Random customs are dead. Why? Presumably children. There is a custom game community still alive that host epic BTB strategic customs, though you’ll have to find them on Reddit (r/customgames) or things like waypoint and other social media. How did they become divided into pockets? Well, after the release of halo3, more children began jumping on the band wagon. By the release of Reach, it was saturated.
I was used to accepting random game invites with eagerness as I’d drop into a heavily dynamic battlefield with missiles flying, random explosions and the most epic halo moments imaginable. Now, if you accept random invites, you get into the same linear, brain dead, crappy maps and games forgeable. Hide and seek, and tag are basically the gist of custom games nowadays. The most common one being the hallway with one slow zombie to escape by shooting at an object for 5 minutes. Sad, I know. However, some friends and I have recently been hosting BTB strategic customs on reach and halo 4. If you’d like to take part, send me a request and find us in the Reddit mentioned above. We’re coordinating custom game nights, and suggestions are most welcome!