Several people have noticed that players sometimes have little icons next to their gamertags in the game lobbies. These are Name Plates that can be activated on bungie.net. Go here to activate yours:
http://www.bungie.net/Account/nameplates.aspx
There 8 different name plate variants with Septagon being the easiest to get and MJOLNIR Mk VI being the hardest and rarest.
Come check out my Captain Grade 3 stripes and confetti marked deaths. Yaaayyyy!!!!
I have previously covered the new armor abilities in Reach in fairly extensive detail. Here are some advanced tips on how to maximize your newfangled abilities:
Zealot is a small, symmetrical map used primarily for Slayer gametypes. Blue and Red teams spawn opposite each other and have sight lines from the spawn points to hit the other team. Grenades create massive chaos on the map, so Armor Lock rules with some people choosing Jet Pack as well. Active Camo and Sprint pair well with Sword on this map, but it's pretty difficult to avoid grenades and stay alive long enough to have a sustained Sword Spree.
Bungie has just announced the first DLC for Halo Reach. It includes 3 brand new maps, including one new Invasion map. It will be dropping on November 30 for 800 Microsoft Points (about $10). It also comes with 250 achievement points. I'll be buying it, but won't require it for the clan just yet until I have a better idea of what playlists require it. As long as we can support clan night group sizes in the non-DLC playlists, we can live withouot it.
My family is in town, so I may be on late, but I expect that everyone can figure out how to party-up without me.
One of the most difficult (or tedious) achievements to get in Halo Reach is "A Monument to All Your Sins," awarded for finishing the entire campaign on Legendary, solo. Congratulations to Octurian Poon and CoolerSopranos2 for accomplishing this impressive feat!
Are you wondering what it takes to get to the next rank? Are you wondering why you seem to be stuck in Warrant Officer forever? Are you wondering why Warrant Officer seems to be the most popular rank? Are you wondering why there is an achievement for reaching Captain and Lt. Colonel?
Here are the currently available ranks and the credits required to reach each one:
Spire is a very large, asymmetrical map used primarily for Invasion. Map details below are customized for classic Invasion, Invasion Slayer has some different nuances but the geometry stays the same. In classic Invasion, Spartans try to capture one of two generators in Phase 1, one of two control rooms on Phase 2, and then the core in Phase 3. Elites win if they stop the Spartans in time at any given Phase.
There's been lots of information posted to the blog in the last couple of weeks. Take some time to skim it if you're still coming up to speed on Reach. We're still working out the intricacies of Active Roster, but we're still sticking to the plan that people joining late should queue up and we'll pick you up at the next lobby. I promise to drop back into lobby when folks are on-line. Help keep me honest by sending me a message if you see us finish a game and go back into Matchmaking. The party details update every 15 seconds when you're queued up, so you'll see this happen.
Maps:
Countdown is one of the new maps that wasn't in the Beta, click below images for huge. It's a small, symmetrical, 3-level map that we've seen mainly in Team Slayer. The interior houses the power weapons and all the air lifts. Location names below are the "official" location names that will appear in your HUD. All floors are labeled along the walls as well as on your HUD.
In Halo Reach, various locations on each map actually have "official" names. I haven't been very good about using these, but will start using them with maps that I post from now on. They won't do you much good if haven't learned them, but you can use the official name during your own communications. For example, use "1 guy at Ventilation" or "1 guy at Shotgun" instead of "wtf i just died under the engine thing area".
Weapons in Halo fall into classes. Weapons within those classes have similar behaviors and will be comfortable to players who are familiar with any weapons in that class. If you don't know, you can check your Halo Reach commendations on bungie.net and see what's at the top. This will give you a good idea of the type of weapons you currently gravitate towards.
Note 1: The weapons listed below in each class do not necessarily count towards the associated commendation. I've only listed them to indicate that weapon may be comfortable for you if you have a higher ranking in that commendation.
Note 2: Though the bungie.net commendations represent your current proclivities, that can be changed if you are motivated.
"Trigger Man", "Assistant" commendations. Fully automatic projectile weapons:
Paradiso is one of the new maps that wasn't in the Beta, click below images for huge. It's a large, symmetrical map that we've seen in Invasion Slayer.
Like last week, I will participate as I am able. However, the new baby isn't entirely settled into a routine, so my gaming may still be somewhat sporadic. I apologize in advance for having to drop out of games.
Commendations are cool little recognitions that the game pops up to recognize stylistic things that you do. They are designed to showcase what "type" a player is, since folks will tend to gravitate towards one type of commendation over another. It's not explicitly clear what does what on same of the commendations, but here is some info I've found on the ones that pop for using specific weapons:
[Updated 10/19/10]
So I've now finished the campaign on Normal Co-op (4 players), Legendary Co-op (2-4 players) and Legendary Solo. Here's some tidbits that the data suggests:
On the eighth campaign mission, New Alexandria, you can effectively request a new Falcon at any time. If your plane has gotten shot up and is smoking, just set it down on any roof top or balcony and get out. You will see a prompt that says "Call for emergency evac." Hit down on your D-pad, and Kat will send up a brand new Falcon with two new gunners and you can continue right where you left off.
Valve has discounted the price on the L4D2 "The Passing" DLC to 320 points, down from 560 points. This represents a discount from about $7 to $4. Good for this week.
We just brought the new baby home, so I will participate as best as I am able. But expect that everyone else will be on. Remember if that you are joining late, you can see the clan folks in your Active Roster. Go ahead and join their party, even if they're in game. This will queue you up to join and you'll automatically get added the next time they're in lobby.
Most of the weapons from the Beta appear to be largely unchanged, so I'll just link them here. There are a handful of weapons that were not in the Beta, I will post details about them in the next few days.
New infantry weapons:
Boardwalk is one of the new maps that wasn't in the Beta, click below images for huge. It's an asymmetrical map that we've seen in Territories.
For those of you who weren't paying attention, or just don't bother reading the blog, I have previously described the Halo Reach Armor Abilities in painstaking detail. As I have time, I'll start posting more info about the new abilities, new weapons, new maps, etc. People who leave comments may be able to influence what gets posted first. The Armor Abilities from the Beta are unchanged, as far as I can tell, so for those, I'll just link them here:
In alignment with Halo Reach launching, Microsoft is running a 12-month Xbox Live Gold promotion for only $29.99. This is HALF OFF what it will cost starting on November 1. You can purchase this even if your current subscription is still active, it will just add on to the end. I just did it, and got an e-mail that the new 12-month membership will be active starting April 5, 2011, when my current one runs out. Just fire up your Xbox 360 and the offer should show up as one of the featured promotions. This offer is active now and runs until Monday, 9/20.
zomgstfuwtfitstimeforhaloreach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get on-line fools. We'll be dropping Xbox Live party chat and using the in-game chat so that we can pick up friends and listen to team mates. We'll keep this model until the on-line banter gets too annoying. Remember that you can always mute people not in your party or your team if you'd like, just check your audio preferences.
Starting now starring gtdroptop, OmniscientDeath, Fishbone10 and TimMAY 1023. We'll have an Xbox Live party running if you'd like to pop in to say hello.
Some more clips from the campaign with Bungie staff voiceovers. Note that there are major campaign spoilers in here, watch at your own risk.
There's some new info posted up at Bungie's Reach page.
Exactly one week to Reach. We have a full team signed up for a midnight campaign run: gtdroptop, OmniscientDeath, TimMAY 1023, Fishbone10. If there are others who want to commit to a 7 hour campaign run at midnight, have pre-ordered their game at a retailer open at midnight, and are looking for friends, I'm happy to help coordinate.
I want to be clear about one thing: This blog exists to bring together friends with similar interests, coordinate those friends in regular clan nights, and to distribute information that may be useful to those friends. It is intended to be consumed either directly on the webpage of the blog itself or via an RSS reader. It can be consumed via e-mail subscription, as a widget, or any million of other ways, but I have neither the time nor the desire to make it perfect for each individual's niche usage model. I am happy to make a best effort to help. But if you can't make adjustments to read it the way I intend, I'm not really willing to go out of my way to help you in your special situation.
I don't get paid to do this. Nobody else does this for you. I don't get anything from listening to your complaints. And it doesn't make me feel very accommodating when you tell me that nobody reads it and then in the same breath bitch about how the formatting isn't perfect for you.
It was just announced that Microsoft will be increasing the regular Xbox Live subscription cost by 20% to $59.99/year starting on November 1, 2010. If you renew before then, you can avoid the increase for another year. I previously posted a special at Amazon.com for just $34.99 which I still think is the most efficient way of renewing your subscription. That special is over, but it's worthwhile to keep your eyes open for sales like that.
I am out of town traveling, but can host clan night for those that want to log on later at 10pm. We had some good sack action last week, may be our choice of playlists until Reach Falls.
Showing another Forged map, this a multi-bomb versus game. The Cage is the historical predecessor to Lockout/Blackout.
Showing off a Firefight variant called Skeet Shoot. This is a custom gametype that was made for the purposes of the video where everyone gets unlimited ammo sniper guns, and waves drop Heretic Elite Snipers. Bungie has previously said that Elites only appear in Firefight when they are human controlled, so unclear if this is a contradiction or there are actually that many human opponents. Video also showcases impressive no-scope sniping.
Indoor Wraiths, Bubble Shield ability, Human controlled Elites, female Spartan voice, Hunters. All very interesting. This map feels very Halo 1.
Noble 3 has the long gun, Noble 4 has the sweet helmet, Noble 5 has the chaingun, and Noble 6 is Hyper-Lethal. I can't decide.
Have the clips of Reach gotten you excited? Less than one month away!
I get that this is supposed to be an example of what you can do in Forge 2.0, but did these guys make ANY new maps?
Amazon.com is offering a $20 credit on a future video game purchase if you pre-order Halo Reach. It comes with free shipping, but generally takes 1-2 weeks if you go that route.
Compare this to GameStop's pre-order bonus of a special armor variant and a chance to win a life size Spartan. Many GameStops are also offering midnight pickups on September 14.
Pre-ordering anywhere will unlock the Recon helmet pre-order bonus.
Clan nights will more regularly start at 9pm now. Hopefully this helps to consolidate attendance.
Was just announced today that you can make your own Fable III villager that you can activate in-game. Honestly, I tried out the character builder, and it's not all that compelling. But it's an interesting little tidbit nevertheless.
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