If you have been fortunate enough to play in the Halo 3 Beta, I am sure you have seen people playing in custom games by now. How is that possible, you ask, since the options given to us on our menu are only matchmaking ones? Apparently there is a network error which allows access to the custom game lobby. In the beginning, you couldn’t play the games, you could simply look over the menu. Now people have figured out how to get a room going and actually play the games with the different settings.
You will not find directions on how to perform this glitch in my blog. Bungie has not said publicly that they approve of this. I received my beta invite in the Friends and Family wave and I will not abuse the privilege they gave me by doing something with it that they don’t approve of. If they adopt the stance that it is ok by them to explore the custom game arena, then I will jump right in. But until then, I will not participate in this activity.
The only quote I could find from a Bungie employee on this subject matter was this :
“However you manage to get into a custom game in the Halo 3 beta, you will be playing unfinished, unpolished, unbalanced and untested content. Unlike the rest of the beta which has been prepared for the public, any custom games will probably not be fun. I have no idea if you will be banned from the beta or Halo 2 if you play custom games, but you will have ruined a load of surprises for essentially no gain.”
I am not big on speculations. I haven’t ever followed the information leaks that have happened along the way. I don’t read the stories that contain spoilers. I did read a list of settings but only the basics and not the more detailed versions. I want some surprises left when the game is released in September.
EDIT :
Quotes from Bungie.net moderators at the Halo 3 Beta Forums :
“Custom games, and anything that can be found in them, (i.e. weapons, custom settings, etc) are off topic in this forum. They were not intended to be viewable in the Beta, and as such, they are not to be discussed in here.”
“Since we ninjas are being directed to be more ruthless, some members may need to be more careful.
The Bungie.Net forums already have a rule for “no modding discussions”. Combine that with the ruthless directive and we have a more deadly rule.
Modding discussions in the Beta forum are even MORE forbidden.
Someone hacking files in the beta are not “helping things out”. By taking it apart, they are not using the game as the populace will see it. In some cases, they are “peeking behind the curtain” and are able to “spoil” both the experience of the players and the intent of the creators.
As such, ANY thread or post discussing a mod or hack of the beta will result in a blacklisting. That was thread OR post. In other words, if you see such a post, and value your account, don’t reply. Just PM a moderator and walk away.”
They have continued to lock any and all forums posts concerning custom games. I will continue not playing custom games on the Halo 3 beta unless Bungie publicly makes a statement that it is acceptable. Otherwise I will play the beta as they intended us to play it.
The Halo 3 Beta Series
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10
Posted by Stuicide on May 30, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hoo Rah.
I’m right there with you angel. I’m going to stick to what I can access from the regular menu.
Posted by NJAsmodeus on May 31, 2007 at 7:15 am
I don’t know, if I stumbled across a custom game, I would participate. After seeing a video of someone jumping from one construct to the other on snowbound because of gravity and speed, it looks like way too much fun to pass up.
Posted by TTL Demag0gue on May 31, 2007 at 7:51 am
Meh, I can wait three months to enjoy the H3 custom game scene. I don’t want to get too attached to things to may not make the final cut. And Bungie wants us to test the matchmaking side, anyway, so that’s what I’ll be sticking to.
Posted by KP on May 31, 2007 at 8:37 am
You won’t be banned.
Posted by bsangel on June 1, 2007 at 1:22 am
Thankyou KP.
The only information I can find from Bungie’s opinion on this matter is in the Halo 3 Beta forums.
“Custom games, and anything that can be found in them, (i.e. weapons, custom settings, etc) are off topic in this forum. They were not intended to be viewable in the Beta, and as such, they are not to be discussed in here.”
“Since we ninjas are being directed to be more ruthless, some members may need to be more careful.
The Bungie.Net forums already have a rule for “no modding discussions”. Combine that with the ruthless directive and we have a more deadly rule.
Modding discussions in the Beta forum are even MORE forbidden.
Someone hacking files in the beta are not “helping things out”. By taking it apart, they are not using the game as the populace will see it. In some cases, they are “peeking behind the curtain” and are able to “spoil” both the experience of the players and the intent of the creators.
As such, ANY thread or post discussing a mod or hack of the beta will result in a blacklisting. That was thread OR post. In other words, if you see such a post, and value your account, don’t reply. Just PM a moderator and walk away.”
Posted by L askan on June 1, 2007 at 10:33 am
BADCUSTOMERSRVC
Games: 412
Customs: 0
I can wait a couple months.
Posted by Quantifier on June 1, 2007 at 10:44 am
though i won’t try to play any customs, there’s definitely a strong desire within me that wants to, if for nothing else than to walk the maps and learn the weapon spawns, etc. Like the others, i can wait til September though.
My main frustration with MM is that i was on vacation for the first week away from my box and don’t know the weapon/equipment spawns, etc.
I’m actually looking forward to getting back to H2 (familiar territory) after the beta.
Posted by d3adly reaper on June 1, 2007 at 5:49 pm
The custom games are so *edited* its not even funny i didnt know what to think but i messed around and there were so many options i couldnt go through them all. Im going to start one tonight with my friends so they can see that i was the first one of them to play a custom game on halo 3 beta.
Also dont you think if bungie was worried about this slip they would have already stopped it? Yeah… its makes you think what they are really thinking.
Posted by Excardon on June 2, 2007 at 9:20 am
Another overlooked reason on why NOT to play customs during Beta is because due to the small size of participants of the Beta, playing customs takes away from the already small matchmaking population.
It’s getting a bit harder to find a match already and my ranks are not high at all. The Beta was meant to test out Matchmaking for more reasons than just playing 3 maps and have the general public comment on it.
Things like gametypes vetoed and player postions on a map can not be properly weighed through custom games. The randomness of matchmaking with a large variant of players is the best way to test out every situtation and see if there are similiarities across the board.
In short, playing customs not only can ruin the game for the individual; but it potentially can mess up some of the statiticial data that Bungie may be processing as well.
Posted by bsangel on June 2, 2007 at 10:35 am
Very true. Excellent point Excardon.
Posted by Suicide Samurai on June 8, 2007 at 1:33 am
I admit it. I snuck a look when I first heard about it, and while it got me excited about the possibilities, it was nothing compared to the multi-player bungie had set-up for us.
Posted by Waffle Deluxe on February 21, 2009 at 2:21 pm
If I win the mythic contest would you reveal the number of my posts to be over 9000? Pretty Please?