I read the article and I'm somewhat concerned for the local players. I hope that there are alternatives for players who don't have Xbox LIVE or can't connect to it. I myself, though connected to live, did some Halo 3, and whatnot, I have a large majority of friends and family that aren't Xbox LIVE enabled, let alone a paid subscription. Of course, there are 'some' possibilities of players earning credits (campaign, achievements) offline. Of course, it seems that you still need an Xbox LIVE connection to get those 'missions'. I fear that local players will barely able to earn enough credits to get certain armor pieces. I can understand the concept of Trueskill, though, as well as the anti-farming method you guys are constructing. It's unfortunate that players go through that much just to get cosmetic pieces for their spartans. Nonetheless, I'm just concerned about local friendliness. I guess emphasizing campaign as a means to get credits offline, but all I can do is listen.