I think 343 should rethink on how to handle DLC, every single Halo (I’m not familiar with halo 2) has had an issue with this. The main issue with this is that the community gets fragmented. on one side you have everyone with All the DLC, on the other side you have people who don’t have DLC and then you have those who have some but not all DLC. This issue not only occurs in just Halo but also in games like CoD, Titanfall, and Battlefield.
Halo 3 forced you to buy all DLC (or ODST) which was good since all the DLC appeared as often as the launch maps, however people who didn’t buy them got locked out of majority of the playlists and pretty much almost half the game.
Halo Reach and 4 had a different approach, DLC isn’t compulsory but if a single person doesn’t have them then you can’t play them in matchmaking. Although they gave a season pass with the LE of Halo 4, I still see the DLC maps as rarely as I do in Reach. And yes although there is a playlist for DLC, it’s only ever restricted to a very few gametypes such as Slayer and CTF (but no FFA, BTB, Infection, etc) and is also usually only the most recent DLC, not to mention these playlist have barely anyone in them. For those who did buy them, they are essentially wasting their money on something they rarely/never use.
When it comes to achievements they usually need to be done on specific maps, and since it’s so hard to find the right maps, people end up just boosting them, which just makes them completely pointless to include.
My opinion on how they could handle it is to make maps free (and compulsory). Now I’m not saying that because I don’t want to pay for them and not give 343/Microsoft money they deserve, but because it’s the only way you can really make the DLC maps appear as much as the launch maps without fragmenting the community, or having us waste our money on something we never use.
I honestly wouldn’t mind if they included Micro-transactions for cosmetic stuff to make up the cost, along as it makes the game better in the long run.
If 343 charges us for stuff, it needs to be items which do not affect matchmaking or in-game quality. All those DLC maps fracture the community, and by the end of the games lifespan all you have are players who are bitter because they can’t play the most maps the paid for.
Keep to aesthetic stuff. Player cards, stances, armor, skins, emblems, video cutscenes… just nothing that affects your search time, who you can play with, or how the game is played.
Honestly, I completely agree. I never ONCE got to play the DLC maps that I payed for in matchmaking (except for during the DLC playlists), so it felt like a huge waste of money. I’d also be willing to pay for customisation options, so this idea suits me perfectly.
I’ve seen other games use this model of free DLC for all and it works very well. The problem would be funding the development of these maps though. Is it outside of their budget?
> I’ve seen other games use this model of free DLC for all and it works very well. The problem would be funding the development of these maps though. Is it outside of their budget?
Give the community real map editing tools - even if it’s an just expansion of Forge - and the option to save pre-rendered (avoiding lighting generation and framerate issues) and they can reduce the number of map packs needed to keep the MP fresh.
The problem with selling DLC is that no matter the cost, most people want to know if it’s any good before they buy it, and forum responses are generally negative. Free DLC (Forge Island, for instance) gets downloaded whether people think it’s good or not.
People will buy things if they’re not required to play the game. If those items are cosmetic and have no effect on how the game plays there could be enough cash there to pay for a decent free map now and then.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, and I’ll keep saying it.
Developers and publishers need to stop pushing Maps as DLC.
By their very nature they are exclusive and create problems. If you don’t allow the map to come up if someone doesn’t have it, the players who bought it don’t see their purchase and thus discourages people from buying it. If you let people who didn’t buy the maps play on them anyway, people who did buy the maps feel that their purchase is invalidated.
Epic started down the right solution with Gear 3 in selling cosmetic items to pay for them and make enough to cover a map or having other companies pay for a map and plug their crap for a while.
But for that Halo needs a fundamental engine overhaul in how the assets are stored and assembled.
it would be nice if they waited at least a year or even two before coming out with dlc but, they won’t, they will breakout dlc 1 to two months after the game is out.
the fact that map dlc was out for halo 4 the first month and that armor like the mrk 5 and odst where dlc shows what 343i’s plans are with dlc. I don’t buy dlc for that reason, I use to love dlc but now it just makes me not want to care about what ever game is pushing dlc
I expect things will only get worst with map pack DLC in general. I think it’s only a matter of time till there are 3 options with map packs, the first is still the season pass, next is the individual pack purchases, and the eventually horrifying third option which will start popping up in games in a few years is the option to buy every DLC map separately.
> I think 343 should rethink on how to handle DLC, every single Halo (<mark>I’m not familiar with halo 2</mark>) has had an issue with this.
If I recall correctly Halo 2 did it right. They released the DLC and those that wanted it now could purchase it. And then months later they got a sponsor like Mountain Dew or Doritos or something and made that dlc Free to everyone thanks to the sponsors. At least this is how I remember it, but there was probably a problem. Players just waited for DLC to become free after that, and thus fewer people bought dlc in hopes waiting for it to become free.
Until they stop charging for maps, they’re doing it wrong. Consider it an investment in a healthy online population. And the healthier the population, the more the game will sell, the more the console will appeal, etc. By extension, they more they can rake in via cosmetic add-ons via microtransaction.
Make them free. It’s not an unreasonable request when there are so many other (and better) ways to take our money.
DLC filter. If you want to meet players with DLC, just turn it on, and problem solved. No forcing people to own DLC, no regrets on buying DLC that never appears, no taking achievements out of DLC (DLC with achievements HAS to cost money. Microsoft policy). A DLC playlist works as well.
Timed payments. Halo 2 and to a lesser extent, Halo 3, proved that this worked perfectly.
Release a map pack, charge $10.00
Wait 3 months, drop price to $5.00
Wait another 3 months, Free.
Make a DLC playlist for the first 3 months.
Make some normal playlists DLC required after 3 months.
This would solve nearly every problem, worked perfect in Halo 2, and Bungie did the same thing with the Heroic Map pack, Cold Storage, and the price decreases of the Legendary and Mythic maps.
> DLC filter. If you want to meet players with DLC, just turn it on, and problem solved. No forcing people to own DLC, no regrets on buying DLC that never appears, no taking achievements out of DLC (DLC with achievements HAS to cost money. Microsoft policy). A DLC playlist works as well.
Don’t quote me on this but I think that is no longer a policy on the xbox one, as crimson dragon has had 2 DLC updates which added 500gs and both were free.
A DLC filter is a good idea but it would mean that the community is still fragmented which is what 343 should avoid.
Microtransactions to makeup the cost of dlc is a pretty good idea imo. As much as i hate microtransactions, free map packs would be worth it. Especially ive never been a sucker for microtransactions.
They certainly can not go back to halo 4s system because that was awful. Yoy buy the maps and then never ever play them because one guy in the lobby doesnt have them. They also cant just make them free straight up for business reasons.
the only other thing i can think of is having them timed paid. Have people pay for early access, which we all know a lot of people would be dumb enough to do.
DLC requirements shouldn’t ever touch Matchmaking imo. I say if 343 comes out with new maps, have them show up in Matchmaking at no cost. However, if a user wanted to play customs or Forge on those maps, they wouldn’t be allowed until they purchase them. I feel they would still make some money this way.
In Halo, DLC means maps. A new place to play. We currently depend on the developer to supply new maps. The developer wants us to pay for them, but players are reluctant to pay for something that might not be popular. The only other place we get new places to play is Forge. In a proper Forge environment we can, in a limited fashion, tune an existing map to meet our requirements, and we can make that map available to others. All this is included in the cost of the game.
I believe this model should be refined and expanded. We already know what happened when we first got Forge and Custom Games. The only real complaints are that it’s too restrictive. Players want to create places to play. The game already provides the means to do that. At best, DLC should be “stuff” to put in the game.
> I expect things will only get worst with map pack DLC in general. I think it’s only a matter of time till there are 3 options with map packs, the first is still the season pass, next is the individual pack purchases, and the eventually horrifying third option which will start popping up in games in a few years is the option to buy every DLC map separately.
I think that the 3rd option is probably the best option. If I really want a good map but don’t want the other 2 maps, I shouldn’t have to waste money on them, but buying the map pack should be cheaper than buying all the maps individually.
> > DLC filter. If you want to meet players with DLC, just turn it on, and problem solved. No forcing people to own DLC, no regrets on buying DLC that never appears, no taking achievements out of DLC (DLC with achievements HAS to cost money. Microsoft policy). A DLC playlist works as well.
>
> Don’t quote me on this but I think that is no longer a policy on the xbox one, as crimson dragon has had 2 DLC updates which added 500gs and both were free.
>
> A DLC filter is a good idea but it would mean that the community is still fragmented which is what 343 should avoid.
If that policy isn’t there, then I still guarantee you that Microsoft will never let a Halo map pack (for a NEW Halo game, Halo 3 doesn’t count) go for free. To much money to be made.
I don’t quite understand the part about a fragmented community. If you mean there are players with and without the DLC, well, then, that is the player’s choice.