UPDATE!!! The Spartan Ops Leader Boards have been reset. The leader has 145 games. Still a LOT, but nowhere near the 55K they had prior. It’s going to be a huge challenge to catch them, but I am going to try.

Folks, I promote the hell out of Halo. I LOVE it. But this latest “Infinity Challenge” contest? Hmm, no, I’m going to have to pull back on this until/unless the contest has been reset.

Why? Well because I went to check the Spartan Ops leaderboards just before this post and yeah, I’m on there…In tier three. Not that I would have been mad at that as I would have played more to move up. No…

The problem is, that EVERY Spartan Ops game PRIOR to 12/17/12 (The actual contest start day) was taken into account. Already the leader on the boards has more than 55K games played. WTH? How can this be done in just under 40 hours? IMPOSSIBLE.

It even says I have over 3,500 games played. All well and good, but those were almost all before the contest.

Look, I love 343 for making a new Halo game, but I’m not above calling them out on something like this. Love ya 343, but this contest is a HUGE FAIL.

Reset it please or cancel it. It’s a mockery to what you should be trying to establish as being the new caretakers of Halo.

If the contest gets reset, then I’m all good. If not, then I just won’t play anywhere near as much as I would have. I would have played Halo 4 like it was my job. Now I’ll just play for fun, whenever.

Okay, I’ve said my peace on the subject.
-Sal

http://halo4infinitychallenge.com/platform/web/registration/Welcome.html

So what is this? Well first go check that link as it should answer most if not all of your questions.

It’s a challenge and you need to climb the leaderboards! The two grand prizes are a Halo truck and a 2 minute appearance in a Halo game. The truck can be won by winning the War Games portion of the Infinity Challenge, while the 2 minute appearance in Spartan Ops. While I’d love to win the truck, I REALLLLLLLY want to win that 2 minute spot. To be immortalized in Halo like that? WOW!

I wish everyone good games for those who participate!

-Sal

I hit this on Sunday. I’d have posted sooner, but I was having SO much fun with my buds online that I couldn’t stop in the middle of that to post this. Besides, I wanted to do a proper write up of this and not just something quick to say I hit that rank.

I’m really surprised that it only took 40 days to hit the highest SR rank in Halo 4. I wonder if there will be more added somewhere down the line.

I understand 343 wanting people to be able to rank up fast enough to get all the specializations quick. Honestly though, I think this was just a bit TOO quick. For me I know there will be several I’ll barely use if at all. One I know I won’t use anymore is the XP boost. Unless again, there is going to be additional levels added. For now though I can ignore that one and just play with the other specializations. If XP is still be tracked after 130, I’ll no doubt have ranked up quite a lot by the time more levels are added. (Again, IF they are.)

So now that I have every specialization what to use?
I have one of my specializations (from here on “S”) as a Driver/Gunner combo. So it won’t matter if I’m driving or gunning, I’m going to help the vehicle in some capacity.
Another I have makes use of nades. I couple more grenade damage with being able to pick up dropped nades.
Another one is used for big maps when sniping is needed. I picked active camo, along with having a sensor while scoped.
Yet another is used for two primary weapons and utilizes fast reload/swapping weapons. Good for those more enclosed small to mid maps where confrontations can occur quickly.
The last one I’m going to use to switch around things until I find some combination that works well for certain gametypes/playlists. For now it’s using Forerunner weapons as a way to help work on those commendations.

So, you may have noticed the emblem in the pic. That is the Spartan Emblem. You only get that once you’ve hit 130. (Not the rounded diamond in the BG, you can get that very early). I think I’ll likely not switch this one out, except on days I hold HFFL playdates.

Speaking of, now that XP doesn’t matter to me…I’m up for just about any gametype. So I’m going to hold HFFL playdates fairly frequently. I’ve got a few custom maps I’m working on, so those are options. Of course though if the party wants to play War Games, Spartan Ops or Campaign, I’m cool with that.

Anyway, I want to say a HUGE thanks to everyone who’s gamed with me over the past 6 weeks in Halo 4. You’ve helped me in attaining the rank quick by gaming with me. THANKS!

On that note and I’ve said it before, if you’re looking for the fastest way to rank up, Spartan Ops Matchmaking with the XP specialization on and using Mountain Dew/Doritos XP is by far the FASTEST way to do it. You can earn between 11-14K PER MATCH.

-Sal