Hey Bungie, include open chat in Halo 3!
The Halo 3 beta wrapped up earlier this morning and for the most part everything was grand. That is except for one major issue that has been taunting us with an evil grin since first playing the beta ... lack of an open chat system. True, open chat has never been a part of the Halo franchise, which opts instead for a push to talk system, but with the trilogy coming to an end it's a feature that needs to be included. Who really likes pressing a button to talk anyway? So, we're asking you for your help. We want you to comment on this post stating that you support an open voice chat system in Halo 3 multiplayer and want Bungie to get rid of the push to talk mess. We'll make sure the big guys over at Bungie see this post and all the fanboy support for opening up Halo 3's chat. Let's band together and fight this push to talk madness, comment away fanboys and let's make a change! Hoorah!
But wait, you aren't sold on the whole open chat idea? Well, after the break we've posted a few reasons why open chat just makes sense and why it will make Halo 3 a better game. Trust us, push to talk is so 1977.
Reasons Why Halo 3 Needs Open Chat
1. It's too hard to talk
To chat in the Halo 3 beta you have to consciously press the d-pad to open up team chat. Pressing the d-pad isn't too difficult a task, but it forces the player to move their hand off the left thumbstick and out of the action even if it's for a split second. Most of the time the d-pad reach isn't possible given all the action that's going on. Simply put, we don't like the d-pad.
2. I'm so lonely
If you've played Rumble Pit you'll know what we mean. For ten minutes there is literally no interaction between players. There's no chatting, no trash talk, no "nice shot" remarks, no nothing. We like the social aspect of gaming on Xbox Live and not having any way to chat it up with other players sucks worse than Halo 2's Needler.
3. Where's the teamwork?
Playing team based games that involve strategy like capture the flag or territories involves a lot of teamwork. And as the result of reason number one, this just doesn't happen. Again, teammates are either too lazy or can't make the quick move to the d-pad to open voice chat resulting in Halo 3 team mayhem instead of actual teamwork. Open chat would allow for quick communication of strategy and defense in the heat of battle. It's a no-brainer.
4. We can still keep proximity voice
Adding open team chat doesn't mean proximity voice has to go away. Instead, allow open chat among all team members and reserve proximity voice for your opponents. Proximity voice would relinquish its team function and be used solely for eavesdropping on the enemy. See, we're all about compromise.
5. That's what the A-hole button is for
One of the biggest reasons Bungie doesn't include open voice chat is because of the ten year olds who either make a racial slur or swear every third word that comes out of their mouths. In other words, they don't want to subject players to the offensive banter of others. It's a very kind gesture Bungie, but isn't that what your new A-hole button feature is for? Bungie implemented a quick and easy way to mute any player in the game and it works quite well. So, open up the chat and give us the power to weed out the annoying kids using the new tools you gave us. A-hole button FTW!
6. You want options, here are your options
We understand not everyone wants to chat it up with each other, so that's why we're all about the options. Include an option to mute all game talk or even go one step further and allow us to super customize how our voice chatting works. Include options that'll allow us to choose what we hear through our headset or TV, turn open chat on, turn it off, hear the wind or shut off the sky. Options, options, options! But be sure to set open chat as default ... because that's how we roll.
So, we hope we either reinforced the idea or convinced you that Halo 3 can only benefit from open chat. It helps teamwork, the controls, and makes Halo 3 a much more social game. Please, comment on this post with your support for open chat and maybe, just maybe, Bungie will take notice. As we stand arm to arm, shoulder to shoulder, we share the same hope that this September open chat will be fully realized in Halo 3.
