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Re: An Open Letter to Bungie
Posted By: Schooly D <schoolyd@teamschoolyd.org>	Date: 10/22/10 12:47 p.m.
In Response To: Re: An Open Letter to Bungie (chess) : a simple "dear bungie, bring back halo!" would have been simple : enough. Not necessarily. I'm a big fan of some of the additions to Reach (plus Halos 2 and 3). I like the idea of Armor Abilities. I have AAs I don't like, and I have AAs I do like. And I have what I consider to be a good litmus test for which category an AA gets placed in: An Armor Ability is good if it supplements your gameplay and is only useful in that it allows you to use your own skill in an otherwise impossible fashion. An Armor Ability is bad if it becomes your gameplay, and if the lion's share of the AA's effectiveness is achieved just by pressing a button. I like Sprint because it allows you to get places faster. When you get to where you're going, you still have to rely on your own skill to succeed. If you just Sprint into an enemy's base or out into the open, you get killed with a quickness that is inversely proportional to the prudence of going there in the first place. I like Evade because it can supplement short-range or long-range combat. At short-range you can catch an enemy off-guard with a quick roll, but if the enemy reacts quick enough he can get a couple of shots at you while you're rolling and vulnerable. Plus, at the end of a roll, you generally have to correct your aim as much as the enemy. At long-range, it increases the radius of what can be considered your bail-out cover spots. These are supplemental advantages, there's nothing new or drastic here. I really like Jetpack because, in my estimation, it has the greatest ability to "unlock" your skill and does nothing to replace it. There are almost no situations where simply using the Jetpack will help you. If you fly up, you're typically left more vulnerable. The only way the Jetpack is useful is by allowing you more of an opportunity to use your skill. If you're shooting someone and they take cover, you can Jetpack up to get a shot at them again, but you still have to be able to make the shot. And while you're doing this, there is an appropriate trade-off in that you're more exposed and more vulnerable to enemy fire yourself. I really like Hologram because it adds a small level of mind-games to Halo's mix. Simply using a hologram isn't going to accomplish anything. To make use of it, you first need to ascertain the situation, think about where you want the hologram to go, and what you want the hologram to accomplish. Used correctly, it can confuse an enemy and give you a small window of escape or a small window of attack. In both cases, it's your talents that are being supplemented. I don't really have a problem with Active Camo, except as it's used in Team Doubles/Arena. When you're playing on an 8-12 player map with 4 people and 2 Sniper Rifles, it becomes ludicrous. Active Camo BECOMES your skill. When using it, the only thing you have to do is be able to hit targets in a shooting gallery. Otherwise, it's not so bad. I don't like Armor Lock. In more cases than not, it is the antithesis of what I consider to be a "good" AA. It is essentially "Press X to Not Die." In games with many people, it can be an annoyance. In games with few people (say, for example, Arena Doubles), it can be the game. In Doubles games, the amount to which it almost wholly replaces Halo gameplay rather than supplements it is ridiculous. I think Armor Lock could be a tolerable Armor Ability if Bungie did one thing: made it so that, when you Armor Lock, you are stuck in the locked state for the entire duration with no option to break out of it. That would fix so much of what is wrong with the AA, and I think it would bring its dividends back down to reasonable levels, on-par with the rest of the AAs. I don't like Drop Shield either, for similar reasons that apply more to large games than small ones. But, I think it can be fixed just by (1) increasing the AA recharge time, and (2) making the shield easier to "pop" using normal weapons/grenades.

Team Schooly D

Message Index

An Open Letter to Bungie	Schooly D	10/22/10 1:56 a.m.
Love, Schooly D *NM*	Schooly D	10/22/10 2:01 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Schooly D	hyokin	10/22/10 2:05 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Schooly D	padraig08	10/22/10 2:13 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Schooly D	Schooly D	10/22/10 2:14 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Schooly D	hyokin	10/22/10 9:56 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	kapowaz	10/22/10 4:00 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	Avateur	10/22/10 4:12 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	kapowaz	10/22/10 4:36 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	DHalo	10/22/10 5:54 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	kapowaz	10/22/10 6:47 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	Stephen L. (SoundEffect)	10/22/10 8:02 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	kapowaz	10/22/10 8:54 a.m.
zzzoom	Hawaiian Pig	10/22/10 1:08 p.m.
Can we please stop doing this? *NM*	Echoes	10/22/10 10:01 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	Xmoosev3	10/22/10 11:44 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	Slith	10/22/10 1:53 p.m.
Alright alright, everyone chill	Schooly D	10/22/10 2:03 p.m.
Re: Alright alright, everyone chill	bluerunner	10/22/10 2:25 p.m.
Re: Alright alright, everyone chill	drdoctor	10/22/10 3:44 p.m.
HBO: Memes is srs bidness *NM*	padraig08	10/22/10 2:26 p.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	RC Master	10/22/10 5:09 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	Silent Knight	10/22/10 6:57 a.m.
^^^^A THOUSAND TIMES THIS	Pkmnrulz240	10/22/10 7:19 a.m.
Actually...	topleybird	10/22/10 2:22 p.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	chess	10/22/10 11:53 a.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	Schooly D	10/22/10 12:47 p.m.
Re: An Open Letter to Bungie	KalamariKidd	10/22/10 1:20 p.m.
Keep your hands off my Armor Lock, heathens! *NM*	The Loot	10/22/10 2:57 p.m.
you're like the anti-Cody *NM*	Miguel Chavez	10/22/10 5:23 p.m.