I can SU too
Hello Forge Hub. We have a lot to cover today so I'm going to cut to the chase. There is a lot that needs to be said about all of the things you have seen going on around the site. Some of these things may have affected you and we know you have questions. Well, this Site Update is meant to address any qualms you may have because I can guarantee that any negative reactant you may have seen will eventually yield the utmost positive product.
On another completely unrelated note, this is my first Site Update and this one is big. So the pressure is on for me to convey everything in terms you can easily understand. So you wont hear any Forge Hub staff rocket science shenanigans here today, since we are all so well versed in that. Afterall, what happens in Forge Hub staff chat stays in Forge Hub staff chat. Except herpes.
Ahem, that brief uncomfortable subject aside, we are going to start with some of the more lighthearted happenings on our fair site and then we will trudge into what will make the tender and juicy meat that is this SU.
So, ready... set... go!
Rusty Gears
Last week we gave you competitive goodness in the form of Lotus, and this week we feature Zatherla's impeccable aesthetic remake of Foundry from Halo 3. I would suggest checking it out as it really is pretty awesome.
That being said, Map Features are about to start coming out again at full pace. Forgery may be a little late than intended, but expect new Map Features from the Forge Hub staff each Friday.
Something else we are attempting to do in regards to features is cater to the appetites of every Forge Hubber. Once upon a time people said we featured too many mini-games and needed to delve into the competitive realm and more recently we have received calls to return to our roots in the casual spectrum. We couldn't agree more and so we are going to try and circulate what kinds of maps are featured each week so that we don't get on competitive streaks like we have been as of late.
Just another reason to love us for loving you guys ♥
Classics are Never Forgotten
http://www.forgehub.com/forum/announcements/143495-forgotten-treasures-iii-results.html
On the very last day of last year, our most recent Forging competition, Forgotten Treasures III, came to a close and judging went underway. Thanks to a new way of judging things and me hijacking a TGIF lobby or two, what would have normally been a two month job happened in less than a month.
The results for the Forgotten Treasures contest have been published and if the top three places pique your curiosity then feel free to follow this link or click the banner above.
Congrats to the winners, and we hope to see you at our next Forging foray!
The Community Center
First on my list of new things is a brand new sub-forum called the Community Center. What is it for? Well, community stuff, of course.
If you have a map that needs to be tested then have a look at the Tester's Guild. You have a couple options there to get your map tested and get the optimal feedback for what you are looking for. Incidentally, the Tester's Guild is also looking for devout testers and skilled writers to fill their ranks. If you feel this is your calling on Forge Hub then by all mean follow this link to get started. If you have any questions about anything testing related please contact either Tedium or ChronoTempest.
Another avenue of Forge Hub fun, is the newly renovated and refurbished Customs Lobby. This forum is where members should find themselves if they want to get games together. Whether it be for testing your newly forged map or getting a group of dudes (and dudettes) together to have an ol' fashion good time the Customs Lobby is for you.
Within the walls of the Customs Lobby forums are also specialized customs groups. Currently, we have two of these groups that meet pretty often for their own custom lobby shenanigans. Bloodthirst : Infection Only Customs (or BIOC) is, uh... pretty self-explanatory. They tend to delve deep into the zombified wretches of Halo 4's Flood mode to test, play, and scare each other in a gruesome night of Flood terror. BIOC is headed by REMkings and Ticky so if you have any questions regarding infection specifics or zombie apocalypses in general, they are your go-to guys. On the other side of this spectrum is a well-rounded group of friendly individuals who call themselves The Circle of Jerks (TCOJ). As opposed to BIOC which focuses a little more heavily on having a good time with well established maps, TCOJ presents itself as a grittier, more hands on version of the Tester's Guild. Gentlemen who participate in these gatherings are allotted two map testing slots for them to playtest whatever they feel like to then receive honest and sometimes brutal feedback over. If you have anymore questions about TCOJ, be sure to run them by one of the heads of the organization Nutduster.
On a related note, if you feel you have a regular and consistent customs lobby that has regular meeting times and a group of devoted members to keep it going, then post in this thread to get approved. Lobbyists who submit their lobby here will fall under heavy scrutiny to see if they'll actually hold up in the long run, but the reward for showing its worth is a new lobby subforum much like TCOJ and BIOC have. Good Luck.
The last, and most important question you may be asking yourself now is, "Where is the beloved Review Hub?"
The simple answer to that question is that it is not longer with us. Forge Hub needs to go in a direction of helping people progress in their efforts to become better forgers instead of crushing dreams and making people cry like the Review Hub did. Yes, the Review Hub had its strengths in that it provided in-depth analysis of what made certain maps work and not work, but we realized that these same methods can be applied to unfinished maps as well while still getting the same in-depth analysis of your map that you would otherwise be receiving on a finished map. Let us just say instead, that the Review Hub is not gone, but it is more or less reincarnated as the Writer's Guild.
So cheers to the advent of The Community Center and we hope it to be as helpful to you as you ever need to be.
Bulletin Blurb
If you missed the Halo Bulletin this week then be sure to catch up on your dosage of juicy Halo news. Among the things mentioned in the article is Grifball for the masses and new Competitive Skill Rankings and much more. So head over to our post in the Forgecast to see what you are missing out on!
pic courtesy of 343i and grifballhub
Straight from the S(h)ock
With a recent consolidation of ranks all around the table in preparation for something new and exciting in the future, the premium and artisan ranks have been squished into one big rank with three different tiers in accordance to how many features you have over the course of all of the Halo games that feature Forge.
However, I feel like I am going to complicate the subject too much, so in my stead, here are the words straight from our fearless leader himself:
There is now 1 rank - with three tiers - for those who have had their map/s featured on Forge Hub.
Tier 1: 2-3 Features
Tier 2: 4-7 Features
Tier 3: 8 + Features
Current Feature Stats
Halo 3 Features2 Features
Aftershock 10
Bottlecap
Camoflaug
CovenantElite07
DeathToll77
Debo37
Devinish
Doog Nit
Felipe dos
Gamer720
Goatnuts
Indie Anthias
jakob hunter
Mander [+2 in Halo Reach]
Orangeremi
Phreakie
PonyD
Running Chron
SargeantSarcasm
ShaddoBlade
Sqorck
TDH
TecH
Tender Bisquit
The Sir Toppum Hat
Titmar [+2 in Halo Reach]
Urban Myth
Val
Vicious Vice
Vyctoriouz
x DREAM 76 x
YEE MAN IZ BAK3 Features
BattyMan
Draw the Line
Ell3ment
Fritzster
Gunnergrunt
Insane54
iTs_NeXn
Kon Artist
MetaWaddleDee [+2 in Halo Reach]
Mr Pokephile
NeverlessWonder
rusty eagle
Shock Theta
Tex4 Features
buddhacrane
Creeping Death
Gravedigger5454
LIGHTSOUT225
squidhands
thesilencebroken5 Features
chrstphrbrnnn
Furious D 18
Matty
MickRaider6 Features
Iv0rY Snak37 Features
Adelyss
Shad0w Viper [+2 in Halo Reach]
Zombievillan [+2 in Halo Reach]9 Features
Cosmic RickHalo Reach Features
2 Features
Darth Human
Jex Yoyo
Ladnil
Mander [+2 in Halo 3]
MetaWaddleDee [+3 in Halo 3]
Psychoduck
PulseKiller
Rorak Kuroda
Shad0w Viper [+7 in Halo 3]
Stevo
Titmar [+2 in Halo 3]
xSoGx Grim
Zatherla
Zombievillan [+7 in Halo 3]3 Features
ThrowinDemBowsTIER 3
9 Features
Cosmic Rick
Shad0w Viper
ZombievillanTIER 2
7 Features
Adelyss6 Features
Iv0rY Snak35 Features
chrstphrbrnnn
Furious D 18
Matty
MetaWaddleDee
MickRaider4 Features
buddhacrane
Creeping Death
Gravedigger5454
LIGHTSOUT225
Mander
squidhands
thesilencebroken
TitmarTIER 1
3 Features
BattyMan
Draw the Line
Ell3ment
Fritzster
Gunnergrunt
Insane54
iTs_NeXn
Kon Artist
Mr Pokephile
NeverlessWonder
rusty eagle
Shock Theta
Tex
ThrowinDemBows2 Features
Aftershock 10
Bottlecap
Camoflaug
CovenantElite07
Darth Human
DeathToll77
Debo37
Devinish
Doog Nit
Felipe dos
Gamer720
Goatnuts
Indie Anthias
jakob hunter
Jex Yoyo
Ladnil
Orangeremi
Phreakie
PonyD
Psychoduck
PulseKiller
Rorak Kuroda
Running Chron
SargeantSarcasm
ShaddoBlade
Sqorck
Stevo
TDH
TecH
Tender Bisquit
The Sir Toppum Hat
Urban Myth
Val
Vicious Vice
Vyctoriouz
x DREAM 76 x
xSoGx Grim
YEE MAN IZ BAK
Zatherla
Zombievillan
Could not have said it better myself. Also, congrats to the people who have attained Tier 3 status. That is quite the achievement and I can only hope to see even more up there since features are global now.
OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!!
In spite of online file browsers still being offline and in-game file browsers being sketchy at best, we have decided to go on ahead and open up the Halo 4 map forums for you to post creations you have been working on for the past three months. So if you have a completed map sitting in your fileshare waiting for everyone to play and enjoy, then head on over here and get to posting!
One of our resident Moderators, Skisma, has taken the liberty of creating a map posting template that can be used by everyone in order to accommodate our map posting standards in lieu of the temporary change in rules. Everything you need to know about posting your creation to the boards can be found in there. You can find Skisma's Map Posting Template by clicking this link.
QOTSU
Last time, for our Question of the Site Update we asked "Have you been playing in the Infinity Challenge playlists this past month or so? If so, how did you like the games, and did you show up anywhere on the leaderboards?" to which we got answers like:
No and I don't know.
No, the Infinity challenge will not be looked upon even by myself. I haven't the slightest interest.
Its 40 fucking degrees celsius today...
what's an Infinity Challenge?
Ouch...
Well, having helped Zatherla grind through the same SpOps missions over and over in a futile attempt to win a headset, I can easily say it gets pretty damn tiring.
Speaking of Spartan Ops, how are you enjoying the new episodes so far? Do they meet/exceed/falter to your expectations?
Having not played Episode 6 yet, I can't contribute my own personal opinion, so I guess I will see what you guys think about it first.
With that, we end this extraordinarily late-coming Site Update.
However, If you have any thoughts on this article, or the front page in general, that you would like to share with us then we invite you to post your opinions in the Front Page Feedback thread.
Happy forging Forge Hub,
Organite
image from Memento by Noooooch, one of the sexy maps already appearing in the forums