Halo 3 Mythic Achievements live, hint at new levels
by Justin McElroy 
{ Sep 23rd 2008 at 9:30AM }
As you peruse the list, you'll find rewards for finding skulls in six different areas: Assembly, Citadel, Heretic, Longshore, Orbital and Sandbox. We're thinking new levels, but the presence of skulls has us wondering if they're single- or multiplayer. Speculate away! (Oh, and if you'd like some actual, true information about today's title update, Bungie's got it for you here.)
[Thanks, Alexander]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nightmare452 @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:33AM
H0ly $h!t, gotta get home and play. Haven't played Halo in 4 months. This should at least make me and my friends play if for a while (I give it two days, then we get borred again :)
Jihad Germ @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:38AM
I'm currently at work and can't view the news on Bungie's site. Anyone want to give me the rundown? It would be very much appreciated.
Nevers @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:07PM
DAMN YOU WEBSENSE !!!!!!
er.. at leas that the program that blox me at my work from everything.
... funny how ESPN and anything sports related isn't blokt; but games, entertainment, and job searches are =[
Anyway...
( o Y o )'s FTW !!!
Jakka(A tribute to whose who fought and failed during the Epic Flamewar of L.A. Noir) @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:43AM
Assembly is a multiplayer map...but the idea of Skulls in MP seem very retarded.Just another way for people not to contribute in the game.
RyMo @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:44AM
so if we've done these things before, we get the achievements upon release? aka we don't have to re-do anything?
GreyFox @ Sep 23rd 2008 2:16PM
Right but you have to buy the new content. Here's hoping we get new single player content to make the previously short campaign worth the time.
Obie @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:48AM
Now if the Legendary map pack would become free or cheaper I could get back into H3!
Wise Guy @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:55AM
Damn! I can never get enough Halo 3. Best game I've bought for the 360. Got my money's worth 10 times over. I've bought and sold games after finishing them... but Halo feels never ending. Always something new to keep it fresh. Thank you Bungie.
Zeus.:God @ Sep 23rd 2008 1:08PM
Really? I don't see it... It feels like a rehashed Halo 2 with a gimped *object* editor. After being spoiled by the likes of PC games and Far Cry Instincts (first Xbox), nothing in Halo could possibly seem "fresh" to me.
Wise Guy @ Sep 23rd 2008 1:49PM
Well... I guess it's just a matter of opinion. And everyone will have their own. I find this game highly addictive (and at times frustrating)... but there are a lot of cool films I've saved and relived. That's part of the magic and appeal for me. Haven't dived into the map EDITOR mode at all.. but it's Halo 3's community and online stats, theater, etc... that keeps me coming back. I'm sure others will prefer a library of other titles over Halo... but not everyone has to agree.
Sora @ Sep 23rd 2008 6:21PM
I love Halo 3, but I've never owned Halo 2 or Halo 1 (Only played them at friends' houses like...three times tops), so it feels plenty fresh to me.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Sep 23rd 2008 6:35PM
Bungie = the Valve of Xbox?
Ryguy226 @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:14AM
750 points? Now I know this was brought up before, but hasn't the maximum you could add to a game always been 250? Has M$ suddenly upped the limit, without official notice, for the sake of Halo, or is this just a fluke that wasn't supposed to happen?
Jakka(A tribute to whose who fought and failed during the Epic Flamewar of L.A. Noir) @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:20AM
It's THE Halo.
When your biggest cash cow tells you to bump the GS limit, you OBEY!
Obie @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:37AM
Yeah I thought 250 was the limit also ( Like in Oblivion), but MS changes it limits on a whim..so it did not surprise me.
forestofdeath @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:28AM
isn't it 250 GS PER major update? if so, halo has had 3 so far...which would equal 750 points total.
ChildOfVengence @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:42PM
its 250 points per DLC, sozes as Halo 3 has had 3 dlc packs, Heroic, Legendary and Mythic they can add 750 points
250 x 3 = 750
Vcize @ Sep 23rd 2008 2:24PM
No, it's always been 250 points to spread across all DLC. That's why some games like Mass Effect only added a few points with their first DLC release, to save some of them for potential future DLC.
dark_inchworm @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:23AM
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the new achievements are a ploy to sway people away from CoD4 and help Bungie earn the top spot on Live again. That they're only releasing 250G worth of achievements right now and not all 750G seems to be a testament to this. (Granted, a lot of those achievements are dependent on maps that aren't out yet.)
Not that I think Bungie or Infinity Ward are really hurting for players or truly at arms with each other - both have a massive player base that eclipses anything else on Live and quite possibly anything on any other service, period. It does seem strange in a way that THE ALMIGHTY HALO would fall to anything, but for a player base that probably has a gaming record saturated with Halo time, CoD4 has brought fresh mechanics and play to the table. I still prefer Halo, but I can see why people have migrated.
I wonder what Bungie/MS and Infinity Ward have in store?
Vcize @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:51AM
But neither Bungie nor Infinity Ward make any money off more people playing their game. Whether someone spent $60 on it and played it for 3 days or spent $60 on it and played it for 3 years, they get the same amount of money.
I don't see what either of them get out of this battle for the top spot on Live other than a little brief publicity to the small percentage of videogamers that read these blogs (most of which probably already own both games anyway).
dark_inchworm @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:01AM
You make a good point that somehow flew over my head.
I'm sure that being #1 does concern them - that was a hell of a good time when CoD4 first overtaking Halo was reported. But, yes, that's no more money for them.
Map packs are certainly a money maker though! I don't know the sales figures on either of the two Halo map packs released so far, but surely they rake in a shit-ton of greenbacks. And with the promise of accompanying achievements, the $10 investment in a new map pack will likely be easier to swallow for achievement whores (term of endearment, honest!).
To top it all off, even if people still lean towards CoD4, Microsoft still rakes in cash with Xbox Live. With all the money and recognition they pull in, Microsoft will take over your planet.
Jakka(A tribute to whose who fought and failed during the Epic Flamewar of L.A. Noir) @ Sep 23rd 2008 10:52AM
Noticed how whore-friendly some of these achievements are?
AwesomeTown @ Sep 23rd 2008 11:54AM
This stuff isn't really for me, I'm definitely haloed out. But kudos to Bungie for giving the fans even more enjoyment out of one game. Other developers should follow their lead.
daniel @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:05PM
some are quite easy for the points you get 50gs for 3 assinations, while a triple kill with a sword only gets you 5 that doesnt seem right
Infidel @ Sep 23rd 2008 3:34PM
I fucking hate Bungie the greedy bastards.
They give with one hand and take with the other. How dare they restrict ranked doubles to those who have the legendary map pack. Its a piss take. I paid £40 for the game that had ranked doubles included as a feature, why the fuck should i have to pay another £5 to now unlock it again.
The new achievements are purely to get more money out of the legendary DL content. And its not MS who have made this decision, its bungie themselves that have decided to cut out the ranked doubles until you pay extra.
John @ Sep 29th 2008 11:02AM
Well why the hell should people like me, who pay the tiny bit of extra money for new map packs, not be able to play them on certain playlists like Team Doubles because cheap people like you either can't afford to buy the maps or just don't want to?
tyler @ Sep 23rd 2008 7:57PM
word for word the bungie page says,
"Title Update 2 Has Landed
Today marks the long awaited arrival of “TU2” for Halo 3. Despite plenty of rumors to the contrary, this update is not ushering in a new “BR spread,” nor does it incorporate enemy AI and campaign components to the Forge map editor. However, beyond the behind-the-scenes technical implications, there are two major components for fans to note.
New Achievements!
The most exciting piece of the update for many of you is the addition of TEN brand new achievements to Halo 3. We’ve covered these in detail in prior weekly updates but in case you’re just joining us, you forgot, or you’re just too lazy to go back and read… here’s the full list:
* Vidmaster Challenge: Lightswitch (0 points) – Get to the rank of Lieutenant in any playlist in the new EXP progression system.
* Vidmaster Challenge: 7 on 7 (0 points) – Enter into any ranked or social playlist with 7 EXP on the 7th of the month.
* Vidmaster Challenge: Annual (0 points) – After 9/25/08, complete Halo on 4-player Legendary LIVE co-op, with Iron, and everyone in Ghosts.
* Double Double (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get two Double Kills during any ranked or social match.
* Poor Yorick (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get 3 Oddball melee kills during any ranked or social match.
* Came…From…Behind (50 points) – On a Legendary map, get 3 assassinations during any ranked or social match.
* Defend This (50 points) – On a Legendary map, get a flag melee kill during any ranked or social match.
* Flag Dropped (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get 2 flag carrier kills during any ranked or social match.
* Road Rage (25 points) – On a Legendary map, get 5 Warthog chaingun kills during any ranked or social match.
* Look Both Ways (50 points) – On a Legendary map, get a Splatter Spree during any ranked or social match.
Let’s dive into this a little deeper and try and address some of the questions that will no doubt arise from the community. First off are the “Vidmaster Challenge” achievements. These three will not earn you any gamer points but there will (eventually) be a pay-off. We’re not going to spoil the fun just yet but suffice it to say that gamerscore isn’t everything. There is a pot of gold at the end of the Vidmaster rainbow and it is something you will want. More details later.
The “Annual” achievement will be obtainable starting on 9/25, to celebrate the anniversary of Halo 3. Your first chance at earning “7 on 7” will be on October 7th (Shishka has informed me that it will be a version of the “Icy Treats” playlist). After that, you can try again on the 7th of every month. To earn this, you simply need to earn a total of 7 EXP in any single playlist on the 7th of the month. Finally, the “Lightswitch” is something is you can start working towards NOW. (Note: there’s more info on the new playlist rating system down below).
The other seven achievements will result in 250 gamer points and can be earned by playing ranked OR social Xbox LIVE multiplayer matches on any of the Legendary DLC maps (Blackout, Avalanche and Ghost Town).
There is… Another
You may have already heard about more or perhaps you have even seen more Halo 3 achievements than the ten listed above. We’re not ready to comment on any other achievements right now – all will become clear in due time. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: This time with less subtlety - Yes, there are a lot more achievements that are now visible as a result of TU2. However, only the ten listed above are ones you should be concerned with for the time being. The other achievements are tied to things we have yet to reveal and there's really not much we can say on the matter right now. It's no mystery we have more maps in the works though and once we have a release plan finalized with our publisher we'll share that news immediately. In the meantime, rest assured that the other achievements aren't going anywhere, they will still be there when the time comes for them to finally be earned. As soon as we know, you will know.
Playlist Ratings
The other major outward facing component of TU2 is the addition of “Playlist Ratings” to Halo 3. In a nutshell, playlist ratings are the playlist-level decoupling of Trueskill values (the in-game number next to your name) from Experience (the icon next to your name). You will now have a separate military rating (based purely on EXP) in each playlist. So this means that being a General in a playlist is based on how many games you’ve won in the playlist, not based on the Trueskill number next to your name. Your Trueskill values are NOT being reset. If someone checks your service record, they will still see your Highest Skill.
The most important thing to note here is that nothing is being taken away – you are not losing your existing global ratings. We are in fact ADDING new stats via per-playlist EXP and ratings.
To further clarify things, I asked Tyson (Multiplayer Designer) and Shishka (Playlist Designer) to answer a few questions on this topic.
Hey guys, one of the main points of interest for TU2 is the addition of a new online rating system. What all does this entail?
Tyson: In TU2, our rating system is starting to track a rating per playlist, in addition to your traditional global performance rating. As you earn EXP in each playlist, you can earn a rating specific to that playlist, to show off your progress in the playlist of your choice. Of course, your old ratings remain fully intact and will continue to progress.
What will this ultimately mean for players?
Tyson: More stats, in the form of more detailed breakdown of your progress. If you spend most of your time in Team Slayer, you’ll be able to see the progress you’re making there.
How does this new system differ from the previous ranking framework?
Tyson: The nice thing is that it doesn’t change any of the old ratings—your prior accomplishments remain fully intact. When you’re sitting in a playlist lobby, you will see the new rating symbols instead of the old global ones, but your global rating is still front-and-center in your service record.
Why was the decision made to implement this new rating system?
Tyson: Two reasons: first, so that people who prefer to play in particular playlists can compare themselves more directly against other people in that playlist. Second, so that players who are a long way from meeting the EXP requirement for their global rating have some new, more immediate feedback regarding their progress.
Will the EXP I earn in playlists count toward my global rating?
Shishka: Yes. That’s why we call it your “global” rating.
How does this affect Double EXP weekends? Could I become a General in Griffball?
Shishka: Double EXP weekends will continue to make a regular appearance in Halo 3 for the foreseeable future. Yes, it is potentially possible to become a General in a double EXP weekend playlist, and yes, it will occur in half the time it’d take to become a General in a regular playlist.
Odds & Ends
As we've said previously, there are plenty of other things beneath the hood that are being addressed in TU2. We have some new and devastating powers being applied to our Banhammer and even more ways to detect and thwart cheaters and miscreants who are ruining the game experience for other players.
You can also rest easy knowing that the "old" version of Halo 3 will still work fine with the "new" version. If you update your box and play with your friend on a LAN who doesn't have LIVE, you can still play together.
Thanks everyone for being patient as we roll out this new update for Halo 3. It's been a hell of a first year and we're definitely not done with Halo 3 yet. Stay tuned to Bungie.net for the latest info and if you have any questions about TU2, please post in our forums and we'll try to address in a future update."
dark_inchworm @ Sep 24th 2008 10:15AM
HOLY SHIT WALL OF TEXT