I'm into the jet packs.. and rolling.. and sprinting. It's a breath of fresh air that this game will actually introduce new gameplay into the franchise.

Someone obviously never played Tribes, which is easily one of the best MP shooters ever.

I think you hit this on the head first time. I can't see how they would replace equipment with armor then put in different equipment like jetpacks. It could be a vehicle I guess but I'd bet on armor ability with recharge.I agree the gameplay itself should be the biggest hook and that losing isn't a big deal, wasn't inferring otherwise. Like it or not though, these kind of reward systems are getting more pervasive in, well pretty much everything as an excellent talk at DICE succinctly put it the other week. Well designed systems can augment online games without breaking them and do modify player behaviour positively. That there will always be a subset of the population that is uneffected by such measures doesn't mean they don't work at all or can't valuable.

I've not played enough of BFBC2 yet to comment. MAG is an example where things are pretty well done. MW2 is a bit of a mixed bag. Players treat Domination games like Team Deathmatches because they consider that to be an optimal strategy for whatever they are trying to do, be that pick up easy kills, piss off other players or gain XP. If the XP system is rebalanced to give greater rewards for playing the gametype properly, the issue could be reduced though not eliminated.A game with as large an audience as Halo attracts people a wide variety of players. Some of these are short of time, might only have small windows in which to play and winding up in an FFA game of oddball where half the other players aren't playing the game type can definitely be a frustrating waste of valuable gaming time.

But I'm definitely talking about the kind of thing I think, reading your comments that you wouldn't have a problem with as opposed to the sort of progression/unlocks that would definitely warp Halo online in a bad way. The medal system is fun and there is an EXP system that doesn't really mean anything at all. Basing the EXP on medals instead wouldn't break anything and neither would tying in some aesthetic unlockables either.

Player behaviour can be modified postively by adding a game specific multiplier to the EXP garnered from medals. So in a CTF game, flag capture/defence related actions that are already tracked by the medals yield greater EXP than others. TruSkill rank for matchmaking can be calculated as it is now but the military rank side of things can be made a bit more interesting with some unlocks and a system that isn't based just on wins. That's really all I'm geting at.

:lol:

The best is when a corpse it hit by a rocket and flails :PI agree, I like that they are keeping the core but evolving the gameplay. All for sprinting (!!!!), armor mods, rolling, jets, etc. Should really open up gameplay. Seeing as Bungie did a great job balancing vehicles, instant nades, one hit melees, ranged weapons, and rebounding health (although with weapons spawning in fields...) I don't think this will be too hard for them.

You never heard of Tribes? I think some of the older ones are free... what are you waiting for? Go try it!

Sounds like something to do while I wait for my BC2 to arrive.

http://www.tribesnext.com/downloadsI know it's corny but I actually sorta dig them.If you're just bored of Halo, nothing this game is going to do will probably change that if this stuff isn't doing anything for you. It's a little MP tease and there's already a ton of new gameplay featured.

If you love Halo 3 on the other hand, Halo Reach simply looks epic.