I’m trying to understand how the progression system was designed and released as it was. It is readily apparent that the system was designed around a single core tenet, “sell as much as possible.”
As such, 343 (and perhaps Microsoft dictating this,) chose to take a very robust customization system and lock it behind a paywall. I imagine at the moment this is working out great for them. For everyone I see on the forums who are deciding to boycott the battle-pass/campaign (like myself,) I see someone who has already spent over $60 on cosmetics.
It seems to me like the only problem they’ll run into (other than karma?) is the pickle they’ve created themselves with Season 1 → Season 2.
For players unwilling to buy the BP, like myself, there’s hardly any incentive to complete the BP, especially with six months before the next one. For premium players, fixing the progression system to get them to play more will lead to them completing the BP far in advance of the next season. Infinite’s player base will wane significantly in early 2022 as people finish season 1 and the campaign. Season 2 will need to release with co-op and a full suite of progression, and after that they’ll need to pump out season 3 within 3 months if they want the game to have a future.
It’s a little bit vindicating to see them shoot themselves in the foot like this. I understand the longevity a BP system offers for multiplayer, but they really should have created a broader system for the battle pass to fit into, and found a way to blend the current system with the Reach system. I think they could have accomplished their financial goals (as unnecessary and greedy as they are,) and still made a great game if they had created a full progression system with ranks a la Reach, which moves very slowly like the current system. Armors for the battle pass could have been locked behind specific seasonal challenges, and upon completing the challenges, and reaching the necessary rank, you could spend “credits” to pick what you want. That would have given the most opportunity for player expression and choice while also enticing players to stick around in the long run.
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It was designed the way it was because they thought players knew better. They iterated multiple times that Battle Passes never expire and that they are always available for purchase after release. I guess they should have clarified it more.
Finish the BP at your own pace, or pay to speedrun it. I’m at 70 now, since I finished all 3 of the last weekly resets with XP boosters from Rockstar, so since it reset again and they added the 6 match per day bonus XP, I’ll likely finish the Battle Pass this week. Most people are still going to be under 20. It is what it is. I don’t even want anything in the entire Battle Pass, but the Level 100 Flame Effects are pretty nice though for now, until something better comes around. They just are selling the BP as an easy way to make consistent income, since it’s the best value for the money compared to the rip off shop. They are $500 million in debt according to their Infinite budget estimate, and are trying a little too hard to make it back ASAP
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Honestly, I get that they need to make money. I want them to succeed and reap some benefits (would especially be cool if the entire dev and support teams got some kind of profit share throughout the life of the game, but that’s probably not how Microsoft does it). I recognize how much more value is being pumped into games these days, even though the base price is still only $60 for a new triple-A title. But I would much rather pay more for the base game than have them sell me a battle-pass I apparently can’t get value from anyways, because Tenrai’s availability doesn’t line up with my busy schedule. Bought the battle-pass before I realized that, now feel scammed because all the time I set aside in December will be useless for experiencing Tenrai/Fiesta. Especially as someone already paying for Gamepass, it isn’t like I’m asking for free stuff. I just refuse to do the whole microtransaction nonsense. Charge me double for the base game and just give me all unlockables at the end of each season. That way those who unlock it early still get to be cooler than me for months at a time, and I don’t have to worry about the fact that my schedule doesn’t line up with time-limited events. Alternatively, just leave season-specific events like Tenrai open for the entire season for people to complete.
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They thought players knew better? Can you clarify?
I don’t understand why people say ranking up in the battle pass is extremely slow.
Every week after I complete my challenges I rank up 10-12 times. With that in mind, it should take me around 8-10 weeks to complete. Now with the xp increase I can see us completing this much faster. How is this slow when you have more than enough time to complete the pass before each season
343 probably thought that people would understand why progression is slow, since Halo: Infinite’s Battle Passes never expire. “Why make players rush optional content?” “Progression shouldn’t feel like a chore.” Five years from now, if the game is still alive, people will still be able to buy the first Battle Pass and catch up without issue. They were most likely thinking in the long-term, unlike most people complaining, who are thinking in the short-term.
I’m under the impression they wanted it to start tough like it did and then adjust it according to feed back.
I think the battle pass was clearly not a player first choice. Even with everything in the BP and the store, there still aren’t as many helmets, chests, shoulders, or wrists as Halo Reach. Personally I would really have preferred the rakned progression system from Reach… I personally don’t actually even mind the progression being slow, but the lack of skill based XP is really weak to me. I’ll play a solid game and be the MVP then watch myself get 50XP like everyone else, and I can’t help but be a bit discouraged. I’m not all that terribly passionate about MP gameplay vs campaign so I could really use the extra bit of dopamine from getting XP or credits from gameplay.
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Given how the event passe interfere with normal challenges due to the cap, multiple battleplases are likely to slow everything down actually, such that 5 years from now it’d take you another 5 years to get through the battle passes.
That and the game has significantly easy ways to bypass the pacing in the short term.
You know what’s funny about this is they essentially promised us a f2p game with essentially All armor being free and now that’s not the case. And honestly 343 might of screwed themselves because now there’s TONS of players revolting until they’re given what was promised
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You also have to remember this is a live-service game, and 343 have been clear about that from the moment the game was announced. Having as many armor pieces as Reach in a single Battle Pass, even just for the free tiers, puts financial pressure on 343 to not give us as much actual content like new maps and tools (weapons, equipment, vehicles, game modes, and Forge pieces) players can use. They’ll have to allocate resources into filling up inconsequential Battle Passes instead of making the game better. Yes, 343 is funded by a muli-billion dollar company, but money outside of the Federal Reserves globally is a finite resource alongside time, and one look at Microsoft’s annual financial reports shows that they are still in a large amount of debt relative to their income. They have to get rid of that debt somewhere, and preying on idiots is basically free money. I’m not making excuses for 343, but if you put it into perspective, this is the least damaging thing 343 could do to players in a live-service game. The intial challenges sucked because they discouraged teamwork and encouraged toxic gameplay, but the alternative of segregating players or not giving players actual content is much worse for the game’s longevity.
I mean, Halo Reach released with co-op, forge, more armor, and more weapons at launch. The fact that Infinite is live service doesn’t excuse it being incomplete at launch. They will release more seasons and more expansions and when they do, they’ll ask for more money, so they have no effect on the value of the base game.
It doesn’t but it gives some perspective as to why it launched this way. Along with the rising cost of development for AAA titles. I’ll be honest, campaign doesn’t look like a 500 million dollar project. I suspect a majority of the budget went into the the total engine overhaul and research and development for higher-fidelity assets.
I’ll agree with you there, I often find myself looking at Infinite and wondering what they spent 6 years working on. The campaign seems like a half measure for sure, particularly with the lack of varied environments I can’t justify paying a full $60 just for it.
This that is the problem tho. They really were not clear about any of this at all.
They were clear here, but if you were not in the Halo ultra fandom bubble, following all information Halo, you didn’t even know there was anything going on. You didn’t know about a Beta, you didn’t know about the Battle Passes, some didn’t even know Halo was going FTP. There has been a bombardment of Press both good and Bad for anyone who hasn’t followed the dev cycle, which has made this a confusing launch.