Well, alright then. First off: apologies for my generalisation regarding the community. It's my first time posting after around eight years of confronting the Live halo community. I'm sure you can understand my defensiveness.
I read through all the responses, and here's my thinking.
Regarding folk wanting Halo 4 to be altered so it plays more like earlier Halo canon, this isn't wholly relative to my post. Previous Halo installments still had the war between "MLG" and regular gameplay, and still had radars and (in latter versions) armour abilities.
For those who say that having a radar means a lack of tactical play, or situations wherein players don't "play smart" and merely run around with their eyes on the radar instead of checking around corners etc. The only time I've came up against players like this is when guests are allowed in matchmaking, or someone is verynew to the game. So this is a moot point. Radar can still allow for tactical play.
Saying a "well rounded player" should be able to play MLG-ish playlists in the same post where you state that you quit out any gametype that isn't Pro is an oxymoron. A well rounded player should be able to come up against any challenge: whether it be infinity with abilities, weapon drops, specialties or a stripped back version of the game. At least I don't quit when I get lumped with Pro game. I would happily argue that those who play only Pro gametypes are not well rounded players.
Armour abilities and special perks make the game more of a challenge than anything else. I don't understand the argument that they don't for one second. You have to come up with counter strategies to Promethean vision, become much more wary of invisible players, predict when an enemy may spurt to the side with a thruster pack etc. You need to analyse which weapons the enemy may have in their possession, plan out your weapon choice before you respawn/game begins, alter your own specialties etc. to rise to the occasion.
There is no such degree of strategy, challenge or forethought in Slayer Pro. In Pro, you spawn, you run, you shoot. It's a lazy type of play. I'm yet to come up against any teams who really utilise a strategy that isn't just "everyone run together and we'll kill the other team". Which is a solid enough strategy, yes. But provides absolutely no weight to the argument that Infinity slayer is not a thoughtful gametype.
However, I do agree regarding respawn times. I detest the instant respawn. In my opinion, Halo didn't need a change of pace from Halo Reach. I thought it had a very good balance between hurried, paniced firefights and slow, drawn out tactical battles. Some games I'd play would be so tense that I'd literally be poised on the edge of my seat. Every game I play in Halo 4 is just BAM, RESPAWN, BAM, RESPAWN, BAM, RESPAWN for around seven minutes and then that's that. I don't understand why they did away with the 3 second respawn timer. It was perfect.
For those who religiously defend the pacing in Halo 4: Why? It wasn't anywhere near as hurried as this in previous games, or as thoughtless. So why is it suddenly held up as the way to play?
Weapon drops can be a little skewed, yes. I'm still not decided on whether I like them or not. Although, it's probably a biased opinion as I simply love when I get a railgun landed at my feet.
Pro isn't playing the game to its full potential. It's like buying a Need For Speed game and only ever playing drag races with stock cars and no alterations. Because that's how the "pro"s should be doing it. Nonsensical.
Thanks for the replies, at any rate and apologies if I offended anyone called Bert.