@MaldyMaldy, same here. I accidentally bought the battle pass while trying to gift it to a friend, and I felt pretty dirty afterwards. Aside from buying the campaign, I had a strong stance on remaining a 100% free player.
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It sounds to be the same thing like being at school: if you do not follow a trend, you feel excluded. Only difference is that we are adults now. I would say it is more peer pressure than FOMO, but It doesnt make it better at all.
Interesting take by u/NotNate_ regarding the psychological tricks, just make your own opinion about it:
"In my non-psychologist but took a couple behavioral psych classes opinion, a lot of their defenders have a mix of compulsive spending disorder and stockholm syndrome.
Their behavior lines up with stockholm syndrome in that the gaming industry has been aggressively pushing more and more invasive nickel-diming monetization for so long the majority of players forget when $5 got you 5-7 new maps + skulls + acheivments + armor etc. They’re used to the “new normal” and that’s why they view people complaining about $20 shaders as unreasonable crybabies
The compulsive spending disorder synergizes with the stockholm syndrome in that, as with any addiction, pointing out the problem to the addict puts them into a defensive mindset. Like telling a stoner who wake n bakes everyday he has a problem, you’re not going to change their minds. If you give an addict the choice between you or the drug & they almost always choose the drug, in this case the little dopamine hit they get from buying things in the store. You see this not just in gaming mtx but also in people who max out credit cards telling themselves “they’ll pay it off.”
I think its a symptom of a larger problem in American culture, we romanticize instant gratification and debt to an unhealthy degree and are so entrenched in “us vs them” mentality that we divide ourselves into “shop fans” & “ftp enjoyers”. Again, not a psychologist by any means but thats my two cents.
tl;dr they’re addicts justifying why their dealer really isn’t that bad of a guy"
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To be fair, after using all the free unlocks, I made a spartan which looked pretty unique. So while it is possible to make a unique Spartan from free unlocks and event unlocks, if you miss these then it really sucks.
Thanks 343.
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Sounds like your friends are alright with it. 343 is smart in how they know someone with the starter color might be urged to get a skin so they fit in with friends or simply not look like a newbie.
Battle Pass is only $10, and you get free skins from various events! Start Tenrai if you haven’t already. Cyber Shadow had some fun stuff for free, too. You’ll find something that works for you, I’m sure of it. 
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Marketing is intended to persuade people to buy things. You would be shocked at how random websites analyze where you move your mouse, frequency of visits, your age, and so much more in order to target YOU. It’s just good business.
If Halo makes you mad, I can’t imagine the thought of you at a grocery store. You know they position the milk in such a way that you will pass by tons of other items first, right?
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Except this grocery store is the only store. This grocery store prices everything higher than their previous stores of the same name. The milk and every item in front of it has been gouged to extreme prices. This grocery store makes us pay for the parking and the cart, something that was expected of their past grocery stores. This grocery store doesn’t make note of your habits and try to use them against you(the “good business” you mentioned), this grocery store knows your habits and tells you that that’s not good enough, you need to follow your friends’ habits. This grocery store doesn’t have anyone to come in and say “If your milk is $20, I’m going to shut you down.” Notice how grocery stores know that some people are willing to pay $20 for the milk, but they’re not allowed to try and convince everyone that milk should be $20, and they aren’t allowed to force everyone to pay that much. Your analogy was pretty bad, but I tried to work with it the best I could.
People will say this over and over again then when 343i release something they’re interested in they go “ooh piece of candy” and cave in.
This argument needs to stop being the “you ruined my precious!” and more the “I would prefer this over this” or “I want X from the store”
343i/MS are not going back, can’t put toothpaste back into the tube type of thing. This would be like going on the Fortnite forums (Epic Games Forums technically) and complaining about the store lol, will accomplish absolutely nothing.
You play the game, you talk on the forum.
If we’re talking about money at all, we’re in the realm of “time and attention is money.”
You’re still paying them.
If it helps, while I’m decked out in a combination of stuff earned and bought, last night I told my ex that I play with, “eyy, I see that basic armor you got… But I respect it man.” and to my wife, earlier today, “Y’know hon, I respect high level players who still wear Cavallino so much.”
Because while I’m very much not part of the broader protest, as made clear elsewhere, I respect people who are, or won’t buy anything. So long as they don’t bash me for grabbing shiny stuff I want, lol. But shoot I use Cavallino on my MK VII anyway.
But I get it. Sometimes I feel a little guilty, being more decked out than my buddies. That’s part of why I worked with my friend to get all my friends Rockstar ARs and Hogs. I’m not even loaded with cash, I just eke out little bits for my friends.
Point is, I get you. If I didn’t have my kit I’d feel a little lame. But I sorta’ do anyway…? Because every time 343i launches one of these friggin’ games, they always gate off my beloved MK V helmet. I always gotta’ re-earn the damn thing or buy it.
Hel, I can’t even use Blue/White, which I’ve used for like 12 years, without a skin.
I DO get it.
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This man really defending 343s terrible monetization tactics, 343 makes the “FOMO illusion” idk what you’re on about that OP is doing it.
I don’t think you actually read what I said. What I said was that the OP has a choice as everyone does. I never said he was doing anything.
You literally just said “fomo is you thinking of it” or something like that therefore saying it’s OPs fault for having FOMO
I hear ya, keep playing this broken game and I am starting to fear I’m missing out on better games out there.
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Not missing much, yet.
One news outlet voted Halo Infinite for best multiplayer in 2021.
When this game is in this state and did better than both COD and Battlefield. There is something really wrong with the industry.
I played Halo for years and years and never touched any customization or bought anything with real money. I kept everything at recruit settings. I guess I got soft in my old age and with Halo 5 I tarted up my character real good. This was after I had played Halo 5 for years and didn’t really even know what all those REQ points I had accumulated were for. I also played the campaign for the first time. Boy that was a couple weeks of my time I’ll never get back - what a waste.
My point (if there is one) is just play and ignore the peer pressure and marketing pressure to buy stuff. Particularly if they force you to use real world dollars to buy the little piles of electrons that become armor, and skins etc. When you get to be my age and you look back on your life’s purchases, it can be very embarrassing and humiliating to see what you wasted money on. Particularly if you don’t have enough for retirement. I have plenty so don’t worry, but do you?
END OLD MAN LECTURE MODE
ACTIVATE DRUNK GUY AT END OF BAR MODE
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Use Xbox Reward points till they replace the shop with something that isn’t equivalent to repurposed bovine waste.
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Summary
You have no braincells
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then just get a skin if you cant then dont think about it
Stay strong.
I haven’t bought the battle pass or anything from the store either. I just wear gear I get from the events and the MarkVII.
Don’t let the fear become you!!!
You are, it’s called MCC.
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