An open letter to 343 about Microtrasations & F2P

Games Halo Infinite
1

Firstly I want to start by saying I’m a big advocate for both microtrasactions and a free to play online model, however I think there needs to be some things in place to ensure they create a positive and enjoyable experience for the player base.

1) Customisation Options
While I agree it is a good idea to offer content for people who want to buy weapon or vehicle skins, emblems, titles, armour, assassinations etc etc. It is important that a strong offering is provided to be unlocked via challenges to the player that can be completed by anyone. The community will respond poorly to things being held back such as campaign player models not being available in multiplayer without purchasing them, released later down the line. Content that is expected to be included should be included. Fan favourite emblems that have been in every Halo game, these types of things should NEVER be behind a pay wall now that they are established. In addition, I think there should be campaign/single player exclusive unlockables. Rewarding people for this will encourage more people to play it and will also reward loyal fans who own the full game/game pass.

2) Predatory Behaviour
It’s no lie that microtrasactions in modern videos games, and more notably mobile gaming is a device used to generate revenue and targets a smaller portion of the overall audience. I think it’s a great business model, however I think more should be done from a company wellbeing perspective to protect those with mental health issues. Like with gambling websites, players (or parents) should be able to set monthly or annual spending caps. In addition, any players who routinely spend money, or spend excessively should have some form of signposting to mental health organisations and a pop up to remind them of the dangers of market addiction. It will likely hurt company revenue to do this, but I think in this day and age it is particularly important to ensure companies are helping those that need it most. They will still turn a steady profit and will be a gesture of goodwill to show they are not using this system in a predatory way.

3) Anti-Cheating Software
With a free to play model, having expert anti cheating software is essential. It is also important that players can quickly and easily report those that are suspected of cheating to ensure cheaters are targeted and stopped as quickly as possible. I think allowing players to choose to disable cross-platform is a good option.

I’m sure there are more things it needs to be a good, healthy system that provides all with a great long term experience so please post your thoughts on how this system should work to provide benefit to all.

2

Just let me unlock a cool set of armor for doing the campaign on Legendary among other things like Halo 3 and I’ll be happy, I feel no enjoyment from levelling up a battle pass, or opening a loot box to receive customization options.

3

> 2533274947044147;2:
> Just let me unlock a cool set of armor for doing the campaign on Legendary among other things like Halo 3 and I’ll be happy, I feel no enjoyment from levelling up a battle pass, or opening a loot box to receive customization options.

Absolutely, they’ve already confirmed no loot boxes which is good.

I’d like some armour along the lines of the VIDOC achievements for Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST. That felt like a pretty epic way to earn the Recon armour.

4

I agree with all three points! No more loot boxes :slight_smile:

5

> 2533274801036271;3:
> > 2533274947044147;2:
> > Just let me unlock a cool set of armor for doing the campaign on Legendary among other things like Halo 3 and I’ll be happy, I feel no enjoyment from levelling up a battle pass, or opening a loot box to receive customization options.
>
> Absolutely, they’ve already confirmed no loot boxes which is good.
>
> I’d like some armour along the lines of the VIDOC achievements for Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST. That felt like a pretty epic way to earn the Recon armour.

they confirmed no lootboxes with real world money. they didn’t confirm no lootboxes.

could be, that alongside a paid battlepass, unlocks without money are only available with grind heavy lootboxes. adding an increasingly high grind to unlock the non-paid lootboxes alongside generating FOMO could generate the urge to spend money on any unlocks.

6

The only way I can see this working is if the progression system cannot be short cut by using real money, as that would effectively destroy all meaning behind unlocks. I can maybe see limited time armors like HCS team decal armors or holiday armors working as they wouldn’t be original parts of the progression anyway, but allowing people to just buy armors they like would be so awful.
I think one of the best ways to do it would be to incentivize FTP players to buy campaign in order to be allowed to unlock a certain number of armors. I hope this game has a large number of armors that have challenge based unlocks, and some that are credit based, and that those credits cannot be purchased through microtransactions. I hate the idea of a battle pass as it is generally just an inferior form of customization I believe. If they did the battlepass in a way where FTP players have to pay to essentially participate in the unlock system then I could be okay with it.
Overall, the free to play model is extremely concerning to me.

7

They should let you unlock skins for completing the campaign in high difficulty.
Give decent to hard (but NOT IMPOSSIBLE) challenges to unlock gears.
It is important that unlockable gears can NOT be bought.
I am all for gears and skins to be paid but there should be a balance.
Take a page out of Fortnite’s microtransaction and also give decent battle pass.

8

> 2533274801036271;1:
> 3) Anti-Cheating SoftwareWith a free to play model, having expert anti cheating software is essential. It is also important that players can quickly and easily report those that are suspected of cheating to ensure cheaters are targeted and stopped as quickly as possible. I think allowing players to choose to disable cross-platform is a good option.

this is something i also agree 100% with so long there is a way to turn crossplay off in the options menu then i am fine with that there adding crossplay in the game.

and maybe you can add for point 4 this more:
that there need to find a good belance between mouse+ keyboard vs controller since players that play on the concole and use the basic xbox controller that its more getting fair vs a PC that use a mouse and keyboard that the belance between that needs to be find.
for exemple: that xbox controlers get Aim Assist in the multiplayer mode more.

9

Micro transactions are the worst thing to happen to video games

10

> 2535447040399614;9:
> Micro transactions are the worst thing to happen to video games

100% agreed. They are a large part of the reason for a degradation of product quality in the games’ industry.

They also need to rename 'micro’transaction to 'macro’transactions. There’s nothing micro about these monetisation schemes any longer. For example some of those Valorant skins cost more then a whole brand new game…

11

How about, keep your damn mtx out of these games? Cool? Great.
Christ its the “Micro-transactions and why we should want them in MCC” thread all over again.

12

How popular was EVERY Halo game prior to H5 without mtx? Even if it’s not “pay to win”, it still becomes “pay to have your spartan look how you want them to look”, which is nonsense. I’m very afraid that the unlockable stuff will be SUPER grindy, just so people will get frustrated with it and say, “Oh screw it, here’s my $1.99 so I can have a Helljumper helmet already.”
NO. MICROTRANSACTIONS. PERIOD.

13

> 2533274885864039;12:
> How popular was EVERY Halo game prior to H5 without mtx? Even if it’s not “pay to win”, it still becomes “pay to have your spartan look how you want them to look”, which is nonsense. I’m very afraid that the unlockable stuff will be SUPER grindy, just so people will get frustrated with it and say, “Oh screw it, here’s my $1.99 so I can have a Helljumper helmet already.”
> NO. MICROTRANSACTIONS. PERIOD.

Considering that Halo 5 had microtransactions, and it was by near unanimous vote the worse Halo game out of the entire franchise. Can say it was definitely not as popular as it could have been.

I agree with you. Microtransactions are bad and hurt products.

14

Admittedly, I didn’t really become a true Halo freak until Reach. I had played 2 and 3 a tiny bit, and a little ODST, but never got familiar with the lore. However, in trying to complete the Reach armory, it made me want to go back and beat H3 and ODST on Legendary, just for the Reach armor it unlocked. That made me proud, and gave the games a sense of…legacy? I guess? Ten years later, I’m immersed in the lore, collect tons of merch, and consider myself a passably good player. Most of my 57k gamerscore has come from Halo games. What I’m saying, if anything, is no microtransactions were involved, and I still ended up spending a BUNDLE on all the Halo stuff I could get my hands on. One of the groomsmen in my wedding was a friend a met playing Halo, for chrissakes.

15

> 2533274885864039;14:
> Admittedly, I didn’t really become a true Halo freak until Reach. I had played 2 and 3 a tiny bit, and a little ODST, but never got familiar with the lore. However, in trying to complete the Reach armory, it made me want to go back and beat H3 and ODST on Legendary, just for the Reach armor it unlocked. That made me proud, and gave the games a sense of…legacy? I guess? Ten years later, I’m immersed in the lore, collect tons of merch, and consider myself a passably good player. Most of my 57k gamerscore has come from Halo games. What I’m saying, if anything, is no microtransactions were involved, and I still ended up spending a BUNDLE on all the Halo stuff I could get my hands on. One of the groomsmen in my wedding was a friend a met playing Halo, for chrissakes.

Indeed. Hence microtransactions realistically should not be needed.

16

> 2533274925473364;10:
> > 2535447040399614;9:
> > Micro transactions are the worst thing to happen to video games
>
> 100% agreed. They are a large part of the reason for a degradation of product quality in the games’ industry.
>
> They also need to rename 'micro’transaction to 'macro’transactions. There’s nothing micro about these monetisation schemes any longer. For example some of those Valorant skins cost more then a whole brand new game…

Valorant is a scam, I play it but will never spend a penny into it. I bought the battle pass and regret it. I will never buy anything from them unless they stop being stupid with their pricing. Which they wont and I am waiting for Halo to come out so I can switch.

17

> 2533274793122050;5:
> > 2533274801036271;3:
> > > 2533274947044147;2:
> > > Just let me unlock a cool set of armor for doing the campaign on Legendary among other things like Halo 3 and I’ll be happy, I feel no enjoyment from levelling up a battle pass, or opening a loot box to receive customization options.
> >
> > Absolutely, they’ve already confirmed no loot boxes which is good.
> >
> > I’d like some armour along the lines of the VIDOC achievements for Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST. That felt like a pretty epic way to earn the Recon armour.
>
> they confirmed no lootboxes with real world money. they didn’t confirm no lootboxes.
>
> could be, that alongside a paid battlepass, unlocks without money are only available with grind heavy lootboxes. adding an increasingly high grind to unlock the non-paid lootboxes alongside generating FOMO could generate the urge to spend money on any unlocks.

Exactly, they have never confirmed no loot boxes or any other rng mechanic. They only confirmed no PAID loot boxes with either real money or in game currency. 343i could easily have rng loot based mechanics in mind for Halo Infinite at this point. Any rng and I pass on Halo Infinite.

18

> 2592250499819446;17:
> > 2533274793122050;5:
> > > 2533274801036271;3:
> > > > 2533274947044147;2:
> > > > Just let me unlock a cool set of armor for doing the campaign on Legendary among other things like Halo 3 and I’ll be happy, I feel no enjoyment from levelling up a battle pass, or opening a loot box to receive customization options.
> > >
> > > Absolutely, they’ve already confirmed no loot boxes which is good.
> > >
> > > I’d like some armour along the lines of the VIDOC achievements for Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST. That felt like a pretty epic way to earn the Recon armour.
> >
> > they confirmed no lootboxes with real world money. they didn’t confirm no lootboxes.
> >
> > could be, that alongside a paid battlepass, unlocks without money are only available with grind heavy lootboxes. adding an increasingly high grind to unlock the non-paid lootboxes alongside generating FOMO could generate the urge to spend money on any unlocks.
>
> Exactly, they have never confirmed no loot boxes or any other rng mechanic. They only confirmed no PAID loot boxes with either real money or in game currency. 343i could easily have rng loot based mechanics in mind for Halo Infinite at this point. Any rng and I pass on Halo Infinite.

Agreed, I’m so -Yoink- over lootboxes and rng. Just give me challenges ffs and I’ll do each and every one of them eventually.

19

I believe that all armour Variants and emblems MUST be available through unlockable achievements and not via purchases through microtransactions to allow a freedom for those with limited disposable income to be able to express themselves to a degree, however Alt paint schemes, Weapon and Vehicle Skins, Armour Effects to a degree, Single use Warzone items (or what ever gametype replaces it in Infinite), these should be the focal point of micro transactions. Halo reach and Halo 4 had a ranked progression scheme that and awarded armour for reaching certain milestones (reach, you had to use credits earned to afford armour which was a grind) where as Halo 3 offered rewards for the more completionist side of the game, like finding all skulls, earning specific medals, clearing campaign difficulties, all making the replay value ore fun and enjoyable for the most.

This is where Halo 5 flopped in that there was a lot of things to discover but next to no rewards at all other than gamer score, meaning there was nothing worth the time of searching out all these little pieces of intel, skulls etc, it served no purpose. My proposal is to 180 this and make every intel piece count to a reward, like Armour or a weapon/ vehicle skin…more favouring Armour here as I lover customising my appearance and speaking as one with very limited disposable income, it was a raging nuisance when the req system was introduced.

Halo 4 offered each armour type an alternate Armour skins for commendations such as headshot counts, medal acquisition and other grinding chores so these areas could be more fitting for micro transactions.

in addition, if there is a hub of some kind of in game hub, you could take a leaf out of monster hunter world’s book and have it so certain aspects of your hub are customisable through micro transactions.

Also let me make this clear…NO BATTLE PASS. Don’t add one and lump it in with any of the collection editions Limited or Legendary…it should never count as bonus content…if it’s already in the game, it ain’t bonus, it’s just pay for early access.

Take a leaf out of BUNGIE’s Book for this one. Halo 3 game us a Helmet with bonus DVD RVB episodes as well as additional features. Halo 3 ODST less of a mark but did have an exclusive Controller, Halo reach…Now that’s a collectors target, Limited, came with Halsey’s Dairy and other nuggets of Halo lore and info, and the Statue…Oh so good. Comparing it in terms of price too, You got a £40 Game, a £20 Book and a £40 Statue…That is Worth it over a £100+ difference between Limited and Legendary and all Limited got was intel cards and a very poor Guardians Statue…

Make sure that the game is Affordable and fun before adding unnecessary content. Even the Master Piece transformers figures have axed certain accessories because they unjustifiably jack up the price.

20

> 2533274801036271;3:
> > 2533274947044147;2:
> > Just let me unlock a cool set of armor for doing the campaign on Legendary among other things like Halo 3 and I’ll be happy, I feel no enjoyment from levelling up a battle pass, or opening a loot box to receive customization options.
>
> Absolutely, they’ve already confirmed no loot boxes which is good.
>
> I’d like some armour along the lines of the VIDOC achievements for Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST. That felt like a pretty epic way to earn the Recon armour.

I don’t believe loot boxes are out. 343 has said there will be “no real money loot boxes.” All this means is that we can’t buy loot boxes with money, but perhaps we can buy an in-game currency with real money and then use the in-game currency to buy the loot boxes.