Yeah, I know I haven’t written a blog entry in a while. I was perfectly content with writing random crap that had no content or point, but some anonymous jerk, known only by the pseudonym Killer Pink, informed me that blogs are supposed to actually be relevant to something. I was understandably shocked at this revelation, but faced with mounting peer pressure I decided to relent and take a break from the blogging. I hope the masses of readers weren’t disappointed (yeah, all three of you). They couldn’t keep me down forever though, and now I’m back with a vengeance... wait, wrong speech. Just read on for the modest story of one man’s triumph over the apparent crappiness of a Halo 3 gametype. I hear Tony Danza is starring in the TV movie about it:

When I played Grifball for the first time, my first thought was something along the lines of “Who in their right mind would play this? This is awful.”

To give some background, though I love Halo and like to play it frequently, I’m also very selective in my multiplayer gaming. I very much prefer matchmaking over customs, I absolutely loathe skirmish gametypes, and I find games with a large number of players to be extremely frustrating. I can tolerate all of the above to a limited extent, but when playing them for more than a few minutes at a time I get noticeably frustrated. If you’ve ever played Big Team with me and noticed that I’m not talking as much as I would in Social or Team Slayer, it’s probably because I’ve muted myself and am swearing and yelling at the TV. If you’ve ever invited me to a custom or Big Team game and I’ve either ignored it or join and subsequently drop out after a game or two, know that it’s nothing personal; I simply can’t tolerate those gametypes and playlists. I barely even play the Heroic DLC playlist due to its player size, despite the fact that the new maps that I paid for are neglected otherwise.

I used to play customs frequently in Halo 2, but over time I’ve developed an aversion to them. Most customs are either outrageous and ridiculous gametypes (which I understand many people enjoy, but I like to play serious gametypes most of the time), or games that could just as easily be played in matchmaking.  Big Team games tend to have much more lag than smaller games, and after playing on a horrible connection for years I’ve grown to have somewhat of a short fuse when it comes to connection issues. Big Team games also tend to have little coordination, and people just run around, either unwilling or unable to communicate with their team. Skirmish games suffer from the same coordination problems and quite frankly simply aren’t my cup of tea. I will be the first to admit that I am a Slayer enthusiast (and team-based Slayer at that), and honestly I would very much prefer to play nothing but Doubles, Team (or Social) Slayer, and SWAT (and I’m not holding my breath of it coming back in H3 anytime soon). Occasionally I will spend a night in Big Team and actually enjoy it, but those nights are far outnumbered by the instances when I’m struggling to keep myself from getting aggravated.

So when I first played Grifball, a quirky, skirmish, custom game, I thought that it was just about the epitome of bad gametypes. I simply didn’t enjoy it, and was really surprised that certain friends would voluntarily play it. It also didn’t help that the game was based around melee weapons, and while I praise most of Halo’s gameplay, the melee system has always been one point that I have harbored serious criticisms for.

Yet, for whatever reason, I played Grifball a few more times over the next few weeks, and shockingly enough, it began to grow on me. If nothing else, I at first used it as practice for the Gravity Hammer, which I used to completely fail at using. I don’t claim to be an expert now, but it’s amazing how much you can improve with the weapon after only a few Grifball games. Even stranger though, I began to enjoy the game itself. It’s definitely still quirky and not something I would traditionally play, but it’s actually pretty fun to run around trying to defend the ball carrier while wailing on people with giant hammers. It’s like you’re playing a sport, only without any of the athleticism, and that’s kinda cool. After playing a few quick games the other night part of me actually wanted to play more, leading me to think that the apocalypse was at hand for wanting to play gametypes that I had long believed to be the embodiment of pure evil. I still don’t know why I enjoy it, since I still hate traditional skirmish gametypes and customs, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t completely suck (I considered pitching that to them as Grifball’s slogan, but apparently “It doesn’t completely suck” isn’t the best way to try and promote something. Go figure.)   

I still have no intention of joining a team or anything, since I’ve never been one to join organized clans or teams, but if I can find enjoyment in a game like Grifball, then I guess anything is possible. It can really change one’s perception of reality. Now excuse me as I look up at the sky in a dramatic way, it’s a necessary shot for the Grifball TV movie.