I'm going to take @Yumudas Beegbut advice and keep this a short list for the sake of readability. Did 343i add VIP/Regicide overnight because the character assassination going on around here makes it feel like that How many of you, CC's or otherwise, are even having fun any more? Wanting to improve the CC system, or the CC's themselves, is great but the continued escalation is starting to make this look like it is all your jobs to be doing this with the emotional and time investment being thrown into the situation by some members of the community. At this point I'm not sure how the system should be changed as any solution has problems, but I'd recommend not having more 343i engagement than necessary or else there will be a witch hunt over an employee. As @aPK pointed out, making the system consistent should be the first problem tackled as some of the current issues have risen because of not sticking to one mode or the other.
Im not talking about Forgegate (and you know that) look at the video title, and the title of subsequent thread title on reddit (the one that is closed because of witch hunting which is against site rules, but is still visible and still allows upvotes for it and no way for those accused to respond to it, solid logic there) is "The truth about the CC Lies". Thats very clearly a title which is being used to accuse the group as a whole, not just Duck. So complimenting all but one of the CC's makes that title both odd and a little insulting (as well as calling them dicks mid video).
I didn't even post this video on reddit someone else did. But you're definitely right about the title. I joked about making a really click baity title with a thumbnail of a rubber ducky with devil horns prior to posting it, but I realized that a silly thumbnail would compromise the credibility of the message to some people. The title does too, to a lesser extent. I'm not attached to it or opposed to changing it honestly, I think a lot of my intentions to make the video more light hearted just make it seem more aggressive or like a conspiracy theory. Same goes for calling them dicks. It was supposed to be self reflective about how much I was raging, but like I said. Your criticism isn't wrong.
So...this a paying gig? I will take the workload on for you, for a full time salary. My title will be "Queen of the Forge", and you will address me as "Mom". I will beat you all equally. Extra perks I demand are free Margarita Mondays, and a constant supply of chocolate. An Occulus Rift for previewing maps, and an on-call masseuse since long hard hours are required for testing all the submissions... No, really, I will work full time for (California's) minimum wage
Well, when it's hard to tell which one of you bitches is giving the best version of the unvarnished truth vs butt hurt feelings (because I was not there), it's a lady's job to put on her high heels and makeup...and remind you who is the biggest ***** of them all Oh, and watch out, 'cause Mama SPANK.
I have little time to reply due to other things I have going on for the community. But I wanted to take the time to say thank you Tyler. I know we've always had rough times, but I appreciate the honesty and you have always been straight forward. Blunt in a very antagonistic way, but it never comes from a self centered motivation and I've always appreciated that. Also I've cleared this up to a couple of people, but I wanted to put it straight for sure. When the Breakout task came along I explicitly pointed out that there were next to no community maps already made for Breakout and the couple that there were, weren't really up to par. So I suggested that I could get CF to create maps, without letting them know that it was for matchmaking. I got the go ahead and was asked how long it would take for this to happen and I said with this forge and how fast it was it takes just a day to create a blockout and then it is all about testing and quick iteration from there. So I suggested to CF they build maps because there was a lack of them in the community, 343 would want to support their new gametype eventually, and that a batch of them would definitely be needed in the future. And it would be a great way to support a gametype outside of core (I have a soft spot for new experiences that need maps like Grifball, Ricochet, Infection, Conquest, Hoarders, Halo Tactics, Squads, etc.). We had 12 days to work with and 10 maps were built, only 4 of them got pushed forward out of the 10 (eventually 11 I believe) as they were the best playing and the farthest along. Knell, Absolute, Pylon, and Highrise. For reasons Knell didn't get pushed forward, but the other 3 did. CF was partly created as a forging resource, not just for matchmaking, but for the community as a whole. So if say someone wanted to host a 2v2 tournament, or had a new gametype that needed content (Like Lemon's Spellslingers), or a batch of content needed to be made in some way shape or form, CF had the organization to actually pull off a coordinated effort in a structured way. And not just a resource for creating maps, we plan to go much farther than that we just needed to establish ourselves as a team first before being able to go foreward. A team that has worked together in the past is more reliable than asking the same number of individuals throughout the community in my opinion. So I offered CF up as just that... a resource to fill a hole in the community. We did the same for Grifball, and would like to do the same for Infection, or any other majorly popular gametype that the community comes up with... like Elimination and Agents used to be a thing and I would have loved to build stuff for that with a full blown team. Anyway, my point is that I have no beef with anyone else and I don't speak for them, but it seems that most of CF also has no beef with anybody. We are just going to keep doing what we are doing and moving forward. I've always believed the current CC system should change and it is great to see it actually changing. I totally get the initial worry of Creative Force only being built as a matchmaking map machine. But honestly who doesn't want MM quality maps coming out of the entire community as a whole? Which is why we are working with Merder Smerf, Paranormal, Max, Duke, and the UCC team. Because YES we do want to see maps made for matchmaking, but no we don't want all of that for ourselves. I'd love to know that every map pumped out in the community has the potential for matchmaking. Meets the bare minimums of polish, testing, originality, attention, etc. The more maps that reach that bar, the more possibilities for an amazing matchmaking experience and the higher potential for custom maps to be appreciated by the community at large. I'm sick of forge maps always being ragged on for not being as good as developer maps. Because honestly there are individuals in this community that are extremely talented and deserve to be part of the gaming industry. I stopped forging ages ago, but I will never stop helping everyone else realize their dreams and goals. Keep doing great work guys... while there has been a lot of drama, there has been a lot of amazing work being put out as well. And I'm totally honored to be any where in the process, whether it is as a CC or whether it be a tester or a host or a guy who can introduce you to someone else that can get you to where you need to go or provide tools that make the life of a forger easier. I've had this huge passion for what Forge brings to the table that Unreal, Unity, Farcry, CryEngine, Cube, Reflex, etc. don't bring. I wrote a letter years and years ago to Forge that very few read, but it still holds true today. And I will leave you all with that. http://www.reachingperfection.com/2010/08/letter-to-forge.html Took me a while to find this, I didn't realize how much I wrote back then... lol... also damn was that cheesy. A little over 5 years ago, so I was what 23? Please cheer up and chill out folks.
Rock and hard place. Honestly, it sucks when you have friends fighting with friends and rather than giving you time to resolve things and try to bring clarity to the situation. **** gets ****ed because of stubbornness from both parties. If people feel a certain way even if you don't think it is true it is always better to try and understand but it is hard to when there is name calling and things are worded in the most dickish way possible. I think everyone is in the wrong somewhat whether it be the motivation for the comments here or the reaction. We all can do better.