So, you've probably heard that MLG won't be supporting Halo 4 in its 2013 Pro Circuit. The console FPS that will be supported this year instead is Black Ops 2.
As a reminder, MLG was born with Halo. As its flagship title, Halo has been with MLG since its inception. Towards the end of 2012, Halo: Reach was dropped from the pro circuit and it will sit out the 2013 season as well. The reason for this was that Microsoft chose Virgin Gaming as their exclusive tournament organizers. Meaning that only Virgin gaming can organize professional tournaments for Halo 4. Despite 343 Industries wanting MLG as well, Microsoft made a corporate deal which cannot be broken.
In turn, this means that the ever-popular MLG playlist won't be featured in the Halo 4's War Games. So, 343 is in the process of working on their own competitive gametype. Here is what we know so far.
• Pre-set game loadouts
• Forced respawn timers
• No instant respawn
• Ordnance on re-supply timers
• Join-in-progress off
• No split-screen play
• Friendly fire on
• Max party size 4 with big party matching enforced
• No guests allowed
What I find interesting is that the personal ordnance drops will drop on the re-supply timers. I'm assuming that each player will receive a personal ordnance in a timely fashion, which could lead to some interesting things. All 8 players will receive power weapons or power ups at the same time.
I'm not too happy about the fact that players will not be able to join in mid-game. It's a double-edged sword, this decision is to prevent players to join a game that's too far in, almost done. This also means if your teammates ditch you, don't expect anyone else to fill in. This will happen a lot, especially in the competitive playlist.
A lot of players who take their K/D, W/L or ranking too seriously will always quit before the game ends, if they're on the losing end or just having a bad game. Sometimes, one or two players will quit right off the start, leaving the game to a 4 v 2. Of course, the remaining two teammates will quit shortly after. This happens a lot more than you think. The cons totally outweigh the pros.