Jeremiah writes:

Stats for the new Rumble Hardcore playlist have been reset to correct a problem that was preventing some users from using the playlist.  Read on for more details...

This morning, stats for the new Rumble Hardcore playlist were reset in an effort to correct a problem that was preventing some of our users from using the playlist.

The process should now be complete, so any games you play this afternoon should count towards your future stats.  We apologize for the loss of 2 days worth of stats, but at least we took care of it now instead of a week from now.

For those of you who feel this is a tragedy, keep in mind that this is not a permanent playlist and it could be removed in the next update or a following update, don't get too attached to your rank.  Your stats for the past 2 days are not as important as some of our other users not even being able to use the playlist, so man up and don't complain about it.

Bungie is hiring a Lead Web Development Engineer. If you have the skills and the desire to make the future of Bungie.Net the best and brightest it can be - then what are you waiting for? Apply today!

The full description of the Lead Web Development Engineer position can be found on our jobs page.

GameJunkieJim has posted an awesome crossword puzzle, chock full of Bungie trivia in our forums. Go check it out HERE. Some are easy and some are tough.

Kudos to GameJunkieJim for a cool idea, well executed. Again, that link is right HERE.

Remember the Fragdolls? A deliciously hawt bunch of  ladies who we once beat in a Humpday Challenge which is something they have never forgiven us for. Well, they're recruiting a new member, and the results are going to be aired for all to see.

You can go check out the finalists right now. And remember, Bungie has a favorite, but we're not telling you which one she is.

Elite haxorz, playing around with the new Intel-based Macs have apparently got beta versions of Windows Vista up and running on the Mac. You can read about it HERE.

Does that mean that our Windows Vista version of Halo 2 will eventually be played on Macintosh? Not exactly. But we'll keep an eye on that project for sure. Bungie still has a lot of Mac guys.

Updated 1:40pm PDT: The maintenance has been completed and everything should be working normally again. 

On Tuesday morning, we will be doing some maintenance on the forums.  During this time, the forums and private messaging will be disabled.

Updated 1:40pm PDT: The maintenance has been completed and everything should be working normally again. 

This maintenance is currently scheduled to start around 9am PDT and last approximately 4 hours.  After the maintenance, you should not notice any changes, as the maintenance is to improve speed on the forums, not for adding features.

sir_brilliant writes:

We've got a new fanfic contest going on right now!


We're accepting fanfic's for the contest right now, so click here to check out all the rules and info on it.

We've teamed up with our friends at Halo.Bungie.Org to offer another exciting contest with a chance for 7 lucky people to win signed copies of the new Halo 2 soundtrack before it's available in stores. Check out the HBO contest page for full details!

As part of our somewhat regular tradition, we've teamed up with HBO once again to offer up another chance for Halo fans to win cool stuff. This time around, the focus is on the music of Halo 2 and the prize is a copy of the new volume 2 soundtrack, signed by Marty O'Donnell.

To enter, you just need to get creative and make a cool picture that features your Halo action figures in interesting scenes that are inspired by/related to track listings from the soundtracks. You can read the full rules and details over at HBO.

The entry deadline is Sunday, 4/16/06 at 9 PM PST.

The Halo 2 Volume 2 soundtrack is the long awaited sequel to the award winning volume 1 soundtrack featuring original music composed and scored by Marty O'Donnell and Mike Salvatori. It will officially be available in stores and online on April 25th. If you haven't picked up the Halo 2 Vol. 1 soundtrack yet, or even the Halo 1 soundtrack, you can grab both of those at retailers or iTunes. Every purchase made goes towards helping Marty afford those expensive prescription drugs that his Medicare just won't cover.

Bungie's UI demigod, David Candland, is interviewed over at Macromedia's developer site. You can go read the interview HERE and find out how Dave uses Macromedia Director to prototype interface designs.

It's fascinating stuff if you're into user interface, GUIs or anything that let's you interact with machines. Go check it out.

Halo 2 Web Maps should now be working.  Please report any web site issues to this address if you experience additional problems.

Web Maps are working, sorry for the delay.  Stats should also no longer appear to be "purged" before they should be (nothing was actually being purged, the UI was just busted).

As our website goes through some significant upgrades this week, you may notice some odd things. Maps aren't working right, stats are all crazy, and you can't use "fake" html when submitting news stories because we replaced that with the cool new WYSIWYG editor. Don't worry, it's all being taken care of.

And on a side note, congrats and thanks to Tom, Zach, Doug and Roger on implementing these awesome changes. They're going to make life a lot easier for yours truly. And note that you can now see your Gamercard on the site (if you're logged into Bungie.net and you've linked your Gamertag.)