Features taken for granted before Halo 5 and 343

Even though 343 seems to look at and post on every single internet medium other than their own website, I hope to use this thread as a means to offer 343 some perspective on the fanbase and what we have learned to expect out of Halo - what we thought were ‘givens’ or baseline features and functionality that would be a part of Halo moving forward, not something we mourn losing. Feel free to mention small details or large features, anything.

Here’s what I miss that Halo 5 and/or overall 343’s version of Halo excludes, which I used to take for granted:

-A content-rich, fully functional game at launch
-Non-buggy, improved Forge - at launch
-Featured community screenshots, maps, gameclips, and more
-A public file browser
-A means to download community created content online
-A means to download community created content without searching for and adding each individual as a friend
-All of the gametypes in the previous Halo(s) and more: Infection, Grifball, Assault, Territories, Race, etc. etc.
-A Theater mode worth existing
-A sense of community fostered by dev interaction
-Variety in matchmaking; plentiful, meaningful ranked playlists, and plentiful, fun and non-sweaty social playlists - whose stats were kept separate
-The ability to see exactly what your friends are doing
-The ability to see exactly who your friends are playing with
-Quick access to see other players skill-level and accomplishments without digging through menus
-Pre-game lobby that features meaningful information
-Prioritization options in matchmaking, i.e. skill matching, quick matching, good connection matching, similar language matching
-Meaningful post game lobby stats (No medals? lol?)
-PvE
-Veto system
-A general population count
-Playlist population counts
-Campaign scoring - team and ffa
-Playing as an Elite
-Elite armor
-Challenges
-Armor Effects
-Voices
-All of the emblems in the previous Halo(s)
-Good matchmaking voice settings

-Uh, splitscreen - because 4 friends playing together casually don’t care about framerate/resolutions drops, duh. Sorry. Anyways, what do you guys think?

inb4 apologists who say “well they didn’t specifically say it would be in the game, so you’re entitled for expecting it!” and other garbage to that effect, as though 14 years of precedent wasn’t reason enough to believe that basic features would make it back into Halo 5.

I agree with this list. My main thing is a dedicated PvE mode like an improved Firefight, but you got that up there already.

Something I’ve never understood… Why is playing as an Elite a big deal?

More info on pregame and post game screens…and PLEASE A FUNCTIONAL RADAR!

You made an assumption that all of your 29 complain would be in game? Now you are complaining they are not?

> 2533274872647908;6:
> You made an assumption that all of your 29 complain would be in game? Now you are complaining they are not?

You act as though these 29 complaints, or whatever, are at the scale of a mere 29 pieces of aesthetic armor. They’re not. A lot of them are big -Yoinking!- features and main functions.

Yes, I do enjoy Halo quite a lot. I like when it improves upon itself and is popular and successful, therefore I’m upset when it’s not nearly as popular and successful, and I’m upset at the respective, obvious reasons why it’s not. I don’t like seeing my favorite series downgrade itself continuously to make more initial sales and cater to a developer that quite frankly needs to get better at developing.

Some of these are quite simple, but with 14 years of precedent I think we’re going to have to collectively realize that a main Halo game is going to have to take probably 4(maybe 5) years to get every singe previous module in the game. And if 343i is quite happy with this iteration of Halo, they should probably focus on smaller scale adjustments to game play instead of entire overhauls and start putting more focus on all the other features, namely the social community building ones. If they can have a team that can work on 5 for at least 2-3 years of post support updates than I say take another year of dev time to come out with the new one. We’d have to be patient for a release, though, like Bethesda fan patient.

> 2533274812390628;1:
> Even though 343 seems to look at and post on every single internet medium other than their own website, I hope to use this thread as a means to offer 343 some perspective on the fanbase and what we have learned to expect out of Halo - what we thought were ‘givens’ or baseline features and functionality that would be a part of Halo moving forward, not something we mourn losing. Feel free to mention small details or large features, anything.
>
> Here’s what I miss that Halo 5 and/or overall 343’s version of Halo excludes, which I used to take for granted:
>
> -A content-rich**, fully functional game at launch**
> -Non-buggy, improved Forge - at launch
> -Featured community screenshots, maps, gameclips, and more
> -A public file browser
> -A means to download community created content online
> -A means to download community created content without searching for and adding each individual as a friend
> -All of the gametypes in the previous Halo(s) and more: Infection, Grifball, Assault, Territories, Race, etc. etc.
> -A Theater mode worth existing
> -A sense of community fostered by dev interaction
> -Variety in matchmaking; plentiful, meaningful ranked playlists, and plentiful, fun and non-sweaty social playlists - whose stats were kept separate
> -The ability to see exactly what your friends are doing
> -The ability to see exactly who your friends are playing with
> -Quick access to see other players skill-level and accomplishments without digging through menus
> -Pre-game lobby that features meaningful information
> -Prioritization options in matchmaking, i.e. skill matching, quick matching, good connection matching, similar language matching
> -Meaningful post game lobby stats (No medals? lol?)
> -PvE
> -Veto system
> -A general population count
> -Playlist population counts
> -Campaign scoring - team and ffa
> -Playing as an Elite
> -Elite armor
> -Challenges
> -Armor Effects
> -Voices
> -All of the emblems in the previous Halo(s)
> -Good matchmaking voice settings
>
> -
>
>
> > 2533274812390628;7:
> > > 2533274872647908;6:
> > > You made an assumption that all of your 29 complain would be in game? Now you are complaining they are not?
> >
> >
> > You act as though these 29 complaints, or whatever, are at the scale of a mere 29 pieces of aesthetic armor. They’re not. A lot of them are big -Yoinking!- features and main functions.
> >
> > Yes, I do enjoy Halo quite a lot. I like when it improves upon itself and is popular and successful, therefore I’m upset when it’s not nearly as popular and successful, and I’m upset at the respective, obvious reasons why it’s not.

If you look at the text in bold, game was fully functional at launch you can’t deny it. It lack content, but it is functional. You can record/screenshot with game DVR but I agree theater is useless. File browse/share sucks for now but a better one is coming I know typical of 343i. You can see what your friend are doing in your friend list, but not who they are playing with (which I don’t care… opinion). Veto system… just no. Population count is not that important. Playing as an elite/elite armor not a big deal it makes no difference for it not being in game. Armor effect was more disturbing than anything… opinion.
As for the rest, it is a bad decision that they are not in-game but it change nothing to the fact that you can actually have a lot of fun even though the game ‘‘is lacking content’’.

> 2533274872647908;9:
> > 2533274812390628;1:
> > Even though 343 seems to look at and post on every single internet medium other than their own website, I hope to use this thread as a means to offer 343 some perspective on the fanbase and what we have learned to expect out of Halo - what we thought were ‘givens’ or baseline features and functionality that would be a part of Halo moving forward, not something we mourn losing. Feel free to mention small details or large features, anything.
> >
> > Here’s what I miss that Halo 5 and/or overall 343’s version of Halo excludes, which I used to take for granted:
> >
> > -A content-rich**, fully functional game at launch**
> > -Non-buggy, improved Forge - at launch
> > -Featured community screenshots, maps, gameclips, and more
> > -A public file browser
> > -A means to download community created content online
> > -A means to download community created content without searching for and adding each individual as a friend
> > -All of the gametypes in the previous Halo(s) and more: Infection, Grifball, Assault, Territories, Race, etc. etc.
> > -A Theater mode worth existing
> > -A sense of community fostered by dev interaction
> > -Variety in matchmaking; plentiful, meaningful ranked playlists, and plentiful, fun and non-sweaty social playlists - whose stats were kept separate
> > -The ability to see exactly what your friends are doing
> > -The ability to see exactly who your friends are playing with
> > -Quick access to see other players skill-level and accomplishments without digging through menus
> > -Pre-game lobby that features meaningful information
> > -Prioritization options in matchmaking, i.e. skill matching, quick matching, good connection matching, similar language matching
> > -Meaningful post game lobby stats (No medals? lol?)
> > -PvE
> > -Veto system
> > -A general population count
> > -Playlist population counts
> > -Campaign scoring - team and ffa
> > -Playing as an Elite
> > -Elite armor
> > -Challenges
> > -Armor Effects
> > -Voices
> > -All of the emblems in the previous Halo(s)
> > -Good matchmaking voice settings
> >
> > -
> >
> >
> > > 2533274812390628;7:
> > > > 2533274872647908;6:
> > > > You made an assumption that all of your 29 complain would be in game? Now you are complaining they are not?
> > >
> > >
> > > You act as though these 29 complaints, or whatever, are at the scale of a mere 29 pieces of aesthetic armor. They’re not. A lot of them are big -Yoinking!- features and main functions.
> > >
> > > Yes, I do enjoy Halo quite a lot. I like when it improves upon itself and is popular and successful, therefore I’m upset when it’s not nearly as popular and successful, and I’m upset at the respective, obvious reasons why it’s not.
>
>
> If you look at the text in bold, game was fully functional at launch you can’t deny it. It lack content, but it is functional. You can record/screenshot with game DVR but I agree theater is useless. File browse/share sucks for now but a better one is coming I know typical of 343i. You can see what your friend are doing in your friend list, but not who they are playing with (which I don’t care… opinion). Veto system… just no. Population count is not that important. Playing as an elite/elite armor not a big deal it makes no difference for it not being in game. Armor effect was more disturbing than anything… opinion.
> As for the rest, it is a bad decision that they are not in-game but it change nothing to the fact that you can actually have a lot of fun even though the game ‘‘is lacking content’’.

When I said “content-rich, fully functional game,” I wasn’t implying Halo 5 didn’t function. I was more alluding to the fact that with 343, it’s one or the other. The small amount of content Halo 5 has works, yeah. But if you look at any game they made that went out of there comfort zone with content, it was totally broken in one or more ways. The MCC is still beyond repair in many regards to this day, and they will never fix it. So yeah, it would be more accurate for me to say “they never provide content-rich games that are also fully functional.”

See, it’s fine that you don’t like a feature or don’t care about it, but that’s not really an argument against including it, save for maybe the veto system which would directly affect you (negatively, I take it). I don’t really like a lot of gametypes Halo has offered in the past, but I still respect that they’re a part of Halo - people like it - and therefore it shouldn’t be stripped from the game willy nilly when you have such a Juggernaut of a series. As a Halo fan, I think it’s sort of a responsibility to stick up for features you don’t care about. I thought Stockpile was an annoying gametype, but I’m also upset that it’s not even an option to play in Halo 5.

That’s a pretty solid list that sums up why I and so many others are so disappointed in this game. There were two things in particular that really broke my soul in regard to this game though, and that was the lack of split screen and the lack of game modes. Halo was “the” game me and my friends played. We played co-op campaign and firefight, competitive multiplayer, and had some hilarious forge build offs. Now that is all gone because “frame rates”. It’s like developers have forgotten that people have real friends. At least I knew about the lack of split-screen going in though. What I had never suspected in my wildest dreams would be that a Halo game would launch with only 3 game modes (I don’t count Breakout as it is basically just elimination slayer). Seriously, WTF? How can you launch without Oddball? This game mode has been around since 2001. It’s not like it would have been difficult to implement, the skull is already modeled from the campaign. It is just unbelievable that we are STILL waiting for basic frigging game modes. And before someone says it, I know, it’s “coming soon”. But you know what? Too frigging late. I’m not going to sit around waiting for months on end for basic features.

Thank you for taking the time to post this. I imagine that what has happened with this game, and let me preface this by saying I play Halo 5 a few hours everyday, that a lot of their time and energy went into developing Warzone and the cut scenes. I mention the cut scenes mainly because they were so long, frequent, elaborate, and unfortunately replaced what could have been a good boss fight (cough, cough Jul M’dama).

I keep expecting to see posts about all those freaking cut scenes. Yes they were well done, and some were even crazy long, but am I alone when I admit that I found myself screaming at the game, “I just want to play! Not another cut scene, really?!”

I don’t post too much anymore and try to keep away from these forums, because the more I read and type the more saddened and angry I get. I will keep playing but I will be shaking my head a lot when I do.

Really, 343, no record in Theater? Game clips just don’t replace Theater one bit, and it is a real shame you thought they would.

> 2535427499121034;11:
> That’s a pretty solid list that sums up why I and so many others are so disappointed in this game. There were two things in particular that really broke my soul in regard to this game though, and that was the lack of split screen and the lack of game modes. Halo was “the” game me and my friends played. We played co-op campaign and firefight, competitive multiplayer, and had some hilarious forge build offs. Now that is all gone because “frame rates”. It’s like developers have forgotten that people have real friends. At least I knew about the lack of split-screen going in though.

What I really didn’t get about that whole no split screen thing was one of their reasons was that we are now such a rich online/internet connected gaming community that we don’t really need it anymore. Yet there is so much of their game that is anti social to gaming. The whole pre and post game lobby. You can’t even tell who is talking in the lobby for goodness sakes. I don’t know about y’all, but this game is ripe with lobby jerks mouthing ridiculousness because they know we can’t see them. Granted this happened in the other Halo’s too, but only during the loading of the game not during the whole freaking lobby. Finally, with the added insult that you cannot mute anyone in the lobby. Just makes no sense whatsoever.

sigh Splitscreen…

It’s a shame that h5 can’t deliver content we were getting day one eight years ago. Halo 5 has so much potential but it being ruined by the lack of content we’ve come to expect from a halo game.

> 2533274863544717;13:
> > 2535427499121034;11:
> > That’s a pretty solid list that sums up why I and so many others are so disappointed in this game. There were two things in particular that really broke my soul in regard to this game though, and that was the lack of split screen and the lack of game modes. Halo was “the” game me and my friends played. We played co-op campaign and firefight, competitive multiplayer, and had some hilarious forge build offs. Now that is all gone because “frame rates”. It’s like developers have forgotten that people have real friends. At least I knew about the lack of split-screen going in though.
>
>
> What I really didn’t get about that whole no split screen thing was one of their reasons was that we are now such a rich online/internet connected gaming community that we don’t really need it anymore. Yet there is so much of their game that is anti social to gaming. The whole pre and post game lobby. You can’t even tell who is talking in the lobby for goodness sakes. I don’t know about y’all, but this game is ripe with lobby jerks mouthing ridiculousness because they know we can’t see them. Granted this happened in the other Halo’s too, but only during the loading of the game not during the whole freaking lobby. Finally, with the added insult that you cannot mute anyone in the lobby. Just makes no sense whatsoever.

Not to mention that, up until a few days ago, the game only featured ranked, effectively disincentivizing playing with friends who are much worse or better than you. And then, even now, social stats are combined with ranked, so if you care about win/loss ratio a lot (I personally don’t in this Halo) you’re still disincentivized to play with lesser skilled friends in social. Not only does 343 just blatantly exclude features, but when they do eventually add back in things we’ve had all along, it’s in a very “checklist” oriented manner. They are so out of touch and don’t even care.

There’s a reason the (in my opinion) worst Halo, Reach, was and is still so popular. Because Bungie knows how a community works. Even Destiny, a game I’d argue to be just horrendous, holds up despite Bungie not making sensible core gameplay decisions since 2009. 343 needs to catch up. They’ve done well with core mechanics. Now, they need to focus on the rest of what makes a game like Halo great and do some serious restructuring with their game building and community building philosophy.

> 2533274809541057;4:
> Something I’ve never understood… Why is playing as an Elite a big deal?

Because it’s fun, it’s add to the game-play…just like if they added playable Promethean’s, etc… making Spartan only games limits what Halo’s potential could have been.

How about offline customs and offline forge? As it stands right now, both customs and forge require internet and gold membership. This is absolutely unacceptable and online only features other than matchmaking should never be in a Halo title.

See this is how a thread should be.

> 2533274809541057;4:
> Something I’ve never understood… Why is playing as an Elite a big deal?

It’s fun to explore a new side of the story other then “I’m a generic super solder and I’m boss”