Hello and welcome to episode 35 of HCS Pro Talk! This week, we got a LOT of rosters to go over, Will and I played through Fireteam Raven, and there a plenty of news stories to cover. Along with the Gamebattles 2K tournaments, the Pro Battle League season 3 keeps going strong as we have a ton of series to cover. For the main topic of this episode, we discuss why organizations are leaving competitive Halo. Oh yeah, and you get a little Josh ranty rant somewhere in this episode. Thank you for the listening and as always, links to everything that is talked about in the episode is below for your viewing pleasure, along with timestamps for the first time!
Jacksonville
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4YcrVmPTcE
Timestamps
RosterMainia 2:05
Hello and welcome to episode 35 of HCS Pro Talk! This week, we got a LOT of rosters to go over, Will and I played through Fireteam Raven, and there a plenty of news stories to cover. Along with the Gamebattles 2K tournaments, the Pro Battle League season 3 keeps going strong as we have a ton of series to cover. For the main topic of this episode, we discuss why organizations are leaving competitive Halo. Oh yeah, and you get a little Josh ranty rant somewhere in this episode. Thank you for the listening and as always, links to everything that is talked about in the episode is below for your viewing pleasure, along with timestamps for the first time!
Jacksonville
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4YcrVmPTcE
Timestamps
- RosterMainia 2:05
- Wills Adventures within the Haloverse/Fireteam Raven 12:14
- News 25:03
- News (competitive) 31:38
- News (PBL) 33:44
- Scrims 43:37
- Tournaments 46:47
- Main Topic 56:53
- Shoutouts and more 1:22:04
Roster Mania!
- LATAM
- Mini Magics
- Noble
- Scyler
- MagicButtons
- Atzo
- CL Esports
- Bullet
- Desecrates
- BMXCARLOGAMBINO
- Legolaz
- New Team
- Method
- Vystrel
- Proxxys
- Member
- XX
- Angsuka
- LilSayayin
- Lofty
- Deidara
- Tactical V2
- MyName
- Carpe
- RDEspace
- Murder
- Nexus New Roster
- Lord
- Plancarte
- Endels
- Dybala
- Express
- ExcessiveNinja
- Liiah
- Iraul
- Kanade
- Assassins of Gods
- Cabo
- Tola
- LaloSaulHudson
- Loqi
- Australia/New Zealand
- Esto
- Reaver
- Kill Switch
- Venom
- Inferno
- TeaEssDub
- YungWilcox
- Jimbob
- Monza
- Bald
- Yes Daddy
- Deth
- Square
- OhGraham
- Alejo
- Colt Mafoka
- AtzoQ
- Matron
- KillerDad
- Jingle
- EU
- WeVicious
- Censure
- Dezire
- Outkaste
- DeadeyeFred
- Niel the Doctor
- Alexeer
- Ninjaaaaaaaa
- TheWarriorONiel
- Rudimentary
- North America
- LuxGaming (IS FUCKING BACK!)
- SickStory
- Boamx
- Valkyrie
- Ryno
- Pro Battle League
- St. Louis Sentinels
- Information coming next week
- Columbus Origin
- Information coming next week
- Nashville Outlaws
- Gold Star BR
- Vetra
- Josue
- BobettaFetta
- Dream
- Rival
- Kansas City Lightning
- Bunnies Waddles
- Vulcan
- Hclic
- PopeBum
- Austin Royals
- Rammy
- Munoz
- Galaxy
- SnxwNinja
- Dallas Stampede
- In Reality
- Mist Ninjitsu
- Dynamics
- Just Improve
- Spinks Jinx
- Article
- Boamx
- Orlando Force
- Swish
- Dallay
- Common
- Pilez
- New York Titans
- Danoxide
- Eccentrikk
- Rob The Turtle
- Obnoxiuz
- Toronto Sabres
- Kourages
- Primacy
- Stress
- Xman
- San Jose Edge
- Dark Scorch
- LD50
- Negative
- PeanutButter
- Philadelphia Forge
- Jesse Siao
- Slinky
- Sorrell
- SuperCC
- Denver Rangers
- Cratos
- Naded
- Not a Monk
- Suspector
- Houston Vipers
- Claytron Mauler
- Knedlz
- Mynx
- Titann
- DMV Knights
- Agent Menke
- Jaxx
- Ryno
- Cortex
- Minnesota Predators
- Floppie
- HerSideGuysBack
- MKoski88
- Veronikuhhh
- Anaheim Pirates
- Str8 Sick
- TuSick
- Commonly
- Steady Might
- Alberta Bears
- Haloette
- SilosTheVillain
- Chilled
- Zai7sev
Wills Adventures Within the Haloverse
- Time to see if Will played more Halo?!?!?
- Halo: Fireteam Raven thoughts and impressions
- Trevor’s Thoughts
- First of all, had a lot of fun. I enjoyed the action, non stop, the visuals, and the moments with master Chief. I wish the music was a little louder, or there was a way to drown out the exterior noise. Gameplay wise, my gun and reticle we're very unsynced, felt way behind, not sure if everyone else had that problem. Also, sometimes hard to tell which character is attacking you, especially with banshees. The turrets and rocket parts were my favorite, reloading wasn't that fun or intuitive imo. It was a good length, and not terribly expensive. Though I haven't played an arcade game in a long time. I enjoyed it overall, just a few issues, but a lot of fun overall. Too bad the link to waypoint account didn't work.
- Dom’s Thoughts
- I wish the QR code reader would've worked to track stats and wished the sound was a bit better as I couldn't hear the dialog much. Could've been due to being in a Dave and Busters, but I haven't had that issue playing something like Time Crisis. Time Crisis isn't even in a capsule either! Speaking of odd things, why they chose purple as a character color is beyond me. It was hard to spot my reticle at times when your fighting the purple covenant. Minor complaint, but still an odd choice considering all the colors they could've chose.
- Gameplay wise, the plasma pistol section of the game was puzzling. Nobody wants to nor enjoys maining with that gun and it's not really a gun meant for arcade shooters. I only use it to be a dbag online for easy kills and even then, I got a BR to use to get the kill. Otherwise I used it in Halo 2 Legendary campaign a lot. I was fine with the rest of the guns in all honesty.
- Game got repetitive and dull I'd say between the 3rd and 4th mission. Yes it's a rail shooter, but that's why you put in some good boss battles.This games big boss battles were big hunters, big flood, and a scarab at the end. Meh, meh, yay. And the yay part I've done many times in the other halo games. I mean, I have a rocket launcher with unlimited ammo and a shotgun that shoots like the Spas-12, couldn't we come up with some cooler things to fight too?
- Weapons were great aside from the plasma pistol. Rocket Launcher made me feel like a bad ass, shotgun was great, and then that turreted, grenade launcher thing at the end as awesome too. Grenades didn't really feel like grenades though. They feel more like a grenade launcher. I say that as it didn't really arc at all and they threw out very quickly as if it shot from a grenade launcher. Master Chief should've learned from Raven Team on how to throw a grenade.
- Oh and the grunts were way too spongey
- Congratulations to OG on their TI8 win!
News
- The Making of Halo: Fireteam Raven
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynacIJU2h_w
- Halo MCC Xbox One X Enhancement Trailer
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdCKXQ3R3d0
- Halo: Silent Storm Excerpt - By Steve Downes
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8tRXQWlTw
- Forerunner Slayer Out Now Within Halo 5
- https://twitter.com/Halo/status/1032679534670143488
- Halo Community Spotlight
- https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/spotlight-august-23-2018
- Official Halo Discord Out Now
- Halo MCC Coming to Game Pass on September 1st Including New Update
- https://twitter.com/Halo/status/1031932355584245760
- Halo MCC Update Out Now
- https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/mcc-update
News (Competitive)
- HCS London 2018 Qualified Teams
- NA
- Splyce
- TOX
- Renegades
- Reciprocity
- Trifecta
- Excelerate Gaming
- EU
- Lucid
- Invictus
- Radiant Esports
- Mock-It
- ANZ
- LATAM
- HCS London Pool Draw Scheduled for September 4th
- https://twitter.com/HCS/status/1032724502235369472
- Microsoft Store 4v4 Tournaments Scheduled for September 9th
- https://twitter.com/HCS/status/1032764924236312587
- Saint Boswell H3 MLG Settings 2v2 Tournament Announcement - September 2nd
- https://twitter.com/SaintBoswell/status/1032014824870424576
- KMadiffy H3 2v2 Tournament Announcement - September 16th
- https://twitter.com/Sundaaayz/status/1032156370642984960
Pro Battle League News
- Roster Lock Set for September 2nd
- Controversy - Some ‘Pro’ players allowed and what that means for other competitors?
Scrim Recap
- Tuesday, August 21st
- TOX VS Renegades
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11898
- TOX had one more kill
- Renegades had 15 more assists
- TOX had 9 less deaths
- TOX had 8 more power kills
- Renegades had 17 more precision kills
- Renegades had 14 more magnum kills
- Wednesday, August 22nd
- Reciprocity VS Excelerate Gaming
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11899
- Thursday, August 23rd
- Renegades VS Trifecta
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11900
- Invictus VS Radiant Esports
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11902
- TOX VS Reciprocity
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11904
- TOX had 12 more kills
- Reciprocity had 10 more assists
- TOX had 14 less deaths
- TOX had 3 more power kills
- Reciprocity had 10 more precision kills
- Reciprocity had 14 more magnum kills
- Friday, August 24th
- Excelerate Gaming VS Veggies
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11905
- Veggies had 7 more kills
- Veggies had 41 more assists
- Veggies had 7 less deaths
- Excelerate had 26 more power kills
- Veggies had 13 more precision kills
- Veggies had 36 more magnum kills
- Every game was very close but it just appears as though Excelerate were able to close out more than Veggies.
- TOX VS Elevate
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11906
- Monday, August 27th
- Invictus VS Mock-it
- Series Score
- Stats - http://halodatahive.com/Scrim/Summary/11915
Tournament Recap
- Nadestraight Sunday Showdown Halo 5 2v2 Tournament Recap
- 1st Place
- 2nd Place
- Bracket
- VOD
- https://www.twitch.tv/nadestraight/video/302150478
- The Beach LAN 7 Halo: CE 2v2 Tournament Recap
- 1st Place
- 2nd Place
- 3rd Place
- Bracket
- https://challonge.com/dvdyz39u
- VOD’s
- https://www.twitch.tv/beachlan
- Pro Battle League Season 3 Week 1 Results
- Toronto Sabres VS St. Louis Sentinels
- Information coming next week
- Chicago United VS Columbus Origin
- Information coming next week
- Nashville Outlaws VS Kansas City Lightning
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA0L6RwUwQw
- Austin Royals VS Dallas Stampede
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Game 4 - Oddball on Eden
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=50931027
- Orlando Force VS New York Titans
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Game 4 - Oddball on Eden
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=50931027
- San Jose Edge VS Anaheim Pirates
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Game 4 - Oddball on Eden (after two resets)
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=50952777
- Philadelphia Forge VS Orlando Force
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Game 4 - Oddball on Eden (after two resets)
- Game 5 - Slayer on Coliseum
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51299175
- Denver Rangers VS Dallas Stampede
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51299175
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51307854
- Dallas Stampede VS Houston Vipers
- Game 1 - Slayer on The Rig
- Game 2 - CTF on Truth
- Game 3 - Strongholds on Empire
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51307854
- Pro Battle League Season 3 Week 2 Results
- DMV Knights VS Philadelphia Forge
- Game 1 - CTF on Coliseum
- Game 2 - Slayer on Plaza
- Game 3 - Strongholds on The Rig
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51929397
- Denver Rangers VS Nashville Outlaws
- Game 1 - CTF on Coliseum
- Game 2 - Slayer on Plaza
- Game 3 - Strongholds on The Rig
- Game 4 - CTF on Truth
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51929397
- Minnesota Predators VS Toronto Sabres
- Game 1 - CTF on Coliseum
- Game 2 - Slayer on Plaza
- Game 3 - Strongholds on The Rig
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51929397
- Alberta Bears VS Anaheim Pirates
- Game 1 - CTF on Coliseum
- Game 2 - Slayer on Plaza
- Game 3 - Strongholds on The Rig
- Series Score
- VOD
- https://mixer.com/PBLHalo?vod=51929397
- LATAM Gamebattles 2K Tournament Recap
- 1st Place
- 2nd Place
- 3rd/4th
- 5th/6th/7th/8th
- Tactical V2
- Nexus New Roster
- Express
- Assassins of Gods
- 600 Points
- Bracket - https://bit.ly/2P9pWHs
- ANZ Gamebattles 2K Tournament Recap
- 1st Place
- 2nd Place
- 3rd/4th
- 5th/6th
- Esto
- Osprey Gaming
- Colt Mafoka
- 600 Points
- Bracket - https://bit.ly/2wosyJV
- EU Gamebattles 2K Tournament Recap
- 1st Place
- Sigh - Halo 5 (Lucid Gaming)
- 2nd Place
- 3rd/4th
- 5th/6th/7th/8th
- Niel The Doctor
- Invalid Esports
- WeVicious
- SkitLite
- 600 Points
- Bracket - https://bit.ly/2PAhi5M
- NA Gamebattles 2K Tournament Recap
- 1st Place
- 2nd Place
- 3rd/4th
- 5th/6th/7th/8th
- Trifecta
- Elevate
- Str8 Rippin
- Mentality
- 600 Points
- Bracket - https://bit.ly/2wpBnD7
Why Are Orgs Leaving Halo? - The Results
- Community Thoughts
- Sander
- I think Halo esports could be big if it was played on pc. Viewership should be a lot higher, I think Halo 5 is very fun to watch and the money is also not to bad. Not enough events, online and offline, look at COD for example, that’s way more interesting. And nobody’s knows what’s happing next year.
- TS LocoElephante
- I wish it was halo 2/3 days. but ever since reach, the franchise has been going downhill. with 343 not outwardly seeming to be all in with their commitment to the community and past balancing issues, I can't see why any org would want to take the risk/part in an unknown.
- Alejandro Pena
- Sadly Halo doesn't have the reach *pun not intended* it had before. Orgs are there because of advertising money
- Night Fox
- Major orgs: The payout/amount of good teams are hard to break into because of buyouts. Plus viewership is pretty low compared to the other big Esports.
- Minor orgs: They are mostly “orgs” by name and therefore don’t have a lot of money backing them in the first place
- Also to note: some orgs that leave were fraudulent orgs
- TLock
- It just baffles me. Halo had the 2nd biggest payout of money last year for console eSports. Only behind CoD. Halo is now 3rd behind CoD and FIFA. Using this tweet for the info. It also doesn’t help that there’s no “regular season” and barely anything mentioning tournament updates and/or roster announcements from each org on the HCS Twitter. It’s like they reluctantly tweet out out stuff if they get called out. I know Tashi’s heart is in it but can’t same for the other organizers. Seems like every other weekend there’s a cod tourney. Takes 2 months for “consecutive” Halo tourneys.
- https://twitter.com/Moses_FPS/status/1019733397059588097
- ScudPuddle
- My opinion, I really don’t pay attention to the orgs. Players are constantly changing and it’s hard to have loyalty to an org if your watching from the fringe. I like players, and they just happen to be playing for the same org most of the time. Look at TOX for example, people loved them when they were CLG. When Optic took them over, people didn’t stop cheering for them because they had loyalty to CLG. And people who liked the old optic roster didn’t stop cheering for LOL who eventually became Str8.Then again when Optic left Halo, fans didn’t stop liking the roster.It’s hard to have a loyalty whenever things aren’t regionalized. I like what the PBL is doing with that. But unfortunately, it’s for a game that’s going on 3 years with little innovation from the developer.
- Brian aka BrianMakesGames
- I'd be curious to know if Gears of War and Call of Duty see the same situation happening with orgs in their spheres.
- It'd be cool if we could reach out to a representative from the gears community (maybe a caster?) for comment on this. Also if someone from an org would comment too. Instead of speculation (though the discussion is great) we could maybe get some actual answers.
- Conversation between Brian and Maze (CEO of Noble Esports)
- Maze is the CEO of Noble eSports. They currently sponsor teams/players in Rainbow 6: Siege, PUBG, H1Z1, Forza, Madden, Injustice 2, Smash Wii-U, and mroe. They also sponsor a "twitch stream team." Here is their halo eSports page: https://halo.esportspedia.com/Noble_eSports
- Maze: "Our owner started Noble with a Halo team so he was always connected to the scene. But as an org, there are a bunch of scenes that aren't marketable or valuable business-wise. Halo is a thing of the past to most sponsors/investors eyes so they rather explore new options. Viewership was at a critical state for the new game and it was due to the "optic" effect. That's meaning once optic gaming was out of the tourney then viewers dropped dramatically."
- Brian: "So despite Halo 5 having $1.4m in prize money across 16 tournaments for only 82 players in 2018 (2nd highest prize pool for console eSports only behind FIFA with $1.7m and nearly 3x the players), there's not enough viewership to justify things for an org?"
- Maze: "Yeah and another reason is that the player base is not ideal to work with, demanding large salaries without a good ROI%, they have comparatively minimal streaming metrics, social media impressions, etc. Halo adapted the COD mentality unfortunately. Expect the world but don't look at it as a business opportunity through both sides. It's been gimme gimme instead of something that makes sense for the player and the org."
- Brian: "Meaning that halo and players expect too much of the orgs without helping? What's an example of a game/company that does this well?"
- Maze: "Halo players want salary without giving back a return of prize winnings, but they don't create content [Youtube, twitter, twitch, etc.] and barely support sponsors of brands. Also fucking roster changes lol."
- Brian: "Yeah...roster changes seem like a nightmare from a business perspective."
- Maze: "We almost went back into Halo 8 months ago. But were like, it doesn't make sense for us to. My opinion on how to make that scene better: less events will bring higher viewership and minimize roster changes. For example, Madden this year has only 4 offline open events and the rest are online ladders to qualify to play offline. Same prize money as Halo with minimal risk for orgs plus NFL exposure for brands/sponsors/orgs. Now a days it is about metrics more than placements -- that's how sponsors gauge their interests. Winning is great but only one team wins."
- Our Thoughts
Shoutouts
- Everyone at Pro Battle League for having to deal with a lot of negativity in the space and for handling it in spades.
- Everyone who shines a positive light out there. Be good to one another.
Community Creations
- Marty O’Donnell - Halo 2 Soundtrack
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUUa112HA78&feature=youtu.be
- Meme Monday
- https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/
- Vetoed Stream Highlights #5
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_H-GaRc-c8
- Cyberpunk Gameplay Demo
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euqbMkM-QQk
Plugs
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