Halo Reach February Updates in Full

[Spectral Jester]

February Matchmaking Playlist Update

 

Speaking of being eternally grateful, the team that designs the Halo: Reach playlists always appreciates the feedback you leave in the Matchmaking section of our forums. They’re looking for additional feedback this month, though, so let’s dip into the specifics of the February Matchmaking playlist update, which is slated to go live on February 7, so you can find out yet another way to make your voice heard.

 

 

• Grifball updated.

 

Map changes include Radiant being removed and Impact Arena (Grifball) and Sierra Vista (Grifball Dash) being added. One additional change to this playlist is that Blargball variants will now appear in voting slot three only. Semi-related, to vote for that choice, you must say “wort wort wort” into your mic while simultaneously selecting that option. Please note that saying “wart wart wart” will render your selection null and void.

 

 

• Squad DLC updated.

 

Squad DLC’s population is dangerously low. To breathe some life into this list, we’re making a few changes. Anniversary maps have been set to optional, and Noble and Defiant maps continue to be required. We have also heard your concerns in regard to a few achievement-friendly game types still being difficult to find. In response to that, we’ve added the following objective game types to voting slot three:

 

Multiflag on Highlands, 1 Flag on Highlands, 1 Flag on Condemned, Invasion on Breakpoint, Crazy King in Breakpoint, 1 Flag on Breakpoint, 1 Flag on Tempest, Multiflag on Tempest, Crazy King on Tempest, Neutral Bomb on Tempest, Multiflag on Condemned, Crazy King on Condemned, Crazy King on High Noon, 1 Flag on High Noon, Crazy King on Breakneck, 1 Flag on Breakneck, Stockpile on Ridgeline, Neutral Bomb on Ridgeline, and Crazy King on Ridgeline.

 

 

• Rumble Pit updated to TU settings.

 

TU game types are our standard Reach Matchmaking settings with the Title Update changes. Those changes are: damage bleed enabled, modified reticle bloom, sword block removed, Armor Lock modified, and Active Camo modified.

 

 

• Infection updated.

 

Map changes include Sword Base being removed and Uncaged replacing The Caged. Also, we’ve noticed some feedback coming from both matchmaking and internal playtests about players getting betrayed by teammates at the beginning of games. Since that sometimes results in a less advantageous respawn position, we’ve removed friendly fire in an attempt to cut down on that particular form of griefing.

 

P.S. One final effort is all that remaaaaaaains, so please, dear players, just focus on the braaaaaains.

 

 

• Banshee replaced with Revenant on Breakneck.

 

The classic Gauss ’Hog vs. Banshee battle on Headlong will continue. We bid adieu to the flying purple thing on Breakneck, though, and welcome its hovering brethren in its place!

 

 

• Rocket ’Hog Race weighting reduced in Multi Team.

 

I think this game type should be renamed “Spawn in the Passenger Seat Every -Yoinking- Time.” That has absolutely nothing to do with the reweighting, by the way. I just don’t want the impending name change to take you by surprise.

 

 

• Zero Bloom moved to Competitive category, and Beta category hidden.

 

Zero Bloom Slayer is popular enough to be moved to the Competitive category. We’re working on what will be in the Beta category next, but it needs a little more time to marinate in order to reach its maximum important status. Keep an eye out for its return in the near future.

 

 

• Classic game types removed from Anniversary Squad, and One Bomb Damnation moved to Anniversary Classic.

 

Classic game types are being removed from Anniversary Squad, and One Bomb Damnation is moving to Anniversary Classic. What? I already said that? Fine then. Moving on.

 

 

• Team Slayer changes. Make your voice heard!

 

We are in the process of deciding if the Team Slayer playlist will be updated to TU settings. This continues to be one of the most popular playlists, so we are not taking this decision lightly. In an effort to get player feedback that's as accurate as possible, we are going to pull voting data over a two-week period.

 

 

 

 

 

To do that, we’re removing one of the voting choices. That will leave you with one vanilla choice and one TU choice. We realize that ties default to the highest voting option, so in order to balance the results, vanilla will be the top selection for the first week, and TU will be the top selection for the second week. Once the results are in, we’ll analyze the data and make an informed decision.

 

So, participate in the Team Slayer playlist starting on February 7, and make your voice heard! Because the other option, of course, is forever holding your peace….

 

 

• Team Hotshot added to Action Sack.

 

Right about now you’re probably asking yourself, what is Team Hotshot? To answer that question, I grabbed the playlist designer that created this game type, and asked him a few questions.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. L, I’d like to ask you, on behalf of both people reading the Bulletin this week, what exactly is Team Hotshot?

 

Team Hotshot is a new game type in which a player’s damage output is tied to the number of successive kills the player has achieved. When you spawn, you’re at level zero. One kill progresses you to level one, the next kill progresses you to level two, and the third kill progresses you to the third and final level. We call this the player’s “heat.” The twist is that players will notice their speed is tied to their heat level.

 

Congratulations on doubling your readership, by the way.

 

Why, thank you! Back to business, though. How did you come up with this game type?

 

My original idea for Team Hotshot was to have the person get stronger with every successive DMR bullet that hits a target. What it eventually morphed into was players getting stronger as they get kills. So it’s not every shot you land, but every kill you get. The tricky part was that you have this rich-keep-getting-richer economy, and there needs to be a balance for all the players who are suddenly stronger than their opponents. So, the idea was much like working your way up the weight classes of boxing; the stronger you are, the slower you are. The heavyweights in a boxing match don’t throw 120 punches per round like the featherweights do. But when you get hit with a haymaker from a heavyweight, it puts you out. They throw fewer punches but have more power behind them. Hotshots are similar. They can’t move around as quickly, but they can do more damage.

 

What is a good strategy when playing Team Hotshot?

 

You want to work with your team to protect the slower players who are putting out more damage. You also want to get those people power weapons. Here’s why: when you’re at the third level of heat, you are doing significantly more damage than a player who just spawned. For instance, one sniper shot anywhere on an enemy player will kill them. That brings up another point. Players who are ascending through the heat levels need to be more careful about their ordnance output. When one grenade can kill an enemy player, it can betray a teammate just as easily.

[Adam91]

ill look forward to play team hotshot

[MCPO Mayh3m]

• Zero Bloom moved to Competitive category, and Beta category hidden.

 

Zero Bloom Slayer is popular enough to be moved to the Competitive category. We’re working on what will be in the Beta category next, but it needs a little more time to marinate in order to reach its maximum important status. Keep an eye out for its return in the near future.

 

This makes me very happy as I will be playing this like crazy.

[CandiBunni]

I can't wait to download this. There's so much good stuff in this update.

[FIREN4]

Can't wait until Friday when I can see all the new changes.

[The Director]

Can't wait until Friday when I can see all the new changes.

I thought it was tomorrow, the 7th?

[Donut]

Pretty awesome, can't wait to try this update out in some Multiplayer!

Thank you Spectral J for posting this! <3

[Specops0980]

you know i support all of the changes, expect Rumble Pit, that was my fav playlist, that and invasion, i hope things remain the same..though i will admit to see how this new gametype plays out!

[DaveAtStateFarm]

Removing Sword Base! Wey!?! Other than that,GREAT!

[EvilMidgetKid]

Don't we just naturally say wort wort wort anyways. I mean just cause my friends don't do it with me doesn't make it weird right?..... O_O I hope not...

[Mr Biggles]

i don't understand...people wanted the TU..they get the choice on a good map like Asylum, they pick normal slayer?

 

 

if TU gets taken out, don't blame me.

[OG 667]

• Rocket ’Hog Race weighting reduced in Multi Team.

 

This has always been a pet peeve of mine; I think racing types belong in their own playlist entirely. Players seem to prefer either multiteam or racing since they are completely different gamestypes - what usually happens when Rocket Hog Race gets selected is that some players either quit immediately, grieve their teammates, or go essentially AFK. Splitting the playlist would reduce the populations but also hopefully involve less messing about. For the record, I like both racing and the other multiteam gametypes. I would just prefer to be able to choice one or the other.

 

I'll miss Sword Base on Living Dead but I'm happy you've fixed the betrayal issue. That playlist was the worst for team killing.

[edit] Ah! Sword Base is there... just spookier. Good times!

[Jan]

I love Halo Reach, it's phenomenal. But in simple terms, why the **** have you disallowed the ability to betray? It's annoying now because if someone stands in the way of an entrance (just an example) you can't hit them, hinting and suggesting them to move? Also, why did you take away Sword Base? To be fair, I don't really see the big deal over having that map? It was popular and liked by the majority of the players that play living dead.

 

Please reply, I'm a bit confused...

[Hunterex12]

what changes did they do i wonder

[CandiBunni]

what changes did they do i wonder

 

Um...did you read the first post? Spectral Jester specifically stated what the changes were in the February update.

[Almanu]

FML cant they just leave team slayer alone. I don't play any TU play-list team slayer and swat are the only game types left for those who like vanilla reach. Way to alienate those who bought reach to play reach. Lets hope halo 4 doesn't suck aye.

[CandiBunni]

FML cant they just leave team slayer alone. I don't play any TU play-list team slayer and swat are the only game types left for those who like vanilla reach. Way to alienate those who bought reach to play reach. Lets hope halo 4 doesn't suck aye.

 

Implying the TU sucks, which I do not believe it does. There are some serious issues with Vanilla Reach, and the title update fixed them in my eyes. The bloom is more reliable and has been proven to reward pacers more so than spammers now, the double melee issue has been fixed, armour lock finally has some decent weaknesses, etc. I personally enjoy the TU more than Vanilla Reach, and this is coming from someone who enjoyed Vanilla Reach quite a bit.

[Gostrider0117]

I don't understand why they felt a need to mess with Team Slayer at all! It is by for the most used playlist. It is that way for a reason! Why would they put TU into Team Slayer even if they are just testing it out?! The TU playlists were the least popular playlists for a reason! Don't ruin halo. Halo Reach was supposed to be different from Halo 3 so why are they trying to make it Halo 3.5? Btw bleedthrough sucks. Thats why bungie got rid of it! 343 is not fixing Halo. The TU just makes it easier for noobs to get lucky grenade kills, lucky headshots with the decreased bloom, and bleedthrough so that they can shoot you with an AR for half a second and pummel you. This takes significantly less skill in my opinion. Why should the players that are good at Reach get punished? Also people who complain about armor lock in Team Slayer need to grow a pair because they can play several other game types like squad slayer where there is no armor lock. If you don't like armor lock play a different playlist! If you don't like the other playlist, get over it or play COD! Alot of the best players in Team Slayer use armor Lock, so it is by no means a noob only loadout.

 

If anyone that works for 343 reads this, please don't keep the changes that you have made to team slayer! Make a TU Team Slayer option if you really want to! And for God's sake change the voting back to 3 choices! I just got back to back Elite slayer and Tu Elite slayer options. This sucks and its ruining my halo experience.

[biggybazooka]

I have to say, do not reduce/remove redicle bloom. it is what made reach the way it is, and as for the bleed through, remove that since again, remove a shield then kill is what fixed the assault rifle/punch combo crap.

[OG 667]

I love Halo Reach, it's phenomenal. But in simple terms, why the **** have you disallowed the ability to betray? It's annoying now because if someone stands in the way of an entrance (just an example) you can't hit them, hinting and suggesting them to move? Also, why did you take away Sword Base? To be fair, I don't really see the big deal over having that map? It was popular and liked by the majority of the players that play living dead.

 

Please reply, I'm a bit confused...

 

Likes Living Dead too much... thinks he speaks for the majority... betrays people who stand in his way... bit dim... Ah! You're one of the stupid kids who ruin the game for everyone else! Now you can't betray your teammates, a bloo hoo!

[highplainsdrifter]

*bleed through has been in every halo except for Reach

*nobody was talking about armor lock (that happened awhile ago), also suggesting people should suck it up and play to their abilities kind of contradicts what you're saying

*the two vote situation is a temporary situation for gathering polling data that will end in two weeks

*you can move people by running into them, try something like "is it possible to allow betrayals after the last man standing is dead, and perhaps vibration when meleeing a fellow zombie?"

[RedStarRocket91]

If it turns out the majority of players don't want TU settings in Team Slayer, then they won't permanently put TU settings in Team Slayer. That's the whole point of trying to find out what players want.

 

Team Slayer is actually my favourite playlist now that there's a chance of getting a TU gametype. I've been playing a lot of Squad Slayer beforehand purely because of that, even though I disliked 5-a-side and getting matched up with big parties against big parties. This is a great way of finding out what the community as a whole, not just those in the forums, actually want.

 

Also, why is 'adapt' suddenly incredibly unfair as soon as you're the ones being asked to do it? Give me a good answer to that and I'll start taking you seriously.

[Spectral Jester]

Removing Sword Base! Wey!?! Other than that,GREAT!

 

seriously? sword base was a camp fest and probably the worst map ever for infection

[Spectral Jester]

I love Halo Reach, it's phenomenal. But in simple terms, why the **** have you disallowed the ability to betray? It's annoying now because if someone stands in the way of an entrance (just an example) you can't hit them, hinting and suggesting them to move? Also, why did you take away Sword Base? To be fair, I don't really see the big deal over having that map? It was popular and liked by the majority of the players that play living dead.

 

Please reply, I'm a bit confused...

 

Betrayal was taken away for 1 simple reason, people that betray all the time, jan your stats show you are a betray first and a game plater 2nd.

push them out the way instead of team killing. plus sword base was literally a camp fest, everyone runs into the tunnel and stays there, hardly any skill involved is there. if your a zombie you waited patentilt at the top of the lift by the tunnel and caught them as they came up. no skill involved. Sword Base was a boosters dream, and not a gamers map. thankfully thats been seen and dealt with, infection is now a gametype people can play again

[Gostrider0117]

*bleed through has been in every halo except for Reach

*nobody was talking about armor lock (that happened awhile ago), also suggesting people should suck it up and play to their abilities kind of contradicts what you're saying

*the two vote situation is a temporary situation for gathering polling data that will end in two weeks

*you can move people by running into them, try something like "is it possible to allow betrayals after the last man standing is dead, and perhaps vibration when meleeing a fellow zombie?"

 

Bungie obviously took out bleed through for a reason. I personaly dont like the fact that i can get shot once and then get beat down by some crappy noob. And this is Halo Reach, its not supposed to be like the other halos. And I was just talking about armor lock because I always hear everyone complain about it dipsh!t. I dont see why people want armor lock to be weakened. Its part of the game. Anyone can get good at using any of the loadouts and all of the loadouts have weaknesses.