Bungie's last Halo Playlist Update

Today marks the day that Bungie passes the torch over to 343 industries and Bungie's last ever Halo matchmaking update.

Its a relatively small update on the surface, but there is stuff behind the scenes to get ready for the transition.

PLAYLISTS

General
* Removed Rebirth from all playlists
* Added community maps Chateau, Eden Minor and Renova to Team Slayer

Premium Battle
* All objective gametypes in Premium Battle now use the Big Team variants
* Removed Hot Potato from Premium Battle

Team Objective
* All gametyes in Team Objective now feature DMR/AR starts (excluding Classic and Pro variants)
* Integrated 3 Flag, 2 Flag Slayer and Speedflag into Team Objective

Grifball
* Updated with latest maps and gametypes from Grifballhub.com

MLG
* Removed MLG King on MLG Zealot



MAPS

Sword Base
* Soft kill added to small ledge

Zealot (not Arena Zealot)
* Soft kills added to specific locations in space

Boardwalk
* Both Sniper Rifles now spawn at 180s with 2 spare clips

Anchor 9 / Unanchored
* Rocket Launcher now spawns at 180s with 1 spare clip

Mt. Lam Lam
* Removed Camo powerup



GAMETYPES

General
* Slayer DMRs game variants now use the default vehicle set
* Big Team Assault gametypes now use 3 second arm time

[Source]


343 is indeed planning to continue to update the playlist, how often or when their first update is planned is unknown at this time. I expect the details of the Transition to be revealed soon.

May Matchmaking Update Live!

Today the May Playlist Update for Halo Reach went live.

Here are the Major Details:

Action Sack

• Shotty Snipers: Shotguns and Sniper Rifles… don’t forget to bring marshmallows.
• Splockets: Spartan Lasers and Rocket Launchers. It’s like getting punched in the face repeatedly, WHY DID YOU ASK FOR THIS?!
• BOOM! Ball: Play Oddball (Hot Potato) with Grenade Launchers and infinite ammo.
• Hog Potato: Get to the Warthog! Ride it around for points, pile your teammates in for more points. Does anyone else smell gas?
• Shotgun Assault: Play Neutral Bomb Assault with only your trusty Shotgun.
• Dino Blasters: Elites + Concussion Rifles + Bottomless Clip + Jetpack = 42
• Rocket CTF: Play Neutral Flag CTF using Rocket Launchers. Yes you heard me, Neutral FLAG.
• To The Death!: Duel to the death… swing, clang and deliver the final blow with no recharging shields.

Squad Slayer

Squad Slayer is a new 5v5 playlist featuring Squad Slayer (AR/Magnum) and Squad Slayer DMRs (DMR/AR) game variants. Both game variants will be 75 kills to win and offer Sprint, Hologram, Jetpack and Active Camo abilities. Big Party Restrictions will be enforced on parties of 4-5 players, allowing them to only match with other big parties. Maps include Condemned, Uplink, Tempest, Unanchored, Asylum, Uncaged, Ivory Tower Reflection, Countdown, Boardwalk, Powerhouse and Arena Zealot.

• Team Size: 5
• Max Party Size: 5
• Big Party Size: 4-5
• Max Local Players: 4

Team Classic

We’re adding Classic CTF, Neutral Bomb Assault, Crazy King and Oddball game variants to the Team Classic lineup. Additionally, we’re changing starting grenades for all game variants in the Team Classic playlist to 1 frag starts and the Overshield will now give 3x up from 2x. We’ve accepted updated versions of a few maps and added objective gametype support to others.

• Classic CTF: Magus, Noble Creek, Prolonged, Prophet
• Classic Assault: Magus, Noble Creek, Prophet
• Classic King: Eclipse, Magus, Noble Creek, Prolonged, Prophet
• Classic Oddball: Eclipse, Magus, Noble Creek, Prolonged, Prophet, Rat Trap

Living Dead

The dead rise again! Significant changes are being made to the Living Dead playlist. First and foremost we’re increasing the player count to 12. Next up we’re going to start using the Alpha Zombies game variant as our core offering, but the traditional Infection game variant will remain available for the time being. Alpha Zombies features Sprint for everyone including Zombies, while Alpha Zombies also have infinite equipment usage.

Big Team Battle

Assault is being added to Big Team Battle! In addition to adding Assault, we’re also adding several community maps. The following maps have been considered and some are still being playtested so this is not a final list, some of these may or may not be added.

• Abridged by Schmittler 5000 (Forgetacular BTB winner)
• Wayont by FDL iGet Down (Original map from the iLoveBTB.com community)
• Utopie by FDL FiFTy I (Paradiso rebalance from the iLoveBTB.com community)
• Renegade by x black kn1ght
• Trident by x black kn1ght
• Temptation by tkblingx2

The Arena, Team Slayer and Double Team

Always subject to change, blah blah blah… let’s just assume this is always the case and get on to the good stuff? OK! The following community maps are being considered for integration into The Arena, Team Slayer and Double Team where appropriate. Due to the inclusion of community maps, the Team Slayer playlist will be restricted to a maximum of 2 local players. For you wild and crazy split-screen fans, please see the Squad Slayer section above for where you’ll get your 3way and 4way action on.

Also the Noble Map Pack Playlist has been removed and a new gametype was added to Firefight Arcade called "Arcadefight",Weapon Pick ups enabled.. There are more smaller details that haven't been revealed yet, I'll update this post when they become available.

Halo Reach May Matchmaking Update

In Today's Bungie Weekly Update, some of the May matchmaking update for Halo Reach was revealed.

Check out below for the details.

Action Sack

• Shotty Snipers: Shotguns and Sniper Rifles… don’t forget to bring marshmallows.
• Splockets: Spartan Lasers and Rocket Launchers. It’s like getting punched in the face repeatedly, WHY DID YOU ASK FOR THIS?!
• BOOM! Ball: Play Oddball (Hot Potato) with Grenade Launchers and infinite ammo.
• Hog Potato: Get to the Warthog! Ride it around for points, pile your teammates in for more points. Does anyone else smell gas?
• Shotgun Assault: Play Neutral Bomb Assault with only your trusty Shotgun.
• Dino Blasters: Elites + Concussion Rifles + Bottomless Clip + Jetpack = 42
• Rocket CTF: Play Neutral Flag CTF using Rocket Launchers. Yes you heard me, Neutral FLAG.
• To The Death!: Duel to the death… swing, clang and deliver the final blow with no recharging shields.

Edit:  Jeremiah just responded to my thread stating Action Sack will have the "None of the Above" vote option in may.

Squad Slayer

Squad Slayer is a new 5v5 playlist featuring Squad Slayer (AR/Magnum) and Squad Slayer DMRs (DMR/AR) game variants. Both game variants will be 75 kills to win and offer Sprint, Hologram, Jetpack and Active Camo abilities. Big Party Restrictions will be enforced on parties of 4-5 players, allowing them to only match with other big parties. Maps include Condemned, Uplink, Tempest, Unanchored, Asylum, Uncaged, Ivory Tower, Countdown, Boardwalk, Powerhouse and Arena Zealot.

• Team Size: 5
• Max Party Size: 5
• Big Party Size: 4-5
• Max Local Players: 4

Team Classic

We’re adding Classic CTF, Neutral Bomb Assault, Crazy King and Oddball game variants to the Team Classic lineup. Additionally, we’re changing starting grenades for all game variants in the Team Classic playlist to 1 frag starts and the Overshield will now give 3x up from 2x. We’ve accepted updated versions of a few maps and added objective gametype support to others.

• Classic CTF: Magus, Noble Creek, Prolonged, Prophet
• Classic Assault: Magus, Noble Creek, Prophet
• Classic King: Eclipse, Magus, Noble Creek, Prolonged, Prophet
• Classic Oddball: Eclipse, Magus, Noble Creek, Prolonged, Prophet, Rat Trap

Living Dead

The dead rise again! Significant changes are being made to the Living Dead playlist. First and foremost we’re increasing the player count to 12. Next up we’re going to start using the Alpha Zombies game variant as our core offering, but the traditional Infection game variant will remain available for the time being. Alpha Zombies features Sprint for everyone including Zombies, while Alpha Zombies also have infinite equipment usage.

Big Team Battle

Assault is being added to Big Team Battle! In addition to adding Assault, we’re also adding several community maps. The following maps have been considered and some are still being playtested so this is not a final list, some of these may or may not be added.

• Abridged by Schmittler 5000 (Forgetacular BTB winner)
• Wayont by FDL iGet Down (Original map from the iLoveBTB.com community)
• Utopie by FDL FiFTy I (Paradiso rebalance from the iLoveBTB.com community)
• Renegade by x black kn1ght
• Trident by x black kn1ght
• Temptation by tkblingx2

The Arena, Team Slayer and Double Team

Always subject to change, blah blah blah… let’s just assume this is always the case and get on to the good stuff? OK! The following community maps are being considered for integration into The Arena, Team Slayer and Double Team where appropriate. Due to the inclusion of community maps, the Team Slayer playlist will be restricted to a maximum of 2 local players. For you wild and crazy split-screen fans, please see the Squad Slayer section above for where you’ll get your 3way and 4way action on.

• Affinity by GodlyPerfection
• Enclosed by Kymicals
• Kingdom by Sikamikanico
• Synapse by HWM BlacKnight
• Treasury by JoeSki73

May's Playlist update is scheduled to go Live in Early may, but is subject to changes. Next week should bring more smaller details.

Halo Reach April Playlist Update Live!

By now the Halo Reach April Playlist Update we mentioned a few weeks ago should be live now. If not, give it another hour.

New Halo Reach Gametypes released

Bungie has released the new Gametypes from tomorrows Action Sack Playlist (And brought back Alpha Zombies) to the public.

Alpha Zombies
In Halo 3, the Alpha Zombies gametype was used to make various Infection Custom games. Halo Reach shipped without this valued gametype. Now its back in Halo Reach. I haven't quite had the time to tinker with it yet.
Download it here.


With the next two gametypes brings a new gametype category called "Insane".

Haloball
In this gametype, Golf Balls spawn on specific points and players use Gravity Hammers to hit them towards a board which has multiple goals that each have different point values. The goals are created by team specific hill markers labeled as goals with spawn sequencer set to the point value of the goal. If the Golf Ball reaches the goal, it will be scored and your team will score points equal to the score specified in the object properties. Download.

Speedpile
The idea of this gametype was based on Stockpile and allows players to carry multiple flags on their back while still using weapons, vehicles and equipment. When a player touches a flag it will automatically attach to their back and will only drop when they are killed. Flags can be assigned different point values which are displayed above the flag in your HUD. Flags which are worth more than 1 point will be larger and on fire as well. Delivering the flags to your Speedpile goal zone will instantly score them and cause the flags to respawn at their original location. Download.

Power Slayer
This Slayer gametype is designed to allow players to gain special traits based on the types of kills they perform. Currently there are traits for Basic Kill, Melee Kill, Assassination Kill and Headshot Kill. Each time you perform one of these kills you will gain the traits assigned to that kill for 10 seconds. Killing another player during this period will refresh your timer back to 10 seconds and extend your powers. You can also chain them together to gain multiple types of powers, so if you Melee Kill a player and then Headshot Kill a player before your timer runs out, you’ll gain the traits of both kill types. We haven’t finalized the default traits for each kill type yet, but these will also be configurable in custom games so you can create your own!
Download.

Here is a quick example video that I took with what the default traits will be. Do note that there is a timer for the traits but to keep the video length reasonable I did not wait till the timer ran out.






Playlist Update...Update
We've also got word that the Playlist Update should be out by the Afternoon. Community BTB will arrive April 2nd, Action Sack and Team Classic will go up tomorrow as scheduled.

New Playlists coming to Halo Reach, March 29th

On March 29th, Bungie will be deploying the April Matchmaking to Halo Reach. See below for the changes:

ACTION SACK
This is a new 4v4 playlist inspired by community map and game variants. The initial lineup isn’t as insane as some players may expect, we’re using this playlist to introduce new gametypes that we’ve scripted up. We’ll be looking at feedback and suggestions for future additions to this playlist, so drop by the Optimatch forum and tell us about your favorite wacky 4v4 gametypes!

Power Slayer
This Slayer gametype is designed to allow players to gain special traits based on the types of kills they perform. Currently there are traits for Basic Kill, Melee Kill, Assassination Kill and Headshot Kill. Each time you perform one of these kills you will gain the traits assigned to that kill for 10 seconds. Killing another player during this period will refresh your timer back to 10 seconds and extend your powers. You can also chain them together to gain multiple types of powers, so if you Melee Kill a player and then Headshot Kill a player before your timer runs out, you’ll gain the traits of both kill types. We haven’t finalized the default traits for each kill type yet, but these will also be configurable in custom games so you can create your own!

Speedpile
The idea of this gametype was based on Stockpile and allows players to carry multiple flags on their back while still using weapons, vehicles and equipment. When a player touches a flag it will automatically attach to their back and will only drop when they are killed. Flags can be assigned different point values which are displayed above the flag in your HUD. Flags which are worth more than 1 point will be larger and on fire as well. Delivering the flags to your Speedpile goal zone will instantly score them and cause the flags to respawn at their original location. This is not a Stockpile variant, so if you want to setup your own maps to work with the gametype you’ll need to Forge it using the Speedpile game variant to have access to the appropriate labels.

Speedflag
This one is pretty simple, it’s a CTF variant which allows you to carry the flag on your back at all times. Just like in Speedpile, you can still use weapons, vehicles and equipment without dropping the flag. It’s worth mentioning that the only way to drop the flag is to either score or be killed, so make sure you want to carry the flag as long as possible before picking it up, you can’t pass it off to a teammate without sacrificing yourself. This game variant will work with any map which is already setup for CTF.

HammerBall / Hockey
In this gametype, Golf Balls spawn on specific points and players use Gravity Hammers to hit them towards a board which has multiple goals that each have different point values. The map we setup was one we found in the Community and we mirrored it so each team of 4 is back to back with a barrier preventing them from interfering with each other, unless of course you’re playing HammerBall Xtreme. The goals are created by team specific hill markers labeled as goals with spawn sequencer set to the point value of the goal. If the Golf Ball reaches the goal, it will be scored and your team will score points equal to the score specified in the object properties. This brings me to our next gametype… Hockey! Hockey uses a game variant of HammerBall and is played on a hockey rink map that we found in the Community as well.

TEAM CLASSIC
This is a new 4v4 playlist featuring game variants with no equipment and custom settings, as well as remakes of Classic Halo maps we found in the Community.

Player Traits which differ from default Slayer:

• Shield Recharge Rate 110%
• Health Recharge Rate 110%
• Damage Modifier 110%
• Melee Modifier 75%
• Player Speed 120%
• Jump Height 125%
• Player Gravity 150%

Maps we plan to use:

• Battle Canyon
• Dreadnought
• High Noon
• Hydro
• Magus
• Prolonged
• Prophet
• Rat Trap
• Rockout

COMMUNITY BTB
Our first round of Community BTB will run in April, featuring BTB maps from the Forgetacular submissions. Future rounds of Community BTB will be lovingly crafted by our Community Cartographers group.

Maps we plan to use:

• Bendarius Ridge
• Montana Gambit
• Outcrop
• Renegade
• Ridged
• Rift

 MLG
The MLG playlist will be updated with the MLG V3 maps and gametypes.

Random List of Additional Changes

• KOTH now has game variant support for Multiple Teammate Scoring allowing multiple teammates to gain score for their team while in the hill.
• All KOTH matchmaking variants now have a hill movement time of 1 minute.
• All KOTH matchmaking gametypes now allow equipment use while in the hill (2v2/4v4 gametypes limit equipment to Sprint, Jetpack and Hologram – Armor Lock removed from all KOTH loadouts).
• All KOTH matchmaking gametypes now have 1 frag starting grenades.
• Added a HUD widget for CTF gametypes which show when your flag is away from home or held by an enemy.
• More softkills on Pinnacle, Uncaged, Hemorrhage, Countdown and Asylum.
• Modified all default matchmaking map variants to support a static initial hill while playing Crazy Random King.
• Slayer game variants in 6v6 playlists are now 75 to win.
• 3 Ball is now 300 to win.
• Replaced Banshees with Falcons in all non-Invasion gametypes on Breakpoint.
• Increased Banshee respawn time to 180s on Paradiso.
• Decreased the frequency of Bro Slayer and Invasion Skirmish in the Noble Map Pack playlist.
• Replaced all Slayer game entries on The Cage with Uncaged in all playlists.
• Removed all objective game entries on The Cage in all playlists.
• Removed Pinnacle from Team Snipers.
• Removed Evade from The Arena and Double Team gametypes.

[Bungie Weekly Update - 03/18/11]

Alpha Zombies coming back, More Gametypes on the burner

Halo Reach's Man in Charge of Matchmaking, Jeremiah/Ninja on Fire has confirmed that Alpha Zombies (The Gametype that was used to make many Custom Games in H3, but was cut from Reach for unknown reasons) will (without any delays) be coming to Halo Reach in April.

Other Possible Gametypes that could be coming to Reach are:

-A Stockpile Game Variant where you can pick up flags just by touching them and carry multiple flags at once and still be able to use your Weapons. Bringing the flags to their scoring zone would collect them all immediately.

-CTF is also being played around with. We could possibly also see the ability to Carry Flags and use your Gun/AA's at the same time.




 Exciting to see Bungie's making new and innovative Gametypes for the community.

[Source]

Halo Reach MM Playlist Update Incoming Today

A Huge Playlist Update for Halo Reach is deploying today.

Multiplayer:

 Playlists:

Multi Team: As far as major playlist changes, the most notable is Multi Team which now features 4 teams of 3 instead of 6 teams of 2. Since Rocket Race doesn’t work with teams of 3, we’re upgrading you to Rocket Hog Race! We’ve also added 3 Ball to the lineup to replace the regular Oddball gametype.

Team SWAT: New gametype offerings are now available in the Team SWAT playlist. New gametypes include Oddball, Stockpile and 3 Plots.
Grifball: The Grifball playlist is returning for an extended stay as a Community playlist. We’ve updated to the latest gametypes and maps, as well as added the new maps Pinwheel and Oracle’s Revenge.
Community Slayer: The second round of Community Slayer is coming and with it comes 14 maps (10 new!) built by members of our very own Bungie community. Similar to the previous run, we’ll keep this playlist active for a couple weeks. Play, vote and let us know which your favorite Community maps are in the Optimatch forum!

Gametypes:

Bro Slayer: This new gametype consists of Team Slayer with co-op style spawning, featured on a variety of maps in Team Slayer, Big Team Battle and Noble Map Pack. Similar to Invasion spawning you can cycle through teammates or choose from your backfield spawns, but watch out for backfield spawn campers!

Invasion Skirmish: Think of Invasion Slayer, with no vehicles and after capturing drop zones you get instant weapon drops that alternate between Spartan and Covenant regardless of who caps the zone. You’ll still experience loadout and weapon drop progression as each tier advances. Three flavors will be available including Invasion Skirmish (SvE), Spartan Skirmish (SvS) and Elite Skirmish (EvE). These gametypes will be available on a variety of maps in the Invasion and Noble Map Pack playlists. Spartan Skirmish on Anchor 9 is my favorite, check them out and tell us what you think!

Assault: Players may no longer disarm bombs while their Armor Lock equipment is activated, this affects all Assault gametypes as well as Invasion gametypes with an Assault phase.

Maps:

* The new map variant “Uncaged” is being added alongside The Cage in the Team Slayer playlist.
* The following maps have been updated to support Bro Slayer gametypes, make sure to download the latest version after playing in matchmaking to take advantage of the changes:

o Anchor 9 o Unanchored o Sword Base o Boardwalk o Powerhouse o Countdown o Tempest o Breakpoint o Paradiso o Hemorrhage o Atom o Boneyard o Spire

* The following maps have been updated to support Invasion Skirmish gametypes, make sure to download the latest version after playing in matchmaking to take advantage of the changes:

o Countdown
o Boardwalk
o Powerhouse
o Atom
o Anchor 9
o Unanchored

Firefight:

-Firefight Playlist Removed
-Firefight Limited Brought Back
-Firefight Arcade Brought Back 

Score Attack:
But that’s not all. We’re also making some big additions to Score Attack. We’re filling out the playlist with a whopping 10 different gametypes. Some are takes on existing ideas, but others are community inspired concoctions. Of course this means the leaderboards are going to get reset, but you probably guessed that was coming. Below is the list of all the gametypes:

Score Attack: 5 second respawns, enable IWHBYD Skull.

2X Score Attack: Based on Score Attack, 5 second respawns, Weapon Drops and Hazards enabled, 2x Overshield, 200% Damage and Melee Modifier, 2 each grenade count, Boss Wave is Elite Spec Ops, Grunt B-Day, Cowbell, enable IWHBYD Skull, Update Loadouts so Grenades are set to Unchanged.

Gruntpocalypse: 5 second respawns, Weapon Drops enabled, enable IWHBYD Skull.

Skirmigeddon: Based on Gruntpocalypse, 5 second respawns, every wave is Skirmishers, added evade and hologram, enable IWHBYD Skull.

Sniper Attack: Hazards enabled, 5 second respawns, Updated Loadouts to include Sprint and Evade, 2x each grenade count, enable IWHBYD Skull.

Rocket Attack: Based on Sniper Attack, Hazards enabled, 5 second respawns, Rocket and Magnum starts, 2x each grenade count, update Boss Wave to be Hunter Kill Team, enabled Cowbell Skull.

FRG Attack: Based on Sniper Attack, Hazards enabled, 5 second respawns, FRG and Needler secondary, 2x each grenade count, enable Cowbell Skull.

Crashsite: Melee Modifier also 200%, enable IWHBYD Skull.

Mythic Attack: 5 second respawns, enable IWHBYD Skull.

Fiesta Attack: Based on 2X Score Attack, 5 second respawns, Random Primary and Secondary weapons, enable IWHBYD Skull."
 

Playlist Updates usually go live between 10am PST and Noon PST.

[Source]

Halo Reach "Classic" Playlist targeted for March

Halo Reach's Playlist Manager Jeremiah/Ninja on Fire has shown a active interest in bringing a Classic Playlist to Reach. Well its going to happen.

According to Jeremiah, the goal is to release the playlist is in March. No Armor Abilities whatsoever and Most likely 120% Movement speed.



Check the links out below for official quotes:

Post 1.
Post 2.