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343i, Let me start by saying that I think the work you've put into the multiplayer has been great. The game mostly feels amazing to play, and when the game launched, my friends and I all had a blast experiencing moments that could be likened the the days of old during a good LAN party. But, I regret to say, those good feelings have really sizzled out over the first season and now into the second and I'd like to explain why. First, and most agregiously, why there is no input matching in anything other than Ranked blows my mind. For clarity, this is coming from the perspective of someone who started playing the original Halo on a console with a controller, and still does to this day. While I do not claim to be a tournament-level player, I have historically played more often than my friends, and I would roughly place myself as above average on the sticks. However, because of this, we are constantly matching players on PC, on keyboard and mouse, who will just wipe the floor with our team. I don't care who you are, I highly doubt anyone will dispute being on the recieving end of that is enjoyable. The ease of use for both inputs is not even remotely comparable; from average-skilled PC players to the top 1%, pairing a 'similarly matched' console player gainst them is almost always a blowout. For gametypes that are not Ranked to feel sweatier than the dedicated playlist itself is incredibly painful. Not only for me, but moreso for my friends who do not have as much time in the game. This has been an ugly stain on what would otherwise be a great experience, and the sad thing is there's already a system in place to fix this. Additionally, similar to the above point, I don't know how the matchmaking is set up, but whatever logic is being used is not working optimally. There seems to be almost no team balancing, where if my friends and I queue up (who have varying skill ranges) we will be queued with teams who seem far outside of our combined skill bracket. To make matters worse, even if the teams ARE balanced, the input issue mentioned before exacerbate this, where we will be matched against an entire team of mouse and keyboard players and does not remotely FEEL balanced. Beyond that, it seems like there is no lobby protection in that we will be matched against the same players that have destroyed us over and over, even if we back out and try to re-queue. This matchmaking, in tandem with the input lopsidedness has driven my friend group apart, where it's preferable for us to play separately so that we don't ruin each other's experiences. Which, may I add, is one of the worst things players could be thinking while playing a multiplayer game. This only reinforces my belief that the implementation of input choice will reduce this significantly. The only alternative I can see would be to create a better way to more accurately weigh the skill ratings depending on the player's input, i.e., PC players are queued in higher skill brackets when matched against console players. As an example, this would ideally put an average PC player against a higher-skilled console player to make matches feel more evenly balanced, but I wouldn't bank on this one, considering there is already a much easier solution available, as previously mentioned. Even if these matchmaking changes would cause us to wait longer, I would much rather have that and enjoy my time with my friends, than really dislike where we are currently and go play something else, leaving behind a game I truly want to love. In regards to the new season and game type, I understand every launch will have it's hiccups, but challenges have been an issue since launch, and that has not changed with this season and the addition of Last Spartan Standing event. It seems as though some progress from some kill challenges may carry over, but from my experience, when the game specifically tells me that I may leave without penalty and I will not lose work I have put into my challenges, only to discover that was not true and I have wasted my time and must re-queue for another match, is aggravating to say the least. Leaving early does not count towards match completion or score, and I don't have the time or patience to find out what other challenge issues still plague the game, which is not a good thing for a returning player, and is even worse for new ones who may come into this without prior experience with this from the previous season. For a new mode, that everyone will want to play, this needs to be addressed ASAP. Beyond this, there is seemingly no spawn protection. I know some maps are smaller and harder to control some of this, but when you're spawned directly in front of an enemy, scoped in on you with a sniper, and that same thing happens multiple times a match, it's hard to understand why. It does not feel great to be matched against someone - or more significantly, a team - who knows exactly where every spawn is and how they can spawn split and farm you the whole match. This is much more noticeable in coordinated teams in Ranked, but the pain is still felt in other playlists. Not much else to comment on here, but bottom line, you should not be able to spawn in line-of-sight, nor should you be as vulnerable off the spawn. Other games have strong spawn overshields or immunity for a short time to punish thise who attempt to force this snowball effect during matches. Food for thought. Furthermore - and credit where credit is due - the weapons across the board are in a pretty decently balanced spot, with a few outliers such as the Pulse Carbine that have been woefully neglected and feels unusable in anything other than exactly medium range. Any further or closer to your target and the weapon is incapable of tracking accurately or dealing enough damage to secure a kill before a player can escape the next burst. A tweak in damage or the aggressiveness of the bolts may help to make enough of a difference to give it a place in the sandbox. Finally, the grenades seem far too plentiful, to the point where they are almost limitless. When every player starts with two, plus the ones picked up from killed players on top of the pickups on the map -- they just become inescapable. While this is felt a bit less outside of quickplay or similar playlists, the frequency of being assaulted by grenades because of how free they are remains. Instead of being a scarce but powerful tool that needs to be used intelligently to outplay an opponent, they have become part of the kit to be spammed at every convenience, which ultimately detracts from how fun the gunplay of the game can be. If players were forced to either start with a single grenade or even without them, it would further incentivize the use of scavenging for them off of other players or making the tactical decision to either grab or bait pickups, giving them more meaningful usage in the game. I know this was a lot of my own personal opinion, and I'm sure there are plenty of other things that could be addressed with content, other weapons, game types, the store, etc., but these specific issues have negatively affected the experience of both myself and the friends that I would love to play this game with. I truly commend the commitment to keeping your staff working normal hours and not crunching, but I have to say that if these things don't get ironed out with the staff and talent you have in a timely manner, myself and others are going to find it very hard to want to come back. Six months each season is an awfully long time and I hope that the game will see meaningful updates within that window, especially on these points. We desperately want you to succeed and to help give us a reason to love Halo, a series that we all have a special place in our hearts for. Thank you for your time and all the hard work you've put in thus far, 343i. Respectfully, - Nihil

Here's the deal: I have an older Xbox 360 (white with 30GB HD) that has the trapezoidal shaped output for either Composite or Component. I have been using it via Composite (red/white/yellow) on an SD TV (480i) for some time now due to ease of use. With Halo 4 coming out soon, I want to play it on my 55" HDTV (Sony Bravia model# KDL-55ex710) for the full effect. I transferred the Xbox 360 over and ordered an HD Component (red/white/red/blue/green) cable since my older model doesn't have an HDMI output. I popped in Reach, and the resolution and image of it looked quite wonderful. It was running 1080p no problem. The only problem is that there was about a 0.5 second input lag with the haptic feedback. I pressed the A button, and my Spartan jumped 0.5 seconds later. It was extremely agitating. I switched back to my SD TV since there is input lag whatsoever, but now yearn to play on the HDTV for Halo 4 due to the amazing graphics, larger TV, and, I mean, come on, it's a 55" HDTV. My question is: what can I do to reduce or completely eliminate input lag on the HDTV? From the research I've conducted so far, I've found that a "Game Mode" on the HDTV eliminates a lot of the background video processing, but my Sony Bravia doesn't have one. I've also asked myself if upgrading to a new Xbox 360 (black one) and use the HDMI output (since it's a digital cable instead of optical) would reduce or eliminate the input lag, but have found that that wouldn't produce a noticeable difference. Does anyone have any suggestions or methods that they use personally? I would love if an avid techy could supply some recommendations! P.S. The Bravia has 120Hz Trumotion, if that tells you more about the refresh rate. TL;DR - How do I eliminate input lag on an HDTV for gaming?

Dear 343 Industries, Let me just say this real quick. I have a ton of faith that y'all can redeem the Halo multiplayer from what we've all recently seen. Every time I see an interview or read a quote from one of you guys, it gives me even more hope. Just consider the following suggestions from a super hardcore H2 fanatic. Here are some itsy bitsy things that could be implemented in H4 multiplayer (Infinity) that would probably make me buy the game even if the gameplay was as bad as Reach (Not bashing .. just hear me out). For the first couple, I'm going to go ahead and assume that there is going to be a numbered leveling system like H2 had. I ask for two things here. 1) Make the higher levels a big deal. In H3, my Double Team partner went from a 1 to a 48 in less than 6 hours. In H2 that amount of time would only get you to level 30 ish. And 48 was nearly impossible, which isn't a bad thing at all. 2) THIS IS MY ONE MOST REASONABLE SUGGESTION. Bring back the colored ranks with the corners from H2. Seriously, this is the coolest form of simplicity I can imagine. Based on what has been revealed about H4 so far, I'm assuming there is going to be ranks like General and Commander and all that stuff. Just consider a couple things here. 1) Please don't make these such a big deal. Anytime I see my gamertag, that ugly emblem is next to my name. All it shows is how much time I've spent playing the game, which sometimes sparks a good insult related to the number of friends I have or my relationship status. 2) The emblems for Reach were really boring and cartoon-looking. If y'all are going to use the same emblems that are used in H3, Reach, and every war game ever made, at least make them look cool with a faded, scruffed up look. Maybe a cool background or something. I don't know .. honestly, I don't like them at all. Just make them different. Bear with me through this one. I'm sure y'all are well past this point in development, but at least try to keep the multiplayer levels fairly simple. Do a side-by-side comparison of Lockout in H2 vs Blackout in H3. Now look at the bottom level of the BR Tower. Notice how in H2 Lockout, the floor is completely flat everywhere. Now look at H3 Blackout. Do you see that big platform that you land on when you drop down from the floor above? There is no reason that platform should be there. All it does is slow me down when I walk over it. There's little things like this all over H3 and Reach levels, not just on the floor but on walls and in doorways, as well. This kind of stuff not only becomes an annoyance every now and then when strafing, but makes the level look way too busy in regard to aesthetics. I can understand that kind of stuff in the campaign where the theme of the level is really important, but 99% of people that put hundreds of hours into multiplayer don't do it because the levels are pretty. If anyone gets anything from all these words, let it be this. BRING BACK THE AWESOME COLORFUL POINTY-EDGED NUMBERED RANKING SYSTEM!! Like I said before, it's simple and awesome, and no one is going to complain that it's there. At least the numbered ranking system like H2. I'm not proud of it, but 6 years ago my life revolved around my Halo 2 Team Slayer rank. I was a 39 by the way .. Legit fool!! Sincerely, A hardcore H2 fan