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HaloCustoms started as a site used for creating custom game lobbies and inviting friends using a unique RSVP system that made it easier for hosts than any other forum. It was developing in 2011 and fully launched by Insane54 with BigStack and TACTICS in 2012 along with previous members from ForgeHub and some entirely new members making up its starting population. The site has seen many additions and changes in format, features, and members since its launch. Forums HaloCustoms' forums have seen lots of use from its ever-growing population. Above are the on-topic forums for different discussions that take place on the site. There are directories to the Custom Games tab and Maps tab along with forums for discussion of each tab's content. The Media Stream is where all of HaloCustoms' official annoncements are made regarding Halo, HaloCustoms, and general gaming news. ShoutBox The ShoutBox is active with regular members like Sky, boomer, deathwish, and Steelgreen always occupying it (note: I am not responsible for the content of the ShoutBox). In the ShoutBox tab, members appear with blue names, staff members are orange, and admins are red. On the side you can always view a small overview of your profile including likes, posts, trophy points, and a list of online members. Lobbies This feature has seen two major changes over time. The original customs system was a list-style forum that allowed members to click on the lobby they desired to join and click an RSVP button to allow their name to appear on a list of attendees for that lobby. It involved a rating system for each lobby and had hosts reporting back to their threads to see who RSVP'd. The HaloCustoms 2.0 lobby system ran on a different page entirely and had the same essential features but a different style that seemed to have some slight issues and was less enjoyable for hosts. The latest version of the lobby system is an "improved version of [the] 'OG' custom games system." Above you can see the list of lobbies in a given week and use the same one-click style. Now though, with adderrson's help, members can now message hosts straight from their profile (along with a few other nifty features). Maps The Maps tab was not available at launch but quickly became one of the most popular features on HaloCustoms when it did. HaloCustoms has over 1500 maps in its library. It includes a rating system, discussions, map update logs, and map reviews. They even used to have a dedicated Review Crew. The Maps section is still widely used by Forgers. Streams Here's the latest feature implemented by adderrson on HaloCustoms. The Streams page hosts live streams from various streamers. Displayed above are featured streams based on the amount of viewers. You can see Ducain, Ogre 2, Biitersweet, and Jimbo above. A red number appears on the tab when someone from the site is streaming. As you can see, the streams can be sorted between the various Halo games and even others. Members On the Members tab, notable members can be viewed based on amount of posts, likes, trophy, points, maps, and staff members. We may even know someone at the top of a couple of these lists (@Zandril). Some may even recognize some of the other names up there that have not been seen in years. Meet Your Maker "The Meet Your Maker Forge Contest has always been a large-scale Forge contest attracting many different Forgers spanning all corners of the larger Halo Community bringing them together for the common goal of winning this massive battle royale of wonderful Halo map madness. The first Meet Your Maker Contest, the brainchild of previous Site Moderator Absolute Dog with the previous THFE, was a 4v4 core/competitive Infinity Slayer Forge competition hosted by ourselves in alliance with many big name Forgers such as Psychoduck, SaltyKoala, WARHOLIC, undr zid, and Spades N AZ. The second Meet Your Maker Forge Contest was a Dominion-based competition that brought out the best of the Dominion Forgers. Psychoduck created the third Meet Your Maker in conjunction with ForgeHub which took place on MCC's Halo 2: Anniversary. Now we have more presences involved in this year's contest than ever before. Hosted by HaloCustoms in association with us here at 343i.org and BTB.net with the support of well known YouTubers like UnsortedGaming, Ultimate Halo, Vetoed, and Zandril. We present to you the Meet Your Maker BTB Forge Contest." The latest MYM has come to a close and winners will be announced soon. YouTube The HaloCustoms YouTube Channel has map features and event highlights. This is where viewers can watch the winning map submissions from the Meet Your Maker BTB Forge Contest (along with other associated channels). You can subscribe here. Read a little more about HaloCustoms's admin @Psychoduck in our latest interview. We wish our good friends at HaloCustoms the best with their future endeavors and we're glad to have been on the administrative panel in such a large Forge competition! Readers, follow them on Twitter for lobby updates. Also please visit Halocustoms.com to register and meet some cool people. That's it for this week, read again Sunday for another CS.

Hello everyone my latest interview is with the newest member of the HaloCustoms Staff: Flying Shoe ILR. I've played with him before and he seemed like a really cool dude and I wanted to find out more about him and thought the Community would like the read. We mention relations between us and HC briefly and mostly talk about what he does. Enjoy: DD: "Hey Flying Shoe so how did you come across HaloCustoms back in December?" FS: "I first heard about it when it was just getting started. Insane was talking about it with Psychoduck and a few others and so I also came to hear about it. I was actually offered a staff position back in the beta days of the site, but I turned it down at the time because of school." DD: "Interesting! And a good segue into my next question. I want to ask you how do you think you got the position of Staff on HaloCustoms?" FS: "For a long time on Forge Hub I was a member of the Tester's Guild, and I was writing long, detailed articles on map design a weekly basis because of this. I've also been a fairly active member of the community for the last 3 years or so and in that time I've proven that I can deal with people fairly well, both in good and bad situations. I think those would be some of the main factors." DD: "Excellent. That's always something good to look for in Staff members. HaloCustoms is much bigger now than it was back when you joined. Have you noticed any major changes in the local community?" FS: "The community is still fairly similar as to when it started. It's much bigger of course, but for the most part people have been friendly and interested in the game and the site from the beginning to today. Everything is very loose here so long as no one is causing any problems, bot those have continued to be few and far between." DD: "That's awesome, yea one of the things that attracted me here most at first was how nice and interactive the Staff is and how dedicated everyone was to this site. Along with the way the RSVP system works. That I thnk is amazing. What do you feel the biggest difference is between HaloCustoms and 343i.org?" FS: "I haven't spent a lot of time on 343i, though I think the main differences is that Halo Customs is focussed on getting people into custom games primarily. The site also has a lot of other features common to Halo sites, such as sections for forge, discussion, etc... but the main feature here is customs, and therefore the point to get more people to play Halo." DD: "Definitely a noticeable difference between our sites. The lobby system on HaloCustoms is more convenient for that. So being affiliate sites, do you ever feel there's a competition between us?" FS: "I haven't really seen any major competition between HC and other sites. We've had a few friendly custom lobbies between members on other sites, but HC is more interested in cooperating between different halo communities." DD: "That's excellent man. Yea I never felt like our sites have had any competition but I ask because there was a member from HC who brought it up in our shoutbox recently and I wanted to see what someone on the Staff here had to say about that. So Flying Shoe how long have you been apart of the online Halo Community? Did you start at Forge Hub?" FS: "I found FH during the last year of Halo 3, about 11 months before Reach came out. I got Halo 3 a few months later and started forging on foundry and such, though I didn't have Xbox Live Gold until a few months into Reach. That's when I really started designing, testing, and polishing maps and posting them to Forge Hub. Over the next few years I kept at this, met a lot of cool people like Psychoduck and MockKnizzle, who are also staff here, and just slowly improved and got more integrated with the community. When Halo Customs was just starting up I jumped over here and made it my new "Hub" so to speak for forge and other things in the community." DD: "So a long time now I see, that's really great dude. So what's your favorite thing about Forging in Halo? Your favorite aspect of all that goes into Forging.' FS: "Well, a lot of what I love about forging is that it's very easy to make something tangible, something you can play within a relatively short amount of time with other people and something you can polish and feel good about. Other programs allow you to design in much greater detail exactly what you want, but forge allows you to take an idea from concept to playable product very quickly. I feel I have learned a lot from being able to build lot's of maps, realize both what worked and what didn't, and then apply that knowledge to my next designs. The fact that we have such a large community to help is another huge aspect of forge, as well as the fact that we can design for Halo, which immediately puts it a step above other in-game editors for me, even if they may offer more freedom." DD: "I have to agree with you. Being able to spontaneously change something in a map you or someone else Forged is a very handy aspect that Halo has over other games. So are you active on other game forums or is HaloCustoms where you reside?" FS: "I am slightly active on a few other Halo forums, as well as the website Polygon, but nowhere near as active as I am on Halo Customs. For the most part yes, this is where I reside. :)" DD: "That's great haha. Flying Shoe where do you think you'd be without HaloCustoms?" FS: "I might have gone over to The Halo Council. I know a few people over there and they have a good setup over there. If nothing else had worked I had considered just talking to people over XBL and keeping up with people." DD: "Well being Staff on HaloCustoms I think that you are doing much more for the Halo Community than if you were on Xbox just keeping up with people and since you do your part in the Halo Community, I decided to interview and let them know your point of view and what you're like as a member. So Flying Shoe to wrap it all up, what words of wisdom do you have for the members of the Halo Community? Maybe some who want to become Staff on a HaloCustoms like you." FS: "The best advice I can give there is just to be cool. The people that I'm most happy to see on HC or any part of the community are those people that have a level head, common sense, and enjoy being here and playing halo. Having a good attitude is everything. That's not to say that you can't have complaints about aspects of the game or community, but there is a difference between that and being a negative nancy. Also, always know where your towel is. Those things are damn useful." I have no idea what that last line about the towel meant but it was great! I think he had strong closing words that the Community should adhere to. Thank you Flying Shoe for taking the time to do this interview and I hope to see more of you around. And thank you 343i Community Forum for being you! PEACE.