Upon the release of Halo 4 I was excited - so excited, in fact, that I bought the Limited Edition. I bought the Legendary Edition of Reach and also the Limited Edition of Halo 3. To me, Halo was a lifestyle, not a game. I poured 100’s of hours into each and every Halo game (not including CE – I didn’t know anything about Halo until Halo 2 – I know I missed out). I played H2 after school until I went to bed. Woke up, played a few games, and went to school. The weekends consisted of customs with local friends – the time of my life. I continued that process until Halo 3. At this point, the process continued again: wake up, game, school, game, sleep. And, of course, weekend gaming w/ the locals (our team name was the Pwn Stars) Halo Reach came out next and was a lot different, but it was a difference that I could cope with. Like H2 and H3, I played the game religiously. And then, the Defiant map pack by 343i came out and I was very impressed. I remember sitting in my cisco class waiting to get home and play these new maps. As I’m sure you all remember there were problems upon launch but everything was fixed quickly and efficiently. I played them, and played them, and played some more. The maps themselves were fantastic – the spawns and weapons sure needed a little work, but overall, the feel was impressive.
Fast forward to Halo 4. Campaign – wicked. Spartan Ops – awesome. Multiplayer – top of the line… or so I thought. It took me 4-5 weeks to hit SR130. I was thinking that, like Reach, even while playing religiously it would take me at least a year to hit the highest rank (Reach took me somewhere around 15months to get Inheritor). Sure I took advantage of Double XP and the Fast Track perk – but come on – you really thought that people wouldn’t play 10+ hours a day? 
On my way to SR130 there were times I wouldn’t gain XP at all – no screen would come up and I wouldn’t be rewarded. I switched to my other account and started leveling up that one. This is about the time I started becoming very frustrated with Halo 4. It seemed so different, so alien, and almost unplayable. After those first 6 weeks the “new-ness” of it died off and I started noticing all of the extra perks, abilities, settings, and changes that are in this game. I’m not gonna sit here and list them and tell you why I hate them, because you already know them all and have your own reasons for hating them. Regardless - I dropped Halo 4, much like MLG did. I felt it wasn’t competitive – it was nothing but a random mess. I went out and did the unthinkable – I purchased CoD: BO II. I played that game for a while and became bored. It was the same thing over and over again, plus I wasn’t too good at it. I absolutely LOVE the zombie stuff though. Anyways – I checked up on my old pal (Halo 4) and still, n00b central. At this point I started playing my PS3 while still just checking up on Halo every so often.
Then, there started to be some changes in playlists and settings:
My favorite playlist/settings change – NO MORE INSTANT RESPAWN! The pure bliss I felt knowing that dying was once again a penalty in Halo made my day. Sorry 343i but instant respawn was probably the WORST decision you made regarding this game. Don’t worry though – it’s all better now 
Team Doubles! YES! My local friend Tony and I played nothing but Doubles when it was released. Sure – the playlist needs a few tweaks (ammo count in power weapons is a tiny bit too high and also put Infinity Doubles as the third choice to vote for so that AT LEAST 3 people will have to vote for it to play it) Who’s idea was it to make an instant respawn doubles game with point bonus ordinance drops that regularly occur AND have all those armor abilities? –eff that. I quit whenever I have to play Infinity Doubles lol. Anyway – loving Team Doubles Pro and Doubles CTF.
Team Snipers is back! Hell yeah! Why did you remove it after putting it in the first time? The only thing I don’t like is “flinch” and no scope out when shot – but hey, it’s easy to adapt to that. The sounds that the shotgun and sniper make can be heard constantly from all over the map and I love it, they sound so powerful, its fricken awesome! Anyway – loving this playlist!
Team Objective, I have yet to play it but I’m sure it’s fantastic. Why wasn’t that playlist in there from the get go? Why split up the objective population? I can’t wait to get some buddies together and run that. Because, you know, who wants to roll with a bunch of Randoms, am I right? Haha
Grifball – this playlist is the chips AND the dip – ‘nuff said.
And last, but definitely not least, my NEW favorite playlist: Team Throwdown. Working with three legends is honestly the best thing you could have done to make this playlist feel like Halo. I have only played one game (Extraction) and went 24-1. After only ONE game of “no BS Halo” aka the “classic feel of Halo” – I cannot wait to get home from work and play more. I can’t remember that last time I have been this excited to get home and play Halo 4.
I did once vow to not spend another dime on anything Halo – even Halo 5. But 343i, you guys are slowly but surely changing my mind.
TL; DR
I played H2, H3, and Reach religiously and was let down by 343i and Halo 4 – but with playlist additions such as Team Doubles, Team Snipers, Team Objective, Grifball, and Team Throwdown, I feel like Halo is Halo again. Thank you so much 343i, you have brought me back from the brink. And who knows, if you continue on this path of greatness, I might even pre-order Halo 5. I vowed to not give another dime to Halo after the letdown I felt. But 343i, you guys are listening – and THAT is something I greatly respect you for.