One of the things from Reach (and, to a lesser extent, Halo 3 – although exclusive for Bungie employees) which I really enjoyed was Armor Effects. That they were eliminated from and not expanded upon in Halo 4 was a let down to me.
Here’s why I like armor effects and feel they should return in Halo 5.
They’re irreverent. Sometimes, Flaming helmet are just cool. No canonical reality checks needed.
They’re expressive. Got a sense of humor? Birthday Party or Heart attack are for you. Want to look B.A.? Inclement Weather! Traditionalist? Flaming skulls. Flood-lover? Pestilence.
You stand out. Not in an obvious way. But you get noticed. Or not, if you don’t want to use it.
I think Halo 5 should bring back armor effects as micro-transactions. And they should bring a bunch of 'em. Reindeer antlers around the holidays? Sure, why not. Fireworks for the 4th of July? Okay. Promethean lightning around the armor joints… Get creative, 343. Show us what you got.
Making them micro-transactions (say, $0.99) would give 343 a revenue stream which would allow them to make maps free (which, lets be honest, they should be). Making some DLC like armor, effects, skins, cards, stances, etc. do not fragment the player population. In fact, if you combine them with free maps, you’ll have a population that is encouraged to stay and play and spend money on things they will actually use.
I’d much prefer armor effects to return than any game changing modification like the perks. So IMO they have much more place in MP than most of the generic fps stuff added in H4.
Just no flames. Bungie gave those to us as a good bye and 343i shouldn’t stomp on it.
I like your idea a lot. The micro-transaction idea for free maps was also cool too. But from the start they should at least put 5 armor effects in the game. Then, they can draw and create more from there.
@S12 Ashido Kano,
I also agree with the flames thing. That was definitely all BUNGiE. 343 I’m sure has something just as good though.
> I’d much prefer armor effects to return than any game changing modification like the perks. So IMO they have much more place in MP than most of the generic fps stuff added in H4.
>
> Just no flames. Bungie gave those to us as a good bye and 343i shouldn’t stomp on it.
Seconding this. They were harmless and a lot of people (myself included) really had some fun with them.
> I like your idea a lot. The micro-transaction idea for free maps was also cool too. But from the start they should at least put 5 armor effects in the game. Then, they can draw and create more from there.
>
> @S12 Ashido Kano,
>
> I also agree with the flames thing. That was definitely all BUNGiE. 343 I’m sure has something just as good though.
I second this motion. Start us off with a few basic effects and let us take it from there.
I am torn with the flaming skulls, though. It was Bungie-exclusive in Halo 3 but they did open it up to all in Reach, making it more of a Halo thing. I understand shelving it out of respect. I’m sure if 343 develops all kinds of new effects then the flaming skull will be missed – but most of us will be too busy using/earning new effects to complain about it.
Ugh, as long as there’s nothing terribly obnoxious like Grunt Birthday Party. An option to turn on and off your ability to see all armour effects would be nice, too, because they can get quite annoying and distracting. Some of them looked nice, though, like the lightning one and the blue flame.
> Ugh, as long as there’s nothing terribly obnoxious like Grunt Birthday Party. An option to turn on and off your ability to see all armour effects would be nice, too, because they can get quite annoying and distracting. Some of them looked nice, though, like the lightning one and the blue flame.
I disliked seeing others with the Pestilence armor effect. It just looked so ew.