We will not play with randoms if that helps. I have lovingly crafted a level in your image which can be played on your immediate arrival.

I like being team Beex against the random scourge.

I'm logged in, but preparing to go away tomorrow so will be popping on when I get a gap.

I'm about an hour's play away from a motherload of XP for various challenges, so I'll definitely be finding time.

Zardoz - the random scourge are what gets the Mobile Infantry out of bed in the morning.

Will be on in about 10.

Some absolutely epic big team action tonight, including one game where we came from an utter pasting, none of our vehicles lasting 20 seconds to a rematch where we pinned them right back most of the way through, covered one another superbly, frustrated their every push, broke their will, pwned their shit and beat them by fair margin.

Sometimes I wonder if everything we're 'doing right' on this game is making the difference, or the game itself is just better balanced, or the matchmaking in fairer, or maybe just in some matches a certain vehicle kill or flanking manoeuvre or turret placement just tips the balance and t's all smooth enough form there. Maybe all these are true. I don't really care though, it's just glorious to play.

I'm off back to reach and Halo 3 next week to see what's different with hindsight.

About 9 yah?

I'm working

Not sure if I'll make an appearance later or not.

The few that came online were invited but ignored me. Ho hum. Next week then.

Oh fuck it is/was Thursday.

Sorry, I'm on my holidays and got sucked into synths.

Nobody on this week that I've seen. You all bored of it?

Still 30,000 Halo Cheevos up for grabs for 30 wins.

I'll be on tonight but from about 9.30pm or just after. Will you?

Fingers crossed I shall be on. Depending on how my daughter sleeps.

I earned 10000 Halo cheevos the other day for 30 wins. Is this a new challenge then?

No, it's the monthly one. It expires in 11 or so days.

But there have been some really easy daily challenges of late.

Yeah, I picked up a load of points over the weekend. I also managed to win 10 extraction games! That was quite hard but it was a big wedge of points though.

I'll be on if I've no work to do. So far it's looking good.

May be on slightly earlier now due to change of plans.

Logging on in a moment!

Good evening but we had our collective asses handed to us on several occasions. Also if I ever see Ragnarok ever again I'll scream.

Still trying to win one more game for the exp

We were on such a losing streak I just had to give up. Most weeks we do well, but that was sniper city this evening.

Did it on the next game. Massive win too.

Just came first in a big team game of Halo with 345 points. Which I was very pleased with.

Playing on Ragnorok. Other team were a bit shit. Jumped on the back of a Warthog, sped down the other end, took out their Mantis and their Warthog, sped around for ages, killed loads of them, them jumped out and stole their re-spawned Mantis and totally utterly fucking wiped them out.

They just kept running at me and I was swatting them off like flies. Eventually they worked out that if 4 of them rushed me at once they stood a chance but by then I'd killed them all so many times and racked up so many points it was irrelevant.

A completely textbook example of how to dominate that map. Use your vehicles and destroy theirs before they get chance to use them.

Then came second on Exile, again using the Warthog with the the Gauss gun on the back to swat them all off like flies. Closer match this time but our team still won.

5 more wins and I get the big 30,000!

Niiiiiice. Couple of weeks ago I had a couple of afternoons where I was substantially better at Swat than normal, just in the zone, popping skulls all over. Had a weekend away, went back to it, fucking useless.

This is why I love Halo... Even against other humans, it still feels at it's core like Defender or something.

I like playing this game.

You should try and join us one week Gov.

I've been on holiday.

Oh yeah?

Where's my fucking postcard then?!

Didn't say I went anywhere....

Send me a postcard from Hull.

Just claimed the 30,000 points for 30 wins in the month + the 20,000 points for 30 multikills this week. That'll do nicely!

It's not about the points.

GIVE ME THE POINTS!

Got the 30k on about March 4th

After being scammed earlier in the week I now have 2100 Xbox points fresh from Amazon.

Which map pack do I buy?

Also, Halo, tonight!

I'm out tonight, sorry.

I had a great game last night with randoms, getting most of my kills from being a warthog gunner. Finnished my night with a cracking level of Spartan Ops too.

Majestic map pack: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... ack-review

and maybe the next one, but don't worry about Crimson map pack.

Still on holiday, so might not be on tonight.

Whoa there! There's a Microscrofulous studio sale next week, which I suspect will have Haloz map packs in it.

The one released last month?

Dunno, but if it's a studio sale I can't imagine what else they'll have on there.

I shall mostly be Bioshocking tonight, I think.

Quick bit of Halo then.

I am on, but the bloody thing has just asked for a 40mb update which is taking an age.

Give me 10 minutes.

An "interesting" night. No standout performances, some comms problems and the odd experience of having a Welshman in the party who was playing a totally different game who insisted on questioning someone else about it. So you'd be creeping up in a corridor, a voice would pipe up which you think might have some vital information but it's some bollocks about another game.

As I always say, I prefer playing purely with BEEX people.

On the upside I'm now 50xp short or reaching level 50.

Ach, he was alright, he was from Llanelli! Can make the party invite only though if it bothers you.

Couldn't figure out what our regular friend was on, though. Definitely something. I think maybe lemsip from the sound of his voice.

I found it really annoying the first time we were playing Exile and we were trying to draw out the enemy from their entrenched position and he was wittering on about a "package in a car" or something. If you are playing in a "team" mode then good comms matter. When we were doing one on one it didn't matter and didn't bother me at all.

Good comms during team games can be the difference between winning and losing. When its one on one it makes no difference.

Well, I suppose it balances out in terms of the two occasions where we sat gabbing for ages instead of getting on with playing.

Might be up for some tonight if anyone's about.

Possibly around about 9pm.

Attention Chinny: a new forge map has been released for free. Includes new items (just furniture I think) but has a green screen for Machinima. called Forge Island.

Downloading now. Cheers.

Spent some time last night watching Gov build a new custom map. It looks very interesting and I playtested it by driving a tank up a narrow and very long walkway.

I also did something he probably hasn't noticed so shhhhhhhh.

Football?

Yes. Practice area down on the unreachable island.

Also when you weren't looking I spawed another football and ran it down your walkway hoping it would run down to the bottom like in a giant game of Mousetrap.

It fell off on the first corner.

I still think that if you are flukey enough to get the tank to the top, you should let it through. You have over 90 seconds of driving it as a sitting duck before it reaches to the top. If you get that far without being blown up or falling off on the final corner, you should be rewarded.