Reputation is based on how you conduct yourself in Live. To get higher rep, you need others to vote you up, thus increasing your star rating. It's basically an indicator to show whether people prefer or dislike playing with you online. Check your rep by using your Guide button and follow the prompts.

Also once you are voted as a preferred player by someone else, Live will try and make sure that both of you get paired as often as possible in random online matches. Higher rep folks are also recruited to ease newbies into experiencing Live for the first time during last E3/CES, basically to show those who are new to the Live experience, what Live is capable of. That what i did during E3/CES last year, helping newbies get into the experience. Mind you, we want to portray good first impressions about Live experiences, so starting off with matches filled with testosterone-high males shouting profanities and hurling insults whenever you cant match up to their skills is a big turnoff for new players. That's where we come in.

I basically did that with Rezalida, altho not to the extent i went with those new guys during E3/CES period. Those folks are totally green, and know next to nothing about what Live is capable of, so we have to coax them , and slowly guide them through all the Live experiences. Basically be their buddies for that period of time, until they feel comfortable navigating Live on their own. Like a baby bird ready to leave the nest.

Which is the reason why my friends list is full, i still have these "used to be newbies" in my list, they are now more than able to hold their own in any online matches, so im glad they took flight with flying colors. You sorta grew with them and get strong friendship bonds with them, and it's hard to let them go and delete them off your Friends List. *cries* My wittle baby bird.....alll grown up and kicking serious asses in Gears of War!

@un9ku,
Now even "baby birds" like you are putting the asswhoopin' on "big bird"like me. Maybe im just growing old, or turning soft like Big Bird on Sesame Street

Which is what i have been stressing all along. No matter you're a noob or seasoned pro, the WAY you play makes the match enjoyable or totally frustrating. The game streses teamwork and coordination between teammates, it is no fun to the new guys to stand and watch a the seasoned pros go and kill everyone while they are left with nothing to kill. The way i see it, you can designate tasks equally to others while adapting teamwork strategies to encourage involvements of the new guys into the match. The seasoned pros will have to be patient, i know you can go and kill everyone anytime you want with your nadetagging or shotgun-in-the-face skills, but that does not help the poor helpless new guys from feeling frustrated trying to keep up with you!

I have been stressing on this a long time a go, and the match i had with Calvin, Rezalida and Redbull was a testament on how , even at 2vs2 match can be engaging as hell. I teamed up with Calvin, and im sure he can agree, we delegate tasks and things to do, and discuss while we position ourselves for the kill who shall do what, and what weapons to grab according to the situation. That way, everyone has their own tasks and things to do, and everyone is engaged in the match, not just standing by as they helplessly watch the pros kill everyone on sight by rushing them with chainsaws and grenades!

Give the new guys some slack, and coax them , nurture them into the ways of the game. You pros scare them with your ways of rushing things. Im not a pro nor a newbie, but it bothers me that the match doesnt last more than 15 seconds when im playing with pros, when i am basically jostling and pushing everyone around for a single kill when everyone else is greedy to increase their kill count. Gears of War is a team match, not a single player gung-ho-im-Rambo game.

EDIT: Im not asking you to CHANGE the way you play your game, but be mindful to the new guys who had just gathered enough courage to come into a game full of you pros. These guys needs guidance and encouragement, and the way you rush things frustrates them further. If you want to rush things and kill everything in sight in a pro-filled lobby then, by all means, brother! But think about it, there is a reason why there are sniper rifles places in certain locations in the stage, as well as torque bows and grenades. Reason being, you are encouraged to snipe from afar, as well as torque them from a distance. You dont go around coming face to face, and have a chicken match with who can get lucky with a sniper rifle first! That is not what the sniper rifles are meant to be used!

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 11 2007, 12:50 PM

Teamwork is another. The game encourages flanking now doesnt it? It annoys me as hell when someone manages to sneak up behind me and chainsaw me to kingdom come, but i respect and salute him for doig that since he manages his tactical strategy well and manage to slip past me undetected.

A simpler way of saying is, give EVERYONE a chance to contribute. Some might be good at sniping with rifles/torquebow, some are nadetagger, others are pure chainsaw nut. Give everyone a fair and equal chance to contribute. If everyone is rushing into the game, then guess what? You will NEVER see a good sniper at all, since rushing means you need a close range weapon like your lancer, shotguns or your grenades. Sooner or later, you see generic armies of nadetaggers and chainsaw freaks, rather than a healthy balance of long range deadly snipers or torque bow users. Sure, i know it is damn satisfying to saw bodies in half, but mix things up so that the match gets more interesting.

Zio, if there's any opening for that Team Unwanted, please let me in. I take my game nice and easy, rather than fast and explosive. The thrill of the kill is when you manage to get him cornered after a long and satisfying hunt, and then when he's down on the ground gasping for air as his blood flows onto the ground, and then i would either kerbstomp/chainsaw/snipe/shotgun/pick your favourite kill method. That would be more satisfying to me than rushing.

Any particular forum in mind? I've been to many forums when im using this handle.

I cant comment much coz i have not been playing with you a lot of time to come up with an observation. But the obvious way to see how lopsided unbalanced the game is when you see one team totally pwnz the other 5-0, or even within your own team, one guy racking up the kills while others stays with zero. Put yourself in the shoes of the guys who are struggling to get a single kill, how would he feel? Now im not asking you to go bleed your opponent and then ask the other weaker teammate to kill him just to add to his kill count, that would be more insulting. Im asking you to nurture him, teach him how you do things, involve him in your ways of thinking. He does not know what you are thinking and the way you use to flush out your opponents, so he's going in blind with whatever strategy you have in mind. Talk it out on the mic, get tasks relegated to selected teammates, get everyone involved. Heck, you can ask me to tag along behind you, providing cover fire, and should you get injured and is down, i can be there to cover your ass and revive you. That's teamwork in essence, and is more satisfying than just going on single file and blasting everything that moves. Help the poor new guy!

What's with everyone's fascination with Hezra?

The world IS small! Yeah i was a denizen of PLAY once, when i quit gaming because of the PSP incident. Even Suet and HairyLGS are here, Hezra! Well met, and you're really a girl? Doesnt matter to me, i dont go around making special arrangement for opposite gender.

Fun factor, yes everyone wanna have fun, but at what expense? At the expense of killing everyone and leaving your teammates with nothing? Or at your own expense of having fun? If this is a solo match, then by all means , have that kind of fun. But this is a team match, and fun factor as a whole for everyone in your team matters most.

Ada rasa berdebar tak bila main sorok2? Ko tak tau dari mana datang nyer aku, tengok depan tengok blakang.....dengar bunyik....bunyik apa tu? dari mana? Tetiba aku baling smoke grenade....ko panik....ngeeeenngggggg!!

LOL yeah, i have to tear myself away from the other two wives. I see first about my teammates if i can coax them into going tactical, kalau tak, it's all normal rush and kill lah.

Hiding out till timer runs out is tactical whut, coz im being overpowered by the numbers. You letey but im making you tired, so that you pop your lovely head, and ......WHAM! Headshot! But that match, if anyone could hear how me and Calvin segregated our task, you'd feel proud as well. Calvin was always the sniper master, so it is my duty to show my lovely body out as bait, so that the enemy would be drawn to my strange rain dance, and while they are entranced, Calvin would send their heads to the heavens.

No worries, glad to see another PLAYer here. Still collecting? I've given up on my collectibles for a while now, thinking of selling some of the smaller ones. We go TACTICAL tonight, baby!

Good match with ghostdevice, gnomeMY, tonmj and Calvin just now. Sorry tonmy, i simply invite only, coz our quorum is short of a person.

Raven Down is nadetagger heaven, there's hardly enough room to manouver around. Perhaps there would be a time where one guy would nadetag another and ran out of room to run away, and kill everyone in the match in one spot! This map i can forgive you if you rush and kill on sight, because.........there is nowhere to run and not much place to hide, so it's kill on sight, baby! Maybe because the map is riddled with junks and that fallen Raven, that the intersection where it crashes becomes messier and not a lot of running space.

Old Bones is MY kinda map! I love the fact that the central courtyard is made to the shape of a + sign, you cannot see who is behind the other wall until it's too late. Also, multiple entrypoints into the opponent's lair as well as placements for missile launcher and sniper rifle.

Thousand apologies to Fariz and Gnome as well, i was invited to the US match by a couple of US 360ers just now for trying out the new maps, so i couldnt really do the invite , unless they dont mind. Aku takut lagging their match. Only when i see there's enough kakis turning on their 360 with GOW then i excuse myself from that US match and made the private lobby for us tadi. Sorry again.

Bos, im only good in fanning up team spirit, im crappy when it comes to being a good soldier, i got blasted so many times already, it's menyedihkan.

No problem, but ermmm, adding me in? Have to find a sacrificial lamb to slaughter lah in my friends list, coz my friends list is full. Add me up if you want, at 8pm onwards tonight.

True dat. I'ld keep you in my team for that "tender loving bait" quality alone. You can take my place as bait, and i can brush up on my sniping skills. Jgn marah bos

Nyahahahah! Old Bones is perfect for sniping fest, bro! You can stay at the top of that flight of stairs before the courtyard, i draw their fire by dancing around in the + courtyard, and you have all the open space you need for some head-busting action! .....that is, if im not dead first ...yeah im that crappily bad in this game

Hezra, or rather Hezzie (that's what the folks in PLAY call you, right?), now i remember you! You and Suet are a twosome there, but me being a newbie and outsider, just lurk around reading your conversation with Suet there. Plus, those idiot collectors from Penang were getting on my nerves, and they kept on mobbing me for every little tidbits i say there, so it was better to keep my posts to a minimum. Was more involved in the Star Wars section there anyway.

Did a little spring cleaning, clears a couple of entries in my list, Hezzie and Matty, feel free to add.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 11 2007, 03:46 PM

Awesome game tonight! Awius, ionStorm, Cyberwulf....even our dear beloved bro Merdeka got into the action, and guess what? Our bro Merdeka RAWKSSS baby!!! Diam diam ubi berisi!

I hope the guys in the later matches got what i mean by being TACTICAL here, it was more fun getting everyone involved in the match, and tasking everyone with duties? I cannot coun t how many revives, flanks and double/triple/quadruple-teaming we had, especially that 4-way-rape (ish ish ish!) we had on one of those match. Harmless fun, and everyone was sporting as well. Good game fellas!

The wretches too gave me a headache when it was due time to get past them. The way i did it was at first to bottleneck them around the narrow entryway and blast them as they try get pass the narrow entry, but some got past, and well, ....getting stuck in a small room with exploding wretches is not a good way to die.

Next, we went out and trigger the event first, then retreated back with direct line of sight of the wretches. Took a few tries with constant changing between Lancers and shotguns for long and short range kills.

BTW, good game just now from redapples, Rezal, Insecure ,Fariz49 and Ginger. We have a new sniper pro, as well as shotgun pro as well, Ginger is nimble with these two. And Insecure bro, one of these days, either i tape your cackling maniacal laughter on my PC or you get your crazy laugh recorded on Mobius's montages...then displayed for all to see on Youtube. Seram siot dengar ko gelak cenggitu malam2!

Yup, that's right, but you need to unlock Insane mode by finishing one of the easier modes first. I went straight to Insane mode after Normal. But Insane is INSANE, either you're super pro with the game or you have to get someone to play coop with you.

Tonight, we go TACTICAL baby! Join the Unwanteds! WE will walk you through the game and you'll get your first reinstatement into the team with your first chainsaw victim, and you will be addicted for more.

P/S: Im not responsible if any of the young ones here turn out to be mass murderers wielding chainsaws in the future.

Yup, Red is pro. But sometimes i agree with Icekepal, you may be pretty good with certain maps only, and not so with other maps. The maps i hate , i would sometimes get zero kills, but those like Old Bones and Rooftop, i could get comfy and rack up some kill counts. Respect those who can play all maps and pwnz everyone.

No probs Hezzie, you totally pwnz some of us, especially during the later rounds, killing like 3 in a row!?

I tried and i tried, check your messages bro, see how many invites i sent My hosting capabilities sucks , i think Rezal's line is much better at it. But your friend Cyberwulf got in pretty quick and easy though....

Sorry for those wanting to add, my list is full. I need to clear the inactives off the list, so that i can add the actives one in. Now, back to getting some sleep.....if i can sleep at this ungodly hours!