Okay, guys, I think it’s time for a chat. When you guys took over for Reach, I had some good faith in you. Halo: CEA looked promising and I couldn’t wait for the Anniversary playlists. Everything was going great…but then you guys removed Squad Slayer. But why? There was no reason to. Squad Slayer had a healthy population and I played it quite frequently, mostly because I enjoyed it much more than most of the other playlists. Squad slayer felt more like…Halo. It didnt have Armor Lock, it had good maps and gametypes, and the 5v5 action just felt perfect.
However, in your quest to determine what people think about Vanilla and TU Reach, you changed up Team Slayer for a while using some sort of vote system. And that system did look good…on paper. But did you guys ever take human nature into account? A lot of people probably just skipped those pop-up windows you put in and just jumped into Matchmaking. Or perhaps, not everyone will vote according to how the system should go. Like, for instance, maybe the top option would be Slayer DMRs on Uncaged, which would appeal more to some people than TU Slayer on Reflection. So, right there, the vote becomes tainted. 'Cause after all, who wants to play without DMR starts? Not a lot of people…Most people, be it Vanilla or TU, will tend to vote for the DMR starts. After all, there’s not a huge difference between the two.
So, after a while of this voting process, you came to some…odd conclusions. I’ll paraphrase what I imagined to have basically happened at a board meeting.
“Hey guys, according to our Team Slayer polls, people like both Vanilla and TU Reach (DUH). THEREFORE, it would seem best to remove a good and healthy playlist and replace it with a CLONE of Vanilla Reach. However, said clone will just be TU settings. Nothing about it will be different other than the TU part. (Someone raises their hand) ‘Yeah, so why should we remove a playlist? Why not just add a dedicated TU playlist, or better yet, leave them alone?’ No…Because I say so.”
You know, 343, I was really annoyed with you guys for a while. But I got over it after a while. But then you guys started changing it up again. You guys started removing some maps from certain playlists, such as Select. That was a pretty darn good map. And on top of that, you added some of the worst maps in the Halo series to date. I mean, Midas…Really? Did any of you actually playtest these maps before adding them? Unconquered and Utopie are also among the list of terrible maps that you guys have added. And then making the third option in Swat always an objective gametype? Yeah, that gets old. And you know what gets really old? HAVING ALMOST EVERY MATCH OF TEAM SNIPERS ON COUNTDOWN AND ZEALOT! Those are close quarters maps! I want my Team Snipers games to be, you know…long ranged. If I want close quarters sniping, I’ll go play Shotty Snipers in Action Sack. OH WAIT! You guys are getting rid of Action Sack!
BUT WHY?! There’s absolutely no reason to get rid of Action Sack (Well, I can imagine removing Halo Ball). But seriously, Action Sack has the most diverse gametypes on Reach. Heck, you guys even dedicated the time to make a whole new gametype for it. When I don’t feel like dealing with the crap of Team Swat and Snipers, I like to go into Action Sack, or Anniversary Classic/BTB…one of which you are also removing next Tuesday. You know, the best part about all of this is that you do it in the name of shifting players from one playlist into the others. But, where do I go then after you remove them and I get sick of the leftover playlists…? If you take out Action Sack (my favorite playlist), then what do I have left? Swat? That annoys me after a few matches. Team Slayer always got on my nerves, Team Snipers was ruined with the addition of so many close quarters maps, Super Slayer doesn’t have that many players…(which is ironic, because it’s staying while other “low” populations are being removed) I’ll never get the Anniversary maps in the normal BTB playlists, because there will always be that one guy that doesn’t have the map pack (same with the other playlists). The list goes on.
So, explain something to me, 343. You guys have always claimed to be a community game company, or rather a company for the gamers/community. And yet, your actions seem to be the complete opposite. Just how is taking away our options beneficial? How am I to enjoy a game with so little left? After this update, you guys will have taken away at least 7 playlists and a few maps…Probably some other things as well that I’m currently forgetting. Point is, this update is just going to harm the community. I mean, really, Action Sack is listed under the Community playlist. And as I saw on a thread title earlier, you’re killing it for the Anniversary players. Some people just don’t have Reach. So, what sort of message are you giving those people when you take away HALF of their options other than the middle finger?
I’ll admit, it was nice of you guys to basically give everyone Bungie Pro and all that…But really, when it comes down to it, you’re doing more harm than good, which pains me. I love this series, and I want to see it thrive. But it’s not going to thrive with the current direction that you guys are heading. So, please, just do THE COMMUNITY a favor and scrap the August update. I know that someone or some people put quite a bit of effort into it, but just do it. Reach is good as is. It doesn’t need any more changes, especially the bad kind. Just screw it, leave Reach alone, and focus on Halo 4. At this point, it’s going to need all the help it can get. I truly hope that Halo 4 succeeds, but first, I want my Reach to remain…Reach, and not some degraded form of what was Bungie’s Swan Song. Thanks for your time (if anyone bothers to read this, especially the people at 343), everyone.
-An upset fan