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 I'm a terrible son. In the chaotic whirlwind of planning and preparation, I set a date for the tournament: May 28. Teams had two weeks to hone their skills and to gather enough people to play. It was perfect. It was fate. It was my mom's birthday. I knew I should've written that down somewhere. Telling your family you can't make it home because of a video game is embarrassing, but in the end, it was much more than a simple tournament. Several weeks of continuous emails, roster compiling, begging and pleading led up to the first-ever Halo Community Tournament. More than 400 people in 28 communities came out to celebrate the 10th anniversary year of 'Halo.' Above the fighting and free swag, it was about welcoming in the next decade the same way we spent the first. And prizes. Don't forget about the prizes. (We haven't.) Three minutes before showtime, I hustled to set up my router in the living room. Everything else was ready to go in my command center - my 360 and headset, my laptop, a half-eaten Pizza Hut Meat Lover's Pizza and a gallon of Arizona Iced Tea. As I raced around the room, further up the East Coast sat Daniel Duncan, comfortably in his couch and ready for action. As co-organizer of the event, Duncan devised a plan to split the burden of matching the teams together. He and I would each form a 'Captain's Lobby' where we would introduce teams to each other, flip a coin for first pick and send them on their way. Brilliant! Before the start of the tournament, Tashi was warming up with his HaloGAF teammates. As their community leader, he was in charge of organizing the rosters. After the storied defeat at the hands of Bungie, tryouts were held within the group to prevent another cataclysmic failure. 'The biggest challenge [was] definitely the size of the community,' he said. 'People have families and lives. It's not easy to get on and play ëHalo' every night for an extended period of time.' After whittling the roster down to 12 members, he divided them into two teams of six, mixing the best from the two into a third 'Super Team.' The Super Team would serve as a safety net to salvage the series if HaloGAF dropped a game. Using a Dazzle 90 capture card " 'Top-of-the-line equipment there,' he joked " he streamed HaloGAF's fight for supremacy throughout the night. The entire five-and-a-half-hour stream can be found here. Back in the lobbies, Duncan's half of the roster was throwing down while mine was pulling punches. Both MetaHalo and Halo Waypoint were having trouble getting their members together. MetaHalo gathered its crew in time to play 6v6 against HBO, but Waypoint, including community leader Erick Rodriguez, was forced to play XForgery with only two members.  'It felt pretty disappointing that the seven other people weren't there,' Rodriguez said, 'but sometimes, it happens and you can't always do things as planned.' Thankfully, the rest of the night went on relatively well. As the tournament raged, Jessica Shea (bs angel) and David Ellis from 343 Industries hosted custom games for those looking for a more casual way of celebrating 'Halo.' 'Hopefully our participation in this ... shows our passion and love for the community,' Shea said. After four hours of tournament competition, MetaHalo was left standing in the spotlight of victory. The group's leader, RioT, graciously stepped up on tournament day when the old leader couldn't make it on time. Despite his confusion about the start of the tournament " he didn't realize it was happening that day " he and his team steamrolled the competition, leaving in their wake unbridled bloodshed. 'I think the majority of the teams were equally skilled,' he said, 'but if anyone were to have given us trouble, it was the HaloCharts team for the gametypes they picked. [Six vs. six] on Multi-Flag Countdown is not a very fun and competitive map. 'My favorite part was definitely getting to play against all the other teams. It's always nice to be able to play against different communities and teams.' Here's the final tournament bracket: As for future tournaments, Duncan sheds some light on what we might do differently: 'For one, I think it would work better if we had an official set of gametypes and maps for teams to choose from. Sticking to matchmaking variants was okay in theory, but there was a small amount of confusion regarding the use of on-disc variants and DLC. Next time I think I'll just set up a specific file share for teams to pull 'Official HCT' maps and gametypes from. I also learned some great lessons about organizing teams and setting up the rules for a tournament. If we do this again, I think I'll write up an F.A.Q. and try to prevent any initial confusion. I feel like half the questions were a result of the vague terms I used in my emails; next time I'll clearly define what I mean by 'game,' 'match,' 'round,' 'team,' and 'roster'!' Memorable matches of the night MetaHalo vs. Master Theory - Championship Round, Final Game (Thanks, vhfive!) 'I wasn't anxious after having played in game one, but I knew that game two (Boardwalk One Flag) would be a completely different ballpark. We just took the game slow, running together and held down key choke points. It was a very good game.' - RioT, MetaHalo 'I was somewhat anxious at first, but I have briefly played both with and against some people in that party before and I know their reputations as highly skilled players. So deep down I knew that we were going to walk away with second place. There were a few moments where I felt I contributed well to my team on an individual level, and RioT got a very impressive sniper headshot against me (I was in mid Evade roll) despite my getting the jump on him with my DMR.' - MATCLAN x MT, Master Theory NeoGAF vs. Master Theory, Final Game (Thanks, Schooly D!) 'The final game against NeoGAF? I think it was Boardwalk Slayer which I didn't participate in. I was feeling pretty tense watching the leading score slowly increase though! That said, I do think we beat them handily on Tempest CTF and had we lost the Slayer game we would have been allowed to choose the third and final game against them, and I'd feel that we could have been confident of another win in an Objective game.' - MATCLAN x MT, Master Theory "I was caught a little off-guard when they brought it within three points at about two minutes to go, but I didn't really recall 'feeling' differently than I did during the rest of the match. I guess the only change was me acknowledging that I had to play more conservatively if we were going to keep that lead." - PaniK x MT, Master Theory "My thoughts were, 'Why the hell haven't I got a kill in the past 2.5 minutes or so?' and, 'Because I can't do anything right now they are catching up.'" - Achronos17, Master Theory "My thoughts were, 'Why am I playing like ass on a map I do pretty well on?'" - TsengMao x MT, Master Theory Tashi, NeoGAF: 'The last match for us had a pretty serious tone. Team One was pretty much dominating everyone they played against besides [the] one tie that they had. Usually after Team One plays, I get the invite and they all say, 'We won!' or, 'We dominated,' and then, 'Good luck!' This time, however, I got into the party, and they said, 'Uhh, we lost.' Immediately I think to myself, 'Ok, these guys are pretty good.' Super Team would have to be called, which is actually just me subbing in for one other player. I let the rest of the team pick the map because they had been comfortable playing Slayer Pro on Boardwalk. They had played well on that map all night, [so] let's continue it. Game starts and we get bottom spawns. It's a mad dash for rockets. We're unsuccessful. Down early but far from over. Next thing we know, TJ Ram lags out. He's had problems early in the night, but it never made a difference and it eventually cleared up. Of course, now it comes back when we needed him the most. Apparently three of us, including myself, scrambled to the slow and clunky dashboard to invite him back. I was not killed thanks to some very classy play from Achronos17 on the other team. (Thanks again.) Two of my other teammates weren't so lucky. By the time we got Ramirez back into the game, we were down around 15 kills I believe with about 7-8 minutes remaining. I was pleased with everyone's play. We were all pretty well coordinated and there was solid communication. With a minute remaining we were down just a handful, and we [were] trying to at least tie the game. I had a well-loaded sniper and was on the hunt. I knew in the last 30 seconds these guys would not come out of the open and would try to wait out the game. I missed two snipes on a guy. (Pisses me off still.) I chase around a corner and spot three guys. I see the opportunity to tie the game up, and I get assassinated. I knew right then it was over. It was a very tough loss. I think our team was good enough to go all the way.' In the moment: Memories from the event I asked participants to share their favorite moments from the event. From flag caps to new friendships, you'll find these and more below. (Thanks to Juices for the YouTube clips!) 'A CTF game had just started on Tempest, and I spawned next to a Warthog. I jumped right in only to notice my teammates' radar blips showed them all running away from me. What? Do I have bad breath or something? I beat down on the horn like crazy trying to get a gunner. A radar blip that was heading away changed course and headed back to me. Lo and behold, it was bs angel. Whoa! I don't know about you, but when someone representing the software vendor gets in my ëHog I get all silly. I started worrying I wasn't going to drive well enough and I might look stupid. [I'm] 58 years old and I still feel like a little kid sometimes. Off we went! In seconds we're into it and I'm trying to tell bs angel which way to shoot. That just didn't seem to be happening, at first. Red Team's ëHog crossed our path at the peak of centre ridge, and we made tracks to keep up with it. She was fixed on her target while we roared behind the enemy to our flag spawn. Down in Beach Side creek, Red Team ran out of road, turned and locked in a death run at us. Unlucky for them their vehicle rolled, spilling its occupants. Should have been a sure victory for us but now, on foot, the Red Spartans offed us with a lucky Frag. Our life and flaming death together lasted 37 seconds. Good times.' (DEEP NNN), 2old2play 'I remember sitting in the Captain's Lobby, and it was so quiet.† So I said, ëWho's going to PAX this year?' I struck up a conversation with another captain, and we ended up running games in matchmaking later that night, too. That was the best moment for me, making new friends from different communities. It was also rewarding to get our casual members a little playtime with 343.' Kenneth Daniels (OtherJesus), The Workplace † 'After losing game one, we were down zero to one ... against the highly talented and far superior HaloGAF team with mere seconds to go in the second game. The HaloGAF team figured it was all over, so they moved into the middle to (I assume) mop up the last few kills. If you compare the game clock to the bomb counter, you will see we scored with less than a second to go.' Jeff Fischer (runNOKYARDrun), High Speed Halo  'When I first learned of our position on the brackets, I quickly checked out the communities around us. 2old2play, HaloCharts, HaloWheelmen, Schooly D ... I discounted most of these, as they weren't directly in front of us at the time. Then I spied a little unknown named MetaHalo. I, nor my compatriots, had ever heard of MetaHalo. I later learned they were a stat-tracking site much like HaloCharts. I wrote them off as a bunch of nerdy API programmers (ironic how similar I am to that description). I was unprepared for what happened on tourney day. After tangling with my connection and having to rig up my box on a dinner table (came home for the holiday weekend but wasn't gonna let down HBO), I got into the lobby of Bones 153, our commandant and community leader, and reported for duty. While our A-Team did battle, the rest of us played a fairly light-hearted custom game. The playful banter was broken when one of our soldiers, Canecutter, came bustling into the party. We were generally confused " it didn't seem like enough time had passed for the match to be properly fought and won. I learned that it was clearly enough for TWO matches to be fought and lost. Canecutter described to us the horrors he had just witnessed at the hands of these armored Mongols. MetaHalo was clearly not as [it] seemed. We tried to calm down Canecutter and put him in good spirits, but when the order was passed down to enter another tour where he had just barely survived, he belted out desperate screams. He bellowed and begged for us not to take him back there, but that's exactly what Spartans were meant to do. Now, maybe it was the terror that got to him, or watching his comrades, his family being slaughtered right in front of him, but Canecutter was no coward. For someone, something to make a Spartan warrior beg for mercy, it had to be from the very bowels of fire and brimstone that every nightmare and demon dwells. We got the call from Bones. It was time for B-Team to make a stand. We ësecured' Canecutter and made our way into the pre-game lobby. As per the rules, we muted the opposing team to prevent from making the match anymore rage worthy than it already was. I heard gasps come from my teammates. These players' stats were unreal, and two of them had reached Forerunner rank. I even recognized one of [their] names from posts about a player mass-murdering others in a Banshee. Canecutter nearly fainted. They were a team solely constructed to win, not to have fun, but to win. Now whether winning was fun to them was of their own accord. Bones put his hand on my shoulder and said, ëPadraig, I'm not going to lie to you, you're gonna see hell out there ... machines [of] blood and metal and fire that even the Book of Revelation doesn't describe. In all likeliness, soldier, you will be crushed under the wheels of a construction that we do not and will never understand. But that's not your job, padraig pr7me! Your job, no, your function, is to fight " not to win, but to ... stand in the way of crushing opposition and say, ëYou shall not pass!' Now, go and lead your team to whatever end it takes you.' He started walking toward the infirmary, turned to our simmering flag and gently whispered, ëMake her proud.' With honor in my heart and the hordes circling in, I was entrusted to choose the rules of play for the encroaching battle. My team and I had come up with a willful strategy. If our allies had failed in a test of killing power, perhaps a more intellectual objective was the key. Ultimately I knew it didn't matter, but I was going to make those killing machinations play something they, in all likeliness, despised: †Objective gametypes. We chose King of the Hill on Countdown, and the countdown went from three to two, from two to one, from one to black. We lost that match " not even a little, but a lot. It was a brutal display of strength, discipline and killing prowess. It went how I thought it would, but we had done our duty. We fought for HBO, the way 300 Spartans fought for their home. We went down swinging. We heard later that MetaHalo won the whole tournament. Good for them. They deserved it. Whether or not people recognized who MetaHalo was, whether or not they were contributing parts to their community or recruited mercenaries, whether or not we liked it, they were the superior team and executed that fact with flawless victory. I just hope they see [it] that way, too. (Overexaggeration on the part of Canecutter and just about everything else. Thanks to Hitmonchan, Duncan, all the other communities and Bones for making this tournament possible. Maybe next year, we can have a screenshot or finger-painting tournament.)' Pat Breznahan (padraig pr7me), HBO † † 'I have two favorite moments from the tournament. My first favorite moment is from the very beginning of the tournament. I joined a party with ncsuDuncan, and [he does] the coin toss. It's all very exciting to finally get this thing started. I won the coin toss and was very pumped to tell Team One the news. I started a party and invited [the team]. Of course, it takes a little while for everyone to get on. I believe Nutter thought it was an hour later than it actually was. I wished them luck and told them to kick some f*****g ass. We were curious about how the other team was going to be. Apparently, they had high K/D ratios in matchmaking, but I knew that didn't really mean anything. We were all watching the game from party status. Watching the leading score go up and up and up, praying that it's Team NeoGAF that's on top. Game one ends, and we get the news that [Team One] DOMINATED the other team. I was so relieved. That whole opening to the tournament was great. Another one of my favorite moments was on Spire. The opposite team picked it, and honestly, I was kind of nervous. It was One Flag on a map that I had probably played only once or twice. I hoped that I would know what to do. Kyle J clutches it and tosses the flag up. He's yelling to me ... that he's going to die in mid-air while lifting up. I'm hoping that he makes it long enough for the flag to reach me. It does. I'm running it inside the tower, frantically asking my teammates, ëWhere do I go? Should I just drop it down?' Tawpgun, who's flying the Banshee, says, ëWanna try something crazy?' I immediately know what he's talking about. He wants me to ride on his Banshee and score the flag that way. I'm still running in that direction, but I'm still undecided. What do I do? Tawpgun flies [the] Banshee right into me, dropping my shields. It was definitely a laugh-out-loud moment, but we were all worried about not capturing the flag. Of course, the other team lifts up and kills me easily. [Tawpgun] also gets shot down in the Banshee. We end up capturing the flag and winning the series, so we were able to have a laugh at it later on.' Tashi (NYSTOFMIND23), NeoGAF † 'Even though [HaloTracks was] eliminated in the first round, it was really fun to have some competition with so many other Halo communities. I think it was a really great idea to host this tournament, and I hope we can see another one in the future as well. The custom games really helped as well. A lot of HT members had their statuses set saying how much fun they had in the customs games and how it was so cool that they got to play with members of 343i. I hope that if this tournament does happen again, my site will be able to do a little better. But overall, in the two games we played it was still really fun to get some friendly competition in!' Spencer Moore (Spencermx14), HaloTracks † † 'That was the first game of round two. (I forget what community it was. HSH?) I guess I chose this clip just because it was the highest multi-kill I had in the tournament ... and because it was a bunch of no-scopes. This was the game that we ended up tying (if only Ram hadn't dropped, haha), but then we played Slayer the next game and easily won.' (TJ Trasher), NeoGAF † 'I managed to sneak around the opponents' flank and make a lightning-quick flag grab, which I converted into the first point of the game. It set us up with a solid lead and allowed us to play more aggressively for the rest of the game, as we didn't have to worry so much about our own flag being taken thanks to having a lead.' David Matthews (MATCLAN x MT), Master Theory 'It's hard to pick just one part! There were quite a few highlights for the evening. One moment near the beginning of the event felt pretty great; I had just finished matching up the team captains for round one of the bracket when things got quiet and I realized that the tournament was actually going along smoothly. I had been nervous about how things would play out, but after meeting some of the community members online, I saw how friendly everyone was being and breathed a sigh of relief. We still had a few snags here and there, but I think overall the tournament worked out well. Another part I'd like to point out comes from the small bit of live-streaming I got to watch. High Speed Halo had a chaotic sudden-death bomb arming to tie a match; that was really fun to see live. I also had fun watching the last game between Master Theory and NeoGAF. Master Theory took a huge lead early in the Slayer match, but NeoGAF mounted a great late-game comeback, cutting their deficit down to just a few kills before the game timer ran out. It was an intense final minute, but Master Theory pulled off the win to head to the championship match against MetaHalo. My absolute favorite part of the night had to be playing some casual matchmaking games after the tournament was over. I was just happy that everything had worked out and the tournament was a success. It was nice to relax and play while chatting with friends. After 4+ hours of sitting in the pre-game lobby sending party invites and XBL messages I finally got to play Halo myself! Totally worth it.' Daniel Duncan (ncsuDuncan), co-organizer of the HCT And now, the moment most of you have been waiting for. The winners of the random prize drawing are: 1 " Dr Tikhon, Penny Arcade Forums 2 " DEEP NNN, 2old2play 3 " Xenolock, NeoGAF 4 " ACID 313M3NT, Ready Up Live 5 " Diabolicalbagel, Ascendant Justice 6 " Phil Collins117, Destructoid 7 " NeuralFizz, Penny Arcade Forums 8 " Wheezin Minion, 2old2play 9 " PMS Elektra Fox, PMS/H2O 10 " Local H Jay, Penny Arcade Forums 11 " xOatmealNinjaxX, Destructoid 12 " Oml3t, NeoGAF 13 " Elusive Rojas, HaloTracks 14 " free faii, MetaHalo 15 " Nuclear Taco 42,† GrifballHub 16 " XGC Sun Goddess, 405th 17 " TJ Ram, NeoGAF 18 " OtherJesus,† The Workplace 19 " Bones 153, HBO 20 " Da3BDR, 405th 21 " chris101b, HBO 22 " Papa Cap X,† GrifballHub 23 " A27 STARWOLF, NeoGAF 24 " DIRTY RAEYPIST, Gamers4Life 25 " Spencermx14, HaloTracks 26 " TheFormalWhale, Spirits of Fire 27 " xfuzzlex, Ready Up Live 28 " ooVoodoo, Gaming By Grace 29 " bluerunner, HBO 30 " deftech, Ascendant Justice 31 " SpeedyKyle J, HaloTracks 32 " Das Kalk, Spirits of Fire 33 " DH1762, The Workplace 34 " HWM Valkyrion, Halo Wheelmen These winners were randomly selected from the list of everyone that participated in either the tournament or custom games. Each winner's Bungie.net Game History was checked to make sure they participated (or at least had evidence that showed they tried to participate). Winners will receive 1 item from the list of remaining prizes (limited quantities of each item). Possible prizes include: Full House Poker (XBLA) The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile (XBLA) Green Male Spartan Avatar Armor Halo Flood Pet Avatar Prop Red Spartan Avatar Helmet Halo 3 (Games on Demand) Halo Wars (Games on Demand) Halo: Reach (Games on Demand) Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack codes (DLC) (Donated by Myyke.) Halo PC Serial Codes (no disc or download, serial code only) (Donated by Myyke.) Xbox DLC from the Gamestop.com Store ($10 or less) (Donated by ncsuDuncan.) All of these prizes were graciously donated by 343 Industries except as noted. Just to be clear, though, this tournament was community-run and was NOT an official 343 event. Please do not bug them if you have any comments or issues. Winners: Keep an eye on your Xbox Live message inbox for further instructions. You will be given an email address to contact and a unique code to include in your email to us (so we know that it's really you). Once we hear from you, we will email you the list of remaining prizes for you to choose from. Note: We will send the contact info to the XBL gamertags above starting with #1 (Dr Tikhon) and going down the list in order, so #1 will get first pick. We have varying quantities of each prize, so what you get to pick from will depend on whatever is left when we get to you. Tournament Prize Distribution MetaHalo's Tournament roster consists of: cosssta† godhaaand3 RioT wwwmmmmwmw Pretzeis free faii ggreed ssyphon gamesager Survive Each of these players will receive: Full House Poker (XBLA) Green Male Spartan Avatar Armor Halo Flood Pet Avatar Prop Red Spartan Avatar Helmet MetaHalo's Community Representative will also receive 3 Defiant Map Pack codes to distribute to anyone in the MetaHalo community. (These 3 codes were donated by Domino Theory.) Passing the Torch The Halo Community Tournament was a celebration of ten years of 'Halo' with Bungie, but more than that, it was the inaugural community-wide event with 343 Industries, the new keepers of the franchise flame. I'd like to thank bs angel and David Ellis for their help with the tournament and for showing us what the next ten years will be like. I'll leave you with these answers from several participants about what they'll miss from the Bungie years and their hopes for the future with 343. 'Marty's music. Final answer. Well, that and a whole lot more. I'm going to miss all of the little Easter eggs and inside jokes that have been a staple of the Halo series so far. There are a ton of little details that make Bungie games unique, and I probably won't realize I miss them until they're gone. Except they won't really be gone, because Bungie isn't going anywhere. I'm actually pretty happy with the current situation. I don't worry about Bungie leaving Halo because I still have a new Halo game to look forward to. All of those little Bungie details will still be intact in their next game, they just won't be contained within the Halo universe anymore. I'm also very excited to see what 343i has in store, I have the highest confidence in their ability to carry my favorite game franchise forward. It's a great time to be both a Bungie fan and a Halo fan. I think [343 has] been doing a fantastic job so far. Maybe it's because I'm more involved in the community now than ever before, but I really do get the feeling that 343 has developed a great relationship with the fan base.' Daniel Duncan (ncsuDuncan), HCT co-organizer 'Bungie has created such a rich experience for Halo fans. There are so many ways to enjoy the Halo games. I am an Easter egg fanatic myself. Bungie even chooses to celebrate Halo with us on Bungie Day. I hope 343 will continue to enrich the Halo universe and engage their fans. Halo fans love to play with the community leaders and developers. 343 has not disappointed. I have played with 343 in several community playdates. Halo Waypoint is still in beta and does not have group forums as of yet. I am a member of a group of gamers who are all over 30 years old called the Ancient Warriors. Right now we cannot organize all of our activities on Waypoint. We are still using Bungie.net. I hope new features will be added to Waypoint in the future for groups.' James Wyatt (DukeLehto7), Halo Waypoint 'A lot of references to [Bungie's] past work and community will be missed and their determination as well as their dedication. A lot of interaction with the community would be nice [from 343] and a lot of listening, too. Giving us more tools and help needed to do all this fun stuff, such as the tournament, would be a good idea. Having references to their fans ... would be pretty nice, as [well as] Easter eggs.' Erick Rodriguez (erickyboo), Halo Waypoint 'What I will miss about Bungie not working on Halo anymore is the security and comfort. I'll always know that whatever Bungie puts out is going to be a top notch game that will keep me occupied for years. I've been playing Halo pretty consistently since 2003, and it's all because of Bungie and their fine work. I'll miss that for sure. With that said, it is exciting to see the Halo franchise going to another studio. I know that 343 Industries is a very capable studio with a lot of support and talented members. I'm curious to see what the next big Halo game will turn out to be. Will I miss or forget Bungie? We'll see. :P I would just like 343i to carry the torch and make the transition away from Bungie a smooth one. It's going to be difficult breaking the habit of typing in "Bungie.net" in the address bar every day.' Tashi (NYSTOFMIND23), NeoGAF 'Bungie has held a piece of my soul for the last six years. I will miss their interaction with the community. I believe they have gone that extra mile to keep the various Halo player types engaged in Halo all these years. Their integrity, honesty and civility while interacting with their community is at levels most mortals can only hope to attain. Bungie is a beacon amongst game developers when it comes to community involvement, and I'm sure other developers should take a page from their book. Good luck Bungie, you'll have to drag me kicking and screaming from Halo. It's all your fault you know. :) 343i is already on the correct track. More of the same is what I would order up. Their community representative's names are starting to get known, and they're involved in the community in forums, contest giveaways and Community Game nights. Might even be a cute pleasant one in the bunch. Too young for me, though. It took me five years to officially play with Bungie (which I am very grateful for), but I've already officially played with 343i. That's a good start from my perspective. I would suggest a regular community event similar to Bungie's Humpday. Oh yeah, putting my MEGALITH map in MM for a few weeks won't hurt my feelings or the Unique User/24hr population, either. ;)' (DEEP NNN), 2old2play Thanks to HBO's padraig08 for the banner photo! |
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