ATLAS Community Map Variant Submission Analysis
ATLAS Community Map Variant Submission Analysis
ATLAS Group on Bungie.net, is the “Official Bungie Group for Community Forge Variant Submissions for Halo 3 Matchmaking”. It was officially opened to membership October 23, 2008.
Summary.
Many times and in many forums, I have read comments referring to ATLAS and Community Map variants in matchmaking as a failure. Well, if at least 60 community made maps in matchmaking playlists is the measure of a failure then I should be so lucky as to fail in such a manner. Has any other video game company succeeded in a cooperative effort with its community as well as this? 60 maps played on, in matchmaking, by hundreds of thousands of Halo 3 gamers. It seems phenomenal to me.
Bungie delivered to the masses 24 of its own Halo 3 multiplayer maps. ATLAS group delivered 60! The quality of ATLAS maps can be debated but the quantity is there. As for quality, that is somewhat subjective and I offer these comments. I believe it would be reasonable to break down the quality of ATLAS maps into three equal groups of 20 high, 20 medium and 20 low quality maps. Every accepted map produced by ATLAS members had its proponents and opponents. The same is true for Bungie’s maps.
The process of dealing with ATLAS map variant submissions and their authors could be improved.
Topic Totals
933 Number of topics at 25 per page over 37 pages. Includes 8 pinned topics for which no page could be found.
599 Map topics submitted for review.
15 Topics initiated by Bungie.
319 Other topics. Includes spam, map submissions removed or declined by author, Group forum glitches, repeated map submissions for unmodified maps, map submissions for which no map information could be reasonably determined.
Map Submission Totals
411 Map submissions for Sandbox.
91 Map submissions for Foundry.
97 Map submissions for any Halo 3 map other than Foundry or Sandbox.
30 Maps explicitly rejected by Bungie. Rejection was via any anecdotal comments referring to rejection or locking.
NA Maps implicitly rejected by Bungie. Unknown since all but two topics had gone stale and the locked topic information was not visible to me.
60 Maps accepted explicitly or implicitly by Bungie into any matchmaking playlist. 2 Updated map submissions excluded.
54 Sandbox map variants accepted into any playlist. Includes explicit and implicit acceptance.
6 Foundry map variants accepted into any playlist. Includes explicit and implicit acceptance.
3 Maps explicitly accepted by Bungie. Acceptance was via comments referring to the map's inclusion in a matchmaking playlist.
57 Maps implicitly accepted by Bungie. Acceptance was via the map's inclusion in any matchmaking playlist. 2 Updated map submissions excluded.
9 Maps explicitly or implicitly accepted into any full-time matchmaking playlist.
0 Maps other than Foundry or Sandbox variants accepted for any matchmaking playlist.
Map Author Totals
424 Unique Map submission authors.
13 Highest number of maps submitted by one author.
4 Highest number of maps accepted to any matchmaking playlist by one author.
Bungie Comment Totals
124 Bungie comments in all topics.
53 Bungie comments in topics created by Bungie.
71 Bungie comments within map submissions.
24 Bungie comments within map submissions accepted to any matchmaking playlist.
47 Bungie comments within map submissions not accepted to any matchmaking playlist.
8 Highest number of Bungie comments within any map submission accepted to any matchmaking playlist.
8 Highest number of Bungie comments within any map submission.
50 Map submissions to which Bungie commented.
9 Accepted map submissions to which Bungie commented. Includes explicit and implicit acceptance.
53 Accepted map submissions to which Bungie never commented. Includes explicit and implicit acceptance.
20 November 2008 Submission date for first map accepted into any matchmaking playlist.
04 December 2009Submission date for last map accepted into any matchmaking playlist.
Important information to know.
1. Only map submission topics were allowed in the ATLAS group. Any other type of topic was threatened with instant locking and author banning.
2. Only map submission topics meeting the minimum standard were allowed in ATLAS group. 3. Topics not meeting the minimum standard were under threat of lock with repeated offenses resulting in author banning.
3. Around 08.07.2009, the ATLAS Group forum was attacked via a spambot. The result was nearly two hundred pages of spam topics. Bungie had to lock the group and clean the mess up. It appears a few map submissions got duplicated in the process or the database indexing for the group was messed up a bit. For example, there are 221 pages of topics but the last page of unique topics ends at 37. Paging beyond that results in unpredictable but usually repeating results. Also, as a result of the attack, the group was closed to new membership and this remains true 06/22/2010.
4. Once a topic became archived, the information on whether it was locked or not was no longer available to me. I could have used topic locking as an implicit rejection of a map submission. It would also be an implicit Bungie comment.
5. Information for maps implicitly accepted to any matchmaking playlist was gathered from Bungie.net news and current playlists.
6. While I checked my data mining and entry for errors, I expect at least a 1% error rate. I am confident any errors would not significantly affect the conclusions and observations.
7. Communications between Bungie and map authors via methods outside of ATLAS group were an unknown quantity.
8. The author of this document, DEEP NNN, is a member of ATLAS with one map entering a community map playlist.
Observations. Some of these observations are from first hand knowledge in forums and in matchmaking and not from the data mining exercise.
1. It surprises me that with hundreds of thousands of unique users in Halo 3 matchmaking every day, that only 599 discernable map submissions were made to the ATLAS group. The fact the group was closed to new members after a spambot attack does not fully explain it to me.
2. A huge number of map submissions did not meet even the tiniest part of the minimum submission requirements. I did not tabulate it because it was somewhat subjective. This would explain, in part, the huge difference between the 60 accepted and the 599 total submitted maps.
3. Comments from Bungie had little relevance as whether a map was accepted or not. No comments yielded the greatest number of successes.
4. Very little real collaboration occurred between Bungie and the bulk of map authors.
5. The majority of Bungie’s helpful comments were only in a few map submission topics. They became difficult if not impossible for newer members to find and use for reference.
6. Gametype objects are not explained well enough in Bungie’s Forge guides. It created repeated divisive forum discussions.
7. ATLAS members were rarely given any indication as to whether their maps were being considered.
8. The status of ATLAS is unknown to its members. No one knows if it is possible to get a new or updated map into a playlist. It’s been in this state for six months.
9. Request for updated versions of maps already in playlists occurred only once.
10. Maps which were frequently reported to have construction errors were rarely pulled for update.
11. Bungie’s in-house map checking twice failed to prevent the wrong version of a map entering a playlist.
12. Many ATLAS members are fervent fans who wait in excited anticipation for actions for which they have no idea will happen. This appeared to lead to jaded attitudes as time wore on.
13. No statistical information was ever given for successful maps.
14. Certain forum member titles were not always bestowed as promised.
15. Many map authors did little to help the other members. They dropped their map submission and were never heard from again.
Recommendations
1. Map submissions should be an automated process using web forms of some type. Successful submissions generate a membership automatically thus eliminating much of the chafe.
2. Map authors should be informed if their map is being considered for a playlist to prevent repeated updating without cause.
3. Map authors should be informed if their map is not being considered for a playlist with some indication as to why.
4. Bungie should improve its Forge guides with special emphasis on gametype objects and spawning.
5. All cooperative and helpful comments from Bungie should be pinned topics that are easy to find no matter when a member joined.
6. Bungie should keep all ATLAS group members informed of related activities directly and in one location.
7. Never make the Internet a promise you can’t keep.
8. Bungie could submit their map requirements to Forging-centric sites. Those sites could vet maps before submission to Bungie. If a site fails to properly vet maps then they lose their special status, what ever that might be.
9. Map authors could be used as assets for quality control if organized and informed properly.
10. Bungie should provide matchmaking statistics for successful ATLAS maps.
Posted by DEEP_NNN @ 11:53 am EDT |
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2 Comments Adventure in Frustration - Part 2
More cut and paste, more tread-milling and step-cercise.
I'm falling behind my prediction. On the 12th I figured the data mining would take one more week. I still have two pages to go. I'm not too unhappy with the progress.
When I am done the initial data mining I will still have a few steps before calculating results and deriving conclusions.
Steps to go.
1. Go through each page again and quickly peruse them for obvious mistakes. By chance I noticed a few topics may not have loaded into the browser.
2. Update the map entries to accurately reflect which ones made it into any playlist and which ones went into matchmaking. That will take a bit of digging too.
3. Figure what conclusions I want to draw.
4. Calculate the numbers, whatever they are.
5. Write up an objective analysis.
6. Include a list of non-ATLAS community maps in matchmaking.
7. Write up a subjective analysis.
8. Post the results.
9. Find something better to do. LOL
Posted by DEEP_NNN @ 1:26 pm EDT |
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0 Comments Adventure in Frustration
I'm on a new adventure in frustration.
I got the crazy notion I should mine data out of the ATLAS map submission group for some kind of logical analysis.
There are 37 pages with 25 entries per page. That's a total of 925 entries.
I set up a spread sheet to capture specific information from which I could later draw conclusions. As luck and experience have shown, once you start such a project you discover you should have collected more information. I am not turning back the clock. As it is now, it takes a minimum of 30 minutes to process one page of entries. I started the project in earnest June 5th but I was experimenting with capturing data automatically many days before that. The experiments failed. I have 14 pages to go. It'll take me at least another week to finishing capturing data, if I can maintain this pace.
I can only sit for about an hour at a time and have to take breaks to exercise my legs a bit. I do 10 reps of 14 stairs in both directions. Sometimes I go on the treadmill for 5 to 10 minutes. It generally helps if I do exercise before starting a capture session. To be honest I am slack about the exercise but I must get off my butt periodically before I go insane.
I have drawn one conclusion so far. Bungie must find a better method for map submissions. A good chunk of the submissions don't meet even the tiniest part of the minimum requirements. I would automate the submission form. Why allow an entry to occur if the minimum requirements are not met?
Posted by DEEP_NNN @ 10:24 am EDT |
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2 Comments History of the 2old2play Over Age 40 Halo Tournaments
History of the 2old2play Over Age 40 Halo Tournaments
Tournament concept, creator and original organizer, DantezINFERNO (Dantez Inferno).
Subsequent organizers: ol DMAN lo and DEEP NNN
Significant Dates
Sep. 14, 2005 DantezINFERNO broaches the idea of an over age 40 tournament. Much to DantezINFERNO's surprise, many 2old2play members are over age 40. Even the women, who are "so hot", readily admit to being eligible for the tournament.
Sep. 21, 2005 First Over age 40 Halo 2 Tournament.
Sep. 30, 2005 DantezINFERNO first suggests we have a monthly tournament.
Oct. 03, 2005 DantezINFERNO had capped some of the tournament footage as well as some set pieces for a promotional video. This wonderful montage video was highlighted in Bungie.net on this date.
Oct. 10, 2005 DantezINFERNO announces the tournament will be held the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
Sep. 20, 2006 Dantez Inferno officially relinquished the roll of tournament organizer to oI Dman Io.
Apr. 17, 2007 DEEP NNN and oI Dman Io share the roll of tournament organizer.
Sept. 18, 2007 Last regular monthly Halo 2 tournament.
Sep. 19, 2007 DEEP NNN assumes the roll of tournament organizer.
Oct. 16, 2007 First regular monthly Halo 3 tournament.
Mar. 16, 2010 Halo 2 special going offline party.
Aug. 17, 2010 Last regular monthly Halo 3 tournament.
Participants and results of the first Halo 2 Tournament Sept. 21, 2005.
100 Dantez Inferno
74 PMS EM
67 TSAIceman
66 BATMANKM
54 BeeMan110
53 Deman267
53 GrayPope
52 DEEP NNN
51 One Bad Daddy
45 Blue Stiehl
45 StoneP0NY
39 x 2Old 2Play x
35 StunGib
22 Lord Kerdaq
21 xxMEPxx
N/A MeeMoos (unavailable for tournament finale)
News Article from Bungie.net
http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=news&cid=6774
1st 2old2play Over 40 Invitational Posted by stosh at 10/3/2005 12:04 PM
writes: Though the immediate thought that comes to mind is Ben-gay, Geritol and Maalox, this group of skilled players demonstrated that they have more than what it takes to compete amongst themselves, as well as the ”timmies” (terminology used to describe the 25 and under video gamers) of the world. Organized by the self-proclaimed world-titlist, Dantez Inferno, the seniors, organized, meleed, sniped, and laughed there way through, multiple rounds of mayhem and carnage. Eager entrants shuffled to enroll from, New England, Hawaii, and as far away as the UK. After sorting out conflicting schedules, due to work, soccer practice, lawn duty and PTA meetings, the tournament was scheduled over three nights consisting of 16 players. “Remember when we could play any night because we could stay up all night, sleep an hour or two (if at all) then go to work and it wouldn't bother us at all. Those days are gone...!” posted Beeman110 a tournament finalist. Each round 8 players competing in 4 individual rounds of XBOX Live generated rumble pit, with the top 4 finishers (determined by the sum of total kills) advancing to the finals on, Tuesday, September 27th. Competitive warm-up rounds provided the most intense games initially, all 16 combatants running through the close-knit quarters of Midship, Foundation and Lockout led to mass hysteria. Georgia native, “Too Gray” summed it this way. “It was lots of fun especially the practice rounds on the small maps though it was hard to move without taking it from both ends. Took me 2 games to realize my sensitivity was set on 1. WTF no wonder I couldn't turn around! The final 8 participants all gathered together for 4 final rounds to see who would take home the prize. For their efforts, the winner received a prize package that included Xbox 360 and the 2006 lineup of EA Sports games, NOT! One Bad Daddy requested” Perhaps the prize should be a coupon to Lens Crafters for some new glasses so I can see you $(@%’s coming! The premise really was to get together a group of peers, dish it out and take it, and make future alliances and contacts for XBOX Live play. All in all, the entire tournament was a smashing success. So won you may ask. Everyone in the first monthly senior’s invitational! For the video feed, check out the full article on [url=http://www.2old2play.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=127&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0]2old2play.com[/url]
All Halo 2 Monthly Tournament winners, to date.
Sep. 27, 2005 DantezINFERNO
Oct. 18, 2005 DantezINFERNO
Nov. 15, 2005 DantezINFERNO or HoudiniHamster (Records missing. The members conviened but winner not declared in forum topic.)
Dec. 20, 2005 DantezINFERNO
Jan. 17, 2006 PapaHamster
Feb. 21, 2006 PapaHamster
Mar. 21, 2006 I Aeris I
Apr. 18, 2006 PapaHamster and MR INCREDIBLE aka DantezINFERNO
May 16, 2006 MR INCREDIBLE aka DantezINFERNO
Jun. 20, 2006 MR INCREDIBLE aka DantezINFERNO
Jul. 18, 2006 MR INCREDIBLE aka DantezINFERNO
Aug. 15, 2006 Dantez Inferno
Sep. 19, 2006 Dantez Inferno
Oct. 24, 2006 Blue Stiehl (tournament was rescheduled from Oct. 17)
Nov. 21, 2006 Medic113
Dec. 19, 2006 Medic113
Jan. 16, 2007 webmonkee
Feb. 20, 2007 PapaHamster
Mar. 20, 2007 PapaHamster
Apr. 17, 2007 Medic113
May. 15, 2007 BATMANKM
Jun. 19, 2007 Tournament organizer fail.
Jul. 24, 2007 DEEP NNN and Wheezin Minion
Aug. 21, 2007 Medic113
Sep. 18, 2007 OldManRiv3R
Mar. 16, 2010 MonoSolenoid (Halo 2 special going offline party.)
Participants and results of the first Halo 3 Tournament Oct. 16, 2007.
67 BATMANKM
66 Dantez Inferno
56 D1STORT1ON
56 MeeMoos
54 Geezer Minion
52 S3cr8 Agnt Man (IamLM2)
49 Blue Stiehl
46 Durnan (ll Anton ll)
46 skumbukit
43 ol DMAN lo
39 HawgSwamper
38 DEEP NNN
36 LectricHellFire
31 Doorgunnerjgs
28 RICKANDKIMSS
15 The Fox V1
All Halo 3 Monthly Tournament winners, to date.
Oct. 16, 2007 BATMANKM
Nov. 20, 2007 Dantez Inferno
Dec. 18, 2007 Kkrull
Jan. 15, 2008 Wheezin Minion
Feb. 19, 2008 D1STORT1ON
Mar. 18, 2008 Dantez Inferno
Apr. 16, 2008 Dantez Inferno Do you see a trend?
May 20, 2008 ReBirth
Jun. 17, 2008 ReBirth A new trend?
Jul. 15, 2008 ReBirth It's a trend alright.
Aug. 19, 2008 SH Morpheus
Sep. 16, 2008 SH Morpheus
Oct. 21, 2008 ReBirth
Nov. 18, 2008 ReBirth
Dec. 16, 2008 Medic113
Jan. 20, 2009 ll Anton ll It's been a long trip since that tournament article on Bungie.net but you made it.
Feb. 17, 2009 ReBirth (Special Event)
Mar. 17, 2009 Medic113
May 19, 2009 SPARHAWK 25
Jun. 23, 2009 SPARHAWK 25
Jul. 21, 2009 SPARHAWK 25 and Wheezin minion
Aug. 18, 2009 NaughtyBot
Sep. 15, 2009 Medic113
Oct. 20, 2009 SPARHAWK 25
Nov. 17, 2009 SPARHAWK 25
Dec. 15, 2009 ll Anton ll
Jan. 19, 2010 ReBirth
Feb. 16, 2010 DemandingChaos4
Mar. 16, 2010 MonoSolenoid (Halo 2 special going away party.)
Apr. 20, 2010 CTR Chaos Qc (Formerly DemandingChaos4)
May. 18, 2010 CTR Chaos Qc
Jun. 15, 2010 Ghost92
Jul. 20, 2010 CTR Chaos Qc
Aug. 17, 2010 CTR Chaos Qc
Participants of the last regularly scheduled Halo 3 Tournament Aug. 17, 2010.
ArmyRocketDAD
BLAMnation
CTR Chaos Qc
D1STORT1ON
Dantez Inferno
DEEP NNN
Doorgunnerjgs
DozenHotWings
Etobicoke1960
Ghost92
ll Anton ll
Lux Devil 67
Medic113
NaughtyBot
NIRVANA hrt PMS
NoMo Deeks
psi5000
SPARHAWK 25
teamvictory10
webmonkee
Wheezin Minion
Posted by DEEP_NNN @ 10:17 am EDT |
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5 Comments Halo 3, A Ticking Time Bomb for Halo 2 Communities
No Clan Support in Halo 3 or on XBL!
Bungie included a tiny blurb in their podcast (08/10/2007) that spelled doom to the very people who truly made Halo 2 a community game. The very video game these people are waiting for with bated breath, is about to screw over their XBL Friends List. Most of these avid gamers had serious expectations they would be bringing their Halo 2 Clans to Halo 3. Now it is all up in the air with the vaporware support that Bungie quietly dropped and Microsoft XBL has dropped the ball on. Though MajorNelson spewed some vague possibilities late last winter, Microsoft is yet to offer even the slightest confirmation. Each community member will be forced to savage their XBL Friend list in order to accommodate their Clan members. Was this meant as an attack on potentially powerful gaming communities? Was this meant to stifle mature lobbying that adults are capable of? Or was this just simply a horrendous blunder like the poorly engineered Xbox 360?
Microsoft and Bungie have continually thrust Halo 2 communities into the limelight to gain positive PR and attract interest in the bottom line. PMS, TTL Gunslingers, 2old2play, SeasonedGamers, 911 Geezers, Fragdolls, GeezerGamers and many other well know communities in the gaming world were regularly featured on XBox and Bungie. Yet, after all that PR and attention, those same communities are having their legs chopped out from under them. Even if XBL were to incorporate Clan like features after the Halo 3 release, much damage will have been done to these communities.
In the middle of information starved chaos a small group of mature gamers succinctly lay it on the line to Microsoft. These voices may seem few but each represents hundreds if not thousands of like minded gamers in the silent majority.
See what your brothers and sisters in gaming are saying on the issue. I want Additional XBL Friends Lists, Now!
Will Microsoft XBL come through with the solution to every silent optimists dream? Why not be heard on the issue? There is no harm is asking for something that makes sense. What's the worst Microsoft can say? "Don't worry folks it will be ready on time, stop complaining already!" Somehow, that doesn't frighten me.
Posted by DEEP_NNN @ 3:26 pm EDT |
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