I’m not going to rant about my thoughts on the current state of the game because I want this post to be constructive and, hopefully, reviewed and maybe even considered by 343 in the end. Below are some of my suggestions on how 343 could potentially restructure the content available and its monetization in a way that would likely gain a more positive reception from the Halo community.
- All armor sets from prior halo titles should be free. This is all content that was available to us in prior games at no cost. That doesn’t mean all these pieces need to be instantly available to us! Instead, maybe have a leveling system that unlocks the armor pieces.
- Players should be allowed to customize the colors of their armor instead of being forced to buy color schemes. Let me go a bit more in-depth here. Players should be able to customize the colors of each piece of armor, including visors, armor add-ons, and techsuits, and even determine the level of dirt or damage/scarring to the pieces all for free.
- Instead of monetizing the colors, 343 could monetize decals and camo patterns as well as visor patterns. Those clan packs should definitely remain monetized.
- All prior base emblems should be available for free and for use as nameplates. There are definitely some notable emblems that were missing in the latest games. Monetizing the new ones is fine but at least let us have the old ones back for free.
- Nameplates, nameplate backgrounds, and emblems should all have their colors customizable. The current system suffers from the same problem as the armor palettes. Just let us decide the colors!
- The store and all purchasable content need an overhaul: Instead of all of this content being available for a limited time, make it purchasable within the armory for its normal price and instead items in the shop are on sale instead of full price or sold as a bundle for reduced price. Additionally, all shoulder pieces should be sold/unlocked as a set, not individually. The pricing for the armor would be something like this:
Common Item: 100 Cr
Rare Item: 150 Cr
Epic Item: 200 Cr
Legendary Item: 250 Cr
For example, say I missed out on the Type-1 Defenders for the Eaglestrike armor and wanted to purchase them. With the proposed system, I could purchase them directly through the armory at full price for 200 Cr or I can wait and see if it goes on sale in the shop for less.
Now I understand most people might read this and still object to this level of monetization which brings me to my next point. - You should be able to grind for Credits. I’ve thought about this for a while and come to the conclusion that Credits should not be earned based on performance but instead rewarded for routinely completing matches. Maybe there could be a weekly cap of 500 Cr but that still leaves the ability for players to purchase credits if they want to purchase tiers on their battlepass or don’t feel like grinding for Cr.
- Kill effects should be applicable to all weapons, not UNSC weapons exclusively.
So, in review, here’s what should be free, what should be monetized, and what other changes should be made:
Free:
-All armor pieces from previous Halo titles
-Full armor and visor color customization including dirt and damage detailing
-All emblems from previous Halo titles
-Full emblem color customization
Monetize:
-New armor pieces
-Clan armor palettes
-Armor camo patterns and decals
-Visor patterns
-New emblems and emblem backgrounds
-Weapon skins
-Weapon charms
-Weapon parts
-Kill effects
-Mythic effects and armor effects
-Vehicle parts
-Vehicle skins
Other Changes:
-Emblem background colors should be customizable in addition to the emblems themselves
-All armor pieces should be available for purchase at all times through the armor hall
-The shop should instead sell items at a reduced price with the incentive being to log in daily/weekly to see what’s on sale
-Shoulder pieces should be unlocked or purchasable as a set (yes, they already bundle them in the current shop, but this is for clarity with the proposed armor purchasing system)
-Players should be allowed to grind for Credits via completing games
-Kill effects should work on all weapons, not just UNSC ones.