It was probably a thing that wasn't originally planned, but cropped up later on.

Contest was planned long before 343 had anything to do with it. Very much a community thing (and funded by the site, not 343). 343 knew many judges/CCs were judging, and wanted maps for 2 v 2, so a two birds one stone scenario. In the context of the contest, 343 has nothing to do with it, and the original judging criteria has not be altered by MM at all.

I dont see why being creative puts you out of the running. Good maps are good maps, and also depends what your definition of "arena maps built for competition"

Yeah, apologies if I seem perturbed or anything. Not the case. Simply hopeful that my non-traditional design doesn't handicap my chances of winning something.

Points are awarded for originality and creativity (hence why remakes will most likely never win a contest unless they are somehow exceptional).

Like I said, "non-traditional" is so vague in Halo. A lot in this community still seem to think "competitive/mlg" can only be 2 base 2 tower maps, even in a 2 v 2 setting, which is not the case, especially with the judges we have who have a fairly open approach to map design.
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Ultimately it doesn't matter. I enjoy making maps and I will keep at it no matter what. Hell, as a far cry veteran, I'm still amazed this kind of contest is even happening

So any news? Rough timeframe till the announcements?

Soon.

I'm hesitant to give a time frame in case we encounter any more obstacles, but the judging process is complete. We need to put together an article and make sure everything is in order before announcing the winners.

Ditto

I feel like George R. R. Martin somehow got involved with judging this contest.

"We will let you know nothing Jon Snow"...

Yeah possibly. Either way, it's been way too long to be honest. At this point many of the submissions are outdated, whether it be in design, aesthetically, or both.

I hope not, because I already know I didn't make top 10 so if they are waiting for the mm playlist then I'm not in that either. Unless my map didn't need any adjustments for mm. I was at least hoping to make the playlist.

I don't mind waiting, its just I would like some transparency on why it is taking so long to put out the results. All we have gotten so far is a "we will let you know soon" or similar, we've been in the dark for a little over 2 months now with little more than "soon" to go off of. If we had a concrete date that the results would be put out I wouldn't even care if it was a ways out like July 1, as long as it was guaranteed that we would get the results by then.

Just my thoughts. I could be alone in this, but I doubt I am.

I guarantee the results will be announced by the end of 2016.

We are closer to making an announcement than when I last posted, but I can't provide any date (not because I don't want to, but because I honestly have no idea what the date will be). I know it must seem ridiculous that it's taking this long. It must seem like it's a simple thing to wrap up, and you're right, it should be a simple thing to wrap up. But for whatever reason, it has proven to be not so simple a task. It's honestly been a large combination of things that have resulted in the delay. There's not a simple explanation I can give aside from '**** happens'.

I feel like most of the blame should land on me. I'd like to personally apologize to everyone who has patiently (and not so patiently) awaited an announcement of the results. I pride myself on being able to get **** done even when '**** happens', and in this case I haven't done that. I've been occupied with other things that are higher up my priority list (career, loved ones, getting my health in order), and it's left little to no time for anything forge related. Yes, that's right...I've willfully neglected to fulfill my responsibility in seeing this contest through to completion. I don't apologize for making that decision, but I do apologize for the result it has incurred on this contest.

It's not my place to speak for any of the other judges, but I'll just say that I am not alone in encountering unforeseen circumstances during the course of the contest. That said, I gladly accept any blame that anyone wishes to dole out at this point. My lack of follow through is a big part of the reason this has dragged on for the last month or more. I'll just end this by saying that there has been absolutely no malicious intent in all of this, from any of the judges.

My last comment is to please not let your view of how this contest has unfolded take the attention away from the contest winners. If I have one wish for this contest, it's that the winners get the recognition they deserve.

Thanks, I appreciate the honesty. I hope that everything going on sorts itself out with relative ease, as I can understand how stressful it can be when problems just start stacking on one after the other.

I hope that this clears up any ill feelings towards having to wait for the results, I was more or less just confused rather than mad/annoyed, so if I came off that way I apologize.

But thanks again for shedding some light on what is going on, even if just a little. Its enough for me.

Anymore I'm not even worried about the contest just hoping one of my maps made matchmaking after all the effort put into them.

Was it symmetrical? Cuz there weren't any symmetrical maps in the top 15.

I had three maps and only one of them was asymmetric. Drop off.