Sterling Will Not Hide (For Once)
Sterling McGarvey, Associate Console Editor, 0.4943: Let's face it: I never coulda been a contender. But it's not like you guys who've played against us didn't know that. I can kinda mask it during Team Slayer; in fact, I've got a great video clip that I'm going to cling to for eternity (read: until June 10th) of me getting second place in BTB Slayer. Patrick does not like Big Team Slayer, but I'm all about it. Sure, you'll always get a sneaky sniping bastard, or worse, tagged with the Spartan laser while you're locked into a battle of wits with someone else, but I like the atmosphere when you've got a big group of cool people.
I think that the later hours that we play the beta also excludes us from the sizable majority of annoying prepubescents that everyone complains about. With that in mind, most of my games have consisted of cool people with minimal drop-outs. I'd love to see Bungie institute a time ban on the final product like what Insomniac's doing for the Resistance patch: If your quit/disconnect percentage is too high, you get a time-out from joining ranked games. Screw this "losing RP" business; make 'em stand in the corner.
In regard to policing and enforcement, Bungie has had a lot of responsibility on its hands, and I hope to see it be ultra-strict; it'll be the only way to keep people on, instead of letting the game fall to douchebags. I haven't even bothered with any of the beta hacks. Naughty, naughty, kids. Don't get all huffy and entitled when Bungie unveils the banhammer on you for hacking its beta.
The issues with better party control will undoubtedly be fixed for the final product, but damn, I join my compatriots in saying that for the beta, it's got quite a few problems. It's a little clunky and awkward right now; we've had some problems setting up 'Spy-Hunter games with all of us on the same team. I do kinda like it sometimes, like when it's me on a team with some lieutenants against my co-workers, but that's because I'm good at picking off those guys' sloppy seconds.
One thing I'm not delighted about, however, is the reinstitution of the Banshee on Valhalla. Just when I was starting to get used to that map, now I have to deal with asshattery from the likes of Gabe shooting at me at any given minute. It's gonna be a long sleepless nine days, especially since I'm getting my Warhawk beta invite today.
Gerald Villoria, Console Editor, 0.666: After weeks of play, I have come to the conclusion that vehicular combat is my forte. When was Twisted Metal coming back, anyways? Oh, we're talking about Halo 3 here. I have to disagree, Sterling, the Banshee rocks and I love it. I'm absolutely helpless on two legs, but when I've got an engine and a couple hundred feet between me and opposing Spartans, good things happen.
I don't see very much that can stop a wily Banshee user, besides his or her own carelessness. When I was flying around on one earlier today, I had a great time raining death down upon Valhallan soil, but there are some things I'm not crazy about. One is how my teammates refuse to hop in the driver's seat of a Warthog when I take the turret. I always end up sitting back there like the kid that didn't get picked on the basketball court.
I've also got an issue with teammates that feel the need to trashtalk everyone else that contributed to a loss. Yeah, we were all the weakest link, and you're obviously a star player, Mr. Rank 1 Private. Sometimes I wish that bot technology were good enough that I could just avoid the public altogether. Sometimes I feel like this makes me some sort of Xbox Live snob, but really, some mothers out there aren't doing a good enough job raising these miscreants.
I'm going to miss the Halo 3 beta when it's gone, but I think I've had my fill for now. I'm definitely looking forward to the single-player campaign, but ultimately, Halo 3 will be the kind of multiplayer game that I'll absolutely love to play with the guys at the office, and not so much on Xbox Live.
It's not that I don't have faith in Bungie's ability to match up players according to skill and generally provide a great pick up and play experience. It's more of a case of not having the time to dedicate to any one game and being clearly outmatched by the average Halo fan who'll eat this game up for months, if not years to come. It's the StarCraft syndrome all over again, just instead of being torn apart by a Korean Zerg rush I'm getting sniped by a foul-mouthed brat that's up way past his bed time. Still, I'll wade into the kiddie side of the pool every now and then to test the waters. After all, we need something to write about, right?
