Sometimes, 343’ers play tricks on each other around the office, and the frequency increases significantly on the first of April. These tricks can take various forms, such as when team members walk away from their unlocked computers, you are somewhat encouraged to change their desktop wallpapers to a risqué picture of 1990s David Hasselhoff. Other times, certain members of the Franchise team will wrap your entire desk (and each individual item) in wrapping paper. This year, though, a pretty clever prank was pulled on me, and I am not afraid to admit it.

The story begins with me sitting at my desk, which features an arsenal of monitors, a few Xbox 360s, an Xbox One, and way too much Halo memorabilia. As is generally the case, I was sitting here, working very hard (scrolling through posts on r/Halo), and minding my own business. After some time, I just happened to turn to my right, and noticed an Xbox One Kinect on the corner of my desk. I looked past it, but then realized that the Kinect light was on, and that it was neatly positioned at my head.

Naturally, I picked up the Kinect and began tracking down the cords to determine where it was plugged in. It led me back over to the Franchise team, who began laughing and complaining that the show was over. I eventually unplugged the device, wrapped the cord around it, and stole it from them. It still sits on my desk.

The best part, however, was walking over to their desks and seeing that there was an actual show dedicated to my every day work. I couldn’t make this up. I give you: The BRAVO-CAM:

I am not sure how long the show lasted (I am told weeks, and that advertisers were lining up left and right), but it is now off the air.

Now that I’ve cleared the air, let’s talk ‘bout some Halo.

HFFL: Yes, let’s.

Matchmaking Playlist Update

We’re always excited when we can deliver Matchmaking updates that the community is not only clamoring for, but that they’ve helped us create. This past Monday’s Matchmaking update included a Squad DLC playlist and a significant Flood update, which brought in some of the top community maps as well as a new community-created game type, Last Stand. For the full details, check out last week’s Bulletin, and be sure to hop into the playlist this week.

This weekend, we’ve got a new special edition playlist coming: Ricochet Rebound. Let’s get into the details!

Ricochet Rebound

Ricochet Rebound is a brand new 4 vs. 4 playlist inspired by basketball-themed game types from community Forger HOBO ITCHY. We’ll hear from him later about the maps and game types, but here is an overview:

• Primary Weapon: Scattershot / Shotgun
• Secondary Weapon: Sticky Detonator
• Score to Win: 15 points
• Time Limit: 10 minutes
• A “throw” = 1 point
• A “dunk” (slamming into the hoop) = 2 points
• Ball Reset Time: 15 second ball reset
• Automatic Pickup: Enabled
• Respawn Time: 3 Seconds

The playlist will be available from April 4–7. Hop into the playlist to join the special-edition action.

HFFL: Hmm, sounds interesting, but only 4 days? That might not be enough to get good feedback and data from. 

Community Choice: Proving Ground

It’s been two weeks since we launched the Proving Ground playlist, and we’ve been keeping a close eye on feedback regarding settings, maps, game types, and more. Our Matchmaking team tells us that by this time, ranks should be settling out, so it’ll be easier to find even matches. While we continue to iterate on the playlist, we also want to ensure that we’re regularly adding game types to increase playlist variety. For next week, we’re asking which objective game type you’d like to see next. The three options are:

Click here to vote on the Waypoint forums! Voting will be open for approximately four days. Next week, we’ll announce the Community Choice winner along with the Matchmaking Update!

HFFL: Is anyone playing this playlist? Honestly, every time I log in, it never has more than 250 gamers in it. Hardly worth the effort, IMO.

Lastly, in Spartan Ops, we are featuring a selection of missions with the Red vs. Blue Radio Easter eggs to celebrate Rooster Teeth’s 11th Anniversary! The following missions are now available in Spartan Ops Matchmaking:

Episode 1: Chapter 5: Core
Episode 2: Chapter 5: Gagarin
Episode 3: Chapter 4: Shootout in Valhalla
Episode 4: Chapter 2: Rally Point
Episode 5: Chapter 5: Spartan Thorne

If you’d like to hunt some Easter eggs, hear some tunes, and unlock the Roses vs Violets achievement, hop into Matchmaking.

HFFL: OMG, did we really get a mention of Spartan Ops? Wow, considering 343 has practically abandoned this, I’m surprised. I really wish this would have taken off…. I LOVED playing it. Still do on occasion.

The UNSC Quad Walker

The UNSC Quad Walker is here! As the newest release in the Halo Mega Bloks ONI REAP-X line, this vehicle is a highly advanced prototype walker based loosely on a number of Covenant models, including the Locust. Deployed from space much like a drop pod, the vehicle’s boosters unfold upon entry, becoming its four fully-articulable legs. The walker’s primary weapons are two plasma cannons, similar to the Covenant’s Shade turret. The set includes a copper Covenant Anti-Vehicle Shade Turret and a pair of figures: A Recon Spartan and a gold Storm Elite.

The Quad Walker is available now, so if you are craving some extra four-legged machinery in your home, you know where to look. Or, if you’d rather win it for free, you can simply enter our Twitter contest by retweeting the message below by the end the day on April 3.

HFFL: You can see my FULL review of this set with pics of the build along the way HERE.

Halo: Spartan Assault News and Deals

We’ve got a Halo: Spartan Assault Red Stripe Deal starting tomorrow! From April 3–9, you can get Halo: Spartan Assault for only $1.99 on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. If you haven’t picked up the game on either platform, now’s the time. On April 10, Halo: Spartan Assault will be permanently priced at $4.99 across these platforms, and $9.99 on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

This Friday, April 4, Halo: Spartan Assault will also launch on Steam! As always, we’re super excited for the title to be featured on a new platform, and to be working with the Steam crew on supporting this release. Keep an eye on our official Twitter account for some Steam giveaways later this week.

HFFL: Hmm, seems like they are trying to squeeze out every last dollar they can out of this game. It should have been a Win8/XBOX 360/XBOX One rollout together. Not that staggered stuff that it was. It lost a lot of luster because of it… Well, IMO anyway.

Community Forge Interview: HOBO ITCHY

Last month, we toyed around with the idea of putting together a basketball-themed Ricochet playlist during March Madness. We had the idea in the back of our heads since the Halo 4 Spartan Bowl and even as far back as the Turkey Bowl. A few weeks ago, we realized we needed to get started on a game type and some maps. Luckily, our testers and designers had remembered playing an awesome basketball-themed Ricochet game type, and we eventually dug up HOBO ITCHY’s files from the Halo 4 File Browser. We started playtesting the game types, had a blast, and decided they were coming into Matchmaking. Read on for some details about his designs, inspiration, and more!

Hey, HOBO ITCHY! Tell us – what influenced you to design your basketball game type and maps in Halo 4?

Hi! First, I have to say thanks so much for having me – this is a real honor. Way back in December 2007, I was playing around in Halo 3’s Forge, and trying to come up with something new, something outside of the box.

I was seeing other Forgers creating great Slayer arenas and CTF wonderlands, and I just wanted to craft something original. I had a buddy who was a total basketball nut, and I figured one way to pull him away from basketball video games and back into Halo with me, would be to make my own basketball-based Halo game! A legend was born. I used the “Neutral Assault” game type initially, and set the goals to be the size and shape of a basketball hoop, giving players shotguns and sticky grenades. Old versions required players to jump up into the goal via grav-lift, which was clunky, to say the least – how far we’ve come since!

Anyway, a few months later, a group called “Rooster Teeth” came up with a game called “Grifball.” Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It kind of took the wind out of my sails for my game type until Reach came along, and Reach’s new forge mechanics threw the doors of inspiration wide open for me again. I’ve been fine tuning it ever since.

Did you begin forging right away when Ricochet was released with the Champions Bundle?

You better believe it! As soon as I heard the announcement I was mentally crafting ways to improve existing maps and getting struck by divine inspiration for all new court maps! As a matter of fact, it changed my game’s experience for the better to such a huge degree that I would like to take a second right now, while I’m holding this mic, to personally thank the developers who brought Ricochet to Halo 4’s already robust palette of options. Thanks so very much!

Have you worked on other major Forge projects in the past?

I have never been involved in a project that made it to Matchmaking, but I have forged a sheer metric ton of maps spanning Halo 3, Reach, and now Halo 4. All of them have been ‘major’ in terms of hours spent tweaking, polishing, and negotiating the last squeaky bits of Forge Budget. Mini Games tend to be my favorite to play, but my favorite to Forge are traditional, ‘Halo-style’, symmetrical, competitive arenas. I would urge anyone who may be curious about my other creations to head on over to my File Share!

What were some of your design goals with the basketball game types and maps?

For the game type, I wanted something that felt like a ‘sports’ experience more than a ‘shooter’ experience. I wanted it to be fast-paced, teamwork-heavy, and full of BOOM! (I’m a sucker for explosions.) I knew from the beginning that in order for the feeling of basketball to come through, I would need to keep the focus on close-quarters combat, and have any long-distance kills be the result of true skill…or crazy luck. My Halo 3 version only had Shotguns or Plasma Grenades as weaponry, and it wasn’t until Halo 4 that I introduced the secondary weapon. Why, you ask? Because “Dat Sticky Det!”

As for the maps, I wanted each to have its own flavor and feel, and not just come across as a carbon-copy of the last one. And I knew I wanted to have a whole suite of different maps because my group tends to play the game often, I really wanted to give them some variety. To tell you the truth, I was never even considering the feral masses in the world of Halo Matchmaking! Other design goals for the maps had to do with the little things, like scaling them slightly differently to accommodate different sized groups. I feel some play better for 4 vs. 4 (which I would call the player cap for this game), such as “Seaside”, and some play better as 1 vs. 1, which is the case with “Cavern.”

Any tips for players who will be heading into the playlist this weekend?

“Be the ball”…no, wait…no. I’ve got a few tips, and here they are:

* Use that Thruster Pack!

The Thruster Pack is invaluable for dodging those Sticky Detonator rounds, as well as closing the gap between you and the ball before someone else gets it.

* Pass that Ball!

It is so tempting to be a hero once you get a hold of that glowing Promethean Skull, but if you try to run it the whole court, it probably won’t work out for you. And when you do pass the ball, communicate that with the receiver, or risk a fumble which could cost your team the ball. Also, on the topic of ball passing, if you pass the ball to a nearby oncoming enemy, you will suddenly render them weaponless, making for an easy kill and ball retrieval.

* When in doubt, CHUCK IT!

If your teammates are nowhere to be found, I find a good tactic is to simply haul off and throw the ball as far towards the enemy goal as you can. This can buy you enough time to respawn before they can recover the ball and score on you.

Do you have any future projects currently going or that you’d like to start?

Right now, my biggest future project is my 9-month-old daughter, Penny. But as for Halo, I am currently making another basketball map, and I have a couple more competitive maps in the works. Beyond that, I am super excited to see what y’all at 343 have cookin’ up for Halo’s future! Forge has grown and evolved with each title exponentially, and I can’t wait to see what future versions will allow the community to create.

Thanks for joining us today, and we can’t wait to check out more of your work! Any shout-outs?

Thanks so much for having me! It’s been an unbelievable honor to have the opportunity to share my creations with you, and the worldwide Halo Community!

And lastly, before I go, I’ll take the opportunity to give a shout-out to my “Halo Nerds” Clan, without whom, none of this would have happened:

torresguitars: Our Fearless Leader!
Festuca: Official Liaison!
lunchbox2085: Official Tester!
DipChic: The Glue that keeps us together!

Enjoy the show, and I hope to see you all out there on the court!

~ HOBO ITCHY

Screenshot Spotlight: Grenades

Last week, we turned the spotlight on Haven. Take a gander at the following Grenade screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: I like “Artifact” by DividedSole. What one(s) do you like?

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring the color pink and then tag it with “Pink” and “Halo Waypoint,” and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

HFFL: A bit thin on news this week, considering the big bit of news that dropped yesterday. That of course being the Ridley Scott Halo project. Hopefully we’ll hear/read/see more about this soon (as in next week’s bulletin, or sooner).

-Sal

With BS Angel’s departure from being a community manager, for now I think we can safely assume Bravo will be writing all of these…

It’s Friday, March 21. The time is 11:00 a.m. PDT. Our live stream is set to begin in three hours, and members of our 343 Pro Team are preparing to battle it out against some of our top community members – StrongSide, Ace, Flamesword, and Snakebite. Somewhere, bs angel is selecting which cat shirt she will wear. For the Pro Team, the last few days have been full of Halo 4 practice and arguments about whether or not Killer V was the best gamertag of all time or the worst gamertag of all time.

That morning, I get an email saying that someone had just checked the Pro Team Lounge and found GH057ayame and Killer V reviewing Halo 4 Theater film, and that Dersky and Neighbor were eating a donut. At this moment, we knew we were ready. As a side note, I was slightly concerned as to whether or not Dersky and Neighbor were eating the same donut, but unfortunately did not have time to investigate. It was getting close to show time.

It’s now noon and time to head over to Xbox HQ. After a team huddle in the Pro Team Lounge, I grab Neighbor, hop in a car, and we’re off. In an hour the gameplay will begin, and we’re both thinking the same thing. But neither of us says a word. At least, I think he was thinking the same thing. Come to think of it, I am really not sure. Regardless, we arrive a few minutes late, and begin to set up his station. As expected, bs angel is nowhere in sight.

We set up the live stream, quickly download some Champions Bundles (Ricochet on Pitfall is a must) and 45 minutes later, I get a text from bs angel asking if we need her for the stream. I panic and wonder if everything is okay. This was going to be a stream where her and I chatted about some of her bestest memories in the Community Manager role, and she is rarely late. Did something happen? Was there an emergency?

I text her back with these questions, and (just as unsurprising as her tardiness) it turned out she was just outside the door and trolling me. Once everyone got situated, the stream would start, and this is where the video below begins. If you’d like to check out a rebroadcast of the stream, with all of the laughs, ridiculous stories, and *SPOILER* the 343 Pro Team victory, check it out here. The gameplay starts around 28:00.

343’ers checking out Friday’s Pro Team matchup on the big screen.

We’d like to thank our pro team, all of the community pros, and of course all of you for tuning in to Friday’s stream. We had a blast, and we hope you enjoyed bs angel’s ridiculous stories about Norman Reedus, appearing naked on the red carpet and more. We plan to be back with more live streams in the future, so stay tuned to Waypoint. Speaking of the future, we just announced some upcoming Matchmaking experiences.

Upcoming Playlists

If you’ve been keeping up with our Matchmaking Calendar, you may have noticed that we were getting awfully close to April and the Ninja Assassins update, which was the last update listed on the calendar – until this morning! Today, we’re excited to announce some of our upcoming Halo 4 playlists, which include the return of some favorites. Check out the details below!

HFFL: All I can say for the above is YES! I’ve been wanting Squad DLC! Now hopefully there are enough people in the playlist!

HFFL: Multi-Team!!! It’s about freakin’ time. Why this was ever taken out to begin with is beyond me. I LOVE this playlist. SO much fun and chaos!!! I really want it to be a permanent playlist!!!!! I’m happy as well that Dominion is coming back (but as a 4v4 team and not 6v6?). And two weeks of KOTH? YES PLEASE!

HFFL: Hmm, what playlist if TBD? LOL, yes, I know what it means…

Multi-Team

Multi-Team will return to Halo 4 Matchmaking on April 28, offering a wide variety of fun and chaos that only four-team gameplay can offer. The playlist will feature both Slayer and objective game types.

Dominion

The Dominion playlist will return to Matchmaking in mid-May, but this time with a new 4 vs. 4 format. With customized settings and maps, this new iteration will give players an opportunity to earn Dominion commendations and medals as well as the sweet taste of sweet, sweet objective-based victory.

King of the Hill

The ultimate test of map control, King of the Hill will return in the first week of June, with an updated map pool, game variants, and more.

We’re excited about these upcoming playlists as well as future unannounced playlists, and hope you are as well. To see the full calendar (and keep up with upcoming playlists and playdates), head over to the Matchmaking Playlist Calendar.

Next Matchmaking Update

On top of the upcoming playlists, our Matchmaking Systems team has also been hard at work on Monday’s playlist update. Let’s dig in.

Flood

We’ve teamed up with the Flood community leaders and Community Cartographers to deliver a refresh to the Flood playlist, which includes new maps and game types. To start, let’s take a look at the new maps that will be included in the playlist:

• Constellation by The 0micron
• Morgan Bay by REMKings
• Plaza by PA1NTS
• Procedure by SammichEaterPro
• Prora by Oasis Hurler
• Repository by SammichEaterPro
• Substance by PA1NTS
• The 4th Kind by PA1NTS
• Until Now by TheElderAcorn
• Villa del Pena by CANADIAN ECHO

The following maps will be updated to patch various map specific exploits:

• Payload by NARB GUY
• Temple by Mr. Pokephile

Additionally, we’re adding a new game type: Last Stand. This game type was created by PA1NTS and S1ERRA420. Here’s a breakdown of the game type:

Last Stand captures the genre of “holdout” style Flood game play. The game type creates a separation of survivor territory from flood territory, containing survivor movement to a holdout area while flood are able to roam free and assault the survivor space from locations outside of the survivor’s reach. Survivors must band together and strategize within the holdout while the flood attack relentlessly from beyond the holdout’s walls. Last Stand can be played on:

• Constellation
• Plaza
• Repository
• Substance

To watch the teaser trailer for the game type, head here, and for a detailed breakdown of the game type, head here.

Squad DLC

The Squad DLC playlist will feature a mix of DLC-only 6 vs. 6 Slayer and objective play on maps from Crimson, Castle, and Bullseye Map Packs. Additionally, we know that Heavies was fairly popular during its run in Halo 4 Matchmaking, so we’ll be featuring the game type in Squad DLC for the next two weeks, and also discussing some more permanent options for vehicular warfare in Halo 4 Matchmaking.

Special Edition Ricochet!

If the madness of this month has basketball on your brain, be sure to check out next week’s Bulletin to learn about our upcoming special edition basketball-themed Ricochet playlist, which will be available from April 4-7.

Community Choice: Big Team Battle

Lastly, thanks to your votes last week, Team Snipers was selected for inclusion into the Big Team Battle playlist. Grab some friends and hop into the action!

HFFL: Ugh, Snipers…well, I know what playlist I definitely will be avoiding… I am not skilled at that weapon. I’m marginal at best.

Available Now: Halo: Escalation #4

HFFL: As I’ve already covered this topic in the past two days, I’m electing to skip this part of the bulletin.

Screenshot Spotlight: Haven

HFFL: This week’s topic was Haven. I’m not posting any of them as I really didn’t like any of the ones picked.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring one or more Frag, Plasma, or Pulse Grenades and then tag it with “Grenade” and “Halo Waypoint,” and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

If you want to read the full bulletin as well as see the screenshot spotlight, you can go HERE to the official site.

-Sal

Bravo brings us this week’s bulletin.

Sometimes, I skip breakfast. Monday was not one of those days.

I spend most mornings (and sometimes entire days) very hungry. When I arrived at the studio Monday, I quickly realized this day would be different. Spread across kitchen tables, desks, and even the senior management board room, were colorful, leprechaun-adorned boxes of Lucky Charms. Luckily, this held me over until green bagels were delivered (note: bs angel definitely does not approve of green bagels), which held me over until green banana nut muffins arrived (she didn’t like those either), which held me over until green rice crispy treats appeared. By the end of the day, I ate a ton of St. Patrick’s Day-themed treats, all of which were delicious, and none of which were approved by bs angel due to their holiday hue. The important thing to note here is that holidays here at 343 are awesome, as long as you’re okay with food coloring.

We’ve got a few things to talk about this week, (one of those things features a special guest who is much taller than a leprechaun, but not much taller than an Unggoy), so let’s get into the details, starting with Matchmaking.

Matchmaking Playlist Update

This week, Extraction returned to Matchmaking alongside Proving Ground, a new Battle Rifle start playlist. We got some great feedback so far, and appreciate your input regarding map pool, game types, and more as we continue to add to the playlist. Next week, we’ll have news regarding Squad DLC and an update to the Flood playlist, but for now, we have a new Community Choice Poll.

HFFL: I can’t wait for Squad DLC. Not only is it a 6v6 playlist (which is much needed), but also a DLC playlist, which I feel is needed as well, especially for those of us who paid for the DLC. Right?

Community Choice Poll: Big Team Battle

HFFL: This one for me is a toss up between Neutral Flag and Legendary Slayer BR. The latter is closer to Halo 3 play, while Neutral Flag is always fun (for me). I think this once, I’m going to pick slayer over and objective game type though. (I not so skilled at snipers in matchmaking, so there’s on way will I ever pick that.)

Each of the above game types offer different experiences, so to help you choose, here are the details:

Neutral Flag
Lots of players, but only one Flag. Bring it back to your base to score and be ready to run it again!

Legendary Slayer BR
Big Team Slayer with standard UNSC goodness: Battle Rifles, Assault Rifles, and Frag Grenades.

Team Snipers
Be stealthy, be sneaky, but don’t poke your head out too far. Because the other team will snipe it off.

Head here to vote on the Waypoint forums. Voting will be open for approximately four days. Next week we’ll announce the Community Choice winner along with the Matchmaking Update!

Next up, we’ve got a pretty special segment from a guest writer you likely know and love. Please allow me to now hand it over to our very own bs angel.

A Note from bs angel

My first day at 343 Industries was September 13, 2010. I completed orientation (no, I will not say inappropriate jokes while at work; yes, I will make numerous innocent remarks about balls, every single one of which will be about the game type present in Halo multiplayer) and made my way to the EMP Museum. Typically an institution focusing on music, sci-fi, and pop culture, that night it transformed into the perfect venue for celebrating the launch of a new Halo game. That’s right, my first day was the day Halo: Reach launched.

I spent the evening manning kiosks and watching fans play the very game that would soon be spinning in their Xbox 360s. If there was one prevalent sentiment I felt that night, it was the feeling of knowing I found my home away from home – a job where I would be surrounded by people who not only love Halo as much as I do, but also understand the power of the franchise and the fans who celebrate it with us.

If I seem a little sentimental, it’s because I am. I’ve loved every second I’ve spent as Community Manager for 343, and it’s because of this love that I’ve accepted a new position within the studio. In a matter of days, my new title will be “Studio Operations PM.” It’s not particularly flashy nor impressive (I requested Chief Cat Consultant but was denied), but the potential impact I will have on the studio, and thus the franchise, is enticing, exciting, and, when you look at our goals, essential.

I joined 343 because I love Halo, I stayed because I love 343, and it’s the passion for both that takes me into my new job, where I will focus on ensuring the studio is an environment in which our developers can do their very best work. The importance of that should not be underestimated, as we are working on some incredible projects slated to release this year, next, and beyond. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: good things are coming…and a lot of ‘em, at that.

I’m not bidding you adieu, because I’m still going to be here – five desks up and three rows over from my usual spot, in fact. So, as I don’t have any goodbyes to say, I’m instead going to share my most bestest and memorablest experiences I had while in the role of Community Manager. And yes, bestest and memorablest are totally words. ‘Cause I said so (clicks “Add to dictionary” and proceeds).

Norman Reedus – I love him for his brains 

It’s Emerald City Comicon 2011, and I’m working the booth. We’re showing off Halo: Reach and get a request from a handler whose celebrity clients want to stop by and play the game. Apparently the two gentlemen are from The Boondock Saints, which I haven’t seen because clearly it’s a football movie and I’m not into football (I’ve heard of the Saints, you can’t fool me!). I spent 10 minutes or so showing a ruggedly handsome man the basics of the game, wondering the whole time if someone hid all of the world’s razors, if he was half Teen Wolf/half Chia pet, and other totally realistic scenarios that would explain the Brillo Pads of facial hair exploding out of his jowls.

Fast forward to last fall when I discover the good, clean fun that is The Walking Dead. I can’t shake the feeling that Daryl is oddly familiar when it struck me: it’s the dude from Comicon… the guy I taught how to play Halo! I’d like to think his aptitude for headshots came from those very special 10 minutes we shared. I mean, it can’t be a coincidence, right? RIGHT? (You’re welcome, Norman. Call me. Wink wink.)

VGAs – bs angel’s new clothes

Three months after starting my job, I was sent to LA to cover the 2010 VGAs. I was going to be on the red carpet, interviewing the personalities walking the length of the vibrant colored path. Being the non-high maintenance person that I am, I spent hour after hour and evening after evening shopping for the perfect outfit, planning the perfect hairstyle, deciding on the perfect makeup, and selecting the perfect accessories.

It was only after our video was released and I read dozens of comments on YouTube asking if I was naked did I realize that while my shimmery, strapless gown was beautiful, it perhaps wasn’t the right choice for a situation when you’re being taped from the shoulders up.

Lesson learned, YouTube, lesson learned.

Xbox One Commercial – And start feeling…

I don’t have a bucket list. Well, I didn’t until I took part in the Xbox One Anthem. When I was approached by the Xbox team to take part in a super-secret video, I knew it would be an amazing experience. I was dolled up before the shoot (“Yes, you may do my makeup with all your fancy-schmancy MAC stuffz.”), had people adjusting my hair in between takes (“Excuse me, I have a single strand out of place!”), and was followed by a crew of approximately 10 people through the woods, while I attempted to feel natural, and also alive (pretty sure I failed on both accounts).

The video was shrouded in confidentiality, so I didn’t get to see it until it launched. When I saw it starred Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and J.J. Abrams (among others), I ran to my desk and immediately started a bucket list. First thing on it was “be featured in a video with Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and J.J. Abrams.” First thing to be crossed off was “be featured in a video with Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and J.J. Abrams.”

Oh, and did I mention I was in a video with Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, and J.J. Abrams? ‘Cause I was. And let me tell you, did I ever feel ALIVE…

Cortana VO – I will not allow you to leave this sound booth

There’s a certain part of game development where campaign levels are fleshed out enough to begin dropping in voice overs during important parts of each mission. This is often before final VO is recorded with our professional voice actors. During that interim period, members of the studio sometimes read the lines so placeholders can be implemented in pivotal moments. During this part of Halo 4’s production, I put my name in the hat for Cortana and was selected by an audio engineer who was apparently unaware of my ability to perfectly replicate the intolerable screech of nails on a chalkboard with each and every spoken word.

The experience I had in the recording studio was one of the most memorable I had during Halo 4 production. While the recordings were provisional, I read them in the real sound lab, received direction from the audio team and creative director of the game, and truly felt, for a few brief hours, like the character I was portraying. I refused to play through those missions for as long as my VO was in the game (I didn’t need to hear myself to know how truly bad I am at voice acting) but I do remember walking out of the studio that day with a sense of despair that I couldn’t completely shake for several hours.

Spoiler: Cortana has a rough time in Halo 4. And on that day, so did I.

When You Wish Upon a Star…

One of my core beliefs is using your voice to make a positive impact, especially if said voice is louder than average. Thankfully the studio mirrors those sentiments, which means I often have the honor of hosting Make-A-Wish visits. Meeting these kiddos has made more of an impact on me than I can express, and certainly not one that I can discuss without emotion.

One of those kiddos was Mathieu. After successfully battling cancer three times in his 16 years of existence, the fourth took its toll. We chatted regularly during this trying time, talking about both significant and insignificant topics. Something he said during one of those conversations stuck with me, so much that I knew we needed to make it a reality. After recognizing his time was fleeting, he offhandedly said, “I wish I could live forever in Halo.”

We had him take a series of headshots, and then modeled an in-game Marine after him. His character is in Halo: Anniversary, and arguably one of the most important in the game. He’s the person that lets the Master Chief out of his cryo-chamber, and he also teaches the player the controls for playing the game. We made that choice because Mathieu, to the very end, wanted to help others. And to this day he continues doing just that, inside the Halo universe.

Real-life Warthog – I call turret

Up until this point, you may think my job is completely glamorous and I’m the luckiest person on the planet. While the latter is true, the former is not. My day-to-day responsibilities are typically mundane, and sometimes consist of making sure parcels arrive safe and sound at the studio. In fact, one time I drove to a city almost 30 minutes away (SO FAR) to confirm the intact arrival of an incoming shipment.

When I arrived at the warehouse, I was told our package had, in fact, reached its desired destination, and I should verify it was in acceptable shape. This particular time, that meant I needed to sit in the driver’s seat. And the passenger seat. And hop on the turret for good measure. Sure, I was unable to see over it (I’m not that tall – DON’T JUDGE) but that didn’t matter. I had a job to do, and I was going to do it. ‘Cause I’m that dedicated. And I like joy rides. But more the dedicated thing. ‘Cause yeah.

You

While I consider myself incredibly blessed to have the aforementioned experiences, none of those things compare to the relationships I’ve had the pleasure of building with many of you. From receiving your emails to meeting you at events to participating in .gif wars on Twitter to engaging in formally arranged cat picture exchanges, getting to know those of you on the other side of the controller has been an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. Some of you I’ve been friends with since the days of Halo 2. Others I’ve met after the release of Halo 4. But regardless of whether you fall into one of those groups or somewhere in between, I’m thankful for our interactions. My own little world – and the Halo franchise – is a better place because of them <3.

And now, I leave the community in the hands of several capable individuals, some of which you know by name (Alfa! Charlie! Foxtrot?!), and others that quietly and effectively work behind-the-scenes (Uncle Dolan!). So, I’ll see you on the virtual battlefields, my friends. Until then…

#heartz #hugz #andallthatjazz
<3,
bs angel

HFFL: So, I take it that means Bravo is now the Senior Community Manager? Or at least the one in charge of community relations, even if he didn’t get a title promotion.

Friday Live Stream – 3/21 1PM PST

If you got a kick out of the above stories, you’re not alone. In my experiences both as a community member and a member of the community team here at 343, I saw firsthand just how lucky the Halo community has been to have a community manager that cared so deeply for the franchise and its fans. Although she did (still does) everything in her power to make me lose every multiplayer match I play, and made (still makes) fun of me for playing Action Sack, there were a few times when we got along, although food bribes and delicious (non-green colored) snacks were generally involved. The community team will miss having her on board. But as she said earlier, I’ve confirmed that luckily for me, and unluckily for her, she’s still within waving distance, just a few desks over. This means that there will still be plenty of team killing, high-pitched squeals, and cat pictures around the studio, and we’re pretty sure this is okay. We’re not sure if desktop computers will still be bursting into flames, but we have a volunteer junior fireman on staff seated adjacent to bs angel’s new desk. You know, just in case.

This Friday, March 21^st, bs angel, myself, and a few others will be hopping on a live stream at 1pm PST to chat about some of the above stories and more, because it’s been a while since we’ve hung out. We’ll be streaming at twitch.tv/xbox, chatting with you, and also showcasing a long overdue Halo match-up. Oh yes, read on.

HFFL: Ya know, I wish they would stream/podcast more often. Having that interaction with them would be great for both the community and themselves. Of that I’m certain.

Over the past few months, you may have read through the Twittersphere or interwebz that we’ve hired some talented Halo players to help us work on some of our projects. Internally, we call this group of eight players the Halo Pro team. For many moons, we dreamed of them representing the studio near and far, winning championships on our home turf, foreign lands, and eventually distant planets. This Friday, the dream will come true: we give you the first ever 343 Pro Team vs. Community Pro Team match-up!

The four players representing the 343 team will be:

Representing the community pro team will be:

All of the above individuals have some serious Halo accomplishments under their belt to say the least. Our pro team players have multiple tournament wins (including national championships), but we’re expecting that our professional community opponents will be quite the match. Between the Halo 4 Global Champion Ace, the Halo 4 Infinity Challenge winner StrongSide, and professional veterans Flamesword and Snakebite, the 343 pro team certainly has their work cut out for them, and we’re pretty excited to check out the action.

The friendly exhibition series will include a best of 5 series of Ricochet matches, and we’re expecting lots of interceptions, long-range tosses, and good times. Come hang out and join us this Friday!

HFFL: Okay, that’s going to be fun to watch! Hmm, I think I’m going to have to side with the 343 pros here. Yes, the community pros have Ace and Strongside, however, the 343 pros have all the insights to the game and likely an easier time gaming together. Will it be close? Maybe, but again, I give the advantage to 343.

Screenshot Spotlight: Fire

Last week, we turned the spotlight on Skyline. Take a gander at the following Fire screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: I’m partial to the following two from this week’s gallery:

I really like the “fire glow” off of the spartan. Very cool!

I’ve seen this type of pic done before and still love it. That crackling lava flow kind of thing just looks AWESOME. (I wish we could have THAT as a permanent skin for our armor!  

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot on Haven and then tag it with “Haven” and “Halo Waypoint”, and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

As always if you want to check out the bulletin on the official site, go HERE.

-Sal

Bravo brings us this week’s bulletin:

Just two nights ago, the 343 team bravely hopped onto Xbox Live to play with and against some of you in Medal Madness custom games. Naturally, the evening’s activities included lots of needles, explosions, Gravity Hammer smashes, and yelling in various languages. One of my favorite things about these online adventures is learning things (both Halo related and entirely non-Halo related) from community members. For example, I learned that “Snapshot” in Spanish is instantánea, and if you’re going to say the word, you darn well better pronounce it with the emotion it deserves. Also, my final team in the community playdate taught me a thing or two about Medal Madness strategy. Most notably, we decided that in order to succeed in the “Hail Mary” round, where the objective is to get long-distance grenade kills, it’s best to target one player. For consistency, we decided that player would be bs angel. Every time. Oh, and there may or not be a file in my File Share titled “EVERYONE GO FOR BS ANGEL!”

HFFL: Oh, I bet she enjoyed that! (not)

Speaking of epic multiplayer strategy, let’s dig into what’s coming to Halo 4 Matchmaking next week!

Matchmaking Update

Last week, we announced that the Proving Ground playlist was on the way. The new playlist will feature BR-start gameplay, an increased variety of power weapons, the removal of Personal Ordnance and Armor Abilities, and the addition of the Motion Tracker. The settings are similar to Legendary Slayer BRs, and will allow for fast-paced, precision weapon gameplay. We’ll be keeping a close eye on player feedback regarding relevant settings, the map pool, and more… Which reminds me! We should talk about maps.

The following maps will be available in the Proving Ground playlist at launch:

• Abandon
• Adrift
• Haven
• Onyx
• Orion
• Pitfall
• Shutout
• Simplex
• Skyline
• Vertigo

You’ll notice the above list includes a new map that you may not be familiar with: Orion. Designed for both Slayer and Extraction, this Forge Island map was designed by community Forger SecretSchnitzel. Take a peek at the below screenshot:

Once the playlist launches, head over to the War Games Feedback section and let us know what you think.

Community Choice: Proving Ground

In last week’s Community Choice Poll, we asked which objective game type you wanted to see included in Proving Ground at launch. Extraction was the decisive victor, grabbing over 50 percent of your votes. Because we are designing the playlist from scratch (including maps, weapon placement, and game types) the design, build, and test time required to get this playlist to you by Monday required that we launch with one Slayer game type and objective game type of your choosing. That said, we do have plans to introduce more objective game types to the playlist in the near future, and at launch, both Slayer and Extraction will be playable on all 10 maps.

Lastly, as stated last week, the Top 200 will move to the Proving Ground playlist, and the Team Slayer Top 200 will conclude with season 2. The final rankings of season 2 will be posted next week, and the Team Slayer CSR will not be regularly reset moving forward.

We hope you enjoy the Proving Ground playlist and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

HFFL: This is one playlist I likely won’t be venturing into. I can easily admit I’m not a stellar slayer and don’t want to go against 2.0’s and higher. I’ll stick to the many other playlists were I have a fighting chance.

Extraction playlist

If you’ve been missing Extraction in Halo 4 Matchmaking, this weekly update is about to get even better. Extraction is our featured rotational playlist from March 17 to March 31, so if you’re all about initiating Extraction processes and defending beacons (no, not bacon, stop it) then grab some friends and hop into the playlist while it’s available.

HFFL: Now this one I may just check out. It’s a shame that this 343 created game type isn’t always in matchmaking. This and Dominion as a 6v6 playlist would be a nice alternative when you don’t have a full 8 for BTB.

Come work on Halo: Environment Artist

Back in January, we profiled our then open Franchise Writer position and received many résumés from passionate fans.The last “Open Position” feature received a great response, so we figured it’d be nice to shed some light on a new position in the studio. An Environment Artist role is currently available.

To get an idea of what the position and team are about, I sat down with RJ Ranola, a Senior Environment Artist at 343. Read below to find out what he loves about creating Halo spaces as well as tips for those who have dreamed of working in games.

Hey, RJ! What attracted you to working here on the 343 Industries team?

It was really the talent pool that 343 was establishing. When I was brought on board, it seemed like 343 was grabbing artists from all sorts of studios to create this giant all-star team. I was and am a big fan of Sparth and his work, and it’s incredible that he’s now our art director. This was really something that I never imagined happening. I knew I had to go for it, and I got it. It was definitely the talent. They were putting together an amazing team and I had to get in.

What is the best part about working on the environment art team?

Definitely the people – that’s the top thing. I love the group of guys and girls that I work with. Everyone is so talented and comes from different backgrounds and studios. I feel like we’re always growing as artists and never plateauing. We really feed off of each other in terms of both talent level and enthusiasm. It’s been really great.

Also, the really special thing about Halo is that we’re able to create stuff that doesn’t exist anywhere else. There is a ton of room for creativity, and not all games give an artist this luxury. However, with the Forerunners, there’s nothing you can reference – no photos, no past work. You can’t look up “what does this alien race look like?” We had to take the limited info available and create the Forerunner look, and make it awesome. With the UNSC, we are somewhat limited in creating things that have to be functional, but we still have creative liberties in designing them. We ask ourselves questions like “500 years in the future, what will the piece of military machinery look like?” The UNSC tech and machinery is functional, but we still get to have a lot of creative liberties on determining the look and feel.

What have been some of your favorite Halo environments to create?

Working on the Mammoth was really incredible. Being the largest land vehicle we had ever created, the Mammoth fell on the environment art side because it was really a moving environment. Being able to create a moving vehicle was the coolest opportunity. It also became a Mega Bloks set, so it was pretty special to give it to my kid and say “Dad made this!”

HFFL: And that Mega Bloks set is AWESOME! You can read my many part review of this set at the following links: 

• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 1 Packaging and Sorting
• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 2 Lower and Second Levels
• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 3 Removable Roof Panels
• Halo Toy Review: Mega Bloks UNSC Mammoth; Part 4 Weapons, Wheels, Minifigs and more!

What is the biggest challenge of working as an environment artist?

For Halo 4, it was really pushing the Xbox 360 to its limit. It was a big challenge, trying to push the graphics. Now the challenge is to set the bar for next gen, and try to deliver on what the Xbox One is capable of handling.

What advice would you give to an aspiring artist who wants to work in environment art?

My best advice is to be passionate and focus on what you enjoy creating. If you like sci-fi, really set up your portfolio that way. If you want to work on real world designs, focus on things that exist, things that people can associate with. If you want to work on medieval and fantasy worlds, do it. Just specialize your portfolio to showcase what you love doing, and be very passionate, not only about art and games, but also about why you want to be an environment artist. It’s important to be passionate about creating worlds that help sell the story and shape the player’s experiences. A lot of environment art is telling the story beyond the script and characters – through your art, you can tell the story of what a space is all about.

HFFL: Sounds like some very sound advice!

Thanks, RJ! I had a blast picking your brain, and will now let you get back to designing some spaces that we’ll be running around in soon.

Thanks for having me!

Screenshot Spotlight: Majestic 

Last week, we turned the spotlight on FOTUS. This week, we decided to go with a rather majestic map. Take a gander at the following Skyline screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring fire and then tag it with “Fire” and “Halo Waypoint”, and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

-Sal

Bravo writes this week’s bulletin.

Community Playdate
Just a few days ago, Medal Madness made its way into Halo 4 Matchmaking. We’ve gotten some great feedback on the game type (thank you!) but if you haven’t tried the playlist, we suggest you do so immediately. To help you start slaying with style (and prep you for the upcoming community playdate – details below), here’s a crash course:

At the start of the game (and each mini-round), one of Halo 4’s medals will be displayed on screen with a 1:00 timer. Your goal is to get more of the specified medal in the time period than the other team.

Your player traits will change with each mini-round. Sometimes, this means only your primary weapon will change, but other times, this may mean turning invisible with Active Camo, which is the case for the Assassination round. The team that wins the mini-round will get one point. First team to seven points wins!

If you think you’ve got what it takes to rack up some medals, join us for next week’s community playdate.

HFFL: I have played four games of Medal Madness. While the first game was great for me, the second one not so much, then the third and fourth were pretty bad. So your “mileage may vary” with this game type. It will play to some of your strengths, but also your weaknesses as well.

If it feels like we just did a playdate last week, then you are indeed feeling very right. It just so happens that we really like to play Halo and play with you, so we’re comin’ back for more.

This Monday, March 10, we’ll be running some Medal Madness matches in custom games. To further contribute to the madness, we’ll be inviting community members at random, so just send a message to one of the gamertags below:

• B is for Bravo
• bs angel
• TTL L askan

We’ll be mixing up teams and players regularly, so if you don’t receive a response or invite right away, just keep spamming us. No, just kidding. Please don’t do that.

We can’t wait to play with you, and hope to see some of you then!

Matchmaking Playlist Update

Our March 17th Matchmaking Update will bring with it some goodies, one of which is Extraction. If you haven’t had a chance to check out one of Halo 4’s exclusive game types, hop into the playlist – Extraction is a unique blend of attack / defend gameplay that often results in tug o’ war matches, last second conversion, and nonstop action. It will be available as our featured playlist through March 30th.

Last week, we announced that an update was on the way for the Team Throwdown playlist. As I write this, our sustain team is designing a fresh experience for players. This update will take the form of new settings, a new map pool, and a new playlist name – Proving Ground.

The Proving Ground playlist will be the new arena for Halo 4 players to enjoy BR-start gameplay that will feature an increased variety of power weapons, the removal of Personal Ordnance and Armor Abilities, and the addition of the motion tracker. The settings are similar to Legendary Slayer BRs, but do not include the Assault Rifle as a secondary weapon, and instead focus on precision weapon gameplay. Additionally, the Team Slayer Top 200 will be moving to the Proving Ground playlist, ranking the top players in this new playlist each week, which is specifically designed for a new competitive experience in Halo 4.

HFFL: Whew boy. Will this really help Throwdown? Changing a name doesn’t help all that much. Fixing features for those who play that playlist will benefit them. However, Throwdown has never had the kind of population that warrants this much attention. Moving the Team Slayer Top 200 to this playlist is going to be the telling point for the soon to be renamed Proving Ground playlist. If it doesn’t see a marked improvement in population, I highly suggest 343 just remove it and give the majority of the community a playlist they’ve been asking for. What might that be? Team Objective would be excellent, as would Team Heavies. Heavies saw the HIGHEST population by a rotational playlist game type since it’s inception. And I know a lot of my friends and I want Objective to come back. So I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

We’re excited about the playlist, and will have additional details for you next week regarding the map pool and more. This week, though, we want to know which objective game type you want to see included at launch in Proving Ground!

Community Choice Poll: Proving Ground Game Types

In Proving Ground, objective game types will be fast paced, competitive, and in general, pretty awesome. Before we launch this new playlist, we want to know which objectives you want to play first. Check out the choices below and vote on your favorite option!

Capture the Flag
Proving Ground CTF will feature symmetrical gameplay with a mix of on-disc, DLC, and community-made maps.

Extraction
Proving Ground Extraction will feature Battle Rifle gameplay coupled with strategically placed and timed power weapons that results in a fast paced, teamwork-oriented experience.

King of the Hill
Proving Ground King of the Hill will feature time-based sequential hill movement. This means that the hill will move along a set path on set time intervals, providing structured gameplay that promotes map control.

Head here to vote on the Waypoint forums, where voting will be open for approximately four days. Next week we’ll announce the Community Choice winner along with the Matchmaking Update!

HFFL: For once, I’m actually not voting. Though if I were, I’d vote King of the Hill. I again point to the fact the CTF has a dedicated playlist, while Extraction (a fun game type) has NO commendations attached to it. King of the Hill doesn’t have it’s own dedicated playlist and DOES have commendations attached to it. So, IMO, it makes the most sense and benefits more gamers than the other two.

New Halo 4 Marine Armor Avatar Items
If you didn’t catch it last week, the Xbox Live Marketplace just got a bit more UNSC armor in stock. The Halo 4 Infantry Armor and Space Armor variants are now available for your protective pleasure.

If you’d like to armor up, head over to the Xbox Live Marketplace where you’ll find these new items as well as all Halo 4 avatar items.   

Knowledge Drop: Community Questions
Every once in a while, we receive some awesome questions from you across the forums, Twitter, Facebook, or while walking to lunch in the rain (you know who you are). Sometimes, we can’t answer these questions because they deal with future projects or adventures, or we may just be trying to get a sandwich at the local sandwich shop. Other times, we can answer them, and that’s when I run over to our Franchise team and ask if they can provide me with some juicy info for the weekly update. Luckily for all of us, this is one of those times.

Our very own Jeremy Patenaude and Brian Reed stopped by and answered a few of your fiction questions from Twitter over the past week. Check ‘em out below.

Q: The Minister of Discovery seems to think his people squandered the Mantle. Was it “given” to them until Humanity was ready? – @AncientHistoryx
A: Despite his heavy critique of the Covenant, Discovery’s perspective is not entirely objective, so it’s important to take everything he says within the framework of his skewed worldview.

Q: Mortal Dictata was great! What happened to Sav Fel? Along with Endurance, there is no more info about his fate. – @ShadowDRAC086
A: Right now, Mortal Dictata’s events are the most details we’re giving out about our bird buddy Sav Fel. We’re just glad we’ve got a Skirmisher among the ranks of named characters.

Q: DeMarco was born on Aug 24, yet he says his birthday is Mar 5th in Issue #3. Can you clear this up? – @Mr_Admirals
A: Clearly someone in the UNSC Paperwork Filing Corps filed the wrong paperwork.

If you’d like to ask a question for a future Bulletin, be sure to drop us a line on Twitter or via the discuss link at the bottom of the article!

Next up, bs angel is back with another Screenshot Spotlight!

Screenshot Gallery: FOTUS
Last week, we turned the spotlight on the color purple. This week, we decided to go with a mythical and magical creature. Er, helmet. Take a gander at the following FOTUS screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: I like two of this week’s screenshots. The first being Erosion by DELUCA34. I like the way it seems to be calling out to me.

The other being Static by SPEXIL.  The electro static charge the Spartan is putting out is pretty cool, IMO!

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot on the map Skyline and then tag it with “Skyline” and “Halo Waypoint”, and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin! 

The see the bulletin on HaloWaypoint, go HERE.

-Sal

Just made available today are the Halo 4 Marine Infantry Armor (left) and the Halo 4 Marine Space Armor (right).

To get the Infantry armor you can either buy from the Marketplace through your XBOX or go to XBOX.com’s marketplace HERE.

To get the Space armor you can either buy from the Marketplace through your XBOX or go to XBOX.com’s marketplace HERE.

Hmm, I’m not sure which one I’ll get. Will you buy either/both of these? Reply below. (it’s free to register! Also, you can join the HFFL forums and discuss this topic: http://halofanforlife.freeforums.org Again, free to join!!

-Sal

Bravo writes this week’s bulletin.

Last week, I predicted that this month’s community playdate would result in numerous interoffice debates, references to match highlights, and food fights. While I have been unsuccessful at actually getting the third activity in that list to happen (one day, I tell you), the first few days of this week have absolutely been full of sly references to Monday’s mischief. Several of us hopped into the Big Rumble playlist on February 24, and before each game, bs angel not only encouraged everyone in the lobby to target me during the match, but also made sure that everyone voted for anything but my favorite voting option. Essentially, she was doing her best to make sure I was having an awful time. Despite her best efforts, though, we (myself included) had an awesome time playing with many of you, and also enjoying the chaos that is Big Rumble Oddball on Exile. We ran into a bunch of community members, including several of you who kicked our butts. As usual, if this applies to you, you are now banned from Halo 4. (Just kidding! Or am I?)

If you missed us this week, don’t worry – we’ve got another community playdate right around the corner. On March 10th, we’ll be playing some Medal Madness. Speaking of – let’s get into this week’s Matchmaking update.

Matchmaking Playlist Update

This Monday, we’ll be bringing some new freshness into Halo 4 Matchmaking, including a brand new featured playlist and Community Choice Poll winner. Last week, we asked which throwback Rumble Pit game type you wanted to see in Matchmaking, and your votes have been tallied.

Securing nearly half of the community votes, Rumble Swords was selected by you for inclusion into the Rumble Pit playlist, and the game type will be available in Matchmaking this coming Monday! If you’ve got the urge to do a bit of slicing and dicing or want to rack up some kills for your Energy Sword weapon commendation, hop into the playlist and do some damage.

HFFL: Dang, I was hoping for Rockets…Ah well.

The March 3rd Matchmaking update will also include our newest game type, Medal Madness. This 4 vs. 4 game type brings an entirely new experience to Halo 4 War Games, and we have been playing (I mean, cough, play testing) every chance we get. Rather than ramble on about how cool I think it is, I sat down with TTL L askan, one of our multiplayer designers, to talk about the game type and also what’s in the works in the Matchmaking department.

Hey, Laskan!

WHATSUP, BRAVADO! It’s not often that we get to talk here in the office so I gotta say it’s nice to hear from you. I love hearing your buttery-soft dulcet tones live and in person. For anyone who doesn’t know, who maybe hasn’t heard Bravo call a game of Halo (Halo 4 Global Championship FTW), his voice is pretty darn easy on the ears. I often wonder if the world even knows what it’s missing since he decided against pursuing a career as a vocalist. Also, dude, I thought Ave Maria was a bold choice for karaoke.

Thanks for the kind words! I’ve always had a soft spot for 19th century French classics. Let’s start with the game type on everyone’s mind. Tell us about Medal Madness!

I’m glad you’re asking about the game type. We’ve never done anything like this in Halo, and I’m excited to see what the community thinks. Medal Madness is a 4 vs. 4 team game type where each side works to collect the most of a requisite medal in a one-minute time period, which we refer to as mini-rounds. The team that collects the most of said medal will win the mini-round and earn a point. The first team to earn seven points (by winning mini-rounds) wins the match. To facilitate the earning of medals, we dynamically shift player traits as the new mini-rounds begin, and there are no breaks in the action (as opposed to actual round-based game types). As a quick example, when the Double Kill medal is the goal, the rules of the game mirror SWAT – you’ll immediately have no shields, no radar, and a Battle Rifle will pop into each player’s hand. Headshots galore!

HFFL: Okay, this sounds pretty cool. I’m definitely going to give this new game type a gp!

What are some of your favorite mini-rounds in Medal Madness?

There are a bunch of cool, and maybe I should say, unexpected mini-rounds in Medal Madness. A few of my favorites are Snapshot, Assassination, and Hail Mary. One thing I particularly enjoy is watching the mini-rounds shift and how the proximity of players changes so dramatically. Watching players go from Binary Rifle kills to Melee Medals is a riot. Since you never know what’s next, no two games are ever the same.

Here are the different medals that are available in Medal Madness in each of our randomly generated mini-rounds:

• Double Kill
• Snapshot
• Assassination
• Hail Mary
• Spartan Laser
• Melee
• Supercombine
• Rail Gun
• Binary Rifle Kill
• Sword / Hammer Kill
• Rocket / Fuel Rod Kills

Any plans for Medal Madness after the playlist is over?

If I have my way, and I sometimes do, it’s going into Action Sack. I think Medal Madness fits really well there, and Action Sack has seen a real resurgence since January’s inclusion of Husky Raid, Paintball, and Clang of the Hill, so I’m hoping that this game type will help to continue that. If it isn’t obvious, I’m excited about the prospects for this game type.

HFFL: Indeed it does sound great for Action Sack!

What other game types do we have in the pipe for the near future?

I’ve got a couple of things in the works in our Sustain Design Lab. The first thing we’re working on are some changes to the Team Throwdown playlist, and that update will be coming in the middle of March. While the playlist will still emphasize balance and precision shooting, we are looking at making some changes that we’ll discuss once that update draws nearer.

One other thing I’m working on (be on the lookout for shurikens as we discuss this, my friend) is a little something called Ninja Assassins. Details on this one are still shrouded, in black, but we might be able to release more information in updates to come. Or the game type might appear from the shadows, decimate an entire village, throw down a smoke bomb and vanish.

Were you impressed by my Oddball skills on Exile in this past Community Playdate? Were you?

Bravo, we know you’re good, no one can deny that. I’d be remiss in my duty though, if I didn’t warn ya young sir, that you’d better show the proper respect to a cagey vet. I’ve put down 350,000 (confirmed) who thought that they were up to the challenge. On the virtual battlefield my Battle Rifle doesn’t discern, it lays waste without prejudice to any and all who would seek to oppose me. Many great foes, not unlike yourself, have witnessed firsthand what waits for those who’d try. I beseech you Bravo, be oh so very careful what you wish for, as you just might get it.

I’m not sure what all of that means, but I’ll take that as a “yes, I was very impressed!” Thanks for taking some time and chatting with me, Laskan.

Anytime Partner!

Halo Escalation #3
As of today, the third issue of Halo: Escalation is now available! In this issue, Commander Palmer confronts the traitor who has betrayed her team as the Covenant closes in on their position. With time running out, Lasky is forced to make a costly sacrifice to save the peace delegation from the impending attack. If you haven’t read the first two issues, you can catch up on an introduction from issue #1 here, or if you’re a bit further ahead, you can peek into Halo: Escalation #2 here. If you’re ready to get started on issue #3, read on below, and if you aren’t caught up, beware – spoilers be ahead.

Splitting up, Captain Lasky and Spartan Ray set off to restore communications with UNSC Infinity while Commander Palmer and her Spartans escort the diplomats toward a Covenant redoubt where they can better defend themselves.

En route, Palmer discovers the enemies they’ve been fighting are actually mercenaries . . . though who they are working for remains a mystery . . .

To continue reading, head to your local retailer or download the third issue of Halo: Escalation from Dark Horse. We’ve also put together some wallpapers of the Halo: Escalation #3 cover art for you to adorn your devices with, because we kind of sort of like you, and your devices, too.

Surface
Mobile
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Waypoint Mobile App Update
As the team moves forward (full speed ahead) with new projects (insert absolutely no new info here), we are sometimes required to take a step back and examine everything that we’re supporting in order to ensure that we’re delivering the best experiences possible. On August 1, 2014, we will be discontinuing support for the Halo Waypoint mobile apps (including the ATLAS feature) on Windows Phone, iOS, and Android. It is a difficult decision to end support for any element of the Halo franchise, but doing so allows us to apply the people and resources used on those legacy items to focus on future Halo projects, including of course, Halo for Xbox One. We are grateful to those of you who found the Halo Waypoint mobile app useful – you have helped make our products better.
So what does this mean? On August 1, 2014, the Halo Waypoint mobile apps will no longer be available for download from the respective mobile app marketplaces. The decommissioning of these apps will in no way impact the Halo 4 Stats app, and you’ll also still be able to access your Halo: Reach information, including Game History, Challenges, and Stats, on Halo Waypoint, which is optimized for mobile and tablet devices. If you have the Halo Waypoint app on your device, you can still use it to access your Halo stats, but the ATLAS feature will no longer be supported. Also, if you delete the Halo Waypoint app from your device, you will not be able to re-download it.

On the same date, we’ll also be discontinuing the rendering of custom Halo: Reach Spartan images on http://www.halowaypoint.com. If you played Halo: Reach before the service is decommissioned, your Spartan image will be the last one rendered on Waypoint. If you play Halo: Reach for the first time after the service has been decommissioned, you will see the default Halo: Reach Spartan image.

HFFL: Well darn. I was hoping for a nice update. Though I do agree, better to discontinue it and put more effort into the next game. As for the Reach Spartan, well, I haven’t changed my armor in AGES.

Here’s my Reach Spartan: IRON MAN!

If you need further assistance beyond that, please use one of the Xbox Support contact methods here.

Next up, bs angel is back with a brand new screenshot spotlight!

Screenshot Spotlight: Purple
Last week, we turned the spotlight on the Magnum. This week, we decided to go with a color intermediate between red and blue. Take a gander at the following purple screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

HFFL: The following is  a screenshot of the whole gallery (click to make bigger):

HFFL: My favorite of this bunch is the first one, here in it’s full resolution (click to make bigger):

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring the FOTUS helmet and then tag it with “FOTUS” and “Halo Waypoint”, and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

To read the whole bulletin (which I’ve actually copied all except some images, here) go to the HaloWaypoint website HERE.

-Sal

Bravo writes this week’s bulletin. A little talk about cupcakes then on to the Halo stuff.

Community Playdate

This coming Monday, the 343 team will be hopping into Matchmaking. Normally, we enter as a team, and this results in a mix of wins, losses, and good times. This month’s community playdate, however, will be slightly different. We’ll be heading into the Big Rumble playlist, which means we’ll be split up and playing against each other as well as many of you on Monday night from 6-8pm PST. This will likely result in interoffice arguments, bragging, and emailing one another screenshots of Post Game Carnage Reports on Tuesday, which means it’ll really just be like any other Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, bs angel is already telling me how badly she’ll be beating everyone come Monday.

We hope you’ll join us in Matchmaking on Monday evening! Look for the following gamertags:

HaloWaypoint
bs angel
B is for Bravo
TTL L askan

Matchmaking Playlist Update

On Monday, Big Rumble premiered in Matchmaking, with the Community Choice Poll-winning Quick Draw available in the voting options. The playlist features 12-player Free-for-All for the first time in Halo 4 Matchmaking, and will be around until March 3rd. Next week, we’ll have some details about Medal Madness (coming 3/3) but today, we’ve got another opportunity for you to vote on which game type you’d like to see added to Halo 4 Matchmaking in our next update.

Community Choice: Rumble Pit Game Types 

For this week’s Community Choice Poll, we’re asking which throwback Rumble Pit game type you’d like to see added to Halo 4’s playlist. We’ve got three options that may take you down Matchmaking memory lane, so let the nostalgia kick in and vote for your favorite in the forums.

Rumble Snipers 
Players are equipped with UNSC Sniper Rifles, Magnums, and dreams of headshots and Snapshots.

Rumble Swords
Be quick, nimble, and for goodness sake, watch your back.

Rumble Rockets
Explosions. Explosions everywhere.

Head here to vote on the Waypoint forums where voting will be open for approximately four days. Next week we’ll announce the Community Choice winner along with the Matchmaking Update!

HFFL: I’m torn here. I’m not one for sniping. Rockets are too powerful, yet might be fun. There’s already an all sword game in Action Sack called “Clang of the Hill.” So I think I’m going to pick Rockets just for the ‘SPLOSIONS!

Spartan Assault Xbox One Content Update

The next time you log into Halo: Spartan Assault on Xbox One, you will be prompted to download a content update. This update improves general stability and also fixes several reported bugs. We’d like to thank you for your feedback, which led to many of the fixes in this update. The full breakdown of what is included is below:

• Fixed assorted game crashes.
• Fixed an issue where the player would automatically fire when exiting a turret.
• Fixed an issue where the player would occasionally be unable to exit a turret.
• Fixed an issue where the player would stay in a slow walking, aiming, or shooting stance.
• Fixed an issue where players who have completed or made progress with challenges on another device did not show progress, despite challenges being complete.
• Fixed an issue where Kinect voice chat would play through speaker, even when a headset was plugged in.
• Fixed an issue where upon hijacking a Wraith, players sometimes became stuck.
• Fixed assorted grenade indicator issues.
• Fixed assorted audio issues.
• Fixed an issue where Campaign medals would pop up while playing Co-op.

Screenshot Spotlight: Magnum
HFFL: There are some nice screenshots in this week’s spotlight. I liked the following two:

Next week’s Spotlight subject is “Purple“. Tag your screenshot with “Purple” and “Halo Waypoint” and you much just see your screenshot in next week’s bulletin.

-Sal

Matchmaking Playlist Update

This coming Monday, something “big” is on the way: our next featured playlist, Big Rumble. The playlist offers action-packed 12-player Free-for-All for the first time in Halo 4 Matchmaking, and will be available until March 3rd. Gameplay will take place on larger maps, and all DLC from the Crimson and Castle map packs will be included in the voting options. The full list of game types are as follows.

Big Rumble Game Types
• Infinity Slayer
• Slayer Pro
• Regicide
• King of the Hill
• Oddball
• Quick Draw

Speaking of Quick Draw…
Thanks to your community votes, the playlist will be the first to feature one of Halo 4 Matchmaking’s newest game types: Quick Draw!

A true test of the trigger, Quick Draw equips players with Magnums, Frag Grenades, and the Dexterity Support Upgrade. If you think you’ve got the fastest pistol in Matchmaking, hop into the playlist to join the action. You should also hope that you don’t run into bs angel in Quick Draw, because she’s been mercilessly beating everyone in our playlab. I call hackz.

Additionally, we’ll be slightly modifying the join-in-progress parameters for several playlists and game types come Monday. These updated parameters should provide for more optimal join-in-progress scenarios in Halo 4 Matchmaking. We thank you for your feedback, which has led to the newly optimized settings.

Lastly, if you’re still looking to master any of Halo 4’s vehicle commendations, be sure to head into the Heavies playlist before Monday. Completing the Splatter commendation will unlock the Verdant visor, mastering the Wheelman commendation will unlock the Aviator BOND helmet variant, and completing all vehicle commendations will award you the Air Assault VERG Armor. If you’ve got your eye on any of these, jump into the playlist and start doin’ some damage!

Halo eValentines

HFFL: This section has dowloadable Halo themed Valentines. I’m choosing to only show one of them, ATM. It’s of course the most inappropriate one…

Gamers for Giving Recap

This past weekend I (Bravo) flew over to Michigan, where they’ve had too much snowfall and it’s entirely too cold. Luckily, the snow slowed down a bit for the weekend, and hundreds of gamers from the Midwest were able to make their way to Eastern Michigan University to compete in a variety of games while contributing to a great cause. For the past few years, Gamers for Giving has been an awesome gathering of Midwest Halo players, and it’s safe to say that this year was no exception. From well-known players like Walshy and Strongside to dozens of eager competitors, the event was packed with top talent and energy for Halo 4.

The Halo 4 action kicked off with some major upsets, as professional players dropped games to up-and-coming amateur players and new names rose to the top. Halfway throughout the tournament, I started to hear murmurings about a team that hadn’t lost a game yet. That team was VwS Cryptic, a group of emerging players who made their mark on competitive Halo this weekend with a first-place victory, taking down several more decorated and veteran rosters along the way.

After the event, I had a chance to meet the team and set up an interview. I was among the many who watched this weekend and were curious about who the players on this team were and exactly how they managed to kick so much ass. Read below to learn a bit about their history and get to know the players.

Hey, guys! Congrats on the big win this weekend, and thanks so much for joining me today. Tell me, did you guys come into the tournament expecting to take first place? 

Sargoth: Thank you, Bravo! We put in a lot of practice for this event and we knew, considering how we were playing online and meshing together, that we were gonna win the way we did.

Tragic: We expected to take first, you have to come into every tourney expecting to take first. Taking it in the way we did was definitely amazing.

WinntuR: We were one of the few teams that were willing to put a lot of practice going into the tournament. With our practice and experience as a team, we thought we had a solid chance of taking it all.

One of the coolest things about this weekend was the fact that I had never seen your team play together before. For those out there who haven’t seen you guys play before, tell us a little bit about when and how you got into playing Halo competitively. 

Sargoth: I started playing Halo at a pretty young age when tournaments were starting to get big. There was a local MLG event and I decided to go and loved every second of it!

WinntuR: My first time competing was in Halo: Reach at Columbus 2012 where I placed 17th. It was a great experience from a competitive aspect. I then continued to compete in small Halo 4 tournaments and really enjoyed the competition.

Svspector: My Halo career started toward the end Halo 3, and I mainly played the MLG Playlist. I started to get competitive with Halo toward the middle of Reach, however I didn’t go to my first tournament until Halo 4.

Tragic: I’ve been gaming competitively since the middle of Reach. I was solid but never really put the time into it or went to tournaments. The first tournament I attended was AGL Chicago and I think my performance stood out, which helped me get onto better teams.

Before we get into the tournament itself, how did you guys come to team up with each other, and what advice would you give to skilled players who might be looking for teams but not know where to start? 

Sargoth: My advice to other gamers is to just be humble to everyone you come across. You never know who will shine at the next tournament!

Svspector: WinntuR, Tragic, and I have gone to previous Halo 4 tournaments as a team, however our original fourth teammate (Nemassist) couldn’t make this event. We were running games with some other players, but nothing really clicked until we picked up Sargoth.

WinntuR: We’ve all been a part of many different teams. Eventually, when you come upon three other solid players, it’s important to realize that you may not immediately be the best team out there. However, if you can stick it out with the same players and put in the practice, the team will learn to play together, and everyone will benefit.

Tragic: Look for four players who are willing to put the time and effort into getting better as a team. It takes a lot of patience to find a good team, but once you’ve got the right group of players, it’s worth it.

Moving onto Gamers for Giving, I believe you guys only dropped two games the entire tournament. To what would you attribute the dominance? 

Tragic: Honestly, we didn’t plan on losing at all because we had that much confidence in each other. We knew coming into the event our teamwork was unreal and we had the individual skill to match it. The only games we lost were two Simplex games due to map control.

WinntuR: Coming into the tournament, we actually weren’t very confident in Slayer game types but we also knew we had teamwork that not all teams can match. The Simplex games that we did lose were really close games, and minor mistakes ended up costing us those few games.

What would you say some of your best or favorite game types were this weekend? 

Tragic: Unfortunately, both of our favorite game types (Dispatch CTF and Adrift CTF) got taken out. [Laughs.] The game type I enjoyed most would have to be Onyx CTF.

Sargoth: Onyx Slayer and Haven Extraction were my personal favorite game types to play with this team.

Svspector: Our best Slayer game type was Onyx due to our map control. Our best overall Objective game type was Station 9 Extraction, because of the way we rotated before each Extraction point ended and held map control throughout the game.

WinntuR: We were just overall confident in our objective gameplay on all maps.

Tragic: Honestly, we just da best at all the game types. #cryptic [Laughs.]

Outside of competitive multiplayer itself, what are some of your favorite things about Halo?

Tragic: I would say traveling and all the awesome people I’ve met.

Svspector: For me, it would have to be the tournaments. It’s amazing being able to see all the people you talk to online in real life, but also being able to travel around the world to do something you love.

Tragic: This year’s Gamers for Giving was the most fun I’ve had at a tournament so far. I love this team!

WinntuR: Meeting new people who can’t spell, like my teammates. You should see the un-spellchecked version of this interview.

Sargoth: [Laughs.] I’ve met my closest friends at Halo events, and it has changed my life in ways I can’t even explain.

Tragic: Bravo, can I ask you a question?

But of course! Nobody ever asks me questions. Shoot! 

Tragic: You would be my hero if you grow your hair out again. Can you do that for me?

[Laughs.] Would doing so really make me your hero? 

Tragic: Yes.

Then you got it. 

WinntuR: While we’re off topic … to be honest, I really want to compete in Peggle.

Peggle was pretty incredible this weekend. Who’s the best Peggler on the team? 

Tragic: WinntuR, of course.

Svspector: Me.

Sargoth: Me.

WinntuR: No competition here.

Thanks again for joining me, guys, and also for contributing to Gamers for Giving this weekend. We all had a blast watching you play. Congrats again on winning the tournament, and enjoy your Deadeye helmet and FOTUS armor! 

Thanks again for joining me, guys, and also for contributing to Gamers for Giving this weekend. We all had a blast watching you play. Congrats again on winning the tournament, and enjoy your Deadeye helmet and FOTUS armor!

Sargoth: No problem, Bravo. Thank you so much for taking your time to be with us!

Tragic: Thank you! It was a blast competing this weekend.

Svspector: Thanks for having us here, Bravo. It was fantastic being able to support GFG and everything that they do while playing the game that we love!

WinntuR: Had an amazing time this weekend, the event was run very well. Thanks for having us!
——————–
If you’d like to catch a rebroadcast of the tournament finals, check out the video on demand here. Next up, bs angel has selected some of her favorite screenshots which also happen to be rather appropriate for this week.

Screenshot Spotlight: Love

HFFL: Above is a screencap of the gallery. Here’s the one I liked the best of those:

I dunno why. Guess it’s the Pepto Bismol talking, LOL!

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot of a pistol and then tag it with “Magnum” and “Halo Waypoint”, and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

As always, if you want to read the full bulletin you can go to the link HERE.

-Sal