Lost in all of this TU talk are changes to specific playlists. It has now been 3 months (I think July was the last Playlist update from Bungie) of no changes in playlists which really need some.
Begin rant And speaking of the TU, the only thing we know about it is that Beta playlist hoppers will be opened sometime between now and November. Hardly what I’ve been waiting so long for. I feel as though Bungie was much more open with the direction they are taking this game than 343 has. Honestly, I could care less about Halo fest run-ups and two weeks of bulletins dealing with recapping.
Rant aside, here are some things I would like to see changed. And a general question to 343: are any playlist updates being considered or incoming?
Arena
-Remove Jetpack. Enough said.
-New maps–yes, even community maps. At least community maps such as Enclosed, Asylum and Select give each team a chance off-spawn, unlike Camp Base and Reflection which favor Red immensely.
-Something to promote population increase–yes, credit jackpots bring in all the little Infection kids, but in order to rank players properly, something needs to be done to boost population to give a more accurate reflection of skill. It worked when Bungie did it early in Season 8.
Invasion
No changes have been made to Invasion as to my knowledge. Some that immediately come to thought:
-Fix weapon spawn times in Phase 2 and 3 for both Boneyard and Spire. Power weapons and Vehicles spawn instantly, after 45s, or not at all in some case.
-Give Elites something to defend against vehicles in Invasion Slayer. Elites are at a huge disadvantage in Invasion Slayer because their weapons blow against vehicles. Either allow them to spawn with a DMR class (who cares, break canon) or put more DMRs on the map.
-More maps. Either community maps (I’m sure the Cartographers can come up with some good ones) or make it DLC required so Breakpoint appears more often. I think I’ve played Breakpoint twice in the regular Invasion playlist out of some 500 Invasion games.
General
-Add community maps to Squad Slayer, or make it DLC-required (yes, I know that would make you spend money on an evil corporation, but if you can afford Xbox live, you can afford $20 to play a couple extra playlists. Reach has 20 playlists).
-In fact, make some playlists DLC-required. H3 did it, and that worked out just fine. You can afford it. I’m sick of Upper Red Lift base, Crouchdown, and Sword/Rocket/Shottyflection. Tempest is a great map and I have to wait 12 minutes just to find a game in the DLC playlists.
-Remove Zealot/Default maps from DLC playlists. I finally found a game with the other 62 people who actually have the DLC, only to have Zealot voted for. FML.
-Give credit jackpots in the Classic playlist. Would love to see more people play this playlist.
TL;DR: Where are the playlist updates? Is Reach being forgotten?
Keep it constructive.