The Most Hopeful Halo Bulletin I Can Remember In A While: 4/17/13

Wow, is 343 finally going to make some decent changes?!  A 4sk BR would make the Firepower tactical package actually useful, especially in mid-large sized maps.  Not sure about the AR buff.  Multi-team increase to 50 kills is good, but still wish it was teams of 3.  Buffing the hogs is a long awaited change.  Now only if they implement it smoothly.

I really don't think the BR is bad on 4v4 maps.  It's sad that it's stretching the limits on blackout/lockout/whateverout from open ramp to elbow.

The power of the dmr has always been fine, it's the magnetism you alluded to that needs to be nerfed.  Make it a skill based weapon and widen the skill gap.  Most of these changes (or potential changes anyway) have been proposed by the community for quite some time.  The dmr will still be deadly at range (and up close) and the br will be deadly up close.  Nice to see the carbine get a buff, as you typically had to get a jump on an enemy to get a kill with it.  

Certainly and interesting update. Finally some decent communication about proposed changes - it will be interesting to see if things change by next week's bulletin. 

4sk BR! 

I find it strange  you people are having any hope at all in this issue. A chunk of the current testing suits my situation more than yours. No DMR change. Automatics will kill better up close. The Warthog and Mantis chainguns are getting a boost. I'm even okay with the BR, LR and Carbine changes. I've read so many camps on the weapon issues that I can't see 343i pleasing everyone. I'm waiting till this stuff hits the sandbox to see exactly how it all fits together. One way or the other, I'll be stuck with it until Halo 4 is replaced with Halo 5. One thing I desperately don't want happening. All this tuning disappearing if host changes. Remember, this is not a TU. It's a backdoor to the game. An add-on.

Well, DEEP, I'm thinking a balanced weapon sandbox benefits ALL players regardless of skill or preferences. I just feel like I have to use the DMR most of the time to keep my head above water. 

Yes, there will be whining and chewing, no matter what is done - but if 343 can make things a little more balanced then I'm all for some changes. 

well it is probably due to my naivete on the subject, but why would it weapon settings change to default settings if the changes are done from a backend changed instead of a TU?

What happens now when the host changes to a change that has been made through "non Tu" updates. Or has nothing of notice been changed without a TU, yet?

ah ok I see what you meant. But I think the default settings will still be the buffed settings.

But I also assumed a lot of stuff with H4 only to find out no matter how "rational" my assumption was, the reality of what was produced/release was a giant bag of insanity.

So, I am with you on the "lets see wtf happens when it is out in the wild" camp.

The tweaks won't change midgame.  The TU allowed backdoor programming to tweak weapons.  There would be no "return to default" settings.  it would change the base mechanix of the damage settings.

Logic seems flawed on this question.

I'm not sure I understand where you are getting that the game would reset to pre-[i]sandbox[/i] changed settings mid-game if the host changes. The weapons resetting has always been an issue since Halo 2, if my memory serves me right.

Is there a post on B.net, neogaf, or HBO that said it would do that? I know sometimes you can get reset to your first loadout with a host change, but they don't disappear.

Clarify?

I love the idea of 4sk BR. It still lets the DMR and Light Rifle own at long range and lets the BR own the middle ground. I do think the Carbine needs to be a 6sk because the BR beats it now at mid-range. The AR beef up doesn't bother me because of the reduced auto aim. I do still think they need to reduce the auto aim on the DMR for the simple fact that in BTB it still restricts movement around the map.

The Hog turret getting some more power is awesome also, but still leaving the PP/plasma greneade combo is a mistake. Guns and power weapons can take down a hog and banshee very easily. 

Still no BTB objective:(

I think I get what you are saying DEEP. Consider this:

Didn't we have a similar scenario in Reach with the modified bloom settings? I believe these changes were made available as part of the TU where the weapon bloom could be set to whatever level was deemed acceptable? Meaning the ability to modify bloom was added during the TU, but the actual percentage of bloom was based on settings for the playlist - either zero or reduced bloom.

I don't recall any issues with bloom settings (in playlists with non-vanilla bloom) if the host got reset in Reach.

So isn't this a similar circumstance? Except in the case for Halo 4, the weapon changes (either buffed or nerfed) will involve the whole game and not just certain playlists.

Did 343 hit a development milestone on Halo 5?  They seemed to have a bit of free time to support Halo 4.

Did the bulletin have anything to say about them adding CSR but keeping join in progress?

actually multiple bulletins have referenced them adding csr and keeping JIP.

JIP messes up CSR big time.  joined a game with 10 kills to go- I went 3-1 and went down a rank, and my team won.

because I wasn't the top scorer on my team I went down.  I was in the game literally 2 minutes if that.

Do people only remember when JIP screws them? Surely there must be examples where people have benefitted?