The Bull Pen #6

I was going to write this edition about my recent experience in the OMM clan tournament but it is in the best interest of the readers of this blog (all 8 of you) that I decline as I tend to live up to my name when discussing it. It is not disguising a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, my performance was probably an eye-opener to the other team, who apparently can sleep at night knowing they lucked out with the tiebreaker. However, that is all I will say about that and I have probably already said too much.  

 

Instead, I would like to wax poetic about a topic that trumps Halo 2 in terms of enjoyment factor. I am a roller coaster enthusiast. My screen name comes not from the De Niro movie but from an awesome B&M coaster at Six Flags Great America just north of Chicago. B&M make some of the best coasters on the planet and I am blessed to be within a day’s drive of a good ton of them. You may not know the name but you would recognize the design as all B&M coasters have 4 across seating. They have pioneered some unique ridetypes, including the inverted coaster, the floorless coaster, and the flying coaster. Most of my top ten steel coasters (when I bother to try and rank them as I hate ranking coasters) are B&M creations. Only a ride such as Millennium Force is able to make me think about something other than B&M. I have converted my wife to the cult of B&M and it is always a pleasure to hear her call out when she can first hear the B&M roar when we arrive at a park. All in all, I could be a level 50 Halo 2 player and the opportunity to go ride a B&M roller coaster and coasters in general would yank me away from even a tournament.   

 

Back to Halo 2, have you ever noticed that you seem to do better with some people on your side than others? I mean, sure, the player in question could be a lot better than a lot of the opponents but if the player was equal to others, do you notice that you seem to function better? I have made little sticky notes in the back of my brain about how well I seem to do when I am on the same team as Q007 and DanLeCrinque. They are both better than me in terms of skill but I just seem to elevate my game when I am on the same team as them. I was surprised recently in a multi-team game to see that not only had I outscored Q (by 1) in a multi-team game but that our combined kills were higher than the second place team. Of course, our partner chipped in 5 kills to get us the 50 for victory but it was basically a 2 man army. On the flip side, the opponents can also have a lot to do with how you perform but it just seems to be a trend that some people work better together as a team because of varying skill sets.

 

Custom game of the Week: Iwo Jima. This is my name for a 2-flag CTF style game with SWAT rules. The starting weapons BR’s and Magnums with no vehicles or weapons on the map. The flag does not have to be at home to score and 30 seconds is the respawn time. I’ve never actually had a chance to try this so I cannot make comments on how it plays or which maps work best (try Zanzibar, Turf, or Headlong). Perhaps you, the loyal reader, could give it a try and offer your own suggestions and feedback?