The Battle Pass / Battle Pass Progression
Personally I dont mind battle passes if I see value in them. Currently I feel like im working harder to unlock things like XP Boosts and skips than anything else.
I believe that if there were more items in the battle pass that could be used for customization and in game currency. This would not only provide more value in the battle pass, but it would give players a good reason to put in the time to get the gear they want. This could also have things like color edits, textures and more.
I also feel like the current progression system is not the best. Daily challenges are good but having them be the ONLY means of leveling up makes the game stressful and tedious to play. Taking away from players actually being able to play the game and focusing more on going into each match trying to complete said challenges rather than playing the objectives. I feel like having not only a rank system in the game provides almost a point of pride to each player, but if done correctly could also go hand in hand with the battle pass progression. My ideas for this are as followsā¦
Completing a game = 50exp
Winning a game = 50exp
Losing a game = 25exp
Per Kill = 15exp
(During Slayer matches = 25exp)
Completing per game objectives (ie CTF, Stronghold, etc) = 35exp
Obtaining badges (ie Double kill, etc) = +2.15% of total EXP score
(Can stack a total of 5 times)
I believe that having a system like this in place would help stream line things in a much smoother way. I also believe that having something like this put in place would also allow you to be able to keep the battle pass tiers at 1000exp per tier, and not have the battle pass fly by too quickly. it would also allow players to feel as though their games mean more than hoping that they are able to complete a challenge and progress.
But then theres the possible issue of āWhat happens when a player finishes the battle pass?ā
I believe that something that could be put into the game would be something like a āSpartan Shopā.
A Special shop that players can access ONLY AFTER the battle pass has been completed. Where their exp can be banked and used as a currency to obtain things like special color pallets, special armor pieces, limited banners, etc. But have the rotation happen every 24hours. This would help to give a since of urgency to players to grind out their matches to ābuyā that special piece that they want before it leaves. This shop cannot be paid for using real currency. Only EXP banked AFTER the battle pass. This could also tie into the cash shop. Where if theres something that a player wants and they havent finished the battle pass, THEN they have the option of paying for it with real money. But the prices of said items need to be reasonable and able to equate to EXP Banked. For example, theres a banner I want. I can pay five bucks for it, or 500xp to get it (assuming ive finished the battle pass)
Customization
- I have paid for two of the team armor sets through the store (amongst other things) and while I am in love with them. I wish that i could customize my spartan while allowing the application of the cloud nine or the space station color pallets and other parts. As it currently sits. Once you purchase one of these spartan sets, your locked to only use what is there. You cannot even change the emblem. I would even accept the color pallets and the emblems locked together. But Im not a fan of locking all of them together with no other options. Same with the armor set that is currently in the market. You currently are not able to buy the set of armor and have the pieces, color, visor and other parts added to your overall armory. You have to deal with it the way it is. I would change this by unlocking each piece allowing the player to have a full armory to build the spartan that they want to. Giving them an overall armory would allow them build the spartan they want and go into each game with a sense of pride as that would be THEIR spartan out there.
Theres also the matter of the color pallets. I feel that if there was a system in place like the color system of Anthem. Then it would really fit in here. Different things to color on their spartan, different textures to use. This could include chipped paint, flawless paint, any so much more. These ideas can even be carried over to the battle pass. Remove the XP Boost and the skips and add things like different textures (smooth, chipped paint, new paint, carbon fiber, etc), different types of paints (flats, gloss, camo, pearl, etc). This would allow for the customization that is wanted and needed in a game like this thats bigger than life. The customization should be as well.
Other
The UI
I really like the small changes to the UI. The only change that I would like to see here, would be the fire team banner and icons moved to the bottom of the screen. This would allow players to completely see their team. I would also move and resize a few things but thats more personal tweaks than anything else.
Personal AI Units
I absolutely love the personal AI units. And honestly its probably one of my favorite things hands down. I cant count the amount of times my personal AI has made me laugh at the things she says. That being said. I have notices more than a few times when the game will randomly change my personal AI. But oddly enough, it always change it to butlr. Im not sure if its a bug or a line of the code that loads when a player finishes a match and jumps right back into matchmaking rather than going back to the MODE selection and the Play Button as these are the only times ive noticed it.
Matchmaking
Modes and Game Selections
I understand that this is still in beta. But I would like to see the player being able to either choose what game types they want to play (ie Slayer, CTF, TDM, etc) or being able to give the player a list of the games types where they can check and uncheck the types of games they want to play. i think this makes more sense rather than forcing all player to play all games types. I personally dont like CTF games. So currently my only options are to either drop out of games, or to force myself to grind through them. Changing this would also allow players to customize their experience even more while building on the āplay the way you want toā theme that halo infinite is known for.
Monetization
The monetization in this game is all over the place. Theres a suite of armor that you had to spend twenty dollars for. There are sets ranging from five dollars to ten dollars. While I understand the business model for this. Halo has always been about the fans. And thus I feel needs to continue this tradition. Keep the Shop in the game. Tie it into the system that I mentioned before. But I also believe that if you want to make money in a game like this, there are a few rules that need to be adhered toā¦
- Make things affordable.
- Make the items in the shop something that can still be obtained in the core game.
- Whatever you have in the shop. It needs to be something that the player finds value in and something that they can use at their leisure.
Having certain items locked to certain cores dosent make any sense. I have seen that a lot of this game goes by things in the lore. From the movies, to the books. And in all aspects, armor pieces can be mixed and matched according to what is needed for that mission. Well this mission is multiplayer. As I stated above, If players had the option to unlock items for their overall armory, this would give the result that follows the lore built into the core of this game.