In Halo 3’s Matchmaking system, you’ll find a ton of new options and abilities. We’ve made our best effort to improve the already social nature of Matchmaking by giving you some new powers while you use the system to find games and opponents. Now it’s easier than ever to meet people you like, with similar skills and experience.

Experience and Rating Points (RP)

One of Halo 2’s defining features was its ability to match players of similar skill levels, for the most enjoyable possible games, with the fairest outcomes. Although it was a success, we’ve used that experience and data to build an even better, more accurate, and fairer system, that will ensure even more balance, better matching and less cheating and abuse than ever before.

We measure both skill level and experience (in the Beta, this experience is signified by "RP" standing for Rating Points) in our Matchmaking system. Some players are destined to become pros, while others will prefer to haunt the middle ranks and enjoy the game just for fun. But we’ll reward every player with experience Rating Points (RP) - earned for time served in Halo 3 Matchmaking. Progress from raw recruit to decorated officer, a reward for good sportsmanship and yet another way for us to make sure games are evenly matched.

This is how your experience Rating will look the first time you play. See what rank you can reach.

Wherever people see your Gamertag in Halo 3, they’ll also see your universally visible experience "RPs" and their associated rank status (Sergeant, for example). They’ll have an instant feel for how long you’ve been playing – and how that compares to your relative skill level in a given playlist. Someone with lots of RPs and a low Matchmaking skill level, might simply be new to that specific matchmaking playlist. Knowing that is the key to knowing your enemy. The layers of complexity we’ve built into the system should make it better and less prone to abuse than ever, while simultaneously enriching the player experience.

Stats, medals and other data will all be displayed right in the game, highlighting top performing players in the postgame carnage report, and visible to anyone who highlights your Gamertag. And yet with all this emphasis on progress, behind the scenes we’re making huge strides in making the act and the consequences of cheating and griefing, less rewarding for those who tend to do that kind of thing.

As with Halo 2, your stats will also be available online, through Bungie.net. Although these stats will be very limited during the Public Beta, in fall when the game ships, we’ll go live on Bungie.net with more detail, more information and more flexibility than ever before. It promises to be a massively feature-rich environment for stat-watchers everywhere.

Party Up!

We told you that Halo 3 was going to be more social than ever before. At the heart of that is some incredible technology, but the spirit is simpler. We’ve introduced a way to recruit players into friendly, social groups who can play for just-one-more-game, or stick together all night as a cohesive group, even if they’ve never met before. It doesn’t matter if they’re on your friends list or not. After a fun game, any player can check a box to “Party Up” and form a new fighting unit. You’ll stick together until you choose to disband.

Parties mean that inviting friends is less of a hassle, and it also means that players don’t get lost in the jump between games. Parties allow folks to form new alliances and play in cohesive teams, even when a regular crew isn’t available. And Parties are available in some ranked games too, so (team size permitting) no matter where you’re playing, you never have to split up.

Using the Veto

As part of the social experience, and the cooperative nature of recruiting new friends, we introduced an element of democracy. It’s called the Veto! Teams and individuals will get one chance to veto (reject, in other words) a game or map type they dislike, with a simple majority vote. To avoid abuse, you only get that single Veto opportunity, but if for example, the majority in a matchmaking lobby just isn’t in the mood for a game of Oddball, check the Veto box (by pressing X) and you’ll skip at random to another selection. Hopefully it’s going to be something more to the group’s taste, because there’s no second Veto.

Of course, keeping an eye on what’s being vetoed and what’s not also helps us keep track of what’s popular and what’s unpopular for future Halo 3 Matchmaking updates. This is just one of the tools we’ll be using to make Matchmaking playlists more fun, with more frequent updates and faster reaction to trends and dislikes.

Matchmaking in the Public Beta

Throughout the Public Beta, we’ll be using you as guinea pigs to test a number of Matchmaking Playlists. Since the Beta doesn’t support System Link or Custom Games, matchmaking is your only recourse anyway, so we’re doing what we can to give you as wide a variety as possible over the three weeks. The lists will be rolled out in an order to be decided by Bungie, and they will include the following modes, but are subject to change/removal and addition:

Ranked Playlists

Social Playlists

Can I see Halo 3 Stats on Bungie.net?

Yes! Visit www.bungie.net to see a limited selection of Halo 3 Beta stats right now. But first we advise you to make sure that you’ve linked your Gamertag. This will save you the hassle of searching for your own Gamertag every time you visit our Stats page. Instead, you’ll see a link you your own right on the front page. This is how you link your Gamertag to Bungie.net and Xbox Live:

First, get a Windows Live ID. One of the benefits of using the Windows Live ID service is the ability to "link" your Xbox Live Gamertag to your online identity. By linking your Gamertag, you will be able to stay in touch with your Xbox Live Friends list while you're using our site. Whether you're engaging in a heated forum discussion or browsing through a collection of concept art, you'll always be one click away from knowing if any of your friends are online playing an Xbox Live enabled game. This is just the tip of the iceberg. You'll have to stay tuned to Bungie.net for future news regarding cool Xbox Live connectivity options.

You do not have to link your Gamertag now, or ever for that matter. It's a purely optional feature that we've implemented to keep our users connected to their Live friends. If you don't have Live now, or you don't want to link your Gamertag yet, it's no problem. You can go to Xbox.com and complete the linking process at any time. As long as it's the same Windows Live ID you are using at Bungie.net, everything will work out just fine.

Linking Your Xbox Live Gamertag

Establishing the connection between your Xbox Live Gamertag and your online Windows Live ID is a simple, one-time-only process, that can only be accomplished through the Xbox.com website.

What you'll need:

A Windows Live ID account (make sure this is the same one you're going to be using at Bungie.net)
Xbox Live Account

To verify your identity on Xbox.com : (all of these are available through your Xbox dashboard)

• Name of credit card holder on the Live account
• last 4 digits of the credit card
• phone number
• postal code

Once you're ready, head over to Xbox.com to the "Link Gamertag" page. You'll be prompted to first sign in with your Windows Live ID. If you're a first time visitor to Xbox.com, you'll have to accept their terms of use and create a quick account. (just your email address).

Enter the required information, click on "continue" and voila' - you've just linked your Gamertag!

If you have any problems with this process, follow the support options given on Xbox.com.

Learn about Saved Films in the Halo 3 Beta HERE
Return to the Halo 3 Beta Index HERE