nice update! im excited to see more about these new maps. and im glad you guys are looking into the melee. i totally get what you mean about it looking bad even though its working right. would be funny if a new animation was the only fix it needed. but there are a few things i dont get. rankings being not a goal, but a tool... a) then why show them at all? obviously i can understand a 45 not wanting to go into ranked with a 20 and not know it. but you guys put something else in place that does the same thing and is my next question. b) why is it tied to advancement in your EXP rank? so if you can just look at someones skill rank number, then why does the EXP rank system not allow promotions until you reach a certain skill rank? that in itself implies a goal doesnt it? it would be a good way to tell a persons skill if you COULDNT see the number. i.e. this person is a captain grade 3 so i know they have a number of games played and are somewhere in the 20's skill wise. but i can just look and see highest skill achieved. so whats the point of all that? tieing the two systems together and saying they are for separate things doesnt make any sense to me. i think you should split them, let the EXP rank go by EXP alone. its fine when you are in the skill level range for your EXP rank, but ask a captain grade 4 if they are happy with it, or if they are given a ton of $h!7 by others for not being able to skill up and get promoted. i play alot of social matchmaking and i went into lone wolves (which i hate) for three hours one day so i could get my 40 and shut everyone up. and for recon... you had to know when you put it in the game for only yourselves that people would bug the hell out of you. i'll be honest, i spent $130 dollars on legendary edition only to find out that i dont get everything? that rubs me the wrong way, and it should. not only do you guys have one of the best and coolest jobs ever (people would kill for a job wiping your guys 4$$e$ and you know it), but you get the game for free, early, for FREE. and now you're annoyed because people are bugging you that they want your cool helmet. come on guys, did you really think people WOULDNT really want it? its like being a kid, taking your brand new transformer to your buddies house and not letting him play with it. you KNOW he really wants to play. why even take it over there if you just want to play with it by yourself? because you want to show off, thats why. we all did that scenario, or similar, as kids. so we all know what it is that we are seeing. childishness. hate me if you want, but you know im right. apologies for the lengthy post edit: i wanted to add that by recon helmet, i mean the design itself, not the flames. i like a way to identify you guys when i happen to match up against you. but the recon helmet without flames, how it looks in the service record, is what i mean. its the coolest looking one and you guys couldnt even give it to legendary edition or something? oh, and why dont i have elite shoulders on my commando? errr, you know what i mean! 1000 G in halo3 c'mon! Bothari i want a rematch! [Edited on 10.28.2007 5:43 PM PDT]