 20 seconds before you started looking for a game, you could still join it.

[spunkee311]

Thanks spunkee311, that was really informative.

Dammit, I like both singleplayer and multiplayer, and I like some titles on 360 and some on PS3... aaargh! Heh.

I can certainly see the advantages of automated matchmaking. I think the best route forward is for games to have both. (Actually I think Unreal Tournament 3 has both - there is some kind of "quick start" or "quick game" option on the PC which just throws you into a random game without using the server browser. Left 4 Dead has that too, you can either use the matchmaking system to join a random game, or you can use the server browser to pick a particular one out.)

I guess the problem in Red Faction Guerrilla on the PC is that there aren't that many players - always enough to have a game, but not enough to have a choice. That means there is no point in there being any playlist other than the "all" playlist - if you pick one of the playlists like Siege or Demolition or whatever then chances are you won't get to play anyone, the other players will all be in an anarchy game. The advantage of a server list is you'd be able to see if there actually are any siege games or demolition games or whatever going on at any particular moment.

Also, i'm a big believer in being able to join a game half way through a match. I guess making everyone join a lobby first and then all start the game at the same time is supposed to make things more fair, especially in a team game... except there's nothing stopping people from LEAVING games half way through and causing teams to become unbalanced anyway. It would be handy if additional players could join the game! And that way if a siege game started 20 seconds before you started looking for a game, you could still join it.

That sux to hear about Red Faction having such a small community. It still has some life on the 360. Especially since the add-on Downloadable Content. Its a little more active.
Both systems are in their prime I'd say. But the PS3 just recently got a price cut. And has a nice bunch of games coming out this year and the next.

[quagmire_uk]

To be fair there are enough people playing to have a Red Faction Guerrilla on the PC at any time. You've just got to choose the "Any" matchmaking option. Trying to specify a particular gametype is a mistake, takes ages to get enough players (and of course impatient people quit and join another game before the lobby is filled up).

It's hard to tell actually how many people are playing the game... due to there being no server browser, you can't see how many games are about to start or are in progress. All you have to go on is how long it takes to get 6 or 8 or 10 players or whatever for a game.