The following is BS Angel’s response to a person asking for more Regicide, then my response below that with proposed changes to the playlists to make them, in my opinion, better.

bs angel: I’m a big fan of Regicide, too – except when I play against David Ellis and he steals the win from me in the final two seconds of the game!

Try going into Rumble Pit with others who like it (perhaps even people from this thread?). That way you can sway the vote in your favor. 🙂

Why not bring THIS back too? We SORELY need a dedicated Team Objective playlist.

Gametypes in the playlist would be:
• CTF – (Yes, move this into Objective and you will get those people going into the playlist and hey, they might even choose something else…Also, put this in the THIRD slot, so as to give other gametypes a chance of being picked.)
• Team Regicide – It only comes up rarely in BTB and is a pain in the arse in Rumble Pit. For my own sake, I’m making a web series from Halo 4 and NEED that Emblem for mastering Regicide.
• Oddball – It was in Multi-team (which you took away and put into the rotational playlist instead. Bad move, IMO.) On that note, PLEASE bring back a 4 team 3-person per team, multi-team playlist. It is BADLY needed!
• King of the Hill – Yet another great gametype lost to the rotational playlist. Honestly, with these gametypes having commendations attached to them, they should NEVER go away or be put into a playlist where they can only be played for 2 weeks every several months. REALLY BAD MOVE THERE! Plus, you’re further killing the Halo 4 gaming population. Not that hard to see…
• Stockpile – Hey, if a modder cna find the code was already embedded in the game, why not bring this back? Yeah, I know it’s not YOUR creation 343, but it was a GREAT game type.
• Headhunter – Read above for Stockpile. Another GREAT gametype.

Jessica (BS Angel), you folks at 343 can’t be SO against what Bungie created before you as to totally dismiss good gametypes such as those. You need to build off of what they CREATED, instead of tearing it down to rebuild your version of what you think Halo should be.

I truly want you folks to succeed. However, if you can’t see that some of these decisions are HURTING the franchise, then there is a REAL problem.

Playlist management needs to be a PRIORITY post game launch. At times it just feels like you’re experimenting with them, instead of taking a realistic look and approach to what is NEEDED per the community.

I mean these words with kindness, but also with sternness. You HAVE to do better than this. Waiting until the next game to get it right is NOT going to help this game, nor the longevity of the franchise, nor it’s sustainability as a viable profit maker for you and Microsoft.

As caretakers/stewards of Halo, you owe it not just to yourselves and Microsoft, but to US, the fans and CONSUMERS who are the ones who have paid for and stuck with the franchise, many of us for many years.

End Copy/paste…

So yeah, I know I won’t be on their Christmas Card list for posts like these. But that isn’t my goal. I’m not a yes-man who sticks so far up 343’s butt that I know what they had for breakfast. My goal is to help keep Halo 4 alive and vibrant. To make it not just a successful game during launches of new games, but a SUSTAINABLE success. That will not happen if 343 doesn’t take ownership of their mistakes and fixes them NOW, not wait until the next game…

-Sal

I made the following reply on Waypoint’s forums in response to another person lamenting about Dominion being gone/put into the rotational playlist. I felt it needed to be shared here on the blog as well.

Gamer Freak, I feel your pain. I had to bust my arse to finish this before it was removed.

I’m trying to do the same thing in King of the Hill before it goes away from the rotational playlist.

I honestly do not get why 343 has made some of the changes to the playlist that they have made.

No way playlists that have commendations attached to them should be removed from matchmaking.

If anything, move Dominion into BTB and make it an 8v8 gametype now. It needs to stay in permanent rotation, not temporary.

Same can be said for King of the Hill, Oddball, Regicide. Those should be incorporated into a Team Objective. AND put CTF in there as well. This will consolidate those playlist, but keep them ALL ACTIVE. Why Objective wentto 6v6 then completely away is beyond me.

343 made a good game in Halo 4, but not great. and with this total mismanagement of playlists, they are only wrecking the game’s population even further.

Take Team Slayer for instance. It used to have a population of about 50% of whatever BTB was running. It stayed like that for the LONGEST time. Then all of the sudden, when 343 made the Majestic map pack mandatory for that playlist, it dropped to 10% of BTB and has stayed there.

Why is it so HARD for 343 to see this? They need to eject Majestic from being mandatory in Team Slayer and make an ALL DLC playlist. Doing that would bring more back to regular Team Slayer as well as give a playlist to those who DID buy the DLC. Also, in doing so, those people still chasing achievements in DLC map packs WILL have that chance, instead of a RARE opportunity happening in matchmaking.

I honestly won’t blame any gamer at this point if they boost achievements. It was already a bit hard before, when the DLC playlists where temporary. Now that they are gone, it’s VERY hard.

So yeah, getting back on point, I COMPLETELY understand your frustration with Dominion being gone, or thrown into a rotational playlist.

What does that say for 343 when THEY made that gametype?

I really hope for the next game, they take a LONG hard REALISTIC look at matchmaking. It’s the bread and butter of the game. And unfortunately that bread has gone stale…

Okay, so not officially, but Halo 4 modders have ported this over from Halo Reach. Man, WHY aren’t these official game types in Halo 4 instead of being mods? (Oh yeah, that’s right 343 didn’t create them…)

Regardless, I WANT to play them. CHeck out each vid below!

As soon as I can get my hands on the files, these WILL be part of my Halo Fan Friday League community nights!

-Sal

I’m usually not one for modding and that’s the case here too. However, I want to point out that it looks like it may be possible to do this using the forge ball settings, so no modding needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLImz5SyGOo&feature=youtu.be&a

Thanks to Josh “0IAH” for tweeting this out.

Assault definitely is one of those gametypes that was and has been missed since the launch of Halo 4. If someone figures out how to do this using the forge ball settings, please let me know and I’ll be more than happy to share your info on the blog.

-Sal

I found it very easy to get outside of the map and snapped off a few shots. Feel free to use them for wallpapers if you wish. (Click to make bigger)

Coming soon, pics from outside of Vertigo!

-Sal

Impatiently awaiting the release of the Champions Bundle Pack while away form your XBOX? Be that at work, school, or other situation that keeps you away from your XBOX when the Champions Bundle becomes available? Go to HERE to purchase! You can buy it straight from there and it will be start to download once you turn your XBOX on.

Just a small way of getting yourself into the game with Champions that much faster!

I’m just trying to look out for you folks!
-Sal

Here’s another video preview of the Champions Bundle pack:

With the Champions Bundle pack dropping tomorrow, Halo Waypoint released the following images today.

Here are the new weapons skins with the ‘Steel Skin Pack’ portion (available for $3 separately) of the Champions Bundle Pack (click to make bigger!):

I absolutely LOVE the skins for these weapons. Here I thought they were only going to be gold/wood colors. I didn’t think they’d have the wood grain, gears and other minute details. A BIG Kudos to 343 for this. FANTASTIC!!!

Here is a look at the 3 armors that are included in the ‘Infinity Armor Pack’ portion (available for $3 separately) of the Champions Bundle pack, also included in the pic is the Ricochet Armor which is part of the Bullseye Map pack (available for $6 separately). Click to make BIGGER!

Also, don’t forget with the Bullseye pack you also get the maps Pitfall and Vertigo, and two-week advanced gameplay of Ricochet. For pics of the maps go here for Pitfall and here for Vertigo.

Now if you buy each part separately you’ll pay $12. So why not just get the WHOLE Champions Bundle pack and save yourself $2!

Personally I think this is SO worth it. Some really great graphics for the weapons skins, 4 sets of armor, 2 maps, early access to the Ricochet gametype, oh and don’t forget there are also several new stances and extras weapons skins as a BONUS if you purchase the Champions Bundle as a whole….

Champions drops tomorrow!

-Sal

That’s right folks, in preparation for the Champions BUndle pack that drops tomorrow, you will have a small update when you launch Halo 4 today.

This update includes two new Support Upgrades.

The first is Recharge. Recharge decreases your shield recharge rate slightly. This may be just enough to get out of a tight situation, recharge and take out that enemy who is fixated on end your day!

The second is Survivor. Survivor works when a vehicle has taken damage and is going to explode. Just before that, you are ejected. This support upgrade is great for those who like to drive or gun Warthogs. I know I’ll be changing one of my loadouts today!!!

-Sal

First up is the progress of the third week of the Halo 4 Global Championship.

As of the bulletin’s writing, here are the top ten so far this week:

This week is Rumble Pro, BTW. In the meantime, 343 is still working to verify the winners from the first two weeks of competition.

As expected (not even a secret) the finals will take place at PAX this year.

Next up is the Matchmaking Playlist Update

Here’s a look at week 4 of the Halo 4 Global Championship gameplay, which is aptly titled “Rumble Grab Bag.”

Here are the loadouts for the slayer variants of the above games:

UNSC Slayer

Covenant Slayer

Forerunner Slayer

Here are the settings for the Objective based games of the Halo 4 Global Championship:

FFA Oddball

FFA KOTH

Since week for of the competition has objective based games, I may finally throw my hat into the ring here. Do I expect to do well? Hell no. But it’s the week that I would mostly likely have my best showing.

Next is the part that is likely to upset some of you. It does me…

Global Championship Invites

(Text directly copied form Halo Waypoint)

When we announced the Halo 4 Global Championship, we stated that some competitors would be invited to compete in the finals event. We had to jump through some additional legal hoops to announce the specifics, and are now able to share the details of the first invites.

The goal of the first group of invites is to reward top Halo 4 competitors who have performed well over the past few months at regional tournaments. We’ve teamed up with Arena Gaming League (AGL) to invite the following players to compete in a semi-finals bracket against other invited players. The players who emerge from the semi-finals bracket will face-off against the winners from RTX, Gamescom, and the online qualifier in the final bracket of the Halo 4 Global Championship. The winner will take home $200,000.

The players will be contacted directly in the near future. Here is the current list of players that will be receiving invites:

After RSVP’ing, players who receive an invite will be given admission to the Halo 4 Global Championships and a spot in the semi-finals bracket. Invited players are responsible for providing their own travel and lodging, but will be given a PAX badge so that they may compete in the invite bracket. Also, we’ll be keeping a very close eye on the AGL 9 tournament on August 9-11 in Atlanta, GA, so best of luck to all of the 4v4 and FFA players!

HFFL: So you few non-pro players who snuck in through RTX and who might get lucky through the weekly competition…forget it. The cards ARE being stacked against you. Personally, I feel that only those people who have actually played in the official Halo 4 Global Championship and placed in the convention events and online competition should be allowed to compete for the big money in Seattle at PAX. With respect to whomever made this decision, those gamers you’re inviting into this competition already have AMPLE opportunity to play and win for money. Let them fend for themselves like the rest of us in the official contest. It really is a slap in the face to those who put in a crap ton of time online now seeing that they will have to face pros, even more so than those who qualified at RTX. My comment above about playing next week. NIX that. This competition has not been worth my time, especially given the special treatment to pros, who again have and continue to have their chances to win money playing Halo otherwise.

Lastly, the screenshot spotlight shines on the Majestic Map pack. I can’t wait until Castle comes back. I still need just ONE achievement for Halo 4 and it’s specific to that playlist/maps.

Want to read the whole bulletin? Go here.

First, I’d like to thank fellow Halo fan, Deltagenesis, for e-mailing me this news.

Just a few hours ago, BS Angel replied via Halo Waypoint to a question regarding the Bonus Armor skins coming with the Champions Bundle Pack. We knew the names, IIRC, not the shortened nomenclature.

Source Link

Here is a reminder of the base armor for which the skins can be applied:

Wow, I can’t wait to see what the skins look like!!!

-Sal 

I’ve actually done the Mantis stomp one using that very same grav lift!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gupmggBT__Q