Excessive lore in H5 multiplayer?

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I was looking through the Spartan Appearance options earlier and seriously… for ALL of the individual armor and visors and everything, they have a little “lore item” attached to it.

Is this REALLY necessary? So people are being paid to daydream around the offices of 343 and type up these little meaningless MP stories?? The lore in these cases, means nothing! Leave it to the books… for the people that really enjoy the lore… to go and dig up things like this themselves. Put the 343 staff to better use and work on designing a COMPLETE game and suite of content, first and foremost. In a game where so much is STILL lacking, it’s just SO great that we have all these little pieces of fiction that don’t mean anything! lol

Maybe the lore in MP really needs to be cut back next time around… that’s all I’m saying. It’s always been kinda cool to have the little bits of insight, and witty descriptions on the maps and/or location within the universe… that’s what Halo does… But man, for visors and armor, etc. (many of which are basically recycled for more REQ content)? It’s not necessary. Let multiplayer be multiplayer, and ensure players have the COMPLETE experience BEFORE anything else. Maybe if there wasn’t so MUCH armor and customization pieces, it becomes THAT much more practical to come up with a creative little story behind it… Sure. But when you have THIS much content available? It’s all the more time it takes out of the more productive areas of development.

Storytelling, ultimately, is not what multiplayer is for… and every little bit of savings in time and money adds up. The MP experience needs to be stellar, provide all the variety that the older games provided, by way of maps and game modes/playlists, and features… People play MP to compete against others. That’s the CORE purpose. With that said, I just don’t see any need (or room) for all of these little, pointless, extra pieces of FICTION. The fiction is the purpose that the Campaign serves… and we all know how H5’s Campaign turned out. At least direct their efforts towards the actual story/campaign of the game. Better utilize your time and resources… it frees up the MP teams and keeps their tasks oriented around the PRODUCTION of the MP game, and maybe you’re even improving the plot and execution, and providing additional concepts on the Campaign front, just from a simple re-allocation of your staff and their talents, and their time and efforts. Maybe their contributions can be integrated into Campaign/exploration elements. There are many other more meaningful and interesting ways to implement these types of things.

The further incorporation of lore, beyond the story mode, is just (yet another) example where 343 is trying to do too much with the Halo universe…

2

Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams

3

You mean the little descriptions of the armor pieces? It’s called flavor text. Calling it “lore” is a stretch, if you ask me. And I personally feel like it’s a meaningful addition to the experience. I can agree with the whole “make multiplayer good before focusing on other things” mindset, but honestly, the flavor text enriches the experience and probably took someone at 343 a few minutes to think up in their spare time.

4

Yeah, the little extra isnt to much. If anything, I feel the lore of Halo is actually being lost with every game 343 makes. New Spartans are whiny bros and not the super soldiers of the past. I hope blue team and red team (from halo wars) get more story time.

5

> 2533274813317074;2:
> Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams

I’m inclined to agree. And it just so happens that my primary concern with Halo (and games in general), is the lore. That’s what defines my personal definition of what Halo really “is”. So I’m glad they took the time to pay people to lay around and daydream up these little tidbits of flavor text for the armor sets.

If only so many of them weren’t so gosh darn ugly…

6

Hey maybe then they’d focus more on actually releasing a game with minimum bugs WITH complete Halo content let alone game types without any issues… something 343 has yet to accomplish. We obviously already see time management gone to -Yoink- with 343… I’m sure Lick is trying to say that there’s more necessary stuff to be implemented in a game correctly before releasing a -Yoink- game to such loyal fans before LORE text should be added to req items. Yet time and time again we see more of these issues people defend to just defend… for no reason or purpose only the fact it has the name Halo slapped on the cover with bits of halo in it enough to be keep you somewhat satisfied… the ODDBALL Thread being perfect example of this treatury yet majority of the members including mods still go on and on defending what?? While creating an atmosphere where sub-par is perfectly fine to defend.

7

So, what, exactly, would the writing team (I’d assume it’s the writing team, correct me if I’m wrong) do about the multiplayer? They’re paid to write. They’re qualified to write. They weren’t hired to… to… well, do whatever the multiplayer teams work on, be it programming, balancing, map designing, and whatever else. I’m guessing the flavor text comes after the campaign is written, so, if 343 decides to say, “Don’t write flavor text for stuff”, what’ll they do? Nothing? Because, again, their qualifications are for writing, not for game design.

8

> 2533274817408735;5:
> > 2533274813317074;2:
> > Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams
>
> I’m inclined to agree. And it just so happens that my primary concern with Halo (and games in general), is the lore. That’s what defines my personal definition of what Halo really “is”. So I’m glad they took the time to pay people to lay around and daydream up these little tidbits of flavor text for the armor sets.
>
> If only so many of them weren’t so gosh darn ugly…

Well yeah, the lore is cool… but it doesn’t mean it should be overdone either. There’s still a product to be made at the end of the day. And we’re still missing key pieces of the Halo experience.

Maybe this issue isn’t as big of a deal, at least by itself, but think about ALL of the areas things like this have occurred during development. Savings are savings… there are, no doubt, better ways for 343 to manage their time and dev costs. If Breakout didn’t have its own maps and Forge canvas, same with Warzone… even just cutting the amount of armor sets themselves would naturally fix this issue… it eliminates the extra work, and allows more work to go into producing top quality content in a TRADITIONAL Halo sense. If all design missteps were added up, that’s a ton of money and time and with the proper definition of the product, that equates to a MUCH better game in the end.

343 needs to think like this… the idea of efficiency in development, because it will enhance their end-product substantially. Buckle down on the critical areas of the game, and trim the fat (because there’s an awful lot of fat in H5). The lore here, in MP, is really just a fragment of the greater issue here. But it had to get there somehow, and as a trade off, that work could’ve gone into something far more valuable to players.

It’s all a balancing act…

9

> 2533274873580796;8:
> > 2533274817408735;5:
> > > 2533274813317074;2:
> > > Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams
> >
> > I’m inclined to agree. And it just so happens that my primary concern with Halo (and games in general), is the lore. That’s what defines my personal definition of what Halo really “is”. So I’m glad they took the time to pay people to lay around and daydream up these little tidbits of flavor text for the armor sets.
> >
> > If only so many of them weren’t so gosh darn ugly…
>
> Well yeah, the lore is cool… but it doesn’t mean it should be overdone either. There’s still a product to be made at the end of the day. And we’re still missing key pieces of the Halo experience.
>
> Maybe this issue isn’t as big of a deal, at least by itself, but think about ALL of the areas things like this have occurred during development. Savings are savings… there are, no doubt, better ways for 343 to manage their time and dev costs. If Breakout didn’t have its own maps and Forge canvas, same with Warzone… even just cutting the amount of armor sets themselves would naturally fix this issue… it eliminates the extra work, and allows more work to go into producing top quality content in a TRADITIONAL Halo sense. If all design missteps were added up, that’s a ton of money and time and with the proper definition of the product, that equates to a MUCH better game in the end.
>
> 343 needs to think like this… the idea of efficiency in development, because it will enhance their end-product substantially. Buckle down on the critical areas of the game, and trim the fat (because there’s an awful lot of fat in H5). The lore here, in MP, is really just a fragment of the greater issue here. But it had to get there somehow, and as a trade off, that work could’ve gone into something far more valuable to players.
>
> It’s all a balancing act…

If you’re so knowledgeable, why don’t you try it for yourself? I’m sure 343i would love to have someone so well versed in game development on their line up. There’s an application for a manager position where you could directly oversee the creation of the perfect Halo. You could allocate resources all day long!

10

I love the flavors in H5, and at one point had one or two memorized. I think it adds a little fun spice to the requisitions.

It’s the reason I use Recluse armour when I’m not using my Achilles.

It doesn’t really take away from anything, as the people doing the writing likely aren’t working on heavy areas of the game otherwise.

11

> 2533274827225935;10:
> I love the flavors in H5, and at one point had one or two memorized. I think it adds a little fun spice to the requisitions.

I fully agree. Like I said, it enriches the experience a little and I think it’s worth the time to add it (which is probably not that much time). When I’m playing dress up, I like to play a game where I match the flavor text of the armor to a certain visor. For example, the Helioskrill armor is referred to as a work of art, and so is the Clockwork visor, so I wear them together. The next step is to match the colors with the visor. I just think it’s a fun little thing to do sometimes

12

> 2533274904158628;11:
> > 2533274827225935;10:
> > I love the flavors in H5, and at one point had one or two memorized. I think it adds a little fun spice to the requisitions.
>
> I fully agree. Like I said, it enriches the experience a little and I think it’s worth the time to add it (which is probably not that much time). When I’m playing dress up, I like to play a game where I match the flavor text of the armor to a certain visor. For example, the Helioskrill armor is referred to as a work of art, and so is the Clockwork visor, so I wear them together. The next step is to match the colors with the visor. I just think it’s a fun little thing to do sometimes

I read them to learn more about the universe but i ultimately pick what I think looks the coolest.

13

> 2533274801155613;12:
> I read them to learn more about the universe but i ultimately pick what I think looks the coolest.

That’s fun too. I think a lot of people do that. I’ve seen people wearing the Unbreakable visor with a Mark VI gen1 Scarred helmet, which has a cracked visor…

14

> 2533274904158628;13:
> > 2533274801155613;12:
> > I read them to learn more about the universe but i ultimately pick what I think looks the coolest.
>
> That’s fun too. I think a lot of people do that. I’ve seen people wearing the Unbreakable visor with a Mark VI gen1 Scarred helmet, which has a cracked visor…

Bahahaha… Well everything is unbreakable until something comes along that can break it right?

15

Yeah lets not pull a destiny. Leave lore for campaign and books

16

You know, it’s not like armor has had descriptions to them since Halo 3 or anything… there is absolutely no need to complain about something as small as this. Or do you just like complaining about Halo 5/343i in general?

17

> 2533274817408735;9:
> > 2533274873580796;8:
> > > 2533274817408735;5:
> > > > 2533274813317074;2:
> > > > Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams
> > >
> > > I’m inclined to agree. And it just so happens that my primary concern with Halo (and games in general), is the lore. That’s what defines my personal definition of what Halo really “is”. So I’m glad they took the time to pay people to lay around and daydream up these little tidbits of flavor text for the armor sets.
> > >
> > > If only so many of them weren’t so gosh darn ugly…
> >
> > Well yeah, the lore is cool… but it doesn’t mean it should be overdone either. There’s still a product to be made at the end of the day. And we’re still missing key pieces of the Halo experience.
> >
> > Maybe this issue isn’t as big of a deal, at least by itself, but think about ALL of the areas things like this have occurred during development. Savings are savings… there are, no doubt, better ways for 343 to manage their time and dev costs. If Breakout didn’t have its own maps and Forge canvas, same with Warzone… even just cutting the amount of armor sets themselves would naturally fix this issue… it eliminates the extra work, and allows more work to go into producing top quality content in a TRADITIONAL Halo sense. If all design missteps were added up, that’s a ton of money and time and with the proper definition of the product, that equates to a MUCH better game in the end.
> >
> > 343 needs to think like this… the idea of efficiency in development, because it will enhance their end-product substantially. Buckle down on the critical areas of the game, and trim the fat (because there’s an awful lot of fat in H5). The lore here, in MP, is really just a fragment of the greater issue here. But it had to get there somehow, and as a trade off, that work could’ve gone into something far more valuable to players.
> >
> > It’s all a balancing act…
>
> If you’re so knowledgeable, why don’t you try it for yourself? I’m sure 343i would love to have someone so well versed in game development on their line up. There’s an application for a manager position where you could directly oversee the creation of the perfect Halo. You could allocate resources all day long!

Then there’s this guy…

18

Way I see it, we dont have enough lore in the multiplayer yet. I want whole stories set in the War Games. Like how Spartan Ops was in 4.

19

> 2533274817408735;9:
> > 2533274873580796;8:
> > > 2533274817408735;5:
> > > > 2533274813317074;2:
> > > > Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams
> > >
> > > I’m inclined to agree. And it just so happens that my primary concern with Halo (and games in general), is the lore. That’s what defines my personal definition of what Halo really “is”. So I’m glad they took the time to pay people to lay around and daydream up these little tidbits of flavor text for the armor sets.
> > >
> > > If only so many of them weren’t so gosh darn ugly…
> >
> > Well yeah, the lore is cool… but it doesn’t mean it should be overdone either. There’s still a product to be made at the end of the day. And we’re still missing key pieces of the Halo experience.
> >
> > Maybe this issue isn’t as big of a deal, at least by itself, but think about ALL of the areas things like this have occurred during development. Savings are savings… there are, no doubt, better ways for 343 to manage their time and dev costs. If Breakout didn’t have its own maps and Forge canvas, same with Warzone… even just cutting the amount of armor sets themselves would naturally fix this issue… it eliminates the extra work, and allows more work to go into producing top quality content in a TRADITIONAL Halo sense. If all design missteps were added up, that’s a ton of money and time and with the proper definition of the product, that equates to a MUCH better game in the end.
> >
> > 343 needs to think like this… the idea of efficiency in development, because it will enhance their end-product substantially. Buckle down on the critical areas of the game, and trim the fat (because there’s an awful lot of fat in H5). The lore here, in MP, is really just a fragment of the greater issue here. But it had to get there somehow, and as a trade off, that work could’ve gone into something far more valuable to players.
> >
> > It’s all a balancing act…
>
> If you’re so knowledgeable, why don’t you try it for yourself? I’m sure 343i would love to have someone so well versed in game development on their line up. There’s an application for a manager position where you could directly oversee the creation of the perfect Halo. You could allocate resources all day long!

There’s actually a lot that I wouldn’t like about a management job… I’m more of a creative type… a 2D/3D designer myself, but that also means that, in my manufacturing-oriented industry, I need to be mindful of costs. And naturally, the management of your company directly affects the work that you are tasked to perform, and your employment status… It never hurts to THINK like a manager… when you’re apart of a team, it can help build a better company and better products.

But anyway, being a designer, I DO have lots of map concepts in my head. Regardless, I think I could contribute quite a lot at 343 and for Halo, if I had the opportunity… and with my skills and work experience, confidence in my knowledge of Halo, and my long-term gaming experience with the series, I would welcome the challenge of a position there, but in reality, I’m not sure if my credentials would be what they were looking for… particularly/especially for a management position.

Do they have actual design positions open? I don’t see any… Hmm… maybe if one opens up, since you’re a mod, you can put in a good word for me, eh? :wink:

20

> 2533274873580796;19:
> > 2533274817408735;9:
> > > 2533274873580796;8:
> > > > 2533274817408735;5:
> > > > > 2533274813317074;2:
> > > > > Don’t really see this as a problem, never mind being a problem over a year and a half after the game launched. While it may not be something you enjoy, I sure all the lore fans out there were quite excited to read the little bits against the armors and visors. I really don’t think this has as big an impact as you’re making it out to, nor will it take anything away from the multiplayer teams
> > > >
> > > > I’m inclined to agree. And it just so happens that my primary concern with Halo (and games in general), is the lore. That’s what defines my personal definition of what Halo really “is”. So I’m glad they took the time to pay people to lay around and daydream up these little tidbits of flavor text for the armor sets.
> > > >
> > > > If only so many of them weren’t so gosh darn ugly…
>
> There’s actually a lot that I wouldn’t like about a management job… I’m more of a creative type… a 2D/3D designer myself, but that also means that, in my manufacturing-oriented industry, I need to be mindful of costs. And naturally, the management of your company directly affects the work that you are tasked to perform, and your employment status… It never hurts to THINK like a manager… when you’re apart of a team, it can help build a better company and better products.
>
> But anyway, being a designer, I DO have lots of map concepts in my head. Regardless, I think I could contribute quite a lot at 343 and for Halo, if I had the opportunity… and with my skills and work experience, confidence in my knowledge of Halo, and my long-term gaming experience with the series, I would welcome the challenge of a position there, but in reality, I’m not sure if my credentials would be what they were looking for… particularly/especially for a management position.
>
> Do they have actual design positions open? I don’t see any… Hmm… maybe if one opens up, since you’re a mod, you can put in a good word for me, eh? :wink:

There’s no need to put in a good word. 343i can see all your words here. But don’t just put it off because you’re unsure if they’d take you. Apply! If you really know what’s best for Halo more than everyone else, you have a responsibility to show everyone just how Halo “should” be. I mean, that’s what you’ve been saying all this time: Halo doesn’t need all this extra lore, all this customization, and so on. If you’re going to talk like you know better, you should attempt to put your money where your mouth is, get into 343i, and direct the creation of a more successful Halo game than Halo 5.

Otherwise, everything you’ve said is just your personal opinion.