Thank you Malice514 for heralding a voice, which has been surprisingly silent following the release of Halo 3. From the time Halo: CE first launched with the Xbox, to days of Halo 2 and declining movie deals with Hollywood studios - citing the desire to retain complete artistic control -, I was very impressed with Bungie's seemingly uncompromising attitude when it came to developing quality products in the Halo universe. Unfortunately, the rarity of Bungie's artistic resolve made the subsequent betrayal to the quality/value of their products and fans all the more disconcerting. Bungie apparently decided around the time of production of Halo 3 that given the immense success the Halo franchise had become, they should make up for lost time in the selling-out department. As I said above, I'm surprised more fans who have been around since the instalment of the original game aren't perceiving and/or crying foul. What kills me is that I'm not even convinced they are doing what is in their best interest financially. I'd be curious to know how the numbers for average players online, total games/timed played, etc. stacks up for Halo 2 and Halo 3. Surely, competent businessmen could ultimately extract a bigger profit if the consumer base is larger and more satisfied with a higher quality product by handling subsequent content additions in a reasonable fashion (as Halo 2 downloadable maps were) - paying for [Heroic] an overpriced trio of maps that brought the total map count up to a number closer to what would have been reasonable in the main release, and that contains foundry, a map that is basically a empty room but was touted as awesome because I'm able to design the map instead of the people whom I just paid to, doesn’t exactly whet my desire to shell out cash for additional content - . But I guess with Halo 3 being the last instalment of the series there was a paradigm within the Bungie decision makers that building up a fan base and maintaining a good quality of product was no longer in their best financial interest and that they should start exploiting the fan base they had built up and whore out their product as much as possible. It really pains me to see how video games have evolved recently, with developers taking an easy way out and trying manipulate their young, ignorant, and often not-all-that-bright demographic *LOLZ Brute pimps great update* by making games they think people want, instead of being creative and making a product that they think is good and therefore people will want. This paradigm makes the industry decidedly stagnant even with improving technology and use of the Internet. Video games are mirroring Hollywood in this respect. The real concerning thing here though, is that independent films are able to breathe some life into the film industry where as since video games require a vast amount of people to produce there’s little to no chance of small independent projects effusing fresh ideas into a misguided profit-driven industry. Just because games aren’t geared towards a more mature and intelligent group now doesn’t mean profits couldn’t be had if legitimate efforts were made to do so. So I’m going off on a bit of tangent here, somewhat excusing Bungie’s actions as a symptom of a larger problem by succumbing to follow the actions of it’s peers. Back on topic and why I am even posting in the first place: [quote] Q. Can’t I just pick it up on Marketplace as DLC in exchange for my hard-earned monies? A. Sure. You'll just to have to wait a little while. We don’t have any date or pricing information for you yet, but we can say that the Mythic Map Pack, which includes Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox, will ultimately makes its way to the Xbox Live Marketplace as a standalone purchase. As soon as we have more details, we'll spill the beans. No need to continue the digital interrogation. [/quote] Oh but there is need for futher questioning. This response suggusts that the Mythic Map Pack will be availible has a package of all 6 maps. That would mean that in order to get Citadel, Heretic, and Longshore one would have to buy the entire map pack even if one had already procured Assembly, Orbital and Sandbox through purchasing Halo Wars LE. This would mean the only incentive the mythic maps add to buying Halo Wars LE would be a relatively short head start to playing Assembly, Orbital and Sandbox (amoung the relatively small amount of people who would have the maps during this time). Or is it the case that the other three maps (Citadel, Heretic, and Longshore) will be availble for separate download? The above response leds me to believe that if one purchanses Halo Wars LE, in order to get all 6 maps one would have to essentially pay for the same maps (Assembly, Orbital and Sandbox) two times. [b] Bungie you need to clarify this, and don’t hide behind Halo Wars LE being external. [/b] All that needs to be siad is if Bungie’s own products (Citadel, Heretic, and Longshore) will be avaible in a separate release to facillatate the consumers that have already obtained the other three maps through Halo Wars LE. Bungie needs to be [b] forthcoming [/b] about this information in orfer for people to making informed [b] purchasing decisions [/b]. [quote] You'll find that we're always as forthright and forthcoming as we can be. Stick around and make yourself right at home - we'll give you everything you need in order to make a sound purchasing decision before you're forced to open up your e-wallet. [/quote] Hmmm….. What’s that smell? Could it be hypocracy? Or is it just plain bullsh1t?