Halo 3 To Have 'Mute the Jerk' Button

Eurogamer is reporting on comments from the Bungie website. A feature for the upcoming Halo 3, that they've just announced, will be most welcomed by aging FPS players tired of hearing high-pitched squeals through their headsets. When playing an online match, players will be able to hit a button and then choose one of the gamertags playing the game. The result: a total mute on that player for the remainder of the game. They don't mention it on the site, but one would hope the Xbox Live servers are taking metrics on this activity, to be used in calculating the player's reputation. The more you mouth off, the worse you look to future players. Anyone have some other feature they think might make online gaming better?

Re:Is this really new?

[Itchyeyes]

You can always mute other players voices, but it usually means muting all other players. If there are games out there that allow you to mute specific players, they are few and far between.

I already have this capability...

[scuba_steve_1]

...with Ventrilo (http://www.ventrilo.com).

My gaming group does not use the built-in chat functions for any of the games that we host. Instead, we use Ventrilo. This approach allows us much finer grained control over chat functions, including the ability to establish multiple channels, G- and R-rated channels, and password-protected channels. Our RCONs also have the ability to ban someone from the voice chat channels without banning them from the game (AND the ban applies to all supported games).

Non-admin players also enjoy a much richer array of configuration options, including fine-grained control over input and output audio settings...and, yes, the ability to mute a player. One can also download the "voice overlay" shareware program so that they can monitor who is speaking without leaving the game. I'm sure that Teamspeak (another popular PC-based chat client) has similar functions.

I suppose the in-game chat option is the path of least resistance and requires the least setup for a new player, but taking the time to adopt and configure one of the external programs is usually worth the effort. Of course, this advice applies to PC-based gaming only (as opposed to consoles).

Got to give Bungie credit for the effort though.

Re:Is this really new?

[RedNovember]

With Halo 2, you have to go through a couple of menus to mute specific players. This ought to make it easier.

Re:Why mute him???

[Saige]

Because, assuming Halo 3 does things the same way as Halo 2, it doesn't work like the same old PC FPS server. They threw all that decade-old stale stuff out the window.

When you play a game of Halo 2, you get your friends together in a group, if you desire, then you set it up to search for a game in a specific playlist - such as a 4 player Team Slayer (deathmatch) game. The system matches up your group against a group of other people, and then you play on a playlist-selected map with playlist-selected rules, such as a standard 50-kill deathmatch. After the game is over, you see results, then you go back and do it again. It makes sure you play against a variety of people and different game types. It uses the results to also give you a ranking, and matches you up against other people based on that ranking - you play people of your skill level.

It's about 100 times better than the standard PC server setup.

Re:Is this really new?

[Freewill]

Halo 2 always had the ability to mute a *specific* player while in gameplay... it's just that it took about 3-4 clicks and a scroll or two. It was a little cumbersome, esp. in the middle of gameplay. It goes more to the fact of how annoying some people are online that if it can be shaved down to just 2 clicks and 1 scroll, we're in great shape.

I'm pretty sure that beyond it being a quicker-access, the rest of it is the same: meaning when the person is muted, he is muted forever and ever in your personal account preferences. And only in gameplay... post and pre game, everyone can be heard. They may have changed that, but if so they haven't spelled it out.

This feature is already there for every Xbox 360

[RobotSimp]

This is really nothing new, the function already exists in every 360 console. It just looks like Halo 3 will just be making it easier to access. If the game allows you to hilight the player and bring up their profile, there will be a mute option on the list. Choose that, and you are done with all of the annoyances. If you cannot pull up the player gamer profile from the game itsself: simply hit the "X" button on the center of the controller, bring up the recent players list, find the a-hole player and select their profile,then choose mute This has come in handy many nights with some of the trash talkers in Gears of War

Re:what fun is that

[Valdrax]

Actually, I'm one of those people that prefers competitive games to be more appreciative of the other person's skill than taunting over their lack thereof. You'd be exactly the kind of person that I'd enjoy the ability to mute. Life's too short to play with people that irritate you.

Don't like that? Deal with it.

Re:Natural progression

[langelgjm]

I'm pretty sure you can mute individual players from within a game of CS, just by tabbing up the player list and clicking on them. Takes care of the ones who think you want to hear their music...

Re:Will problem players know?

[HAKdragon]

I present to you: John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory [penny-arcade.com]

Re:Will problem players know?

[Bigboote66]

Halo's always had the mute feature as byproduct of being a Live title. However, it wasa little cumbersome to use in the heat of battle. The feature talked about here is just a refinement of the already existing feature, allowing you to mute people with a minimum of effort.

I do think that a player being notified they've been put in the STFU list is mandatory, though.

-BbT