there is a huge difference between devs back then and now. back then, you didn’t have all the bs things like a battle or season pass or whatever. a big focus on store crap etc.
sure, if these things existed in the past, even the devs back then might have succumbed to that, but we won’t ever know. case is, they made Halo a ton of fun in the past, with modes being there at release, various maps, various game modes in match making etc.
now it’s all broken at release with little content than previous games had. and there is a big focus on just making money through microtransactions. i know, they are not required. but there was literally nothing to do customization wise when Infinite first launched. I removed the game after 1 month of playing, give or take, so I don’t know what has changed so far, but I do keep seeing some lame store options. You still need that in-game currency, and I bet just obtaining that by playing is extremely slow.
I have never spent a dime on microtransactions for Halo, and never will. It’s just sad to me, seeing how customization was so big and open for previous games, and now it’s all locked behind a paywall.
but that is just cosmetics. what matters most, is game content. gameplay suffers from a load of crap I have seen people complain about, and modes just missing is a total lack of care for the series.