I got back from Easter vacay last night, and when I did I downloaded Forge Island and started playing on it. I haven't spent much time with it, but I'm already a huge fan (although I think some of the object limits are a bit harsh, considering the massive size of the map).

I believe this raises a question though: why wasn't this map, or something like it, included with release?

On Halo 4's release, I remember some forgers being disappointed with its offerings. Among their complaints were the maps themselves, which had been described as too small or too cramped, with less-than-ideal free space in which to build stuff. The word that had been thrown around at the time, by 343 and others, was "focused" -- that is, they wanted Forge to be a more "focused" experience, with the prime Forge maps being populated with more irremovable stuff and less free space to guide the inexperienced (and push the experienced) into a smaller space in terms of what can and cannot be built. This had the added benefit of focusing experienced Forgers' talents into more conventional productions which could be used for more conventional goals (e.g. making Pete The Duck build community matchmaking maps rather than elaborate Rube Goldberg machines, the former being much more useful for the casual player base than the latter).

Forge Island, by contrast, is not focused. Like, at all. It's huge and it's 99.99% nothing. Even the primary structures, the three islands, look like they could be Forge pieces themselves.

So, to return to my original question: seeing as how it clearly violates 343's previous goal of "focusing" the Forge experience, why was Forge Island released at all, and why was it released five months after launch?

I don't think it's because 343 couldn't make the map from a technical standpoint. It's mostly nothing, and the things that are there I don't think present a challenge to any art or design team, certainly not compared to standard maps.

No matter how you look at it, Forge Island represents a clear reversal of 343's earlier policy of "focused" Forge maps. With this in mind, I see only two possibilities that can explain its existence:

1. 343 realized it erred with its policy of a more "focused" Forge and is looking to rectify that mistake, however late

or

2. As the casual player base of Halo 4 has declined, 343 chose to strategically abandon its focused Forge policy (which was implemented primarily for the benefit of the casual/inexperienced both directly and indirectly)

If a 343i employee answers this question, he or she will receive a free TSD shirt of their choosing, scented from the following menu:
- Unscented
- French Vanilla
- Mountain Stream
- Sweaty D