The Rocket Race playlist is now available, and will be playable until January 6th. In this game type, players race with a Mongoose, partner, and Rocket Launcher to each checkpoint. The game type is available on the following maps: Exile, Meltdown, Shatter, Wreckage, Vortex, Ragnarok, Longbow, Harvest, Daybreak, and Complex.

I will say that it is bit frustrating not being able to play on DLC maps paid for. I for one am of the mind that there needs to be a DLC specific playlist. Yes, map sizes vary widely so some DLC maps may be better than others depending on party size.

So I’d suggest a Team Slayer DLC playlist and a BTB DLC playlist.

The maps for each would breakdown as follows:

Team Slayer DLC (4v4):
-Monolith
-Skyline
-Pitfall
-Vertigo
-Landfall
-Daybreak

BTB DLC (8v8):
-Wreckage
-Harvest
-Perdition
-Outcast
-Shatter

Broken up like this, there is a good distribution of maps per DLC playlist. Of the ones I put in for Team Slayer DLC, only Landfall is a bit big for 4v4. However, it’s been used for such already, so people are fairly used to it.

The BTB DLC maps are the biggest of the 11 DLC maps. While a couple of them may seem a bit tight for 8v8, they are definitely a bit too big for 4v4. Now if BTB DLC were actually 6v6 then all of those I put in that list would definitely work.

Regardless, population is low. So how do we get these two playlists without affecting the regular population much?

Consolidate the current playlists a little. We need to have Team Objective again. CTF needs to go into that playlist. It will be the big draw for that one. Then add in Oddball, Regicide, and King of the Hill. With those others also having commendations attached to them, it makes sense to have them in a unified Team Objective playlist. I’d MUCH prefer that than a rotational playlist that comes around every few months.

One thing is for certain, if there isn’t something done to better manage DLC maps, the next game’s DLC sales will suffer GREATLY. I’ve already had many friends tell me they aren’t going to buy DLC for the next game because of the issues with DLC in Halo 4.

I for one look forward to new maps, so not having DLC in the next Halo game is NOT an option for me. However, if the franchise is going to flourish, DLC must be handled much better.

-Sal

The winner of the second Community Choice poll for the rotational playlist is Multi-team Regicide, or Multi-Regicide.

It’s starts today and I’m excited to play this. I need only 31 more Regicide wins to FINALLY unlock that elusive Kingslayer emblem. Seen below:

Hopefully I can knock those wins out in short order.

I’ll be playing a crap-ton of Multi-team these next two weeks until my goal is achieved….

-Sal

Multi-team is the next playlist to come into the rotational playlist for the next two weeks.

It looks like Multi-Team Regicide is going to win the community choice poll as well. I’m SO happy about this. The reason being is that I’ve been trying for MONTHS to finish my Regicide commendations so I could unlock the Kingslayer emblem. (Seen below)

The reason for this is that it’s crucial to my web series “MaC Rounds.” Why? Mac Rounds is a web series that follows the further adventures of Crimson and Majestic Fireteams. Majestic uses the Kingslayer emblem on their armor, as seen here on Spartan Grant’s left shoulder:

With Regicide being picked for the community choice of Multi-team for the next two weeks, I have a better chance of completing the commendation sooner. I only need 35 wins in Regicide to get this done, so you can bet I’ll be playing this playlist a LOT for the next two-weeks. Hopefully I can get it done BEFORE those two weeks end!

-Sal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End Copy/paste…

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

-Sal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Sal

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

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

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

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

-Sal