Bungie.net:
"Brian and Jeremiah (Ninja on Fire) are working hard to prepare the new matchmaking playlist updates. Some old deadwood is being burned, and fresh saplings planted in the fertile forest of Matchmaking. Brian explains:
Last week we caused quite a ruckus at the mention of two playlists being removed in our next matchmaking update. In fact, one could even say that in the past week the number of people posting their sentiments about Big Team Battle actually exceeded the number of people who play it. We're still in the middle of the test pass and it's quite possible that some things will change before the final release but to alleviate some concerns I'd like to provide some more information on what we're planning.
The good news is that we will have an unranked 16 player playlist that will feature a variety of objective game types with a little more weight given to Team Slayer. Guests will be allowed and all sorts of large scale shenanigans will ensue. This isn't "Big Team Slayer" but it will be close and should offer some good times for people looking for large scale mayhem. Hopefully the ability to bring in guests will invigorate the larger scale playlist and create some more interest and make it easier to get into games. The existing Big Team Battle will be morphing into its new unranked twin brother.
To fill the gap of larger team-based rank playlists, we're adding a new 6 vs. 6 Team Battle. This is the spiritual successor to Big Team Battle and will be fairly similar in offerings albeit with a few less players (the games will start with either 5v5 or 6v6). We're doing this because ultimately we feel that the 16 player ranked experience is hit-or-miss for most people with the majority of players experiencing an unreliable gameplay session. The old BTB wasn't all that popular (and continued to decline) and based on feedback it was mostly due to "laggy" games and longer wait times to accumulate enough players to start along with the general sense of chaos that many people didn't care for. 6v6 is considered the "sweet spot" by the Bungie team for many of our maps and it will be a bit easier to digest for people who have spotty connections. This new twelve person variety will start with a fresh ranking for everyone and will hopefully prove to be a more enjoyable experience for the masses.
We realize that there will be people out there who are upset by this change. We're sorry to upset the diehard BTB fanatics but ultimately you do have the same ability to jump into 16 player games and now you've got a more refined 12 player option as well.
I'll leave a few of the other details for next week's update - keep in mind we're still a few weeks out on the new playlist itself. As always, please stop by the OptiMatch forum on Bungie.net and vote in our polls and share your opinions as we work on plans for future updates! If you want something to ponder for the upcoming week, I give you the name of two of Ninja on Fire's new Gametypes that will appear in one of the new novelty playlists, "Brutality" and "Combo Training." "
http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=weeklynovember11th&p=5331972
"Brian and Jeremiah (Ninja on Fire) are working hard to prepare the new matchmaking playlist updates. Some old deadwood is being burned, and fresh saplings planted in the fertile forest of Matchmaking. Brian explains:
Last week we caused quite a ruckus at the mention of two playlists being removed in our next matchmaking update. In fact, one could even say that in the past week the number of people posting their sentiments about Big Team Battle actually exceeded the number of people who play it. We're still in the middle of the test pass and it's quite possible that some things will change before the final release but to alleviate some concerns I'd like to provide some more information on what we're planning.
The good news is that we will have an unranked 16 player playlist that will feature a variety of objective game types with a little more weight given to Team Slayer. Guests will be allowed and all sorts of large scale shenanigans will ensue. This isn't "Big Team Slayer" but it will be close and should offer some good times for people looking for large scale mayhem. Hopefully the ability to bring in guests will invigorate the larger scale playlist and create some more interest and make it easier to get into games. The existing Big Team Battle will be morphing into its new unranked twin brother.
To fill the gap of larger team-based rank playlists, we're adding a new 6 vs. 6 Team Battle. This is the spiritual successor to Big Team Battle and will be fairly similar in offerings albeit with a few less players (the games will start with either 5v5 or 6v6). We're doing this because ultimately we feel that the 16 player ranked experience is hit-or-miss for most people with the majority of players experiencing an unreliable gameplay session. The old BTB wasn't all that popular (and continued to decline) and based on feedback it was mostly due to "laggy" games and longer wait times to accumulate enough players to start along with the general sense of chaos that many people didn't care for. 6v6 is considered the "sweet spot" by the Bungie team for many of our maps and it will be a bit easier to digest for people who have spotty connections. This new twelve person variety will start with a fresh ranking for everyone and will hopefully prove to be a more enjoyable experience for the masses.
We realize that there will be people out there who are upset by this change. We're sorry to upset the diehard BTB fanatics but ultimately you do have the same ability to jump into 16 player games and now you've got a more refined 12 player option as well.
I'll leave a few of the other details for next week's update - keep in mind we're still a few weeks out on the new playlist itself. As always, please stop by the OptiMatch forum on Bungie.net and vote in our polls and share your opinions as we work on plans for future updates! If you want something to ponder for the upcoming week, I give you the name of two of Ninja on Fire's new Gametypes that will appear in one of the new novelty playlists, "Brutality" and "Combo Training." "
http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=weeklynovember11th&p=5331972
I hate just plain old slayer games, they are for the simpletons. It was however taking a fair while to get BTB games going recently, so maybe 6 vs. 6 Team Battle will help in that regard.
