[klb5090]

i have been pretty absent recently, sorry guys. Between school/work/school/girlfriend/school i have zero time to even power on the xbox, but i ensure you that my return is imminent and i'll be back in full force soon.

[Dakar V]

I'll be on after the bar. Anywhere between 12 - 2 am.

[Dakar V]

This game may have the most amusing idiots of all time. I had a game yesterday where some annoying kid was calling for Canals "because Mansion blows". Votes go 4 - 5 in favor of Mansion, so I let him get his hopes up and drop the hammer for the Mansion win (and much crying ensued). Game of Annex, after the first round I'm going mediocre, but happily note the whiner is sitting at last for his team.
Next round I pick up my game and deliver this:



Afterwards whiner and his buddy are crying "wow, way to use the chainsaw. Learn to use a real weapon." (My name also got dragged in, but they must have a short memory as I probably chainsawed 5 guys, max) I spent most of the game blasting the hell out of them with the shotty. Anyway, as Fatty can attest, I really love Annex on that map with a good team.

---

stogie helped me out with Act 4 last night. I'm a little scared since i haven't unlocked the co-op achievement after that. But I did note that I continue playing this game solely on the pleasure of blasting someone to bits. Even if the rest of it is mediocre compared to Halo.

[Mac User #001]

Well I got my patch. Took them long enough, but yay me.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

Well I got my patch. Took them long enough, but yay me.

Yeah, it still took them way longer to patch Gears 2 to make it playable, if you know what i mean.

Speaking of which, Fatty, do I have news for you!
(Hot off the press)

Thankfully, Epic's Rod Fergusson has proposed a change in the way players are ranked, introducing an experience-based alternative on the Gears of War forums. The response was pretty much positive, as many of the comments are in favor of the proposed changes than the existing Trueskill-based system.

In case you were wondering where we stand, you can bet we're in support of Rod's idea. Mainly because we've had our rank since the first day and it hasn't changed in the slightest. You'd think 10,000 kills would be enough to rank up, but then you'd be wrong.

Coincidentally, I ranked down Saturday after winning a match.

Edit: Comment from the staff later in the thread(regarding TU3): "No it still won't allow join in progress in Public matches but it would allow us to do something like replace the dropped player with a bot..."

There's something we mentioned months ago...

[Stogieman]

What about replacing a dropped Host? Are they going to fix that issue too?

[Dakar V]

They don't seem to have the technical know-how to do it. They do seem to be hinting that they'll be able to only penalize the host and upload everyone else's stats when such a case occurs, though.

[Dakar V]

Their ****ing website runs like **** on Safari, too. Looking at stats is a gigantic pain in the ass.

[Dakar V]

Decent night on Gears with sek. Ran into a bunch of competent guys, and 4 bar that must be a lagger, because he was the worst player on a team full of 1 and 2 bars. Otherwise, I ate a lot of lag.

Oh sek, I meant to ask, how many kills have you racked up by now?

[sek929]

No idea, probably around 1700.

[Dakar V]

Heh. I think I'm over 5700, but don't hold me to that.

[sek929]

I mean, I haven't really paid attention the last few weeks, I could be well past 2000 for all I know.

[Dakar V]

Fun fact: Check our active reload stats. The difference is staggering, and I can't quite figure why.

[Dakar V]

Top 6 Soul Patches of Gears of War 2

Tip of the hat to stogie for helping me complete Gears 2 this weekend. I think I'm done with the game for the time being (until TU3 and the new rank system, and hopefully a price drop on the new maps). I'll make exceptions for helping sek with his campaign (if he wants) and we need to get him horde mode too.

[klb5090]

Title Update 3 Coming Soon

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by JeffHardy 

it should really need for upgrade

Me fail English? That's unpossible!

Even an update won't get me playing this game again. It was fun when it came out but I am over all the problems with online play.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by klb5090 

Title Update 3 Coming Soon

Must be a slow news week for IGN. Nothing new there. If I were a betting man, I'd guess EPIC is putting it into MS QA this week, but we'll know its ready to drop because the new achievements will appear.

[Dakar V]

From the Gears forums:

[Dakar V]

The News Only I Have Been Waiting For

he title update - due on March 24 - is geared at making player's progression up the ranks more transparent. The contentious, confusing "TrueSkill" system will remain in place, though its scoring formula will be kept "under the hood". For more visible feedback, "players will earn experience points for scoring in public matches". The more points in a public multiplayer match you score, the more experience points you accrue (with a total of 250 on offer as part of the update), the higher up the food chain you move.

A week later - on March 31 - the "Snowblind" map pack will be released. It will include four maps, three of them (Grindyard, Under Hill and, Courtyard) new, one of them (Fuel Depot) a remake of an original Gears 1 level. You can see a couple of pics of Grindyard here, along with a score sheet showing off the new experience system.

The complexity is almost Halo-like, and I really like Fuel Depot, but, once again, I'm not shelling out good coin for these maps. Hopefully they'll run a Deal of the Week on the old DLC soon after this. I may even wait for that before I pick up Gears again.

[Dakar V]

The definitive list of changes you're not interest in:

Title Update 3 makes these new improvements:

* Adds 100 levels of player experience that you can gain based on your score in Public matches. The game still uses Trueskill for matchmaking to find the most competitive matches, but the skill rank is now hidden. The new level of experience appears next to your gamertag, with levels 1 through 99 displayed as numbers and level 100 displayed as an icon. The game normalizes experience based on match type so that players earn an equivalent amount of experience across all modes.
* Adds an experience penalty for players quitting before a match is complete.
* Adds bots automatically to a Public Match if players quit and cause unbalanced teams. This ability has always existed in Private Matches if the bot count is set higher than zero.
* Optimizes playlists to only have two modes per playlist. Ties are decided by random selection.
* Adds map cycling to Private Matches. The first match map is chosen by vote or by host, and when that match is completed, the game transitions automatically to the next match, with the next map selected in alphabetical order.
* Adds the ability for teams to talk to each other between rounds in a Private Match.
* Adds the ability to save Public and Private Horde high scores after each complete wave, in case the host loses connection.
* Makes minor changes to general bandwidth usage.
* Adds region preference to matchmaking.
* Improves standby detection.
* Adds nine new achievements worth 250 points. Progress toward them starts after Title Update 3 is applied. Six of the new achievements require the Snowblind Map Pack, a set of four new maps to be released soon. The nine new achievements:
o "Rookie Gear" (10 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 5 (Public only).
o "Seasoned Gear" (20 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 15 (Public only).
o "Battle-Tested Gear" (30 points): Earn enough multiplayer experience to reach level 25 (Public only).
o "Battle-Hardened Gear" (50 points): Reach level 50 and play a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).
o "Veteran Gear" (75 points): Reach level 100 and win a match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (Public only).
o "Never Eat Red Snow" (20 points): Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Snowblind Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty).
o "Icy Dead People" (25 points): Complete waves 1 through 50 on any Snowblind Map Pack map in Horde (any difficulty).
o "Frigid Body Dynamics" (5 points): Play a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).
o "The Weather Outside Is Lethal" (15 points): Win a multiplayer match on each of the four Snowblind Map Pack maps (any mode).

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 3 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

* A player could swap from a pistol to a two-handed weapon during a cover slide and then mantle greater distances.
* Players could kill themselves in Wingman to avoid giving their opponents more points. Now, suicides and team killing will reduce team score.
* A player holding a meatshield could melee through some walls.
* A player could equip a two-handed weapon with a shield using either the Boltok or the Gorgon pistol.
* A player could equip a two-handed weapon with a meatshield using either the Boltok or the Gorgon pistol.
* A player could prevent planted shields from being picked up by other players.
* Players could launch themselves into the air with a smoke grenade while mantling.

General Fixes

Title Update 3 fixes these other issues as well:

* An issue that caused chainsaw interruption when a player is shot to be less reliable in some body positions than in others.
* An issue where a third player could join a Public Wingman party lobby and remove another player from the game.
* An issue in Submission games where occasionally the meatflag would immediately run back to the spawn point after being dropped.
* An issue where players that were knocked down but not out (DBNO) while planting the Boomshield would appear to be standing.
* An elevation-based issue where the detection for a headshot might not align properly with certain character model heads.
* An issue that could cause Wingman teammates to have different character models.
* Additional miscellaneous bug fixes.

Balancing

Title Update 3 makes these balancing changes:

* Reduces stun duration of smoke grenades. Currently, characters always start to get up after 2 seconds.
* Gives melee the same delay after roadie running that shooting received in Title Update 2.
* Removes spawn protection from the Horde in Horde mode.
* Increased the forward angle that triggers chainsaw duels so that players with Lancers equipped won't be sawn from the side without a duel.
* Reduces the delay before a player can climb up after entering low cover.
* Makes minor changes to weapon spawns on the Subway map to provide greater balance.

Points of interest bolded.

[Stogieman]

Wow, it's been almost a month since anyone has posted in this thread. My birthday was last Friday and I got 3000 MS points to spend. I think I'll get both map packs for GoW 2. Who else has them besides Rumor & Sek? We should pick a day to knock out the Horde achievements for these maps.

[sek929]

I have the Combustible Map Pack, I do not have Snowblind Map Pack yet.

I'm down for the Combustible achievements, since Dakar is to cheap to buy map packs for any game.

Also, when are we going to Mythic it up in H3? Dakar may have sworn that game off, but I'm getting the itch to play again.

[Dakar V]

Ugh... I'd love to pick up the new map packs, but there's no chance in hell I'm giving Epic full price after this ****ing turd sandwich they delivered back in the Fall.

[sek929]

800 Points for a game I rarely play, and when I do it usually frustrates me? Nope!

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Also, when are we going to Mythic it up in H3? Dakar may have sworn that game off, but I'm getting the itch to play again.

Were we not suppose to meet up last Friday? If I recall, someone stood me up (aka "pulling a Bogues"). I'm on just about every night.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Were we not suppose to meet up last Friday? If I recall, someone stood me up (aka "pulling a Bogues"). I'm on just about every night.

Well it's not like I got stood up by two guys on Gears tonight...

[klb5090]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

(aka "pulling a Bogues")

thats when when you don't call the next day after a one night stand

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by Dakar V 

Well it's not like I got stood up by two guys on Gears tonight...

Bogues and Sek stood you up too?

[Dakar V]

Fatass and the urinator.

Seriously, though, no reason to burn your points. Pick up an arcade game or two, maybe, since those can add up really quick. No need to waste the points on a game you can barely stand.

[Rumor]

I didn't stand anyone up. I said I wouldn't be back on.

[Dakar V]

I heard a maybe.

[Rumor]

That was fats.

[Dakar V]

No, I heard two different voices.

But who gives a sh¡t.

[Dakar V]

I think this is a new personal record.



I think I was host, but I didn't hear anyone complain about what would have been crippling lag, so maybe I was just close to host.
Can't wait till I break 10k.

[sek929]

You are a filthy annex whore.

Also, where's that post you made about bragging about kills gotten during Objective gametypes?

[Dakar V]

I was bragging about kills?

[Stogieman]

It's been so long since I've played this game. I don't remember where my kill count is at. Somewhere around 6,000 maybe? Still got a long ways to go before I hit 100,000. Time to start riding the Brumack.

Fatty, when are we going to set a time to get our combustible map achievements (at least the horde mode ones)? I need to regain my top spot in GoW2 achievements.

[klb5090]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Fatty, when are we going to set a time to get our combustible map achievements (at least the horde mode ones)? I need to regain my top spot in GoW2 achievements.

I need in on this boosting match

[Stogieman]

Bogues, I didn't realize you bought the Combustible maps. Cool. I think Rumor has them as well. We should schedule a meet up this weekend. Let's all hope Fatty can make it. I heard hear through the grapevine that his girlfriend might be giving his balls a haircut next.

[Dakar V]

If you organize all 4 of you, I'll buy the damn maps.

[Stogieman]

Haha... Dakar doesn't want to get passed up in achievements.

[sek929]

Sunday is probably the best day for me.

[Dakar V]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Haha... Dakar doesn't want to get passed up in achievements.

No, I'm just that desperate for a god-damned meet-up.

Originally Posted by sek929 

Sunday is probably the best day for me.

No can do Sunday, unless it's late (after 9?).

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Sunday is probably the best day for me.

Ha! I was right.

We don't have to wait until the weekend guys. What about the usual Thursday night meet up?

[sek929]

Depends on the g/f situation, if she wants to hang out I won't be on until after 10.

[Dakar V]

Marry this chick already, so you can ignore her and we can get some reasonable meet-up times.

[Mac User #001]

Get her to play.

[sek929]

Then I'd have to play split-screen...no dice.

Soon I'm setting her up with my old Xbox with XBMC and a 500GB HDD (twice what my iMac has actually), maybe that'll eat up some of her time.

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by Mac User #001 

Get her to play.

She tried that once but the constant teabagging scared her away.

[Mac User #001]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

She tried that once but the constant teabagging scared her away.

Man, this place is great...