: Invasion is a flawed gametype.
: the very nature of a large multi-stepped game-type with specific asymmetrical
: objectives necessitates large purpose built maps to maintain and push
: forward the "drama" or narrative of the game-type. the story of
: the game-type always needed a beginning,middle and end and map design has
: to reflect the three phase nature of the game-type. Which resulted in
: Bone-yard, Spire and Breakout being all largely useless outside of slayer.

That we got maps purpose-built with Invasion in mind does not entail that all maps that support Invasion must necessarily be purpose-built for said game type. You've played Battlefield games, right? Rush is very Invasion-like, yet the maps in Battlefield (or at least Battlefield 4, the only one I own) manage to do a good job of supporting multiple game types, including Rush, Conquest, and Team Deathmatch. If a map designer can't get a map to work well for multiple gametypes appropriate to its size, well, that just shows a lack of imagination on their part. If a map can only support one or two gametypes to where they play well, is that the fault of those gametypes or the fault of the map designer.

And besides, there's been several maps in the Halo series that were largely designed around a single gametype and/or don't really work well with other gametypes. Certain asymmetrical maps seemed designed around 1-Flag CTF, while many Forge maps were designed to support very specific gametypes.

Also, plenty of gametypes exist that were not part of the regular matchmaking playlists, and were often restricted to Action Sack and special limited-time playlists. If Invasion isn't suitable for matchmaking and/or the developer's map designers can't seem to make maps that support Invasion but not much else, then just have it as a gametype that players still have at their disposal for use in custom games. Like I said yesterday, even if certain gametypes are rarely if ever used in matchmaking, they should at least be an option for customs. Forgers did a lot more interesting and awesome things with Invasion than Bungie did with Boneyard, et al.

: which even there because of the amount of time spent between death,spawn
: and return to action were almost always inexcusably long. Even with the
: segmenting of the map during other game-types

This does not have to be an inherent problem with Invasion. An improved spawning system could easily resolve those issues.

: Now add to it that it is Spartan Vs. Elite but these two characters behaved
: wildly different. different sizes, speeds, health, and shields. that being
: as much of a tenant of the "drama" as the phases and map design.
: then there is legacy. why remake someone else's attempt at innovation when
: you can make your own
: 343 is very much aligned to the Spartan VS. Spartan style of
: "drama" that even they were to remake the game-type the usual
: suspects would still have hate for it.

1) Invasion doesn't necessarily have to be Spartans vs. Elites. In fact, if Halo 5 ends up having Spartan vs. Spartan conflict in the Campaign (highly likely giving what we've seen in the promotional materials), that could translate well to an Invasion-like gametype from a storyline perspective.

2) Elites don't necessarily have to function differently gameplay-wise, as Halo 2 & 3 demonstrated.

3) The absence of playable Elites as a conscious decision on 343i's part was a really stupid and pointless decision on their part, considering that playable Elites were present in Halo 2, 3, and Reach.

4) Even if some people hate on Invasion for lacking Elites, that's still no reason to not include it as a gametype. Lots of people hate various gametypes for various reasons, but that's no reason to exclude any of those. As you're well aware of I'm not a huge fan of FFA Slayer. I don't like FFA because everyone's out to get you and you have no backup. I much prefer team-based gametypes. But even if I don't particularly care for FFA I'll suck it up and deal with it if that's what gets picked. I'm sure that those annoyed by the lack of Elites (myself included) would get over it and learn to enjoy a Spartans vs. Spartans Invasion mode, as the fun of Invasion was (to me at least) the multi-phased objectives.

In summary, there's nothing about the concept of Invasion in and of itself that would prevent it from coming back. It can easily be refined to fix its biggest problems and retooled to fit more seamlessly within the overall experience without negating what made it unique and fun. Even if it were left as-is and said retention of its previous design might not be well-suited for regular dev-made maps, at the very least it should be an option for Forgers to make their own creations. The more options for Forgers the better.