Accepting the pandering to a free to play audience

Games Halo Infinite
1

I understand fully the decisions made by the developers with the game, the original and larger fanbase that was alienated years ago are not coming back, so it would be pointless to make Infinite resemble a Halo game. When playing, I realised that it isn’t worth putting any effort into using weapons that actually require thought. It is far much easier and convenient to just turn my brain off and spray the AR across the map at anyone still pathetically clinging onto the concept of the game rewarding the player for putting effort into the gunfights.

Truthfully I shouldn’t be surprised with the state of the product especially given a bunch of employees quitting under the hashtag “Classhalofan” a while ago. I’ve accepted that the developers want to create their own product and that the only way to market it is by putting the name of a succsessful franchise on it instead. It’s been over a decade since a Halo game was released and I’m okay with that.

As entertaining as it is to run as a team of four and stat on people, I can’t ignore the well reasonably well-made sandbox being made irrelevant by the AR, a weapon that if tuned correctly would be average at mid-range and semi-decent in close range (reflective of the lack of effort required by the player). But as we know that this free to play game is pandering to such an audience, I doubt that steps would be made to encourage new players to improve, as that could be potentially offputting to an audience isn’t fully committed to this game (and therefore less profitable). At the end of the day, it’s a business. Fair enough.

I hope the best for the franchise and those that actually have a passion for it (I used to have it years ago when it was a Halo game), but I genuinely can’t take this game seriously.

2

You know you could have just said “I don’t like the AR dominated balance” and still get the same point across. A lot of people agree with you there.

3

I enjoyed the read and agree with you. Each release, I always get myself hyped that “this halo will be different than what 343 has done in the past, they’ve had to learn from there past drops”

I’m at your point as well and throwing in the towel. Time will tell how successful it is. I still had “fun” plying the beta, but yeah to me it doesn’t feel core Halo enough. Definitely closer than H5 lol, but that’s not saying much.

4

> 2533274882881665;2:
> You know you could have just said “I don’t like the AR dominated balance” and still get the same point across. A lot of people agree with you there.

True, but I like to explore the reasoning of the decisions a little more. I’m realistic enough to not expect any constructive measures to take place towards the game, so I’d like theorise the reasoning behind it. Each release of the game has been on the decline for years now so I’m merely talking about the logic on their part to actually make the brand more profitable. If this and the past two main instalments were released independently without “Halo” slapped on the box, I doubt that this development team would be in business.

Equally, if reading on forums isn’t your thing (despite you bragging about doing it for nine years on your bio), feel free to talk about less stimulating subjects such as cosmetics in other threads. Much love.

5

> 2533274813293840;4:
> > 2533274882881665;2:
> > You know you could have just said “I don’t like the AR dominated balance” and still get the same point across. A lot of people agree with you there.
>
> True, but I like to explore the reasoning of the decisions a little more. I’m realistic enough to not expect any constructive measures to take place towards the game, so I’d like theorise the reasoning behind it. Each release of the game has been on the decline for years now so I’m merely talking about the logic on their part to actually make the brand more profitable. If this and the past two main instalments were released independently without “Halo” slapped on the box, I doubt that this development team would be in business.
>
> Equally, if reading on forums isn’t your thing (despite you bragging about doing it for nine years on your bio), feel free to talk about less stimulating subjects such as cosmetics in other threads. Much love.

Fair fair you’ve gotten me good here.

6

Agreed. Tough to see as a long time Halo fan. Sure has fallen since the height of Halo 3. There’s still hope since people are hyped for this game, just as long as 343i doesn’t squander it.

7

> 2533274882881665;5:
> > 2533274813293840;4:
> > > 2533274882881665;2:
> > > You know you could have just said “I don’t like the AR dominated balance” and still get the same point across. A lot of people agree with you there.
> >
> > True, but I like to explore the reasoning of the decisions a little more. I’m realistic enough to not expect any constructive measures to take place towards the game, so I’d like theorise the reasoning behind it. Each release of the game has been on the decline for years now so I’m merely talking about the logic on their part to actually make the brand more profitable. If this and the past two main instalments were released independently without “Halo” slapped on the box, I doubt that this development team would be in business.
> >
> > Equally, if reading on forums isn’t your thing (despite you bragging about doing it for nine years on your bio), feel free to talk about less stimulating subjects such as cosmetics in other threads. Much love.
>
> Fair fair you’ve gotten me good here.

All good <3 There are many threads talking about the balancing but I’m more intrigued about the steps to ignore it. Given the less than desirable profit margin that Microsoft has probably expected from the developers at this point, I think just a constant rotation of a new and naïve player base is the way to go. Who cares about people that are passionate about the original franchise? They have jobs and lives now, not enough time to steal their parents’ credit card to blow hundreds of dollars on cosmetics.

8

Game seems fine to me outside of it being a little difficult to aim. Weapon balance seems alright provided ranked is BR starts.

The maps are mostly designed in a way that you aren’t screwed over for having the AR/Sidekick, you just have to pick your battles a lot more. Which can be frustrating in objective I must admit.

9

> 2533274813293840;1:
> I understand fully the decisions made by the developers with the game, the original and larger fanbase that was alienated years ago are not coming back, so it would be pointless to make Infinite resemble a Halo game. When playing, I realised that it isn’t worth putting any effort into using weapons that actually require thought. It is far much easier and convenient to just turn my brain off and spray the AR across the map at anyone still pathetically clinging onto the concept of the game rewarding the player for putting effort into the gunfights.

This reads like incredibly passive-aggressive whining, and it’s about a weapon that’s likely to receive balance changes alongside the rest of the sandbox before launch.

10

> 2533274813293840;1:
> I understand fully the decisions made by the developers with the game, the original and larger fanbase that was alienated years ago are not coming back, so it would be pointless to make Infinite resemble a Halo game. When playing, I realised that it isn’t worth putting any effort into using weapons that actually require thought. It is far much easier and convenient to just turn my brain off and spray the AR across the map at anyone still pathetically clinging onto the concept of the game rewarding the player for putting effort into the gunfights.
>
> Truthfully I shouldn’t be surprised with the state of the product especially given a bunch of employees quitting under the hashtag “Classhalofan” a while ago. I’ve accepted that the developers want to create their own product and that the only way to market it is by putting the name of a succsessful franchise on it instead. It’s been over a decade since a Halo game was released and I’m okay with that.
>
> As entertaining as it is to run as a team of four and stat on people, I can’t ignore the well reasonably well-made sandbox being made irrelevant by the AR, a weapon that if tuned correctly would be average at mid-range and semi-decent in close range (reflective of the lack of effort required by the player). But as we know that this free to play game is pandering to such an audience, I doubt that steps would be made to encourage new players to improve, as that could be potentially offputting to an audience isn’t fully committed to this game (and therefore less profitable). At the end of the day, it’s a business. Fair enough.
>
> I hope the best for the franchise and those that actually have a passion for it (I used to have it years ago when it was a Halo game), but I genuinely can’t take this game seriously.

Being a little dramatic, aren’t we? The AR is in need of balancing, we all know that, but acting like the IP is well and truly dead over this is a tad on the extreme side. This is still a beta after all.

11

the ar only dominates because it and the br are the only weapons that seem to have aim assist at all

12

> 2533274801036271;8:
> Game seems fine to me outside of it being a little difficult to aim. Weapon balance seems alright provided ranked is BR starts.
>
> The maps are mostly designed in a way that you aren’t screwed over for having the AR/Sidekick, you just have to pick your battles a lot more. Which can be frustrating in objective I must admit.

It’s fun if you don’t see it as a Halo game, that’s cool. Again, running as a team of four and exploiting anyone’s false hope of putting effort into their gunfights is how to play it. It makes every win we have easy but hollow, it’s designed for instant gratification instead of passion so I’ve accepted it isn’t for me.

> 2535469892892814;10:
> > 2533274813293840;1:
> >
>
> Being a little dramatic, aren’t we? The AR is in need of balancing, we all know that, but acting like the IP is well and truly dead over this is a tad on the extreme side. This is still a beta after all.

Not dead at all. Under this new way of marketing to kids in need of instant gratification instead of attempting a medium, I feel it’s the best choice from a business perspective.

> 2533274807537946;9:
> > 2533274813293840;1:
> >
>
> This reads like incredibly passive-aggressive whining, and it’s about a weapon that’s likely to receive balance changes alongside the rest of the sandbox before launch.

It’s honestly acceptance of the state of the franchise with no malice, if anything, it is pity for those that still have hope for a Halo game. After a period of time, the developers may end their fetishisation for instant gratification but it’d only be accelerated through money. Hence, the alienation and replacement of a fanbase seems like the most logical step and I commend them for it.

EDIT:

Although mods get upset when I mention this, but experience has a correlation to credibility, Generally, I notice 50s/champs etc seeming to agree with the subject whereas people that haven’t played a Halo game yet/diamonds attacking my character. Again, this franchise doesn’t represent original fans so fair play.

13

Is it really easy as a team of 4, you not losing any games?

I play solo most of the time. When I used to run a full team back in the H3 days we almost never lost, hard to balance in most games as parties are at an advantage. H5 seems to have it a bit better matched thanks to Trueskill2, if you played more it would probably start to get harder as that’s how the system adapts to your Fireteam and how much you’re winning.

14

> 2533274801036271;13:
> Is it really easy as a team of 4, you not losing any games?
>
> I play solo most of the time. When I used to run a full team back in the H3 days we almost never lost, hard to balance in most games as parties are at an advantage. H5 seems to have it a bit better matched thanks to Trueskill2, if you played more it would probably start to get harder as that’s how the system adapts to your Fireteam and how much you’re winning.

Dropping a few games of course as SBMM is 100% a thing. A lot potential losses being avoided by switching to no effort, it sells and I understand.

15

> 2533274813293840;14:
> > 2533274801036271;13:
> >
>
> Dropping a few games of course as SBMM is 100% a thing. A lot potential losses being avoided by switching to no effort, it sells and I understand.

Yeah is abundantly clear the sbmm is at work, nice to know To4 isn’t a free pass.