Pete_LeGrant June 26, 2009 Downloadable, Entertainment, Xbox 360 69 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

Recently, Nick Smith and I jumped back on Halo 3 after a long break from Halo 3 (roughly 6 months in my case). One thing we noted was that it takes a long damned time for matches to be made. Now, people are still playing gobs of Halo, so this information is still relevant.

Today, in the name of science, I jumped on and played 10 games of Social Slayer. (Ok, this process wasn’t super-scientific, and the math is a bit fuzzy. But you get the main idea.)

Here’s how I timed my wait times between Halo games.
1. Made sure my NAT was open.
2. Started from scratch each time; i.e., I didn’t party up with anybody.
3. Didn’t add any vetoes to maps.
4. Timed from the moment I pushed “A” to start searching to the moment the game actually started.

Games:

1. 1:45
2. 1:45
3. 1:35
4. 2:14
5. 2:17
6. 2:35
7. 2:12 vetoed by others
8. 2:25
9. 2:25 vetoed by others
10. 2:27

Now, I don’t know about you, but these wait times for Halo 3 matchmaking seem pretty standard to me.

So, over the course of 10 games, I spent just over 21 minutes in lobbies just waiting for the games to start.

Back in March 2009, Bungie announced Over a Billion Served in Halo 3. Here’s where the numbers get really fuzzy, because we’d have to adjust for Team Doubles, Big Team Slayer, Custom Games, etc.

But, working with the results of my “test” as the assumption:

• Roughly 2.1 billion minutes (or 35 million hours or even more roughly 1,458,333 days) were spent in lobbies waiting for games.

With roughly two minutes between multiplayer games, there are plenty of things for you to do as you play Master Chief for an hour or two. (Or three or four….)

Of course, there are the leisure activities that you have already discovered:

1. get a snack or something to drink
2. change batteries on your controller
3. make adjustments to your janky headset
4. hit the bathroom (depends…)
5. Blab with teammates or talk trash to enemies.

Obviously.

But, you can also GET SHIT DONE during Halo. Now, if you don’t ever want to do anything else while you’re playing Halo, stop rolling your eyes and bail out on reading this now. Check out: Master Chief Gets High School Senior photos

We have to stay clear about what I’m saying here: I could tell you that you could be productive simply by turning off your console. That is an option. But, you can still raise your productivity level for yourself while playing Halo.

Why should you be semi-productive? Because it’s in your self-interest.

A two-minute window allows you to be moderately productive in between the times you’re having fun. In general, I find that taking care of business in small, but focused, packets can really help me tame my workload. You can take this idea and do small chores while you’re doing a round of Halo 3.

(http://www.howtomanagehumanresources.blogspot.com/2009/02/wisdom-of-multitasking-human-resources.html)

For some of these tips, you can keep your laptop next to you as you play. It might also help to turn off your headset…

Some of these will be kinda cheesy. But, if you’re gonna do cheesy things, ya might as well do ‘em while you’re in between Halo games…

1. Pay bills. You can do this online or with a check book. If you’re a checkbook person, keep your bills, pen, stamps etc. in a basket by your gaming spot.

2. Do homework. Math problems would be perfect for this, because you can do a couple at a time. Or go over declension and conjugation flashcards if you’re learning a language.

And, believe it or not, you can read. If you really focus on seriously understanding one paragraph at a time, you can get reading done. Highlight as you go.

3. Fold/sort laundry.

4. Get caught up on email, news, Facebook, Myspace. You can read or skim a few news stories in a game session. Or, you can check out our Twitter: http://twitter.com/PWN_or_DIE

5. Do a workout. Seriously. You can get a few rounds of barbell curls, etc. done in a gaming session. It’s probably not the *ideal* way to work out, but something is probably better than nothing.

6. Practice an instrument. I often do drum rudiments on a practice pad between games. I’m sure you can work on a few scales on many instuments.

7. If you’re going to put in a big Halo shift, rip your old CDs onto your harddrive. (I hate ripping CDs as a standalone activity.)

8. Master the surgeon’s knot for tying your shoes: http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/surgeonknot.htm (I random one, I know.) Or, if you don’t like that master other knots by keeping a bit of rope.

What do you do between multiplayer games–of Halo or otherwise? Let’s hear your suggestions.