343 Industries' Jessica "BS Angel" Shea confirmed to IGN at PAX East that the Competitive Skill Ranking (CSR) system will go live "early April".

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Shea also clarified that "players will start with a clean slate when CSR launches, so they can enjoy the journey of their progression." That's fancy talk to say that all of your stats will be set back to zero, but don't fret.So... what exactly is CSR, and how exactly will it work? Glad you asked.Remember how you earned separate ranks for each playlist in Halo 2 and Halo 3? You were ranked according to your performance in each hopper, which powered a very specific and tailored matchmaking experience for someone who was great at Team Snipers but not as great at Oddball. That same level of specificity will come to Halo 4 in a few short weeks, and here's what it will look like and how it will work.

The ranking from 1-50 will return, complete with special art once you get into higher ranks: Silver for Level 30-39, Gold for Level 40-49, and burning fire for Level 50. Eagles Scream!There is talk about having stats "turn over" and reset back to zero once you max out at 50 similar to a Call of Duty 'prestige-like' stat reset, but 343i didn't give much more detail as to why or what perks may be attached.343i did say that they will serve overall resets semi-frequently. They believe resetting things from time to time will motivate people to keep playing and will continually give people new goals.The screen cap above is representative of the look you'll see on the online native non-360 Halowaypoint , and gives you an idea of how your overall stats will appear on the net. You'll notice for playlists you haven't played, you won't have a rank (ala the dash for Team Snipers). There's much more to the system than just that though.

The interface will be dolled up and offer the typical suite of tools to help compare every facet of your play with anyone else (the above shot is from Waypoint on 360). Did you ever skulk around Bnet after playing to find your K/D ratio, take a screen cap and send it to your buddy just to grief him? Totally hypothetical, right? CSR in Halo 4 will help you do that even better now. For instance, look at the screen cap above. If you're the guy on the right - who earned 132 FRIGGIN MEDALS IN ONE HOUR ACROSS 4 GAMES AND RANKED UP TO LEVEL 24 - and you clown the much higher-ranked bozo on the left in a game of Team Snipers, it's all the more glorious. Seriously, we salute you, Sec3OP36516, whoever you are.More importantly though, your matchmaking experience should hypothetically improve as you are grouped more accurately with other players at your skill level in each specific playlist.

You'll also be able to compare historical performance data from previous games to your current ranking. Say you want to look at how you did the last time you played your dumb friend who only ever uses the Gausshog and noob combo, and then see where you are now - you can do so by comparing the farthest right column marked "This Game" with your current CSR number.For instance, the player who won this match did so as a Level 8, but now she's at Level 36. Impressive!Oh, here's a quick look at what your Waypoint homepage on Xbox 360 will most likely look like once CSR goes live. Great job on dinging 42, bra!

343i explained that the timing of CSR is not related to the upcoming free Forge map, Forge Island, or Title Update , which will each go live separately in a few weeks.So are you excited for the addition of Competitive Skill Rank to Halo 4, or does this all just sound like crazy talk? Let us know in the comments below!

Casey Lynch is IGN's Head of Brand and Community. He played Halo 2 so much that he named his Twitter account after it. Follow him on IGN and on Twitter at @Lynchtacular