I think it's a great idea to have the beta this early and release it next fall. Would we have armor lock in H:R if Bungie had plenty of time to process the vitriol toward the aa? Who's to say there aren't a million other things besides mp functionality they need months and months to polish? Maybe they just want to stick to the fall release tradition. Maybe they're evil and enjoy hanging the carrot in front of our noses as they wring their hands and smile. Plus we have a great mega-Halo to keep the average Halo fan busy for a year and the super fan busy for years.

I also think 343 should give access to the a handful of the top Halo forgers beforehand to forge maps in H5. They should do this not to have more pre-forged maps available at launch (ala Uncaged), but to make original maps based off the forgers' ideas. 343 already has an army of talented map designers who would love to work for free in their spare time. The early beta and the data they compile could facilitate the best set of launch maps to date.

Sounds like you just want a new Halo asap. I don't blame ya!