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[Ramirez]

Variety, man.

There's absolutely no need for two 4v4 playlists to have overlaps like that, I can already see the populations being low as it is, not impressed by the early playlist management thus far.

 

[Thermite]

Elite Slayer, Stockpile, Headhunter, and Hot Potato in Anniversary playlists? SERIOUSLY?

Hype deflated by a million.

I guess Classic doesn't have them, but it still has Team Snipers, ugh.

Nice to see Shishka up to his old tricks again.

 

[Hydranockz]

Play with full party or team size and never really have to worry about playing the shit gametypes.

Play alone and expect some dinos.

 

[The Librarian]

There's absolutely no need for two 4v4 playlists to have overlaps like that, I can already see the populations being low as it is, not impressed by the early playlist management thus far.

I was only being half serious with that response. I don't understand the overlap between Anniversary Squad and Anniversary Classic. Just remove all the classic gametypes from Squad.

Some weird decisions here.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

I was only being half serious with that response. I don't understand the overlap between Anniversary Squad and Anniversary Classic. Just remove all the classic gametypes from Squad.

Some weird decisions here.

Without a doubt. More so when they said themselves they hit the playlist cap. If that's the case why have two playlists that are pretty much the same. It just makes no sense at all.

 

[Havok]

I was only being half serious with that response. I don't understand the overlap between Anniversary Squad and Anniversary Classic. Just remove all the classic gametypes from Squad.

Some weird decisions here.

I think the idea is that it gives you the option to play the Anniversary gametypes on the updated variants (and "Reach" gametypes on classic variants) while separating out those people that only want the classic variants, but it's a super weird execution because of the crazy overlap combined with the way too numerous inclusions of the fringe stuff that I'm not sure anybody really likes (I'm sure there's data that invalidates my opinion out there). I don't generally expect any sort of justification for playlist stuff from years of radio silence after decisions that were confusing at best, but I would be very interested in seeing whether or not the guys really think that these playlists can sustain themselves on the already-limited playerbase they're going to draw.

 

[Ramirez]

Play with full party or team size and never really have to worry about playing the shit gametypes.

Play alone and expect some dinos.

Even this isn't a guarantee, it's inevitable that the crap gametypes are the first choice on the list, resulting in the other team voting for them for whatever reason.

I just want a playlist with classic Halo gametypes. Slayer, Flag, and Assault. No snipers, stockpile, headhunter, hot potato, etc.

I also don't understand the appeal of playing a playlist that has me playing ZB one game, and then bloom the next, I really disliked the TU beta playlist for this reason, it's a very jarring experience for me personally switching between the two.

 

[senador]

Interesting playlists. I can see why they did them that way even I don't necessarily like them. I imagine they'll be pruned over time and integrated into other playlists though. Still....WTF?

Edit: Man games are so big lately. NextBox really should have a huge ass hard drive so I don't have to manage what games I have installed. I had to remove Reach GoD to make room for Forza 4 and BF3 which are both 2 disc installs. Bah.

 

[Slightly Live]

I just want a playlist with classic Halo gametypes. Slayer, Flag, and Assault. No snipers, stockpile, headhunter, hot potato, etc.

This so much. I cannot fathom why Headhunter and Hot Potato aren't swept under the carpet by this point.

 

[The Librarian]

Even this isn't a guarantee, it's inevitable that the crap gametypes are the first choice on the list, resulting in the other team voting for them for whatever reason.

I just want a playlist with classic Halo gametypes. Slayer, Flag, and Assault. No snipers, stockpile, headhunter, hot potato, etc.

Isn't that Classic? It doesn't have any of those gametypes you dislike and everything you like.

Edit: Except snipers.

I think the idea is that it gives you the option to play the Anniversary gametypes on the updated variants (and "Reach" gametypes on classic variants) while separating out those people that only want the classic variants, but it's a super weird execution because of the crazy overlap combined with the way too numerous inclusions of the fringe stuff that I'm not sure anybody really likes (I'm sure there's data that invalidates my opinion out there). I don't generally expect any sort of justification for playlist stuff from years of radio silence after decisions that were confusing at best, but I would be very interested in seeing whether or not the guys really think that these playlists can sustain themselves on the already-limited playerbase they're going to draw.

I'd like to see more transparency when it comes to playlist decisions in the future. A lot of the times, instances such as this, we're left wondering why 343 (and in the past, Bungie) made certain decisions. I'd like to see 343's reasoning because at the very least I'll be able to provide better feedback.

 

[Sai-kun]

We got Anniversary in stock at my store. Damn, the packaging is so ace. Props, 343.

 

[Ramirez]

Isn't that Classic? It doesn't have any of those gametypes you dislike and everything you like.
.

It has Team Snipers, and I hate it with a passion. It has its own dedicated playlist, why does it need to be in these playlists? The general XBL gamer loves sitting back in a obscure corner of a map and sniping, so stupid.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Oh boy.

Gonna have to wade through the shit to get something that's fun. Matchmaking mismanagement kills the hype once again.

I'll obviously be in Classic and nothing else, with the six other people. Immediate needs to that playlist without having played it: add king, remove snipers. And Headlong 4v4?! I know they are trying to get the maps around, but that won't work, just like Highlands doesn't work in 4v4, or 5v5 for that matter.

One grenade start for Anniversary gametypes?

 

[Havok]

I'd like to see more transparency when it comes to playlist decisions in the future. A lot of the times, instances such as this, we're left wondering why 343 (and in the past, Bungie) made certain decisions. I'd like to see 343's reasoning because at the very least I'll be able to provide better feedback.

Jeremiah was fairly good about answering the huge questions, but only in the Optimatch forum, which made it a complete pain in the ass to actually read the justification for these things. I don't expect special GAF treatment, but I would like to see these things surfaced a little more publicly. Not to be insulting in the slightest, but sometimes ideas go through that just very obviously shouldn't (which is not to say that this is necessarily one of those cases). In this particular instance, I would wonder why Snipers is in here when it has its own dedicated playlist (whose reason for existence is that people didn't like Snipers mixed in with normal Slayer), and why bad fringe stuff has still survived and is continuing to be put into playlists.

This so much. I cannot fathom why Headhunter and Hot Potato aren't swept under the carpet by this point.

In a world where a Slayer gametype is one of the most heavily weighted gametypes in the Team Objective playlist, logic has no place.

 

[Ramirez]

Oh boy.

Gonna have to wade through the shit to get something that's fun. Matchmaking mismanagement kills the hype once again.

I'll obviously be in Classic and nothing else, with the six other people. Immediate needs to that playlist without having played it: add king, remove snipers. And Headlong 4v4?! I know they are trying to get the maps around, but that won't work, just like Highlands doesn't work in 4v4, or 5v5 for that matter.

One grenade start for Anniversary gametypes?

Wow, I was so focused on the awful gametypes I didn't even see Headlong in the 4v4 playlist, truly baffling to me. Also, one grenade start? Where is this mentioned?

-_-

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Oh boy.

Gonna have to wade through the shit to get something that's fun. Matchmaking mismanagement kills the hype once again.

I'll obviously be in Classic and nothing else, with the six other people. Immediate needs to that playlist without having played it: add king, remove snipers. And Headlong 4v4?! I know they are trying to get the maps around, but that won't work, just like Highlands doesn't work in 4v4, or 5v5 for that matter.

One grenade start for Anniversary gametypes?

It really does. The way matchmaking is being handled and has just time and time again reminds me why I want a server list. At least then I could set up or find a server that plays the gametypes I want and has a good group of players always on it. With matchmaking you have no real control over what you play and it just makes multiplayer no fun a lot of the time. That sucks too because I love Halo's multiplayer. It's so fun when you get a good group and the gametypes you want. It shouldn't be a struggle to play what you want.

I'll just shut up though. I know I sound like a broken record on this.

 

[Plywood]

This so much. I cannot fathom why Headhunter and Hot Potato aren't swept under the carpet by this point.

Need those gimmick gametypes man.

 

[The Librarian]

Jeremiah was fairly good about answering the huge questions, but only in the Optimatch forum, which made it a complete pain in the ass to actually read the justification for these things. I don't expect special GAF treatment, but I would like to see these things surfaced a little more publicly. Not to be insulting in the slightest, but sometimes ideas go through that just very obviously shouldn't (which is not to say that this is necessarily one of those cases). In this particular instance, I would wonder why Snipers is in here when it has its own dedicated playlist (whose reason for existence is that people didn't like Snipers mixed in with normal Slayer), and why bad fringe stuff has still survived and is continuing to be put into playlists.

I was thinking they could provide reasoning in the Bulletins. They'll list the playlist, then they'll go into explanation on why such playlist exists and why it has such and such gametypes. That way it's in an easy to remember, and easy to look up, place.

 

[lybertyboy]

Even this isn't a guarantee, it's inevitable that the crap gametypes are the first choice on the list, resulting in the other team voting for them for whatever reason.

I just want a playlist with classic Halo gametypes. Slayer, Flag, and Assault. No snipers, stockpile, headhunter, hot potato, etc.

I also don't understand the appeal of playing a playlist that has me playing ZB one game, and then bloom the next, I really disliked the TU beta playlist for this reason, it's a very jarring experience for me personally switching between the two.

Not classic? I seem to remember playing Team Sniper going back to Halo: CE.

The sniper gametype (which is weighted fairly low) was included to help round out the offerings for the Anniversary Classic playlist.

As has been stated before, there is overlap between squad & classic to allow the ever honorable Halo purists to bathe in the waters of Classic only while allowing those who desire to experience a wider variety of gameplay experiences in a single playlist.

Would you have preferred just the squad playlist?

Edit: Headlong is a perfect example of why Sniper was added to the classic playlist. As has been mentioned it's sweet spot lies in a match greater than 4v4, but I find the occasional Sniper gametype on that map with those number of players to be fun.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Wow, I was so focused on the awful gametypes I didn't even see Headlong in the 4v4 playlist, truly baffling to me. Also, one grenade start? Where is this mentioned?

-_-

Right under the playlists:

Anniversary Classic game types have the following settings: no Armor Abilities, Anniversary Pistol (pistol traits have been modified to replicate CE behavior), one Frag Grenade upon loadout, player speed increased, gravity increased, jump height increased, shield and health recharge rates increased, and melee damage reduced. Please note that the standard TU changes also apply to Anniversary Classic game types.

 

[Ramirez]

Not classic? I seem to remember playing Team Sniper going back to Halo: CE.

If you're going to pull that card, where's Team Rockets on Prisoner? Snipers has a dedicated playlist, it doesn't need to be in the anniversary playlists, nor does Headlong belong in a 4v4 playlist. Do we learn nothing from Hemo in TO?

Is one grenade classic CE gameplay as well? Been a long time since I played CE MP, but I'm fairly certain you started with 2. I know Reach's grenades are ridiculous, but spawning with one isn't the answer, the fact that you'll be moving faster and jumping higher makes the grenades easier to deal with from my play time at PAX.

 

[Slightly Live]

Not classic? I seem to remember playing Team Sniper going back to Halo: CE.

The sniper gametype (which is weighted fairly low) was included to help round out the offerings for the Anniversary Classic playlist.

As has been stated before, there is overlap between squad & classic to allow the ever honorable Halo purists to bathe in the waters of Classic only while allowing those who desire to experience a wider variety of gameplay experiences in a single playlist.

Would you have preferred just the squad playlist?

Are we stuck with the inclusion of Hot Potato and Headhunter? I am under the impression they aren't particularly popular gametypes.

 

[Ramirez]

Are we stuck with the inclusion of Hot Potato and Headhunter? I am under the impression they aren't particularly popular gametypes.

Isn't there an achievement for getting a Skullamanjaro? There's your reason for that garbage being included, and it'll never go away if that's the case.

 

[Slightly Live]

Isn't there an achievement for getting a Skullamanjaro? There's your reason for that garbage being included, and it'll never go away if that's the case.

Yeah, it means it has to be included somewhere in the playlist lineup which it already is right now.

 

[The Librarian]

Isn't there an achievement for getting a Skullamanjaro? There's your reason for that garbage being included, and it'll never go away if that's the case.

It's totally bizarre. The campaign achievements for Anniversary are the best batch of Halo achievements to date by quite a large margin, and yet MP achievements are included despite the overwhelming disapproval of such achievements since Halo 3's first MP achievements.

 

[kylej]

More shit changes the more it stays the same! Come to Blops 2! Choose what you want to play, when you want to play it, how you want to play it. It's a revelation!

 

[daedalius]

So BTB and Anniversary Classic for me I guess?

Anniversary squad seems a bit bloated...

 

[Ramirez]

More shit changes the more it stays the same! Come to Blops 2! Choose what you want to play, when you want to play it, how you want to play it. It's a revelation!

I'd love for Halo playlists to be broken down like CoD, you want to play Multi Flag, you pick the MF playlist. Could Halo support such a system? I don't know, but I'd love for them to at least give it a shot. Being forced to play stuff like Elite Slayer/Stockpile/Headhunter sucks, even if it's just one or two games a night, it's still too much for me.

 

[Hydranockz]

I've only ever played a handful of those gametypes. Easily avoided imo.

Getting a Skullmanjaro was easy

Spoiler

by betraying Zalinkrow and picking up his 6 skulls.

 

[ncsuDuncan]

How many players in Anniversary FFA? Six?
How many players in Anniversary Firefight? Four?

Also lol at the Firefight playlist being all Arcade gametypes. Hopefully I04 will show up in the Reach FF playlists so people can still play FF Limited Score Attack.

As has been stated before, there is overlap between squad & classic to allow the ever honorable Halo purists to bathe in the waters of Classic only while allowing those who desire to experience a wider variety of gameplay experiences in a single playlist.

Would you have preferred just the squad playlist?

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I'm fine with the overlap. It might force some of the Reach population to accidentally play Classic and then realize they prefer it to Vanilla Reach. I just hope the overlap doesn't split the Classic population.

 

[Ramirez]

Also lol at the Firefight playlist being all Arcade gametypes. Hopefully I04 will show up in the Reach FF playlists so people can still play FF Limited Score Attack.

Yikes, not even offering Limited as an option, c'mon man.

 

[FyreWulff]

Anyone interested in another H2V go-round later tonight? Currently playing Reach, but I'm up for it if people are up for it.

Was a shame we only got 2 rounds of 1 Flag Headlong in before we bled out players Awesome while it lasted, can't wait to play it in Reach

Spoiler

with the Bungie Reach settings

 

[Steelyuhas]

Hmm something to think about: I didn't realize that the map pack would release the same day as CEA and that it would be 1200 points (I assumed 1600). I have enough points in my account right now to not spend a dime to get those maps, which is really the reason I wanted to get CEA anyways. I would probably get CEA eventually on the cheap because the campaign is awesome, but I don't know if I should get it now, considering I can get the maps for free.

 

[daedalius]

Also lol at the Firefight playlist being all Arcade gametypes. Hopefully I04 will show up in the Reach FF playlists so people can still play FF Limited Score Attack.

I certainly hope so, arcade is super boring.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I'm fine with the overlap. It might force some of the Reach population to accidentally play Classic and then realize they prefer it to Vanilla Reach. I just hope the overlap doesn't split the Classic population.

Sounds like this was the idea in the first place.

 

[Slightly Live]

The Firefight Anniversary playlist is odd. They've removed Limited due to the need to free up space for more playlists - so why create an additional playlist for Anniversary?

With Defiant, they rigged the existing FF playlists to ensure Unearthed showed up as the first option every time for DLC owners, couldn't they have done the same for Anniversary?

That way they could have kept Limited and gave it the option for first-vote with Installation 04.

Seems odd. Maybe CEA owners wouldn't be able to access the FF playlists at all without the rest of the maps or something.

I know some folks will be disappointed with the lack of Limited gametype in Anniversary FF.

 

[Devin Olsen]

I now have my desk setup... Sounds terrible but this whole thing (building a new PC, Monitor, Desk, Etc) all started because I wanted to stream Halo.

(that's right folks, I have a candle on my desk.)

I am looking forward to getting my hands on Anniversary. The new MP maps are going to be a lot of fun, but running through the SP again and re-doing all the classic tricks is going to be incredible.

<3 cannot wait.

 

[feel]

More shit changes the more it stays the same! Come to Blops 2! Choose what you want to play, when you want to play it, how you want to play it. It's a revelation!

Why can't Halo be like this... just why...

 

[lybertyboy]

The Firefight Anniversary playlist is odd. They've removed Limited due to the need to free up space for more playlists - so why create an additional playlist for Anniversary?

With Defiant, they rigged the existing FF playlists to ensure Unearthed showed up as the first option every time for DLC owners, couldn't they have done the same for Anniversary?

That way they could have kept Limited and gave it the option for first-vote with Installation 04.

Seems odd. Maybe CEA owners wouldn't be able to access the FF playlists at all without the rest of the maps or something.

I know some folks will be disappointed with the lack of Limited gametype in Anniversary FF.

This is the reason. We have to support 3 sets of distinct users with this release so some of the decisions might not make immediate sense unless you look at them through that lens.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Why can't Halo be like this... just why...

Stubbornness that continues even with a new studio at the helm.

 

[Ramirez]

This is the reason. We have to support 3 sets of distinct users with this release so some of the decisions might not make immediate sense unless you look at them through that lens.

Why is FF Limited not even an option? What lens do I look through for that one?

 

[Homeboyd]

Man I was all kinds of pumped for CEA after this update...

Then I read this last page.

Damn. I get it.. But damn.

 

[daedalius]

This is the reason. We have to support 3 sets of distinct users with this release so some of the decisions might not make immediate sense unless you look at them through that lens.

Ugh, DLC should just be required in everything besides Team Slayer; just like H3

 

[Slightly Live]

This is the reason. We have to support 3 sets of distinct users with this release so some of the decisions might not make immediate sense unless you look at them through that lens.

Ah, figured. Thanks for that.

BTW, would you be able to answer if the DLC codes included in the CEA box are region free? Kinda odd question and some folks are saying such codes aren't region restricted but just thought I'd check.

Ugh, DLC should just be required in everything besides Team Slayer; just like H3

No Reach "Mythic" disc. Would have loved to have one but I guess it keeps CEA's price down.

 

[lybertyboy]

Why is FF Limited not even an option? What lens do I look through for that one?

That's a fair point, and something we can look at for the December update.

 

[Ramirez]

That's a fair point, and something we can look at for the December update.

Fair enough.

 

[FyreWulff]

Is that a new hallway for Breakneck? (connecting beam rifle spawn and back lift)

 

[Karl2177]

Seems Shishka or someone worse(!) is back at the helms of the playlists. I can understand having to accomodate for 3 different SKUs(if you will), but the type of player is being disregarded through out the playlists. If you really want to play competitive, no-bullshit games you have MLG. That's pretty much it. Bungie and now to an extent 343, have failed to look accomodate for the different playstyles of people. Also, is it impossible to set up the matchmaking so it only does certain gametype/map combos? I really don't want to be playing Hot Potato on High Noon(or anywhere else, but if it has to be included...).

 

[Steelyuhas]

Headlong is a perfect example of why Sniper was added to the classic playlist. As has been mentioned it's sweet spot lies in a match greater than 4v4, but I find the occasional Sniper gametype on that map with those number of players to be fun.

I'll agree to that, but then the issue arises that Headlong is still in the playlist (presumingly) for other gametypes as well, and I can take a nap during those games.

 

[minasodaboy]

nothing says classic halo like hot potato. loved playing that over LAN in my dorm. oh well.

i'm sure there are reasons. right?

 

[lybertyboy]

Is that a new hallway for Breakneck? (connecting beam rifle spawn and back lift)

Yep. It's all blocked off for the Headlong variant.