We've seen a lot of talk of late regarding community, and Halo certainly has a dedicated one. Whether your jam is hardcore arena gameplay, hilarious minigames, Warzone or Grifball, Halo is one of those titles that literally has something for everyone. We see various communities accomplish amazing things, touching and heartfelt expressions of comradery from the developers themselves and even in some cases, marriage and partnerships destined to last a lifetime.

A lot of friends that I have to this day, I met playing Halo 2 back in 2004. In the decade that followed, we have been to each other's weddings, stag-dos, LANs, and everything in between. What started as a videogame played for fun became something far greater. I'm sure many of you will probably have similar experiences.

I love Forge. Ever since the first iteration arrived with Halo 3 in 2007, I've been hooked. Far younger back then, I used to work a 12 hours shifted pattern, and I remember many nights, staying up until the early hours working on designs. What Bungie originally envisioned as a simple map adjustment tool, became something far more interesting in the hands of the community.

​

Remember having to merge? What a farce that was! Technically a glitch, it led to creations Bungie never thought possible, and after Forge took off, Bungie reacted pretty swiftly, bringing us a variety of canvas maps on which to build. The community responded with gusto, creating some seriously clever stuff.

Things have only improved from that point, and now, nearly 10 years later, Halo 5's Forge has arrived. It brought some great features to the table to allow anyone to create virtually anything. Yes, there's still a budget, and yes, you still have to use a pad, but these aren't the negatives you'd think. Halo 5's forge has been completely redesigned, and while initially daunting for the uninitiated, there is some serious depth. The budget for example, used to be a simple dollar value for the maximum number of objects on the map, and different objects consumed more budget than others, but now it's a straight up overall object count limit. We also have separate indications of budget for lighting, physics and more. Seeing some of the stuff the community is making blows me away.

However, some think Halo has had it's day, that the time of exclusive FPS games leading the pack is at an end, in an era where Call of Duty reigns supreme. With the hardcore community Halo has developed over the years, I don't think that will ever be the case.

Which brings me to Forgehub. I've been around for a while when it comes to Halo, appearing in various communities here and there - I even did an advert for Microsoft, which admittedly led to launch event invites (Halo launch events are always amazing!)

(Maxium Shill Points!)​

Personally, and certainly up until a couple of months ago, I always thought of Forgehub as a clique and frankly, closed community, where it was more about who you know than what you create. Where the Forge Elite look over the Forge newbies and make us feel pretty damn awful at even attempting Forging in the first place.

In hindsight, I couldn't have been more wrong.

I signed up and once I'd had a poke around at the new layout, and found a helpful, open group of people. I hadn't forged since Reach, and I found Forgehub staff and members on hand with tips, suggestions and knowledge that you can only get from a dedicated group that like Forge as much as we evidently do.

I recently joined the team here, working to bring content and help out with the site in any way I can (including writing questionable fluff pieces like this), and I have been not only surprised, but truly humbled by the dedication and effort the team here put in to keep this place vibrant and welcoming. What I previously thought of as a closed off community of Forge die-hards, is in fact one of the more open and playful Halo communities on the web, and it's here that Forgehub will excel. These guys are dedicated and it shows in spades.

However, it's only half the equation. You, dear reader, are the other.

Forge is a different beast for everyone, be it hardcore arena play-spaces, extravagant BTB maps and remakes or hilarious mini-games. I've seen a number of threads from new members who join and find it disheartening to post something they've created and receive no feedback. It's daunting, I think, to make something you think is amazing and share it with your peers, and to then see it plummet into obscurity. I've even seen threads complaining about how things are done - and this is what made me want to put pen to paper, so to speak.

You get out what you put in. There are a huge number of people making maps and content, and it's only through interaction with the community and its members, will it interact back with you. If you want to be a part of what the Forgehub team have built here, you have to put a little effort in. My suggestion to any new members is this - don't come in seeking "recognition". Because that's not what anyone I've seen here is about. Most people came here to learn and to share the pleasure of creating and playing with friends. Try not to set yourself an objective. It makes taking part a lot more interesting, and way more fun.

At midnight tonight, the first competition for Halo 5 from Forgehub will close, and the judging panel will collate and download all of your lovely 2v2 submissions. You'd be pleased to know that the panel have seen over 120 map submissions, which is an amazing number of maps from you guys. You should be pleased with yourselves, and I can't wait to see what the team whittle down to being the best of the best.

As Warholic mentioned earlier this month in his "Rise of Forge" article, Forgehub is growing, both in members, and map submissions. And it's only going to get bigger and better. Come be a part of it.