: I think it was largely because of the changes (tweaking loadouts,
: tweaking maps, adding and removing playlists that were under the Arena
: banner, your "Top 3" is actually your top 4 now*), the fact it
: was only ever Slayer, the fact the ranks reset, and the fact a lot of
: players that cared about the display of skill, the seriousness of the
: playlist, or both didn't like bloom (at least from what I've heard and
: read, it wasn't well-liked in those groups).

Most of those issues were raised regarding Halo 2's "pro" lists and those were direly underpopulated despite the highly-vocal online community demanding them. I think bins like Arena get included because there is a small community that really, really wants them... even if the actual player population isn't really big enough to justify them.

-- Steve will admit that he doesn't really drill down into the details, simply because he isn't a big fan of the "pro"-style lists in the first place and thus this doesn't directly affect him much.