It's about time I did my own rant.... Okay, here are a few things I LIKE: 1. Two brand new playlists 2. Stat reset- I get to play against really good people now. The better the people I play, the better I become. This will inevitably increase my skill in this game, and help me achieve a far higher rank than before. And that's not just because of the new ranking process. It's because this will make me a better player. Too many people -blam!- about a loss, instead relying upon that experience for strategy and skill learning. Best training in the world was what I got last night. The guy that beat me said he used to be a level 35 in Rumble Pit, and I was two kills behind him in a Midship Rumble! Definitely a skill-building experience, guys.... 3. Riddance of Plasma Pistols on SOME gametypes, and not ALL gametypes. It's funny to hear the same people complain that the PP/BR combo is killing them on one gametype, but how they want it so damn much in another gametype. Why the hell do you think it's still there? Bungie has REDUCED the use of the Noob combo substantially, but they're not going to rid of it completely like that....and I for one applaud the move. The scenarios when it's use is understandable, I can use it. The scenarios when it's just stupid to have, it's gone. Wow, I should really -blam!- about THAT..... 4. Variety in vehicles!!! Great! I know you can surf with the Spectre, and leave the level. Go ahead and do that. I'm going to go grab the flag and take it to my base, so you go have fun....and then when the match is over I'll leave cheater feedback. I don't know how you could go wrong with this.....I mean, of all the things Bungie would be able to visually perceive as cheating once they see feedback, the little black line coming from off the map killing someone is a pretty good indicator.... 5. No sudden death on assault, and extra time instead! So now the single-file lines at the front of the base isn't the greatest idea anymore? Suicide missions not the greatest plan in the world? You actually have to ORGANIZE your attack as a TEAM in TEAM games instead of trying to be the one-man hero? God, why are they making SENSE? My gripes: 1. Battle rifles. Yeah, before you go into "you don't like them because you can't use them!" You're wrong. I'm not the most egotistical player out there, and actually have some trouble boasting about my ability in the game, but I'm DAMN good with a battle rifle. If anyone's benefitted from battle rifles being in nearly every gametype, it's me. Coagulation needed something other than SMG's at start. That's a given. Unfortunately, I don't agree with battle rifles. The option of running with the flag is GONE. I'm sorry, but it's just not there anymore. You run with the flag, and you're dead as soon as you leave the base. Want to run with the warthog? Okay, sure, let's get in, drive away and...Damn, our driver died before we even got to midway.....because 8 people were firing at him with a battle rifle...... Coagulation needed more scoring opportunities, not LESS. I loved Blood Gulch, and I love Coagulation, but scoring was nearly impossible in 12 minutes. Now it IS impossible. 2. no radar on H2H. There is no just reason for making it easier to hide. Bungie didn't do their homework on this one correctly. A powerful weapon is only powerful when you don't know where the guy is who has it, and he has the lead, and is hiding around the map. I presented two ideas that were praised by others, and I never heard a reason why they were no good: a. Every kill signals the end of a round, respawn both people again. This keeps people from being able to whore weapons. b. make it a juggernaught game, but put a nav marker on the juggie's ass, and don't give him ANY special abilities at all, OR give him a slight ability, like being able to move faster, or something like that to make up for having a GPS on his ass. The new changes were not significant for me to play H2H still. You might as well have gotten rid of it, as far as I'm concerned. 3. You went overboard with a few things, and failed to give us reason for why you did them. Now, you are NOT entitled to give us a reason for everything. You developed the game, you made the changes, you get to decide. However, I held some deep respect for you in the past because you always made concise, reasonable explanations for the changes you've been making, and for the most part, they've made sense. This latest update seems to be filled with irrational thought, or no thought at all. A good example is the bomb surfing comment. What good is bomb surfing going to do a griefer anymore without sudden death? They're just kicking themselves in the groin that way. I'll gladly stand and watch them do that a few times until they figure out why it doesn't work anymore. Why take away a feature that can't be exploited anymore anyways? And why go overboard with other things? Like two wraiths in a 4 vs 4 CTF game on Burial mounds??? There used to be some balance to the game on Burial Mounds. One guy from each team goes for rockets, one guy from each team goes for sniper, two guys on offense get in warthog, one guy on defense gets in ghost, and the last defensive guy defends the flag. Perfect gameplans on both sides. Now ruined by tanks that throw the balance completely off. Unless you vacate the base completely on defense, you're screwed. Why does this sound like shooting yourself in the foot? Because having to leave the base to play defense IS shooting yourself in the foot, and we all know why. 4. No more banshee?? Why? You removed all reason to grief with it, so why remove it to protect from griefing? That's got to be the most retarded thing I've ever seen in these weekly updates from you guys. "We've removed the problem, but we're going to take this away too, because when the problem existed, this was exploited...." Explain to me what a griefer would gain by surfing the bomb when there is no sudden death. Anyone? All in all, it was a much needed update, but it seems to me that you were trying too hard to keep in line with the "Let's release one update every week, keep on schedule" attitude that has been most evident as of late, instead of using some quality control. In your testing process, it would have been nice if part of your testing wasn't just finding out if it worked on your servers. Maybe play with the updated gametypes for a while?