A Bit of Infinite Positivity

Games Halo Infinite
1

This is a summary of the best of my opinions related to the recent update. If you’d like to skip the read, go ahead and post what you liked and didn’t like about the update.

After reading those words from Joseph Staten, I feel like I have been rewarded for remaining faithful and positive after the other recent updates on Infinite. The fact that he lead the discussion was one thing, but his reaction to Infinite at the end of the update gave me the feels. Everything looks so good, so crisp, and they clarified mostly all that I wanted to be clarified. What I heard in that update was a handful of Halo fans bursting joy and with info they have been holding in due to the orders of their managers. I don’t know if the marketing techniques are getting to me or not, but either Joseph Staten and the team at 343 are truly genuine in what they say, or their minds are polluted with marketing trickery and deception. And there was a lot of honesty in the update too. The armor coatings were not sugar-coated, rather, they admitted the facts of what they did, listed the benefits of what they did, and admitted the downsides.

But my favorite part is when Joseph Staten explains his experience with Infinite’s campaign;
“Do I explore off the golden path? Assault that Banished war base guarding the valley pass? Follow a flight of Forerunner Sentinels into that unexpected cavern? Rescue a squad of marines dug-in and desperate halfway up that mountain? Or do I keep pulling the mainline story thread that feels epic and intimate at the exact same time?”

Reading that made my day. Some of the funnest times I’ve had were in open-world games with my best friends. Taking sides and having a war in Minecraft survival. Getting all the danger signs and speed traps in Forza Horizon 4. And now with Halo, I finally have the opportunity to get with the boys, grab a warthog, and crusade into enemy territory. We can delve deep into forerunner structures, take Banished strongholds, and save marines, and be laughing and trash talking all the way. That is the dream.

And as far as free-to-play multiplayer with a live system and possibly battle pass, I don’t care. Honestly I couldn’t care less whether the multiplayer is free to play or reserved for only the elite Halo fans who can afford it. The developers clarified that coatings will be unlocked through gameplay, as well as through purchase. There will be little, if not any grind, unlike Halo 5. I mean, honestly, this is an upside to multiplayer. The Halo community gets a wider audience and a wider fanbase. With the new customization system, you can tell which players actually play to earn their skill, and how they earned it, and which skip the gameplay and purchased a coating.

And there is still much more to come. Go ahead and say what you agree and disagree with, constructive discussion is always good.

2

positivity? on a video game forum? impossible

3

> 2535432369270945;1:
> This is a summary of the best of my opinions related to the recent update. If you’d like to skip the read, go ahead and post what you liked and didn’t like about the update.
>
> After reading those words from Joseph Staten, I feel like I have been rewarded for remaining faithful and positive after the other recent updates on Infinite. The fact that he lead the discussion was one thing, but his reaction to Infinite at the end of the update gave me the feels. Everything looks so good, so crisp, and they clarified mostly all that I wanted to be clarified. What I heard in that update was a handful of Halo fans bursting joy and with info they have been holding in due to the orders of their managers. I don’t know if the marketing techniques are getting to me or not, but either Joseph Staten and the team at 343 are truly genuine in what they say, or their minds are polluted with marketing trickery and deception. And there was a lot of honesty in the update too. The armor coatings were not sugar-coated, rather, they admitted the facts of what they did, listed the benefits of what they did, and admitted the downsides.
>
> But my favorite part is when Joseph Staten explains his experience with Infinite’s campaign;
> *“Do I explore off the golden path? Assault that Banished war base guarding the valley pass? Follow a flight of Forerunner Sentinels into that unexpected cavern? Rescue a squad of marines dug-in and desperate halfway up that mountain? Or do I keep pulling the mainline story thread that feels epic and intimate at the exact same time?”*Reading that made my day. Some of the funnest times I’ve had were in open-world games with my best friends. Taking sides and having a war in Minecraft survival. Getting all the danger signs and speed traps in Forza Horizon 4. And now with Halo, I finally have the opportunity to get with the boys, grab a warthog, and crusade into enemy territory. We can delve deep into forerunner structures, take Banished strongholds, and save marines, and be laughing and trash talking all the way. That is the dream.
>
> And as far as free-to-play multiplayer with a live system and possibly battle pass, I don’t care. Honestly I couldn’t care less whether the multiplayer is free to play or reserved for only the elite Halo fans who can afford it. The developers clarified that coatings will be unlocked through gameplay, as well as through purchase. There will be little, if not any grind, unlike Halo 5. I mean, honestly, this is an upside to multiplayer. The Halo community gets a wider audience and a wider fanbase. With the new customization system, you can tell which players actually play to earn their skill, and how they earned it, and which skip the gameplay and purchased a coating.
>
> And there is still much more to come. Go ahead and say what you agree and disagree with, constructive discussion is always good.

finally a bit of positivity, not a Bungie hugging nostalgia freak.

4

Criticism is something that shouldn’t be strayed from but positivity is always welcomed, you’ve had ease much of my concerns (at least for the campaign) especially the quote Joseph Staten mentioned on the expansive choices the player has in the campaign.

I’ve also noticed based on the recent news 343i offered that they’ve learned some of the mistakes from their previous Halo’s and looking for places to improve it. For example, focusing on healthy engagement rather than a grind fest, avoiding having free time into a chore, providing value for the time put in, and the list goes on.

On the coating matter, Chris Blom did mentioned that the the coating system allows 343 to define color, wear and tear, patterns, and materials on a region-by-region basis on the Spartan, skins ,vehicles etc; Which would be difficult to execute through primary and secondary color system. (I wished they clarified that when they announced coatings in the first place though). To be fair the recent reveal of the new coatings was much more appeasing than the primary and secondary colors in Halo 5. I wouldn’t mind if some of the more valuable coatings would have to be earned while the more barren, mediocre and dull coatings would be free for the people who paid the 60$ such as the purple one revealed through the chips ahoy ad.

5

> 2535453408431289;4:
> Criticism is something that shouldn’t be strayed from but positivity is always welcomed, you’ve had ease much of my concerns (at least for the campaign) especially the quote Joseph Staten mentioned on the expansive choices the player has in the campaign.
>
> I’ve also noticed based on the recent news 343i offered that they’ve learned some of the mistakes from their previous Halo’s and looking for places to improve it. For example, focusing on healthy engagement rather than a grind fest, avoiding having free time into a chore, providing value for the time put in, and the list goes on.
>
> On the coating matter, Chris Blom did mentioned that the the coating system allows 343 to define color, wear and tear, patterns, and materials on a region-by-region basis on the Spartan, skins ,vehicles etc; Which would be difficult to execute through primary and secondary color system. (I wished they clarified that when they announced coatings in the first place though). To be fair the recent reveal of the new coatings was much more appeasing than the primary and secondary colors in Halo 5. I wouldn’t mind if some of the more valuable coatings would have to be earned while the more barren, mediocre and dull coatings would be free for the people who paid the 60$ such as the purple one revealed through the chips ahoy ad.

I really wish they’d address exactly how/what the difficulties are in doing this exact coating system while ONLY allowing the user to change the colors of the “predetermined colored” portions of armor. I’m not a dev so saying something like this doesn’t sit right with me. Is it in the coding of the game or is it like a file size issue…i literally have no idea. Its like saying “We removed Forge so we could better customize our multiplayer maps.” To me, its always been about monetizing the game in some-way to compensate the F2P aspect. I’d almost respect them more for it if they came out and just said that as opposed to how its been presented thus far.

I do love the positivity though…

6

I just hope that with all of the customization they’ve been toting, that it might appear in campaign mode. Absolutely no reason not to, that was a huge feature in halo reach and it doesn’t remove any options for any players.

7

> 2533274809988140;5:
> I really wish they’d address exactly how/what the difficulties are in doing this exact coating system while ONLY allowing the user to change the colors of the “predetermined colored” portions of armor. I’m not a dev so saying something like this doesn’t sit right with me. Is it in the coding of the game or is it like a file size issue…i literally have no idea. Its like saying “We removed Forge so we could better customize our multiplayer maps.” To me, its always been about monetizing the game in some-way to compensate the F2P aspect. I’d almost respect them more for it if they came out and just said that as opposed to how its been presented thus far.
>
> I do love the positivity though…

Its definitely just a smoke screen to cover up the fact they want to monetize it. Just look at fighting games with character editors like Soul Calibur, or mech games like Armored Core. They’re offering multiple colors per part in some cases, with pattern editors. And they’ve been doing this for over a decade.

8

Positivity is when you stop hearing complaints, you know people are happy when they don’t have anything to say. As we’re still hearing complaints that means there’s something wrong that needs to be discussed.

Criticism is important and shouldn’t be seen as “negative”.

9

I was super happy after reading the update that I read it again lol. But, yeah I’ve been thinking about the game since and can’t wait to play. My only worry is not being able to get an (unconfirmed but I think highly likely) Xbox Series X: Halo Special Edition. It’s all I want but the scalpers may beat me to it.

They should put it in the Halo 5 Req Store for dedicated fans lol

10

I liked everything about the update except the coatings, that I’m still worried about. Really want them to go in depth on that system soon and what’s offered so I can make a decision. Right now I’m definitely leaning towards not liking it.

Besides that though the update reinvigorated my hype. The graphics and art style look so much better. I LOVE the grit to it and the fact that the armours actually look like metal for the first time in 10 years. The customization looks awesome so far, I can’t believe we’re actually getting a system even better than Reach… besides the coating system of course. They said they want to bring back ALL the armour… crazy if true. Even if it’s the majority I am very excited.

11

> 2533274863380818;8:
> Positivity is when you stop hearing complaints, you know people are happy when they don’t have anything to say. As we’re still hearing complaints that means there’s something wrong that needs to be discussed.
>
> Criticism is important and shouldn’t be seen as “negative”.

The post is titled “A Bit of Infinite Positivity” because I wanted to post all of my positive thoughts. However, I state at least twice, in both the beginning and the end of my post, that comments should consist of what you do and do not like. For clarification, criticism indeed should not be seen as “negative”. Criticism is in fact much more beneficial than positive comments themselves. However, I think that if 343 sees this chain, it will be a nice thing to see all of the positive feedback there is. Seeing all of the criticism, and sometimes, straight up toxicity that there is on other posts, I felt that a chain devoted to positive yet beneficial discourse would be a sort of pat on the back for the team at 343.

12

> 2535432369270945;11:
> > 2533274863380818;8:
> > Positivity is when you stop hearing complaints, you know people are happy when they don’t have anything to say. As we’re still hearing complaints that means there’s something wrong that needs to be discussed.
> >
> > Criticism is important and shouldn’t be seen as “negative”.
>
> The post is titled “A Bit of Infinite Positivity” because I wanted to post all of my positive thoughts. However, I state at least twice, in both the beginning and the end of my post, that comments should consist of what you do and do not like. For clarification, criticism indeed should not be seen as “negative”. Criticism is in fact much more beneficial than positive comments themselves. However, I think that if 343 sees this chain, it will be a nice thing to see all of the positive feedback there is. Seeing all of the criticism, and sometimes, straight up toxicity that there is on other posts, I felt that a chain devoted to positive yet beneficial discourse would be a sort of pat on the back for the team at 343.

Why should they get a pat on the back? what have they done that deserves our blessings? CEA? H4? MCC? H5? and now Hi?
I would love to shower them with respect, but they haven’t earned a lick of respect from me thanks to the astouding disappointments they continue to push out.

13

I feel so positive, and I notice people so nice and positive, that it has made me return to this forum to comment again and be together with the Halo community.

People were so irascible, so defensive and unpleasant, that it was a really toxic atmosphere. Hopefully this good situation will continue for a long time.

Without stopping being critical with 343 when necessary, but without falling back into the toxicity of before and in that situation of “Halo fans hating Halo fans.”

14

I just really liked the strafing and gunplay from the demo. Snappy and fluid gameplay.

15

> 2533274842428280;13:
> I feel so positive, and I notice people so nice and positive, that it has made me return to this forum to comment again and be together with the Halo community.
>
> People were so irascible, so defensive and unpleasant, that it was a really toxic atmosphere. Hopefully this good situation will continue for a long time.
>
> Without stopping being critical with 343 when necessary, but without falling back into the toxicity of before and in that situation of “Halo fans hating Halo fans.”

I recommend you stay in this thread if you think anything has changed in those regards. People forgot to respect others and do not know how to discuss without attacking. Glad to have you back.

Also really excited to see my son open his Christmas presents tomorrow…selfishly want to get my hands on some of the Halo Infinite stuff I got him :slight_smile:

16

> 2535458188883243;12:
> > 2535432369270945;11:
> > > 2533274863380818;8:
> > > Positivity is when you stop hearing complaints, you know people are happy when they don’t have anything to say. As we’re still hearing complaints that means there’s something wrong that needs to be discussed.
> > >
> > > Criticism is important and shouldn’t be seen as “negative”.
> >
> > The post is titled “A Bit of Infinite Positivity” because I wanted to post all of my positive thoughts. However, I state at least twice, in both the beginning and the end of my post, that comments should consist of what you do and do not like. For clarification, criticism indeed should not be seen as “negative”. Criticism is in fact much more beneficial than positive comments themselves. However, I think that if 343 sees this chain, it will be a nice thing to see all of the positive feedback there is. Seeing all of the criticism, and sometimes, straight up toxicity that there is on other posts, I felt that a chain devoted to positive yet beneficial discourse would be a sort of pat on the back for the team at 343.
>
> Why should they get a pat on the back? what have they done that deserves our blessings? CEA? H4? MCC? H5? and now Hi?
> I would love to shower them with respect, but they haven’t earned a lick of respect from me thanks to the astouding disappointments they continue to push out.

Well, considering the alternative is a grindfest (Destiny), we’re probably better off.

17

> 2535460684713784;16:
> > 2535458188883243;12:
> > > 2535432369270945;11:
> > > > 2533274863380818;8:
> > > > Positivity is when you stop hearing complaints, you know people are happy when they don’t have anything to say. As we’re still hearing complaints that means there’s something wrong that needs to be discussed.
> > > >
> > > > Criticism is important and shouldn’t be seen as “negative”.
> > >
> > > The post is titled “A Bit of Infinite Positivity” because I wanted to post all of my positive thoughts. However, I state at least twice, in both the beginning and the end of my post, that comments should consist of what you do and do not like. For clarification, criticism indeed should not be seen as “negative”. Criticism is in fact much more beneficial than positive comments themselves. However, I think that if 343 sees this chain, it will be a nice thing to see all of the positive feedback there is. Seeing all of the criticism, and sometimes, straight up toxicity that there is on other posts, I felt that a chain devoted to positive yet beneficial discourse would be a sort of pat on the back for the team at 343.
> >
> > Why should they get a pat on the back? what have they done that deserves our blessings? CEA? H4? MCC? H5? and now Hi?
> > I would love to shower them with respect, but they haven’t earned a lick of respect from me thanks to the astouding disappointments they continue to push out.
>
> Well, considering the alternative is a grindfest (Destiny), we’re probably better off.

At least Destiny is unique, Halo is generic and bland thanks to 343

18

> 2535458188883243;17:
> At least Destiny is unique, Halo is generic and bland thanks to 343

I’ve recently tried Destiny 2 (the free to play version) and boy, I couldn’t disagree more with you. That game was a huge disappointment. The first few hours are full of missions like: “go kill 50 enemies and then get back to this NPC to continue the main story.” Then there’s a tour through the Citadel where you have to talk to a dozen of boring unanimated NPC before being sent again on another mission like “survive the wave of enemies while your ghost unlocks a door”. Rinse and repeat for a dozen hours and you have a triple-A game…

That game is soulless and dull and poorly written. Not only is Destiny unoriginal, but it actually is a compilation of the worst traits of current videogames. The only good thing going for it is that the gunplay kind of feels like Halo…

Seriously, if Destiny is an indicative of the direction that Bungie would take Halo next, I’m glad that the franchise is on 343i’s hands instead.

19

> 2533274938827434;18:
> > 2535458188883243;17:
> > At least Destiny is unique, Halo is generic and bland thanks to 343
>
> I’ve recently tried Destiny 2 (the free to play version) and boy, I couldn’t disagree more with you. That game was a huge disappointment. The first few hours are full of missions like: “go kill 50 enemies and then get back to this NPC to continue the main story.” Then there’s a tour through the Citadel where you have to talk to a dozen of boring unanimated NPC before being sent again on another mission like “survive the wave of enemies while your ghost unlocks a door”. Rinse and repeat for a dozen hours and you have a triple-A game…
>
> That game is soulless and dull and poorly written. Not only is Destiny unoriginal, but it actually is a compilation of the worst traits of current videogames. The only good thing going for it is that the gunplay kind of feels like Halo…
>
> Seriously, if Destiny is an indicative of the direction that Bungie would take Halo next, I’m glad that the franchise is on 343i’s hands instead.

Oh, no I’m not defending Bungie or saying they should have kept making Halo, Reach was a pile of garbage.
I’m just saying 343 hasn’t earned a lick of respect thanks to how poor their handling of the franchise is.

20

Keep in mind, he is payed by the company so why would he bad mouth it? Also, you think 343 would allow him or any employee to badmouth it online?