It’s a good thing people are clearly stating how they don’t like the store as well as the battle pass.
I wonder though how much 343 has control over it and how easy it is to make changes to something that involves a storefront and such. 343, after all, is a studio owned by Microsoft. So I imagine 343 can’t just make changes to monetization whenever and however they’d want to. I’m confident they’ll eventually make bigger changes (and they did say more changes to battle pass are coming) but it’s likely a more complicated issue legally to solve than most of us think.
I’ll welcome any needed changes to the monetization but I wouldn’t expect those changes to happen very quickly.
3 Likes
The sooner you realize you don’t need it, the sooner you’ll be happier
The best store front example that would work is one like Breakpoint. Some stuff cash some stuff in game currency. Things stay forever buy at your own pace.
1 Like
Yeah, I’m more responding about trying to separate 343 from MS as if they are a separate entity, to deflect criticism.
“Suits” is this illuminati deep state catchall phrase . Suits don’t micromanage projects, unless the suit is at 343, which at that point it is still 343, and 343s fault.
That’s what I’ve been doing, but turns out competitive players don’t like it when you do that.
Of anything this is The execution ve level At 343 spearheading all these decisions and finishing these products.
1 Like
No it isn’t. Every store like this rotates and stuff comes back around. It’s not like a holiday event store. FOMO is barely a thing in Halo and generally FOMO is a player problem anyway.
The “FOMO is a player problem” crowd sounds so much like victim blaming.
That’s like how corporations now encourage consumers to recycle and make themselves out to be saints when they’re the ones that moved away from eco-friendly packaging in the first place.
I am being devil’s advocate here. I don’t have FOMO. But I recognize that they are using that aspect of psychology to take advantage of people who DO have FOMO, and that is making things worse for EVERYBODY.
FOMO is the reason they’re able to price so high and still somehow sell.
True. I suppose I should have said “stop using business practices that are intentionally designed to weaponize the psychological phenomenon colloquially known as FOMO in order to extort money and playtime out of fans of the series, whether or not it is effective, because it is ruining the game for everyone”.
Unfortunately, you’re probably right. Honestly, I expect that the changes will come too slowly for the playerbase to stick around.
Yeah, much as I love Anthem, its monetization system (and lack of endgame content) ultimately killed it. Honestly the only thing that MIGHT have let it survive without serious changes is competitive multiplayer, which is the one place I think Halo might have the edge here.
That doesn’t mean the store is a good idea by any means.
3 Likes
Also Infinite has a feature that lets you see what armor/effects a player has in the postgame report, but the feature is useless since you can’t “mark” the items then go into the store and buy them.
1 Like
I am pretty sure you can mark it by inspecting their armor, but you definitely can’t just buy it outright. Not that I am advocating for being able to buy more rather than unlocking it.
2 Likes
FOMO is based on perception.
If you’re like me and just dont actually give a grunts butt over armor like the Tenrai or Anubis armor, its not going to do anything.
Then again, I’m happy with the ODST armor from reach.
Maybe not directly, but indirectly:
FOMO is what allows them to price armor so high, which is what causes them to lock most armors behind the store
FOMO is what pressures players to keep coming back and playing even when they don’t feel like playing
FOMO is a big part of the reason people are throwing games to complete challenges
Just because FOMO doesn’t directly affect you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stand against it.
But if you don’t care about any of that then I suppose you do you.
4 Likes
It is a bit tiring to continually read that “If something does not affect me personally then there is no need to look for a solution because it does not matter.”
6 Likes
I agree. FOMO In Halo Infinite feels like the stores in games like Fallout 76; you see something cool and really want it, but if you don’t buy it now you may have to wait until next year, or maybe you won’t ever see it again. Halo 5 was a fun multiplayer, and I think the method of getting armor sets was more than fair since you could earn points to buy these packs just by playing multiplayer matches. In Infinite, some packs require using actual money. Halo 5 was more of a REQ point grinding game almost like Halo Reach was but not as brutal. Halo Infinite’s main problem is the fact that you have to pay around every corner for something you like instead of putting in the hard work like in previous games.
I understand that packs in Halo 5 like the Announcers pack could only be bought with real money, but that was pretty much the only thing that required real money. In Halo Infinite, for me it’s more paying for cool cosmetics instead of working hard for them before they’re gone.
I strongly agree that FOMO is a huge problem in Halo Infinite, especially since Halo players have rarely had to deal with it in the past. I think the main source of Infinite’s FOMO is the battlepass.
4 Likes
Well the stress to keep playing is something Halo players haven’t really experienced in the past, so I think that’s why everyone’s getting so worked up about FOMO hitting us so hard in Infinite
It’s a bit worse than that. Many of these people are outright trying to silence those who are advocating for making a better game for everyone purely out of sanctimoniousness.
Interesting that you bring up the battlepass as I thought that was the one place they DON’T weaponize FOMO. How do you figure?
Possible, but I think many have experienced these business practices outside of Halo. Like you said, Fallout 76 is one example. I believe we should hold Halo to a higher standard.
And the thing is, if they do better by their players, the other FOMO business models will fall in line. They won’t be able to survive otherwise. But someone, and someone big, has to put their foot down and set the new standard.
Halo has historically been that trendsetter. But right now it’s just following in the footsteps of every other sellout.
3 Likes
Exactly. If FOMO doesn’t work on you, congratulations, you weren’t the target. But blaming the victim for succumbing to psychological tactics is just wrong. The reason MS and other companies do this sort of thing is that it has been PROVEN TO WORK. What’s worse is that this game is rated T, so these tactics are targeted at children. I can’t imagine coming home after a crappy day of school, hoping online, and having to resist the urge of wasting money instead of just having fun.
And this stuff isn’t designed to make you spend money immediately, at least, not exactly/all of the time. It’s meant to wear you down. This is a 10-year game. If this behavior never changed, that’s 10 years of MS whispering in your ear. 10 years of looking like a vanilla spartan while everyone else is wearing your favorite armor.
4 Likes
To be honest I hadn’t even considered the long term effects. That’s messed up to think about.
That being said, the $260 spread over 10 years isn’t so bad. But at the same time, that was for ONE armor set split across 13 weekly “Deals”, and that’s assuming the pricing stays the same for 10 years and that they don’t add more armor components.
4 Likes
I say the battle pass weaponizes FOMO because I reckon that most the stuff you see in it you’ll never see again. Plus, if people are already paying for the armor that they want separate from the battle pass, they won’t wanna pay even more for the battle pass. The fact we have to spend money for both armor sets AND the battle pass because we’re afraid we might miss out on the armor set or some of the things in the battle pass is just over spending at this point.
I agree. Many have experienced this outside of Halo, but never actually in Halo. I can’t speak for everyone but I’m used to seeing this in other games, but seeing it in Halo just makes me feel like somethings not right. Also yes, I strongly agree that we should hold Halo to a higher standard.
That’s also a really good point. I think people aren’t used to Halo becoming more and more like other videogames in a sense that they’re starting to practice the same business tactics. I think Halo needs to keep being the trend setter, and the fact that they’re falling in line with everyone else is what’s got everyone so riled up.
Yes, the UCR should be a prestige item. But it fails to do that in two ways:
- The challenges to get to the UC are different for each players. Some people get “Kill Spartans” others get “Grapplejack a wasp while it is in doom state, kill an enemy, then jump back out”. And this isn’t even mentioning the RNG challenges like getting certain gamemodes. Also some players will just use a bunch of swaps to get the easy challenges.
- The Items aren’t really that prestigious right now. A yellow visor (a better looking one, IMO, is unlocked for free in the BP), a gold-trimmed armor coating smeared in mud, and a nameplate.
If they want prestigious challenges, they need to just bring back commendations, or have the weeklies be the same for everyone and remove swaps. And the weeklies for a certain item are the same, every time it cycles around.
1 Like