Are you shitting me? That's probably why he does so well.

Um, well...I'm down to 33 in Lone Wolves now . It takes like 3 wins to +1 my rank now, it's freaking bullshit. I think Bungie has it weighted so that the more games you've played, the harder it is to rank up.

 

:eh:? What you mean h:.

 

When flipping thought the source selector it be all lyke ...

TV
Composite 1
Composite 2
S Video 1
S Video 2
Component 1
Component 2
HDMI 1
HDMI 2
VGA
VGA Component

Jen has the same TV ... but mine has the 2nd HDMI, which I thought was strange. Even the Olevia site doesn't list it.

 

I'm on HDMI1, there are 2 HDMI inputs dude.

 

Must be some model revision on the TV then.

The stock image from Target.com has the HDMI 1 and VGA, das it.

 

Not everyone's cut out for a 50

 

Actually I think you're right. I can't even remember, for some reason I thought there were 2 inputs. Soooo...what is HDMI2 for, lol.
YOU SHUT UP

 

Oh, you are right on the 2 HDMI jacks. It's definitely there and is a HUGE bonus. When I set this up, it was a very pleasant surprise. Even the more expensive TV's (Sony, Samsung) only have 1.

HDMI 2 would be perfect for:
- PS3
- HD cablebox
- HD-DVD player

:yes:

 

:yay:

 

Rushing the Red X

Although it might be tempting to try to pick up the scraps of one of your teammates for a free kill or two, rushing the red X is a bad strategy in team games for a couple of reasons:

* Unless you are very close to that spot, the enemies shields will be recharged by the time you get there. This isn't really a problem in free-for-all because you don't get the red x, so if you see somebody get killed, you are probably close enough to get that scrap kill.
* In a team game, any team worth its salt is going to be working in pairs and maybe more so your chances of getting even one kill before you get killed is slim.

Avoid doing this by simply not chasing the Red X. Keep playing your game and don't allow the lure of quick kills to blur your vision to the goal at hand - to win the game for your team. If you are within 1 second of their location, scrap it up, otherwise just continue on with what you were doing.
[edit] Feeding the Other Team

In my opinion, this is the single worst habit to have in a team game. It is also the most common bad habit that people you get randomly paired up with in team games will likely have. For those that don't know, "Feeding" refers to is trying to break an enemy stronghold by yourself or when outnumbered and after failing, trying again and again. They[1] say that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing more than once and expecting different results. This could not be more true than in this situation. If you keep rushing into a heavily guarded area by yourself, you are going to die 99% of the time and most of the time, you will not even get one kill before you die. So here's what happens, you run into the area by yourself and to try to help you out, your team starts to follow you in. You arrive first and die, then one of your teammates arrives a second or two too late and dies as well, then a third teammate gets there a second too late again and he dies. By now you are respawning and you see that your teammates are in there so you rush again but they are dead by the time you get there and you get killed again. This continues until your team regains its composure and stops rushing in there but by then the other team has scored at least 3-5 kills or maybe more if you keep doing it (hence the name feeding because you are just feeding into their trap and feeding their score) and your team will be disorganized. I've seen more big swings in momentum in team slayer as a result of this than anything else and is a really easy way to blow a solid lead.

Avoid this by never going into an enemy stronghold without a strategy involving your entire team. In order to rout them from their stronghold, you will need to attack as a team and work as a team. This bad habit is (like I said above) a very quick way to lose control of a game and cause a rapid swing in the score.
[edit] Not choosing your battles wisely

It is just plain foolish to engage 2 enemies by yourself unless you have some major advantage (like being able to assassinate one of them at the outset of the battle, or having a power weapon that gives you a big advantage). The article Thinking In Single Encounters by Refanius explains this very well. What I got from his article was that unless you really think that you can outright win an encounter (battle), that is kill any and all enemies and still survive, then you probably should avoid the battle or do something to give yourself an advantage. More specifically, fair fights should be avoided if possible and you should really only try to fight with those that are somehow disadvantaged compared to you. It sounds cheap because it probably is, but it is also a very effective way to keep yourself alive to fight another battle.
[edit] Impatience

In any game, team games especially, you can give yourself an advantage by forcing the other team to play your game and your type of strategy. This requires patience. It may seem boring to sit there "camping" or fortifying a position with your team and waiting for the enemy to come to you but at the same time, it is extremely effective. It may also seem boring to precede cautiously with a teammate around a map in order to team kill somebody, but again it is very effective. You double your chances of surviving an encounter by having a teammate around, triple it by having 2 teammates around, etc. With 3 people shooting BRs at a single enemy, he will be dead in just over 1 second if nobody threw a grenade at him, less if they did. He won't even have time to fully drain one of your shields let alone kill somebody. You may not rack up kills and you may get a lot of assists but are you trying to have the most kills or are you trying to win? Your rank only increases with wins.

Have the patience to force the other team to come to you, especially if you have the lead. If you don't have the lead, have the patience to wait for your teammates before engaging the other team.
[edit] Playing with a "self" mentality instead of a team mentality

Is this Lone Wolves or Team Slayer? Is this Lone Wolves or Capture the Flag? If you get 60 kills in a capture the flag game and your team still loses, nobody will care about, or be impressed by your score. All that matters in a team game is your team score. You don't go up in rank by getting a bunch of kills by whoring power weapons in the middle of the map, you only increase your rank by winning.

Stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about how to help your team win. This can be as simple as using your head when it comes to picking up weapons. If you are not a very good sniper, then don't pick the thing up because chances are that at least one person on your team is a decent sniper. Go practice in free-for-all games until you get better at it. If you are not a very good driver, be a gunner. I can't count the number of times I've been in a game of CTF on Valhalla and when the game starts somebody grabs the power drain and the missile pod and jumps through the man cannon into the middle and starts shooting at infantry. If this is you, you likely managed to cost your team a capture (or bomb plant) within the first 5 seconds of play. You will go into the middle with your missile pod and dump out all the rounds, maybe getting one kill (if you're lucky) before you are picked off by opposing players with ARs and BRs as the missiles are pretty easy to dodge when you are on foot. Now you've left the base with nothing effective to defend against a warthog attack. Start thinking about your team and leave the defensive weapons for those playing defense. This is why it is effective to tell your team what your strengths are in the pre-game lobby. I'm not talking about "I'm the best sniper in the world so nobody better touch it or I'm going to team kill you.", I'm talking about "I'm a good sniper", "I'm great at retrieving the Spartan Laser at the outset", "I'm good at defense", "I'm a good warthog driver", "I'm an ace pilot with the banshee", etc. That way your team can form a quick opening strategy that plays to everybody's strengths. It won't work every time but you'll find it is far more effective than being selfish.
[edit] Not playing with your microphone turned on

There are only 2 reasonable excuses to not have your mic turned on during a team game:

* You are deaf/dumb (that means you can't speak, it is not a comment on your intelligence level).
* You are a kid whose parents are actually taking an interest in the way you are raised and don't want you exposed to the truly vile things that that are said when people are anonymous. (I direct you to John Gabriel's Internet Theory[2] )

If you don't fall into one of these categories, then turn your mic on when playing team games. You give the other team an immediate advantage when you don't turn your mic on because organizing strategy becomes difficult or impossible. 'Nuff said.
[edit] Arrogance about your ability

I know that you are the best Halo player out of all of your friends and internet friends but unless you are on a top 10 team on the MLG circuit, then there are A LOT of people out there who are better than you so set the ego aside and just try to do your job. A less obvious but possibly more dangerous form of arrogance is the arrogance that is formed from an early or big lead. An arrogance that the other team is a bunch of noobs and they can't possibly come back to beat you is the first step toward blowing your lead. We've all been in miraculous games where we've come back from a seemingly insurmountable lead. I was in a game where we were down 35 to 12 and we managed to gain a lead at 46 to 45 (we lost 50 to 49). What allowed us to come back from a 23 kill deficit? Arrogance by the other team. We stopped committing the bad habits listed here and started working as a team. They just started running out at us, one at a time trying to be the hero on their team and one by one we cut them down and before they knew it, they were on the brink of a loss and the last couple of minutes of the game were truly intense.

I'd like to think that despite their win, the players on that team and on my team learned something in that game. Never underestimate your opponent, never show any weakness, never show any mercy. Do your job and stay humble, the wins will come.
[edit] Misunderstanding of the way a game is scored

I don't know if this is caused by ignorance or arrogance but as I've stated above, getting 60 kills doesn't guarantee you an assault win. What about Team Slayer? Getting 25 kills will definitely get your team in the winners circle, won't it. Maybe not. In Team Slayer, a player's K/D Spread is far more important than the number of kills you get. Here is some simple math that you may or may not have thought of: If everybody on your team is at a 0 K/D spread or better, you can't lose. Why is this? Because if nobody on your team is in the negative, it is not possible for the opposing team to outscore you. I'd way rather have somebody on my team that only had 6 kills and 1 death than somebody who had 22 kills and 25 deaths.

All you need to do for your team to win is score a zero K/D spread or better so don't start feeling inadequate when you see others on your team with more kills than you. Stick to your team's game plan and do your part and you will finish in the plus and you will get the win. Don't be afraid to run from or avoid confrontations that you don't know that you can win almost 100% of the time and you will have less deaths. The kills will come, you don't need to force it.
[edit] Summary

Failing to avoid these bad habits in team games will likely lead to your team losing the game unless you are matched up against a team that you are just far superior to in ability. As games are ranked (even the social games match you up based on experience) this is not likely to happen very often so the only way to consistently win is to avoid these problems and to learn to work as a team. A good team strategy and the ability of players to stick to that strategy (or adjust it, if it is not working) can overcome a lot of shortcomings of each individual player. For example, a team that has 4 players with excellent slaying ability that all play as individuals will likely not beat a team where all for players have mediocre slaying ability but play as a team. Use common sense and throw your selfish attitude out the window any time you enter a team game and you'll see that you'll win far more than you lose.