ForgeMonitor

I disagree; Cortana should not be brought back immediately, at least not as she was before. I think there should be a more circular version of Valhalla. It could be called Jodenheim.

I reckon the Halo 2 one would be better. It probably has less aim assist, which balances out the chain gun.

I agree that better weapons tuning alone will not "save Halo". However, around June will be the time when Halo 4 gets a population boost; people are getting out of school just in time to find an updated game with better playlists and newer features. Also added in June will be the "classic" playlist hinted at GDC: Legendary Slayer. Here's the link to my extrapolations from various sources: http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/27509-legendary-slayer/

@Jeff Thomas All you have wanted as far has better-tubed weapons is coming to Halo 4 soon.

@FleshBack Very estute observation. I agree; there needs to be a dedicated slayer playlist that releases the potential of Halo 4. We need a bit of what worked in past games combined with newer mechanics that speed up game play. Check out this link; Bravo talks about some changes that reaffirm what I speculated might occur...and it they're coming soon! Link: http://halo4nation.com/news/halo-bulletin-5-2-13-map-updates/

Good news! 343i is updating Flood with three community Forge creations: Black Site by The Fated Fire, Malice by AgentPaperCraft, and Serenity by DG Intensity. I've already seen two of these maps featured on respectable Forging channels, which means the maps must be pretty good. This is the perfect present for my birthday. Also updated with new maps are Rumble Pit, Team Objective, SWAT, Team Snipers, and Infinity Slayer; I'll see you all in matchmaking! Source: http://halo4nation.com/news/halo-bulletin-5-2-13-map-updates/ (links to map showcases coming soon...) <3

What are your thoughts on playlist compatibility for LS? Should it be only Slayer, or should it expand to BTB and objective game types?

Thank you, Fox.

If you go on HaloCharts.com, you'll see the playlists fluctuate. BTB always has at least 5,000 players and peaks at around 11,000 nowadays. Those are hourly populations, not daily.

There is a benefit to releasing in the fall season; student players are freely advertising the game before and after release, for good or ill. It was unfortunate that Blops II came out so close to Halo 4; I hope that 343i is given enough time with this one. I can wait three or four years for the next installment (although odds are that MS will rush them again). Destiny will satisfy me until then.

@PP So...I was right, eh?

I like the sound of that: Team Beams.

I'll be brief. Sort of. Infection has been a staple since Halo 2. In Halo 4, it still garners a significant following--around 3,000 players on average. That's a lot of mouths to feed. Some people say it's nothing compared to the 37,000 it had at launch, but the numbers have stayed consistent after the dropout several weeks after the game's release. Right now, my opinion of the Flood playlist is not good. There are only a few maps in circulation; the players have memorized the camping spots, causing predictable rounds; the rounds are incredibly fast and don't have structure. We need an update for Flood. Here are my suggestions: -Set the number of players to 10-12. I'm not sure what it's at right now, but fewer players in each match will make it playable for a variety of game types. Speaking of which... -We need more game types. The current playlist has only the one with Flood shooting across the map with Thruster Packs and humans shooting across the map with Shotguns and Magnums. Have some variety! It's amazing what the community has come up with this time around. There are dozens of game types to change it up: Phagion, Necrosis, even Slenderman. Most people never get to play these awesome creations because it's too much of hassle to set up game nights, or maybe they don't want to play Flood in the first place because it's too monotonous. Speaking of monotonous... -Currently there are only eight maps in rotation for Flood: Solace, Adrift, Complex, Haven, Abandon, Landfall, Daybreak, and Perdition. Of those eight, most will only be able to play on the first five because the last three are DLC. Of those five, only Adrift and Abandon have the right ambiance for the game type. None of these maps is tailored specifically for Flood. Here's where the community comes in: there are dozens of solid Flood maps with outstanding aesthetics and balanced game play. To name a few: Shroom Plague, set above the acid pool on Erosion; Lone Spirit Pass, an excellent holdout-style map set on the beautiful Forge Island; Emerald Mine, a derelict mining colony gone horribly wrong. Other playlists get biweekly updates. Look at Team Throwdown; it's received the most attention out of all the playlists, yet it only attracts 650 players on average, significantly less than Flood. We need an update. Comment what you think, and don't forget to vote. Links: Shroom Plague -- ; Lone Spirit Pass -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGknnSykvg ; Emerald Mine --

I might have just skipped over it, but I would like occasional Forge DLC on a smaller, more consistent scale than Forge Island. Every couple of months 343i could give us a new set of aesthetic objects or Special Effects. Also appreciated would be Sound Effects to set the ambiance for a map.

All of these "facts" are just rumors, but I do admit that I would like at least some of the remnants of the older games. Hopefully Xbox Durango will fix the limitations of the 360 and let 343i actually work with something.

@BaconShelf Good points until that last analogy; the DMRs would win easily in SWAT with their superior range and ammo capacity. The Beam Rifle's auto aim is a bit ridiculous. Fortunately, that's something 343i is looking to fix along with various other weapons tuning updates. I think the Beamer is too lenient in Snipers; it should overheat from rapidly fired shots and have better cooldown from evenly paced shots.

@PP That is precisely what they are aiming for (pardon the pun).

@Halogeek99 the 4sk BR kills just only as fast as the DMR and has less range than the latter. In addition to increasing damage, they also will decrease firing rate so it won't just be a faster kill time. There are no negatives to the modifications.

Must've been a glitch. All games have them. Also, you don't need to create an entire thread to report a glitch.

I respectfully despise your creation.

Team Throwdown is incredibly competitive, especially now that CSR is out. Check out the thread "Legendary Slayer" on this section of the forum to get an idea what that might be like.

It takes two rockets to destroy a Banshee pilot using Wheelman.

Not a new a idea, though it is a good one.

Now that 343i has released the details concerning the balancing of all the primary weapons, it's safe to say that I was right--mostly. The BR will be a 4sk, the Carbine a 7sk (like at E3), the aim assist on the automatic rifles was decreased and the damage boosted slightly, and the DMR and LR remain viable for long-range engagements. Link here: http://halo4nation.com/news/halo-bulletin-4-17-13-weapon-tuning/

Excellent idea. You should message THFE about it (they support HaloCustoms.com), and in the meantime, let's keep this thread alive!