I won't belong to any organization that would have me as a member!

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

A very wizened man once uttered those words. I can almost hear them echoing in my ear, even now, as if he were still here with me today. And they may as well have been spoken about our opponents for this week’s Humpday Challenge.

Comprised of players from all walks of life, HaloGAF is a certified industry institution – one where you’d expect to find the members ensconced in the warm, restraining embrace of a straitjacket, their unbridled Bungie enthusiasm leaking from their slackened jaws like honey oozing from a hive.

And yesterday morning – as one of their longstanding figureheads astutely noted – I hauled off and plunged my foot cankle deep into their business, issuing our official challenge a mere 12 hours before kickoff to send them into a chaotic frenzy.

“ORGANIZE OR DIE!”

In the end my own wizened words, much like those of the aforementioned Old Ben, would prove to be prophetic.

The Teams

For this week’s Challenge we relied on the four members of Team Onyx to organize our fighting force. For a while, it seemed they wouldn’t pull it together and that Brian or I would have to jump in to provide poor substitutes for competitive seventh and eighth players. Fortunately for our team, we didn’t have to saddle up. Instead, Andrew Harrison swooped in and scooped up four additional players to help pad out the roster. (More on Andrew’s dirty swooping in just a moment).

Team Onyx

1. Andrew Harrison
2. Paul Lewellen
3. Jon Cable
4. Tomo
5. Ben Wommack
6. Jon Weisnewski
7. David Gasca
8. Javi

HaloGAF

HaloGAF put together a massive roster of potentials, subdividing their ranks in haphazard fashion. The only clear organizational best practices they put to good use were those that already governed their established social cliques. Here’s how they ultimately broke it down:

Team Oonsk :3
It wouldn’t be completely accurate to label this squad NeedlerGAF, but with Dax on the team our guys knew that they’d be more than proficient wielding Halo: Reach’s more skill-based blamite weaponry.

1. Dax01
2. Total Sacrifice
3. vhfive
4. Merguson
5. Sai Kun
6. Shake Appeal
7. teh Letters
8. Slightly Live

Team Something Something Jesus Something
Formed out of the husk of our own TJ Scoot’s once mighty brotherhood of battle bros, Team 2 was beyond stacked. HaloGAF could have broken this team in twine and each half could have easily shifted the tide to their favor in either of the other two games. Alas.

1. Thermight
2. NYSTOFMIND23
3. TJ Ram
4. SpudxBud
5. Oml3t
6. TJ NutterB
7. TJ Trasher
8. TJ Capt Blood

Team Bad News Bladed
HaloGAF’s third squad seemed to have a little bit of trouble getting grouped together from the get-go. Chalk it up to late notice. Still, the talent pool at GAF is deep and we weren’t going to underestimate any one of their three teams.

1. Laughtrey
2. BladedExpert
3. CrazedArabMan
4. Hipster youth
5. Hypertrooper
6. godhandiscen
7. Striker029
8. Josef Redbeard

Rosters rendered, let’s review the Humpday Carnage.

Game 1 – Elite Slayer on Paradiso

Grief from Above

There’s really only one thing you need to know about the first match of the night. Andrew SF Harrison mounted his faithful purple people eating steed and rode hard, snagging himself the first ever Humpday Perfection. He flew like a bird, and as the kids at GAF say, “pooped on” the competition like a bloated, low flying albatross.



Paul:
“Cable surprised everyone with his choice of Elite Slayer (including us!), but with Harrison's skilled Banshee play going big and our determined Dinos on the ground staying positive, we carried the game in style. Wort Wort Wort!”

Tomo:
“Give Harrison the Banshee=automatic win apparently. He ended up going 22-0. For the rest of us pedestrians on solid ground the game was a little closer. Though we had a pretty good lead throughout the game, so our (my) lack of coordination didn't hurt us much.”

Ben:
“We forgot to set the time limit on the game to 15 minutes, so we didn't actually make it all the way to 100 kills, but the final score was 67-52 and we were keeping a decent lead the entire time. Blue team harassed us from the high ground for much of the game, but couldn't really dominate because of Harrison's expert Banshee tactics. He literally got into a Banshee at the beginning of the match and never left the skies.”

Jon W.:
“I think Cable was nervous when I got into the Wraith at the game start. During the warm up game I was on a Running Riot in the Wraith, but at the high(larious) cost of multiple betrayals against my team. I think I accidentally betrayed Cable three consecutive times that game. On the last one I heard "Really Jon? Really?" over the headset. Best part was I had no idea.

Luckily I was a bit more careful during Humpday and finished the match sans bro kill. Harrison in the Banshee was definitely the factor that granted us a comfortable lead and allowed for more reckless behavior.”

Andrew:
“Banshees! Fast and low!

You can tell from the film that I am playing ultra conservative. As long as we had air superiority, they didn't stand a chance. Only a couple times did I feel pressured. Getting shot at by needles feels like being tickled. The Plasma Launcher / Rifle were definitely causes for concern, but rarely made an appearance. I stuck on our side, took out all their vehicles, avoided boarding / Plasma Pistol takedown attempts and called it a Perfection.


P.S. Don't tell me there were no anti-vehicle weapons. It's called the Banshee. They went through three perfectly good ones en route to defeat...”



Game 2 - ???

DETECTING ULTRA HIGH LEVELS OF DPM. SERVER UPLOAD FAILURE.



Our online team is currently investigating why I can’t locate any evidence of the night’s second match. As soon as they provide me with some hard data, I’ll be sure to update this article with inline images and relevant statistics. In the meantime, we do have some fuzzy team recollections to offer to help set the stage for Game 2’s shenanigans.

Tomo:
“Not again. Well another match on Boardwalk, another loss.”

Paul:
“Well, it started off close, but once we let our focus slip they took the lead and won it. Definitely not my best performance of the night, but an interesting time nonetheless. I do wish I'd remembered to save that film for a screenshot of my opening snipe.”

Ben:
“I hate playing without radar, and therefore I hate Slayer Pro, but that doesn't excuse the ass-kicking their team gave us on Boardwalk. It was a slaughter, with every single one of us sporting a negative K/D by the end. I was constantly getting out DMRed and flanked; could barely kill anyone even with a group of teammates.

What's interesting is the group didn't even know they would be choosing the map and gametype before we all got in the party, but still managed to select our Achilles Heel to play. I can't decide if the group was a collection of ringers or if we all just sucked it up bad because of Slayer Pro and Boardwalk, or both.”

Jon W.:
“I'm pretty sure my grenades were shot out of the air and exploded in my face multiple times during this game. Everyone on our team went negative. Now I know what Vietnam was like.”

Javi:
“I felt like I was playing with two left thumbs. Not on my best or anywhere close. All I can say about the second game is... At least I got some assists.” :(

David:
“Seconded. 2 hits of 6 shots with a Sniper Rifle was not my finest hour. I should have given it to an adult.” ;)


Game 3 – Invasion Slayer on Hemorrhage

Communications disruption can only mean one thing…Invasion.

Prior to the night’s challenge, GhaleonEB wished his HaloGAF compatriots luck and bestowed upon them the title, “Spartans.” And though ultimately his premonition of a Bungie victory was completely correct, it was our squad who would descend onto the tie-breaking battleground clad in Spartan’s armor. Lewellen put on a show with the Sniper Rifle on the way to a +19 performance and Andrew Harrison played selflessly, snagging a rare Broseidon for his generosity.


Tomo:
“When all else fails we play Invasion Slayer! We never got a Tank but still managed to win this thanks to well-timed Sniper and Spartan Laser drops to take out the Dino's Wraiths and Banshees.

P.S. Next time we should figure out our team and games before the day of.”


Ben:
“Having never played Invasion Slayer on Hemorrhage before, I was surprised at how the teams essentially had to trade off drop zones since without any Mongeese there's no way to get to the other side of the map and steal one. The tier one play was pretty painful, with each side essentially holing up around the blue base cave or teleporter exit since those were the only areas with cover. Once the levels started progressing, we saw a lot of Banshees and a couple Wraiths start bearing down on our side of the map, but thankfully there always seemed to be a laser or rocket at the ready. Aside from controlling their vehicles though, it was the sniping and excellent DMRing from our top four which garnered all the kills.

I also learned how the Grenade Launcher loadout sucks on Hemorrhage. :P”

Jon W.:
“We went with last week's strategy of Invasion Slayer as the Spartan team, which ended up being a good move for us. Personally my game was a bit shoddy, but Huevos more than made up for our bottom half with Sniper control. For a while I was getting pretty nervous because it seemed like all the reinforcement drops were spawning on their side of the map. They were pumping out Wraiths and Banshees, which we were fortunately able to keep under control with a few Spartan Laser/Sniper/Rocket drops.”


Paul:
“Happy days were here for myself, Tomo, and the rest of our riflemen. The Gaffers came back to take the lead at the beginning of Tier 3 while I was searching for more bullets, but it was smooth sailing after that. Relying on coordinated fire and power weapons to take out enemy vehicles worked out much better than I'd expected, but their wraiths still gave us some trouble. Fortunately, d1rtydr3w was there to seal the win again, this time with a clutch Broseidon.”




Though the opening remarks were of the disparaging variety, we should note that it’s really all fun and games for us. Our guys had a blast. Had we given GAF more time to organize and prepare, we would be writing a very different story today. The last time we challenged GAF, they crushed us at our own game three to nothing.


But not this time! Thanks for playing some games with us GAF. I take back every bad thing I ever said about you.

Lewellen gets the last word:
“That was one of our more disorganized Humpdays - we didn't even have a team selected until late afternoon, and we only had the full team together in time for two warm-up games before the first match. We also didn't decide on any maps or gametypes we wanted to play in advance, so we ended up picking them on the fly and learning them as we played. Luckily, everyone stepped up when it counted, and we got the job done.

It was a good time all around - those HaloGAF guys are always a classy bunch, win or lose.”

Next week, we’re sending out some of the old vanguard to take on 2old2play. Get out your Depends, veterans, we plan on forcing you to stay up way past your bedtime!

Note: Yup, we broke the trend of posting our victories as top news articles. Big DLC news today warranted a more subtle approach.

Carefully throwing objects in random directions.

Owners of the Katana return for round two of their group spotlight. As advertised, they come equipped with sharp and deadly weapons. Check out their Forge Q&A below and check into Bungie Favorites to see their most recent multimedia offering.

"OTK chose the map Butcherout as our Map Spotlight. Creator SonicJohn will let you know about the process, and where he sees Forge going."

What inspired Butcherout?

During the Community Carnages that used to run quite frequently, a bunch of people in the party I was hosting all had the great idea of making the best map ever, and someone joked that I should put all the filters on. So I hopped into Blackout on Forge, put on every single filter, and threw some furniture around the map. History and the best map ever were made that night.

Sometimes I like to think of it as the Rick Roll of Halo 3 Custom Games. I also think it would be the best map to insert into something like Actionsack. I mean, I do have another four maps styled in the same fashion as Butcherout, so we could totally make a playlist dedicated to professional blind gunnin', couldn't we?

How long did it take to "create?"

Five minutes. Probably less. There's really not much else to Butcherout other than the fact that it's a freaking hilarious map. Both for if you're just encountering it for the first time, or if you’re showing it off to a friend, with the air of pretending it's the best map in the world, whilst laughing hysterically the moment the map loads.

A monumental undertaking. Which bit took up most of your massive time investment?

Carefully throwing objects in random directions. But the hardest thing to get right about it is getting a no-scope (or, hell, even just a kill) is a fantastic achievement on this map, and it is actually completely possible. Exhibit A / Exhibit B.

How could Forge be improved?

Moar filters, please!!

---

You know, it seems as if you have plenty of filters to fiddle with. It also seems that we're done fiddling with OTK for today. If you want to look at their content without any flash bang filters applied, you know where to find it.

Playing to win.

Whoa. Been awhile since we shined our spotlight on an Average Joe. And like a busted escapee splayed out against the wall of an island penitentiary, Ant Flibaboua's been caught in the act and he's ready to spill the beans on his whole nefarious operation. Let the interrogation begin!

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. My name is Ian Couture and I’m a professional blogger and website content writer for several different major automobile shipping websites. I write mainly for search engine optimization purposes, but it pays the bills so I’m not complaining that much. It’s a cool gig – I love to write, be it novels or blogs, so this keeps me doing something that I’m interested in. Aside from writing, though, I love just hanging out with my wife and daughter and playing video games. I also enjoy long walks on the beach and romantic dinners by candlelight.

Q. Sounds like a match so far. Tell me something interesting about yourself.

A. How I got my tag is actually a pretty interesting story. My good friend Matt let me borrow Diablo II (before the Lord of Destruction expansion, mind you), and I was sitting at my computer trying to think of a good name for my Barbarian. My friend Matt just randomly shouts out “Flibaboua!” and it stuck, I guess. That happened in…what, 2000 I guess, so I’ve gone by Flibaboua for over ten years now. Through Halo: CE, Halo 2 and Halo 3, plus my Gamertag is AnT Flibaboua, so…yeah.

Q. So, where do you hang out around here?

A. I’m actually a part of several different groups and am the leader of the private group ODST Recon, so I’m there most of the time that I’m on bungie.net. Also, I’m a moderator in The Backdrop, which is another group that was born from the ashes of Thee Warriors, so I spend a lot of time there as well. If I’m not in either group but still on b.net, I’m lurking in The Flood, because…well, sometimes I just have to get that “idiot” out of me.

But if I’m off b.net I’m on the mlgpro.com forums checking out the latest news and videos there. I’m heavily into MLG and it’s always interesting to see the stuff that those people come out with. I lurk the Forge Forum there as well, because I’m a stickler for custom games on awesome community maps.

Q. So, is that what compels you to game? The competitive and custom stuff?

A. I’m a competitive person by nature, so when I play I play to win. I have a few friends that I play with regularly, but for the most part when I play competitively I’m forced to go into the MLG playlist or the MLG FFA playlist by myself. I do enjoy Team Snipers and Team SWAT as well, though.

But my wife also likes to play video games, so more often than not we’ll sit together and play through Halo: CE together or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (which is one of my wife’s favorite games). She also enjoys Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, so I’ll play those with her as well, with me playing and her picking most all of the dialogue choices.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you played? (Keep in mind your answer may effect your Paragon status.)

A. The first Bungie title that I played was Halo: CE on the original Xbox. My good friend and neighbor, Perry, bought it to escape from work, so he would invite me over to play through the campaign together or play some 1v1 (shotguns and pistols, infinite grenades on Hang ‘em High) with him, because at the time I didn’t have my own Xbox. Once I got my own for Christmas (this was 2004, mind you; I found Halo: CE in 2002) he bought a 100 ft Cat-5 cable and we strung them between our carport (I lived in a duplex at the time) and played many a 1v1 on Coagulation and Lockout. We had some great times there.

What really sucked me in was the game play. It was the first true FPS that worked on a console, and it made me love using an Xbox controller as opposed to a keyboard and mouse for shooter games. Not only that, but the story of both Halo: CE and Halo 2 were absolutely fantastic to me at the time…but what really made me a true Halo fan was The Maw. I actually played that level last night, to be honest, and even after playing it dozens of times over the years I still found my heart racing during the final Warthog drive to escape the doomed ring. That’s what did it for me.

Q. Spoilers! Are you surprised by your current level of community involvement?

A. I am, to be honest. I’m a bit of an introvert; I work from home and don’t go out much, but I find myself lured to b.net seven, eight, sometimes nine times during any given day. I originally found it when I had some downtime at my 8 to 4 job at a lead generation company, and I’ve never looked back. Most of the time I lurk the forums, but in ODST Recon (the group that I lead, in addition to three others) I find myself trying my hardest to make things interesting for the members there. It can be hard work, but I’ve finally gotten a system down – that is, if I’m not feeling lazy, which to be honest is quite often. But the community here on bungie.net is absolutely fantastic; once I found that out, my level of involvement increased ten fold. I’ve met some really great people on this website.

Q. Do you check into any other online communities?

A. I’m a member on the MLG forums at mlgpro.com, but that’s really it. Those are really the only two forums that I visit – b.net and MLG. They have two of the most interesting communities that I’ve met, and their forums are always active. I’ve tried getting on the forums at places like Lionhead and BioWare, but to me the community just isn’t as fascinating or interesting as the ones here and at MLG. Most people on b.net are accepting and welcoming, but it’s not like that on other sites – which is why I spend most all my time here.

Q. Yeah, we put something in the water. Wanna make some shout-outs before you kick off?

A. I honestly was surprised when Urk sent me a PM saying I was up for an Average Joe interview – I didn’t know I had done that much to get me noticed! But I love b.net and hope it lasts forever, because I can’t imagine a better place to spend time when I’m online than here. I want to give a shout out to everyone in ODST Recon and The Backdrop – you guys are truly my home on Bungie. I want to thank my wife for her support of me, my daughter for being absolutely gorgeous. I also told DataBase90 that I’d give him a shout out, as well as mediocresniper, FearTheSwoop and gimballz, who are my co-leaders in ODST Recon, and Kodemyster, who heads up The Backdrop (formerly known as Thee Warriors). And I apologize to anyone I forgot to mention.

And, of course, thanks to everyone at Bungie for making some of the most amazing games I’ve ever played, and Urk for giving me a chance to speak my mind. And Eric Osborne for his help with ODST Recon’s Bungie Favorites submissions.

---

Urk's pretty cool, but I hear that Eric Osborne guy is a Grade A jurk. Thanks for the interview, Flibadibabouea. It was my pleasure. You can expect a throng of fanatic forumgoers to sing your praises in the discussion thread attached. Soak it up.

I am your sword.

Not just anybody can be a member of OTK. If you want in, you'll have to prove your worth through a series of Halo 3 trials. Think you have what it takes? Keep reading, grasshopper.

"Owners of The Katana is a group for bungie.net members that have achieved 1,000 gamerscore in Halo 3 or have unlocked the Katana and Security helmet armor permutations. We were founded by XIX Goodeye XIX back around mid '07, and we've had tons of time to tweak and tune our community to fit the needs of the members. It’s become somewhat of a polished community, we hardly have to enforce our rules, and the majorities of our members have been around since the beginning years and are model citizens. Whenever we do have a rare community problem, it is swiftly handled by our collection of ancients, better known as 'the staff.'

What’s great about OTK is the unity. It’s been said before that we have the strongest sense of friendship and brotherhood of any other group. We also have core alliances with groups such as the Spartan I Project and Beast Mode On. We have come to build a group that most members refer to as their online 'home.' Every member is treated with equality, there are no high horses or pedestals, and new members are warmly welcomed. Your posts are actually acknowledged, and it’s very rare to find any negative feedback. Regardless of the age variance that may exist, 90 percent of our members are on the same level of maturity. We have a few members that people might be familiar with, such as lord snakie, Sonic John, HunkyandRich, and of course Foman. :)

Shout out to PiercingTiger, we miss you, my friend!

Urk we <3 you!

And the rest of the Bungie Team, you all are awesome!! Keep up the amazing work!"

What are some of OTK's favorite Maps?

Our favorite Halo 3 maps would have to be Valhalla, Heavy Standoff, and MLG Heretic v7. However we still love Blood Gulch/Coagulation! You simply can’t beat that map! It’s awesome!

What about Game Variants?

Our favorite gametypes would have to be Team Slayer, and Capture The Flag. We enjoy Slayer BRs, Team SWAT, Multiflag, and who doesn’t love some Grifball?!?!

I dunno. I'm sure plenty of people who aren't into fun. What else would you like to see in Matchmaking?

We would love to see a BUNGLE playlist!!! And if it couldn’t be a playlist of its own, maybe just throw some gametypes and maps into Action Sack! It would fit perfectly! We would also love to see more Zombies! It is a golden gametype that just doesn’t get enough attention!

---

B.U.N.G.L.E. Pro™? Afraid the league never really got off the ground. I hear it's still played behind closed doors, though.

OTK's favorite files have been freshly updated. Check out Bungie Favorites for all the new hotness.

Finally.

Talk about patience. These guys waited what must have felt like six months to see the second half of their favorites selections go live. Sorry, dudes. We had to Beta. Sorry about the nasty messages, too. Some of our fans are a little...energetic.

Anyway, if you're looking for more community generated favorites, The Bees Knees' latest files are now on offer. Go get 'em.

Wide awake and physical.

We're going offsite for this week's Community Spotlight. The Bees Knees have their coin up and they're ready to play. Before you dive into all their awesome community generated content, take a moment to learn about them in their own words:

The Bees Knees is a Halo group based in the Penny Arcade forum community. The Bees Knees names comes from the Halo 2 ARG "I Love Bees." We set up shop here in 2004 and have been kickin' it ever since. We are also undefeated in clan vs. clan battles, having had numerous other communities lose or forfeit their matches! 5-0 baby!

What are The Bees Knees' favorite maps?

Our favorite Halo 2 map is definitely Terminal. Who can beat having a train slam into an escaping Warthog at 100mph?
Our favorite Halo 3 maps would have to be our own Sandbox creations, but if we are restricted to only official Bungie maps, it'd be Rat's Nest and Orbital a close second.

Yeah, those two are universal favorites. Good call. What about game types?

Our favorite silly gametype is "Worst Game Ever." This horrible tradition started back in 2004, where we put one hill in the middle of Midship and then gave everyone Rockets.

Our favorite regular gametype would have to be either 1 Sided Territories (the 2 round version, anyway) and/or 2 Flag Rat's Nest.

Sweet. What would you like to see injected into Matchmaking that isn’t already there?

More objectives! 6v6 King of the Hill from DLC Objective was awesome. Now the only place KotH exists is Multi Team. Also more 1 Flag is always great.

A 7 on the 7th dedicated to 7 v 7 Longshore would also be great.

---

Yeah, that would be great. Know what else is great? Bungie Favorites.

Enjoys, among other things, many other things.

The Kodemyster may not know where he got his nickname from, but he sure knows some other stuff. To learn about some of this stuff, scroll down and read this brief question and answer session. It's about stuff, mainly.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. I'm Kody, some dude in Las Vegas who works at In-N-Out Burger. I attend the College of Southern Nevada and have absolutely no idea what I'm going for. All my ideas require that I graduate with $200,000 in student loans, so all my ideas have pretty much been scrapped. I'm currently looking into law enforcement, but who knows where that'll go. I enjoy philosophy, epics, sushi, Kashi, my lovely lady, the money I currently do not have, many other things, and I'm excited to turn twenty on Cinco de Mayo!

Q. You enjoy lots of stuff! Doesn't explain where the tag comes from, though. 'Splain it.

A. I played basketball back in grade school and got the nick for absolutely no logical reason whatsoever. Now I'm stuck with it.

Q. I thought you were going to tell me about your black hat exploits or 1337 BASIC skillz. Oh, well. Where have you been hiding?

A. If I'm not loitering in a group, notably The Backdrop, Thee Warriors or The Black Chapter, I'm wasting my life away in The Flood or browsing the Septagon (no, I don't give a crap what it's called now).

Q. What compels you to waste your life away with games?

A. Up until a few days ago when I bought myself a brand new 360, my gaming life was virtually nonexistent (I don't know who's worse, Toyota or Microsoft, when it comes to mass malfunction). I do have a computer (almost obvious), but it's rather crappy; CS is getting low on good players and servers and, as enjoyable as rushing Huscarls in Age of Empires 2 is, it does get old. But now that the good Lord has blessed me with a new console, I've been given the opportunity to destroy my life all over again.

Contrary to the majority, who enjoy saving the galaxy online with and against real sentient beings, I'm the type who'd rather sit down with some noms in my dimly lit bedroom all by my lonesome and enjoy an intriguing storyline and rewarding campaign. Of course, this only takes place during the time my woman and studies allot me.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you made time for?

A. Oni. I've always been a late bloomer, so when I had a Nintendo 64, everyone else has PS2s and Xboxs. If we weren't gasming over the TV when DBZ came on, we were gaming, and ONI became a neighborhood favorite for like six months. I remember nothing of the game, set aside this awkwardly attractive purple haired chick who consumed bad guys' souls in the coolest ways possible.

Q. Are you surprised you followed Konoko this far?

A. Eh, not really. If you would have asked me that four years ago I'd probably answer yes. But after spending so much time here over the years it's sort of become a home away from home away from someone else's home. If that makes sense. It's become routine.

Q. Makes perfect sense. Squat anywhere else online?

A. Due to the fact that almost all of my friends are Facebook whores, I have also become a Facebook whore. Besides that, and flaunting my Myspace every now and then, I spend my web time reading current events, usually through Yahoo! News or BBC. Nothing really as far as entertainment goes. Unless... Fandango?

Q. Dunno. Do they have a sweet community going over there? Don't answer. Instead, make some shout outs. All the kids are doing it.

A. To the developers, if thou are reading, please give us plebeians enjoyable urban battles in Reach. And to my G dawgz lounging back at The Backdrop, listening to Bith tunes, getting high off jaffa cakes, and to Bobcast, the only ninja I can truly say I had an intimate relationship with before he was appointed by God to heal the sick and amputate the infected of His holy corner of the intranet, keep keeping it real.

Thanks for the front page space. irhumbled. <3

And, by the way, I'd like to add that I don't blame Stosh. For when one day the boy grows up to become the insane, hedonistic cannibal we most surely expect him to become, I shall be spared.

---

Stosh will spare no man. He has already become a vicious animal, his faculties bent only to the basest needs. Wouldn't worry too much about the cannibalism yet. We bring him double slices of Zeek's and foot-longs from the Subway down the street. As long as we keep him well fed, all he tends to gnaw on are the server cables strewn about his dim hovel.

Where were we? Oh, yes. Discussion thread attached.

Only has time for Bungie.

Okay, so maybe she has time for family, too. And a private group. And her friends. But, whatever. We're going to keep pretending that we're the most important thing in her life. To get the real scoop, read on.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. My name is Brandi and no, I’m not a 12 year old boy. Seven times out of ten, Halo players think I am. Guess my voice isn’t girly enough? Actually, I just celebrated my 30th birthday. I was kinda nervous about turning 30 but to my surprise, on the morning of my 30th, I jumped on my Bungie account and I got a message from Urk, inviting me to me to do this interview. Needless to say, that was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!

My occupation title is MOM. We have five children, three boys and two girls. We are a combined family, which isn’t that unusual these days. We are all Florida natives and live in the Tampa Bay area. We love the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and the Gators! And yes, we wear JORTS and we Love it! (Suck it, DeathPimp.)

As I was saying, we have five children. The oldest, Austin, is 12. He is the shyest out of the bunch but has no shortages of girlfriends, yes, already…UGH. He LOVES football and plays the Trumpet in his middle school band. Oh yeah, and loves ROCK AND ROLL and video games.

Taylor, nicknamed TaylorBear, is the next of our bunch. She’s a New Year’s Baby and just turned 11 not too long ago. She aspires to be a Musician, as she plays the guitar and is learning the piano and drums. She actually has a band with her friends. They call themselves, “DoomsDay”. If that doesn’t pan out, she loves animals. She wants to either become a Vet, travel the world as a Wildlife Crusader, or a Marine Biologist, studying Dolphins. Taylor also loves basketball. Both her and Austin (football) have played their sports for two years.

Hopefully they’ll be going to the University of Florida someday!

Next is Victoria, she’s 9 and in the 4th grade. She plays the Clarinet in her school band. She’s also a natural vocalist and loves to sing. In addition to her singing and Clarinet playing, she’s a Purple Belt in Tae Kwon Do. She’s apart of the “Black Belt Club” and also takes weapons class, learning how to use the Bow Staff and the Nunchucks. Her father would prefer her to one day play her Clarinet in “The Million Dollar Band” for the University Of Alabama. *shrugs shoulders* Nobody’s perfect…

Isaac is 8. He’s kinda the genius of the group. He is a VERY inquisitive child. Although he’s only in 2nd grade, he has very strong political views already. He loves the U.S.A.! He loves Science and can do some complex multiplication in his head like it ain’t nothin'! I see him becoming the President one day but he’ll probably be a Scientist, studying the stars or animals. He’s also a very big kid, towering over all the other 2nd graders IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! He’s big. I have to remind people sometimes that he is only 8. I see him dabblin' in some golf lessons very soon.

Then there’s Rylie, he’s not Jeffrey and he’s not 4, but he’s 5 years old. There’s no mistake about it, he’s a cutie! He likes to rock Mohawks and loves vids above everything else. He also loves Baseball and football. Finally, one of my children wants to play baseball! Dude loves to dance. You know he’s got it bad when he starts the beat to “Billy Jean”, umch, umch….umch, umch and all the other kids instantly say, “SHUUUUUT UPPPPP ALREADY”! His heroes include, Master Chief and Michael Jackson. He LOVES Master Chief and Halo. He’s also getting pretty good at the moonwalk.

As you can tell, my hobbies are pretty much our children. I am Taylor’s guitar teacher (been playing for about 8 years), we Love going to the beach, especially at low tide when we have our epic Hermitt Crab battles. Above everything, we love playing Halo!

Q. Whoa...I feel like I'm part of the family now. That's a lot of info! Still don't know where your gamertag comes from though. 'Splain.

A. LIBBYFACE…love it! It actually started out as a family account name…Libbyface. When I got my own account, I decided to keep it but make it all caps…it looks way cooler that way, IMO. MrFreakinMiyagi, my boyfriend, can take credit for it. Libby is my last name, the face part goes back to…one night, while we were playing Halo 2, some guys were talking crap and dude was like…”bet you won’t say that to my Halo face.”

It kinda stuck with us…that’s that.

Q. Sweet. What do you do with your time online. Stick with any particular forums?

A. Umm…yeah, I’m just your Average Jane. I’ve never blogged in my life. I pretty much stick to my group forums and do most of my haunting there. I have ventured out into the community forums before but…not as much fun to me. I don’t know a lot of the language that goes on in the serious forums. I’m not here to be super serious, I’m here to have fun. Now, when someone complains about how bad Rorytate’s fart smells…I can relate to that. Sad but true. *shrugs shoulders*

Q. Gross. Why gaming?

A. I grew up in the gamer generation man! I can’t imagine a life without vids! It also helps that I’m a pretty competitive person. My mother was a gamer too. To this day, she can still hit all 3 cherries, every time, on Super Mario Bros. 2. Lame game, but still pretty amazing. Before I started playing Halo, Galaga was my favorite game, I’m pretty awesome at it. Normally it’s just me and Miyagi, getting down on some Halo at the house. Well, and the kiddies of course.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you played?

A. Halo 2, I’m kinda a newb compared to a lot of others. Again, my boyfriend, MrFreakinMiyagi, and a friend of 11 years introduced me to it. I was over one night and asked me if I have ever played before. He started up the Xbox and the rest is history. I loved everything about it. The idea that you could “party up” and play online with other people just blew me away! We’ve come along way since PacMan.

Q. Are you suprised by how far you've come with gaming on the community side?

A. I’m a teensie bit surprised. When I first started playing, I wouldn’t even talk to my teammates. I’m more surprised about how close I have become with the people in the community. I’m pretty social for the most part. Now they can’t get me to shut up, as you can tell by my interview so far.

Q. Socialize anywhere else?

A. I really only have time for Bungie. I try to be a productive member of the community. I used to have an account with PewterReport (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) but I just can’t keep up. Besides, there’s plenty enough entertainment right here.

Q. That's the right answer. Make some noise!

A. First and foremost, I wanna give a shout out to MrFreakinMiyagi. Boyfriend of 3 years and friend of 11. Love ya babe! *tapping foot, waiting for ring* j/k Without him, I don’t know if I would be playing Halo? *wipes tear away*. H3ITWP…best group ever, really. Whether it be kiddin' around or raising money for various reasons, we take care of each other and I Love you guys! My boys Cobia48, DJ Six 716 and my good friend, SS VIGILANTE (although VIGILANTE never has time to play Halo with me *raspberries*). Also want to shout out to some of my fellow Janes’…waketrix, Froggirl, Fallenstar, WhtButterflyLiz, Crazy Herbie and RaDekk7.

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Oh, snap! That's it and that's all for LIBBYFACE. Unless of course you still feel like chattin'. Then you might want to sound off in the discussion thread attached. You know where to find it.

Hidden Dragon.

Wait that's not quite right. Got my title mixed up. While I sort myself out, scroll down to read all about this week's Average Joe, Piercingtiger.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. Hi, my name is Tim and I’m a Haloholic. The last time I took a dri…er….played Halo was yesterday. My wife says I’m addicted to gaming, but I know she is wrong. I choose to play. I can quit anytime I want to, really.

I’m a manager for a large shipping company that shall remain nameless. I also do freelance graphic design. In my free time, other than gaming, I draw and paint. I also do some inking for a few indy comic books. I also draw cheesy, 30 minute comics for a group I’m in (H3ITWP). I call them 30 minute comics, because I give myself 30 minutes to complete them. Pretty awesome description, huh? That way I won’t be bogged down trying to create actual art. (Example.)

I’m what you would call a “seasoned” gamer. I’m 31 (which makes me about 70 in gamer years, right?) , married to a wonderful woman and the father of two girls and a newborn boy. This makes getting quality Halo time a very tricky matter lately. That’s why you sometimes hear odd sounds through my mic. No, I’m not crying, that’s my son in my lap getting upset that I won’t let him take the controller out of my hands. I’ve got an appeal in to God to see if he can speed up the toddler years for me. I’ll get back to you with results.

Q. Yeah, let us know. While you wait, let us know where you got your gamertag.

A. Okay, stay with me on this one. Everyone please picture a giant word in your mind while I describe my gamertag. The giant word will be: SIGH. That is how I feel when I explain my gamertag. Here goes: When I was in elementary school, I found this book in our library. I think I might have been in 5th grade. How this book got into an elementary school library, I still have no idea. But without going into graphic detail, the book described certain “positions” for certain “activities.” One of them was “The Piercingtiger.” The name made me giggle (remember I was in 5th grade). So I used it for lots of things. I had basketball teams named The Piercingtigers along with many other silly uses. When I made what could be considered my first gamertag I used it as well. This “gamertag” was used on Myth II online. Now that I’m 31, the name seems silly. Most of my friends just call me PT.

Q. What forums do you frequent when you need some present day giggles?

A. As far as the regular forums go, I’ve become a lurker. I rarely comment. I did most of my arguing, debating and general discussion during the grand ole’ days of Halo 2. Now I sit back and watch the fun. I love the debates and in depth discussions. I love watching the trolls get smacked. OF COURSE I LOVE THE BUNGIE BLOG…

Editor's Note: Of course you do. - Urk

I spend most of my time in the private groups. I was formerly involved with the group Owners of the Katana. I helped build it, nurtured it and set it free. I feel like a proud papa and promised if I ever got any kind of recognition, I’d tell them I still love them. Now I spend my days mainly in Halo 3 in The Work PLace. We are a tight knit group of “older” gamers who can discuss the finer points of Halo without having to compare the sizes of our...BRs.

Q. So what is it about gaming that got you involved? Do you play with friends and family?

A. Growing up, my brother and I used games as an escape from reality. We had an “odd” childhood and gaming was something we could use to bond. I game with him still occasionally, but not like we did as kids.

As far as friends go, do people who I’ve met on XBL count? I’ve actually formed many good friendships over the last few years. Some of them live in AZ like me. Some of them fly out to AZ to see me. (They claim it for their hobby of skydiving, but I know the truth.) Some of them call me to ask opinions on very serious decisions. So if they count as friends…then yes, I game with friends.

Q. Pretty sure they do. What was the first Bungie game you got friendly with?

A. The first Bungie title I played was Marathon. I loved it, but did not own a computer at the time. It was actually a classmate that brought it into my computer arts class. When I bought my first Mac, the first game I bought was Myth. I was hooked. Then Myth II released and I had what I’d consider my first online multiplayer experience. It was awkward and I’m not sure my performance was that great, but man it was a blast. You always remember your first. Seriously, nothing was as fun as setting up a group of archers and destroying an oncoming enemy in seconds.
After that, I was hooked on Bungie. Their dedication to making games that are full fleshed is something that sets them apart from other studios. Their games include humor and back-stories that you don’t see in most titles. I bought an Xbox specifically because I knew Halo was being released as Microsoft’s launch title. Yeah, I had that much faith in Bungie.

Q. Are you surprised that led to so much lurking?

A. Yes I am. Like I said, most of my community involvement is in private groups. Last year I had the pleasure of meeting many B.net members during my first trip to this little thing called PAX. It was a blast and I love Bungie even more as a result. It was funny, because I’m not as “known” on the forums as I used to be during the Halo 2 days. When I’d introduce myself to people at PAX, I was surprised at how many people knew the name Piercingtiger. Oh and if you are walking around Seattle and see a random Halo 3 in The Work PLace bumper sticker stuck to a cab or in a hotel room…it was not me.

Q. Get involved with any other communities that don't compel you to commit acts of graffito?

A. Other than lurking at HawtyMcbloggy, no.

Q. What, she doesn't count? Anything you would like to add?

A. First, I want to mention to the Halo community: Hog drivers are people too.

I want to thank you for giving a relatively unknown gamer a chance to bore you for a few minutes. Let me pop my knuckles, this is going to take a minute.

As far as groups go: I love my family at Halo 3 in The Workplace. I also want to mention Owners of the Katana, The Spartan 1 Project and Halo 3 Wheelmen.

As far as gamers go: In no particular order (which is a PC way of saying please don’t PM me and complain if I don’t mention you, you greedy person). My AZ peeps necktatpat, Knucks and LizTron. I’d love to list EVERY member of Halo 3 in The Work PLace, but there isn’t enough energy left in my fingertips to type all those names. I’ll just mention a few but know that you guys and gals all rock, BigCountry1369 , Frogg1rl, JoeSki73 and Rhymetactics. Also all the great people I met at PAX, for example DieByMyHand/YourUncleBob and Yuben Meatslap. Oh and some guy named Urk.

I’d like to thank one other person that is special to me. This person is the reason I get up in the morning and strive to be the best PT I can. This person holds a very special place in my heart and in my family. If it wasn’t for this person…. *tears up*…. I’ll just say it.

Fomom, I <3 you and our son Foman.

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Oh, that's not nice. I will allow it. I'll also allow you to bask in glory by setting up a discussion thread on your behalf. You know where to find it.

Doubling up.

Today's Community Spotlight takes a quick look at a group that spliced two distinct things from the Halo universe into one tasty treat. Are they dropping feet first into hell or are they rockin' Recon? Who cares, they just updated Bungie Favs!

And here's what they had to say for themselves:

"ODST Recon was started by a guy named Red Sox RULE ALL, and the one of our current leaders, mediocresniper, quickly got involved. That happened in 2005, and the group grew quite quickly. Recruitment was high at the time and the group grew by leaps and bounds, though after a bit it began to die down. After a brief period of strife and inactivity, mediocresniper took the bull by the horns and built the group back up.

Now, though the moderating staff has undergone some major changes, the ideals that made ODST Recon great – a laid back atmosphere, great members, and up-to-date forums – are still in effect. With the current leadership split four ways between AnT Flibaboua, FearTheSwoop, Gimballz and Mediocresniper, the group has never seen better days. We have quite an active membership and a number of regulars to the group.

We don’t participate in group wars or spam attacks; we are quite laid back and as long as you don’t spam the forums incessantly or flame other members you’re more than welcome to the group. The mods in the group don’t swing their banhammers often, so there are no worries there. Also, we have pioneered the Cookie System and, more recently, the Reputation System. Many groups have imitated our cookie system and branched off, creating their own variants thereof. If you like a laid back atmosphere, feel free to stop into ODST Recon – we’d love to have you."

Cool. What are your favorite spaces to play in Halo 3?

For the most part we love any map in Halo 3. Obviously maps like The Pit and Heretic are some of the better ones, though really any map is good. We have game nights sometimes, with many user-created maps thrown into the mix. We also have a group called “The Halo Pirate League” that many members participate in, which holds custom games every Monday.

And your favorite game variants?

Slayer is a great gametype – it’s hard to not like a regular deathmatch game. Many of our members also like games like Infection, which are a ton of fun for all comers. I, personally, prefer MLG gametypes like Capture the Flag and Oddball – team games that take a lot of skill and teamwork to win. But the group’s preferences depend on who you speak to – we each have our own likes.

What would you like to see in Matchmaking that isn’t already available?

There’s not much that’s not in Matchmaking. Personally, I would love to see Elites banned in Team Snipers and Team SWAT – these things start to get annoying, especially when you get to be a higher level. Also, the Legendary maps need to be free on Xbox LIVE and included in all the playlists – Blackout is a great map that should be included in every play list.

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Hear that? That's the sound of a million angry Elites about to descend upon you! Been nice knowing you. Thanks for the interview. Oh, and if you want to get a look at ODST Recon's load out, hit up Bungie Favorites for all the hot new files.

All knowing and riding a roo.

This week's Average Joe is a fan of the ellipses, wasn't a fan of Halo: CE, and wants way more Reach. Can you sympathize? Read on to get more familiar with this "Jerk" from down under.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. Hey, I'm Josh, folks 'round these parts know me as Omnicent, Omni, Omni-Tool, Tool, or Jerk. I live in Adelaide, South Australia and yes, I do ride a kangaroo to school everyday, I put beer on my cereal and that is seriously not a knife... *cough* ...moving on.

I'm a student at the minute, doing my final year of high school. I get to study a lot of fun things like Specialist Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry because I was too much of a smart ass to take the easy road. Currently I'm in-between jobs, just like I have been for the last 18-odd years and I have this sneaky suspicion that isn't going to change soon, but I don't mind...much. I'm an avid gamer (hur-dur?) but I really only got into the online scene about two years ago and MAN! I've loved it from day one, but aside from gaming I'm an ungodly reader, I have a bad habit of buying a book in the morning and having read it cover to cover by dinner. I'm a big fan of Eddings, Tolkien, Salvatore and countless others, also I love the Halo books. A great read.

Aside from the stuff I do sitting on my butt, I also play Basketball in Division 2...I said I played, not that I was any good, keep that in mind. In fact I just played what I think will be my last game. Ever...probably.

Q. So, what does "Omnicent" mean?

A. Well, it's simple. I wanted something that was quirky, easy to say and memorable. I failed miserably. The name however is derived from the word omniscient, which means to be all knowing. Yeah, I know, little bit self absorbed but I like it and I doubt I'll ever change it, it's grown to be not only my name, but my identity. Strange how these things grow on us, isn't it?

Q. Yup, sure is. Which forums have grown on you (and sprouted hairs)?

A. Well, I spread myself around fairly evenly. I do a lot of my posting in private groups such as KOTOR [/sneakyadvertisement], but when I lurk the public forums I post in The Flood and The Septagon, I take a peak at the Halo 3, Reach and ODST forums to make sure they're there every so often and the good, young, Universe forum; for when I feel like getting into an argument about the mating habits of fictional creatures. (lolno)

I've been know to get into a little bit of fan-fiction, wrote a bit myself (see Snakie for the details, he's good at those), but generally I only like the real stuff.

I'm going to be honest here, I'm not a huge fan of montages. I'm impressed by 3 Killionaires in one life as much as the next guy, but 20 minutes of single no-scopes and triple kills gets a little stale, no matter how many video filters you whack on there.

Q. Oh, man. Good thing I wasn't compelled to highlight four montages this morning! Uh...what compels you to game?

A. Compels me, eh? Well that's a long story that begins way, way back when Duck Hunt and SMB's were the big craze. I sucked at those games. Still do. But being told I can't do something has a habit of making me do it, I'm still no MLG pro by any stretch, but I can pull my weight.

My folks long ago swore off facing me down in any game, be it chess, AoE, Halo or even rock, paper, scissors. I think it was about the time I whooped my dad, sister and a insane AI in AoE3 by myself, 3v1. At that time my accounts were all called Anubis, my strategies of rolling death seemed to demand a god-like name, but when I got XBL that was already taken. Go figure. So I had to come up with something else, see above.

Since my family doesn't even let me play Cluedo with them anymore, I have to play with friends in order to get bragging rights, so I play with some of the guys from school. I'm a lazy kind of guy so we just play online, LAN parties, although fun, are a pain to set up and a blackout ruins the whole night.

All in all I'm a pretty laid back guy when it comes to games, oh don't get me wrong, I like winning, but I'm not going to have a giant cry about a loss. I play to have fun, I play with friends to have fun and I play with people I don't know or like to have fun, and for me that's a good thing, I'm...mediocre in skill so if I played to win I'd end up angry all the time. If I played to annoy people I'd get banned and there's no fun in that. So I play to have fun. It works for me.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you had some fun with?

A. Halo: CE (Deja Vu? No?). I heard about this crazy new game that was taking the world by storm so, naturally, I had to try it.

I'm going to be honest here. Don't hate me for it folks, I was young. I thought it was "meh."

Same thing with Halo 2, hype, hype, hype, "yeah, not bad."

Halo 3 comes around and BAM! "yeah, pretty good."

So I kick it around a bit, and I think to myself, "what's this XBL thing anyway?" So I sign up and ho baby, THIS is what I've been missing all my life! Once I got into the Halo online scene I started to have some realizations about what I was missing out on all those years, THIS is where the fun was at, meeting people, kick their asses, the lag, the thrills, the multi-kills! Talking about other peoples' views on the campaign really changed my opinions, I realized the genius of the story, music. . . I'm having a bit of a ramble, I know, but yes.

In short, it was the people that really sucked me into the world of Halo and ultimately Bungie, got me interested, gave me a real connection to it.

Q. Does the fact that you've been sucked in surprise you somewhat?

A. Yeah, it's a bit of a lark sometimes when I think back on it. If four years ago you told me I'd have good friends I'd never even met, I'd tell you to seek professional advice. Seriously though, sometimes I'm surprised to look at my title bar and see Legendary Member there, that means Iggy's server's down and the coup's not loading. (har-har-har) Lame jokes aside I like this place, I like the people and I love the work they do. Sometimes I can't help but jump on in and be a part of it, it's exhilarating to see a project you had a hand in come to life, at the minute I'm busy with my studies but I lend a hand in the coup group and pump out some custom avatars and title bars once in a while for people who say please.

Q. Do you get involved with any other groups?

A. I'll occasionally lurk the Halo Wars forums, but I'm pretty much a Bungie.net man. You guys must put something in the water...

Aside from that I'm the head of moderation over at the7thwonder.org, I'm probably not the best qualified person in the world to be a moderator, let alone top dog, but I do what I can and I use my best judgment. That's all you can do, right?

Q. Yup. Anything you wanna add?

A. Yeah, MoAr ReeeEeEeEEeeEACH!!! Seriously, you're taunting me here! I'm almost willing to spend a few thousand bucks to get to you guys and risk a medical bill three miles long trying to past security and get out with the alpha. But I'm not going to. Flat broke you see.

Any-who, on to the shout-outs.

The guys who're going to beat me up after this gets published and I don't mention them: Fatal Tempest - he gets tired a lot so I have to carry him, but he returns the favor sometimes. I Fatoosh I - Jumpy little bugger, but cunning. v GuMBy - Only rage quits sometimes. Samwize1409 & SurgicalShoe - Guys I know, but you guys don't. Crazy how that works, huh?

The guys who'll act all butt-hurt if they don't get a shout-out: Lord Snakie - like the giant, suit wearing twin of Russian decent I never had. x Lord Revan x - Used to think he was an ass, still do, but now he's my kind of ass. Noge - Heh, you'd have to be in the msn party to get it. . . and a whole bunch of others I love but can't mention for lack of witty remarks. Just know that if you're on my friends list you're alright in my book.

ALSO: Very important last point, I would like to give a big shout out to every Australian gamer out there, we get the rough end of the stick when it comes to games being banned, lag and a whole plethora of problems, so to those who stick with it, I salute you.

Thanks for reading this far, or for those who skipped to the end, I don't blame you. Omni out.

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Nobody skips to the end of these, dude. They're gold. Gold, I tell you! Thanks for dropping some words, Omni, and as always, there's a discussion thread attached. Drop in to sound off.

Men of few words.

Monitor Built's ready to give us the rundown on their week two Bungie Favorites selections. For map making expertise, they've sent in Hadokenchild to talk a little bit about with us about his map Frailty. Scroll down to get your learn on.

What inspired Frailty?

I tried to combine Halo 2's "Relic" with Halo 3's Valhalla. I like the tall spire designs of both maps and I really haven't seen many customs that simulated those same structures.

How long did it take to complete the simulation?

60-70 hours. I started it shortly after getting the maps with Halo Wars. But about two weeks in I got my second RROD. I couldn't forge for almost two months.

Which aspect took up most of that big block of time?

Blue base as a whole. The mid floor level went through two complete designs before I found one that worked well with the massive sand dune behind it. I also found out the hard way that if you want to geomerge stone pillars at an angle, you have to brace both the large and small ends or it will twist.

How could we improve Forge?

Well since it isn't meant to be a terrain editor, it isn't going to work they way we really want it to. I would really like to see something resembling Foundry's doors to help in merging. I'd also like to see specific floor objects that eliminate the need to use walls.

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Tear down this wall! That's the end of Monitor Built's round in our Community Spotlight. If you want to check out their fresh hit of custom content, you can grab all the updated files right from our Bungie Favorites page. Come and get it.

Inspired by pizza pie.

Primo84 is a family man, a graphic designer, a college student, and a frequent poster here at Bungie.net. And he still found the time to answer some of our questions. Pretty awesome, eh?

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. My name is Chris, I’m 20 years old, and I work for my city’s parks and recreation department. I am also an art major (with a concentration in graphic design) at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. Well, that’s not 100% true; there was some kind of computer glitch and I was accidentally given the wrong major, so technically I’m a fashion design major until I can figure out where to turn the proper forms into.

I immediately regret sharing that last part.

Anyway, I just transferred to WSU this semester. Before Wayne, I attended Olivet College, which is a tiny, overpriced liberal arts college located way out where people tend to marry their siblings. I went there for two years and was chemistry major with a pre-medical concentration. I also played defensive end on the school’s varsity football team; I was actually the starter before I realized that OC just wasn’t for me and left school a month into last semester.

Aside from being miserable at that school, the major factor in my leaving was that my girlfriend of five years, Amanda, was pregnant with my child. (Don’t worry, she didn’t pull an ‘itz yo babay!” I knew she was preggers going into the school year.)

Connor Richard was born February 14, 2010 at 12:35pm. He is a perfectly healthy baby and weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces, 21cm long, and sporting a 14cm head diameter.

7lbs? 14cm? 21cm? Coincidence? I think not!

Anyway, the baby, my girlfriend, and I are doing great and are happy as can be.

Q. Awesome. And Congrats! Now that we know more about you and your family, tell us where your B.net name came from.

A. Well, when I first made an account on B.net, I couldn’t think of anything I wouldn’t come to regret once it was final.

There was a menu from a local pizza place sitting next to the computer; for reasons I still don’t understand, I picked up the menu seeking some inspiration for my username. The pizza place called their version of cheesy bread “primo bread.” I remembered that one of my great uncles’ name was Primo, and me, being the half-blooded deigo I am, thought it fit.

Keep in mind that I said "deigo," not "guido." (I’m not one of those Jersey Shore jager bomb drinkin’, fake tannin’, blowout hair wearin’, bro’d out fake Italians.)

Oh, and 84 was my football jersey number from sophomore year of high school until I hung up the cleats this past fall.

Q. So, if you're not hanging out on the Jersey Shore, where might people find you around these here parts?

A. For my first few years I mostly stuck to New Mombasa, or as it’s now known, The Halo 2 Forum. Every now and then I’d check out the Universe/Underground Forum, and once Halo 3 came out, I started lurking the H3F. Once the overall topic of the H3F seemed to focus more and more on multiplayer, I started posting in the Septagon and Flood. I’ve always enjoyed the theories and speculation in the Universe Forum. Also, I recently started lurking The Gallery Forum, and I’m pretty impressed by how talented a lot of my fellow members are.

Q. So what keeps you gaming? Do you schedule game nights with your friends and family?

A. Put simply, it’s fun. It’s also a great way to blow off steam and relax.

As for gaming with friends and family…eeeh…not so much. Most of my loved ones, even my siblings, still haven’t accepted gaming being mainstream, and look at me like I’m performing witchcraft when I’m using my Xbox LIVE headset.

Q. Well, people do shout some pretty bizarre stuff online. What was the first Bungie title you played?

A. A buddy of mine back in middle school held a LAN party for one of his birthdays. Guess what we played? Yeah, I guess you can say Halo: CE got me into gaming as a whole. Sure, I owned a Super Nintendo and N64 before I had ever been owned by a Warthog turret on Sidewinder, but I had never really played anything on those systems as addicting as Halo multiplayer. Congratulations Bungie, you’re my ambassadors to Nerd-dom.

Q. We're okay with that. Are you? Are you surprised by how involved you've become?

A. Oh yeah; my 5th B.net anniversary happened this past December. I didn’t realize it until someone brought it up in the IRC. Sure, I’m not involved in many of the community projects or gatherings like some guys are, but 5 years? That’s a quarter of my life! I mean, during that time I’ve graduated high school, started college, dropped out of college, started college again, grown a beard, got a girl pregnant, and some stuff in between.

Q. Yeah, that's a lot of stuff to juggle. Do you find time to visit any other online communities?

A. Hmm, let’s see. I’ve created plenty of accounts on various message boards across the interwebs, only to forget about them a few days later. I think the only sites I still actively post on are Bungie.net (obviously), IMDB, YouTube, and MLive. Well, those and the standard stuff like Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, URK! ACCEPT MY FRIEND REQUEST FOOL! (Just kidding.)

Q. You probably just want to bug me incessantly about FarmVille. Anything you would like to add?

A. Can I make a #BungieNet plug?

Q. Um, yeah?

A. Hey everybody! Go visit #BungieNet, Bungie.net’s (unofficial) internet relay chat channel! We’re awesome, just ask us.

Q. Any shout outs you’d like to make?

Tons.

I guess I’ll start with my moderation staff from #BungieNet: True Underdog, BreadofWonder, flowers/Halo_Tru7h, Primum Agmen, elmicker, and Nerd Boi. As for #BungieNet regulars (in no particular order): Anelf3, Scapegoat, Kapura (Collonade sucks dude), Spiderbait, Stung, Eliper, CornettoGospel, Impurity, Wolf, Count Blinkula, TrooperCooper, Kenny, Butane (you suck), Top Gun, Qbix, Aeternae, Badballer, Bahamut, Mahcks, Sy, Squee, Useless0ne, Rampancy, Brute, and TOM_T_117.

Oh, and the guys from #Moap who still refuse to join #BungieNet.

From around B.net: DieByMyHand, Skibur…and that’s about it.

If I forgot anyone, then t(o_Ot). (Just kidding.)

---

Thanks to Chris for being a good sport and a valued member of the community. He had some additional pics of his beautiful wife and baby, but we're gonna hold off on posting them. If he still wants to share them with everybody, maybe he'll link them in the discussion thread attached. (Maybe he won't if I remind him that people around here are experts with photo manipulation.) Either way, you should sound off and let Primo84 know how awesome he is in the thread attached.

The next level.

After a brief hiatus to make way for the multiplayer trailer, our Community Spotlight is ready to shine once again. This week, the glow falls on the glorious group of mapmakers over at Monitor Built. If you're looking to flex your creative muscle, you might want to read up. Here's what they had to say for themselves.

"The main goal of Monitor Built was to create a helpful spam free Xbox 360 community that revolves around the Halo 3 game mode, Forge. Monitor Built originally started off as a Bungie.net group founded on June 27, 2008. On June 28th, 2008, the just started Bungie.net group got a free hosted forum and got to work. With the newly created forum more members started to flow in and Map Maker Guardians, the original name, was being recognized as a community. With Map Maker Guardians running for four months it was decided again that it was ready for the next level.

The new forum could not of been possible without the help of Archon Gold, who supplied everything needed for the new site. After about a week of discussing the new sites name (Monitor Built) and Archon setting up the domain, it was finally time to release the new site on October 31st, 2008. Today, Monitor Built's goal to create a community that is spam free and the members feel that they are an actual member instead of a number. The site is always under little minor changes for the better and competitions, tournaments or events are always being thought of along with the Columnists working on featuring maps."

Q. What are some of Monitor Built's favorite spaces?

A. We usually enjoy symmetrical Capture the Flag maps, they never cease to provide us with long and intense battles that pump adrenaline through you the whole time through. There's nothing like returning your flag an inch away from the opponent's return point to keep the game alive. Wishbone (which can be found in the current Bungie Favorite Files) is usually the map we're duking it out on with these matches. Wishbone takes some tactics, teamwork, brains, and well... a little skill with a sniper, just how any map should play right?

Q. What about game variants?

A. Well, as you've seen already, Multi-Flag seems to be a favorite for our community, but another community favorite for us is any gametype involving some mongoose driving. Rocket Race, Battle Snipes, Cat 'N Mouse, you name it. You experience some sort of thrill while being chased around and shot at. It's sort of like the thrill you got as a little kid running around the sandbox spitting at your friends... I guess...

Q. What would you like to see in Matchmaking that isn’t there already (besides spitting)?

A. Well, before Action Sack, we would've said we wanted a playlist with custom mini-games, but that's been covered. Thanks Bungie.

But what we'd really like to see is a playlist, or at least a double exp playlist for a gametype called Conquest. Conquest is a game variant of Flag Rally where there's 5 or 7 territories (depending on map size) placed throughout a linear path. You and your teammates traverse through the map capturing territories, and clash in the middle fighting for that last piece of land that will give you an advantage. It's like Tug-of-war sort of. Your constantly pushing forward and falling back, and it takes brute force by teamwork to win. You'll find the Conquest gametype and a map called "Plunder" in our Favorite Files.

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Actually, you can find all of their week one content in Bungie Favorites. Right now. What are you waiting for? Go and get 'em!

Underscores of Awesome.

Top_Gun_2021 is requesting a flyby. Hold onto your coffee while this Average Joe buzzes the tower.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. My name is Dan; I am a sophomore at a college in the twin cities of Minnesota. I am studying math and art, trying to combine that into some sort of job. If that fails, my fall back is being a drum set player. I have been playing drum set and percussion for ten years, and I use that ability to play in one band and three ensembles at college.

If I am not doing school related activities, I am playing video games (really old to new), drawing, or practicing rudiments or jamming on my drum set. I recently have started drumming over Marty’s Halo soundtracks, which is really fun. I am also a good shot at billiards, so I play all types of billiard games on my home table. I used to caddie and be really active, but that has currently taken a hold after I had a life threatening blood clot in my leg in the summer. Not dying is a good hobby to have.

Q. None of that explains the username.  Where'd you pick that up?

A. My first tag here was SilentStalker101, but I thought it was stupid, so I let that one die and made Top_Gun_2021. I chose Top Gun, because I am a huge fan of military aircraft. However, contrary to popular belief, Top Gun derives from the flight school and not the movie. So, shut up with the Tom Cruise, the Goose, and the great balls of fire. The 2021 comes from Sea Lab 2021, and it rhymed. Thus, I added it.
I don’t remember why I put in underscores. I think it was because I assumed, since other sites didn’t allow spaces, spaces were not allowed here. Apparently, user names can have spaces in them, but the underscores make my name unique.

Q. You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips.  Er, uh...where can we find you hanging out here at Bungie.net should we want to serenade you?

A. I frequent the Community forum and the Flood forum mostly. I find the Flood forum absolutely hilarious sometimes, and if you have not noticed, I make a lot of polls. Who doesn’t like polls? I could probably be the poll czar or something like that. Polls are my favorite thing on this site. I like a good laugh, and I think that asking obscure and odd questions is a good way to have a chuckle. If you are wondering why I use ‘yay or nay’ instead of ‘yes or no,’ I was at Knights of the Round Table, and the king would only accept ‘yay or nay’ cheers instead of ‘yes or no’ from the audience. Yes, I do know that the proper spelling is, yea, and not, yay. Deal with it. Most of my ideas come from pop culture, movies, or random incidents and thoughts.

When I go to the community forum, I try to help people as much I can with their issues. I’ll sneak peeks in the game forum once in a while, but those are not my main thing. Once the game comes out I start to visit them more to talk about the game.

My favorite part of this community is the groups. It is a great way to get to know other people better.

The best fanfic of all time is, Halo – Halos in space. It moved me to tears.

Q. What about gaming gets you all emotional?

A. I have been playing games since the early 90’s. I remember the good times of simple controls and fun characters. I am all over the board on what games I like. I play things from Roller Coaster Tycoon to Halo, and I enjoy both multiplayer and single player. My rule to gaming is: If I am having fun while playing it, it is a good game. If I am not having fun, it goes to the glue factory. I play games to relieve stress and to have a good time.

I tried gaming with my dad and that never turned out well. I guess the learning curve from Pong to Space Jam was too much. I grew up playing with my brothers, friends, and cousins. Those sleepovers playing Mario Party and GoldenEye were good times. My brothers don’t play anymore, so I usually game with my cousin, and my friends.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you played?

A. It was way back in 2002 during Christmas time. I was visiting a cousin, and my mom gave me an Xbox. My cousin told me about this game called, Halo: Combat Evolved, which was supposed to be good. We bought it and we played co-op campaign at his house. I don’t remember how far we got together, but it was my favorite co-op experience of all time. I played the campaign by myself, since I never really had anyone to play multiplayer with. Whenever I got with my cousin, we would boot up Halo and play co-op. I remember having creative strategies to beat sections on Legendary. We have a pretty bad track record of purposely killing each other. So, I can blame Halo for my team killing skills.

What struck me was the interesting art style, and how it was so different from different games, and so shiny. It was the first time I ever played a FPS campaign with another person, and it was always fun.

Q. So now you've gone from playing with other people to participating in a huge community. Does that surprise you?

A. Not really. I usually give up on online sites if there is no change. I am the type of person who likes to experience different things often. The community here changes quite a lot, and I like that. There is always something new to talk about, new people, and new ideas. The cool people I have met here are also a plus.

Q. Do you visit any other online spaces on a regular basis?

A. I visit Drummerworld.com and Cracked.com frequently. I also visit Brothers-brick.com and LEGO.com. I am still a huge LEGO fan. LEGO > Megablocks.

Q. Well, obviously. Make some noise.

A. I would like to thank Bungie for giving me a fun game to play, and to provide this wonderful haven.

My cousin, Otter61987, for those funny threads he makes, and those good times on Halo, DISP0SABLE H3RO, Nuclear Murderer, GameRiddler, SuburbanJoker, everyone in BUNGLE, Mythic Members, The Marty Army, #moap, #bungienet, and anyone who has answered one of my polls.

Boom Shakalaka!

---

What, we're doing NBA Jam now? I can't keep up. Top Gun, NBA Jam, the drums...it's just too much. I need some time to clear my head. While you wait for my return, hit the discussion thread attached and let Dan know how awesome he is, even if you did spill your coffee.

Making beautiful music.

Today's Average Joe has a sweet gig and spent some time in the service. If you wanted to know more about Delta 15t, you've come to the right place. Make yourself comfortable and get to scrollin'!

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. Hello, I am Todd and I am a guitar maker or Luthier if you will. I graduated from the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in 1992. I also studied with Paul Gudelsky and Abe Wechter. So I get up in the morning and make guitars for people and repair their broken ones.

I am also retired Army. I spent two tours in Iraq and one in Bosnia. I was a 15T and a 63A. That is a Black Hawk Helicopter mechanic/Crew Chief and an Abrams M1A2 systems mechanic.

I also compose and record my own music. I use Pro-Tools LE 8 from Digi Design. Here is an example of some of my work that I did for H3ITWP. I did it so if anyone wanted to use it for a montage, they could.

Q. Well, that explains half the username. Where'd you pick up the first bit?

A. When I was in the Army, my radio call sign was Delta. It quickly became my nick name as well. During my second tour in Iraq, we had a hanger right across from the Delta Force compound. The 160th and us would trade helicopter parts back and forth if we didn't have something on hand. After a while you start talking and Halo came up. I invited some of the guys from the 160th to come and play some Halo with us that night. Well they showed up with some Delta Force guys also. We had a serious LAN party throw down that evening. Delta was etched in stone from then on. The 15t was obviously my MOS at the time.

Q. Very nice. Now that you're back, where forums do you use for R&R?

A. The Septagon baby! Hanging out there you get to know people after a while. After a while you start playing Halo with the people you get to know. It's bit tighter nit there also. I do frequent the game forums. Although I am no much on speculation. I am more of a wait and see type person. I get the game in my hands and try to take it to its limits.

Q. What drives you to push your gaming limits?

A. I game therefore I am! Seriously, it's the teamwork, fun, the way cool graphics and the great story lines that Bungie provides.

Q. Flattery! What was the first Bungie title you played?

A. Halo, of course. I didn't buy it at first either. I thought to myself, "There's another game that will fade away in about a month." People at work kept talking about it though. Finally I asked about it. They said, "What? You don't have Halo? Dude, you have got to get this game!" I did that day. I was up to 3 am playing.

Q. Are you surprised that you've become so involved with the community?

A. Yes and no. It all just sort of crept up on me. Back when I first started visiting Bungie, I never thought I would be this involved. Now looking back, it doesn't surprise me. Bungie has a way of drawing you in and keeping you.

Q. You can never leave! (Do you?)

A. No, I am pretty much a Bungie/Halo fan man.

Q. That's the right answer. Make some shout outs, sucka!

A. Well yes. H3ITWP! Great people there! Foman for introducing me to the group! The Marty Army! Without Marty I don't think Halo would be what it is today. Also a shout out to Mythical Group. A younger group of guys, but they have their act together. Game on!

---

Big thanks to Todd for being a big part of our community, and of course, for his service. If you want to sound off yourself, there's a discussion thread attached. You know what to do.

Ring around the bubble.

The Mythic Photographers are back for round two of their Bungie Favorites run. In addition to tons of new content, they also took the time to talk a little bit about their map, Mongoose Season. Nice group of photogs, eh?

What inspired Mongoose Season?

I was first inspired to make this map when a friend showed me a map that had a ring around the entire sky bubble of Sandbox. He said he downloaded it for the hell of it and we spent a good ten minutes spawning different vehicles and racing around the map. With the absence of a concept to the map, and me playing several Duck Hunt related customs earlier that day, I thought to myself, “Hey! I want to make something out of this!” Thus started the creation of the map.

How long did it take to complete?

Fixing all the imperfections with the original track and always constantly finding the errors that I had to work out took quite some time. My other Halo-hobby, screenshot taking, seemed to distract me and take away a lot of useful map fixing time. However, with the help of Chrome3agle and The U2 RoKKeR this took a little over a week to fully complete the map.

What'd you need the most help with?

Making the track flow just right so there were no places where you launch in the air randomly, making sure the final jump was aligned just right, and making the map and gametype work together were the most tedious parts of the creation.

How could Forge be made just right?

Even though I’m not that much of an avid Forger, I think the Forge is already a great map editor as it is, but if I had to choose a way to improve it I would say that an “undo” button would have to be a must in order to prevent all the times I would accidentally delete something I shouldn’t have. And a “Clear Map” button so people can start Forging more quickly rather than having to delete the whole map or find a canvassed map.

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Cool. Unfortunately for now, we've come to the end of Mythic Photographers' two week stint and we can't undo the clock. It's over. No regrets though, there's a ton of great content in Bungie Favorites right now. You should check it out.

Selling gigathings by the clock cycle.

Yeah, I don't know what that gobbledy-blam!- in the subject line means either. Maybe PKF_647 can help us make sense of it so we can engage in some sound technological decisions. Let's coax him out of his igloo, shall we?

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. Hi, I am PKF_647 gamer tag PKF 647 and I guess I’m an Average Joe. I was born and raised in the heart of Alberta, the big city Edmonton. Yes I come from the great white north and no I do not live in an igloo. I just finished celebrating thanksgiving this past October 12th a full seven weeks ahead of you guys in the U.S. (Hmm…Seven go figure).

So, everyday I get up and bust my ass to sell computers to people who think a gigabyte is a gigathing and ask me why HP doesn’t make mac books. As a part time deal I get to do some tech work fixing up peoples computers and saving them from all the viruses they downloaded off of that knitting website….yeah knitting I’m so sure. Who ever said working for an office supply store was boring?
In my spare time (when I have any) I love to Photoshop and make little programs and scripts. I’m the guy who brought you “Bungie Anywhere” and the “Happy Halodays Mosaic.”

Q. Cool. What brought about your username?

A. Oh long story, too boring to be told. The short version is this, the “PKF” stands for Player Killer Faction, I got it from playing old RPG’s and killing other players instead of the NPC’s (I was kind of an ass). I got called a Player Killer and it stuck.

Please note the spelling, it’s not PFK its PKF. PFK is “Poulet Frit Kentucky” the French-Canadian spelling of Kentucky Fried Chicken. The fact that I hang around with COL0NEL SANDERS here on Bungie is just a coincidence.

Q. When you're not prepping your secret recipe, what forums do you visit to spice up your day?

A. The Septagton or “The Bungie Community” as it is known now. I also love the webcams page, some days it’s like watching paint dry on a wall but the wall has a clock on it. If you think that watching the webcams is lame, well its not, it can be pretty exciting sometimes. You can even get banned for it, yeah that’s right that was me, IP banned for watching the cams to much, you can confirm it with Achronos. It’s stuff like that that got me the Stalker label and a Wanted poster put up on the webcams.

And no that’s not really me, I am not Richard Ramírez the night stalker.

Off of that creepy aspect of my Bungie life, I love to hang out in the gallery and like checking out the latest works by everyone here on Bungie. Posting my art there got me involved with Aberrant Designs, It’s a great group here on Bungie.net and anyone who loves screenshot photography or just making fan art should really check it out.

I admit my stuff isn’t as good as say CAUS7IC or Halcylon but I always learn something new every time I boot up photoshop and I usually end up making something that doesn’t make one's eyes bleed.

Q. So, other than the creepy stalking angle, why are you so interested in gaming?

A. Ah the games, where would I be today with out video games? Successful and rich probably. But seriously, without my dad and Intellivision II, video games would have never made it into my life until I was mature enough to play them. I will always remember playing video games with him and the excitement when I got my Nintendo.

Now it’s me, my wonderful girlfriend and my brothers who play.

PKF 646 has been my amazing girlfriend for 8 years this past September and my long time partner in gaming for just as long. We are a brutal combo in multi team and other team games but lately with her sore wrist we just haven’t been able to play, that and she discovered Wii Tennis. (She is over level 2200, I can never win anymore.) My brothers and I still play Halo every so often and it can get quite competitive so we try to change it up by playing stupid game types like 4x over shields, damage resistance at full and only pistols 3 hours later its all tied up at 1-1-1. I also play a little COD4 with my brother in law because he refuses to buy Halo 3. (Go buy it, you know you want to.)

Q. So, was Halo the first Bungie game you got hold of?

A. My first Bungie “published” title would have to be Abuse. It was a great game, so many hours spent playing it, but then Halo came out for the Xbox and I was hooked. Halo 2 and Halo 3 take a back seat to Halo CE, it will always be the my favorite and if they remake it for the Xbox 360 with better graphics and without changing the gameplay or story, I would definitely buy it again.

Hoping to play ODST sometime soon, pretty sure I will like the campaign and Firefight, that and I will finally get the Legendary and Mythic map packs. Yeah that’s right, no map pack love for me.

Q. Well, that's a surprise. A lame surprise. Ever surprised yourself about how much time you spend around here?

A. Im surprised that my account hasn’t be deleted yet, I mean how does a guy go from being IP banned to being a Legendary/Mythic member? As for involvement, well I like to do things for the community, whether it is making scripts for greasemonkey, making site themes or even user profile skins (the piano skin was one of mine) Paulmarv and all the other scripters keep making new stuff for the site and I want to do more to keep up, the same goes for everyone making all that great fan art, I would love to make more but there is just no time right now. I already have a few full galleries on google sites and deviant art, hopefully I can add some more stuff to them soon.

Q. Engage Stalker Mode at any other sites?

A. Only the Bungie stalkers…but you already know that, so just go back to sipping your coffee and reading Kirkland Views, don’t worry about it. Worrying will make your hair fall out and you don’t want to be bald before you turn 30 do you….oh wait.

Q. Okay, I think we're done here. Gotta go close the blinds. Need us to go over your Miranda Rights again? (Make some shout outs.)

A. I was always told that if I ever made it on TV or anything like that, to shout out “FROG BLAST THE VENT CORE!” but doing that here is kind of like saying “bless you” to the Pope when he sneezes, kinda pointless. As for shout outs, well I would like to say hi to my family, my brothers FESTEZI0 and Guest (get a 360 Jeff and you can stop playing the Guest account). All the people at Aberrant Designs, CAUS7IC, where ever you are, all the scripters coders and greasemonkeys here on Bungie.net, All the members turned mods who forgot my name and to everyone in Edmonton, Store #60. Try not to bother me while I’m working and no, I won’t answer to my Gamertag. As for PKF 646, well maybe someday she will be Mrs. PKF 647. (Love You D!!)

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Wonder if this counts as the first marriage proposal evar in a Bungie.net interview? I'm gonna go with no. Wouldn't be classy. And we all know PKF is all class, baby. He'd get down on one knee, peer into his lovely lady's bedroom window, and pop the question by writing it out in his breath frost on the glass.

Got any of your own questions for the man himself? Get all your computer troubles solved in the discussion thread attached!

They love Halo and that's that.

Looking to improve your screenshot snapping skills? Look no further than Mythic Photographers. And not only are they into photography, they're also into having tons of fun right here at Bungie.net. You like fun, dontcha? Here's what they had to say for themselves:

"Mythic Photographers takes the notion of 'Mythic' to the core. We are a group of friendly photographers who look to take on what can be called as the Mythic difficulty of screenshots. In doing so, we look to accomplish feats that no other groups have ever attempted. But in order to conquer Mythic, the conqueror must be more than up to par.

The community itself is one of the best environments for learning how to take screenshots or just simply practicing the trade. We always have a steady flow of new threads that never go ignored, where members will offer advice and other tips to help each other. We hold many contests that always give members a chance to spread their work around. These contests come in the form of a weekly Screenshot of the Week contest, higher-level contests in contest series that carry a common theme, and other little challenges that keep members on edge.

In addition to heated contests we create many montages featuring our members’ work or just some good times we have together. As if adding some spice to the recipe, our pinned topics have many threads that allow members to indulge their attention to. At any time, members can dive deep into Mythic Photographer history, check out previous contest winners in our Winner's Gallery, check out our dictionary of screenshot effects in our Official Effects Thread, or simply give some suggestions to the staff. Not only do we offer many routes to explore in our group, but also the activity and benevolence of our members help to create such a fun and useful environment.

The staff of the Mythic Photographers consists of some of the most capable leaders and screenshot takers. We originally founded the group with four founders- MarineManiac, The U2 Rokker, Spade193, and camo m0nkey. With these four, we had the perfect blend of screenshot talent and the ability to lead a group. Without these guys, Mythic Photographers would not be where it is today. Below the founders, there are our head forum ninjas Blackdog and Demonic Gama. Watch out for these guys because they know the art of assassination very well. Below them we have the rest of our staff who work hard everyday to keep Mythic Photographers running. Included in the staff are Gemnice and Colonel Sanders, who offer screenshot aid to anyone who asks. In all, the staff of Mythic Photographers steers the group towards our Mythic goal.

The last part of Mythic Photographers that we value the most is our accomplishments and our goals for the future. We have accomplished things that no other group has, and we’ve done so in record time. In under our 6 months of existence we’ve gained 700 members, but even this is nothing too great. What is, at the moment, our crowning achievement is the fact that we have worked our way to take a hold of the #1 tag position out of all tags. We accomplished this through pure enthusiasm and determination and we are very proud of the achievement.

Still, that doesn’t mean that our Mythic challenge is complete. Future goals include becoming well known in the genre of montages and photoshop, an art that branches off from regular screenshot taking. Even more, we seek to gain the community spotlight again; our enthusiasm and quality as a group are capable of reaching this goal. There are no definite terms for accomplishing our Mythic goal, but there are definitely feats that we can prove are worthy of the title. Mythical is defined as 'existing only in the imagination.' The members of Mythic Photographers believe that the imagination is simply another territory to be explored."

What are some of Mythic Photographers' favorite maps?

Well, at Mythic Photographers, we all love screenshots. So our favorite maps come down to the ones where you can throw down a few filters and find some great lighting areas to make a sweet screenshot. Probably the best map for screenshot taking is Avalanche for its variety in terrain and many different areas which allow great lighting and effects. A few more of our favorites would probably be Blackout, Orbital, and Longshore, each providing unique lighting and different areas to snap a great shot.

And your favorite gametypes?

I guess we like everything really. Slayer and CTF are amongst our favorites, providing good solid gameplay packed with loads of fun. We also love awesome Infection games that call for awesome game nights. We also like to work in some Duck Hunt, Hellraiser style (Open Season Map/Gametype) into our crazy library of Infection games. We love Halo, and that’s that.

What would you like to see in Matchmaking that's not already implemented?

Well, a common type of game play that we feel is missing from Matchmaking is racing, be it on a Mongoose, Warthog, Ghost, anything. We love Rocket Race, and would definitely wish for a dedicated playlist to it. Race tracks and Monster tracks are also tons of fun to play as well. It would be difficult to make a “Race Track” playlist, but one can always dream! Among other things, some things like Social SWAT and Social Infection would make great additions to the already great Matchmaking system.

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It's always good  to dream! Mythic Photographers have injected their own dreamy content into our Bungie Favorites collection. Head on over and check out their picks. When you're finished up, make sure you jump into the discussion thread attached.

I know you are, but what am I?

Reading through Alex's interview below, you might be left with the impression that he's super cantankerous, seldom serious, and so totally into Pee Wee Herman. That's okay, we take all stripes in the Bungie Community. Read on to learn more about some guy you've never heard of!

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. Hi there, I’m Alex and I’m a student at the local junior college here in lovely Sonoma County, California. Aside from being a good student and doing all my homework (Ha! Yeah, right…), I also fly small airplanes, compose music, play video games, eat cake and sandwiches, drink Pepsi, wear pants (sometimes), and just sit around on my ass surfing the internet and doing nothing instead of doing more important things. I’m a world-class procrastinator.

Q. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. I just made that up. Clever, eh? Tell us how you made your user name up.

A. My name does, indeed, have a long history with it, but the full story is really just a bunch of tl;dr, so I’ll give you the short version; My uncle was the first (among other things, he had a Porsche 944 Turbo with “AN ELF” plates), and then my dad, being the unoriginal jerk that he is, used the name but added a 2. Then I, being the unoriginal bastard jerk that I am, added the 3 and capitalized the A, making it into a single gibberish word with no meaning. Thus, Anelf3 was born and the universe cringed a little bit.

Point is, I’m some jerk who’s neither average, nor named Joe. Good job in picking me.

Q. Actually, we just draw names randomly. Why are you here?

A. I’m a group guy. The main forums scare me too much to bother posting in most of the time, so I prefer the sexy, intimacy of groups. Of those, I’m a longtime member of The Marty Army, which was the sole reason I joined this site originally, so I could pester Marty with questions in his Q&A. Eventually I spread my wings a bit and joined some other groups, and I currently have a cozy nook in a few of my favorites. I even made my own crappy group (with the help of my good friend Index) designed for artists of all types to show off their work with the rest of the community! Hell, we even got Marty to join! Unfortunately, it’s pretty quiet in there… So quiet you can even hear the echo of my coughing.

*cough* http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/taob/Group/GroupHome.aspx *cough*

Hmm, did you hear something?

Q. Nope, pretty sure you're just typing the word "cough." After you're done pretending to clear your throat, tell me why you game.

A. First of all, I hate the word “game” as a verb. So shut up.

Second of all, I play for fun. I’m very uncompetitive when playing (meaning, I am teh suck). I’m maybe just a tiiiny bit better than Marty.
Typically I buy games for the single player. The multiplayer to me is just a nifty extension that can be a fun change of pace for a bit, but I get sick of it quickly. I like being immersed in the game worlds which, to me, can only come when playing alone with little distraction. As fun and awesome as co-op with friends is, I need to play games alone first to get the full experience.

I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you played?

A. Well to tell this story, we’ll have to go back a few years to when I was in 2nd grade…

*cue dreamy transition and whole-tone glissando*

The year was 1995, and I had just switched to a new school and had a new best friend. Back then, the only computer I had was a low budget, crappy (though still awesome) Mac LC, while my friend had an IBM compatible PC with DOS and Windows 3.1! So one day when I was at his house, he introduced me to a little game called Doom, which I immediately fell in love with. Later, I told my dad about this game and asked him if he could get it for our Mac and eventually he came home from work with some disks of a game that his friend at work said was “like Doom.” Although I was disappointed, it was still better than nothing. So that game turned out to be Pathways Into Darkness (well, the demo anyway…), and it ran like ass on that computer, but I still played it a lot even though I never got very far because those damn skeleton things were too hard! Also, that game scared the -blam!- out of me a few times, like when you’re walking in a dark area and there’s no noise and all of a sudden you get hurt and turn around and BAM there’s a big weird scary fish thing looking at you and then kills you!

So it wasn’t much, but that was technically my first Bungie game. And later, we bought a Zip drive which came with the demo of Marathon which my dad said he heard of from someone at work who said it was really cool, but it required a 13” monitor with 256 colors which we just didn’t have... So I never actually played that, although I HAD it.

Granted, at the time I didn’t know Bungie made those games or even knew what Bungie was, but much later when my friend introduced me to Halo, I looked Bungie up and discovered that, indeed, they made those games I had and bricks were shat.

And that’s the story of April Fool’s Day!

Q. I don't think that's correct. Let's switch the subject. Are you surprised by your involvement with the Bungie community?

A. Well, I wouldn’t say I have that high of a level of involvement, since I’m just a group dweller… But yes, I think if you had told me when I first joined for The Marty Army that I’d still be around 5 years later, doing more things and making lots of friends, I’d be a little surprised.

Q. Do you dwell in any other communities?

A. Hmm, not really. I occasionally post in some game mod (the good PC kind) development related forums, but that probably doesn’t really count… Boring question, next please!

Q. Yeah, I almost fell asleep twice during this interview. We should pack it up. Anything you would wanna add before I get some shut eye?

A. I wanna give a big thanks to Bungie and the webteam for creating and maintaining this lovely site and making it a fun place to live. 5 years is a long time to stay someplace in internet time.

And, since you asked… Sure! I’d like to give a big shoutout to all the many friends I’ve made here over the last 5-1/2 years, starting with the old Marty Army gang: Marty (of course), M41 LAAG (Niatona), EvilEye, Halo Punk, WhiteRaven119, dont4get2flush, TheHappyPants, SteelAssassn, BlueElite171, Crazy Dino, Banshee 21, crescendo, mothergoat, Sasquach, Marit Lage, Carbon, my IRL friends Gorden and Teh Hippo (formerly CrankyHippo), my newer friends from other places here (in no particular order); dmg04, hawkeye543, MoonDawg, penguin, Brand220, Index, Qbix, Skibur, DieByMyHand, , Dark Assassn, Nos, CortanaV, SonicJohn, CAVX, Crow, HaloChick, and then all my friends in The 1337ists, Mythic Members, and You Are Not Welcome (<3). Phew. And if I forgot anybody (I’m sure I did), you can have my head. Er, how about my pants? Yeah, you can have my pants. These things are driving me nuts!

And remember kids, if you believe in yourself, drink your school, stay in drugs, and don't do milk - you can get work!

---

I don't think that's correct either, Alex. Anywho, thanks for lurking, thanks for playing, and thanks for assembling some letters into coherent sentences so we could publish this interview to our webspace! We'll erect a discussion thread in your honor!

Good as gravy.

Beast Mode On is back for more. In Round Two, they're ready to talk about their experience with the Forge. Check out what it took to get Good Time, created by Recon0, to live up to its namesake.

What inspired Good Time?

Well I was goofing around forge, like I always do, and I started make this base at one end. When I finished I thought to myself, "Maybe I could make this into something good." So I started building the middle and another base and then I thought it would be cool to have an upper area. When that was done I thought, "Not good enough, needs something more." That's when I came up with the man cannons, at first it was just a base out far away, I was going to make a walk way to it but it took too long so I added man cannons. And that is pretty much how it came to be.

How long did the process take, start to finish?

Well I was goofing around for a good hour, the base and bottom middle took around an hour to an hour and a half. The top middle didn't take that long, maybe a half hour. The side walkways didn't take so long, a little merge here and there, that probably took me about 10 to 20 minutes at the most. But the side bases took a long time to get it to where you don't launch over or not all the way, and to get it to angle so it is pointing at the other bases took me well over an hour and a half.

We'll let someone else tackle the addition. Which aspect took the longest for you to tackle?

Like I said above the side bases, angling it and positioning took FOREVER but once that was done, it was smooth GRAVY!

How could Good Time be improved?

The top middle, when you run up the ramp, the walls are a little high. I was thinking when I edit to make it better, to use the tube trick. That way it is easier. But if you are having troubles you could always jump over it.

---

And with that, Beast Mode On jumps out of our group spotlight. If you want to see more, I suggest you check out their group landing or hit up their second week of Bungie Favorite selections.

Doesn't have yellow teeth.

If there's one thing you absolutely, positively have to know about Tom T 117 it's that he has good hygiene. And he's not going to be doing any keg stands in the near future. And...you know what, how's about you just read the stinkin' interview yourself?

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. Hello, my name is Tom, I’m a full time student, which I guess brings a connotation of drinking? Well, I’m not too much of a party guy; embarrassing scenarios involving terrible dancing (recorded for recurring annoyance) have prevented adoption of the stereotype. I’m also a proud British citizen (our politics have drama) and no, I’m not a fan of tea and I don’t have yellow teeth.

As a student I am surrounded by people with terrible misconceptions about what makes a great game. Of course, plain out-nerding doesn’t fair well if you want to have friends and, sadly, girls don’t care how big your K/D is (but we all know size matters). However, even without a Bungie t-shirt (meaning little to no chance of subliminal messaging), a few coverts here and there from the blue ray fridge and I speak from experience when I say you haven’t really experienced Halo until you’ve played system link.

In my studies I’m currently pursuing an interest in history; I won’t bore you with the specifics or spout off random dates to sound intelligent but at the end of it I have a vague plan of going into teaching, writing or law. So I’ll open books, write for books or throw books! My main "non-nerdy" interest is karate. If you don’t like me very much you’ll be pleased to know that I get my rear-end kicked periodically. But I guess if I try and take on an army of ninjas to steal the job of a content monkey (not Bungie, one word: Jerome) I’ll be well trained.

Q. "Lashing Roundhouse" kick is on my resume. No lie. But let's not fight. Instead, regale us all with a rousing tale of your username's genesis.

A. I wish I could come up with an interesting story but… first name + first letter of surname + Master Chief’s service number = My name is lame. To be fair to myself, I wanted to play Halo 2 on XBL as soon as possible and I guess limited thought went into the process. Since then I have tried many times to think up a better username but I am attached to it, so I guess I can’t complain.

Q. What forums have you become attached to?

A. I surf most of the public forums to ensure I keep in touch with the community but my most visited is The Community Forum (The Septagon). It is a great place to meet like-minded community members and I know all the inside jokes; I feel it provides a nice cross between private groups and the more manic forums and it often has something interesting to captivate my interest. In my frequent visits I do have a few observations that I hope you don’t mind me sharing, urk. ;-) There are a fair few that visit, usually new guys, and spout off memes at every opportunity or make threads that have been created before in the hope of getting noticed. I started out fairly similar, a mother joke here and a blame stosh there. Just a few words of wisdom, be your own personality, nobody likes a copy cat, and you’ll be integrated in no time.

Now I’ve got that off my chest, what keeps me coming back to the community isn’t the inside jokes, it is the variety and the people. Many older users always talk about the good ol’ days when everyone was friends, the moderators removed spammers instantly and the Bungie employees posted honey coated goodness in every single thread, answering every question, always. I don’t buy it. In the time I have been here I’ve only seen this community get bigger and better. People create things I have neither the patience nor the skill to create. Honestly all of you guys are awesome and keep me coming back for more!

Q. What keeps you coming back for more gaming goodness?

A. I guess the greatest pull factor for me in the ability to escape from daily hassles and stresses and immerse myself in a different world. There is nothing more satisfying that getting home after something has pressed my rage button and sitting down on a comfy sofa to kill random stuff (particularly if it screams over the microphone). It really is quite therapeutic.

In the short term I would say the story is most important, you need to connect with the characters and the moment. Then it’s the gameplay and the variety. I am also secretly very competitive, not so much on XBL but with my real life friends (shock-horror). It is important to not give them the satisfaction of beating me. Amazingly we all remain sportsmanlike and play together when we can; it’s just another great dimension of gaming. Even more amazingly I’m not in a betrayal contest, I feel pretty left out and should probably get with the times.

Q. Nah, stick with good times. What was the first Bungie title you got some satisfaction from?

A. Like so many people my love for Bungie began with Halo: Combat Evolved. The level 343 Guilty Spark is perhaps my most memorable gaming experience. It was the first level I ever played solo, I can remember being strangely scared and excited, I was only 9 years old. The eerie quality, the flash backs, the music, the alien popcorn… Just epic.

The way I discovered it was… a little odd. At the time I had only recently gotten an Xbox for perhaps the stupidest reason of all time, so I could play the game Star Wars: Obi-Wan; you can look it up, it was undoubtedly dreadful. At the time I thought it was one of the best games ever conceived topped only by Tomb Raider. So, there I was with my big black box and sumo controller and I got into a discussion with a friend at school who also had an Xbox. He described this game called Halo in such a way that I thought, embarrassingly, it was going to be a platformer.

Upon purchase I read the instruction booklet and the very first thing that struck me was Cooperative gameplay. I was ignorant of such a game mode. Upon putting the game in my Xbox I fell in love. It was the first FPS I had ever played and it was better than I could ever have dreamed; I recall my dad saying it would probably be terrible “because they sell it in a package with the Xbox”, how wrong he was. First match I ever played was with my younger brother and my dad, Blood Gulch slayer. I sucked, we sucked, and somebody got a killing spree in an immobile warthog. But it didn’t take long for me to move ahead of the pack, we played co-op alternating lives, I got hooked on the story, the gameplay and winning. We used to play Sidewinder CTF with 3 people, 2 v 1 (I got to play Rambo). I was one mean 9 year old. Honestly 9 year old me would take current me to town. 8 years later and here I am, still completely infatuated with Halo.

Q. Are you surprised that you've stayed involved for so long?

A. I guess, when I think back to how I used to be on this site, I am very surprised. The endless time I have spent browsing the site would probably be a scary statistic. But I think that, when I consider how I feel about the site and the community now, it is not really that surprising that I continue to visit so regularly. I actually still feel there is more to do and more of a community to get involved with and explore.

Q. Explore any other online haunts?

A. Bungie.net was the first forum I ever joined. As a result of the unique layout the more retro, plain styles of other boards lacks the same appeal and seems strange and different. I’m more of an onsite group and sub community kind of guy. I post regularly in the bungie.net groups ‘Mythic Members’, ‘You are Not Welcome’ and ‘Gamers Anon’ and I also make a habit of trying to keep an eye on community projects; I’m currently following Grind Rider, a machinima produced by ‘First Class Pictures’ which looks to be released soon, I suggest people keep their eyes peeled. I’m also a regular of the #bungienet IRC Chat, it is almost always open on a tab while I’m on bungie.net, and it is a great way of getting to know community members as people rather than usernames. You might be able to get to know me ;-)

Q. Wanna make a shout-out to some of those people?

A. I would like to thank…

All the guys from #bungienet for giving me something to laugh at, I’d like to give a special mention to Primo84 who keeps it running (congrats and good luck on little Primo85!), Sy r b, who laughs at my bad jokes, Scapegoat413, who actually reads my long walls of text, CornettoGospel, fellow Britishman and all the OPs I’ve got to know, Halo_tru7h, True_Underdog, Primum Agmen and even elmicker. If I’ve forgotten anyone, I’m sorry, you have my thanks.

The guys at "You are not Welcome" who give me a healthy dose of drama.

The people that kept me coming here back in the day from my old group ‘Spartans Alliance’. I haven’t forgotten any of you even if time has moved on. Special mention to Bornswavia who I became good friends with and who needs to get off his PS3 and play some more Halo!
Finally, I’d like to thank all my real life friends if you’re reading this, you know who you are and I know if I don’t mention you I’ll have to answer to it later ;-)

And of course urk for the chance to give this interview and for all his efforts in keeping the frontpage fresh!

---

Pro Tip: Replace the Baking Soda once every three months to eliminate nasty odors. Mix with Hydrogen Peroxide for a handy and effective homemade toothpaste. Big thanks to Tom for sticking around for so long and making our forums a more personable (and now hygienic) place. Make sure you jump into the discussion thread and sound off with your own home remedies for removing odors. Oh, and say what's up to Tom while you're there.

Flipping the switch.

These guys might have an animalistic name, but they're bark is definitely worse then their bite. At least on Bungie.net. So, you shouldn't be afraid to check out their group. But before you do, they prepped a good bit of information to tell you what they're all about. Scroll down to get your fill.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you, the community, to a group that I run called Beast Mode On. I created the group back in November 2008 and finally decided to recruit active members in May 2009. Since that time, the group has grown tremendously. We have members with several different skills and talents. Both intelligence and silliness is common in our private forum. All are welcome to join in on the fun!

I have a great staff that helps me run the group, including some people you might already know. Beast Mode On's staff includes myself, Pro Devmoney, The CH1MP, KillLotz, LikeYouCare, SEM1HERO and Kman bravo117. Together we host weekly screenshot contests, news updates, group tournaments, Forge competitions, custom game nights and many other things to keep our group interesting and active.

One thing that sets us apart from many other groups is our 'Titan' role. This role was given to the first seven members of the group that helped recruit on a large scale. “Titans” are a select few of our members that have the ability to edit other peoples’ posts. This helps the staff organize threads during sign-ups for events in our group. These members are active and respected for all their contributions to Beast Mode On. Without them, the group would be nothing.

I make sure to keep the group organized and friendly so that all our member’s needs and wants are fulfilled. A threads of interest thread in pinned so that great threads in our group do not die out. This also allows members to see all the possible ways to rank up through our security roles on our private forum. We offer screenshot help and have a group gamertag that serves as a tool for our group to allow members to ask for help in a more convenient way while on Xbox LIVE. We allow members to post whenever they want help with rank, achievements, making maps or completing any and all personal goals. Rules are established and followed by our loyal members.

We recently started a team for Beast Mode On to represent us in matchmaking which we like to call, 'Animal Planet.' The leader of 'Animal Planet,' Pro Devmoney, has big plans for the team in the future. We also feature a 'Beast of the Month,' which serves as our member spotlight and is chosen by the group members themselves. Best of all we hold contests every so often that gives group members a chance to win some great prizes. One of our biggest contests was for best film clip. The winning clip won 1600 Microsoft points! All the best entries were submitted into Beast Mode On’s first official montage.

Although we are somewhat smaller than past groups that have made the community spotlight, Beast Mode On has managed to make the private groups spotlight several times. Our activity proves our dedication to both the group and the entire Bungie community alike. I am honored and grateful that I am able to give back to Beast Mode On with this spotlight. This opportunity was not taken for granted. Thank you to Urk and Bungie for everything.

The staff would like also like to thank and shout out to our allies UNSC Leviathan and Owners of the Katana, DomDaBomb1997 and fo shiz 64 for their great contributions to both Best of Bungie Favorites and Beast Mode On, SEM1HERO for being a great member and Beast of the Year, and kamikazegandhi, king nikki and charliebravo99 for being awesome retired staff members. We would also like to thank Black Karanak, Shattered Nova, Hung Chronology, and Mclovein for your activity as Titans, The Only Outcast, HumbleAssassin3 and im a fishy for your activity as Juggernauts, and finally Phynixblack, PhillyEagles, DominatedRibbit, MacAttack1011 and a rascal cat for your continued activity to help make our group great. Thanks to all our friends and supporters and thank you to every member of Beast Mode On who stuck with out group through the good and the bad.

Tru7h. C4RN4GE. Bungie."

What are some of Beast Mode On's favorite online arenas?

Our favorite maps include Guardian, Orbital, Standoff and The Pit. Avalanche, Construct, Narrows, Sandbox, and Valhalla also make for great gameplay.

How about game variants?

Our favorite gametypes include Slayer BRs, Multi Flag, MLG gametypes, Braaains, Speed Demons, Grifball and BUNGLE.

What new stuff would you like to see in Matchmaking?

Remove Squad Battle to make room for Ranked Big Team. BUNGLE variants added to Action Sack. Have a ranked version of Juggernaut and VIP so it is possible to achieve a full ranked medals chest. Perhaps this can be done by having a ranked Double Exp Weekend similar to Infection on Halloween.

---

Thanks to the members of Beast Mode On for not biting. When we saw the foam frothing from their mouths, we got a little bit worried. Turns out they only gnawed a little. They also prepped a whole pile of their favorite assets for you to peruse. We just injected them all into Bungie Favorites. Make sure you check it out and drop into the discussion thread attached to say hello.

Convinced he's not already dealing with crazy people.

True Underdog steps up this week to deliver you some Average Joe lovin'.  If you're feeling lucky, scroll down and get access to his most intimate personal details. He answered every single question we asked without even a hint of hesitation.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. My name is Victor and I’m a Psychology Major at Texas A&M University, but more importantly I’m the proudest member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2010! A-Whoop! (That’s how we do our introductions down here).

I’m a full time student working a nearly full time job. When I’m not in class, I work as an office technician at a media center helping professors resolve any issues with the computers and projectors in lecture halls. It’s not a hard job and it works great with my school schedule. I’ve also been helping a graduate student with her research for the last year or so. I hope to get into grad school sometime in the next couple years and get at least a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. No, I won’t be dealing with crazy people; it’s basically psychology applied to the workplace, make the place more efficient. If I’m feeling lucky, I may go for a PhD.

When I get time to relax, I spend time online with my Bungie.net buddies or go out for some drinks with my friends.

Q. Doesn't explain the user name.  Where'd you did that up?

A. On the face of it, my gamertag is a reference to the movie “Dodgeball: a TRUE underdog story,” but it’s gained its own meaning over time. At LANs, I’d switch from True Underdog, The End, and Minerva (don’t ask). True Underdog seemed to be a favorite among my friends considering my team would come back and win in the final minutes of a game. The name has stuck with me since then.

Q. What forums do you stick with and why?

A. The three forums I frequent most would be the Septagon, The Halo 3 forum, and the Flood. I couldn’t really tell you which aspect of the forums I like the most because it’s a mixture of it all that makes the Bungie community the best community, hands down. It may sound like a wishy-washy answer, but it is what it is.

Q. So why gaming?

A. Gaming is something I do to relax in my spare time. I’m not very competitive and I’m up for playing whatever as long as I’m playing with my friends. Most all of my friends online are people I’ve met on Bungie.net. I play with one of my room-mates whenever we both have time, but that doesn’t happen too often.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you spent some spare time with?

A. The first Bungie game I played was Halo: Combat Evolved. I first heard about it after my dad told me about it. He told me I should check it out because it looks like it’d be a pretty big hit. I didn’t pay a whole lot of mind to the game until I played it with some of my friends at a LAN party; my first kill was with the almighty Needler. After that, I scrounged up what money I had to get an Xbox and a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved. The story is what got me into the Halo trilogy at first. It’s nothing short of epic. I still get chills at certain parts of pretty much any Halo game.

The multiplayer, however, is what’s made me stick around. Halo’s multiplayer offers up a cornucopia of different ways to play. I remember staying up into the wee hours of the morning with friends trying to run each other over with Warthogs in Blood Gulch, of course, the variety in the multiplayer experience has increased plenty since then.

Q. Are you surprised by your own increased involvement here at Bungie.net?

A. Oh definitely. I first joined with the intention of participating in discussion in Zanzibar and checking my game stats. I had no idea I’d be this active, years later. I’ve met some pretty cool guys and gals through the Bungie Community and have developed an attachment to the community overall. Even now, a notable potion of my time is invested in reading and posting in the forums.

Q. Invest in any other online resources?

A. I’ve tried to be as active on other forums as I am on Bungie.net, but it’s not going to happen. I’d say Bungie’s community is one of a kind and I’d be hard pressed to find another community that could measure up to it. I post in a few private groups like Mythic Members and You Are Not Welcome, but almost all of my time on Bungie.net is devoted to the public forums.

When I’m not on the forums, I’m an Operator in the #BungieNet IRC channel. It’s a community based chat room that originally started as a place for real time discussion about everything and anything Bungie, but we’ve become a place for anyone in the Bungie community looking to talk to like-minded individuals about pretty much anything.

Well, I suppose I do that even when I’m on the forums, too.

Q. Shout at said like-minded individuals.

A. First, I’d like to shout out to my fellow #BungieNet Ops: Primo84, Halo_Tru7h, Elmicker, Primum Agmen, and Nerd Boi. You guys make running a channel pretty damn enjoyable.

Next, I’d like to shout out to the folks I play with regularly online: Evilcam, Achilles1108, Qbix89, Ada Astra, Daft Whiteboy, Nedus, BreadOfWonder, gnome13, scapegoat413, eliper, ECOH Cam, Duardo, MAZ, Gerstung, Gzalzi, TGP, Halo3Recon, COB Ismo and everyone else on my friends list. Thanks for tolerating me.

Lastly, I’d like to thank my old man for pointing me in the right direction to the Tru7h and Bungie for providing a helluva lot more than 30 seconds of fun.

---

Us too.  Thanks, Dad!  And thanks to True Underdog for spending some time with us. We really feel like we've gotten to know him. Wonder if he'll borrow us some money now?

If you still have pressing questions for True Underdog, hit him up in the discussion thread attached. Just make sure you don't get all crazy.

Short on words...

...but not on content.  GrifballHub.com doesn't have any fancy tips or tricks for you when it comes to using Forge.  That's okay, you've got it down pat by now, right?  Besides, you're popping in to check out their week 2 Bungie Favorites offerings.  Which I deployed.  Just now.  Check 'em out.

Bungie Favorites