At this time tomorrow Halo fanatics are likely to be crying tears of joy (new achievements!), tears of frustration (welcome back mandatory update lag), and tears of sadness (goodbye Rocket Race, I hardly knew ye) as the much anticipated Title Update 2 finally arrives at an Xbox 360 near you. From a redesigned Career Stats page to a new Player Comparison feature, changes will be just as apparent on Bungie.net as they will be in the online multiplayer experience. Much to the chagrin of shotgun wielding, shield door camping fuck nuts everywhere, modified versions of existing maps will be introduced admist numerous other playlist changes, the most notable of which include the departure of Head to Head, Rocket Race, and Big Team Social.
People who enjoy larger parties need not fret as an 8 v. 8 option will now be available in the DLC hoppers. I personally am most excited about the addition of Squad Battle, a ranked six on six playlist that promises to be Slayer and Capture the Flag heavy. I can haz better gametypes and less lag? Refamiliarize yourself with the specifics of the long-awaited September Playlists (which are hiding behind the jump) and then tell me, what are you most excited about? Anything you will miss? I will have a gaping hole in my heart where the shield door campers used to happily reside. Looks like they’ll have to get their butt out from under the bases on Snowbound and actually play, eh? See you on the top of the map for the first time ever bitches. You may want to bring your sunscreen. I heard the sun is quite brutal to those who haven’t been exposed to it before.
Ranked Playlists
Lone Wolves
- Player count increases from six players to 8 players.
Team Objective
- Crazy King Hill times increased to one minute. Hill Movement set to Sequence (was Random).
Team Doubles
- This playlist now requires ALL content (Cold Storage, Legendary and Heroic maps are being used in Team Doubles)
- Objective Gametypes have had their appearance frequency reduced.
- Crazy King Hill times increased to one minute. Hill Movement set to Sequence (was Random).
Ranked Big Team Battle
- This playlist is retired.
Introducing Squad Battle
- Squad Battle is a Ranked six on six Playlist designed to fill some of the void left by excising Ranked Big Team Battle from the Halo 3 Playlists. Squad Battle gametypes are focused on Slayer and Capture the Flag and this playlist currently requires the Heroic Map Pack.
Social Playlists
Big Team Social
- This playlist is retired.
Rocket Race
- This playlist is retired.
Multi Team
- Rocket Race has been added to the gametypes and set with a low weighting.
DLC Playlists
Since Big Team was cut from Social, eight on eight action is reborn in the overhauled DLC playlists section of Matchmaking. DLC Slayer and Objective are both retired. These playlists require Halo 3 Downloadable Content (at least up through Legendary, but in the case of FFA, it requires all DLC) to participate.
DLC FFA
- This is an eight-player Free For All hopper focused on DLC content. The gametypes contained herein are a mix of Slayer, Objective and Infection modes.
DLC Big Team
- Eight on eight Social Slayer and Objective action (Gametypes from Big Team Social)
- Focused on DLC content (Requires both Heroic and Legendary Map Packs)
Hardcore Playlists
Team SWAT
- Objective Gametypes, SWATGuns set to skip after veto
- Weighting on all Objective games, SWATGuns and Magnums reduced
- Player Damage Resistance set to 150% (was 200%), players no longer spawn with grenades
- SWAT map variants now have Carbines and grenades available to pick up.
Head to Head
- This playlist is retired.
Miscellaneous
- Added Epilogue – Epitaph with no Shield Doors. Added alongside default variant.
- Added Boundless – Snowbound with reduced Shield Doors. Added alongside default variant.
- Added Sand Tarp – Sandtrap sans Elephants, default team spawns switched in one-sided games. Added alongside default map variant.
- Added Pit Stop – The Pit with inaccessible spawn hives. Added alongside default map variant.
- Ghost Town – No longer appears in any symmetrical gametype.
- Team Slayer – Spawning configuration in default Team Slayer now includes a secondary weapon – the magnum
Source [Bungie.net]
Posted by newguy2445 on September 22, 2008 at 2:30 am
I’m looking forward to most whatever they haven’t announced. The rumored Map Editor and possible new map reveals? I can hardly wait!
And If it’s an Map Editor, I’m going to say now I reckon the Editor will be on the computer maybe and you send your maps to the Xbox. Just a wild guess, and I’m saying it so if I’m right, I can gloat :D
This week is going to be awesome! Recon Contest, Title 2 Update, HBO/Bungie Contest, new RvB Episode. And school holidays!
Hell Yeah!
Posted by Queen 0f Blades on September 22, 2008 at 3:20 am
Heeeeey, I’m one of the shotgun wielding, shield door camping fuck nuts… T.T
That is, of course, because I can’t aim for shit…
Can’t wait for the “Beat Halo on Legendary with 4-player co-op, with Iron turned on, and everybody must be riding a Ghost” achievement. That one is going to take my friends and I hours. And somehow they’ll blame it all on me.
I wonder what the Anniversary achievement will be?
Posted by Ragingterror on September 22, 2008 at 3:25 am
Squad Battle is a Ranked six on six Playlist designed to fill some of the void left by excising Ranked Big Team Battle from the Halo 3 Playlists. Squad Battle gametypes are focused on Slayer and Capture the Flag and this playlist currently requires the Heroic Map Pack.
Since Big Team was cut from Social, eight on eight action is reborn in the overhauled DLC playlists section of Matchmaking. DLC Slayer and Objective are both retired. These playlists require Halo 3 Downloadable Content (at least up through Legendary, but in the case of FFA, it requires all DLC) to participate.
Added Epilogue – Epitaph with no Shield Doors. Added alongside default variant
Added Boundless – Snowbound with reduced Shield Doors. Added alongside default variant.
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I’ve been waiting for changes like these for a long time. Pretty much the only thing I’m going to miss is ranked BTB. If only it had actually worked the way it was supposed to…
Posted by mendicantbias00 on September 22, 2008 at 3:29 am
Squad Battle and DLC FFA here I come!
I am also looking forward to new achievements and hopefully *eek* new maps!
Posted by AusQB on September 22, 2008 at 3:43 am
I can’t express enough how much I don’t care about any of this.
Posted by The Oreo on September 22, 2008 at 4:21 am
Im just happy that I managed to get my Commander and FINALLY my Steppin’ Razor yesterday and finish it all off before TU2. I hate the name “Major”, now Strike Commander, thats where its at. :P.
I just hope people start playing the DLC Hoppers again… I love me some Avalanche CTF
Cant wait for the new achievements though!
Posted by BBJynne on September 22, 2008 at 4:52 am
But-but-but….
They were shiny! :(
Posted by mendicantbias00 on September 22, 2008 at 6:08 am
Do you not play MatchMaking anymore AusQB?
Posted by AusQB on September 22, 2008 at 6:20 am
Not at all. There are very rare occasions where if I am in a party with friends I might play social slayer or BTB, but I never go to play competitively. The last time I was in matchmaking, I was with a friend and we just wanted to go in and goof around, and maybe make fun of the other players.
I’m sick of the whole attitude surrounding matchmaking, and MLG in particular.
Posted by Ken Raves on September 22, 2008 at 6:44 am
Good bye Rocket Race, give me a call sometime.
Posted by mendicantbias00 on September 22, 2008 at 6:54 am
Fair enough, I dont care for the uber-competitiveness either, I always try to fill the party with people I know, then mute everyone but them. There are a lot of idiots in MM.
Posted by snorkle256 on September 22, 2008 at 6:58 am
Bungie may be able to reduce the number of shield doors on Snowbound that I can camp but they can never reduce my love for camping behind said shield door.
Now I’ll just have company on the few remaining shield doors.
Posted by Faded Delta on September 22, 2008 at 7:22 am
i totally agree with you… BYE BYE DOOR WHORES!!!!!!! they are SO gonna hate guardian and snowbound with a passion…
and the 6v6 is gonna own…. it makes my heart heavy and my prostate weak….. (***joke KungPow***)
Posted by Naepa34 on September 22, 2008 at 7:53 am
did anyone notice that they are putting infection in matchmaking. Its a possible gametype in DLC FFA. :)
Posted by TTL Tortacular on September 22, 2008 at 8:23 am
I will enjoy grenade spamming those who choose to hide in the now-open Snowbound bases. Plz2enjoymystickies.
I’m also looking forward to Sand Tarp. Finally people won’t be able to fuck the framerate by parking the elephants on the geometry.
Posted by GrowingDemon on September 22, 2008 at 8:27 am
I’ll migrate to DLC big team and squad battle. Also I must say kudos on the site. This is only my 3rd visit an I have to say that the navigation and load times are fantastic. Not being a kiss ass, just saying.
Posted by Mjonir on September 22, 2008 at 8:47 am
I’m going to miss Head to Head, with a proper opponent (most of the time they quit from being humiliated :P) it was my favourite playlist of all time… Now it’s going to be back to customs only again :/
Posted by CrazedOne1988 on September 22, 2008 at 9:05 am
Im curious how they are going to incorporate the new skulls into campaign.
And the annual achievement looks difficult.
“Finish Halo on 4 player legendary, with the iron skull on, on ghosts.”
Talk about complicated.
Posted by AT-AT on September 22, 2008 at 9:24 am
Isn’t the large middle shield door still there on Snowbound? I couldn’t care less about the shotgun as I find Snowbound a whole friggin lot on Team Doubles, and they just love to camp that garage door with the sniper. walk into the tunnels (or behind) and BOOM head shot. They’re nigh invincible. I want all shield doors gone on Boundless.
Posted by -S- on September 22, 2008 at 9:31 am
Aaaactually i heard that rocket race is being moved to Multi Team…so it’s not gone?
PS – Thanks for finally listening Bungie. Shield doors are an awful invention and I’ve been protesting them since day 1.
Posted by BJ on September 22, 2008 at 9:36 am
I’m cool with just about all of the updates. I’m one of those that would still like to see Rocket Race available for when I want to play it rather than having to get lucky with Matchmaking though. Squad Battle should be sick, and I give Team SWAT with carbines about 2 weeks until the masses revolt.
Posted by halcylon on September 22, 2008 at 9:41 am
I can’t believe they are getting rid of shield doors on those maps… I wrote Shiska on the blasphemy he was participating in when I heard about it.
Posted by bs angel on September 22, 2008 at 9:55 am
Queen of Blades, I blame you then for me not being able to camp the shield doors since I can’t seem to get to the shotgun first! (I camp at any and all given opportunities.)
Posted by bs angel on September 22, 2008 at 9:57 am
Kiss ass-ery is always welcome here! LOL, …
Seriously, thanks for the kind words. It’s nice to hear both of those things are good as I consider them to be make it or break it aspects of a website.
Posted by Vash on September 22, 2008 at 9:58 am
I don’t really have any really strong feelings for the changes. Im almost sad Rocket race is gone. I did think it was fun, but I really didn’t play it that often. Besides, it’s not like it’s disapearing without a trace. It’ll show up as a Double XP weekend special every now and then and it will live on in multi team.
I would have been sad for the loss of BTBm but it live on in the DLC hopper(which makes me happy. Hopefully this will improve chances of getting Avalanche).
If theres anything Im excited about though, it’s squad battle. I hope to see some maps there that for some reason never showed up in BTB. Hopefully maps like High Ground will be there.
Posted by PikminGod on September 22, 2008 at 11:07 am
there hasn’t been a shotgun on snowbound for a while now…
i hate that lone wolves in increasing to 8…once you get above lvl 35 all the matches either end with one guy winning before anyone else gets 10 kills or it finishes with everyone with at least 23 kills and comes down to who find who first
and i hate that team doubles will have less objective gametypes…2v2 1flag on standoff ftw
Posted by Jim 028 on September 22, 2008 at 11:37 am
I am looking forward to the new campaign achievements. They look like they will be frustratingly fun :D
Posted by Spook Swimmer on September 22, 2008 at 11:42 am
Hell ya! All the new updates, and in addition, they have the “Keep it clean” update on the webpage too. They are gearing up for a really great announcement…
Posted by Socket on September 22, 2008 at 12:11 pm
YES! They still have a Big Team type thing! Sweet.
I always played big team Social with my sis, and I was kinda ticked off when I heard they were throwing it out.
Posted by Zep 077 on September 22, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I’m really looking forward to see how Squad Battle turns out.
But I’m even more stoked for playlist ratings! Finally I can level up again :D
And new achievements are always good.
Posted by CancaN05 on September 22, 2008 at 12:25 pm
im super pumped for the addition of players in lone wolves…maybe i will finally get the overkill achievement! squad battle is going to be awesome…it sucks when theres 4 of your friends allready playing and nobody likes bigteam. but the new achievements i must say is what i am most excited for!
Posted by RIFT on September 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I can’t wait for the new variations of Snowbound and Epitaph… and not because they don’t have shield doors. It’s because I’m going to say, “I told you so,” to all the people who denied Snowbound wouldn’t play EXACTLY like Isolation without the shield doors… hell, it’s almost wide open on top and has a central underground tunnel that leads to 2 underground bases. They’re the same without the shield doors, and will play essentially the same, and there are a lot of people who don’t like Isolation as it is. Epitaph will be fine. I think the changes to that will be hardly noticed, but “Boundless” as it’s called will be hated by the same people who hate Iso. I love Snowbound as it is, and I can’t believe Bungie’s trying this experiment. Sure, I think it’s cool, but now we’ll have Isolation, and a snow variant of Isolation… wow.
Posted by vajanda on September 22, 2008 at 12:49 pm
That’s a good point about Boundless playing like Isolation…which is unfortunate because isn’t Isolation one of the most vetoed maps?
For the most part I’m pretty easy-going about the MM changes, but I’m not looking forward to the first few weeks where I’ll have to face bad match after bad match while all of the ranks in all the playlists normalize.
Posted by TTL Tortacular on September 22, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Isolation and Snowbound similar? I guess they both have underground bases.
The sight lines are completely different through.
Posted by GrowingDemon on September 22, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Its just some websites can be nightmares to navigate. As long as its a consistant style everything flows well. I’ve seen to many web sites fall victim to a crap nav system. My personal preference when browsing is to have the navigation controls across the top with the main content centred. Its how I desgin site unless instructed otherwise. Like I said, Kudos.
Posted by AT-AT on September 22, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Yeah, I don’t see how Snowbound sans shields could be called Isolation. The former is a bowl and the latter is a hill. Being in the middle of one puts you at a height disadvantage and the other at a height advantage.
Posted by AfRo SaUcE on September 22, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Finally, Shotgun Shielddoor campers are through! Let’s see them get 50 now!
Posted by Speaking of Updates…TAADAAA TU2 « Will’s Weblog on September 22, 2008 at 3:50 pm
[...] more info on the update, visit Bungie.net, or http://hawtymcbloggy.com/2008/09/22/good-riddance-shield-door-campers/#more-2276 for a slightly more condensed [...]
Posted by Handmade Hero on September 22, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Only eight or so hours until TU2 takes off
Posted by vajanda on September 22, 2008 at 10:11 pm
I don’t think the maps are the same, I just think the way *I’ll* end up playing them is going to be the same. On some maps there are definite areas of control where you don’t have to be on the move as much and you can usually maintain your ground with less than a full four man team. But on Isolation, we usually end up having to be more mobile and all four stick together since there isn’t anywhere that is easily defensible. At least, that is my take on it. Me and the guys I play with are still pretty new at the whole ‘team’ thing.
Posted by RIFT on September 23, 2008 at 1:36 am
In Halo, if you’re on a hill, your a perfect BR target, if you’re at a lower ground, you’re still a BR target… I don’t like the BR for what it is (I’m not denying it’s stupid amazing accuracy, rate of fire, range and kill capacity, I just don’t like it), and it actually felt like it was only useful on Snowbound if you were silly enough to go out on top. The only thing that sets Snowbound apart from other maps is it’s shield doors. Yes, the whole camping thing is a little weak, but you get used to it, not bitch and moan. I love the map the way it is, and I can’t help but feel that the the subtraction of shield doors will just result in a map almost exactly like Isolation. It’s bare on top, and has tunnels underneath connecting 2 bases. The fact that Iso is a big rolling hill and that SB is more of a level plain with 2 big bases sticking up isn’t going to change the way the gameplay is going to work. I think they’ll end up functioning the same, and people will end up loving it or hating it; loving it for a lack of shield doors, or hating it for a lack of shield doors… or maybe they’ll think it’s like Iso. That’s just how I feel. I’d like to think they’ll play different, but I can’t. I’m not someone who gushes over things and says, “No, Bungie made listened to people and are doing what they asked, so it must be good.” I always expect to be disappointed, and I’m sure I will be very disappointed with the shield doorless Snowbound. All I like about the TU2 so far are the achievements, other than that, the things being taken out of MM and the others being added in are more disappointing than the “Boundless” thing. So long as BRs never become a standard spawn weapon in Team Slayer, I’m cool.
Posted by Queen 0f Blades on September 23, 2008 at 11:43 am
Queen of Blades, I blame you then for me not being able to camp the shield doors since I can’t seem to get to the shotgun first! (I camp at any and all given opportunities.)
Sorry. T_T
Maybe if you would just ask nicely, I’d give it to you…
Posted by Queen 0f Blades on September 23, 2008 at 11:44 am
Gah, stupid me. I forgot to end italics. I r jeenius.
Posted by bs angel on September 23, 2008 at 11:56 am
(Fixed!)
I’ll remember that if I ever bump into you in the vast world of matchmaking Queen of Blades. I would like it presented on a silver platter as well if that isn’t too much to ask. ;)
Posted by Queen 0f Blades on September 23, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Hell, if I ever saw you in matchmaking, I would give it to you in a heartbeat. You could probably just kill me and take it, because I would be too busy going “OH MY GOD ITS BS ANGEL OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD THAT IS SO AWESOME GUYS CHECK IT OUT!” Of course, a silver platter works too. I’ll even throw in a batch of virtual cookies.
And thank you for fixing my typo. :D
I’m gonna stop now. ._.
Posted by Cayote on September 23, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I am excited for Lone Wolves and Crazy King.
Posted by silvercube on September 24, 2008 at 1:01 am
*cries that Rocket Race was taken out*
Alicia and I are upset about that!
Waiting for the 6 new maps.. Headlong please!!!
Posted by mville99 on September 30, 2008 at 11:10 am
awesome cant wait for new maps but i want the legendary maps to be free b4 christmas ,i cant play my team doubles anymore =(
will the legendaries ever be free to download???
Posted by Shockwave S08 on October 29, 2008 at 12:47 pm
TU2 is nice and all…but Bungie should have added a “Group by Highest Skill” option instead of going the half-ass route with the Playlist Ratings. It’s bad enough that my XBL got hacked once already, but that’s just WAY TOO MUCH STATS!!!