It has been quite a while since I have done a post summing up the state of HaloCommunity.com, so I thought that I would drop a line and let you know what is going on around the site.

protip: I will try to do these more regularly

Anniversary
As some of you may have noticed, May 24, 2012 marked the 6 month anniversary for HaloCommunity.com. Over the last 6 months things have been in constant motion. From conception Halo Community has been continually evolving and the staff here have been striving to make this the best home possible on the internet. Keg and Fid have put in an unbelievable amount of hours coding things into the site that I never even thought possible when we first started out. From the addition of the chatbox, groups and private forums, awards, stats, and the arcade, I thought we had a great site!

It turns out, they were just warming up! Like the quantum leap in evolution from Halo 2 to Halo 3, they started coding in a Chatbox AI named Deja (who alot of new members still think is a real person), a full on Ladder and Tournament system, a game finder, and now a custom Mission system!

Using these tools we are able to use Deja to keep you informed (and entertained), give you new and exciting ways to play Halo matchmaking with the Missions, and play host to some of the best free online Halo: Reach tournaments in the world.

The staff here are amazing, whether you see them around the site, or whether they are in perpetual ninja mode, they are constantly looking for new ways to make this place phenomenal, and spending countless hours planning, implementing, organizing and executing the fantastic events, decorating our house with incredible artwork, or testing (read: breaking) the new features that the coders put in.

Even with all of these awesome programs, Halo Community would just be like an amazing toy with no batteries, if it wasn’t for you…..the Halo Community family. I am proud to say that you have not only met my expectations for this site, but have exceeded them beyond what I thought was possible a little over 6 short months ago.

I am eternally grateful that you all call this place home, whether you come here regularly, or just stop by to say hi, this site truly belongs to you…the Halo Community.

New Hotness
What’s that you say? You want to know what we are working on next? I will tell you as much as I am able to at this point, without giving too much away.

Tournaments- Yes, we are working on more. While I cannot give you the exact details yet, I can say that they are some of the best, most ambitious and largest we have done to date.

Ladders- Sundown is working on getting the Summer ladders up soon with new maps and new gametypes so keep your eyes peeled. We are still working out the kinks on a brand new Ladder and Tournament system for HaloCommunity.com which will be much more user friendly and alot more fun to look at!

Missions- They are hot off the press and just waiting for you to carve your name on our newleader board page. Pillar has been hard at work designing new missions every Monday, and will continue to roll these out in the weeks ahead.

Design- Yes, our interior decorating team has been redesigning the look of Halo Community, in fact before I could even get this update out, you have probably noticed the new look of the news page. You will see more of this as we tune the look of the site to be ready for the heavily anticipated release of Halo 4.

Prizes
Have you heard of a prize tree? It is basically a list of prizes that can be won in a competition. I would like to mention that Knani and Fid have built you a prize FOREST! There is everything that a Halo gamer could want in there, from a pair (thats right, it rhymes with Bear) of Xbox 360 consoles, to a full size Halo costume, Halo Figurines and other incredible and amazing things. There are 100 prizes in total and anyone can join! If you havent already, head on over and sign up for a few of them HERE. You better hurry as the drawings end on June 30th!

I also want to remind all the artists out there that the deadline for the contest to skin the Battle Rifle also ends on June 30th, so get those custom BR skins in for your chance to win 1600 MSP! If you have no idea what I am talking about, the contest details can be foundHERE

To Infinity….
I can’t tell you what the future holds, or what goodies await us as time marches on. I can tell you that as we rapidly approach the release of Halo 4 that we will be here…to keep you informed, entertained, and to share with you our love of the Halo Universe.