Editing Halo Waypoint

{{Status|RealWorld}}

|image= [[File:HaloWaypointlogo.png|300px]]

Mobile devices

[[File:Waypoint banner 2012.png|thumb|250px|Halo Waypoint's official banner.]]

Halo Waypoint provides users with various kinds of ''Halo'' information, including information on members of the ''Halo'' community, various [[machinima]] videos and gameplay strategies and tutorials. It also allows players to access their own gameplay-related data. Most major announcements regarding the ''Halo'' series are also posted at Waypoint.

*Waypoint is accessible online at halowaypoint.com as the primary ''Halo'' website.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us '''Halo Waypoint''' website]</ref>

===Succession & Restoration===

The [[Halo Channel]] was a next-generation iteration of the Waypoint concept and is available on the [[Xbox One]] and [[Wikipedia:Windows 8.1|Windows 8.1]].<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-gb/halo-channel '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Halo Channel'']</ref> The Halo Waypoint website received a visual and organizational overhaul on October 14, 2014 in preparation for the release of the Halo Channel and ''[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]]''.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/welcome-to-the-new-halo-waypoint '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Welcome to the New Halo Waypoint'']</ref>

Following the release of ''The Master Chief Collection'' on PC the game's [[terminal]]s , which previously could only be viewed through the Halo Channel, were incorporated into the game itself. The Halo Channel ceased to be updated, its various other functions were absorbed back into the web and mobile versions of Halo Waypoint, and as such, Halo Channel was rendered obsolete.

On October 13, 2014, the web version of ''Waypoint'' received a massive overhaul, which included the removal of some of the elements found on the site since its launch. The Xbox 360 version did not receive such an update, and as such these features could still be found there.

 

 

Content on Halo Waypoint is divided into seven main categories: Games, News, Esports, Community (including Insider program and Forums), Support, and Gear (formerly Shop/Store). There is also a profile section for the user to explore their own game progress, stats, customization, and Waypoint activity.

Players can find information for each and every Halo game, organized by title. The web version displays only limited galleries as well as links to service records and related forums.  

 

The Xbox 360 version featured extensive galleries, as well as access to trailers and videos.

====Forums====

An easy menu directs players to the Waypoint forums where they can discuss Halo media and content with other players. The forums originally featured several ranks and badges which could be unlocked. In 2021 the ranks were discontinued, and the badges restructured.

===Gear===

The Gear link redirects to the Xbox Gear Shop which features physical items for sale including clothing, action figures, books and more.

In the a player's profile allows them to view their basic Halo stats, recent forum activity, and Waypoint Service Awards. Players can view their basic stats for every nearly ''Halo'' FPS game from ''[[Halo 2 (Windows Vista)|Halo 2 Vista]]'' through ''[[Halo Infinite]]'' . The ''Halo Infinite'', ''Halo: MCC'', ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' and ''[[Halo: Fireteam Raven]]'' service records also feature links to the more extensive stats pages.  

===Halo Infinite service record===

The Halo Infinite service records allows users to interact with their battle passes, view challenge progression and their current ultimate reward, purchase items and credits from the store page, and view multiplayer statistics. Statistics included are total multiplayer games played, total battle pass ranks, total multiplayer kills, time played, performance for last 20 games, as well as other features. On the Halo Waypoint mobile app, customization for spartans is also available.

===Halo: The Master Chief Collection service record===

The MCC service record denotes MCC rank, overall statistics,  rewards unlocks for the most recent season, multiplayer statistics by game, playlist ranks, information on the player's 20 most recent multiplayer matches, and campaign progress including collectibles (terminals, skulls, audio logs), and campaign high scores and fastest times for each level both solo and co-op.

The player's comprehensive ''Halo 5: Guardians'' includes detailed Arena, [[Warzone]] and campaign stats, game history, [[List of Halo 5: Guardians commendations|commendations]], [[List of Halo 5: Guardians medals|medals]], [[Requisition system|Requisitions]] and [[Achievements (Halo 5: Guardians)|achievements]].

===Halo: Fireteam Raven service record===

The [[Halo: Fireteam Raven]] service record allows users to connect their Xbox accounts to a Fireteam Raven Arcade cabinet, allowing users to save their progress to their accounts. It also allows players to see stats for levels they complete and see a global score leaderboard.

===Xbox 360 & Windows Vista games===

Waypoint also included only the most basic statistics pages for ''Halo'' FPS games originally released on the Xbox 360 (''[[Halo 3]]'', ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'', ''Halo: Reach'', ''Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary'', and ''Halo 4'') as well as [[Halo 2 (Windows Vista)|''Halo 2'' for Windows Vista]]. Statistics displayed include: games played, kills, kill-death ratio, and achievements unlocked.

The Xbox 360 version of Halo Waypoint was co-developed by [[Certain Affinity]] and [[343 Industries]], and ended up leading to the cancellation of an [[Cancelled Certain Affinity Halo game|unnamed ''Halo'' game]] being pitched by Certain Affinity at the time.{{Ref/Site|Id=VICE|URL=https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwqjg3/the-complete-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history|Site=VICE|Page=The Complete, Untold History of Halo: An Oral History|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}}<ref>[http://certainaffinity.com/waypoint/ '''Certain Affinity''': ''Halo Waypoint'']</ref> It was released by 343 Industries as part of the Xbox Fall Update on November 5, [[2009]]. In May [[2012]] Halo Waypoint was updated to include [[wikipedia:Kinect|Kinect]] compatibility. The Xbox 360 version was last updated with the release of ''[[Halo: The Master Chief Collection]]'' in 2014; for the next seven years the application was still accessible, though the information was no longer current.

On January 13, [[2022]], all [[Xbox 360]] ''Halo'' online services were shut down, and as a result the Xbox 360 version of Halo Waypoint is now completely inaccessible.{{Ref/Site|Id=shutdown2|D=23|M=1|Y=2022|URL=https://www.windowscentral.com/halo-xbox-360-servers-have-been-shut-down2021|Site=Windows Central|Page=Halo Xbox 360 servers have been shut down, ending an era}}{{Ref/Site|Id=shutdown1|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/sunsetting-halo-xbox-360-game-services-in-2021|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Sunsetting Halo Xbox 360 Game Services in 2021}}

 

"Universe" was a section of the Halo Waypoint website which included Universe articles from after 2014. Any articles written before 2014 could only be viewed on Halo Waypoint on Xbox 360 until January 2022, when they became completely inaccessible.

From 2014 to 2021, the web version was updated, current, and continually expanding. Categories were Characters, Species, Factions, Weapons, Vehicles, Tech, Locations, and ONI Files ([[Conversations From the Universe]], Cold Storage Reports, [[Eleventh Hour reports]], [[Terminal (Halo 3)|Halo 3 Terminals]], OPERATION: Red Flag/ 93893, PoA Tech Communications, [[Data Drop|Reach Data Drops]]). Information was presented in text articles with accompanying images.

When Halo Waypoint was updated for the release of ''Halo Infinite'', the Universe section was removed.

In the web version, a player's profile allowed them to write a brief bio, view their recent forum activity, and their Waypoint badges. In 2021, the forum activity was moved to the Forums section and Waypoint badges were replaced by Service Awards.

A drop-down menu provided links to the service record for each game from ''Halo 2 Vista'' through ''Halo 5: Guardians''. Until September 2021, the ''Halo Wars'', ''Halo: Reach'' and ''Halo 4'' service records also featured links to the more extensive stats pages found on Waypoint and HaloWars.com prior to the October 2014 overhaul. [[Career Milestones]] were first replaced by a simple total of the [[Gamerscore]] unlocked across all ''Halo Games'' with achievements (except ''Halo 2 Vista'') which itself was completely removed in September 2021.

====Halo: Spartan Strike service record====

The player's ''Spartan Strike'' service record included basic statistics, mission progress and high scores, and achievements unlocked. Discontinued September 2021.

====Halo: Spartan Assault service record====

The player's ''Spartan Assault'' service record included basic statistics, mission progress and high scores, and achievements unlocked. Discontinued September 2021.

====Halo 4 service record====

The Halo 4 service record displayed the basic information of the player's ''Halo 4'' career including: Completed Specializations, Player Since, Last Played, Total Playtime, Spartan Points, [[Challenges]] Completed, Campaign Completion, [[Spartan Ops]] Completion, total Commendation progress, number of achievements unlocked, the four Top Medals earned, games played by mode (campaign, Spartan Ops, War Games, and Custom War Games), most used weapon, and most played variant.

Complete ''Halo 4'' statistics could be found in the Halo 4 Stats web app. Players could view detailed information regarding their play in campaign, custom and matchmaking War Games, and Spartan Ops. This included statistics, game history and progress towards current Challenges, as well as specific Achievements and Specializations progress. Players could also view Domain Terminal and Spartan Ops videos.

Players could view all of the same information for everyone on their Friends list, or simply compare their friend's basic stats to their own. In the Xbox 360 version, this feature was known as "Barracks".

Discontinued September 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

====Halo 4 Intel====

Previously known as the Halo 4 Interactive Guide on the Website. Players could obtain detailed information about ''Halo 4'' in this guide. Information was organized in the following subheadings: Basics, Story, Enemies, War Games, Weapons, Vehicles, and Armor.

The player's Waypoint Career recorded a player's progress through the entire ''Halo'' series. The Waypoint Career displayed Career Milestones, Awards, and basic individual stats summaries for all eight games, including ''Halo 2 Vista''.

Milestones were achieved as a player's ''Halo'' gamerscore increased. Only Xbox 360, Windows 8, and Windows Phone 8 achievements contributed to career milestones. [[Halo 2 (Windows Vista)|''Halo 2'' for Windows Vista]] and [[Xbox One]] achievements were not supported.

The original cap of forty milestones at launch was increased incrementally with the release of additional games and achievements. The number was raised to its final level, 100, on July 15, 2013.

Halo Awards were medals that a player could earn by unlocking related [[achievement]]s in the ''Halo'' games; essentially, they were groupings of achievements. As an example, the Vehicle Specialist award was unlocked after completing several vehicle-related achievements. Awards were also given in ''tiers''; the more achievements a player unlocked, the higher the tier of their award would become. (For example, completing "extra" vehicle-related achievements would increase the Vehicle Specialist award's tier.) Tiers were indicated by the number of lines at the top of the awards, just beneath the ribbon. Locked awards appeared silver; once a player has reached a high enough tier, the awards became gold. Only achievements on the Xbox 360 were listed on Waypoint, and as such [[Achievements (Halo 2)|''Halo 2 Vista'']] and Xbox One achievements were not included. [[Achievements (Halo 4)|''Halo 4'' achievements]] and [[Achievements (Halo: Spartan Assault)|''Halo: Spartan Assault'']] were only added to the [[Joint Service, Elite]] award.

The Xbox 360 version of Waypoint allowed players to view every ''Halo'' achievement from every ''Halo'' game released on the Xbox 360, as well as the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 versions of ''Halo: Spartan Assault''. The achievements could be viewed from their own record in the Waypoint Career menu. ''Halo 2 Vista'' and Xbox One achievements were not included.

The web version of Waypoint allowed players to view these same achievements, which were instead displayed in their respective service records.

Terminals and other unlockables were recorded under Classified. There were five separate Data Sets: Alpha Halo Archive, Requiem Archive I, Requiem Archive II,  Section 3 Archive, and Draetheus V Archive. These were found though numerous ways, most notably through the [[Section 3 ARG]].

Several [[Avatar (Xbox 360)|avatar awards]]) could be unlocked through the Xbox 360 version of ''Waypoint''. To unlock an Award, the player had to complete a specific task in one of the ''Halo'' games and then open ''Halo Waypoint'' on their Xbox 360 while signed in on their Xbox Live profile. There are 10 avatar items which could be unlocked and vary from a Monitor prop to armor variants such as ODST helmets.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=23588 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update: 10.30.09'']</ref>  

Players could also unlock [[seven]] armor pieces for ''Halo: Reach'' in a similar manner to the avatar awards. These pieces could only be viewed on the Xbox 360 version of Waypoint under the '''Halo: Reach Service Record'''. The following were unlockable in-game content:<ref>[http://www.readyuplive.com/showthread.php/5790-X-10-Canada-Halo-Reach-Impressions'''Ready Up Live''': ''X'10 Canada - Halo: Reach Impressions'']</ref><ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BWU_070910 '''Gamestop''': ''Bungie Weekly Update: 07.09.10'']</ref>

*On Xbox 360, Waypoint was considered a game as this was the only option available when it was released (downloadable apps were not introduced until more than 2 years later). The "game" bears an ESRB rating of M for "Blood and Gore", "Language" and "Violence".

===Logos, Icons and Screenshots===

File:Waypoint intro 2012.jpg|Waypoint's title screen 2012–2022.

File:Waypoint app.jpg|Halo Waypoint mobile app icon for Android and iOS 2011-2014.

File:Halo Waypoint Mobile App Icon.png|Halo Waypoint mobile app icon for Android and iOS 2021-present.

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==Notes==

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