(This post is sort of long, so for your convenience, there is a tl;dr at the bottom.)
I really believe that a big part of Halo’s success as a franchise has been due to custom games. However, H5 hasn’t really given that aspect of the community the amount of love it deserves. (Yes, yes, I know that Forge is on a whole new level in this game, but we can all agree that managing content isn’t the easiest to do in this game). That being said, I know we’re edging ever closer to the end of our life cycle, but there are a few things we could to revitalize our customs community and keep it kicking a while longer. Thus, I propose that 343 implement a playlist manager into the customs browser.
Whatever do you mean, PendragonE01?
I’m glad you asked, kind, and strangely interested stranger.
I want to be able to create a custom games playlist, wherein game modes and maps are paired and placed into a single playlist. These playlists could then be initiated from with H5, and shared through Waypoint like any other file in the browser.
Why would we want that?
I’ll tell you why. Custom games as they stand are kind of unwieldy. After each match, you’re sent back to the lobby and have to start the game again. Being fairly old school, I can tell you that this is how we’ve done it for centuries within the Halo community. Generally, it’s fine, but what if you don’t want to play the same game over again? You have to muck about with the settings, change the map, hope nobody quits, wait for that one doorknob that you still hang out with (despite the fact that he does dumb stuff like this) to come back from his phone call that he swore would only take two minutes, but now it’s been like17 and his girlfriend still won’t apologize for eating his pizza rolls, and while you can see the end coming for his relationship, you can’t help but be a little jealous that he at least has someone…
Uh, Pendragon?
Oh, my bad. That was… uh… nothing.
Anyways, the point is launching a custom game takes valuable time that we don’t wanna waste. It’s 2018; Give us our instant gratification. Along the same lines, this would allow us to download an entire series of games in one go, streamlining the process. No more hunting and selecting individual items like you’re at some sort of -Yoink–tier corporate a la carte cafeteria. Additionally, 343 could release their ‘Official’ playlists so that those of us who have the occasional LAN party to have a more seamless experience. Just pop in the playlist, and away we go!
That’s not a bad idea, kid, what else you got?
Bruh, really? Kid?
Sorry.
That’s alright, just don’t let it happen again.
If someone decided to pull the trigger on something like this, they could also build us some more integration into other Xbox One’s feature. We could maybe benefit from some sort of Looking For Group enhancements that would allow this section of the community to better plan and communicate play dates and the like. We could also have some sort link in Mixer, where streamers could include special links so that if you’re watching them play in an open customs lobby, you hit the link and drop in with them.
Those are some pretty ambitious ideas, man…
They are, you’re right, but like I said customs have been a big part of the Halo experience since Combat Evolved. And it’s not like 343 isn’t interested in these sorts of updates. Just last November they release H5 Local Server that allows for LAN play, and they just announced that they’re going to be implementing a custom game browser for MCC (which, by their words will be even more robust than H5’s). Even 343 has realized, and is starting to act as though the custom games community is vital to Halo. While I’m 100% ok with them taking their time with H6, I don’t think there’s any reason H5 can’t still be improved in order to remain a competitive option for the Xbox.
FINALLY! WE’RE BEING RECOGNIZED, BROTHERS. NOW’S THE TIME! THERE ARE DOZENS OF US!
Woah, man. Cool it. I just custom games could use some enhancements. I don’t wanna start a revolution just yet…
Oh, ok. Sorry.
Weirdo…
(tl;dr Custom Games could use some love. I’d like to see a playlist manager implemented so we can download content more efficiently, and launch it in a less cumbersome way. There are also some peripheral features that could be developed to integrate with other Xbox services, such as Mixer.)
