Frequently Asked Forum Questions
Search the HBO News Archives Any All Exact		Search the Halo Updates DBs Halo Halo2		Bungie Webcam HBO XBL Gamertags *Ar's Simple HTML Guide Shishka's Guide for Newcomers The Lowdown on Download Accelerators Red Loser's Anti-Spamming Guide Egg FAQ | More Egg Stuff c0ld's Movie Starter Guide Shishka's HaloPC Pre-Release FAQ 3.1 AutoMagic 117 StripzMaker
Search Older Posts on This Forum: Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts

Good Read, Nice to see it explored.
Posted By: Revenant1988 <dga1988@yahoo.com>	Date: 5/27/11 9:16 a.m.
In Response To: So, About Those Challenges (GhaleonEB) : I'm sort of comically shy about sharing stuff I've written, but I spent so : long on this piece - the better part of two months - I wanted to pass it : on. I just posted an article about the Challenge system in Reach over at : Forward Unto Dawn. : I spent over a month gathering and evaluating the Challenges themselves and : then another few weeks working up the analysis of them, and this is the : result. It's essentially a researched critical analysis of one of my : favorite aspects of the game. Hopefully some find it interesting. : http://forwarduntodawn.com/challenges-deconstructed/ I've gotten into a few arguments with friends I play with and just random people on B.net but I've been saying the same things since the challenges were launched: The vast majority of the time, challenges reward you for things that you do normally in a session without thinking, like kills. To equate that in real life, it's like someone gives me a dollar everyday just because I "remember" to breath. The second part of this is that it helps to progress commendations, and commendations are much easier to see the whole "reward-for-something-you-should-be-doing-anyway" thing come into play. They are related to each other. Admittedly, its a pretty good feeling to complete a challenge in campaign that says get 200 kills with the DMR and then while pursuing that particular challenge you also hit the next tier for the campaign headshot commendation, thus bringing up your total reward. But again, I agree completely that this reward system is a bit bland now. I know that if I go into MP MM I'm going to get a few kills, so getting a small reward for it is OK but it’s not the kind of challenge I want to do everyday, or every week. Granted, you are right with the idea that MM needs those bland challenges because of the probability of the game being degraded for other players if everyone had to hog the laser to get a laser spree, or cap a flag. I've often wondered why more of the challenges don't play into each other, for example: Monday's Daily Challenges Get 10 kills as the warthog gunner in MP matchmaking Get 10 wheelmen medals in MP matchmaking Get a laser Kill in MP matchmaking Get a double Kill in MP matchmaking Destroy an enemy occupied vehicle in MP matchmaking I think something like this would be interesting. Going in with a partner it encourages you to take turns helping each other, one takes a turn as the gunner, the other the driver etc, and knowing that the other team is going to do the same thing can make for some interesting battles. AND, by throwing in an additional challenge that counters the first two I suggested encourages balance to someone running amok for too long with a warthog. What I want to see is more give and take approach. These kinds of challenges really encourage you to try different things out of your comfort zone. Back to my example, I HATE gunning, but I love driving. I pair up with a buddy who may feel the same or opposite and we work together to get our challenges. Last thing I want to say, I agree with the template theory. I personally feel that new challenges probably can't be added, but the parameter in which they are earned can be changed including the cR payout. I will also say that we likely have NOT seen all the challenges Bungie has to offer. It would be very unlike them to have used them all already and not leave something hidden or held back from us until later. I have a theory about the B.O.B's for this. I think that if the community goes long enough without unlocking that B.O.B helmet, eventually Bungie or 343 will introduce more of the B.O.B challenges to guide us in the right direction of that mystery. Overall a good read. Lot's of things in your article that I've wondered about or came to a similar conclusion myself. It's nice to see it all laid out over time. Great work.

Reach Stats (No laughing!)

Message Index

So, About Those Challenges	GhaleonEB	5/27/11 12:35 a.m.
Good Read, Nice to see it explored.	Revenant1988	5/27/11 9:16 a.m.
One other thing,	Revenant1988	5/27/11 9:28 a.m.
Well done.	FoxmanFX	5/27/11 10:02 a.m.
Re: So, About Those Challenges	LegendaryMark	5/27/11 10:49 a.m.
Re: So, About Those Challenges	GhaleonEB	5/27/11 11:53 a.m.
Re: So, About Those Challenges	FoxmanFX	5/27/11 12:14 p.m.
Re: So, About Those Challenges	LegendaryMark	5/27/11 1:41 p.m.