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  • Subject: Halo: Reach October Playlist Update
Subject: Halo: Reach October Playlist Update

way to ruin arena by takin pro. quitin halo.

  • 10.06.2010 3:41 PM PDT

Aside from everything else, i'm simply dissappointed with the "Hur hur, we put a specific map for you...so no vote for u lulz" in Double's Arena and Team Arena.

Fail bungie.. fail.

  • 10.06.2010 3:44 PM PDT

I've played every Halo game besides Wars and ODST, but for the longest time I didn't have xbox live so i could only play Halo 2 and 3 at my friends' houses. I enjoyed it online. And I consider myself a fairly skilled player who doesn't camp or use any cheap tactics.

However, the armor lock is pretty ridiculous in matchmaking. It needs to go because it serves no purpose at all. The other armor abilities should stay because I like that theres a choice (as for invisible campers with shotguns, I have yet to encounter any in the time ive played since I got Reach on day 1).

I like the changes to the playlist. And while I'm not an arena player (because I honestly don't see a difference between it and regular Slayer games), I am disappointed that Slayer Pro isnt in regular playlists. Ideally Bungie needs to make a Pro playlist with all game types thrown into it. That would be sweet.

  • 10.06.2010 4:03 PM PDT
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I am very pleased with these updates and can't wait to see the next update. Now while I am generally pleased with the update, there are a few things I have to say. The first an biggest one is about the replacement of the Scorpions on Hemorrhage. Why? Did people complain about them? I really do not like this change as it is always been one of the staple BG elements. The fact that it has tanks is one of the things that makes it good. It isn't like one side has a tank and one doesn't and even then the tank isn't unstoppable because the map is so big that you can easily avoid it and board it, not to mention that there are other vehicles that can aid in the destruction of them. Now I like Wraiths but they are not capable of making gameplay on such a massive map enjoyable. It gets a lot more boring without the tanks. I usually trust what you guys do but please try to leave Blood Gulch alone, there's a reason it is arguably the most popular Halo map. In closing, I would like it if you either, put the Scorpions back or made a variant with the Scorpions for Big Team Slayer. The other thing is about the removal of Pro (this isn't some whine fest about the lack of pro so don't just automatically disregard this). it seems that everyone is whining about the removal of Slayer Pro, I don't see why. It was a smart idea to remove that game type, people say it is so competitive yet it has no radars which means that people can camp much more easily. The only real problem now is that you can't vote on maps anymore. Obviously there needs to be at least two game types in Arena so here's what I think you should do; I've noticed that some of the people who prefer Pro like it because they don't like the excessive use of armor abilities, which I can understand so why not just make a Slayer DMR's Classic? That way people can have games with only sprint and there won't be anymore crappy no-radar games (SWAT is the only game where there shouldn't be radars). While were on the subject of radars, I recommend that you put radars into Team Snipers, the reason is even though you can't see your radar while zooming, without it, you have to zoom out AND turn around whereas with radars you can just zoom out and make sure no one is sneaking up on you while keeping your eyes out for people showing up where you are watching, that way you minimalize the amount of kills from behind. One last thing on the game modes, remove Team Snipers on Boardwalk; that has to be one of the worst maps for Team Snipers ever. Aside form that I have noticed that the booting system still gives me the option to boot right on the first offense and I am still seeing people booting others for betrayals that are accidental. I am confident that you will fix this though. I am also curious why you removed Slayer Classic from Team Slayer, this isn't a big deal but I am curious on why you would remove a game type for no reason. I was also hoping that for Asylum you would put a soft kill zone on the top of the building next to the Red Base, I have seen too many people camping there with various power weapons so it would be nice to have an Arena Asylum. I also noticed that while you made some great improvements to Boneyard, you haven't really touched up on the spawning system. I can't speak for blue team (though it looks like they have it made) but all the spawn points on the red team are over by the ramps where the Elites bring the core to in Invasion. The problem with this is that the blue team can easily use the UNSC Commonwealth to spawn camp, which focuses the fighting to the one miniscule section of the map I don't see why in the largest map you've ever made (next to Forge World obviously), people only spawn in one small area of the map, I also don't get why you don't build the spawn system and weapon spawns to cover the whole map. I always thought that this map should be the successor to Sandtrap, where the map had several spawn locations and you would most likely fight in almost the entire map before the game is over, but in Boneyard the fighting seems to be designed solely on the area to the right of the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth and the area left of it seem virtually ignored, I could see quite a bit of interesting stuff happening there but nothing does. In fact the blue team should spawn to the left of the Commonwealth and the Red Team should spawn to the right with a bunch if vehicles on both sides. I understand that the main reason that Boneyeard suffers from these flaws is because it was made primarily for Invasion but I think that with some tuning, Boneyard would make a great Big Team map. I would also appreciate it if you put back the Plasma Launcher and Sniper Rifle back into Sword Base because they were great back in the Beta for keeping the Sword and Shotgun users from being unstoppable, but now it is more difficult to take them down. One last complaint, I've noticed that Big Team Slayer is now 75 kills instead of 100, which is obviously due to Invasion Slayer have 100 as 100 kills, I think this should be reversed because Invasion Slayer is 6-6 and Big Team Slayer is 8-8 so the game with the larger amount of players (which also starts off with powerful vehicles and weapons right form the beginning) should have the larger amount of kills since kills would be accumulated faster in the game with more players, not to mention I usually find that Invasion Slayer lasts a little too long and Big Team Slayer ends a little too quickly, and I think that switching the winning scores would remedy that problem. Now that I've gotten the complaints out of the way I'd like to take another moment to acknowledge the changes that I like that you have made. I am glad that SWAT is getting it's own playlist, I love SWAT and it is nice to be able to just have a playlist dedicated to it again. I also like the removal of Hemorrhage for SWAT, don't get me wrong I love Blood Gulch but SWAT just doesn't work there. I also like the removal of Pro (even if I think the execution was flawed). I also like that infection will be getting it's own playlist *faints from excitement*. I also like that you are keeping players in Rocket Race from just jumping out and trying to assassinate people, that got annoying. I am also pleased with some of the general changes that you've done to polish your game, but there is one I want to be clear on
* Evade has replaced Dropshield for gametypes which create concentrated gameplay in specific areas (Crazy King, Territories, Oddball
does that also apply to invasion? I agree with the idea for each scenario except invasion, the Drop Shield works very well in Invasion (though I doubt you would do that considering that the Elites already have Evade). Thanks for the great updates Bungie and thanks for taking the time to read my concerns, I can't wait for your next update with Firefight Versus and Campaign Matchmaking. Since you're doing changes to Firefight, is it possible to make it so in Custom Games you can make it so there are no Covenant AI enemies at all, the reason I ask this is because then people could recreate the Beta version of Generator Defense which would be awesome. Here's just a little list of ideas for playlists to make:
Team Snipers
Griffball
MLG (just so people will shut up about the removal of Pro)
Some kind of playlist for fiesta games (is it possible to make random armor abilities because that'd be awesome)
A playlist for various Elite games
A playlist for numerous classic games. When I say Classic I don't mean with sprint, I mean no armor abilities. Don't get me wrong I love the armor abilities but sometimes I have the urge to see how the Reach maps would have been in Halo's 2 & 3.

[Edited on 10.07.2010 2:30 PM PDT]

  • 10.06.2010 4:57 PM PDT

I think you mean fountain of mongi...

  • 10.06.2010 5:01 PM PDT
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So glad the dumb tank is gone

  • 10.06.2010 5:04 PM PDT

Yaaaaayyyyy! A video game developer that actually LISTENS and makes changes based off of the it's communities feedback!
... I - I forgot what that was like. Back BEFORE I picked up Modern Warfare 2, when I played Halo 3 - Bungie always updated, changed, fixed, etc., everything the players (which includes them) saw needed it. MW2's developer's did NOTHING for it's players... NOTHING! No matter how much we/they begged and pleaded, they just ignored us.
So thanks Bungie for actually respecting your fans and community, as you always have. Atleast I know that if I don't (like people always picking infection on ffa, so there's never any other gametype played) you'll do something about it (and apparently you already have started on that).

P.S. To all the other users/players who are thinking about blasting me for the MW2 thing, be mature. We all play more then one game. I can still love Halo and play other games. In fact, Infinity Ward's lack of respect to it's community made me appreciate Bungie/Halo more.

  • 10.06.2010 5:07 PM PDT

the ugliest playlist update in the history of halo yet

  • 10.06.2010 5:32 PM PDT

Can we see some real maps?

  • 10.06.2010 6:02 PM PDT

Glad to see Bungie tries. Nice to see the game is a work in progress not just a finished product. This is how they roll. That was what got me hooked on Halo 2.

Lets rep Halo 1 and get a Hang em' High remake in a future update.

[Edited on 10.06.2010 6:58 PM PDT]

  • 10.06.2010 6:09 PM PDT

Agreed. Slayer pro was by far the best part of arena. and not even being able to choose a map if you do choose to play arena sucks even more. this was a huge fail of an update. it needs to be fixed and soon

  • 10.06.2010 6:23 PM PDT

i love everything about this update, except for taking pro out of team arena.
its no longer actually about skill at the game, now its just guys with jetpacks. :(

loved everything els though!!
swat its amazing! :D

  • 10.06.2010 7:54 PM PDT
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I feel the removal of Slayer Pro for any number of days is terrible. If you want the armor abilities cool, that is what matchmaking is for, but some of us want a competitive/mlg like playlist. I am tired of armor lock and ac being abused. I know they are a part of the game and I respect them, but frankly, they are abused. I want to be able to 5-shot someone and not have to wait for that person to armor lock and then get shot by his teammates. Slayer pro was a nice alternative and I hope I don't have to wait 24 days to get it back.

  • 10.06.2010 8:35 PM PDT

1% Onyx Division opinion - Your doing it all wrong bungie. Whats the point of even having a veto system if you remove it for arena? That's where you NEED the highest tier veto system, now we cant even vote for switching a map? are you kidding me? Pro is the only reason to play arena but you even screwed that up by having radar but now its gone, all AAs ruin competitive play. Watch as a lot of people who played arena before stop playing. PS your game testers ALL have down syndrome and just wanted to play H:R early.

  • 10.06.2010 9:16 PM PDT

I don't know if I am the only one that feels like team snipers has also been removed? After a few nights of matchmaking I still haven't even been able to vote on it. But I would like to see more snipers game type, or a seperate playlist if need be.

My other suggestion would be to give the "Hardcore Gamers" a little MLG or something else so they stop their QQ fest.

A lot of people seem to have good ideas! So keep up with the feedback, and good luck pleasing everyone!

  • 10.06.2010 9:17 PM PDT

I am aware of this pitfall. I see that we are being leveled for a good purpose and we can only imagine the day. Not to bad to still earn Cr though.

  • 10.06.2010 9:27 PM PDT

Well yes, it just should be added to it, because the majority of people who play snipers, also play swat, I think its just the "Headshot" Thing. or just seperate them, cause whenever its a team game the majority of the time team snipers is overall chosen, like in Halo 3, 2, etc. or just any game
Posted by: shaboo
Add Team snipers to like Team swat =)! It's so funny =)
Posted by: Sketch
Reach Xbox LIVE playlists have been updated!

click for full story

  • 10.06.2010 9:34 PM PDT

honestly bring back pro. you ruined it.

  • 10.06.2010 10:39 PM PDT

hey i just had an idea i wanted to throw out there to bungie but i don't really have a direct way to contact you guys other than forums anyway, i think it would be a great idea if you guys created a matchmaking playlist based on forged maps from forge world on reach. of course they would be the most played and recommended maps, but either way i feel like a lot more people would appreciate that as well as the latest updates...thx l8r

  • 10.06.2010 11:23 PM PDT

Yesterday's Arena update is a travesty. After reading through as much of these thread replies and listening to as much game chat as I can bear without chiming in, I can't for the life of me figure out how Bungie thought the majority of players would want Slayer Pro taken OUT of Arena. It seems to be entirely the opposite from what the majority is saying. I can't tell you how many times I heard things like "this is the -blam!-est thing Bungie has ever done." And that quote was during my first game last night from people in the Iron division who you would normally think might be the minority in support of the update. It's as if Bungie did it just to screw with people. Which I might add is something they love to do. "Okay Bungie, we get it, you like to be intentionally stupid about toying with playlists." I wasn't laughing, I played in more games last night where my teammates went negative and rage quit than I can remember in a long time. Hey Urk, go look up the stat of how many people rage quit last night, you might get a good idea of how the update is doing. Be intelligent guys, it's a ranked playlist, everyone needs to start out on the same playing field. At the very least, Slayer Pro must be an option.

What in God's name was someone thinking when they decided to not have the option to vote for maps? I know there was a problem where people were voting for the map where their team spawns closer to rockets, but how could they think that would solve it? It's their own damn fault for placing the rockets in such poorly uneven places. Taking voting away made it worse! Now people are getting screwed with multiple games in a row where their team spawns away from rockets simply because they don't have the option to choose. Who's genius idea was that? A person with down syndrome could've advised better. Here's an idea that a third grader could come up with, PLACE THE ROCKETS EQUIDISTANT FROM EACH TEAM'S INITIAL SPAWN. What a lazy and terrible solution taking away voting was to that problem. I mean seriously, these dumbasses should fire themselves for ruining this playlist. I know I'll no longer be playing Arena until these things are changed and know a lot more people with the same feelings. Back to Halo 3 it is. I hope Bungie goes into arena matchmaking themselves and listens to what everyone is saying about the update. It will be a much needed, humbling experience for them. How could they possibly think there would be a different response?

Furthermore, Bungie only created two maps that are symmetrical from the origin(Asylum & Countdown) where all the others except maybe Powerhouse are grossly imbalanced. The amount of high ground dominant maps with terrible access points off spawn is a complete joke. It's baffling to me how this set of default maps for the Reach disc was approved for sale. How it was imagined that these maps would best assess skill I think is well beneath any intelligent person's comprehension of a fair and balanced test.

Yeah armor lock, jetpack and camo loadouts bring a cool new dynamic, a cool new dynamic for me to poop on! Seriously though, loadouts are a novelty thing that some people think are cool, but actually ruin the flow of the game. Yes, they all have to be used differently and have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, when each loadout gives someone an added escape or rush ability it ruins the fluidity of a team result if all persons don't spawn with the same loadout. Certain loadouts are each better for certain situations. All of those different variables add an unknown to the game that in some cases randomizes and nullifies the natural skill interactions and battles. Limiting and tainting those kind of legitimate battles goes against everything a ranked playlist should be about. And with respawn disadvantages and map control so important with these lopsided maps, the loadouts can swing games in a big way and turn them into results that otherwise would not and should not have happened. For example: kills that escape from a sprinting foe, or a death from an armor lock's teammate saving his life with a double team, or a jetpacking enemy getting first shots or a clean up kill from the sky or from on top of a high structure where it's difficult to kill them. In most interactions, if work without loadouts was done and skill was performed to gain an advantage, it's all for naught all because the X button can be used as a kind of "get out of jail free card." When have free failures or an escape button ever been a part of competitive gameplay? Bailouts are for banks, not battles. Keep them in non-arena playlists only if they're going to exist at all.


[Edited on 10.07.2010 2:39 AM PDT]

  • 10.07.2010 2:32 AM PDT

DuckyWucky will be at your Funeral!

Want the Sniper Arena Playlist and Swords Gametype lol!

  • 10.07.2010 5:12 AM PDT

Okay, first of all, I LOVE the fact that you put a barrier in Zealot, but why remove Slayer Pro in Arena? And why remove voting there as well? It causing us to have to replay the same game type on the same map 3 and sometimes 4 or 5 times at a time.

Slayer Pro is just that, Slayer PRO. If Arena is supposed to be the competitive mode for Halo: Reach then why dumb it down for kids that can easily jetpack and armor lock around? I hope you guys revert back to having Slayer Pro in Arena along with hopefully removing non-MLG weapons from the maps on there (i.e. Rocket Launcher, Plasma Launcher).

I realize Arena isn't an official MLG playlist, but I believe there should be a Double MLG Arena as well as a Team MLG Arena playlist. A lot of players have already created MLG maps for the gametype so I don't see why we aren't seeing the playlist up and running yet. DON'T LET US DOWN, BUNGIE!

Side Note:
I FOUND YOUR SILLY EASTER EGG WITH THE CHARGING ELITES AND IT GAVE ME AN AWESOME IDEA!
Okay hear me out on this, Bungie. Firefight. Elites. But not just Elites. Top ranked Elites with Energy Swords. And I mean they rush it. They rush it hard! I want elites coming at me from every angle. I want it to feel like I need to get the hell out of there unless I want to look like a shish kabob. It's like Gruntpocalypse but Elitepocalypse!

[Edited on 10.07.2010 5:48 AM PDT]

  • 10.07.2010 5:42 AM PDT

Just another player wanting to voice my disappointment with the update. I really enjoyed arena play as a way to be competitive and have a true battle of skill. Season 2 is ruined. Bring back Pro, or better yet, turn arena into MLG play. I'll just work on challenges and forge for the month.

  • 10.07.2010 6:39 AM PDT

Me: I am a timeless chorus...Join your voice with mine and sing VICTORY EVERLASTING!
Sean: Hey Tre whats the answer to number 4
Me:RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Sean:ok...you the A student..."Raaaaaaaaaaah" right?

Was really looking forward to the Cap being lifted. But I read on and will wait...I suppose

  • 10.07.2010 7:40 AM PDT

To everyone that is whining about this update:
Bungie brought Halo back to its origins with Reach. It's not supposed to be Halo 2 or 3, but the original, the one that started it all. Halo: CE is the game we all remember doing all night LAN parties with friends, pizza, and lots of Mountain Dew. If you want Pro or anything else removed back, simply play customs. That's the beauty of Halo. You can make your version of it. For those of you who don't want to do that and just flame Bungie, go play MW2 or something. Bungie would appreciate losing the cry babies of their fan base.

[Edited on 10.07.2010 7:48 AM PDT]

  • 10.07.2010 7:47 AM PDT