Aside from gameplay issues discussed elsewhere, I was a bit disappointed in the amount of community involvement in MP play post-release. Specifically, I was disappointed in many aspects of Forge (I will leave them unspecified as there are other threads for just Forge) and the incorporation of player creations in matchmaking.
For H5, I would like to see 343 partner with the major forge/customs sites and provide a community playlist alongside the regular playlists. This community playlist would be a rotating list, where forge/customs sites would select a set of maps (say, 5 - 10) and custom games (when available) to populate the list. After each match, players would be asked to rate the map and/or gametype (integrated into the H5 software). After two weeks or so, the next forge/customs site on the list would populate it with their selections. Matches played would not count towards regular stats, to ensure that everyone would feel comfortable dipping in there on occasion without consequence.
This would give 343i a continually growing and improving pool of maps and gametypes to consider for matchmaking. They would already know which ones players actually liked, rather than having to cull beforehand and hoping that players will like the final selection. It removes the overhead of running contests (like the Ricochet contest) and instead outsources most of the workload to the community itself. For the forge/customs sites, it gives them the ability to retain interest over the life of the game, and also gives people additional incentive to attend the testing lobbies and improve maps with the goal of making it to the rotational playlist.
I think having this type of ongoing relationship with the community will go a long way towards keeping MP play fresh and exciting.
would love to see this.
wanted it in Halo 3 with the first edition of forge.
sorta got it in Reach as Bungie really bolstered the playlists with community/forge content in addition to their own dlc
completely disappointed with how 343 integrated forge into Halo 4, although I remember reading that it was possibly a coding issue and they couldn’t really get community maps to run without lagging out.
either way, Halo 5 needs this. I’m still playing Reach three and half years later because of the forge content that helped sustain it’s re-playability… Halo 4 just doesn’t have this.
I love the game, I think it plays tighter online than any Halo before it and I don’t mind most of the changes they made with gameplay… but the map rotation is so utterly pathetic I get bored after about 40 minutes. Haven is the one standout example on Halo 4 of a classic, legacy style map, but as great as it plays, how can a person not get tired of it when 3 out of 5 matches are Haven.
hope 343 listens to their loyal fanbase and gives us something more than just a handful of maps in matchmaking the next time around.
a community forge playlist would be awesome in that regard. always new, always different.
Or we could have a Custom Games Browser… 
GTA V has a system similar to this and I think implementing this into Halo would be a smart decision. It would be amazing to see community created content from the beginning of Halo 5’s life span.
> Or we could have a Custom Games Browser…
I’d personally like to see both.
Custom game server browser is something I (along with many others) have wanted for quite some time. It would be a good way to keep the community united and keep the game fresh and well populated.
I do also like this idea too, and i get the impression that it would offer a different experience. It would be the ‘community spotlight’ of multiplayer offering the best and most popular of custom games. It also makes me feel that the community would be more appreciated by 343 by them acknowledging the communities talent and creativity. It could also allow for some custom games to be made into actual gametypes such as infection from halo 2 to 4.
> > Or we could have a Custom Games Browser…
>
> I’d personally like to see both.
Same. This was not meant to exclude a custom games browser.
However, we all know that many custom games - while perhaps still fun periodically - would never be able to make it in MM. It is nice to play some really strange games sometimes . . . but many don’t have a broad enough appeal to justify inclusion in a list.
The idea behind this is what you state: these would be the community-generated content that the major forge/custom games site management believe have the potential to be included in MM. So the browser gets you everything; this gets you (and 343i) that segment of content that might work for MM.
> Or we could have a Custom Games Browser…
We’ve needed this for years. The fact that the past Halo games (Halo 4 not so much) have had probably the best custom game options on console. Why have we not had this option to take advantage of that?
I agree, would keep Halo 5 relatively fresh in content.
> > Or we could have a Custom Games Browser…
>
> We’ve needed this for years. The fact that the past Halo games (Halo 4 not so much) have had probably the best custom game options on console. Why have we not had this option to take advantage of that?
Because you’re playing on a Console, and match making is where it is at for consoles. Plus there are fans who believe that a Custom Game Browser would mean there’d be no matchmaking (Oh my god the humanity, a Halo game with out match making[/sarcasm]) and most of them have the “It’s one or the other, can’t have both” train of thought when it comes to things like that.
Halo 2 Vista had both a Custom Game Browser AND Match Making, granted I didn’t play match making because I’m not someone who cares for ranking or any of that BS, but, having a custom game browser and match making would make Halo 5 a very good game for people who love customs, but hate match making.
On a slight tangent, I believe clan support (i.e clan list) will go a long way towards helping not only keeping the numbers up post launch, but with community integration aswel.
~ Duck.