Yet another great person with 343 is leaving…sigh.

Why is this happening? Why are the GOOD ones leaving? I’d venture a guess, but I know it would likely stir an argument with some folks.

So suffice to say, this is a blow to the Halo franchise. I know people come and go in business all the time. It just seems like Halo/343 is losing people they shouldn’t and people that I wish would leave, well…

You’ll be missed Chris.

-Sal

Bravo writes this week’s bulletin and it shows. It’s concise, to the point and chock full of Halo without the added fluffery.

He starts off with an article about the conceptualization to completion of the Halo 4 Global Championship event stage design.

Bravo then segues nicely to the announcement of Spartan Assault on both XBOX 360 and XBOX One.

Halo Spartan Assault

Three key points of interest in this article are:
• A brand new online Co-op mode with new missions featuring the Flood (Very cool. I’ll be looking for folks to game with me in this!!!)
• The Operation Hydra DLC expansion pack (Looks like this will come with the game immediately without further purchase)
• An expanded arsenal that brings you more weapons, armor abilities, and upgrades (In the Win8 device version you had to pay real money to upgrade to the rocket launcher. Looks like you may not have to in the console version. YEAH!)

Bravo added these two graphics to use as wallpapers if you’d like. Click to make MUCH BIGGER! Right click to save.

He mentions again about the “Smashin Punkins” playlist only available until the end of today. I played it a few times yesterday. It’s okay. Worth play a few games for the fun of it.

Guilty Spark Emblem Unlock

Okay, now THIS is pretty cool. 343 will be unlocking the Guilty Spark emblem for FREE on Nov 6th ONLY. So long as you complete just ONE game in either War Games of Spartan Ops matchmaking, you’ll get this emblem!

So will you tell your friends who haven’t played Halo in awhile about this? Or keep it to yourself so you can brag when they come to game with you in Halo 4 from time to time?

Also, on Halo 4’s anniversary there will also be a 24 hour special playlist. No further details on that at the moment.

Team Slayer Update

Text taken directly from the bulletin:

As I mentioned earlier, I sometimes have the pleasure of working on projects from beginning to end. Since the conclusion of the Halo 4 Global Championship, one of the things that we’ve been working on is the Team Slayer CSR program that I’ve been detailing over the past few weeks. In conjunction with designers such as Josh Menke and Quinn DelHoyo, we’ve been developing a program that highlights and showcases the top-ranked players in the Team Slayer playlist. We’re planning on launching this program within the next month or so, and we’ve got some new details about the update:

• Team Slayer will be moved to a team-based CSR rather than individual when the program launches (Hmm, I like this idea. Promotes TEAM playing instead of solo play within a team based playlist)
• Top players will be able to regularly see where they stand against other players on Halo Waypoint
• Team Slayer will see a CSR reset when the program launches in order to have all players start on a level playing field, and also to accommodate the update to the CSR format (Oh? Well darn, I was hoping for ALL playlists to have a reset. But I’ll take this over nothing)
• Moving forward, the Team Slayer playlist will see predictable CSR resets as we start new periods

We’ll also be evaluating other playlist details (voting options, map / game type offerings, and more) as we look to optimize this playlist and program. We’re really excited to discover which players will step up and prove themselves in the Team Slayer playlist. Be on the lookout for more details and the launch date in upcoming Bulletins.

Community CHoice: Multi-Team Game Types

Okay before I report further, I have to say Multi-team is one of my FAVORITE playlists. So I was bummed when 343 took it away only to have it come back in the rotational playlist.

The good thing is we get to have a vote in which additional gametype will be included for those two weeks when it’s the playlist of choice in the rotational playlist.

Folks, I’m going to ask, no BEG that you vote for Multi-Regicide. Regicide is barely found now except in BTB or Rumble Pit. Snipers is already it’s own playlist. And Rock and Rail can easily already be found in Action Sack. Besides, imagine 12 people having rockets and railguns? Okay at first that may sound fun, but imagine 10 rockets coming at YOU… Not so fun.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, vote for Multi-Regicide! Additionally, this will help me with getting the webseries “MaC Rounds” moving along as it will allow me the opportunity to unlock that Kinglsayer emblem faster. So you’ll be helping ME out by swinging a vote in that direction. Thanks to all of you that do vote for Multi-Regicide.

You can go HERE to vote for Mutli-Regicide. I have already voted. And yes, for Multi-Regicide!

Instead of a Screenshot Spotlight, Bravo shows some pics of Halo Halloween related pics. Some they’ve posted over the course of the week. But for those that haven’t seen them, there’s a nice selection. Here are some the ones I liked from the gallery.

That’s it for the bulletin. A good one this week, I have to say. To read the full bulletin, go here.

-Sal

Okay, really, no offense to whom ever wrote this week’s bulletin, but I don’t really care to hear about a pie throwing contest. Even if it was done to raise money for a charity. There are better ways to do so than to waste food. Sure not as ‘fun’ but still. Not to mention some employees might actually not have wanted to participate in having ‘pies’ thrown in their faces. Yea, I’m sure I sound like a stick in the mud there. Point is, there are better things 343 could be doing with their time than smearing whipped cream pies in their co-workers faces. Um…like FIXING Halo 4 or developing the next Halo game. Totally for charity donations yes, heck, I’m sponsoring a donation page with extra-life.org to raise money for children.

Honestly, I want a Halo bulletin that is all and ONLY about Halo. Maybe I’m in the minority there though.

Anyway, on to the actual Halo news.

Matchmaking Playlist Update
Neutral Flag! YES, it’s about time. Now we can only hope one-flag won’t be too far away?

So Neutral Flag is coming next week to the following maps:

Pitfall

Monolith

Skyline

Ragnarok (as opposed to the misspelled Rangarok, LOL)

Exile

Also, Abandon and Meltdown have been removed as maps from CTF. I’m happy about Abandon going. TOO unbalanced IMO. Meltdown, I was MEH on.

Next up is the next two weeks of the Rotational Playlist changing to the Community Forge Ricochet gametype. There’s a letter from one of the community cartographers (fellow community members who decide if your map is good enough for consideration for matchmaking). One screenshot of each of the six community maps are shown. While this gametype is active, there will be a contest going one, with winners to be announced on November 13.

In addition, Shotgun Ricochet won the community choice poll. It’s said by a small margin.

Players are equipped with Shotguns, Plasma Grenades, and Thruster Packs in Shotgun Ricochet.

A special very limited time gametype will be added just in time for Halloween.
Smashing Punkins

Text from the bulletin:
Here at 343, we support smashing things, especially when it comes to pumpkins (we affectionately refer to them as punkins) and Gravity Hammers. This Haloween, it seemed logical to create a game type in Halo 4 that would unite these two things. Smashing Punkins will be a limited time playlist, available for October 30th and October 31st. The game type will be FFA Oddball, and if you pick up the ball, you’ll immediately turn “punkin orange,” which is a gorgeous gourd-like color currently not available in Halo 4. Those trying to smash the punkin will be a shade of green that we estimate to be the exact color of a healthy pumpkin (sorry, punkin) stem. Players who have the ball should run, and players who do not have the ball should find the punkin, and then smash it. We look forward to celebrating the holiday with some Oddball fun. 

Next month is Halo 4’s anniversary of release and 343 promises some things planned. There may be a CSR reset coming soon…
Text from Bulletin:
Lastly, while we messaged that we expected our update for the Champions Bundle known issues would fall this month, we’ve unfortunately encountered unexpected issues and we’re still actively investigating these issues. We realize that Loadouts resetting is a painful experience and we’ll be sure to provide more information when things are closer to being solidified. 

So…once again, 343 can’t figure something out for a bug in their programming? Whew, gotta love that… sarcasm yes. Come on folks, you are part of Microsoft. I’m genuinely perplexed that they can’t figure this stuff out.

Lastly, the Screenshot Spotlight for this week is Oddball to coincide with gametype ending in the Rotational Playlist on Sunday. I liked a couple of these.

Oddball by CAT WOLFEST

Competition by Gothic Lucy

Next week’s Screenshot Spotlight will feature the ODST Helmet. Tag your screenshots with “ODST” and “Halo Waypoint” for a chance to be featured in the bulletin next week.

Next week is the Halloween special of the Bulletin.

For the FULL bulletin, go to Halo Waypoint.

Here we are again with another bulletin. Man, another week just flies by.

An article about this past 343 community playdate talks about 343 trouncing we lesser people, with them going 11-1.

Several 343ers talk about their experience during the playdate. Notably BS Angel with her more than inappropriate innuendoes regarding balls. It’s kind of played out now Jess. You’re a mom and a professional. Maybe you should take being the senior community manager job more seriously, especially in the official weekly bulletin. Yes, that’s me opinion here, but I’m not the only one who feels/thinks this way. Anyway, moving on…

Community Ricochet game types:

Come Oct 28, we’ll see a new playlist in Community Forge Ricochet. This will include the top 6 finalist from the Ricochet Forge contest. This week, Waypoint asks us which of the above three variants would we like to see in the Community Forge Ricochet playlist. Below is a description of each: 

Quickochet 
Quickochet is the intersection of Ricochet and Halo: Reach’s “Hot Potato.” Loadouts and overall game settings are identical to Ricochet, but after a certain period of time, the ball will explode at random. Get ready to string together some passes!

Shotgun Ricochet 
In Shotgun Ricochet, teams must move together as they inch across the map and eliminate each line of defense. Players are equipped with Shotguns, Plasma Grenades, and Thruster Packs. With lots of in-your-face combat, this game type makes Ricochet up close and personal.

Legendary Ricochet 
Legendary Ricochet pits teams against one another with preset starting Loadouts in Halo 4’s Legendary experience (Battle Rifle starting weapon, no Armor Ability, Motion Tracker enabled).

Of these three, I’m leaning towards Quickochet. I like the idea of having to get rid of the ball fairly quickly. 

Head here to vote on the Waypoint forums.

THe next article is a FUN one. It’s time for HALO-ween! With that we have several Halo Pumpkin Stencils!

I have to say, I may just try one of these out this year!

As if you didn’t already know, Halo 3 is free to XBL Gold members. Download it! You won’t be able to play on Mythic Maps unless you purchase those or use your ODST disc. Still, other than those, you can play everything else in Halo 3, for FREE. I played the first 4 missions last night alone and had a BLAST! Love reliving some memories. Wow, those graphics STILL hold up even after 6 years!

And finally this week’s Screenshot Spotlight: Armor Ability

Seems most of these were active camo. Something I hope returns to being a map pick up in the next game. (Should never have been an ability, IMO)

Anyway, here is my favorite of those posted on Waypoint:

Next week’s spotlight will be on Oddball.

To read the full bulletin, go HERE.

-Sal

The bulletin starts off with some silliness pertaining to shifting teams around to accommodate their needs as well as a moldy banana…

Getting back to the business of Halo though, we have this week’s Matchmaking Playlist Update.

First great piece of news is that the Majestic Map Pack that is currently required to play Team Slayer is going to be taken out, due to feedback Waypoint received. YES! Hopefully all of my bicthin’ and moaning er…criticism and suggestions, helped change that. See folks, it DOES help to let 343 know what you want! The effect takes place this coming Monday.

More playlist news includes the next gametype coming in the rotational playlist: Oddball

Within this gametype will have Halo 4’s Oddball as well as Legendary Oddball. Legendary Oddball is BR starts, with ONE static ball spawn. So whether the ball is scored or played off the map, you KNOW where the ball will spawn next. As well, there will be a THIRD option. Stickyball

Stickyball will be Sticky Detonator starts with Plasma Grenades. This screams Action Sack which is something 343 will be monitoring during this next 2-week period of Oddball in the rotational playlist. This to see if this next alternate gametype is voted on, as well as feedback for it.

Spartan Ops will be Episode 5 with the 3 skulls being activated for this episode. Those being: Grunt Birthday Party, IWHBYD, and Mythic. If you haven’t played Spartan ops in awhile, I highly suggest it. Having that Mythic Skull on definitely makes SpOps harder/challenging and in my opinion more FUN.

To celebrate the return of Oddball as the featured playlist, members of the 343 Industries team will be heading into the new playlist for a Community Playdate. If you’d like to get in on the action, be on the lookout for the following Gamertags:

B is for Bravo 
bs angel 
HaloWaypoint

They’ll be searching in the Oddball playlist from 6-8pm PDT on Oct. 14.

Team Throwdown Update 

Team Throwdown, our premiere competitive playlist, will be updated to GH057ayame’s tournament-community-standard “v5” settings this coming Monday. Extensive testing went into the updated maps and game types, and the list of 11 map / game type combinations now looks like this:

Team Slayer on Abandon
Team Slayer on Haven
Extraction on Haven
Team Slayer on Onyx
Team Slayer on Pitfall
Ricochet on Pitfall
CTF on Simplex
Ricochet on Simplex
CTF on Skyline
Extraction on Station 9
Team Slayer on Vertigo

On the heels of this comes an interview with Ghost himself, copied in full here:

In the new Team Throwdown settings, there have been updates to spawns, weapons, and more, so I grabbed GH057ayame and picked his brain a bit. Get comfy, because this guy can talk.

Hey, GH057ayame! Version 5 of your competitive Halo 4 settings are coming to Matchmaking next week. What are some of the biggest changes? 

GH057ayame: Hey, Bravo! I am excited to see the finalized release of my “v5” settings hit the Team Throwdown playlist next week. We’ve implemented some pretty big changes that improve the playlist. For starters, almost every map variant in the eight-map rotation has received a new spawn system overhaul, so definitely be on the lookout for some new scenery. Next, you’ll notice a new weapon in the playlist – the Concussion Rifle! [Bravo edit: The Concussion Rifle is Halo 4 Global Championship approved]. This weapon has proved to be very demanding in terms of technical skill as well as smarts. I’m eager to see how top competitors will fare with this newly added gun.

You’ll also notice a few new maps appearing in the voting slots – Pitfall and Vertigo. Pitfall is of course a classic, and Vertigo was the asymmetrical map that we’ve needed as a community. Last, but certainly not least, players will have the option of Ricochet in the voting selection.

I’m personally unbelievably excited to see Ricochet played in tournaments. What about the game type specifically made you want to add it to the official list of game types? 

GH057ayame: Well, before release, I perceived Ricochet to be a solid new and fun game type that somehow rolled Halo, Grifball, football and basketball all into one formula. I knew it would be a hit, but I didn’t see the competitive side of it at first. However, when I finally got my hands on the game type, I knew that it had the potential to be a hyper-competitive game type, even more than some other classics.

One of the biggest reasons I like the game type is the customization options. After messing around with the options for quite some time, I finally decided on what the competitive community would enjoy. Thankfully, I was already privileged enough to see some of the professional Halo players compete on this game type, and needless to say, it was exhilarating.

Ricochet has been added on Simplex and Pitfall. What about these two maps made you choose them? 

GH057ayame: Well, each potential map variant went through extensive Forging and testing before even being considered as a possible option. Nevertheless, I wanted to keep the game type as close to the original as possible. I didn’t want to alter the scoring, the goal zones, or even the ball’s respawn point in an attempt to keep it native to original Ricochet. I also wanted to ensure that our competitive community played on map variants that were already in the standard Ricochet playlist.

Therefore, we ended up testing quite a few maps for our rotation – Pitfall, Haven, Dispatch, Onyx, Skyline and Simplex. At the end of the day, Pitfall and Simplex came out on top. These maps required unparalleled coordination and timing in order to win the game. They also provided very consistent and very fair spawn systems for Ricochet – a seemingly hard task to accomplish.

Slayer on The Pit was a game type in Halo 3 that always played differently – sometimes it was incredibly fast paced, and other times it was a standoff. How do you expect Pitfall Team Slayer to play in tournaments in Halo 4? 

GH057ayame: Honestly, I anticipate seeing a similar turnout for Pitfall as well. During any competition, Team Slayer games can come down to the wire, and consequently, teams will hold back to create a “standoff.” Whether it’s Onyx or Abandon, when money and pride are on the line, players have a natural tendency to start backing off in order to take a more calculated approach. I expect no different when it comes to Pitfall Team Slayer. Even though the sprint mechanic will incline some players to rush when making plays, good timing and positioning is always rewarded accordingly.

Team Slayer on Skyline was removed for Team Slayer on Vertigo. What was it about Vertigo that made you consider it for Team Slayer? 

GH057ayame: This was one of the harder decisions that I had to make this time around. I was forced to look at these two game types very objectively. Did I want to lean more towards the fast, Battle Rifle-reliant, Skyline Team Slayer? Or the premeditated, asymmetrical Vertigo Team Slayer that tests players’ weapon control and map movement? Eventually, I looked at the other 10 game types that I had in place and decided to move forward with another asymmetrical map for Team Slayer. This unique dynamic truly gives players the chance to come back from a substantial deficit as long as they control the power weapons, power-ups and power positions correctly.

Any other things that fans should know about when the new playlist comes out? 

GH057ayame: Definitely! I’m particularly pleased to inform everyone that they will be witnessing a new voting format when it comes to the Team Throwdown playlist. The first voting slot will be filled with an objective game type, the second slot will be filled with a Team Slayer game type, and the final voting slot will be a random game type chosen from the list of game types. This approach will now provide players with consistent voting options for the longevity of the Team Throwdown playlist.

Thanks for joining us today, GH057! 

GH057ayame: Thanks for having me, Bravchacho!

(HFFL: I think this was a great interview and shows Ghost’s passion for Halo’s competitive community.)

Games with GOLD: Halo 3!

From October 16th – 31st, Halo 3 will be free for all Xbox Live Gold members as part of Games with Gold! Announced at E3 this year, the Games with Gold program gives every Xbox Live Gold subscriber two free Xbox 360 games per month until the release of Xbox One. If you haven’t yet played Halo 3, would like to relive the campaign, or just want to play some multiplayer, head to the Xbox Live Marketplace to download.

We are thrilled that fans are being introduced to the precursor to Halo 4, and excited that new players may have a chance to learn about (and play) Halo through this program. Due to the limitations associated with legacy tech, we will not be consolidating or changing the playlist layout for Halo 3, but are working closely with Xbox LIVE to ensure that players have a great experience with the Games with Gold program.

If you have questions about the current Halo 3 playlist offerings, DLC, and more, head over to the Halo 3 FAQ.

And finally as almost always we have the Screenshot Spotlight. This week’s subject? FORGE.

There are several in this week’s spotlight that I personally like. Here they are:

JURASSIC PARK4 RAMPAGE by IG ELECTRICFEEL

pillar of autumn by PAULTHEARTIST

Risen by RECLAIMED HALO

Next week’s Screenshot Spotlight will be Active Camo. For a shot at getting your screenshot into the bulletin, tag your screenshot with “Active Camo” and “Halo Waypoint”. Who knows, you may be picked.

To read the full bulletin (which honestly, I covered just about all of it this week anyway), you can always go to the official site’s post, HERE.

-Sal

We start off with the Matchmaking Playlist Update. The Sniper is the weapon of the day here.

Team Snipers will be receiving new and updated maps: Ragnarok has received heavily optimized respawns, with many of the mid-map respawn points being moved to reduce the frequency of gaining control at the “50-yard line” and continually spawn-killing the enemy. Additionally, the respawn points behind and in front of the bases have been optimized to reduce the frequency of spawning out in the open. Also, Pitfall will be added to the playlist alongside Community Forge maps “The Ark,” made by The Fated Fire and “Opticon,” made by SaItyKoalaBear.

The Ark offers a wide mix of sightlines and scenery that help players learn and understand the map relatively quickly. For a look around the map (and potentially a jump on your opponents) check out the vid below.

Opticon brings a large arena-esque map into the Snipers mix, and offers challenging angles and sightlines into the middle structure, guaranteeing that securing map control will be no easy feat.

In addition to these updated maps, there are some new game types. The first of these are Covenant and Forerunner Snipers, which will equip players with Beam Rifles and Binary Rifles, respectively. Also, the traditional Team Snipers variant will no longer have any on-map weapons, and each game type (Team Snipers, Covenant Snipers, and Forerunner Snipers) will feature single-weapon sniping experiences.  There is something new inspired by “No-Scopes Only” custom game types that have been popular in custom game lobbies for years. This coming Monday, Snapshot will make its premiere in Matchmaking.

SNAPSHOT
In this new game type, only “un-zoomed” kills will add to your team score. Players will still be able to zoom in, and even kill opponents whilst in-scope, but these kills will not count towards your team score, and your team will be upset with you for being so foolish for zooming in with a Sniper Rifle.

Players will start with both the Beam Rifle and UNSC Sniper Rifle. Extensive playtesting went into this game type, and we decided to start players with the Beam Rifle as the primary weapon due to the fact that un-zoomed kills with this weapon come at a faster and smoother pace, and we believe that this leads to an optimal flow (as well as laughing, chaos, and epic multi-kills). As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback about this game type.

Community Game Type Highlight: Conversion

Over the next few months (and potentially beyond), I’ll be highlighting noteworthy contributions from the community in the Bulletin. These may come in the form of maps, montages, and more. This week, I’ve decided to focus on a custom game type that has gained some steam and popularity over this past summer: Conversion. I had the chance to play this game type a few days after it was officially released, and was impressed by the new twist on an attack/defend round-based game type, which is based off of Extraction. There has been a significant amount of work on the game type since I last played, so I reached out to The Psycho Duck, one of the brains behind the project, to discuss the game type, where it came from, and where it is now. Enjoy!

(What follows is an interview with the creator of this game type. To see this go to the official site. Link at end of article)

In the meantime, you can download the gametype and maps here:
Conversion Gametype
Firebase map
Colony map

Lastly the screenshot spotlight. This week: Ricochet.

I particularly like this shot:

To read the full bulletin, go HERE.

-Sal