Halo’s core formula used to be a fun, accessible party game with a low skill floor and a massive skill ceiling. Smooth (ish) playability, mostly decent net code, and good, accessible matchmaking that didn’t make playing with friends risky due to skill gaps.
I don’t know who’s making the decisions on the title, I don’t want to name names, and if someone did, some community member would just go harass them, which is not what we need right now. These unknown parties have made some grave mistakes recently. The fact that the net problems aren’t a priority is a red flag. The networking and desynch issues are one of the main problems that makes infinite unfun and unplayable at times. I’ve been playing with the same people since '09, and some of them can’t enjoy the game anymore. If we invite the wrong person, or if one of us has been doing too good recently, the rest of us suffer.
The focus on fast twitch trendy proshooter aspects are an anathema to the halo formula at it’s very core, the very seeds of what made halo so popular. It’s been said by more than a few that the core halo formula from the beginning, for the Bungie trilogy at the very least, that halo is a party game of sorts, accessible, fun, brutal. Whatever you do, go back and look at that. Look at the aspects from CE, from 2 even, especially 3 and Reach, find the things that felt good and made memories. The community has no drought of famine on good memories, and we’re verbal about what was fun to us. This should be the focus, this will make you more money if you figure out a way to sell it or bundle something in with campaign. Something has to change. something has to give or this massive franchise will inevitably fail.
The recent break of the promise of co-op is a sad straw to break the camel’s back. Delays are fine. All but cancelling things that were promised is not, and never will be. Being more clear with the community is going to be a necessity, listening to what the overwhelming majority needs from this game is your only light in the tunnel, the rest are false prophets and false promises.
I ask whatever party is in charge, be they person or committee, 343 or higher up in Microsoft, to prioritize what will make the game more playable, not some proshooter copy mess with mediocre store offerings for paid cosmetics.
-527
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