This week’s bulletin is a good one. Of course there is the usual nonsensical first portion by BS Angel (I mean that with love Jess), then she gets to the “meat” or is that bacon? of the bulletin.
Spartan Ops gets a nod with a origin of “Undid Iridium.”
Playlists updates are the next order of business with Snipers and Shotty Snipes detailed. Also we’re getting a combined Team Objective playlist. This will no include Team Regicide, Oddball and finally the return of King of the Hill! (Yea!!!)
Team Throwdown (the competitive playlist) is planned for release on Feb 18. The Competitive Skill Rank (CSR) won’t be available at launch however. 343 wants to allow for some time to tweak the playlists in Throwback before opening up levels 1-50. So get your practice in now before it counts!
Finally it what I think is one of the most cool articles in recent bulletins is the revelation that there are still several uncovered Easter Eggs in the campaign.
Oh MY! I was just playing campaign yesterday in hopes of finding something others hadn’t yet. Looks like I’m going to be hitting the campaign really hard today. BS Angel eludes to there being a prize if you find them first. WOOT!
BS Angel talks about how Grifball came about with a one on one conversation with Bernie Burns, creator of Grifball.
She then turns the bulletin over to Andy Dudnsky (sp?), otherwise known as Bravo. He proceeds to break down the Doubles playlist, which I’ve taken the liberty to repost here:
Infinity Doubles offers the Infinity Slayer experience in 2 vs 2 form. In this variant, players have the option to choose their custom loadout, and instant respawn and radar are enabled. Personal ordnance will kick in at the traditional 70 point mark, but the options are tweaked specifically for Team Doubles. Games are played up to 300 points.
Doubles Pro offers an experience that features preset game loadouts. The score limit is the same as above, but radar, personal ordnance and instant respawn are disabled. Here are the loadouts that will be featured:
Loadout 1:
Starting Weapon – DMR
Secondary Weapon – Magnum
Armor Abilities – None
Tactical Mod – Resupply
Support Mod – Dexterity
Loadout 2:
Starting Weapon – BR
Secondary Weapon – Magnum
Armor Abilities – None
Tactical Mod – Resupply
Support Mod – Dexterity
Loadout 3:
Starting Weapon – LightRifle
Secondary Weapon – Magnum
Armor Abilities – None
Tactical Mod – Resupply
Support Mod – Dexterity
Loadout 4:
Starting Weapon – Carbine
Secondary Weapon – Magnum
Armor Abilities – None
Tactical Mod – Resupply
Support Mod – Dexterity
CTF Doubles offers the ever-popular Capture the Flag game type, customized for 2 vs 2 play. Custom loadouts and radar are enabled, and respawn time is set to 10 seconds. Flag settings provide an optimal experience for small maps and teams: 5 flags to win, 3 second return, and 15 second reset. Lastly, your flag does not have to be home to score.
We’re still finalizing the map pool but are happy to announce that players who enjoy the comforts of split-screen play will have the option to select on-disc maps in the first voting slot. By offering slightly modified versions of Haven, Abandon and Solace, split-screen players can be sure that they’ll have the option to play on a map that offers the best split-screen experience. Additionally, we plan to offer several of the best community Forge maps in this playlist and will continue to update the map pool on a regular basis to keep everything fresh. Additional details regarding the playlist will be posted before it launches, so keep an eye on the Matchmaking section of our forums.
Rogue and Tracker Specializations are being unlocked for those who don’t have them unlocked yet.
From there the bulletin switches over to Spartan Ops, then finally Fileshare being unlocked on XBL.
I’m glad to see doubles get a turn, however it should be it’s own permanent playlist, IMO.
It first starts out with some needless explanation about some press junket stuff. (Nothing really to note here.)
THEN…
Spartan Ops frenzy!
First we’re treated to a Spartan Ops recap:
Of course if you’ve been following my blog, then you already know all this through my comic book renditions of the videos.
The bulletin shows the stats below:
Stats summary of the first half of Spartan Ops Season 1 8,125,908 games were played in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. 4,696,752 hours were spent playing Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. 901,258,308 kills were earned in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. 262,150,257 assists were earned in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. 167,101,619 deaths were recorded in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. “Shootout In Valhalla” was the most played Mission in the first half of Spartan Ops Season 1.
How do you stack up against the following averages? 49.77 was the average number of kills earned per game in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. 6.77 was the average number of assists earned per game in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months. 7.15 was the average number of deaths recorded per game in Spartan Ops Matchmaking in the first two months.
From here, BS Angel goes into some explanation about the previous 5 episodes. Then there’s this…
“Episode 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – I’m not going to spoil it for you, but let’s just say that the first half of the season was a warm up. As I mentioned in the Episode 1 notes, we had a lot of set up to do to get this corner of the Halo universe up to speed. And now that it’s really moving? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Hints of what’s to come: Death, disfigurement, betrayal and… oh, I’ve said too much already (and that’s just the humans I’m talking about)!”
Also shown is a teaser pic from Episode 6. Hmm, who is that Green and White Spartan. Or is it really green?
From there the bulletin moves on to Matchmaking Playlist updates.
Community Forge Test playlist goes active as well as Waypoint forum threads for your feedback on those maps.
Two specializations are unlocked for those who didn’t get the game at release. Pioneer (Fast track-xp boost) and Pathfinder (gunner mod).
Infinity Challenge comes to a close (thank gawd!).
And finally sad news for Halo 2 PC players (of which there is apparently only 20 or so left) that as of Feb 15, it’s being shut off for good from servers.
This was a good bulletin for those who love Spartan Ops (raises hand). Not to bad for everything else.
Though I would have liked to have heard something of the Title Update and maybe addressing some persistent complaints from Halo 4 gamers.
Go to the link at the beginning of the article for the full bulletin.
The first half of the bulletin has Frank O’Conner talking about his belief that the team at 343 has done a great job and will do even better for the next game. He acknowledges that there are issues with the current game, though stops short of saying they will fix the better part of those issues.
The second half of the bulletin has BS Angel writing about what is to come in the next few weeks.
Spartan Ops of course returns in less that two weeks. Also, we finally get Griffball!!! As well as Doubles in rotational playlists. (Man, I hope these stay.)
For those who’s specializations are locked, you will now be granted two new specializations each week for the next three weeks starting on or about 1/21. Good news for those abroad.
BS Angel also states the need to be more present and up front about news and getting it out there in more venues to the fans.
A decent read. Yet, I think a good many of us were expecting a bit more, namely fixes to the game itself. Granted much of 343 was out for the holidays. Okay folks, no excuses now, get crackin’! LOL
This week’s Halo Bulletin is a great one. We have official word on the Crimson Map pack release, with several pics of the three maps as well as a video partial walk-through.
Updates to matchmaking are discussed. FFA Throwback goes away while Team Regicide takes it’s place.
If you’re a fan of Forza, there will be a special Halo truck available in an upcoming DLC pack. Here’s the pic:
Man, I wish I could own that truck with that pint job for REAL!
Finer points go over:
• Matchmaking Playlist Updates. FFA incoming!!! YEA!
• A fantastic article on Spartan Ops. A great read for those who love this facet of Halo 4 (I know I DO!)
• Art of Halo 4. Some really great artwork is shown and able to be downloaded in HI-RES
• Thanksgiving Halo 4 style. Fan artowork showcasing Halo4 elements within Thanksgiving themes. The last picture of Frank O’Conner’s head on a turkey is rather disturbing…LOL
Woot! As always I want to thank BS Angel for posting this and relinking to the blog. I’ve had tremendously great reception to them. The Spartan Ops comic book is going well. Episode 1 of that was finished a couple of days ago and episode 2 is about 75% done. Hopefully that will be finished today. The only thing I’ll have to wait on is the preview vid of episode 3 to add a “Next in Spartan Ops” graphic.
LOTS of good info in this week’s Halo Bulletin. It starts out with a very cool Didact glyph background image that you might use for your computer. It was done by Firestream of Halo Unity:
After this comes a bunch of stats on the first 5 days of Halo 4’s release. Some huge numbers there.
The rest of the Bulletin is an exhaustive rundown on how and where to check your Spartan career. If you haven’t delved into that yet, this bulletin will definitely get you VERY acquainted with it.
