Site Update, April 26th
Forgotten Treasures
As the weeks go by the snowmen slowly shrivel and the grass finally overtakes the snow. The sun begins to shine brightly and the birds sing songs of joy. With the change in seasons, some maps are forgotten, and some are buried beneath the sand. As we speak the judges have begun digging through piles and piles of map entries to the Forgotten Treasures Contest. Many show outstanding forgemanship, are proportionate to their predecessors, and show much promise.
Forgers, it is absolutely important to take the time to finish your remake. Make sure you set enough time aside to finish every detail of your map. Remember this is just not an aesthetic contest - the maps must be playable! If you seek more information on the Forgotten Treasures contest click Here. Please make ensure you read the FAQ. Any maps submitted after May 14th will not be eligible for the Contest. We are looking forward to seeing what you forgers can do!
Caption Contest Winner
The winning comment of the Caption Contest is: "If you had one shot - one opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted - One moment, Would you capture the flag, or just let it slip?" by ScarecrowXavier. Congratulations, you sly joker!
Map Posting
In the coming months we've seen an increase in map posts not up to par with the map posting rules. Remember map post rules are located above the stickies in every map posting forum. If you members wish to have a clean forum devoid of spam and map posts not up to standards. We reiterate, please report both of these offense, as it helps lead to a clean forum.
Map Posting Rules
Threads must include at least one picture of the map.
All pictures must be embedded.
Download links must lead to a posted map on the bungie forums, NOT your fileshare.
You must include at least a brief description of the map.
Thread titles must consist of the map name ONLY - no other symbols, comments or irregular formatting.
Failure to post your map correctly will result in a topic lock after 1 hour in the absence of a fix.
Thank you Bl00D F1R3 for creating a video on the map posting rules! Without further ado: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjG7xd7G5WI&feature=channel_page
Spam, A Closer Look
Spam is a serious issue here on our forums, something that is relatively disappointing. As we all know, the map section gets a lot of those "nice intarloking 5/5" comments. Some newer members seem to post such things regardless of warnings. Here are a few examples of comments that would be considered spam:
Nice interlocking, will que for dl right away!
- Just because you promise to download does not make it an acceptable post.
5/5, the merging in this map looks phenomenal!
- Using big words does not mean that your post is any less spam.
Thanks for the comment!
- Even though you might want to show your appreciation towards members posting on your map, it does not mean it's okay to bump your map with such spam.
Specifically in the map forums, feedback on maps that:
Is composed of a single sentence
Includes a rating without reasonable justification
Shows no evidence of knowledge of the map in question other than that which can easily be seen from a glance at the pictures
Will be deleted immediately by the moderators. Infractions will also be awarded for spam at their discretion under these same rules.
Try to put some thought and meaning into your posts. Not only will you avoid reprimanding, but you will have provided some exceptional feedback for the creator of the thread to work with and possibly improve on. Lastly, it will earn you respect from the community, as our members appreciate well constructed comments about possible improvements to the thread - whether it is a video montage, or a map thread, or a topic in general chat/debate forums, etc etc.
Also please remember that if a map post is not up to standards, it is NOT okay to have 10 people tell them there pictures aren't working. After one person has linked the member to the necessary places (map posting rules, haloscreenshots.net announcement) Report the original post, and it will be handled by the moderators. Any duplicate posts about a thread not being up to standards are subject to infraction.
Promotions
First we welcome our two newest premiums, and winners of the Template Contest, Phreakie and Adelyss to the hubpub. Chipsinabox has returned to loyal once more to weigh in with his opinions on important discussions. Creep1ng De4th, Grif, Tex and thesilencebroken have all decided to once more uphold the justice of the site via the almighty banhammer. Make sure to give them your thanks if you see them in passing.
Hidden Gems:
Mini Game Maps
A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
Halo Wars
Agents
Competitive Maps
Dead Heat
User Created Matchmaking Maps:
Congratulations to Cosmic Rick and DEATHPIMP72 for their maps Utah Mambo and Punishment (respectively) making their way through the ATLAS gauntlet on their way into Matchmaking! Both maps will be added to the Team Objective and Team Mythic rotation in the May playlist update. Utah Mambo will play 1-Flag and 1-Bomb, while Punishment will play Multi-Flag and Neutral Assault. Make sure you congratulate them!
Running Riot Podcast
Keep an eye out for Insane54 and Shock Theta's guest appearance on the upcoming The Running Riot Podcast airing Tuesday, April 28th at 9:30 PM EST. Follow the link here for more details.
Congratulations to the Testers' Guild
We would like to give a shout out to the Tester's Guild. Congratulations, they have reached over 100 members this month. Tz wanted to give some cryptic message pertaining to the Review Hub and how it will be up soon. However, we'll just keep our mouths shut as we don't want to make any of you stampede the Review Hub sub-forum.
Catch ya on the flip side Hubbers
We hope you all are enjoying this onset of nice weather, and the anticipation of the exciting summer months to come. Remember though, don't spend too much time outside - we need you to get some epic maps built! We'll see you all in two weeks from today with some more Forge Hub news.