User 73706
Banned
That's Longbow.
Like I've said before, the easiest identifier for CA maps is whether or not they support Dominion by default. Meaning we currently have:
Longbow
Exile
Vortex
Meltdown
Ragnarok (lol)
Shatter? (Haven't tried it yet)
As maps made by CA, in addition to the canvases and their default layouts - meaning that at launch it was a 8-5 split in CA's favor, or an even 5-5 if you don't count Forge canvases.
Ragnarok was not meant to be a launch map, meaning it was likely planned as the one DLC remake.
My theory is that 343 planned on making the 10 launch maps and CA would handle the forge canvases and all DLC. However, surprise surprise, CA had their first map pack done in time first - the hypothetical Crimson Dominion map pack. 343's final 3 maps weren't ready to be shipped (Harvest was planned to be a launch map and it was one of the earliest maps developed) so they had to shuffle things around a bit, resulting in Crimson DLC having Wreckage, Harvest, and Shatter with the "exclusive" Extraction playlist, despite the fact that Extraction was developed in-house.
Now, what makes more sense from this standpoint if everyone had gotten their work done: 10 starting maps including Harvest and excluding Ragnarok with the first launch being a mid-sized Dominion Map Pack complete with the exclusive paywalled Dominion playlist (meaning that the DLC playlist would also only have one gametype) including Exile, Vortex, and Longbow or Meltdown, or the setup we have now?
This may also be why we have a few maps with similar themes to blame; 343 had to publish the DLC map descriptions months in advance to release, meaning that an "urban infantry-focused playspace" may have shown up in the launch maps, but they had to do it again because that was their DLC schedule.
I know people have talked about using Spartan Ops to give us sneak perks on DLC multiplayer maps as well; wouldn't it make sense that they tried doing that with Vortex or even Complex, but their deadline flub caused it to seem more like a rehash?
