kade47

Name: kade47
Joined On: Aug 20, 2005
Maintag: IZI Shogun IZI
Age: 30
Occupation: Looking busy
Location: Indiana
Currently: Offline
Last seen: 3/4/10

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IZI Shogun IZI

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03/08/09

5ive

Is Halo dying? Not in the sense of gasping for breath and dragging itself across the floor, but in the sense of being infected with a disease that slowly, but surely, kills it.

For everyone there is The Game. The Game is the one that you get drawn to, over and over. With the addition of online multiplayer, many games that would have been merely good became great. Games that were fun to play, but you would eventually move on from, became staples of your gaming addiction. I used to love to play Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo. That was back in the days when there was one house everyone congregated at. All of your friends would end up at this house to socialize and to party. With all of my friends gathered around, we would fire up the Super Nintendo and start our Mario Kart ritual. It was all about two words, winner stays. Honing your racing skills, being ruthless with the red shells, and strategically placing the green ones insured your seat in the most comfortable chair as the winner. You took on all comers, and with each win you further cemented you butt’s impression in the winner’s throne, that comfy and ripped recliner in the center of the action.

Eventually we moved on to other things. We stopped playing Mario Kart, and when we did play it was the few and far between pick-up game. The ones where your skills have diminished from lack of playing time and those previous never-had-a-chance losers could now beat you. Games popped up now and again that would have our attention for a little while, but none captured our gaming spirit like Mario Kart had. What if online multiplayer would have been around back then? This truly good game could have been great at its time.

Years later I picked up my used copy of Halo 2. I had never even tried the first Halo. I toyed with the campaign and absolutely hated it. I had never been a fan of FPS’s. This one was no different. But then I looked into the online capabilities of Xbox Live. I was intrigued. I subscribed and a new frontier was open to me. I took my Halo skills online and was summarily crushed. I took beating after beating. But day after day I could not help but fire it up again, to try my luck once more. I eventually got a little better, but not much. I was having fun. This horrible game was quickly becoming addicting, this okay game was becoming a great game. While the campaign held no interest for me the idea of playing with people in different cities, states, even countries, was amazing. Hearing people with strange accents cussing up a storm was hilarious.

But along with being online comes the bane of all gamers. Timmy. He was everywhere. He was in seemingly every game. From the team killer to the suicidal waste of space, there was no short supply of Timmies willing to ruin my fun. After a few months of playing this game that I had now fallen in love with, I was about ready to call it quits. While perusing my gaming magazines one day I came across an article explaining sites for older gamers. Low and behold there was a place called 2old2play that sounded like a haven for someone like me. Within an hour I had signed up and introduced myself, and within a day I had found my first clan.

My friends list of approximately zero quickly climbed to full. Everyone that I played with that was a member got a friend request and in a short period I had no shortage of people to play with. I went from almost giving up on the game to playing nonstop. Halo had become The Game. We played customs far into the night, we played matchmaking every day. There were tournaments on the site with different clans representing themselves, and rivalries between clans were rampant. There seemed to be an endless supply of teams who were always playing one another. There were clan matches being scheduled all of the time. It was a great time to be playing Halo. It seemed as if everyone on the site owned this game and played it on a regular basis.

The forums were packed full of teams talking trash and scheduling matches, clans questioning each other’s skills, and of course the age old argument of glitches that never failed to get locked. Bungie kept releasing maps and there were so many to call your favorite. There were epic matches being played on Midship, Warlock, and Lockout. With videos in the forums the next day complete with all the audio. I had fun playing on Ascension, a fortress in the sky, Ivory Tower, sniping on Burial Mounds, racing for the sniper rifle on Colossus, spawn killing on Zanzibar, more custom games than I can count on Coagulation, and tons of clan matches on Waterworks and Headlong. The clan forums were packed full of clans dedicated to Halo that were all busting at the seams with members, and everyone was actively playing and posting.

Then Halo 3 came along. Everyone started the countdown, with threads even dedicated to it. Every scrap of evidence was posted, sifted through, and deciphered. The beta finally came and everyone was all over it. There were many improvements made, and many fan favorite aspects omitted. It was different, just…different. It had a new feel to it. It was still Halo, but it just wasn’t the same.

With the new forge feature it seemed like the possibilities were endless. At first everyone tried their hand at it and what came out were a bunch of confusing games with weapons hidden everywhere and unclear objectives with even more confusing rules. Everyone quickly realized that you had to keep it simple. The more you changed the more complaints you would hear in the lobby. The maps that fared the best were either the simplest, most symmetrical, or the ones that were the most like Halo 2 maps.

Slowly but surely clan members faded away. They moved on to other games. With the addition of Gears of War and Call of Duty, many members were lost. The Game for them had changed. Clans split, died, or included more games. Instead of focusing on Halo, they focused on FPS’s in general. With the destruction of the ever loved clan blade it became increasingly difficult for Overlords to keep track of members and to get them all gaming together. Many clans ceased recruiting members until everything was straightened out. The “friends of friends” has been a help, but will never compare to the clan blade.

Clan matches were few and far between, and the rivalries that once drove competition died. Tournaments were poorly run, with few people actually signing up, and many who did simply didn’t show. It became increasingly hard to get enough people to even justify having a tournament. The epic battles that were once posted seemingly every day were now gone. Some simply decided to keep playing Halo 2. With all of your friends now playing Halo 3 you are quickly reminded what you hated about the online experience. Without your friends you can no longer own Timmies, instead you are forced to team with them.

Clans still sprout up from time to time to try to gather all of the competitive players that once drove much of the Halo action on the site. At first everyone is excited but they all slowly die and posts are fewer and farther between. There are still a few noncompetitive clans that play nonstop, but it just doesn’t seem the same as it did in the days of yore. The MML has tried hard to reinvigorate the interest in Halo, and to get people together to play from all corners of the site.

I can’t help but feel that in today’s world of Halo, something is missing. It’s just not the same. While I realize that a new game means that things will change and it will never be the same, it threatens to turn what was once The Game to so many people into just another game. New maps are being added, new forge possibilities are coming to the forefront, and as the ones before them they will be judged against Halo 2.

So as I asked you at the start, is Halo dying? I know I took you the long way around, but I think the answer is obvious and sad. Halo is infected with a disease that slowly, but surely, kills it. For Halo players there is no other game that compares to it. If you pick up COD or GOW you have to judge them on their own merit, these games are not interchangeable. So where does that leave us now? Hope is the first word that comes to mind, hoping that they will eventually get it right, hoping they’ll take what we love from the Halo series and leave out what we don’t to make the best Halo yet. Yes, I will say it, hoping for Halo 4. While some would argue that it has only been a year and a half since its release, I would argue that without something being done to make this game great once more, it will eventually die.

I’m sure many people would not agree with me, but the fact of the matter is Halo just doesn’t seem to hold the same appeal to gamers as it once did.

Posted by kade47 @ 6:21 pm EDT | Permalink | 8 Comments

04/15/08

4our

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24083675/

I read this article yesterday and I can’t get it out of my mind. Alton Logan has spent the last 26 years of his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Attorneys Dale Coventry and W. Jamie Kunz have known he was innocent the whole time. Their client, Andrew Wilson, admitted to the murder Alton had been convicted for.

“…it wasn't just Wilson's word. Firearms tests, according to court records, linked a shotgun shell found at McDonald's with a weapon that police found at the beauty parlor where Andrew Wilson lived...”

“Now the lawyers had two big worries: Another killing might be tied to their client, and "an innocent man had been charged with his murder and was very likely ... to get the death penalty," Kunz says.”

It seem obvious to me which of the two worries is more pressing, an innocent man getting the death penalty or a sadistic repeat offender being charged with another killing. Andrew Wilson’s attorneys were representing him in a separate case. Bound by legal ethics, they say they were unable to prove to anyone that Alton Logan was in fact innocent.

The attorneys then signed an affidavit stating what they had learned and sealed it away in the event they would be presented with an opportunity to make it public. They asked Andrew Wilson if they could do so in the event of his death, as everyone was expecting Andrew to get the death penalty in his separate case. He agreed. However he was sentenced to life instead.

Kunz offered this explanation to anyone thinking that keeping this secret for 26 years is outrageous, saying his duty was to his client, Andrew Wilson.

“If I had ratted him out (Wilson)…then I could feel guilty, then I could not live with myself,” he says. “I’m anguished and always have been over the sad injustice of Alton Logan’s conviction. Should I do the right thing by Alton Logan and put my client’s neck in the noose or not? It’s clear where my responsibility lies and my responsibility lies with my client.”

He could not live with himself for telling on a murderer but he could live with letting an innocent man face a possible death penalty and eventually a life sentence? It makes me sick.

Recently Andrew Wilson died in prison. At this point both attorneys brought this affidavit to light. In the article Dale Coventry poses in a picture with a smug smile next to the locked box he has stored the affidavit in for decades. He strikes a hero pose, as if he is doing a great deed. He was obligated 26 years ago to his fellow man to keep him from spending half of his life in prison.

At some point common sense and righteousness should override legal code. How can these men say their jobs are more important than another man’s life? A job is a job. It’s just one of the things that make up our lives. A life is the be all and end all of our existence. No matter the amount of time spent in school or the amount of time spent at work means your job is more important than a soul. While a part of me realizes that if every lawyer disregarded lawyer-client privilege it could be disastrous, the better part of me answers that justice is supposed to be blind. Justice is more important than technicalities.

Posted by kade47 @ 4:17 pm EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

04/03/08

3hree

I would like to recount a tale for you about kindness. In my last blog I told you about Spar, a member of my clan, 2old2playHalo. His kindness and willingness to help is only to be outdone by the rest of my clan.

First to be told is the back story of my clan. As you can tell by the name, we play Halo, probably more than what is healthy. We are a close knit bunch, as of writing this there are 2,345 topics, and over 23,000 posts in our forum. We play Matchmaking, Social, and Customs. We have guys whose sole purpose is to live in Forge and strive to create the perfect game. Our clan is courteous to the other teams and is more apt to be T-bagging each other than the other team.

We started as a clan playing Halo 2, and eventually moved on to Halo 3. We weren’t complete while we waited for everyone to get a 360 and a copy. Finally everyone did and we were a happy family again, except for our dear friend, Lathenplaster. Lathen’s Series of Unfortunate Events kept him from getting his hands on one. Being the family and great group of people that my clan is, they took action.

Hubristic got the ball rolling and created the Get Lathen A Damn 360 fund. More affectionately know as the GLAD360. This wasn’t an average fund raiser. This one was done 2old2playHalo style. Of course everyone could chip in, but we also had challenges that people put up. If these were done the originator would put in X amount of dollars. Some examples:

Hub offered money for the person who did the highest continuous T-bag on an Overlord.

Spidey and Mulch offered money to anyone who could double betray them (with extra money being awarded from PBR if you managed to T-bag them both after said betrayal).

Flap offered money to anyone who live T-bagged a Timmie which had to be on the opposing team, with extra awarded if you did it while he was walking around.

There were a few others, but you get the picture (mostly that we T-bag each other quite often).

Two weeks after the GLAD360 started, a shiny new Xbox 360 was shipped off to Lathenplaster, along with a copy of Halo 3 provided by Jonny12Gauge, one of our Overlords. An act of kindness made possible by the actions of an entire clan. That is a story worth telling in my opinion.

They fill me with pride. Almost as much as hearing the sweet, innocent voice of Flapjaxx yelling “Double what?!” on unsuspecting Timmies and then seeing her pink Spartan T-bagging their lifeless corpses. That, my friends, is epic.

Posted by kade47 @ 3:56 pm EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

03/31/08

2wo

For the first time in my life I met someone in person that I had met on the internet.

I play Halo...alot. I prefer Matchmaking over crazy customs. Although customs can be fun, I can only handle them in small doses. If you read my first blog then you will know that Matchmaking alone equals a whole lot of not fun. So I found three like minded individuals who were also members of my clan, 2old2playHalo. I've been playing with Ghost, Boulder, and Sparhawk for months now, three nights a week. Although the wives may not like it, we have a blast.

If any of you have ever had your 360 have disc read errors then you know the slow torture it brings. At first it's just a one time deal. A hiccup. Then it happens frequently. You are on the edge of wanting to send it in to be fixed and to keep it so you don't miss out on any playing time. Considering how often I play, I would be missing out on quite a bit of playing time. Add to that, team practice just isn't the same with only three members.

My team knew I had been having issues and I think we all knew that eventually I would have to ship it off. A few nights ago while in the lobby together I told them my coffin had arrived and I would be shipping it off soon. It wasn't looking good since a rental is not cheap and I would need it to practice at least those three nights a week. Then Sparhawk says "Hey Shogun, I only live two hours away from you. You can come borrow mine." It seems that in the past Sparhawk, through his seedy past and underground network of associates (don't ask or he may have to kill you), had procured a second 360 a while back. He lives right inside Ohio and I live in Indiana. Needless to say, I took him up on his offer.

Last weekend the wife and I were off on our mini road trip. Almost two hours on the dot after heading out I pull up to Sparhawk's house. Everyone should visit it at least once, it's a beautiful home in some beautiful countryside on the outskirts of town. Don't be afraid, he's a wonderful host. He showed me around and being gamers like we are of course the first room we want to see is the game room. Sparhawk had done a wonderful job finishing his basement and turned it into a man's man gaming headquarters. A huge comfy couch, a crystal clear tv with terrific surround sound right beside a bar filled with liquor. We watched eachother play a game, giving the other bits of advice on different aspects of the game. We drank some beer and chatted each other up. After a bit we headed out to lunch. After lunch we had to head back home and Spar had to get back to work. At five in the afternoon if anyone asked what I did I could say I went to Ohio. I found that amusing.

So once again I have to let you know Spar, I really appreciate you letting me borrow your 360. You are indeed as laid back, cool and nice in person as you are on Live. I had a good time and enjoyed my visit, it was nice to get out and visit somewhere different. Although I know you don't need a blog for me to tell you I appreciate it, I mostly wrote it for others. It seems every time you turn on the television you get reminded of all the bad people out there. The fact is, that's all they report on. There are nice people out there who do nice things for others. 2old2play has led me to interact with some great people, and 2old2playHalo has rounded up some fantastic individuals. You guys are all top notch in my book.

Posted by kade47 @ 2:56 pm EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

02/18/08

1ne

Everyone heads out, knowing what actions they must take to strengthen our offensive efforts. I sprint to the location of my specialty, the sniper rifle. I quickly scan the area as I snatch it up, always wary of enemy presence. Sparhawk, one of my trusted teammates, is fast on my heels. I make my way towards the Ops Center, dropping below to the hallway to grab a coveted Overshield. My rifle is zoomed, looking for enemy resistance that will surely be on their way to fight for this power up. I see the lower half of the enemy descending their ramp, the rest cut off from view as they come towards me. Still zoomed I proceed forward. I line up my sight, the gunshot echoes in the narrow corridor and the bullet trail leads to their head. The enemy is down. I switch to my trusty battle rifle and feel the benefits of the Overshield overcome me. I hear the unmistakable sound of sword on flesh and the cry of death as Sparhawk takes out yet another enemy from above me.

Ghost is battling over the much needed rockets, finding he is outnumbered two to one. Peeking in and out from cover he tosses his grenades to keep them at bay as long as he can. Meanwhile Boulder had his objective to fulfill. He headed straight for the Invisibility, and now makes his way to flank the enemy and support his teammate. Rounding the corner he tosses a grenade on instinct, and lowers the unsuspecting enemy’s shields. They turn to meet the new threat and focus their attention on him, invisible death. He steadies his battle rifle and opens fire, dropping one of the enemies at once. Ghost, waiting for this diversion rushes to grab the rockets. Following the sounds of gunfire, he hones in on the enemies location. He sends a single shot of destruction down on the remaining enemy.

We all proceed to our areas, to provide support to each other. We have eyes everywhere; no enemy can present themselves unannounced. Before they take their second step to do us harm, they will meet three battle rifles. All the while I have the sniper rifle scanning, looking for the sweet spot. Now the fun begins.

To describe the joy of playing Halo with trusted teammates is a futile one. Some only know of going into Matchmaking as a mercenary, playing with three other strangers. The lack of communication amongst strangers normally equals their defeat. Sometimes their pure Slayer skills pull them through to a victory. Still others round up a few friends and blindly jump in. With no plan and basic communication at best, their fun quickly deteriorates as the defeats pile up. If this is all you know, then describing the feeling of everyone being on the same page, everyone giving you much needed details over the mic, everyone making a plan come together; it will all be foreign to you. But until you have done this, in my opinion, you have never really played Halo at all.

Posted by kade47 @ 3:50 pm EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

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