Not sure we should call them perks.  Not in the sense of CoD perks.  As far as has been told, the armor abilities have to be picked up and are a replacement for equipment.  Credits have been seen on one of the menus, so some sort of purchasing system is definitely in the game, but we have yet to be told what is available for purchase.

I just urinated myself.

Exactly it just seems like they're trying to copy what all the other shooters have been doing it really worries me. I just hope they dont change it too much...

Well if they have to be picked up then I can see them functioning as an alternate form of powerups that teams have to fight for control over.

One thing thats certain is that Bungie is going to make the game extremely customizable so you can play however you see fit.

I know this is only a dream and will never happen but it would be soo sick if Bungie added a Halo:CE mode to Reach so that the game played exactly like the original Halo with the original maps.

I'd imagine they will have "classic" playlists if they are going to implement some sort of "perk" type system.  MLG and the old-school Halo types will play in those lists.  

However, if there's one area I trust bungie's instincts, it's in the multiplayer balance area.  It's been one of the true successes of the Halo formula, and they've tweaked it several times.  Remember they re-formualted the damage models and reset all of Halo 2 at one point to modify the balance, if you recall.  They aren't afraid to make even difficult decisions like resetting all the ranks at one point in order to balance their game.

We'll see more as the info starts trickling out, and then flowing steadily as we hit mid-April in preparation for the beta. I'd imagine we have little to worry about there.  The multiplayer experience is where they've left their mark - even pre-Live with Halo:CE LAN and split-screen matches.  It's what has made Halo Halo.  

Yeah i thought about that and i guess im just going to have to wait until the beta to see whether or not my concerns are justified. Here's to hoping that whatever they do they dont change the formula up too much to cater to the noobs aka Call of Duty... Cause that will really suck

Great and i thought Halo 3 had amazing graphics, can't wait to see what they will pull off.

Sandbox style, Perk-like system and Sprinting. This just keep better and better. No doubt that we are possibly looking at not only the best Halo game in the series but one of the best game to come out this year & ever for the Xbox 360 and in gaming over all.