I’m usually not one for hyperbole when it comes to game development news, but has 343 lost their minds? I get that Infinite’s mutliplayer needs monetization since it’s free to play, but hoo wow I didn’t think you’d actually go this far. You monetized player emblems with 5, a 60$ game, making us grind and roll dice countless amounts of times just so we could represent ourselves with iconography we’ve had since -Yoinking!- 2004, and now, with Infinite, we’ll have to pay, and potentially roll loot boxes just to have our original COLORS, and that’s assuming your color scheme is purchasable/rollable at launch, with a pattern you find adequately pleasing.
For alot of players, Spartans have been a personal, and sometimes sentimental representation of themselves, with the color schemes and emblems carried over with every title holding personal meaning to some. Now, we’re more or less just settling on a color scheme/pattern that “looks the best I guess…”, hoping that the primary color, secondary color, and pattern scheme is something you can appreciate. It’s not personal anymore. The fact that this is something that 343 doesn’t understand after years of criticism gives me serious doubts on the game as a whole.
This needs to be walked back. Monetized patterns and armor textures? Fine. Removing a staple expression of individuality from previous games in favor of monetized presets? No, sir.