i also wanted to add that losing a melee for no reason SUCKS. i hope bungie fixes it with expediency, and as long as a reason can be determined, i'm happy. i personally own two xbox live accounts, so my visiting friends can play halo with me. when guys that pride themselves on beat downs and play with boxer button settings are screaming at the tv because they don't understand why they're losing, i say it's time for a fix. [b]First Come, First SERVED[/b] This is the simplest, easiest answer and it licks. Halo is an intense game, based on tick times that are so short it would be incomprehensible to most humans. When dealing with things like that, and tossing in even minute network latency, first come first serve just can't handle the demand. Consider how many times you get on a roll and are beasting fools and then blam! you're stuck because of a 3 frame delay? for the birds, i say. [b]HP Tie-breaker[/b] An easy mathematical solution to an existential problem. While it's easily rationalized as an intelligent fix, and it is, upon further inspection one can see it's fundamental flaw. Who is the contest between? Melee 1 and melee 2. Not, melee 1, melee 2, and that grenade spamming SOB that hurt your shields before you stepped up. Good solution, but not the best. [b]The Duel[/b] This is my solution and, I believe strongly, the best one. This solution can utilize the current Halo 3 melee timing handling AND the current Halo 3 sword melee handling. Code would have to be written, for sure, but using pre-existing code always simplifies the process. Here's how it would work: player 1 and player 2 meet on the field of battle. player 1 has just escaped from a prior battle and has only 30% shields. player 2 has full shields. both have full body hp. after exchanging a few projectile attacks, they meet, and in a common halo 3 improbability, trade punches simultaneously (or at least at the determination of the host). there is a flash, both player's shields drop, but both are still standing, facing one another again within melee range. player 2 hits the melee button again, but too sooN! player 1 waits for the recovery and strikes him down, perhaps scoring a double kill. player 2 loses because he got over zealous, player 1 is now on a roll and is pushing deeper! the game has improved using this system. please adopt it. i've always wanted a method that would enable players to rely almost solely on melee attacks. can you imagine the bridge on narrows? no more crying when you have to reload, just run in and attack! if you can't die from an answered melee attack, there's a chance you could take out huge strings of close-up players without ever firing a bullet. of course you'd have no health so a single AR bullet would drop you, but i say that's just a check & balance against my system. -death can i haz recon?