First things first,
can someone answer me reliably why Bungie did not attempt to remove loadouts from The Arena but instead only changed/switched the armor abilities? They removed Jet Pack, put it back in, removed armor lock, kept Hologram … and stuff.
As far as I remember it was announced to be THE competitive playlist but they did not attempt to make it more hardcore by even the odds with no loadouts (maybe it is just a definition matter - hardcore -, but on the forums a lot of people wanted that - no AAs) … I remember Team Hardcore in Halo 2. So, they should know their business, right? They did not even try a single season loadout free! Y, y, y? Also, Reach already had a Slayer Pro variant in TS, so AAs are not essential to play Reach. Is it essential to change loadouts every season instead of only restart it to appeal to players?
Could the reason be, that this way The Arena would be a competitor to Anniversary’s Arena playlist (which should have no AAs(?))? I mean, Anniversary was surely planned longer time than just after the release of Reach, right? 343i also did not answer the question regarding when they actually started on creating CEA … I remember a question from a panel.
Why was Double Team and FFA put seasoned and then removed, population issues?
I don’t want to blame anyone for nothing, I would just like answers. As to, do you think there will be a seasoned playlist in Anniversary putting players into divisions? If so, will Reach get all AAs back as to differ from Anniversary Arena completely (also considering the TU - nerf of AL and AC)?
What other playlists do you imagine to be available with Anniversary considering the maps being shipped?