In regards to using Trello, it’s a great way to keep folks updated during a long and arduous wave-based judging process. But because of time constraints and a more no-nonsense testing policy for this contest, all decisions were final decisions towards the top ten, so there was little news to announced until the top 10 had already been chosen. Hope this helps explain the board’s absence! We’ll be using it again in ForgeHub’s next big venture, that’s for sure!

Nevertheless, the official announcement thread clearly states,

This lead me to believe that, if I entered a map, it would have until that time, which hasn't happened yet, to be judged. So, it appears that the judges have made their decisions prematurely. How can we be certain this was not the result of prejudice?

Yep, that is certainly the deadline for judging, including the time allotted for the folks at 343 Industries to judge the top 10 and choose their 3 winners. Keep in mind that there are no winners yet for this contest, simply finalists. As far as your unprompted fear of prejudice goes, I've personally only ever spoken to two authors out of the 11 mentioned above outside of serious topics. We treated each and every map equally. There were no definite finalists in our eyes until after our tests, and even of the ten maps chosen, I'd say there are no definite winners post 343 playtests. Hope that this clears things up.

It's a deadline. It's not a 'we will be judging until exactly this time on this date'. By the logic you're providing, anyone who submitted their map prior to the submission deadline did so prematurely.

Don't get me wrong, I'm completely in favor of extensive testing of the maps. I just think you're misinterpreting how a deadline is intended to work in this scenario. Maps should be tested until the judges are able to make an informed decision on a map. Continuing to test beyond that point serves no practical purpose.

Nice! Underwood reminds me of that old Halo 2 concept art from Burial Mounds.

So you're only proof that there is no prejudice is that there can't be, because, as a judge, you're only friends with two of the finalists?

This contest is a joke, and that's coming from a finalist

It seems like you’re unhappy with the results; care to explain why? I can offer you a detailed breakdown of your submitted map by @The Omicron and I through direct messages if that interests you.

Never seen this before, thanks for sharing! I can see the similarities.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the recognition for Lacuna and hope it can stand a chance against the incredible bundle of maps submitted here.

@MartianMallCop I can't help wondering though... wasn't Blocus your BTB submission for the squad contest lol?

Extra sidebar: did you know that I still have your original Halo 5 build of it from way back in like 2015 or something haha

I do not deny the finalists are meritorious. I am doubtful about the legitimacy of the contest as a whole.
The Omicron has already admitted, in this very thread, that the finalists were chosen ahead of schedule. Interference from 343i is no excuse. As contestents, we had no possible way of knowing how busy 343i was when they made this commitment to be available to their customers for the contest. Furthermore, we had no authority to effect their schedule even if we did know.
I could go further, The Omicron can also be seen in this thread blatantly discussing, and agreeing with, the opinions of one of the finalists. Particularly on the subject of the process of how people make judgements regarding the designing of levels in videogames.
Can you expect the community to believe that his judgement was fair and impartial after that post was made?

If you think The Omicron, or anyone else on the sites staff, would show favoritism TOWARDS Xandrith, you haven't had enough exposure to his interactions with them. If anything, it weakens your argument of favoritism.

This isn't a court of law. Nobody signed a binding contract. You're taking this more seriously than it's meant to be.

Yeah it was for the 5v5 squad contest. I thought Lacuna was the same. It definitely was for low player counts with vehicles. I do think 5v5 would be superior but it should deliver a similar experience to 4v4 terminal or Zanzibar like what's already in matchmaking

Also yeah I believe you showed me it

1. Nowhere did I say the finalists were chosen ahead of schedule. Thats a blatant lie. What Xandith said he heard from SecretSchnitzel is also inaccurate. "343 is doing all the final judging with the top 10 (as far as we know) and we wanted to have maps that competitive and casual players would enjoy alike." is what I said in our private messages (this was in response to a question he had about the contest). 2. I'm not sure how sharing my thoughts on design is proving favoritism towards someone. To add to what @a Chunk said. None of the judges played favorites. If you're upset about your map not making the top 10, like @Shooty Person said, we can give you a breakdown of why your map didn't make the cut.

Pornhub

I love the lil piece of **** but come on. Forgehub runs on favoritism.

This made me happy to read for some reason

this made me even happier to read ahahaha

This is the interference to which I referred.

I had no idea that you were exchanging private messages with any of the contestants, finalists or otherwise.

In the first post of the thread I linked Xandrith notes the following.

In the next post of the same thread The Omicron genuinely remarked on it.

I still maintain that the fact this post was made during the judgment period, and before the top ten maps were announced, is evidence that the judgements of the maps was informed by the personal opinions of the contestants who entered them.

By directly accusing me of being upset about my map not making the cut, you are indirectly accusing everyone else who wishes to protest the contest. For example, people who chose not to enter. So then, why not release all of the map breakdowns publicly? If all of the judging was fair and completely free of favoritism, as you claim, then nobody has anything to hide.

If I appear to be upset about something, it is because I believe this contest was a disastrous failure. 343i recently announced that over 13k people showed their support for the MCC Insider Program. All those people have access to H2A forge. Yet, Forgehub did not produce even fifty map entries for the Halo 2: Anniversary Forgetacular contest. Even the direct public support of 343i was insufficient to make up the difference.

So Omicron agrees with Multi about design theory, and that means that the "judgements of the maps was informed by the personal opinions of the contestants who entered them?"

Okay, first of all, Omicron said he agrees with Multi, which means that two people hold the same opinion. That's all it means. The Omicron has the right to an opinion, not matter who he may be agreeing with. Your conclusion is already nonsensical, but we're not done yet.

MultiLockOn, the guy Omicron agreed with, doesn't have a map in the finalists, and the map that I submitted (Epic) was designed 4 years ago, even though the thread you're referring to was posted like a week ago.