Yes, just like the title says, a bunch of stuff has happened in the what two months since my last post? Where to begin? Ah, well we can start with this. I finally reached 20,000 Gamerscore with an achievement from Forza 4...after all this time I don't remember what it was even... I'm not sure if I want to continue my quest towards the amount of 30,000 or give achievement hunting a rest for a little while. I am trying to get all the achievements from Halo Anniversary; however, some of the achievements are proving a little difficult.
I also completely missed making a post on here, which does sadden me to some extent, but life had taken over at that time. On March 29th of this year, it marked my 5 year "anniversary" for joining Bungie.net. I didn't follow the semi-tradition of creating a thread stating my opinion on the moderation in my time being there or anything else, besides I have to wait another two years before it becomes mandatory. Honestly because I was so busy at that time I almost forgot about it, only remembering it halfway through the day.
My next piece of news is in regards to my last post where I mentioned I was joining a Grifball team with Storm. Well we changed our minds on joining a team shortly after I posted that. Instead we decided to start our own team. Very long story short, neither Storm or I had people on our friends lists that enjoyed playing Grifball so in order to find teammates, I went to this place called GrifballHub and they had a thread for players looking for teams and teams looking for players. The day after I had posted that I received a message from this person with the name of oObeX asking about our runner position. I replied back with my Gamertag and the best day to catch us online to get some games in. A couple days later I was browsing through the same thread and saw that UCCxZAKORE was looking for a team. I sent him a message asking if he wanted to join the team and he was interested. Farther into the future we came to an agreement on a name and thus The Light Redcoats were created.
So far we had our first experience with league teams in a Vanilla GRUNT...it didn't go too well for us. Sadly our only win was by a default as one team dropped out. Since there was an uneven amount of teams that signed up we got a first round bye, once the second round rolled about we got to play our first game; which was a really close game. We jumped out to a 2-0 lead and were getting ready to score a third time to technically take the game, but we let that game slip out from underneath us. Our last two games of the tournament were rather...embarrassing. We got shut out 5-0 in each of them. Granted they were against veteran teams and we're only a rookie team. I still stand by what I have said before, with some time, patience and practice I know our team will be able to hold their own during actual league games.
The last thing I will quickly cover in this very short post has to do with my passion for both gaming and writing. A couple months ago, I was sitting and browsing through the gaming news blog that a few of my friends and fellow Xbox Ambassadors had started and noticed they were looking for staff members. So I sent a tweet away to the owner and founder asking if they were still accepting applications, he got back within a few minutes stating yes. So I sent in an application and they gave me a two month trial period to see if I had what it took to become their lead review. Nothing is official on that yet, but I have wrote a couple of reviews for them (one on Forza 4 and one on ODST) in that time and they were happy with them. I'm pretty sure I'll at least be a reviewer for Inside View Gaming for a little while. They are looking to expand greatly in the near future, it sounds like they are hammering out the details for some big stuff as well.
That does it for this short post, but it was at least something right? Remember, always keep an eye on the ever so elusive Grif. He's very sneaky if he takes over the right person.
Showing posts with label Bungie Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bungie Stuff. Show all posts
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Into The Mist..er Space
In the almost four months it has been since I made a post on here, I actually haven't been doing a whole lot. Since that time I've gotten a few new games(like three...) and a ton more achievements(Bleep Bloop!). A lot of the time spent recently have been going over old projects I had worked on over the past couple years in the Halo community and various other places. The most notable one that I take a large amount of pride in was HGA. Or some of you may know it as the Halo Gaming Association, unfortunately the group and idea never took off. Twice, I might add. Another event is the Campaign Challenge I ran for The Upper Echelon....which has now also stopped. Hmm, I'm noticing a pattern here. Anyways, more words inbound!
See, told you more words inbound. First the games that have been wasting my time. In April Portal 2 was released, a couple weeks later Gamestop had a sale for it. Being a fan of the Portal series, I couldn't resist picking up the sequal for almost half the price. Brought it home and played a few levels of the single player. It was so nice to hear the banter between GLaDOS and Wheatley throughout the entire game. The humor that Valve has also was very awesome to see in it, with achievements named "The Part Where He Kills You: This is that part." truly express this. The introduction of the two different types of gels also really make you think about how to work those puzzles without falling into an abyss...not that I would know from experience at all...nope. The addition of co-op as well was something that I think Portal fans wanted for a little while and Portal 2 delivered that. You really have to communicate with who you are playing with if you want to beat the co-op portion of the game. Having to place all of your portals in order to set up an "infinite" loop is awsome, just make sure your timing is right otherwise you'll be crushed...or worse. Being able to sabotage your buddy is also fun at times...not that I would know about that either. What's that? You want to cross that chasm while I have a shield being looped in front of those turrets. Okay we can do that, but wait! You're halfway across and now you have to deal with the fire coming from those turrets I previously mentioned. Ha! That's what you get for throwing me into that pit before! Oh...ahem...sorry. Moving on, but first. I'm in space!
The second game I picked up was the third installment in the Fear series. Simply named Fear 3; actually, F.3.A.R if you want to go according to box art. So far I think it is easily my favorite in the series. The campaign is a little shorter than the previous games, but it is also really fun. Storm and I sat down and played until Interval 8(the last inverval) in one day, but then went back to start searching for the Alma dolls hidden throughout each level. We did this several times before actually completing the game a week later. The ending also leaves a possibility for a fourth game, or at least some future DLC. This was also another game that was originally single player in previous titles, but then added co-op into it. The co-op has one player play as the main character Point-Man where the second player plays as his brother Fettel. Needless to say it is awesome playing as Fettel as you can take over bodies of enemies and use them to fight their used to be allies. It really brings a new perspective on the co-op much likie Portal 2.
Final game I picked up was Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Not really a whole lot to say about it; it's a continuation of the storyline from the second game. They added a few new things to it, like you can now find people across the city and rescue them and recruit them into your assassin...brotherhood...thing whatever you want to call it. Then you can send them on their own missions or call them out to help you within the city. It's a really cool feature that I am glad is returning for Revelations. The dual hidden blades returned and I love using them against unaware guards. They also did add a multiplayer, but I can't say I have really tried it out aside from a couple games. It'll take some getting used to before I can really enjoy it.
I do have some stuff I want to talk about, but if I post all it two things will happen. A) It will be really late by the time I have finished and that would suck plus B) I won't have a reason to delay a post by four months like last time. However this I will share, a long time ago I'm sure I made reference of a Completely Random Forum. Well, the very first version a Completely Random Forum is starting to make a come back. So might I suggest taking a stop by the Completely Random Forums? Also with the return of the forum, RandomProxy(admin/owner) decided to set up a Tumblr account and Twitter page for it. If you have either feel free to check out the CRF Tumblr and our Twitter for updates on stuff happening in the forum. Yes, I know, that was shameless self promotion, but hey consider me sharing a site I like to you to check out.
See, told you more words inbound. First the games that have been wasting my time. In April Portal 2 was released, a couple weeks later Gamestop had a sale for it. Being a fan of the Portal series, I couldn't resist picking up the sequal for almost half the price. Brought it home and played a few levels of the single player. It was so nice to hear the banter between GLaDOS and Wheatley throughout the entire game. The humor that Valve has also was very awesome to see in it, with achievements named "The Part Where He Kills You: This is that part." truly express this. The introduction of the two different types of gels also really make you think about how to work those puzzles without falling into an abyss...not that I would know from experience at all...nope. The addition of co-op as well was something that I think Portal fans wanted for a little while and Portal 2 delivered that. You really have to communicate with who you are playing with if you want to beat the co-op portion of the game. Having to place all of your portals in order to set up an "infinite" loop is awsome, just make sure your timing is right otherwise you'll be crushed...or worse. Being able to sabotage your buddy is also fun at times...not that I would know about that either. What's that? You want to cross that chasm while I have a shield being looped in front of those turrets. Okay we can do that, but wait! You're halfway across and now you have to deal with the fire coming from those turrets I previously mentioned. Ha! That's what you get for throwing me into that pit before! Oh...ahem...sorry. Moving on, but first. I'm in space!
The second game I picked up was the third installment in the Fear series. Simply named Fear 3; actually, F.3.A.R if you want to go according to box art. So far I think it is easily my favorite in the series. The campaign is a little shorter than the previous games, but it is also really fun. Storm and I sat down and played until Interval 8(the last inverval) in one day, but then went back to start searching for the Alma dolls hidden throughout each level. We did this several times before actually completing the game a week later. The ending also leaves a possibility for a fourth game, or at least some future DLC. This was also another game that was originally single player in previous titles, but then added co-op into it. The co-op has one player play as the main character Point-Man where the second player plays as his brother Fettel. Needless to say it is awesome playing as Fettel as you can take over bodies of enemies and use them to fight their used to be allies. It really brings a new perspective on the co-op much likie Portal 2.
Final game I picked up was Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Not really a whole lot to say about it; it's a continuation of the storyline from the second game. They added a few new things to it, like you can now find people across the city and rescue them and recruit them into your assassin...brotherhood...thing whatever you want to call it. Then you can send them on their own missions or call them out to help you within the city. It's a really cool feature that I am glad is returning for Revelations. The dual hidden blades returned and I love using them against unaware guards. They also did add a multiplayer, but I can't say I have really tried it out aside from a couple games. It'll take some getting used to before I can really enjoy it.
I do have some stuff I want to talk about, but if I post all it two things will happen. A) It will be really late by the time I have finished and that would suck plus B) I won't have a reason to delay a post by four months like last time. However this I will share, a long time ago I'm sure I made reference of a Completely Random Forum. Well, the very first version a Completely Random Forum is starting to make a come back. So might I suggest taking a stop by the Completely Random Forums? Also with the return of the forum, RandomProxy(admin/owner) decided to set up a Tumblr account and Twitter page for it. If you have either feel free to check out the CRF Tumblr and our Twitter for updates on stuff happening in the forum. Yes, I know, that was shameless self promotion, but hey consider me sharing a site I like to you to check out.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Four Years and Still Strong
So, today signifies the four year join date for me on Bungie.net. Since that is the case, I would qualify for the Veteran prefix for my title. However, that's not the case as I already have Exalted which is the highest prefix one can gain. Over my stay there I have been in so many awesome private groups, one of which was the very first group I joined I am still in. I remember the first group I started on my own and tried to get off the ground. Needless to say it didn't go to well... Ah yes, the abomination of a group that was Troops of Onyx. Oh, and can't forget about the real only semi-successful Legion of Elites. Yeah, it had a whole 15 members and only a few were ever active. After that I finally realized that I should give up on trying to start a group myself. I think the only group that ever had a chance at getting off the ground was the Halo Gaming Association. Apparently though, two revived versions of the group wasn't enough to get things going smoothly.
Anyways, a couple weeks ago I played some of Reach's multiplayer with Storm. We had plenty of awesome games and here are a few of them. One of the only times where I'll ever have 20+ kills. The Key made me do it! The Key is basically the sword; it's a reference to a phrase the Tucker makes from I think season four of RvB. Okay, so maybe this is another one of those times. Again, the Key made me do it. Blarg! That was an awesome game, it basically came down to who could control the yellow(more like green to me...) Which a lot of people consider bad for Sword Base, but I like it; I think it adds to the chaos that goes with the name of Halo. <3 Oddball. I didn't do much scoring wise, but I kind of helped by keeping the enemy team away from our teammate who had the ball. Yet another close game. Stupid Armor Lock... I believe that is all of the games I have to post.
However, I do have some rendered videos to show off. This first video shows how not to throw a grenade out a doorway. It might look like it worked, but Storm(yes, he's the one who threw the grenade) was actually intending to throw it out the doorway a little bit farther to the right. In turn I end up getting blown up by a grenade. I'll admit, I laughed pretty hard the moment it happened. Embedded version is below, with the direct link to download the clip to Reach. At some point I hope to have it uploaded to my Youtube channel.
Direct download link is here.
Speaking of my Youtube channel, about a month ago I uploaded some other rendered videos I had laying around in Reach to it. I believe that some of them I haven't posted on here before, on the other hand; some of them already have been. Ah well, pick and choose which one(s) you want to watch.
As of lately, I've been going for another personal goal of reaching 15,000 Gamerscore. Most of you might remember a couple posts I made earlier about my quest for 10,000 points and then later 12,000. I am currently sitting at 14,653 and having a hard time getting those last few points. I originally thought it would be easy to get the last 500 points when I reach it, but that was like 3 months ago... That's all I have for now. I know it's a rather short post compared to what I usually do, but it's at least something.
Anyways, a couple weeks ago I played some of Reach's multiplayer with Storm. We had plenty of awesome games and here are a few of them. One of the only times where I'll ever have 20+ kills. The Key made me do it! The Key is basically the sword; it's a reference to a phrase the Tucker makes from I think season four of RvB. Okay, so maybe this is another one of those times. Again, the Key made me do it. Blarg! That was an awesome game, it basically came down to who could control the yellow(more like green to me...) Which a lot of people consider bad for Sword Base, but I like it; I think it adds to the chaos that goes with the name of Halo. <3 Oddball. I didn't do much scoring wise, but I kind of helped by keeping the enemy team away from our teammate who had the ball. Yet another close game. Stupid Armor Lock... I believe that is all of the games I have to post.
However, I do have some rendered videos to show off. This first video shows how not to throw a grenade out a doorway. It might look like it worked, but Storm(yes, he's the one who threw the grenade) was actually intending to throw it out the doorway a little bit farther to the right. In turn I end up getting blown up by a grenade. I'll admit, I laughed pretty hard the moment it happened. Embedded version is below, with the direct link to download the clip to Reach. At some point I hope to have it uploaded to my Youtube channel.
Direct download link is here.
Speaking of my Youtube channel, about a month ago I uploaded some other rendered videos I had laying around in Reach to it. I believe that some of them I haven't posted on here before, on the other hand; some of them already have been. Ah well, pick and choose which one(s) you want to watch.
As of lately, I've been going for another personal goal of reaching 15,000 Gamerscore. Most of you might remember a couple posts I made earlier about my quest for 10,000 points and then later 12,000. I am currently sitting at 14,653 and having a hard time getting those last few points. I originally thought it would be easy to get the last 500 points when I reach it, but that was like 3 months ago... That's all I have for now. I know it's a rather short post compared to what I usually do, but it's at least something.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Title-less
No, I haven't lost my title on Bnet yet; it's just I don't know what to call this post...again. I think I'm going to jump right on into this post with a few of my older posts from the forums that have been hiding for a little while. You might have to scroll down the page until you see my name in order to find them. Whereas others are near the top of the page.
No, I don't have a Hail to the King; I have 7 of them now. Yes, at that point I didn't have any, but it was only a couple months later that I got my first one.
Really? I had no idea that getting a random unplanned kill was not expected.
You're kidding, right? The more I look at that thread; I don't know what I was thinking.
Seriously, back in Halo 3 I was always changing my helmet several times throughout the day. Luckily, I like the helmets they have in Reach so I don't change them that often.
Says the person who has played a handful of games and netted themselves a skill of 5 in the playlist.
Again, really I had no idea that it takes good teamwork to defeat a good team...
This is decent one with the way I worded it. It makes it sound like I boot people if they betray me in a game even if it was an accident.
So far, those are all the posts I have found for now. I'll see if I can scrounge up some more for a future post, but they are slowly dwindling now that I realize how not to be an idiot.
Anyways, remember that map that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I said I was working that was originating as an idea for a Halo 3 map and it has kind of died of since I started it in Reach? Well, I haven't killed it completely...not yet anyhow. I do have a very good start on it(read: pretty much finished) however, I need to change around some things on the map that I'm not happy with. Oh, and it still needs a name for it. There still are a few things that I need to add to it, such as making it compatible for the other gametypes. I'm thinking of also changing the current spawns for the sniper rifle as I'm not exactly happy with them. Once it is finished and I have given it a playtest with Storm, I will post it on here accompanied with a few screenshots perhaps for you all to download and enjoy. Or hate on, whichever suits your style better.
Now, before I leave you with a short post; I'll add in a few more words and pretty colored text and some moving images share some of my files I have taken in Reach as of lately.
First up is so far the only Firefight gametype I have created. I am actually rather happy with it. When I first started brainstorming the idea I was hoping for a Jackal only match of Firefight; well that happened and it is comprised of mostly Jackals, but it wasn't fun with only them. Needless to say even with the skull selection for each round it didn't offer a challenge. I wasn't planning on creating a gametype that was meant for a challenge, but I didn't want something that was going to easy to complete either. Once I had everything perfected in the end I ended up with a few other groups of enemies added in there also. It's still a fun mode to play, especially if Jackals have been owning you in the campaign and you completely hate them(like I do) you can take out your frustrations on them here. I also think you'll like what's in store for you if download it and play until round two.
Anyways, link to download aforementioned gametype.
Next up are a couple video clips I took from the game. Right now I will embed the video directly into the post, and give you direct download link. However, here soon(as in I'm going to do it no matter what) I'll have them and the older ones I found that I had rendered and that are stashed away uploaded to my Youtube channel. No promises as to when they'll be up, but I'm hoping to remember to do it soon.
First up in the batch of videos, a very lucky Elite with a Ghost and also, a very unaware Grunt that ends up going through a window....ouch.
If only I had Armor Lock... Direct download link.
I hit the Elite with the Ghost thinking that ramming him up against the building and the front end of the vehicle would kill him, but nope it doesn't work that way. He evidently had an invisible parachute that saved him. Direct download link is available here.
Now, the following is so far, I think, my best failure of Reach currently. Like the description of the clip says, I need to learn how to get out of a vehicle safely.
So that was Storm driving the Hog on the left after getting killed then respawning near one, I was the one that drove our old Hog back(located on the right) so we could use it. Well, lets just say that Newtons law where an object in motion tends to stay in motion until an equal or greater force are presented didn't work in my favor. At least...I think that's the way that law goes. Direct download link can be found...here.
I believe that is all I have for now. I'm hoping to get another post out with that map I was talking about sometime in the next few days. However, if past experience is any source; I wouldn't count on it.
No, I don't have a Hail to the King; I have 7 of them now. Yes, at that point I didn't have any, but it was only a couple months later that I got my first one.
Really? I had no idea that getting a random unplanned kill was not expected.
You're kidding, right? The more I look at that thread; I don't know what I was thinking.
Seriously, back in Halo 3 I was always changing my helmet several times throughout the day. Luckily, I like the helmets they have in Reach so I don't change them that often.
Says the person who has played a handful of games and netted themselves a skill of 5 in the playlist.
Again, really I had no idea that it takes good teamwork to defeat a good team...
This is decent one with the way I worded it. It makes it sound like I boot people if they betray me in a game even if it was an accident.
So far, those are all the posts I have found for now. I'll see if I can scrounge up some more for a future post, but they are slowly dwindling now that I realize how not to be an idiot.
Anyways, remember that map that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I said I was working that was originating as an idea for a Halo 3 map and it has kind of died of since I started it in Reach? Well, I haven't killed it completely...not yet anyhow. I do have a very good start on it(read: pretty much finished) however, I need to change around some things on the map that I'm not happy with. Oh, and it still needs a name for it. There still are a few things that I need to add to it, such as making it compatible for the other gametypes. I'm thinking of also changing the current spawns for the sniper rifle as I'm not exactly happy with them. Once it is finished and I have given it a playtest with Storm, I will post it on here accompanied with a few screenshots perhaps for you all to download and enjoy. Or hate on, whichever suits your style better.
Now, before I leave you with a short post; I'll add in a few more words and pretty colored text and some moving images share some of my files I have taken in Reach as of lately.
First up is so far the only Firefight gametype I have created. I am actually rather happy with it. When I first started brainstorming the idea I was hoping for a Jackal only match of Firefight; well that happened and it is comprised of mostly Jackals, but it wasn't fun with only them. Needless to say even with the skull selection for each round it didn't offer a challenge. I wasn't planning on creating a gametype that was meant for a challenge, but I didn't want something that was going to easy to complete either. Once I had everything perfected in the end I ended up with a few other groups of enemies added in there also. It's still a fun mode to play, especially if Jackals have been owning you in the campaign and you completely hate them(like I do) you can take out your frustrations on them here. I also think you'll like what's in store for you if download it and play until round two.
Anyways, link to download aforementioned gametype.
Next up are a couple video clips I took from the game. Right now I will embed the video directly into the post, and give you direct download link. However, here soon(as in I'm going to do it no matter what) I'll have them and the older ones I found that I had rendered and that are stashed away uploaded to my Youtube channel. No promises as to when they'll be up, but I'm hoping to remember to do it soon.
First up in the batch of videos, a very lucky Elite with a Ghost and also, a very unaware Grunt that ends up going through a window....ouch.
If only I had Armor Lock... Direct download link.
I hit the Elite with the Ghost thinking that ramming him up against the building and the front end of the vehicle would kill him, but nope it doesn't work that way. He evidently had an invisible parachute that saved him. Direct download link is available here.
Now, the following is so far, I think, my best failure of Reach currently. Like the description of the clip says, I need to learn how to get out of a vehicle safely.
So that was Storm driving the Hog on the left after getting killed then respawning near one, I was the one that drove our old Hog back(located on the right) so we could use it. Well, lets just say that Newtons law where an object in motion tends to stay in motion until an equal or greater force are presented didn't work in my favor. At least...I think that's the way that law goes. Direct download link can be found...here.
I believe that is all I have for now. I'm hoping to get another post out with that map I was talking about sometime in the next few days. However, if past experience is any source; I wouldn't count on it.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A Look Inside the Message Box
After receiving a reply from someone I have been talking to as of lately, I got the idea to expose some of the more interesting PM's I have been sent in the past year and a half. Yes, I know that completely voids the meaning of the letter "P" in PM since it stands for private message; ah well, they technically are my messages...in a way. I have removed some of the names of the users that have sent me these in order to protect them from...well for whatever reason. Anyways, moving onto something more than random banter. Although with some of these I do wonder if it really is a change.
"Hey, want to join Dark ODST, its a new group on bungie.net, and im looking for great new members, We do a varity of things, not much stuff is going on now. But when we get a few more members, the group will stay active, and you'll be a great member of the group. I hope u join."
This message was sent by what is now someone who had their account auto-deleted back in March of last year. Nothing really special about it, but I have learned in my time being there that when you send out a recruitment message to someone ask to join your group; they would kind of like link to the place. Yes, the name of the group does just fine, but how am I supposed to know to go search for your group?
The following one is very simple, and short. A little too short almost...
"join group Ghost of onix"
Yep, that's it. I really have no idea what to say about this....
"Hi, i noticed you in the Halo 3 forums. and i would like to ask you if you wanted to join the ODST Red Team. The first member to join will be instantly promoted."
If only you would have given me a link to the group, perhaps a small description or the motto and most importantly; sent it two months ago when your group was new...
This next one is probably one of the most random messages I have ever received with my stay on B.net.
Title: lets play h3
Body: "ill send u an invite"
Yes...you do that. Wait, how do know what my gamertag is and how do I know that you'll actually invite me instead of just ignore me? Or is this all something that I am imagining happened, but actually isn't real?
This is probably the most out-of the blue conversation that someone has started with me, it starts a lot like this:
Title: Good Evening :) (Note, they just had to add the creepy little looking smiley in there didn't they?)
Body: Good day Onyx Spartan, how are you feeling this evening sir?
I reply simply back with; Good and yours?
I get their reply back: "Recovering from sickness, but better :) thanks!
I reply back with something else and get this response:
"Indeed, and I'm happy you're happy as well :)" (There's that smiley again...)
I give my final message and get the final reply back with "Yeah! :)"
Yeah, probably the strangest conversation I have had with anyone. I swear though, if I see that stupid smiley one more time; I'm going to kill my inbox.
Next up, another recruitment message. Yeah, I get those a lot and they have kind of accumulated over my three year stay. This one is rather long, but I'll take out the good parts of it.
"I noticed your activity in the Bungie.net community and I figured I'd send you this message detailing my custom content group. If you're interested in the group, join it! "
Really, I had no idea I was an active member of the community and yes, if I like a group I would normally join it also...
"Our state-of-the-art thread titling system uses scientific principles to help you find what you want easily! Custom content threads are titled with special symbols - $ is for Screenshot Threads, @ is for Map Threads, & is for Gametype Threads, and # is for Film and Video Threads!"
I never knew the dollar sign was state-of-the art... I had the perfect science related comeback for that and now I don't remember it, ah well maybe I'll remember it later and update this post with it.
Random message that has nothing to do with what I posted in a thread are always awesome. A little backstory here as to this message. Bungie had put up a poll on their front page that asking what was the multiplayer feature that you liked the most. Well I had posted a reply to it and got this message from some random user:
"a load out is the special abilities like you can be invisible without picking up an active camoflauge it just like the special ability to run, fly, and camo"
Yes, I already know what a Loadout is but thanks clarifying it anyways. I honeslty don't even know how I got that as what I posted had nothing to do with the Loadouts anyways...
"hi this isint about the beta but im [redacted] and i have reacon buti need it back cuz some1 hacked me somehow and took it off but i changed my name to [redacted] so plz give me another piece of that asthome armour plz listen"
Sorry dude, but I can't help you there(even though I did try and get him in contact with the right person), but I'm not a Bungie employee.
Then there is the message asking if I knew when the Reach Beta would be out back in May and if I knew what time that would translate to for those over in the UK. Well all I was going on was "Late morning PDT on May 3rd." since that is what everyone else was going by.
Title: Hey.
Body: Long time no talk, what's up?
Umm, not much considering last time we talked you hated me still for disagreeing with the choice I made in a group we were both admins for....so yeah.
Title: Recruiting You
My Thoughts: Oh boy...here we go again.
Body: Bunch of rambling.
more rambling....
"You have received this standard copy/paste recruitment message because we wish to have you amongst the Staff."
Well, you were at least to the point of it being a standardized copy and paste message...sort of.
Now, for the best message I think I have received in the past three years of my membership on Bungie.net. This was sent by someone who posted a thread in the community forum and I have been talking with them off and on as of lately. They've made comment of how I'm the only *active* Mythic that they rarely see in the public forums and how my avatar compliments the blue title bar. On Wednesday I lost my Mythic status for only that day and gained it back on Thursday(it'll be gone tomorrow for me mentioning it on here now) and he messaged me saying that I lost, well I messaged him back later today saying I got it back. This is the result of me saying I got it back:
"Webteam: "This Onyx Spartan guy, he seems to be telling us something... I've got it! He wants us to add "Onyx" to the title system as a Base title! It's genius!
*later*
Webteam: Ok we are just about done! Lets make Onyx Spartan the very first Onyx member!...
Computer: ///SERVERS SHUTTING DOWN+/// CAN NOT LOAD ANOTHER TITLE TO SYSTEM REBOOTING...///
Webteam: WTF?! Shut it off! NOW!
*later, again*
Webteam: well, at least we saved the servers from asploding... WHAT?! Onyx Spartan is now Legendary?! Must have been an effect of shutting the servers off completely for 5 WHOLE MINUTES.
WebTeam: Lets promote him again tomorrow, I;m tired."
I will admit that the thought of the webteam taking anything from me and actually implementing it into the website would be pretty cool, this is just plain hilarious though. +1 to kool fat kid for writing that up in his spare time.
Now, that is all for now; but rest assured(or worried) that this feature will return at some point in the future as I don't plan on deleting any messages I get from here on out. That and I always have a total of nine pages to fall back onto for awesome stuff. And I know that there is still more stuff lurking out there in the depth of my inbox currently; I just don't have the time to post it all right now.
Oh and, :)
"Hey, want to join Dark ODST, its a new group on bungie.net, and im looking for great new members, We do a varity of things, not much stuff is going on now. But when we get a few more members, the group will stay active, and you'll be a great member of the group. I hope u join."
This message was sent by what is now someone who had their account auto-deleted back in March of last year. Nothing really special about it, but I have learned in my time being there that when you send out a recruitment message to someone ask to join your group; they would kind of like link to the place. Yes, the name of the group does just fine, but how am I supposed to know to go search for your group?
The following one is very simple, and short. A little too short almost...
"join group Ghost of onix"
Yep, that's it. I really have no idea what to say about this....
"Hi, i noticed you in the Halo 3 forums. and i would like to ask you if you wanted to join the ODST Red Team. The first member to join will be instantly promoted."
If only you would have given me a link to the group, perhaps a small description or the motto and most importantly; sent it two months ago when your group was new...
This next one is probably one of the most random messages I have ever received with my stay on B.net.
Title: lets play h3
Body: "ill send u an invite"
Yes...you do that. Wait, how do know what my gamertag is and how do I know that you'll actually invite me instead of just ignore me? Or is this all something that I am imagining happened, but actually isn't real?
This is probably the most out-of the blue conversation that someone has started with me, it starts a lot like this:
Title: Good Evening :) (Note, they just had to add the creepy little looking smiley in there didn't they?)
Body: Good day Onyx Spartan, how are you feeling this evening sir?
I reply simply back with; Good and yours?
I get their reply back: "Recovering from sickness, but better :) thanks!
I reply back with something else and get this response:
"Indeed, and I'm happy you're happy as well :)" (There's that smiley again...)
I give my final message and get the final reply back with "Yeah! :)"
Yeah, probably the strangest conversation I have had with anyone. I swear though, if I see that stupid smiley one more time; I'm going to kill my inbox.
Next up, another recruitment message. Yeah, I get those a lot and they have kind of accumulated over my three year stay. This one is rather long, but I'll take out the good parts of it.
"I noticed your activity in the Bungie.net community and I figured I'd send you this message detailing my custom content group. If you're interested in the group, join it! "
Really, I had no idea I was an active member of the community and yes, if I like a group I would normally join it also...
"Our state-of-the-art thread titling system uses scientific principles to help you find what you want easily! Custom content threads are titled with special symbols - $ is for Screenshot Threads, @ is for Map Threads, & is for Gametype Threads, and # is for Film and Video Threads!"
I never knew the dollar sign was state-of-the art... I had the perfect science related comeback for that and now I don't remember it, ah well maybe I'll remember it later and update this post with it.
Random message that has nothing to do with what I posted in a thread are always awesome. A little backstory here as to this message. Bungie had put up a poll on their front page that asking what was the multiplayer feature that you liked the most. Well I had posted a reply to it and got this message from some random user:
"a load out is the special abilities like you can be invisible without picking up an active camoflauge it just like the special ability to run, fly, and camo"
Yes, I already know what a Loadout is but thanks clarifying it anyways. I honeslty don't even know how I got that as what I posted had nothing to do with the Loadouts anyways...
"hi this isint about the beta but im [redacted] and i have reacon buti need it back cuz some1 hacked me somehow and took it off but i changed my name to [redacted] so plz give me another piece of that asthome armour plz listen"
Sorry dude, but I can't help you there(even though I did try and get him in contact with the right person), but I'm not a Bungie employee.
Then there is the message asking if I knew when the Reach Beta would be out back in May and if I knew what time that would translate to for those over in the UK. Well all I was going on was "Late morning PDT on May 3rd." since that is what everyone else was going by.
Title: Hey.
Body: Long time no talk, what's up?
Umm, not much considering last time we talked you hated me still for disagreeing with the choice I made in a group we were both admins for....so yeah.
Title: Recruiting You
My Thoughts: Oh boy...here we go again.
Body: Bunch of rambling.
more rambling....
"You have received this standard copy/paste recruitment message because we wish to have you amongst the Staff."
Well, you were at least to the point of it being a standardized copy and paste message...sort of.
Now, for the best message I think I have received in the past three years of my membership on Bungie.net. This was sent by someone who posted a thread in the community forum and I have been talking with them off and on as of lately. They've made comment of how I'm the only *active* Mythic that they rarely see in the public forums and how my avatar compliments the blue title bar. On Wednesday I lost my Mythic status for only that day and gained it back on Thursday(it'll be gone tomorrow for me mentioning it on here now) and he messaged me saying that I lost, well I messaged him back later today saying I got it back. This is the result of me saying I got it back:
"Webteam: "This Onyx Spartan guy, he seems to be telling us something... I've got it! He wants us to add "Onyx" to the title system as a Base title! It's genius!
*later*
Webteam: Ok we are just about done! Lets make Onyx Spartan the very first Onyx member!...
Computer: ///SERVERS SHUTTING DOWN+/// CAN NOT LOAD ANOTHER TITLE TO SYSTEM REBOOTING...///
Webteam: WTF?! Shut it off! NOW!
*later, again*
Webteam: well, at least we saved the servers from asploding... WHAT?! Onyx Spartan is now Legendary?! Must have been an effect of shutting the servers off completely for 5 WHOLE MINUTES.
WebTeam: Lets promote him again tomorrow, I;m tired."
I will admit that the thought of the webteam taking anything from me and actually implementing it into the website would be pretty cool, this is just plain hilarious though. +1 to kool fat kid for writing that up in his spare time.
Now, that is all for now; but rest assured(or worried) that this feature will return at some point in the future as I don't plan on deleting any messages I get from here on out. That and I always have a total of nine pages to fall back onto for awesome stuff. And I know that there is still more stuff lurking out there in the depth of my inbox currently; I just don't have the time to post it all right now.
Oh and, :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Next Tier: Gold
Ah yes, if you look at my Halo: Reach service record that is is what most of my commendations for the campaign look like. What are commendations you ask; well some of you might be at least. Basically they are certain milestones for getting "x" amount of headshots in campaing/multiplayer/Firefight. However, they aren't only for headshots; you can get them for killing so many enemy vehicles(or killing so many enemies inside a vehicle) anyways you get the idea though right? Good, now moving on. Since I have been playing the campaign in Reach so much I have six, almost seven, commendations upgraded to their Silver tier. Each tier has an "x" amount you have to reach in order to gain the next tier. The tiers are set up much like this(in order from lowest to highest): Iron -> Bronze -> Silver -> Gold -> Onyx and then I think you can max out the Onyx tier also, not sure on that. Plus when you reach the next tier of a commendation you get a credit boost(hear by known as cR) on top of whatever you got in the game you just played. It's a cool way to gain some extra cR's if you have the time to sit there and "rank them up" so to speak. So what does any of what I just said have to do with anything really? Well, I'm on a personal goal to max out at least one of the campaign related commendations; however, after looking at a friends' service record which has a couple commendations that are Gold tier and the next one being Onyx, it looks like it's going to take me a really long time in order to accomplish that goal.
Now moving onto something else and I know I've already stated this. A couple weeks ago I took my first foray into the multiplayer since the Beta back in May and it's still really fun. So here, I'll share a couple games from that experience.
My very first game of multiplayer was in an age old classic playlist called Big Team Battle. I was actually really happy that my first game was Territories. It probably my favorite gametype anymore next to Grifball. Yes, I like it even better than CTF now.
I also like Oddball... and Headhunter. However, I still don't like SWAT; which is why I'm glad that it is its own playlist now. Since Storm and I decided to switch to Team Objective so we could play Headhunter, we also got to play a gametype called " Hot Potato" which is pretty fun. I'm still not sure exactly how it works, but I think when one team has gotten so many points holding the ball(which is actually a bomb) it blows up and resets. Still though, it's pretty fun.
I have found out that I still have this strong liking for one sided assault(one bomb.) Despite the score being 2-0 in our favor, the game was still pretty close. There were points when we thought they would score easily, but then our defense would kick in and stop them. I remember one time where they had the bomb armed with a few seconds left(10 I believe) and the actual timer on the bomb was only one to two seconds behind the game time. So in one round we escaped that round without them scoring only because the countdown on the bomb was a couple seconds slower then that game timer. It was awesome to say the least. Not a whole lot went on in this game. However, it was still another good game. The other team scored fairly early in the first round and we had a little trouble scoring our first time, but again our teams defense kicked into action that round(mainly Storm keeping them pinned down with the sword, more on this in a bit) and held them off so we could score in the final round. Now, what I said about Storm keeping the other team pinned with the sword makes no sense right? Well, it was interesting to see to say the least. They took the bomb off to one of the sides of the map and tried to sneak it around that way, well one of their players had already grabbed the sword and rushed into our base where Storm had killed him thus taking the guys sword. Anyways, the bomb carry gets killed right out in the open and the other team tries to rush in there to grab the bomb in hopes to overrun us; but each time Storm stepped out there with the sword they ran away and hide until the rest of their team showed up. It went on like that for pretty much the duration of the third round.
This final game, I have only one thing to say. I still like the Warthog.
So I will give you a quick update on the map I say I am working on, and yet; still have to show it to you. I actually have more than two bases and two rocks placed on it after some time on it today. I managed to place the flag and capture point to make it compatible with CTF and have placed a lot more cover than what was there before. I have also added a few weapons to the map also; and will most likely add more here soon. It was interesting trying to get a kill zone I have placed next where the rockets are set up so that it wouldn't kill you when you went anywhere near them. After that I placed a couple small little sniper towers, but those might not stay as I don't want the sniper to always have everyone else pinned down and all that....even though that is the point of a sniper. It's near being complete, all I have to do is maybe add some more cover, perhaps weapons even and change the respawn times on the power weapons. Oh, plus figure out what some of the stuff I have placed on the map does. And think up a name for it wouldn't hurt also. It should be done within the next couple weeks I'm guessing, but it really depends on how much longer it takes and how often I get the chance to work on it.
I believe that is all I have for now. I can guarantee that I will have a little longer post out sometime soon; just don't count on it is all. I will also give a quick update on my title on Bungie.net; I still have the Mythic title since I gained it back in last month. I also noticed that this Thursday will be one month that I have kept said title. That surely beats the whole four days I had it last time back in August.
Update: So, I'm back down to Legendary yet again. I'm noticing a pattern though, each time I talk about it on here; I loose it. Solution: don't even mention it on here anymore. Am I disappointed? Yes, but the way I look at it is I didn't loose it due to a ban or warning.
Now moving onto something else and I know I've already stated this. A couple weeks ago I took my first foray into the multiplayer since the Beta back in May and it's still really fun. So here, I'll share a couple games from that experience.
My very first game of multiplayer was in an age old classic playlist called Big Team Battle. I was actually really happy that my first game was Territories. It probably my favorite gametype anymore next to Grifball. Yes, I like it even better than CTF now.
I also like Oddball... and Headhunter. However, I still don't like SWAT; which is why I'm glad that it is its own playlist now. Since Storm and I decided to switch to Team Objective so we could play Headhunter, we also got to play a gametype called " Hot Potato" which is pretty fun. I'm still not sure exactly how it works, but I think when one team has gotten so many points holding the ball(which is actually a bomb) it blows up and resets. Still though, it's pretty fun.
I have found out that I still have this strong liking for one sided assault(one bomb.) Despite the score being 2-0 in our favor, the game was still pretty close. There were points when we thought they would score easily, but then our defense would kick in and stop them. I remember one time where they had the bomb armed with a few seconds left(10 I believe) and the actual timer on the bomb was only one to two seconds behind the game time. So in one round we escaped that round without them scoring only because the countdown on the bomb was a couple seconds slower then that game timer. It was awesome to say the least. Not a whole lot went on in this game. However, it was still another good game. The other team scored fairly early in the first round and we had a little trouble scoring our first time, but again our teams defense kicked into action that round(mainly Storm keeping them pinned down with the sword, more on this in a bit) and held them off so we could score in the final round. Now, what I said about Storm keeping the other team pinned with the sword makes no sense right? Well, it was interesting to see to say the least. They took the bomb off to one of the sides of the map and tried to sneak it around that way, well one of their players had already grabbed the sword and rushed into our base where Storm had killed him thus taking the guys sword. Anyways, the bomb carry gets killed right out in the open and the other team tries to rush in there to grab the bomb in hopes to overrun us; but each time Storm stepped out there with the sword they ran away and hide until the rest of their team showed up. It went on like that for pretty much the duration of the third round.
This final game, I have only one thing to say. I still like the Warthog.
So I will give you a quick update on the map I say I am working on, and yet; still have to show it to you. I actually have more than two bases and two rocks placed on it after some time on it today. I managed to place the flag and capture point to make it compatible with CTF and have placed a lot more cover than what was there before. I have also added a few weapons to the map also; and will most likely add more here soon. It was interesting trying to get a kill zone I have placed next where the rockets are set up so that it wouldn't kill you when you went anywhere near them. After that I placed a couple small little sniper towers, but those might not stay as I don't want the sniper to always have everyone else pinned down and all that....even though that is the point of a sniper. It's near being complete, all I have to do is maybe add some more cover, perhaps weapons even and change the respawn times on the power weapons. Oh, plus figure out what some of the stuff I have placed on the map does. And think up a name for it wouldn't hurt also. It should be done within the next couple weeks I'm guessing, but it really depends on how much longer it takes and how often I get the chance to work on it.
I believe that is all I have for now. I can guarantee that I will have a little longer post out sometime soon; just don't count on it is all. I will also give a quick update on my title on Bungie.net; I still have the Mythic title since I gained it back in last month. I also noticed that this Thursday will be one month that I have kept said title. That surely beats the whole four days I had it last time back in August.
Update: So, I'm back down to Legendary yet again. I'm noticing a pattern though, each time I talk about it on here; I loose it. Solution: don't even mention it on here anymore. Am I disappointed? Yes, but the way I look at it is I didn't loose it due to a ban or warning.
Friday, October 01, 2010
The Classified Files of Reach
Okay, so maybe they're not exactly classified; but I thought I would share some of the files I have taken in Reach so far in the past two weeks. Well, it'll actually be a whole two film clips and a screenshot as the other couple of items I have; since you've already seen it. Anyways, moving on. I embed most of the clips in the post since I have them rendered and will follow up with the direct download link for Reach. In a few days I hope to have the multiplayer ones posted up on my YouTube channel and that way it'll be easier for you all to view them. Now, I believe we are moving on.
First I'll start with some clips. This first one is a custom game of Oddball on Pinnacle, which is Reach's re-imagination of Ascension from Halo 2. It's a simple clip actually, I jump down from a ledge and perform on assassination on Storm as he is running around with the skull. I think the best part is how the skull rolls towards the camera.
Almost forgot, direct link to download.
First I'll start with some clips. This first one is a custom game of Oddball on Pinnacle, which is Reach's re-imagination of Ascension from Halo 2. It's a simple clip actually, I jump down from a ledge and perform on assassination on Storm as he is running around with the skull. I think the best part is how the skull rolls towards the camera.
Almost forgot, direct link to download.
Now this next one was taken from our venture into Reach's matchmaking last weekend. We were wanting to play Team Headhunter in BTB, but no; everyone decides to play SWAT instead...stupid SWAT gametype. So still wanting to play Headhunter, we move into Team Objective and get a game of it. Later on we play several more games and hit another game or two of Headhunter in the process. However, on the third or fourth game; I manage to grab one of these.
Yeah, you could say that it was instant win literally. So yeah, my first and probably only Skullamanjaro(I think that's how it is spelled...) And here is the direct link to download.
Now for that lonely screenshot that I have taken. It's really simple and rather boring, but it was also rather awesome. Evil Storm shows now mercy to a poor Grunt. 
Before I publish this quick post, I'll update you on a couple things. You remember that map I said I was going to make in Halo 3, then changed my mind and said I was going to make in Reach? Well, I finally got a start on it. It's not much of a start, but I at least have a couple bases(which is more than what I had on the H3 variant) and a neat little place for the rockets or shotgun hanging of the cliff and a fancy little place in the middle for...well something. However, I'm missing a key detail I'll need before I publish it anywhere, a name and description. I have a couple ideas floating around but I'm not sure; maybe I'll come up with something better in the following days.
And lastly, I have been promoted back to an Exalted Mythic Member of Bungie.net and this time I'm betting I keep it for a little while longer than last time. It's funny actually, I logged on around early Thursday night and logged back in later that night and I noticed my title bar color had changed from Legendary gray to Mythic royal blue. Funny, that's what happened last time also. What makes me say I can keep it for a little longer than the previous time is I see a lot more Legendary members out there so the quota for that title might be filled already and I have gotten "bumped" up to Mythic finally. That and I am hoping to keep my activity consistent from here on out and hope to keep active enough to keep it. Of course all of what I just said is completely a hypothesis and all. Now, I think that is all. A better, longer post might come out sometime next week if I can have the time to do so. Until then, keep killing Jackals/Skirmishers.
Friday, August 13, 2010
What is Mythic?
This is something I have been thinking of the past couple days since I saw a video on Waypoint and since I saw the new bio for someone on my Xbox LIVE friends list. Anyways, I'm sure most of you have at least heard of what Mythic difficulty is and what it is all about. If you haven't or simply just forgot what it was; here's what the "true" definition of it is. Turn the game up to Legendary difficulty and turn all the skulls on and complete it by yourself. Oh but wait! That's not all, you have to also complete it in one sitting without using the save and quit feature. Now personally, that's fine and all; but I mean if you complete a level of Halo 3 or ODST on Mythic difficulty and you turn it into someone to get an "official" award stating that you completed the level and they comeback and say for some reason that it doesn't count. And yes, I've had that happen before. That's not the point though, my point is since you don't sit and play the game in one sitting you shouldn't get an award for going through all that torture of Mythic difficulty? Tell me, is that any fair to you at all? Personally, I don't think it is. In my case I turned in a run to a site that was running a campaign challenge and I thought I would try it out on Mythic difficulty; well when I did that I did the run of the level on co-op with Storm. Once we finally completed the level I thought we both would get a little badge on our profile page saying we "completed this level on Mythic difficulty." Well, we get an award to go on both of our player pages; however, at the same time I received a message from the person running the challenge that it didn't count as on "official" Mythic run since it wasn't done solo. Now that's fine and all now that I understand what the "true" definition of Mythic is. However, if you break the difficulty for Mythic down into its basic parts what are you left with? Legendary campaign difficulty with all the skulls turned on and campaign scoring also. I suppose you could count that doing it solo is a key component, but to me it really isn't something that is a huge factor in it. Because again, Mythic is really just Legendary and all skulls on. Lastly on this subject, I will share the game which I refer to several times in the previous paragraph. Moving on now.
So, I'm sitting here thinking "what else is Mythic?" Well, I believe I can answer that question actually. Sometime the other day I was promoted from Exalted Legendary Member on Bungie.net's forums to Exalted Mythic Member. Now, I'm sure some of you might be thinking "Well what's the difference and why should I care?" Well firstly, you don't have to care if you don't want to. I just thought I would share this here with anyone who wandered here to my blog. Secondly, the difference between a Legendary Member and Mythic Member is somewhat simple. A Legendary Member is an active member for 1-2 years, whereas a Mythic Member is an active member for 2-3 years. Which if you look at account age, I can qualify for both. Another difference is the title bar color for each is light grey for Legendary and royal blue for Mythic. There are also a very few amount of Mythic's at one time.
Anyways, back to the point here. I could have qualified to become a Mythic member earlier in the year(since my 3 year join date was this past March) or even last year since you only have to be an active member for two to three years. When March did roll around I was hoping to gain the Mythic base title, but never did. Around March the only thing related to my title that I gained was the Exalted prefix; which is basically three years without a warning or ban. I didn't mind it at all since I didn't even know that I could qualify for that prefix. So at that time I was an Exalted Legendary Member and from what I've seen; not that many people hold the Exalted prefix either. Throughout most of the summer that is where I stayed and I didn't mind it in the least bit. Now fast-forwarding to yesterday, I log on and go about the normal stuff I do on there which consists of checking my groups I'm in. So I go to one that just recently started where I was asked to be a staff member for them, I go and check the staff group out to see if anything new has come up in the meantime. I see that something has so I go check it out; then I see a post I made right above the new one and that is when I noticed that my title bar color had changed from the Legendary light grey to the Mythic royal blue. At the time though I didn't know if my prefix changed to something else since I was viewing the group and my roll in it is called "Staff" (like had I lost my Exalted I have?) so I went and checked out a post I had made the night before in the public forums and found out that I wasn't actually seeing things and that I was an Exalted Mythic Member. Anyways, that's that; I am now(at least for the time being) a Mythic Member.
*Status Update* As of August 15th, I am back down to Exalted Legendary Member. I didn't think it would last long. Maybe I'll get it back sometime.
And moving on...yet again. The last thing I wanted to cover here quickly. Remember when I posted this map here? If you do and you have downloaded it, I am hoping to maybe go and completely redesign it in the next few weeks or so. What I have in mind for changing it so far is adding something more to make it look more visually appealing. The basic geometry of the map isn't going to change a whole lot, however I may add some more structures in the center and possibly in the bases somewhere. I also know that I am going to add some more weapons around the map as well; though I have no idea which ones I will place and where either. If everything goes according to plan also, I am going to make it work for more than just the Slayer gametype. That was probably one of the larger mistakes I made about the previous version "Prototype" and I plan on fixing it. With some help from Storm I might get it to work with Oddball and possibly even King of the Hill. I have also decided that if the release of Reach is getting too close before I have finished the map I will scratch it and start from new in Forge World when Reach is released. I have thrown around the idea of making it for Halo 3 and possibly making another version of it in Reach. No idea where I could go with that as of right now since I don't know a whole lot about what we can do in it. Well we do actually, but I have to try it for myself in order to brainstorm ideas for it.
Lastly for this post, I recently discovered that there are some rendered videos I have stashed away that I haven't uploaded to my Youtube channel yet. So, when I get some free time I will try my best to go through the ones I have uploaded and make sure these aren't already on there and if they aren't; I will upload the others.
That is all I have for now. My hands are getting tired from typing this thing for the past three hours (give or take a couple) and I have nothing else to discuss right now.
So, I'm sitting here thinking "what else is Mythic?" Well, I believe I can answer that question actually. Sometime the other day I was promoted from Exalted Legendary Member on Bungie.net's forums to Exalted Mythic Member. Now, I'm sure some of you might be thinking "Well what's the difference and why should I care?" Well firstly, you don't have to care if you don't want to. I just thought I would share this here with anyone who wandered here to my blog. Secondly, the difference between a Legendary Member and Mythic Member is somewhat simple. A Legendary Member is an active member for 1-2 years, whereas a Mythic Member is an active member for 2-3 years. Which if you look at account age, I can qualify for both. Another difference is the title bar color for each is light grey for Legendary and royal blue for Mythic. There are also a very few amount of Mythic's at one time.
Anyways, back to the point here. I could have qualified to become a Mythic member earlier in the year(since my 3 year join date was this past March) or even last year since you only have to be an active member for two to three years. When March did roll around I was hoping to gain the Mythic base title, but never did. Around March the only thing related to my title that I gained was the Exalted prefix; which is basically three years without a warning or ban. I didn't mind it at all since I didn't even know that I could qualify for that prefix. So at that time I was an Exalted Legendary Member and from what I've seen; not that many people hold the Exalted prefix either. Throughout most of the summer that is where I stayed and I didn't mind it in the least bit. Now fast-forwarding to yesterday, I log on and go about the normal stuff I do on there which consists of checking my groups I'm in. So I go to one that just recently started where I was asked to be a staff member for them, I go and check the staff group out to see if anything new has come up in the meantime. I see that something has so I go check it out; then I see a post I made right above the new one and that is when I noticed that my title bar color had changed from the Legendary light grey to the Mythic royal blue. At the time though I didn't know if my prefix changed to something else since I was viewing the group and my roll in it is called "Staff" (like had I lost my Exalted I have?) so I went and checked out a post I had made the night before in the public forums and found out that I wasn't actually seeing things and that I was an Exalted Mythic Member. Anyways, that's that; I am now(at least for the time being) a Mythic Member.
*Status Update* As of August 15th, I am back down to Exalted Legendary Member. I didn't think it would last long. Maybe I'll get it back sometime.
And moving on...yet again. The last thing I wanted to cover here quickly. Remember when I posted this map here? If you do and you have downloaded it, I am hoping to maybe go and completely redesign it in the next few weeks or so. What I have in mind for changing it so far is adding something more to make it look more visually appealing. The basic geometry of the map isn't going to change a whole lot, however I may add some more structures in the center and possibly in the bases somewhere. I also know that I am going to add some more weapons around the map as well; though I have no idea which ones I will place and where either. If everything goes according to plan also, I am going to make it work for more than just the Slayer gametype. That was probably one of the larger mistakes I made about the previous version "Prototype" and I plan on fixing it. With some help from Storm I might get it to work with Oddball and possibly even King of the Hill. I have also decided that if the release of Reach is getting too close before I have finished the map I will scratch it and start from new in Forge World when Reach is released. I have thrown around the idea of making it for Halo 3 and possibly making another version of it in Reach. No idea where I could go with that as of right now since I don't know a whole lot about what we can do in it. Well we do actually, but I have to try it for myself in order to brainstorm ideas for it.
Lastly for this post, I recently discovered that there are some rendered videos I have stashed away that I haven't uploaded to my Youtube channel yet. So, when I get some free time I will try my best to go through the ones I have uploaded and make sure these aren't already on there and if they aren't; I will upload the others.
That is all I have for now. My hands are getting tired from typing this thing for the past three hours (give or take a couple) and I have nothing else to discuss right now.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Finally, Reach Videos
Yes, I know I said I was going to post them all at once; however, I haven't had the chance to upload the rest of them yet. So I'm going to change how I was planning on doing things and instead of posting them all at once, I'm going to post the ones I do have uploaded to my youtube channel. Oh and I'm not going to share them individually and embed them into this post. For one reason, it's easier to share the playlist they are in instead of the other way around. Anyways, here's the link: here maybe?
When I upload more I'll be sure to post here and let you all know. I have about three or four more clips that I need to upload from the Beta.
Anyways(again...) here is some stuff that I have in store here soon; or sometime at least. Currently I am working on the complex breakdown of "Project HGA" that me and Sgt Riffle started back in 2008. It went through two different versions, one in '08 and the other one in '09. So, I will be working on that and once it's published; you'll know why I hold HGA close to my Bungie.net life.
One thing I did do recently though is completely do a re-structure of ERS Spartans' group ranks. Well almost complete at least, the most major change was the title names changed. I'm happy with them, except for mine though. It's simply "Administrator" which is fine and all since that is what I am in the group, but I want something different. I wonder if I could work the word "elder" in there somehow as that is the only one title I was going to use, but didn't.
Anywho, enjoy this little rambling type post. Also, E3 is next week; what are you wanting out of it? Personally, some info about Reach's campaign and the confirmation of Firefight to return and maybe some sweet details on Natal also.
When I upload more I'll be sure to post here and let you all know. I have about three or four more clips that I need to upload from the Beta.
Anyways(again...) here is some stuff that I have in store here soon; or sometime at least. Currently I am working on the complex breakdown of "Project HGA" that me and Sgt Riffle started back in 2008. It went through two different versions, one in '08 and the other one in '09. So, I will be working on that and once it's published; you'll know why I hold HGA close to my Bungie.net life.
One thing I did do recently though is completely do a re-structure of ERS Spartans' group ranks. Well almost complete at least, the most major change was the title names changed. I'm happy with them, except for mine though. It's simply "Administrator" which is fine and all since that is what I am in the group, but I want something different. I wonder if I could work the word "elder" in there somehow as that is the only one title I was going to use, but didn't.
Anywho, enjoy this little rambling type post. Also, E3 is next week; what are you wanting out of it? Personally, some info about Reach's campaign and the confirmation of Firefight to return and maybe some sweet details on Natal also.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Fearing 10,000
Okay, so a week or two later than what I had planned on, but it's not out of the normal for me. I'm pretty sure you can guess the point of this post by simply reading the title of it; if not, I'll fill you in a little bit. A while back ago(maybe a month or so) I got 7,000 gamerscore and set out to met goals in increments of 1,000. A few weeks later I hit 8,000 then went for 9,000 and so on. Well on April 12th, 2010, I broke the 10,000 point mark I was originally aiming for. The day before(the 11th) I was playing Fear Files to get the last points I needed, well by the time I was done for the day I ended up with only needing seven points in order to get 10,000 even. I couldn't find any games that I owned with a seven point achievement except for Marathon: Durandal which had one, but I already had it. So the following day I played the Fear 2: Reborn expansion pack that could be downloaded, keep in mind I already had it for a week and earned all the easy achievements in it, and earned the "Foot Soldier" achievement for it. It requires you to get through the first level of the expansion without using the armor you drop in. Which is actually a lot harder than it sounds since there are way too many enemies shooting at you with rockets. Anyways, once I got it, that put me over to 10,023 I believe and I've continued on since then. Granted a little more slowly since I don't have a goal to reach, but still.
My first achievement for my gamertag(which I might consider changing it back, not sure yet) was from Halo 3 and that was "MVP: Earned the MVP in a ranked playlist.", worth five points and earned on November 14th, 2007 in my first game of Halo 3 online.
Anyways, moving on. I recently picked up Bioshock 2 and have played it. It's pretty good, I think I close to completing it though. So in order to combat that, I started a new game and am currently playing through it again being "evil". With the Bioshock series you can either choose to harvest or rescue the Little Sisters you come across, on my first play through of the game I decide to rescue them and get all the stuff they give you. For what reason? No idea. Anyways, once I've completed it at least once like that, I go back and start a new game and then harvest them all. Now with Bioshock 2, there are people you meet and they've done something(I know what they've done, but hey, trying to keep it spoiler free in case you haven't played it) and you have the choice to either leave them alone or kill them. Well on my second play through I am going to kill them and see what's different from my first play through(when I don't kill them) once I finish it. Now if none of that makes any sense to you, I don't blame you. It makes little sense to me either and I'm the one doing it.
Tomorrow I will probably be putting Bioshock 2 down for a little bit as Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" DLC is going to be released. I'm really excited for it and it's fairly cheap also. It's supposed to come with a couple new weapons(an M60 and a golf club) and a new uncommon common. Plus it is also bringing back the original four survivors from the first game; I cannot wait to see what part they play in it.
I think that's pretty much it for now. It's not much, but it's something at least right? Oh and my Xbox Live profile is currently undergoing changes. As in my bio, motto and possibly gamer picture might change. Maybe even later on I may change my tag back to StoredGrunt360. I haven't left TUE and don't plan on it for quite some time, but I have a feeling that it might disband after Reach is released. Anyways, that's all for now.
My first achievement for my gamertag(which I might consider changing it back, not sure yet) was from Halo 3 and that was "MVP: Earned the MVP in a ranked playlist.", worth five points and earned on November 14th, 2007 in my first game of Halo 3 online.
Anyways, moving on. I recently picked up Bioshock 2 and have played it. It's pretty good, I think I close to completing it though. So in order to combat that, I started a new game and am currently playing through it again being "evil". With the Bioshock series you can either choose to harvest or rescue the Little Sisters you come across, on my first play through of the game I decide to rescue them and get all the stuff they give you. For what reason? No idea. Anyways, once I've completed it at least once like that, I go back and start a new game and then harvest them all. Now with Bioshock 2, there are people you meet and they've done something(I know what they've done, but hey, trying to keep it spoiler free in case you haven't played it) and you have the choice to either leave them alone or kill them. Well on my second play through I am going to kill them and see what's different from my first play through(when I don't kill them) once I finish it. Now if none of that makes any sense to you, I don't blame you. It makes little sense to me either and I'm the one doing it.
Tomorrow I will probably be putting Bioshock 2 down for a little bit as Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" DLC is going to be released. I'm really excited for it and it's fairly cheap also. It's supposed to come with a couple new weapons(an M60 and a golf club) and a new uncommon common. Plus it is also bringing back the original four survivors from the first game; I cannot wait to see what part they play in it.
I think that's pretty much it for now. It's not much, but it's something at least right? Oh and my Xbox Live profile is currently undergoing changes. As in my bio, motto and possibly gamer picture might change. Maybe even later on I may change my tag back to StoredGrunt360. I haven't left TUE and don't plan on it for quite some time, but I have a feeling that it might disband after Reach is released. Anyways, that's all for now.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Exalted? Nope.
So what's the point of putting the exalted in the title you ask? Simply put, it's a prefix for the member titles on Bungie.net which means you have gone three years without a ban or warning. What does that have to do with me though? Well this past Sunday I gained that prefix for my title. So now instead of being an Intrepid Legendary Member(Intrepid prefix had to do with a high post count I guess) I am a Exalted Legendary Member. Both of which can make some pretty interesting acronyms if you do it right. The only logical reason I can think of for gaining that title is that the next day was March 29th and marked my three year join date. Personally, I've always liked the sound of the Exalted prefix.
Anyways, moving on. I thought about sitting here and going on some little rant about how people act and if you are wrong about something they make sure you and everyone else knows about it, but you know what; that's what they want. They want you to do that, that way they can get the attention they think they deserve. Just remember though, this is the internet after all and it shouldn't be taken seriously.
Moving on...again. I am very close to breaking the 9,000 gamerscore mark; however, that is not my goal though 10,000 is. I was able to get close to it by playing Fear 2(more on this later) and completing it. I only see a couple problems with getting to 10,000 though. The first is the one game I wanted all achievements for is taking a lot longer than I had expected, so I really don't know if it will happen. The second problem is that once I get done with the original Fear and Fear: Files, I really don't have many games that offer many achievements. There are a few games that I haven't played in ages though that could offer up some points, like Assassin's Creed, which I have yet to finish, and a few others that I can't think of. If I don't have any that offer up some points, I'll have to wait until Reach comes out in the fall or whenever it is; or breakdown and buy a cheap used game that I like and play through it. I've thought about picking up a copy of the original Mass Effect, but I'm not a huge fan for sitting there for hours upon hours collecting things and then investing them in my character. I didn't mind it at first with Bioshock, but I quit doing it after a while because it got boring.
If you remember earlier in this post I mentioned that I played and completed Fear 2. I can't get over the fact of how awesome the shotgun is in that game. I understand why now after reading up on it in the game. It's a 10 gauge and it's larger than the 12 gauge...or something like that I'm not completely sure. The way the game ended we certainly......interesting to say the least. However, I'm lost on the complete story since I didn't play the first Fear nor Fear: Files; which I plan on playing both in order to understand the story and earn some achievements from them.
Anyways, that's all for now. Another short post, but it's at least something as I normally say. Just remember, it's the internet and you shouldn't take it seriously. Which if you aren't taking it seriously that means that what I just said is a mute point to you then. Or something like that... Also, the spell checker on here says I spelled "internet" wrong...I'm pretty sure I know how to spell that.
Anyways, moving on. I thought about sitting here and going on some little rant about how people act and if you are wrong about something they make sure you and everyone else knows about it, but you know what; that's what they want. They want you to do that, that way they can get the attention they think they deserve. Just remember though, this is the internet after all and it shouldn't be taken seriously.
Moving on...again. I am very close to breaking the 9,000 gamerscore mark; however, that is not my goal though 10,000 is. I was able to get close to it by playing Fear 2(more on this later) and completing it. I only see a couple problems with getting to 10,000 though. The first is the one game I wanted all achievements for is taking a lot longer than I had expected, so I really don't know if it will happen. The second problem is that once I get done with the original Fear and Fear: Files, I really don't have many games that offer many achievements. There are a few games that I haven't played in ages though that could offer up some points, like Assassin's Creed, which I have yet to finish, and a few others that I can't think of. If I don't have any that offer up some points, I'll have to wait until Reach comes out in the fall or whenever it is; or breakdown and buy a cheap used game that I like and play through it. I've thought about picking up a copy of the original Mass Effect, but I'm not a huge fan for sitting there for hours upon hours collecting things and then investing them in my character. I didn't mind it at first with Bioshock, but I quit doing it after a while because it got boring.
If you remember earlier in this post I mentioned that I played and completed Fear 2. I can't get over the fact of how awesome the shotgun is in that game. I understand why now after reading up on it in the game. It's a 10 gauge and it's larger than the 12 gauge...or something like that I'm not completely sure. The way the game ended we certainly......interesting to say the least. However, I'm lost on the complete story since I didn't play the first Fear nor Fear: Files; which I plan on playing both in order to understand the story and earn some achievements from them.
Anyways, that's all for now. Another short post, but it's at least something as I normally say. Just remember, it's the internet and you shouldn't take it seriously. Which if you aren't taking it seriously that means that what I just said is a mute point to you then. Or something like that... Also, the spell checker on here says I spelled "internet" wrong...I'm pretty sure I know how to spell that.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Digging A Little Deeper
Take what you want out of the title, but what I am talking about is shedding a little more light on my history at Bungie.net. I'll try to outline this and categorize it the best I can. Be prepared for a relatively long read here.
First, let's start of with the groups I have been in and tried to start on my own.
Ah painful memories arise when I think about the groups I started. I have actually tried to start two of my own group, both of which, have failed horribly. We shall start with exhibit A: Troops of Onyx. It was the first group I created, if I remember it was back in August of 2007 I think. The premise of the group was pretty simple, ALL THINGS HALO as stated in the group description. I know really original isn't it? The rank structure was really simple...and boring...and overused, standard military ranking. So a new member would be called a recruit or Private, whichever way you went about it. However, if I remember correctly I think that the administrator and moderator ranks stayed the same. Eh I don't remember; all I know is that it had 10 members and was pretty much dead. About a month after failed attempts to bring it back into the living side, I found out how to delete the group and did so.
Now for the next group, Legion of Elites. The ranking was very similar to the way the Elites(hence the name of the group...) have theirs set up. A new member was I think an Elite Minor and I forgot what the rest of the ranking structure was like. I pretty much don't remember a whole lot from the group. I do know that it was my largest with like 50 people, which was the most I've ever had. Sadly though, it suffered the same problem that Troop of Onyx(or ToO that some people dubbed it as, don't ask.) and died(became inactive) after a while.
That's pretty much it for my created groups...sort of. I've created another group, but that was with the help of someone else. Which I will explain in a bit, but now, onto the great groups I have joined.
My first group that I joined was ODST Recon. Which was(and probably still is) an active group when I joined. They did all sorts of things from, forum games, role playing threads(they were really fun) and a whole bunch of other stuff. I took part in most of, if not all of these events, but I didn't do much in the group. So a few months after I joined the group and spending time there, I left. Yes it was a short stay, but it was well worth it since it was an awesome group.
Umm...anyways, moving onto the actual group and what I did in it now. When I first joined it I didn't post much or do anything. That was mainly due to the fact that they liked to play online a whole lot and I didn't have Live at that point. I finally get the courage up to post more than usual and I get promoted. Sweet, fast-forward a few more months and I get a message asking if I would like to moderate the forum and be part of the first batch of moderators for the group. So I say sure, why not and stick in that role for a couple more months. Fast forward a couple more months and I am asked if I wanted to become an Administrator for the group since they were thinking about expanding a little bit. I asked what I could do to help out and was told that I could help recruit. Well, I don't recruit members that well as is obvious with my two previously failed attempts at my own group. So instead of recruiting members, which we had our own department of 5-10 members that did that, and went to doing things around the forum. Such as organizing the pinned topics and accepting news articles for the front page of the group. So then the founder saw I was doing a good job at keeping things organized and working he tasked me with like "Member Support" or something like that. All I basically did was help keep things organized and when members ask things about ranks and where things are, answer their questions. It was pretty simple and I enjoy doing it.
About May of 2008 one of the moderators opened up a database thread that contained a small little Q&A section, threads of interest, links to favorite videos and stuff plus a whole bunch of other things. Well me and another Admin(I'm sure you've heard of him, Sgt Riffle, I refer to him quite a bit on here...well earlier posts) started getting it into shape and adding all sorts of things to it. We were tasked with keeping it updated on semi-regular basis.
And that's it pretty much for that group, it's kind of quiet right now. Moving on.
There were few smaller groups I joined, but not much worth noting. The other large group that I joined was The Upper Echelon. Oh yes, that name sounds familiar doesn't it? I've talked about it quite a bit since I joined it back in December of '08.
It's a pretty simple group, the only thing I've done for it really has been organize a couple events for it. One of which was the campaign challenge, which was probably the second most successful even done for the group...mainly since there has been only three "major" events in the group. The campaign challenge was pretty popular up until about the 7th level. Then there was only two people at the end of it. I was considering bringing it back once ODST was released, but once I thought about it after a while, I just figured it wouldn't work out.
So once I made that decision I shifted gears and went to work on another idea I had. The TUE Racing League was originally proposed to the group on July 4th, but beforehand I had asked the staff if I could go about this. They said sure and I got right to work on it by finding maps to use and setting up the day of the week and time to have it on. It officially started on the second week of Sunday and went until the week before ODST was released. However, the last couple weeks nobody showed up for it. That in turn, led me to cancel the event. It was worth it I believe, a few people did enjoy it while it lasted.
There was also a third event that I was helping with, but never got started. It was called the 441 Tournament. Simply put, you gathered a team of 3 other members from the group and played four games of Action Sack and one campaign mission. The only limit to the teams was there could only be two of one rank on a team. So there couldn't be a team full of 5 Star Generals competing. Anyways, scoring was based upon the team who had the most kills at the end of the tournament. My job in it was simple, manage the campaign portion of it. I was also able to get the games from the teams and send them to the other tournament administrator. We got about three full teams of four and that was it, no one else signed up or decided to team up with others. After that Bren decided to postpone the event for a later date. However, there is rumor that it could make a return later this year.
That's pretty much my history there are TUE. Anyways, moving onto that other group I mentioned somewhere else in here.
Not sure if any of you remember this post way back when. Here, it was announcing the opening of the one group called Halo Gaming Association or HGA for short. The main purpose you ask? Well we took all the sports for Halo(Rocket Race, Grifball and a few we created...Grifball, no we didn't create Grifball) and were planning on gathering a whole bunch of people and form teams to compete in these seasons, just like normal sports do it. We got pretty far with this group, just no far enough where we could open it to the public. The co-founder(Riffle) was the forger of the group and was the leader of Team...something I forgot the name. He ran the basketball and football portion of the group among a bunch of other things. We each had our own teams(so he had his and I had my own) along with the founding team. Which consisted of both him and me and a couple other people we selected. I do remember that team name however; Team Flaming Death. Yeah, we never got far enough to actually challenge any other teams from within the group, but we did hold 2v2 scrimmages to test out new maps. I ran the Grifball and Jumpball(my own created gametype...lame name) part of it.
As a matter of fact, the map in the background here is one of the many attempts I tried for a tennis map for the group. I think I got rid of it since I didn't have a way to get the ball back into the court once it went on the other side of the wall. Perhaps I can fix that with Sandbox and the Crypt.
I think that was probably one of the best time I have ever had on B.net. I really enjoyed contemplating ideas late at night and asking Riffle about them and then working on them the next day.
That is pretty much my history in groups. Now to move onto some posts....well actually all of them. No, not all of my *insert number here* amount of posts. I'm just going to give you the really good ones that I have dedicated a post to on here. So if you do want to check out some of my older posts, feel free to check out this tag. Forum Fails, some of the posts contain things that aren't forum related so just don't pay attention to those parts.
And that is pretty much my complete history there at Bungie.net. Hope you enjoy this somewhat longer post that has been in the works for just a bit over a month. My three year join date is coming up March 29th, which I am looking forward to.
First, let's start of with the groups I have been in and tried to start on my own.
Ah painful memories arise when I think about the groups I started. I have actually tried to start two of my own group, both of which, have failed horribly. We shall start with exhibit A: Troops of Onyx. It was the first group I created, if I remember it was back in August of 2007 I think. The premise of the group was pretty simple, ALL THINGS HALO as stated in the group description. I know really original isn't it? The rank structure was really simple...and boring...and overused, standard military ranking. So a new member would be called a recruit or Private, whichever way you went about it. However, if I remember correctly I think that the administrator and moderator ranks stayed the same. Eh I don't remember; all I know is that it had 10 members and was pretty much dead. About a month after failed attempts to bring it back into the living side, I found out how to delete the group and did so.
Now for the next group, Legion of Elites. The ranking was very similar to the way the Elites(hence the name of the group...) have theirs set up. A new member was I think an Elite Minor and I forgot what the rest of the ranking structure was like. I pretty much don't remember a whole lot from the group. I do know that it was my largest with like 50 people, which was the most I've ever had. Sadly though, it suffered the same problem that Troop of Onyx(or ToO that some people dubbed it as, don't ask.) and died(became inactive) after a while.
That's pretty much it for my created groups...sort of. I've created another group, but that was with the help of someone else. Which I will explain in a bit, but now, onto the great groups I have joined.
My first group that I joined was ODST Recon. Which was(and probably still is) an active group when I joined. They did all sorts of things from, forum games, role playing threads(they were really fun) and a whole bunch of other stuff. I took part in most of, if not all of these events, but I didn't do much in the group. So a few months after I joined the group and spending time there, I left. Yes it was a short stay, but it was well worth it since it was an awesome group.
Now the second group I joined that I'm still in, here's a little story to it. It all started on May 10th, 2007 when I log on one day and see a message from someone named StrikerSniper77. I open the message and read it, well, it's a recruitment form and I'm sure you all know how much I don't like those things now. This one was different though, it actually got me to think about joining the group. After thinking about it a while I did finally join the group, and, I'm actually glad I did. It is by far one the best groups I've been in. The members are actually nice and don't treat you like a piece of garbage.
Umm...anyways, moving onto the actual group and what I did in it now. When I first joined it I didn't post much or do anything. That was mainly due to the fact that they liked to play online a whole lot and I didn't have Live at that point. I finally get the courage up to post more than usual and I get promoted. Sweet, fast-forward a few more months and I get a message asking if I would like to moderate the forum and be part of the first batch of moderators for the group. So I say sure, why not and stick in that role for a couple more months. Fast forward a couple more months and I am asked if I wanted to become an Administrator for the group since they were thinking about expanding a little bit. I asked what I could do to help out and was told that I could help recruit. Well, I don't recruit members that well as is obvious with my two previously failed attempts at my own group. So instead of recruiting members, which we had our own department of 5-10 members that did that, and went to doing things around the forum. Such as organizing the pinned topics and accepting news articles for the front page of the group. So then the founder saw I was doing a good job at keeping things organized and working he tasked me with like "Member Support" or something like that. All I basically did was help keep things organized and when members ask things about ranks and where things are, answer their questions. It was pretty simple and I enjoy doing it.
About May of 2008 one of the moderators opened up a database thread that contained a small little Q&A section, threads of interest, links to favorite videos and stuff plus a whole bunch of other things. Well me and another Admin(I'm sure you've heard of him, Sgt Riffle, I refer to him quite a bit on here...well earlier posts) started getting it into shape and adding all sorts of things to it. We were tasked with keeping it updated on semi-regular basis.
And that's it pretty much for that group, it's kind of quiet right now. Moving on.
There were few smaller groups I joined, but not much worth noting. The other large group that I joined was The Upper Echelon. Oh yes, that name sounds familiar doesn't it? I've talked about it quite a bit since I joined it back in December of '08.
It's a pretty simple group, the only thing I've done for it really has been organize a couple events for it. One of which was the campaign challenge, which was probably the second most successful even done for the group...mainly since there has been only three "major" events in the group. The campaign challenge was pretty popular up until about the 7th level. Then there was only two people at the end of it. I was considering bringing it back once ODST was released, but once I thought about it after a while, I just figured it wouldn't work out.
So once I made that decision I shifted gears and went to work on another idea I had. The TUE Racing League was originally proposed to the group on July 4th, but beforehand I had asked the staff if I could go about this. They said sure and I got right to work on it by finding maps to use and setting up the day of the week and time to have it on. It officially started on the second week of Sunday and went until the week before ODST was released. However, the last couple weeks nobody showed up for it. That in turn, led me to cancel the event. It was worth it I believe, a few people did enjoy it while it lasted.
There was also a third event that I was helping with, but never got started. It was called the 441 Tournament. Simply put, you gathered a team of 3 other members from the group and played four games of Action Sack and one campaign mission. The only limit to the teams was there could only be two of one rank on a team. So there couldn't be a team full of 5 Star Generals competing. Anyways, scoring was based upon the team who had the most kills at the end of the tournament. My job in it was simple, manage the campaign portion of it. I was also able to get the games from the teams and send them to the other tournament administrator. We got about three full teams of four and that was it, no one else signed up or decided to team up with others. After that Bren decided to postpone the event for a later date. However, there is rumor that it could make a return later this year.
That's pretty much my history there are TUE. Anyways, moving onto that other group I mentioned somewhere else in here.
Not sure if any of you remember this post way back when. Here, it was announcing the opening of the one group called Halo Gaming Association or HGA for short. The main purpose you ask? Well we took all the sports for Halo(Rocket Race, Grifball and a few we created...Grifball, no we didn't create Grifball) and were planning on gathering a whole bunch of people and form teams to compete in these seasons, just like normal sports do it. We got pretty far with this group, just no far enough where we could open it to the public. The co-founder(Riffle) was the forger of the group and was the leader of Team...something I forgot the name. He ran the basketball and football portion of the group among a bunch of other things. We each had our own teams(so he had his and I had my own) along with the founding team. Which consisted of both him and me and a couple other people we selected. I do remember that team name however; Team Flaming Death. Yeah, we never got far enough to actually challenge any other teams from within the group, but we did hold 2v2 scrimmages to test out new maps. I ran the Grifball and Jumpball(my own created gametype...lame name) part of it.
As a matter of fact, the map in the background here is one of the many attempts I tried for a tennis map for the group. I think I got rid of it since I didn't have a way to get the ball back into the court once it went on the other side of the wall. Perhaps I can fix that with Sandbox and the Crypt.
I think that was probably one of the best time I have ever had on B.net. I really enjoyed contemplating ideas late at night and asking Riffle about them and then working on them the next day.
That is pretty much my history in groups. Now to move onto some posts....well actually all of them. No, not all of my *insert number here* amount of posts. I'm just going to give you the really good ones that I have dedicated a post to on here. So if you do want to check out some of my older posts, feel free to check out this tag. Forum Fails, some of the posts contain things that aren't forum related so just don't pay attention to those parts.
And that is pretty much my complete history there at Bungie.net. Hope you enjoy this somewhat longer post that has been in the works for just a bit over a month. My three year join date is coming up March 29th, which I am looking forward to.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
CTF That Is Classic
This post will be short, but at the end you'll walk away with a free gametype...if you can call $60+ for the game free.
Anyways, if you have been to Bungie.net lately, I'm sure you have seen that The Upper Echelon got their Community Spotlight. If not, then click here and scroll about half way down the page and there is our first week in the spotlight. Once you've done that, head over here, no here. And check out week number 2 of our stuff. The first week can be found by going to page one and it should be right there.
Now moving on to the point of this post. If you go back to the last link I gave you, and notice the gametypes(Note: Don't feel like you're in a rush...unless you really are stretched for time then yeah, be quick, but take a glance at the other stuff there too, it's some good stuff.) at the bottom, the one titled "Classic CTF" is one that I created shortly before I changed my gamertag to what it is now. So feel free to give it a download if you want. Either from there, or from the direct link to the file; which can be located here. It has become the second most downloaded item on my file share, with 544 downloads. In the last half hour, it gained 100 downloads.
I'm imagining that someday I'll get recognized for creating it. I highly doubt it, and hope that it doesn't happen. I don't want to be that guy that had that gametype, I want to just be that normal Halo fan. Though if I do get found out and people do start sending me messages like they have nothing else to do, that's what the auto-responder is for. I've already got one typed up, but still have it set to send out the reply manually. Probably the only time I will consider setting it for automatic is when I log on four days in a row and I have 20+ messages. Don't get me wrong, I won't just let them sit there and ignore them, that's rude and I try not to be rude. I'll read them and most likely respond to them all personally as I would like to hear feedback about the gametype and maybe were a version 2 could be made.
I believe that is all, like I said, it would be short. On a plus, I'm not listening to the same track off of the ODST soundtrack anymore. I finally listened to the Halo Wars soundtrack...then went back to the same song.
One last update on the download count, it is only 18 downloads away from being tied with one of my screenshots that has 591.
Enjoy all!
Anyways, if you have been to Bungie.net lately, I'm sure you have seen that The Upper Echelon got their Community Spotlight. If not, then click here and scroll about half way down the page and there is our first week in the spotlight. Once you've done that, head over here, no here. And check out week number 2 of our stuff. The first week can be found by going to page one and it should be right there.
Now moving on to the point of this post. If you go back to the last link I gave you, and notice the gametypes(Note: Don't feel like you're in a rush...unless you really are stretched for time then yeah, be quick, but take a glance at the other stuff there too, it's some good stuff.) at the bottom, the one titled "Classic CTF" is one that I created shortly before I changed my gamertag to what it is now. So feel free to give it a download if you want. Either from there, or from the direct link to the file; which can be located here. It has become the second most downloaded item on my file share, with 544 downloads. In the last half hour, it gained 100 downloads.
I'm imagining that someday I'll get recognized for creating it. I highly doubt it, and hope that it doesn't happen. I don't want to be that guy that had that gametype, I want to just be that normal Halo fan. Though if I do get found out and people do start sending me messages like they have nothing else to do, that's what the auto-responder is for. I've already got one typed up, but still have it set to send out the reply manually. Probably the only time I will consider setting it for automatic is when I log on four days in a row and I have 20+ messages. Don't get me wrong, I won't just let them sit there and ignore them, that's rude and I try not to be rude. I'll read them and most likely respond to them all personally as I would like to hear feedback about the gametype and maybe were a version 2 could be made.
I believe that is all, like I said, it would be short. On a plus, I'm not listening to the same track off of the ODST soundtrack anymore. I finally listened to the Halo Wars soundtrack...then went back to the same song.
One last update on the download count, it is only 18 downloads away from being tied with one of my screenshots that has 591.
Enjoy all!
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
"KEEP IT CLEAN!"
Ah yes, the age old phrase of the Superintendent. Remember him? The one random green dude that appeared all over Halo land about May of last year. Well you all probably know that it lead up to the announcement of Halo 3: ODST and all that good stuff. Well ODST came out about 2 weeks ago, I'm sure most of you have picked it up and had your fun with it already. I have completed the campaign with my friend(whom you are familiar with as Storm) on Heroic right now, we still have to beat it on Legendary. I have almost beat it on Legendary solo, I have just one more level to do. He's working on Heroic right now and I think is almost done with it also. Granted it's a short game, but if you don't sit there for 7-8 hours on easy(like most people I know did, at least not on easy though) and actually take a break to do something else you would be surprised at how much play time you can get from the 7-8 hours of campaign. Plus if you want it to last about double that time, just explore the city, look for the audio logs or more Covenant to kill or just walk around mindlessly admiring all the cool looking architecture and stuff.
Anyways, moving on. I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but it should be interesting...
I'll start with the new multiplayer/co-op mode called Firefight. It's kind of like Gears of War 2's Horde mode...I guess, I've never played that. It's meant for a full team of 4 people, but if you're bored enough and have plenty of time, you can go in on your own. Now what I find cool is that going in solo and going in with 3 other people, the amount of enemies do not change at all and I think that is really neat.
The two things I don't like about it are these: it only has 10 maps, 7 of which are available straight out of the box. I mean yes, they're good maps and I enjoy them, but seriously 10 isn't enough. Granted Bungie has said that there are no plans on releasing any DLC maps since they are mainly focused on Reach right now, but if the demands arise, they might start considering it. I seriously hope they think about it even for a second.
Also the skulls needed to be randomized. Tough Luck, Catch and Black Eye are good selections for round skulls, but when you complete a set and start with the same three skulls again with just adding a new skull, it gets boring after a while. Don't get me wrong, I think the skull selection is great, but making them random would be more interesting. So I guess this is more of an idea of improvement then a complaint.
Onto a little bit about the campaign. Note: there are possible spoilers here, so if you have not completed it yet, just skip over this section here. I'll let you know when you can start reading again.
*Spoilers ahead!*
Most people I know felt it was short, and it was somewhat, but it wasn't meant to be an actual game. The story was really good, except the drama between two of the characters, that just isn't Halo I'm sorry. I enjoyed the flashbacks, they lead to a lot of interesting gameplay and memorable moments. Take for example the end of Uplift Reserve when you're playing as Dutch. You are supposed to escape the area and get into the city, or whatever it is I forgot, and you drive through this hole in a cliff wall and all of a sudden, you're flying from 1,000 feet in the air(or something like that) and crashing into building. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the classic crash the Banshee you're in to the nearest wall, well this is the same. It's another one of those classic moments that you'll remember a while down the road.
Another thing I liked was the fact that since you're not the Chief anymore, some of the Covenant are actually larger then you. Like the Hunters, remember how in Halo 1 the Hunters were about as tall as you were? Then they gradually increased in size in Halo 2 and 3. Now they're actually these 12 foot tall walking tanks. Roaming around the city is really nice, since you can pretty much go anywhere and explore the majority of the city is great. Plus with the hidden audio files, it gives you a reason to explore the city.
*Spoilers end.*
Yep, that's it for spoilers. I really enjoy music in the game, it sets the mood for it perfectly. It still has the "Halo" sound to it. Granted it's not like the music for the past three games, not the more uplifting sound that they have had, it's more quiet then the it has been before. So far my favorite piece is "Finale", though "The Menagerie" is slowly becoming my favorite. I first started off by liking the overture the best, but once I got the actual soundtrack the previously stated tracks sound really good and I like them more now. I think that Neon Lights is becoming a favorite of mine also, it's really good.
I think I'll close of this post with a few screenshots that I took over the weekend. Most of them were taken in campaign, but again, are free of spoilers. They're just some pretty sweet action shots that I thought were cool. Also, instead of seeing them right here embedded into the post, I'm going to give you the link to them. You know, make you work for them.
Okay, not really, but I've noticed that pics I have uploaded and posted as of lately you have not been able to click the picture to get a larger version of it. Well a couple of these need to be seen in more then just a small 2x2(or something like that) thumbnail. So by giving you the links, you shall be able to see them in all there juicy digital color.
I'll start off with my favorite out of the bunch I took called, "Green and Dark."
I really like how that one turned out with the lighting of the Hunter's cannon blast mixed with the pitch black background. If I would have to say so myself, it is one of the best screens I have taken yet. Moving on.
This next one isn't a real good one, but it shows how much larger the Hunters are compared to an ODST. Nameless Screenshot 1.
Like I said, not real good, but it's sort of an action shot.
Again, nothing interesting going on, but if you take notice there is something lurking in the background...
Nameless shot 2.
My first screenshot from ODST called "Cornered." It's a fairly decent shot, it shows me and Storm trapped inside a room on one of the Firefight missions, Windward, by five Jackals. Yeah, there where more, but they kind of died before the majority of them in the frame. So I tried to get as many as I could in there to try to make it look epic and this was the end result.
Another interesting action shot here. "Drone and Chieftain vs. ODST." Umm yeah, so apparently a Drone and hammer Chieftain against a lone ODST doesn't end well for the poor soul. That was classic, a 15 foot or so lunge while on fire that still kills the ODST.
Finally, this is another one of those attempted lurking screens. However, this one is a little bit more hard to notice...maybe. Hiding. This one is semi decent I think for the simple fact that they had no idea I was there.
Well that is all for now. I will try to get a post out sooner next time...of course whenever I say that I don't manage to do it. So, maybe I should just stop talking about doing it and just do it.
Also look forward to some screenshots over the next week or so. I plan on taking more of them, how good they are is another question. I'm more of an action shots kind of person. No pre-staged standing in a corner with a sniper rifle.
In the meantime remember; "OBEY POSTED LIMITS."
Anyways, moving on. I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but it should be interesting...
I'll start with the new multiplayer/co-op mode called Firefight. It's kind of like Gears of War 2's Horde mode...I guess, I've never played that. It's meant for a full team of 4 people, but if you're bored enough and have plenty of time, you can go in on your own. Now what I find cool is that going in solo and going in with 3 other people, the amount of enemies do not change at all and I think that is really neat.
The two things I don't like about it are these: it only has 10 maps, 7 of which are available straight out of the box. I mean yes, they're good maps and I enjoy them, but seriously 10 isn't enough. Granted Bungie has said that there are no plans on releasing any DLC maps since they are mainly focused on Reach right now, but if the demands arise, they might start considering it. I seriously hope they think about it even for a second.
Also the skulls needed to be randomized. Tough Luck, Catch and Black Eye are good selections for round skulls, but when you complete a set and start with the same three skulls again with just adding a new skull, it gets boring after a while. Don't get me wrong, I think the skull selection is great, but making them random would be more interesting. So I guess this is more of an idea of improvement then a complaint.
Onto a little bit about the campaign. Note: there are possible spoilers here, so if you have not completed it yet, just skip over this section here. I'll let you know when you can start reading again.
*Spoilers ahead!*
Most people I know felt it was short, and it was somewhat, but it wasn't meant to be an actual game. The story was really good, except the drama between two of the characters, that just isn't Halo I'm sorry. I enjoyed the flashbacks, they lead to a lot of interesting gameplay and memorable moments. Take for example the end of Uplift Reserve when you're playing as Dutch. You are supposed to escape the area and get into the city, or whatever it is I forgot, and you drive through this hole in a cliff wall and all of a sudden, you're flying from 1,000 feet in the air(or something like that) and crashing into building. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the classic crash the Banshee you're in to the nearest wall, well this is the same. It's another one of those classic moments that you'll remember a while down the road.
Another thing I liked was the fact that since you're not the Chief anymore, some of the Covenant are actually larger then you. Like the Hunters, remember how in Halo 1 the Hunters were about as tall as you were? Then they gradually increased in size in Halo 2 and 3. Now they're actually these 12 foot tall walking tanks. Roaming around the city is really nice, since you can pretty much go anywhere and explore the majority of the city is great. Plus with the hidden audio files, it gives you a reason to explore the city.
*Spoilers end.*
Yep, that's it for spoilers. I really enjoy music in the game, it sets the mood for it perfectly. It still has the "Halo" sound to it. Granted it's not like the music for the past three games, not the more uplifting sound that they have had, it's more quiet then the it has been before. So far my favorite piece is "Finale", though "The Menagerie" is slowly becoming my favorite. I first started off by liking the overture the best, but once I got the actual soundtrack the previously stated tracks sound really good and I like them more now. I think that Neon Lights is becoming a favorite of mine also, it's really good.
I think I'll close of this post with a few screenshots that I took over the weekend. Most of them were taken in campaign, but again, are free of spoilers. They're just some pretty sweet action shots that I thought were cool. Also, instead of seeing them right here embedded into the post, I'm going to give you the link to them. You know, make you work for them.
Okay, not really, but I've noticed that pics I have uploaded and posted as of lately you have not been able to click the picture to get a larger version of it. Well a couple of these need to be seen in more then just a small 2x2(or something like that) thumbnail. So by giving you the links, you shall be able to see them in all there juicy digital color.
I'll start off with my favorite out of the bunch I took called, "Green and Dark."
I really like how that one turned out with the lighting of the Hunter's cannon blast mixed with the pitch black background. If I would have to say so myself, it is one of the best screens I have taken yet. Moving on.
This next one isn't a real good one, but it shows how much larger the Hunters are compared to an ODST. Nameless Screenshot 1.
Like I said, not real good, but it's sort of an action shot.
Again, nothing interesting going on, but if you take notice there is something lurking in the background...
Nameless shot 2.
My first screenshot from ODST called "Cornered." It's a fairly decent shot, it shows me and Storm trapped inside a room on one of the Firefight missions, Windward, by five Jackals. Yeah, there where more, but they kind of died before the majority of them in the frame. So I tried to get as many as I could in there to try to make it look epic and this was the end result.
Another interesting action shot here. "Drone and Chieftain vs. ODST." Umm yeah, so apparently a Drone and hammer Chieftain against a lone ODST doesn't end well for the poor soul. That was classic, a 15 foot or so lunge while on fire that still kills the ODST.
Finally, this is another one of those attempted lurking screens. However, this one is a little bit more hard to notice...maybe. Hiding. This one is semi decent I think for the simple fact that they had no idea I was there.
Well that is all for now. I will try to get a post out sooner next time...of course whenever I say that I don't manage to do it. So, maybe I should just stop talking about doing it and just do it.
Also look forward to some screenshots over the next week or so. I plan on taking more of them, how good they are is another question. I'm more of an action shots kind of person. No pre-staged standing in a corner with a sniper rifle.
In the meantime remember; "OBEY POSTED LIMITS."
Friday, August 28, 2009
3rd And Stuff
After a long journey over thousands of dead Covenant bodies, I have finally reached my goal of 30,000 campaign kills. Which in the end nested me a nice number 3 spot in the state of Illinois for kills. Plus it granted me 109th in the world. Pretty good if you ask me. My driver is still in 5th in the state, we need to work on that...
It was rather fun to get the amount of kills I wanted. Granted not as much as a few people I know(118,000+), but it was a small dent in what they have. Honestly, there isn't much I can say about reaching this goal. It was bound to happen sooner or later, it was just a matter of how long will it actually take. I am glad I got it before ODST came out though...now to work on those campaign/firefight kills. I'm going to have so much fun with that.
Anyways, lately I have been playing my original Xbox I got back in 2003, it has looked so lonely sitting there collecting dust while its newer cousin sat there getting used almost, if not everyday. So I actually started it up the other day(without the dust, I do clean it off on a regular basis) and played some other games other then Halo 1 or 2 on it. Don't get me wrong I love those games, especially when you can plug in another vacant controller and slay against yourself for endless fun...or is that just me? Either way it's still fun to do, you should try it sometime. I just wanted to play something different for a change. So I popped in Rainbow Six 3 and played it for a bit. That went rather well after I quit pushing the wrong button(which I should remember that the bumper buttons don't exist on an Xbox "S" controller) to reload and switch weapons....then I finally went through the training levels again. After that, I moved onto actually doing the first level, with two or three retires in there I finally completed it. I then proceed to try the second level, getting ambushed about 3 minutes in, I give up and move onto the original Splinter Cell.
I then managed to do something I didn't think I could possibly do, fail the training mission! Alright, that's fine I can re-do it I suppose. I get through it no problem the second time and go to the first or second level. I then manage to not grab a key code I needed and get stuck. So then I say okay, I'm done new game please. I then put in Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow and play it. I forgot how much I enjoyed that game, it is actually really awesome. By far one of the best Tom Clancy based games I have played. The main reason I bought the game was for the co-op feature it had, I played that all the time with my driver when we would get bored with Halo 2.
I also found my weapon of choice in the game if I don't have to go in all silent like, the M16A2. It's been a good choice to have in the kind of terrain the game is in. I remember when I first played it that I got to the last level, but couldn't get through it so I quit playing it. And as it seems right now, I can't get past the 5th or 6th level...oh joy.
I've also been playing a game called "America's Army: Rise of a Soldier." I guess it is supposed to take you through all the training and situations that real life soldiers go through on a daily basis. I must say, it's pretty impressive on a realistic scale for a game, but it is no where near anything close to portraying what they actually do. It's still just a game in my books.
Anyways, I was able to get through as a Rifleman and Support Gunner, but Grenadier and Sniper on the other hand. Qualifying for a sniper is actually rather annoying, I have go and do some sort of field test(They have a name for it, forgot what it was) and scout out these areas while avoiding enemy contact(that is still training mind you) and get to a certain point also in order to pass. I've gotten into it and have gotten spotted each time, it's rather annoying, but hey, the real snipers have to do that stuff also. I'm still playing it, so maybe I'll pass it and actually get to do that stuff in a real/fake game mission.
I have also been playing a football(American football, not the European version of it)game and umm...well it has gone okay. The one thing I don't like is how there is no simple season selection to play through one single year of a team of my choice, oh but no! You can't do that, you have to chose a Franchise and import your own created team in order to play it. Alright fine, I can deal with that just let me create my own team. 5 minutes later, I finally get to play my first preseason game. I manage to get into the Super Bowl and win it, skip the Pro Bowl and go into the off-season. Now, before I actually entered the franchise menu, it had me set all the options I wanted to. Since I really don't care who I sign in the NFL draft I set that so that the computer can take care of that. Oh, but then again, you have to do that(even though I set it so that I wouldn't have to...) plus your over budget and can't sign anymore players for the season. So if you would be watching one of those cartoons were the character would get mad they would have a little fireball over their head, that's me at this point.
Once I figure out that there is no way around that without getting rid of my entire team(which I'm needing more players for anyways, oh yeah, and we're still over budget...) I say forget it and quit the franchise. I go to quick game and play a couple games there.
I've been playing those games for the past week now...well excluding the football one for obvious reasons.
I'm assuming that you've seen and read up on most of the stuff for ODST. If not then head over here, unless you're avoiding reading that stuff until next month...then completely ignore this link and possibly the following paragraph or two. http://www.bungie.net/
The site updates they plan on doing for the release of ODST looks really, really sweet. I cannot wait for them to go live and look at all the cool stuff they have. The ViDoc is awesome too, it contains pretty much all the information we know currently about Firefight, just in delicious video form. The beginning scene is rather interesting also, I wish we could actually kill a Brute and Jackal that way.
Speaking of thing related to ODST, the ODST forum has gone to pot now. According to Halo.bungie.org, a French game store has released ODST to it's customers earlier, much earlier then the planned September 22nd released date. At least that's what I think it says...have a look for yourself here. Microsoft France has said that they will ban anyone caught playing ODST before the release date on Live. Which is a little harsh if you ask me, but I guess they don't want it spoiled for anyone.
Well that is it in this ramble-ish post. Hopefully it makes sense to you and are able to read it.
Until next time, keep on doing whatever it was you were doing.
It was rather fun to get the amount of kills I wanted. Granted not as much as a few people I know(118,000+), but it was a small dent in what they have. Honestly, there isn't much I can say about reaching this goal. It was bound to happen sooner or later, it was just a matter of how long will it actually take. I am glad I got it before ODST came out though...now to work on those campaign/firefight kills. I'm going to have so much fun with that.
Anyways, lately I have been playing my original Xbox I got back in 2003, it has looked so lonely sitting there collecting dust while its newer cousin sat there getting used almost, if not everyday. So I actually started it up the other day(without the dust, I do clean it off on a regular basis) and played some other games other then Halo 1 or 2 on it. Don't get me wrong I love those games, especially when you can plug in another vacant controller and slay against yourself for endless fun...or is that just me? Either way it's still fun to do, you should try it sometime. I just wanted to play something different for a change. So I popped in Rainbow Six 3 and played it for a bit. That went rather well after I quit pushing the wrong button(which I should remember that the bumper buttons don't exist on an Xbox "S" controller) to reload and switch weapons....then I finally went through the training levels again. After that, I moved onto actually doing the first level, with two or three retires in there I finally completed it. I then proceed to try the second level, getting ambushed about 3 minutes in, I give up and move onto the original Splinter Cell.
I then managed to do something I didn't think I could possibly do, fail the training mission! Alright, that's fine I can re-do it I suppose. I get through it no problem the second time and go to the first or second level. I then manage to not grab a key code I needed and get stuck. So then I say okay, I'm done new game please. I then put in Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow and play it. I forgot how much I enjoyed that game, it is actually really awesome. By far one of the best Tom Clancy based games I have played. The main reason I bought the game was for the co-op feature it had, I played that all the time with my driver when we would get bored with Halo 2.
I also found my weapon of choice in the game if I don't have to go in all silent like, the M16A2. It's been a good choice to have in the kind of terrain the game is in. I remember when I first played it that I got to the last level, but couldn't get through it so I quit playing it. And as it seems right now, I can't get past the 5th or 6th level...oh joy.
I've also been playing a game called "America's Army: Rise of a Soldier." I guess it is supposed to take you through all the training and situations that real life soldiers go through on a daily basis. I must say, it's pretty impressive on a realistic scale for a game, but it is no where near anything close to portraying what they actually do. It's still just a game in my books.
Anyways, I was able to get through as a Rifleman and Support Gunner, but Grenadier and Sniper on the other hand. Qualifying for a sniper is actually rather annoying, I have go and do some sort of field test(They have a name for it, forgot what it was) and scout out these areas while avoiding enemy contact(that is still training mind you) and get to a certain point also in order to pass. I've gotten into it and have gotten spotted each time, it's rather annoying, but hey, the real snipers have to do that stuff also. I'm still playing it, so maybe I'll pass it and actually get to do that stuff in a real/fake game mission.
I have also been playing a football(American football, not the European version of it)game and umm...well it has gone okay. The one thing I don't like is how there is no simple season selection to play through one single year of a team of my choice, oh but no! You can't do that, you have to chose a Franchise and import your own created team in order to play it. Alright fine, I can deal with that just let me create my own team. 5 minutes later, I finally get to play my first preseason game. I manage to get into the Super Bowl and win it, skip the Pro Bowl and go into the off-season. Now, before I actually entered the franchise menu, it had me set all the options I wanted to. Since I really don't care who I sign in the NFL draft I set that so that the computer can take care of that. Oh, but then again, you have to do that(even though I set it so that I wouldn't have to...) plus your over budget and can't sign anymore players for the season. So if you would be watching one of those cartoons were the character would get mad they would have a little fireball over their head, that's me at this point.
Once I figure out that there is no way around that without getting rid of my entire team(which I'm needing more players for anyways, oh yeah, and we're still over budget...) I say forget it and quit the franchise. I go to quick game and play a couple games there.
I've been playing those games for the past week now...well excluding the football one for obvious reasons.
I'm assuming that you've seen and read up on most of the stuff for ODST. If not then head over here, unless you're avoiding reading that stuff until next month...then completely ignore this link and possibly the following paragraph or two. http://www.bungie.net/
The site updates they plan on doing for the release of ODST looks really, really sweet. I cannot wait for them to go live and look at all the cool stuff they have. The ViDoc is awesome too, it contains pretty much all the information we know currently about Firefight, just in delicious video form. The beginning scene is rather interesting also, I wish we could actually kill a Brute and Jackal that way.
Speaking of thing related to ODST, the ODST forum has gone to pot now. According to Halo.bungie.org, a French game store has released ODST to it's customers earlier, much earlier then the planned September 22nd released date. At least that's what I think it says...have a look for yourself here. Microsoft France has said that they will ban anyone caught playing ODST before the release date on Live. Which is a little harsh if you ask me, but I guess they don't want it spoiled for anyone.
Well that is it in this ramble-ish post. Hopefully it makes sense to you and are able to read it.
Until next time, keep on doing whatever it was you were doing.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Nameless Post
To start off this week, I will hopefully stop starting my posts with the word "Well,". I've noticed it in my last several posts and so has my buddy Riffle. Here is what he has to say about that.
"Well I was going to stop saying well at beginning of my posts because Timmy's stuck at the bottom of a well, but we can't do anything about that- now can we?"
Well...you could say that I like wells...maybe.
Anyways, moving on already. Here are a few games from the past week or so. Really good ones at that.
The other team thought they could beat us. We pull out out an easy win.
This game was also good. I manage a Killing Frenzy.
I could of had an Overkill Extermination twice, but failed horribly.
I can has my one and only plasma pistol kill.
The other team was ahead by 20 points at one point and it was very laggy, yet we still manage to pull out a win.
I R Bungle pro!
Cursed game! Give me my triple kills I deserve!!!
I want more shotgun kills.
This game was pretty much given to the other team at the start, but yet we get some lucky spawns and manage to pull out the win.
That is all for the game links since those are the really good games that stuck out that past couple weeks.
Now, moving on. A while back ago there was a thread on the Community forum asking if you Googled your Bungie.net username or Gamertag. Well(there's that word again!) I didn't until I saw that thread, never really thought of it. So I did and it came up with this.
Yep, this is how I am bringing you these posts.
Wait....what? Yes the titles are a bit misleading, but still that post makes no sense.
A year ago today, I was someone else. And yes, it was pre my gold bar status.
Oh wait...I don't exsist anymore...
Pun fail! Oh yes...I said it.
Seriously, I am. Just in case you didn't know, I seriously am. Seriously.
Because you are supposed to be Heroic, duh.
Not anymore we don't. It's called the HALO 3 forum. Ahem...was I shouting there? Sorry.
Tal...what? I don't know what I was doing when I posted that...wow.
"Are you talkin' to me?" You got to read that one...it's great.
It must be me... It only must be me.
Just stop...stop right now. This is another one of those "What were you thinking?" posts.
That's all for now at least. I hope you enjoy it since it's not been 2 weeks since my last post.
Also, Rockets, infinite grenades and Warthogs on Blood Gulch in Halo 1 = win. Me and a friend did some crazy stuff that I would of loved to have been able to record. Backflips resulting in him getting splattered...ah yes.
"Well I was going to stop saying well at beginning of my posts because Timmy's stuck at the bottom of a well, but we can't do anything about that- now can we?"
Well...you could say that I like wells...maybe.
Anyways, moving on already. Here are a few games from the past week or so. Really good ones at that.
The other team thought they could beat us. We pull out out an easy win.
This game was also good. I manage a Killing Frenzy.
I could of had an Overkill Extermination twice, but failed horribly.
I can has my one and only plasma pistol kill.
The other team was ahead by 20 points at one point and it was very laggy, yet we still manage to pull out a win.
I R Bungle pro!
Cursed game! Give me my triple kills I deserve!!!
I want more shotgun kills.
This game was pretty much given to the other team at the start, but yet we get some lucky spawns and manage to pull out the win.
That is all for the game links since those are the really good games that stuck out that past couple weeks.
Now, moving on. A while back ago there was a thread on the Community forum asking if you Googled your Bungie.net username or Gamertag. Well(there's that word again!) I didn't until I saw that thread, never really thought of it. So I did and it came up with this.
Yep, this is how I am bringing you these posts.
Wait....what? Yes the titles are a bit misleading, but still that post makes no sense.
A year ago today, I was someone else. And yes, it was pre my gold bar status.
Oh wait...I don't exsist anymore...
Pun fail! Oh yes...I said it.
Seriously, I am. Just in case you didn't know, I seriously am. Seriously.
Because you are supposed to be Heroic, duh.
Not anymore we don't. It's called the HALO 3 forum. Ahem...was I shouting there? Sorry.
Tal...what? I don't know what I was doing when I posted that...wow.
"Are you talkin' to me?" You got to read that one...it's great.
It must be me... It only must be me.
Just stop...stop right now. This is another one of those "What were you thinking?" posts.
That's all for now at least. I hope you enjoy it since it's not been 2 weeks since my last post.
Also, Rockets, infinite grenades and Warthogs on Blood Gulch in Halo 1 = win. Me and a friend did some crazy stuff that I would of loved to have been able to record. Backflips resulting in him getting splattered...ah yes.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
10 Days and Counting
Not towards anything as much as it's been 10 days since my last post. So in order to not get into the habit of not making a post for weeks upon weeks, I'll make even a quick one here.
I'll start with a little activity on Bungie.net lately. Okay so I'm sure that you all know and have received those pesky group invites. Not that I don't mind them, it's a great way to get your group out there to the public. I just don't like constantly getting them for the same group just from different people. I've gotten a couple of those lately, so I give them the normal auto reply consisting of this: "I'm sorry, but I am not accepting group invites anymore." So turn around a couple days I get a form for the same group, so now I am thinking that I need to change my auto reply message to something different...something better. I thought for a bit and came up with this: "I'm sure it took you a while to type up that nice long recruitment form, plus another couple hours scouting potential members. And now I'm going to burst your bubble and say this; sorry, but I'm not accepting group invites anymore." If that doesn't stop them from sending me invites to their group, nothing will. Well the block button will, but I hope to not have 2 pages worth of blocked users...
Like I said, not that I don't mind hearing about your group it's just that I am happy with the ones I am in already. Yes I read the entire message and yes I'm sure I did consider joining that group. It almost seems like it's one of those it's not you, it's me situations.
Now moving on...
Some games from the past couple of days...or so.
The other team got the early flag cap, me and Jade make an assault with about 2 minutes left and this is the result.
One of those rare semi-decent sniping games of mine.
This game is another one of those rare good games. Only this time my gunning skills came out.
Let explain that one there. So my normal driver isn't in that game sadly, but BurningOrphan did just fine. Right off the bat I get a Running Riot, and I was only 3 kills away from getting my second Rampage. I was still a ways off from even reaching my current amount most kills in one game. So far though, my regular driver has done all that stuff.
That's all the good games...sadly.
Well not sure if I mentioned this before, but I was starting a racing league over at TUE. Well this weekend marks the end of that campaign challenge, which means that next week I can start up the racing league. I've already got the first track setup and ready to go. There are already 7 people that are wanting to take part in it, which I am glad about. I didn't think that anyone would take interest in this. I've asked a couple people if they would be willing to help lead multiple parties if needed. The only problem I am having troubles with is getting timezones for the people that signed up...
Well that is all that I have right now. Hope you enjoyed it. It's better then what I gave you in the past 10 days right?
I'll start with a little activity on Bungie.net lately. Okay so I'm sure that you all know and have received those pesky group invites. Not that I don't mind them, it's a great way to get your group out there to the public. I just don't like constantly getting them for the same group just from different people. I've gotten a couple of those lately, so I give them the normal auto reply consisting of this: "I'm sorry, but I am not accepting group invites anymore." So turn around a couple days I get a form for the same group, so now I am thinking that I need to change my auto reply message to something different...something better. I thought for a bit and came up with this: "I'm sure it took you a while to type up that nice long recruitment form, plus another couple hours scouting potential members. And now I'm going to burst your bubble and say this; sorry, but I'm not accepting group invites anymore." If that doesn't stop them from sending me invites to their group, nothing will. Well the block button will, but I hope to not have 2 pages worth of blocked users...
Like I said, not that I don't mind hearing about your group it's just that I am happy with the ones I am in already. Yes I read the entire message and yes I'm sure I did consider joining that group. It almost seems like it's one of those it's not you, it's me situations.
Now moving on...
Some games from the past couple of days...or so.
The other team got the early flag cap, me and Jade make an assault with about 2 minutes left and this is the result.
One of those rare semi-decent sniping games of mine.
This game is another one of those rare good games. Only this time my gunning skills came out.
Let explain that one there. So my normal driver isn't in that game sadly, but BurningOrphan did just fine. Right off the bat I get a Running Riot, and I was only 3 kills away from getting my second Rampage. I was still a ways off from even reaching my current amount most kills in one game. So far though, my regular driver has done all that stuff.
That's all the good games...sadly.
Well not sure if I mentioned this before, but I was starting a racing league over at TUE. Well this weekend marks the end of that campaign challenge, which means that next week I can start up the racing league. I've already got the first track setup and ready to go. There are already 7 people that are wanting to take part in it, which I am glad about. I didn't think that anyone would take interest in this. I've asked a couple people if they would be willing to help lead multiple parties if needed. The only problem I am having troubles with is getting timezones for the people that signed up...
Well that is all that I have right now. Hope you enjoyed it. It's better then what I gave you in the past 10 days right?
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Well, it's been a while
Ah yes, it has been a while since I last posted on here. I suppose I should get around to it more often.
Well let me see here, were shall I start. Ah yes, I finally reached my 2,000 gunner kills. As a matter of fact, right now I am at 2,127. Getting closer to the ultimate 3,000. I actually can't wait to get the last few for it. Long ways off though. Now moving on.
Campaign kills, I haven't said anything about that in a while. Well in the state of Illinois, me and my driver have finally taken over the 4th and 5th spots. Of course though, in order to prove that I am not making this up, I was going to link the leaderboard to you for proof. Oh, but no you cannot has link to see proof as HaloCharts since they decided to take down the group, state and overall leaderboards to rework them. Bah!
Now moving onto yet more things Halo. I have a couple file items off of my well..my file share. This first item is a short little clip of a close finish in a mongoose race for an event. Download here... In a few days(about a week), I will have it rendered to video once I get more render minutes. That means if you click that link and see a watch now thing, you won't have to download it to Halo 3! Great isn't it? Now for file number 2, download here... It is a simple wheelie. But it was pretty neat the way it looks. And this one, is actually rendered...it's the clip that I spent my last render minute on...so enjoy. And finally, my finished map that I said I was going to do. Download here...for the third time. I think that is all that I really want to share.
Now moving onto even more things...this time not so much Halo related as much as group related. I'm sure you all know about The Upper Echelon and that I am extremely active there. Well I've mentioned the campaign challenge which is coming to an end sadly. After that I am planning on starting a racing league. Well so far everyone has liked the idea. I've got some people lined up for this Sunday to do a little test run to help me decide which maps to keep and which ones to not. I already have about 20-25 maps selected that we will use throughout the course of the league. Plus I will be searching for more maps to use during the league, not to mention that there are several TUE Members that are currently working on their own.
Well, it somewhat short but a post nonetheless. I hope you enjoyed it at least.
Well let me see here, were shall I start. Ah yes, I finally reached my 2,000 gunner kills. As a matter of fact, right now I am at 2,127. Getting closer to the ultimate 3,000. I actually can't wait to get the last few for it. Long ways off though. Now moving on.
Campaign kills, I haven't said anything about that in a while. Well in the state of Illinois, me and my driver have finally taken over the 4th and 5th spots. Of course though, in order to prove that I am not making this up, I was going to link the leaderboard to you for proof. Oh, but no you cannot has link to see proof as HaloCharts since they decided to take down the group, state and overall leaderboards to rework them. Bah!
Now moving onto yet more things Halo. I have a couple file items off of my well..my file share. This first item is a short little clip of a close finish in a mongoose race for an event. Download here... In a few days(about a week), I will have it rendered to video once I get more render minutes. That means if you click that link and see a watch now thing, you won't have to download it to Halo 3! Great isn't it? Now for file number 2, download here... It is a simple wheelie. But it was pretty neat the way it looks. And this one, is actually rendered...it's the clip that I spent my last render minute on...so enjoy. And finally, my finished map that I said I was going to do. Download here...for the third time. I think that is all that I really want to share.
Now moving onto even more things...this time not so much Halo related as much as group related. I'm sure you all know about The Upper Echelon and that I am extremely active there. Well I've mentioned the campaign challenge which is coming to an end sadly. After that I am planning on starting a racing league. Well so far everyone has liked the idea. I've got some people lined up for this Sunday to do a little test run to help me decide which maps to keep and which ones to not. I already have about 20-25 maps selected that we will use throughout the course of the league. Plus I will be searching for more maps to use during the league, not to mention that there are several TUE Members that are currently working on their own.
Well, it somewhat short but a post nonetheless. I hope you enjoyed it at least.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
More Old Posts
Well you guys remember a couple of my posts a while ago called "Back in the day"? Well this time it returns...sort of. I probably won't have a whole lot to post, but it will be more strange thing nonetheless.
I'll first open up with my posts from the Classifieds section.
You know, I think they would like a link to the group also...
That was a failed attempt to recruit members for my first group.
Okay, getting better. You might want to include some more info though.
Now you got the hang of it...
Take 1 of Legion of Elites recruiting...
...no you don't.
and take 2 plus final scene. Needless to say, I haven't created a group since then...well one maybe with some help and that didn't even turn out for us.
At long last, my very first post on Bungie.net. Not funny or anything, actually rather serious.
"O hai"
Some posts from the Community forum.
Umm....what?
I really have no idea what that post was about.
"liek cuz we r teh webteams and we says we wantz u 2 b Heeroic."
No, I'm sure Bungie's webteam doesn't sound like that. No I don't talk like that and yes I was meant to be Heroic rightfully.
"Hom"...what?
Oh yes, possibly the dumbest thing I have ever done on BNet.
Hehe, that was fun actually. I don't remember why I was warned, but I got a message the next day when I logged in and found out I was warned. I sent a message back asking who this "Disembodied Soul" was. Well after a week of no response, I got a little demanding and turned to Achronos and asked. That's when I found out the whole story of the Soul.
Yep, I remember this well. Thought my account was hacked at that time.
And as you can tell, that was long before I wanted gold so I thought Staff Captains sucked...even though I knew one at the time.
This just fails...in so many ways it just fails.
I have no idea what I was thinking at the time I posted that...
Oh my...I can forsee the future! I knew I was going to make up these posts about my early forum posts.
Do you not read onyx?
Eh, what else is new?
Umm...I don't know, I said I picked my name randomly.
Heh, this next one is great.
Or did?
Yep, I just said about 1 week later that my name had a meaning. You know what we call that, other then contradicting yourself that is? Fail.
Second dumbest thing I have done on BNet.
I remember that well...
Halo 3 forum posts. Most of these aren't that good, but some of them are worth posting.
True story actually.
Got one, got it. Got it?
I think I killed the two words, got and it in that post.
This was my only post in what is now called the "Bungie Universe Forum". Which is designed for anything related to Bungie...not the forums.
I am forums moderator for a couple groups...
This doesn't even makes sense to me still.
I have no idea what I was talking about when I posted that...fail.
Returning trip to the Flood...oh dear.
Wait...what?
I really have no idea what to say about this post.
Will it die, NO!
Fail is all I can say.
I am a Promary heavy vehicle.
Yep, I am. Now if only I knew what that was...
Heh, funny.
I had no idea that any of them counted when I ask the question in general.
I like the Banshee since you can attack people from above.
Really? I had no idea that a vehicle that flew in the air could attack people from above.
Alas, that is all. I am pretty certain that these are all of my really old good posts. The rest are actually smart. I am also proud of these moments that I am tagging this post and my other posts containing fail posts with the tag "Forum Fails"
I'll first open up with my posts from the Classifieds section.
You know, I think they would like a link to the group also...
That was a failed attempt to recruit members for my first group.
Okay, getting better. You might want to include some more info though.
Now you got the hang of it...
Take 1 of Legion of Elites recruiting...
...no you don't.
and take 2 plus final scene. Needless to say, I haven't created a group since then...well one maybe with some help and that didn't even turn out for us.
At long last, my very first post on Bungie.net. Not funny or anything, actually rather serious.
"O hai"
Some posts from the Community forum.
Umm....what?
I really have no idea what that post was about.
"liek cuz we r teh webteams and we says we wantz u 2 b Heeroic."
No, I'm sure Bungie's webteam doesn't sound like that. No I don't talk like that and yes I was meant to be Heroic rightfully.
"Hom"...what?
Oh yes, possibly the dumbest thing I have ever done on BNet.
Hehe, that was fun actually. I don't remember why I was warned, but I got a message the next day when I logged in and found out I was warned. I sent a message back asking who this "Disembodied Soul" was. Well after a week of no response, I got a little demanding and turned to Achronos and asked. That's when I found out the whole story of the Soul.
Yep, I remember this well. Thought my account was hacked at that time.
And as you can tell, that was long before I wanted gold so I thought Staff Captains sucked...even though I knew one at the time.
This just fails...in so many ways it just fails.
I have no idea what I was thinking at the time I posted that...
Oh my...I can forsee the future! I knew I was going to make up these posts about my early forum posts.
Do you not read onyx?
Eh, what else is new?
Umm...I don't know, I said I picked my name randomly.
Heh, this next one is great.
Or did?
Yep, I just said about 1 week later that my name had a meaning. You know what we call that, other then contradicting yourself that is? Fail.
Second dumbest thing I have done on BNet.
I remember that well...
Halo 3 forum posts. Most of these aren't that good, but some of them are worth posting.
True story actually.
Got one, got it. Got it?
I think I killed the two words, got and it in that post.
This was my only post in what is now called the "Bungie Universe Forum". Which is designed for anything related to Bungie...not the forums.
I am forums moderator for a couple groups...
This doesn't even makes sense to me still.
I have no idea what I was talking about when I posted that...fail.
Returning trip to the Flood...oh dear.
Wait...what?
I really have no idea what to say about this post.
Will it die, NO!
Fail is all I can say.
I am a Promary heavy vehicle.
Yep, I am. Now if only I knew what that was...
Heh, funny.
I had no idea that any of them counted when I ask the question in general.
I like the Banshee since you can attack people from above.
Really? I had no idea that a vehicle that flew in the air could attack people from above.
Alas, that is all. I am pretty certain that these are all of my really old good posts. The rest are actually smart. I am also proud of these moments that I am tagging this post and my other posts containing fail posts with the tag "Forum Fails"
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