I think most of those are fair points. I must disagree about the weapon indicator, though. Memorizing where a weapon spawns doesn't involve thought. Now, keeping track of the spawn timer certainly does involve clarity of thought and the ability to avoid being distracted (or compensate for distraction) during what should be a busy, combat-filled match. So you're right -- the need to track spawn timers does add some depth and skill, which is something I hadn't considered before. At the same time, I think that there is also some value and some depth that comes from adding variety. One thing I can think of off-hand is that if the drop locations are placed strategically -- if they are challenging to defend and hold -- and if they are telegraphed well in advance, then competitive teams can still work over time to take and hold these areas, but they have to do that throughout the match. I feel that that strikes a good balance between variety and competitiveness: one team can still set up for a weapon and the other team still has an incentive to break that setup, but some dynamism is added to that, with appropriate controls to ensure that a random element doesn't necessarily lead to pure-random and pure-luck outcomes. It also adds some novelty to the experience, which hopefully strikes a more acceptable balance between competitive and casual preferences. So I guess the primary question here, where my proposal is concerned, is this: does the value that comes from totally-predictable weapons with non-telegraphed timers... outweigh the value that comes from semi-predictable weapons with variety and telegraphed timers? Because I feel that while 343i's implementation is lackluster, the basic idea of adding variety to the weapon system is a good one -- it just has to be done well, for exactly the reason you described.
honestly, I would remove OD altogether it kills map flow, encourages campers, and destroys any kind of tactical play map flow: a major component to map flow is weapon placement, risk vs reward, as in should I run into that open area to get the rocket launcher with OD, its more, run around like a headless chicken until I can call in my own rocket launcher camping: again, another component of map flow is the scarcity of resources, sure you can camp in one spot, but eventually, you are left low on ammo as places that are easy to camp usually contain weak, or no weapons (see risk vs reward) with OD, they can camp to their heart's content, and call in an OD when they get low, so that they can camp longer tactics: a major part of the game is resourcefulness, using what you got, or rather what the map gives you to win the match, if you got the <insert power weapon>, you don't usually spam the shots, you wait for the opportune moment, because of how hard it was to get it (therefore, you want to make the most of it) with OD, it doesn't matter, once you empty the clip of your power weapon, all you have to do is get enough kills to call in another (see running around like a headless chicken) On a similar note, because of OD, the number of power weapons on a map at a time become ridiculous, which 343i amended by making near instantaneous weapon despawns upon death usually when you see a player with a power weapon, two options come to mind: 1) kill him, to get his power weapon and wreak havoc 2) run away so that you don't get plastered by said power weapon this enhanced risk v reward play with the new despawning system (a direct result of OD), the only valid choice would be to run away, as once you kill the person wielding the power weapon, the weapon would be gone by the time you get there
Initial and Random Ordnance either need to be much more customizable, or they need to go away. Personal Ordnance needs to NOT be the default. I'd prefer to not have it in the game at all. I'd probably tolerate it as a custom option and as part of an Action Sack type playlist, but no more than that. For me, It is the single worst thing about Halo 4, and makes it feel like it's not a Halo game. I even find Sprint and Flinch slightly more tolerable.