[quote][quote]-The Assault Rifle is still a piss-poor starting weapon.[/quote] Haha, nope. It was designed for CQC, and it serves that purpose well. It's also pretty decent for mid-range combat. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsyPQclZlac&t=5m7s]It was created to complement the "golden triangle" of Halo.[/url] If you wanted a weapon more well suited for medium to long range, you'd have to put some effort into finding one on the map.[/quote]Yes, I know the intention behind the design of the AR. I watched that ViDoc plenty of times. Still doesn't change the fact that it's a horrible starting weapon. Making it only viable at close range was a horrible idea, and it wasn't that effective at mid-range, even burst fired. And Bungie knew it was a horrible idea considering they added in the Magnum as a secondary weapon later on, though it didn't do much to help considering the thing had an atrociously slow rate of fire. The fact is that AR starts are horrible, especially on a map like Guardian considering it has only two mid range weapons and if your team doesn't have them, then you might as well quit because there is no way to defend yourself off spawn with an AR if the other team is competent. Plus, the AR's sound design sucks. [quote][quote]-The BR is still the only decent non-power weapon.[/quote] It is the best non-power weapon, but the other non-power weapons serve different roles and can beat the Battle Rifle in some circumstances.[/quote]Aside from close range, you can't really beat the Battle Rifle. And even at close range, it's versatile enough to hold its own. That's of no fault to the Battle Rifle's design, though. [quote]-The Shotgun is still a lottery cannon.[/quote] wat Are you saying it's random? If so, then you're wrong.[/quote]Beyond point-blank range, yeah it's pretty inconsistent. Slightly better than Halo 2's lottery cannon,, but not by much. [quote][quote]-The maps are still sub-par compared to Halo 1 and 2.[/quote] /opinion[/quote]Obviously. [quote][quote]-The FOV is still extremely low, and is still motion-sickness inducing.[/quote] I've never had a problem with it, nor have I heard anyone complain about it until now.[/quote]Really? It was a complaint I had heard of since the Halo 2 days. At least it's better in Reach. [quote][quote]-Equipment is still BS, especially the Bubble Shield, Power Drain, and Regenerator.[/quote] Nope. It added a nice twist to the gameplay, without drastically altering the gameplay. Armor Abilities, fully customizable loadouts, perks, and ordnance drops are BS.[/quote]Equipment had a negative effect on gameplay. The Bubble Shield and Regenerator were basically "I WIN" or "Get Out of Jail Free" cards, and the Power Drain was a free triple kill with very little effort involved. The Bubble Shield was the worst of the bunch. It was Halo 3's armor lock. You were invulnerable within, except it was worse because you could still use whatever weapon or objective item (flag, bomb, oddball) you were holding. I won a game of Oddball by sitting in the shield for the last ten or fifteen seconds of the match; people would come in, and I'd instant kill them with the ball, and there was nothing they could do. It also slows down gameplay by creating a virtual standstill; the person inside the shield can't attack and is most likely waiting for the person outside to come in, but the person outside doesn't want to go in because he knows better, and it just keeps going and going. The Regenator was largely the same as the Bubble Shield, except you had a chance of actually killing the guy in the field, if you were teamshotting or holding a power weapon that is. If not, then don't even bother. Power Drain, as I said before, was a free kill (or double kill, or triple kill, etc) with very little effort or skill involved. [quote][quote]-6 AR rounds + Melee is still ridiculously powerful.[/quote] Now hold on, I thought the AR was a piss poor weapon? But now when someone comes up with a way to utilize it more effectively, it's overpowered?[/quote]It's more of a complaint with the melee system and the absurd amount of damage it does. But yes, it's still an OP combo. [quote][quote]-Melees are still OP and undodgeable. Halo 2 had a far greater lunge range, but at least you could dodge melees. Plus, melee damage was momentum based in Halo 1 and 2; not sure why that aspect was removed starting with 3.[/quote] I never found it to be game breaking, or a big deal at all actually. In fact, I never gave it any thought at all. I adapted without even knowing I did.[/quote]Good for you. [quote][quote]-Guardian is still a poor man's Lockout and it still has terrible map flow. And it's considered one of Halo 3's "better" maps. It's damn near unplayable with AR starts.[/quote] Again, nothing more than opinion.[/quote]Again, obviously.

[quote]Yes, I know the intention behind the design of the AR. I watched that ViDoc plenty of times. Still doesn't change the fact that it's a horrible starting weapon. Making it only viable at close range was a horrible idea, and it wasn't that effective at mid-range, even burst fired. And Bungie knew it was a horrible idea considering they added in the Magnum as a secondary weapon later on, though it didn't do much to help considering the thing had an atrociously slow rate of fire. The fact is that AR starts are horrible, especially on a map like Guardian considering it has only two mid range weapons and if your team doesn't have them, then you might as well quit because there is no way to defend yourself off spawn with an AR if the other team is competent. Plus, the AR's sound design sucks.[/quote] Well I'm sorry you could never make use of it. And yes, the sound design does suck. [quote]Aside from close range, you can't really beat the Battle Rifle.[/quote] It's not impossible. If you're playing AR starts and happen to run across an enemy who picked up a Battle Rifle, you'd have to get creative. Use what tools you've got in the most effective way possible, take advantage of the environment around you, fall back on your teammates if their available. Use your brain. You won't always be successful, but that's how games work. [quote]Beyond point-blank range, yeah it's pretty inconsistent. Slightly better than Halo 2's lottery cannon, but not by much.[/quote] Why would you use it beyond point-blank range... :/ [quote]Really? It was a complaint I had heard of since the Halo 2 days. At least it's better in Reach.[/quote] I never really thought people could get motion sickness from playing a videogame. The people I know never had that complaint, and I've never heard of that complaint on the internet either. [quote]Equipment had a negative effect on gameplay. The Bubble Shield and Regenerator were basically "I WIN" or "Get Out of Jail Free" cards, and the Power Drain was a free triple kill with very little effort involved. The Bubble Shield was the worst of the bunch. It was Halo 3's armor lock. You were invulnerable within, except it was worse because you could still use whatever weapon or objective item (flag, bomb, oddball) you were holding. The Regenator was largely the same as the Bubble Shield, except you had a chance of actually killing the guy in the field, if you were teamshotting or holding a power weapon that is. If not, then don't even bother. Power Drain, as I said before, was a free kill (or double kill, or triple kill, etc) with very little effort or skill involved. [/quote] No, no, and no. Armor Lock is a "Get out of Jail Free" card. The user is [i]literally[/i] invincible. It's [i]impossible[/i] to kill them. The worst part? The player [i]spawns[/i] with it and can use it [i]over[/i] and [i]over[/i] again until they die. With both the Bubble Shield and Regenerator, players have to put forth the effort to find and obtain them. Once they use use them, they are not automatically invincible. All they're doing is tipping the odds in their favor. It's just like picking up a power weapon. Once the Bubble Shield/Shield Regenerator is used, if they survive, they can't use it again unless they find another one on the map. Again, like all other equipment, Power Drain is a one time use item. You have to go and pick it up to use it. Only in rare circumstances would you catch a group of three people with a Power Drain and score headshots on each one. That mostly happens with Warthogs in BTB. [quote]I won a game of Oddball by sitting in the shield for the last ten or fifteen seconds of the match; people would come in, and I'd instant kill them with the ball, and there was nothing they could do. It also slows down gameplay by creating a virtual standstill; the person inside the shield can't attack and is most likely waiting for the person outside to come in, but the person outside doesn't want to go in because he knows better, and it just keeps going and going.[/quote] I can't argue against that, because it happens a-lot. But I don't see equipment as the source of the problem here. The problem is having equipment on the map during objective matches. If equipment can't be found on the map during an objective match, this problem would be non-existent. [quote]It's more of a complaint with the melee system and the absurd amount of damage it does. But yes, it's still an OP combo.[/quote] And so is using a grenade to weaken/eliminate the shields of an opponent before you shoot him once in the head with a Battle Rifle/Carbine. It's just a part of the golden triangle (weapons, melee, grenades). There's nothing wrong with it. The melee only becomes 'absurd' when it's combined with sprint in the later Halo games, Halo: Reach and Halo 4. It's fine in Halo 3. [quote]Good for you.[/quote] Yes, it really is.

I had a very long and detailed reply. I put a lot of my heart and soul into it. Then I hit the back button on my mouse. I'm devastated. So, all I can say now is, I disagree with you. I have a feeling we're just gonna go back and forth on this anyway, so let's just agree to disagree.

[quote]Really? It was a complaint I had heard of since the Halo 2 days.[/quote] Don't even get me started on the FOV drop after CE. I liked Reach's relatively expanded FOV.