Team Bungie won't block gamers using Party Chat while online, as it "declares nothing" you should or shouldn't do. They'd prefer you use their chat.
May 3rd is D-Day for the Halo: Reach beta with 'Arena mode' (Ranked 4 vs. 4 Team Slayer matches), Free-for-All and Grab Bag playlists streaming to Xbox 360 consoles, with old and shiny new gameplay modes from Halo.
May 7th will begin the Spartan vs Elite 'Invasion' mode playlists, which are pretty big affairs with loads of fiery explosions, vehicles and wild gunfire on big maps.
May 14th is 'Generator Defense' mode's time to strut its stuff. Microsoft will also be unlocking multiplayer for Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and the Halo: Reach beta for Silver Xbox Live subscribers from Friday, May 14th to Monday, May 17th.
If you're wondering if Bungie will be blocking out Party Chat, much like Infinity Ward has done with Modern Warfare 2, then you need not worry yourself because they will offer it full support. Naturally team Bungie would prefer you use their new in-game chat.
"Party chat is something we find a lot more players using, and we certainly don't want to minimize their experience based on the fact that they are using party chat. On the flip side, it is a little brutal when you're in an objective game and you're trying to coordinate with other people when they're in party chat," said Bungie's Chris Carney, reports MTV.
"For the beta, you can be in party chat or not in party chat and the game declares nothing as far as what you should or should not be able to do with that." Improvements have been made to their in-game team chat so they hope gamers give it a chance.
"Push-to-talk is gone in 'Reach' and you'll be able to have open voice chat to your whole team, so hopefully people will choose to use in-game voice more, but you can still use party chat."
Community man Brian Jarrard says using Party Chat won't lead to awful cheating. "There's no scenario in competitive ranked games where you can control who your opponent is, so it isn't like you and I could conspire over party chat to sabotage my team," he said.
Real cheaters always find a way through, just look at all those exploits Infinity have had to plug with Modern Warfare 2. Party Chat is a big thing for Microsoft as it lets friends chat with each other during events on Xbox Live - could that have been an influence?
Most likely yes, but isn't it better to rib chums than hear screaming kids mouth off?
