[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] zaffy_2005 Ok, so a few others noticed and commented on this, too. In the last few paragraphs under "Steel Yourself" we are told that any credits we earn "offline" will be reduced when we go "online" and any armor we've unlocked/purchased with said credits will be forfeit. So, let's say I go along with my intended plan of jumping straight into Forge 2.0, earn credits while experimenting with the new features, objects, etc., perhaps even put together a handful of maps, then use those credits to customize my spartan before heading into Campaign, complete Campaign, and then use any subsequently earned credits to further pimp my Spartan. If I understand this correctly, when I finally decide to jump into Matchmaking all that work, all those credits, all that I've unlocked, bought, EARNED... all of that will be for nothing? We're just going to be completely and utterly stripped back down to the basics because we haven't "earned" anything? Is that how this is going to work? I would like to believe that Bungie is not giving us all a rather unwanted kick in the pants here, but it does not sound good at all. I mean, if the intention is to somehow legislate behavior, when will you learn that that is impossible and stop punishing the decent players? Regardless of what system you use people will still find a way to hack it, cheat it, or simply pay someone to do all the work for them so they can have a fully unlocked armory without having to put forth any effort. I would think it a safe bet that at least a third, if not a half, of the current Halo 3 "50's" are not legitimately earned. Screwing the rest of us over won't change that in Reach. Lazy people will still find ways to be lazy and profit from it. Now, I'm going out on a limb here with a loose thought that provides the only glimmer of hope this announcement has left me with. When specifying "offline" vs. "online" accounts, does that mean the difference between silver (offline) and gold (online) subscriptions? Simply put, as a gold subscriber will my activity, even in forge and campaign, be considered "online?" Do I have to have the sessions open to Live to be considered "online" or can I use the "local" option (or the Reach equivalent) and still be considered "online" because of the gold subscription? I guess what I'm saying is my only glimmer of hope rests on what defines "online" and "offline," whether those are limited by game modes or Live account type. Some clarification here would be deeply appreciated. If this does, in fact, mean that anything outside of Matchmaking (I do understand that Campaign and Firefight do have Matchmaking support and are thus included, in my mind, as "Matchmaking") will be treated as "offline" activity, I've got to say this is a rather reckless and flawed gambit. I'm sure the folks at Bungie, of all people, should know damn well that no one, and I mean NO ONE, likes working their ass off for ANY length of time and then have to start all over again from scratch. When taken in conjunction with the immanent price-hike for Live Gold, such a move will most likely cause people to forgo online play altogether. I know that I, for one, will not give up my hard-earned money just to be set back to zero, or even pushed back a few levels. As it is I only have Gold because I wanted to unlock all the possible armor options for Halo 3, and to do that I needed to have an online account, otherwise I could not complete any of the matchmaking achievements linked to armor pieces. I hated having to shell out 50 bucks and then having to jump through hoops doing ridiculous crap that I would not normally bother with just to unlock a few pieces of armor that I didn't even care to use. I simply wanted a complete collection for completion's sake. I mean, I still don't have the Recon set, and that's the most ridiculous set of hoops of them all. Seven achievements spanning two separate games plus downloaded content, and all but one requiring Live Gold (that being Brainpan, which still requires downloaded content). So let's see, that's about $60 each for Halo 3 and ODST, at the very least another $10 for a one month Gold subscription (reaching Lieutenant in a single playlist would take at least as long unless you were extremely skilled or just extremely lucky, but regardless that's the smallest amount one can purchase), on top of that another $20 to buy the smallest Microsoft Points card in order to purchase the necessary downloadable content. So, we're talking $150 plus hours upon hours of ridiculous gameplay (providing you're even able to find three other people with coinciding schedules as well as comparable skill in order to do not one, not even two, but THREE of the seven Vidmaster challenges before any/all of you lose the subscription) all for three measly pieces of armor, one of which is just a very slightly tweaked version of the E.V.A. shoulders, one being the dorkiest looking helmet I have ever laid eyes on, and the last being the only one I'd ever consider using, and even then the novelty might wear off. Absolutely ridiculous. When it was announced that Reach would allow for credits to be earned in pretty much ANY game mode, and that armor would be PURCHASED rather than unlockable only by jumping through ridiculous hoops, I was ecstatic. I thought to myself, "Finally I can get the armor I want simply by playing and [u]enjoying[/u] the game. No more 2-for-1 or Steppin' Razor BS. No more hoops, no more spending countless hours playing against prepubescent twerps who shouldn't even be playing an 'M' rated game much less cussing me out like the stereotypical sailor. No more team-killing morons ruining my gaming experience just because they can't unlock an 'MVP' achievement by their own skill or even have the decency to ask their team mates to help them make the achievement." Well, I thought a lot of things, much more than I care to elaborate on here. The point is all that jubilation was crushed when this announcement, to my understanding, basically said that earning credits and armor in all other modes was now a useless gesture because it would all be stripped away once we step foot in Matchmaking. This is Bungie's last entry in the Halo series. Why would you want to go out like this? This is just disappointing. I talked my friends and family, the people I've played and enjoyed Halo with ever since Combat Evolved, I talked them into pitching in for the Legendary Edition of Reach and now, as much as I hate to and know it's too late, I find myself questioning whether I even want to play this game. So please, someone, anyone with insider knowledge, shed some light on this. I want to hear it from Bungie that we are not going to get tied down and royally screwed over by this system allegedly designed to only affect "lazy people." I want details on exactly how this system works and the full extent of its effects.[/quote] Hey, so I saw your long-winded post on the forums. I understand what you're saying about getting your credits "revoked" between online and offline play, but your complaints apply in the reverse direction too. For instance, I play alot of online multiplayer, it's what I love about Halo. I like being able to show off how dedicated I am to the game, how good I've gotten, by having different armor than all the regular Joes out there. That satisfaction is completely destroyed if someone can get the same armor as me playing some stupid custom firefight variant over and over again. That being said, what I'm guessing Bungie is planning to do is reduce the amount of credits earned if you play online matchmaking or custom games. Yes, your credits are going to be less than they might be if you don't play xbox live at all, but that's the point. They're supposed to be a reward right? 90% of the armor is going to be fairly easy to get. It's the really special stuff that's going to be hard to get, and it should be. You don't get a $500,000 paycheck for doing nothing (some do, not the point) and you shouldn't get inclement weather armor for online play if you earned it all offline in campaign anyway. It's also not like you won't earn credits in those things at all, you'll just experience a difference online vs offline. You don't have to play with "twerps" online, just blast grunts in the face...but if you want to take that armor online at some point, the credit amounts will be reduced. Just like it's "unfair" for you to have to work harder, it would be "unfair" for the try-hards to put in a bunch of effort for a worthless reward. It's fair for everyone.