Halo 5 and the Honeymoon Phase

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

A lot of comments here are usually in favor of Halo 5. Totally fine. It’s not like someone having an opinion on a game is objective and you’re wrong. However, people getting hyped for this game seem to forget how in love we all are with Halo when we either beta test for the upcoming game or play at launch. Happened with Reach, happened with 4, sort of happened with MCC. I already have my opinion on where I think Halo 5 is going, but I’d like to hear from other people. Does anyone here see Halo 5 succeeding past its first 3 months before it gets stale? Or do you think it’ll drop off the map like Halo 4?

Personally, I side with the latter. Not because I have it out for 343, but because, looking at their past two releases, it paints a clear picture on what their audience and wants and expects. Halo 4 was received very well at launch and pulled in a ton of 9’s and 10’s. Then come January, where were these people who up til recently were singing praises for the game? Did they lose interest? Could the game have any longevity? Seems like it didn’t. Then the MCC is released. Hype was off the charts, and we’re greeted with a slew of server, GUI, connection, and fundamental game issues. Another bad release, and this is probably the biggest offender here. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth and many have either refunded or quit playing the game.

Then we got our hands on the beta. Everybody is in love with it! I’m not surprised. A new Halo game? This is exciting! And for the first week or so, I thought so, too. But as I played it more and more, I couldn’t really get into it. It started feeling like a chore. That week of bliss was replaced with boredom and frustration. Not so much at how well I was playing, but rather with how the game itself was playing. Still, people claim its a return to Halo’s roots. I, personally, think it’s growing even farther from the core of the franchise. That said, it would be interesting to hear other perspectives, so if you think it’ll have longevity to sustain it, I’d like to hear your side of the deal.

2

> 2533274859193782;1:
> A lot of comments here are usually in favor of Halo 5. Totally fine. It’s not like someone having an opinion on a game is objective and you’re wrong. However, people getting hyped for this game seem to forget how in love we all are with Halo when we either beta test for the upcoming game or play at launch. Happened with Reach, happened with 4, sort of happened with MCC. I already have my opinion on where I think Halo 5 is going, but I’d like to hear from other people. Does anyone here see Halo 5 succeeding past its first 3 months before it gets stale? Or do you think it’ll drop off the map like Halo 4?
>
> Personally, I side with the latter. Not because I have it out for 343, but because, looking at their past two releases, it paints a clear picture on what their audience and wants and expects. Halo 4 was received very well at launch and pulled in a ton of 9’s and 10’s. Then come January, where were these people who up til recently were singing praises for the game? Did they lose interest? Could the game have any longevity? Seems like it didn’t. Then the MCC is released. Hype was off the charts, and we’re greeted with a slew of server, GUI, connection, and fundamental game issues. Another bad release, and this is probably the biggest offender here. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth and many have either refunded or quit playing the game.
>
> Then we got our hands on the beta. Everybody is in love with it! I’m not surprised. A new Halo game? This is exciting! And for the first week or so, I thought so, too. But as I played it more and more, I couldn’t really get into it. It started feeling like a chore. That week of bliss was replaced with boredom and frustration. Not so much at how well I was playing, but rather with how the game itself was playing. Still, people claim its a return to Halo’s roots. I, personally, think it’s growing even farther from the core of the franchise. That said, it would be interesting to hear other perspectives, so if you think it’ll have longevity to sustain it, I’d like to hear your side of the deal.

Halo 4 Didn’t have a bad release is was sunspportive of the fans and thus population dropped off That was its issue.

MCC had a bad release But learning from there mistakes of not listen to fan have been admit about fixing what was broken.

Halo 5 They took Nearly every issue the community universally wanted fixed in halo 4 and fixed them.
I would only suspect that After MCC they will never let a game happen like that Again, 343 want to please the fans they would not have Changed their whole vision of halo 4 Change nearly completely For halo 5.

IM sorry You didn’t enjoy the beta As it was the best halo experience i have had since halo ce/halo 2 day in highschool with my friends in a room with 6 tvs and fun and all. only difference was my friend weren’t there.

Halo 5 has way more communication and competitive atmosphere then any halos i have play at least for me. Ive been playing a long time but i have never played Super competitively, But in halo 5 it felt natural to communicate and have awareness of the maps that i never had until halo 5 which is a great thing. Team work for me was more important then any halos before for me atleast,(which is a good thing) Just about everything with the beta felt so good for me the mechanics the way it plays al felt Natural(halo) while also refreshing and new. It felt face paced and tactical. Im not saying It is perfect But even just from the feedback post, they are listening to fans make changes to everything fans were concerned about.

the only thing that disapoints me about the beta is that IM going to have to wait 5 months to see the next major info for Halo 5.

3

> 2533274796029854;2:
> > 2533274859193782;1:
> > A lot of comments here are usually in favor of Halo 5. Totally fine. It’s not like someone having an opinion on a game is objective and you’re wrong. However, people getting hyped for this game seem to forget how in love we all are with Halo when we either beta test for the upcoming game or play at launch. Happened with Reach, happened with 4, sort of happened with MCC. I already have my opinion on where I think Halo 5 is going, but I’d like to hear from other people. Does anyone here see Halo 5 succeeding past its first 3 months before it gets stale? Or do you think it’ll drop off the map like Halo 4?
> >
> > Personally, I side with the latter. Not because I have it out for 343, but because, looking at their past two releases, it paints a clear picture on what their audience and wants and expects. Halo 4 was received very well at launch and pulled in a ton of 9’s and 10’s. Then come January, where were these people who up til recently were singing praises for the game? Did they lose interest? Could the game have any longevity? Seems like it didn’t. Then the MCC is released. Hype was off the charts, and we’re greeted with a slew of server, GUI, connection, and fundamental game issues. Another bad release, and this is probably the biggest offender here. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth and many have either refunded or quit playing the game.
> >
> > Then we got our hands on the beta. Everybody is in love with it! I’m not surprised. A new Halo game? This is exciting! And for the first week or so, I thought so, too. But as I played it more and more, I couldn’t really get into it. It started feeling like a chore. That week of bliss was replaced with boredom and frustration. Not so much at how well I was playing, but rather with how the game itself was playing. Still, people claim its a return to Halo’s roots. I, personally, think it’s growing even farther from the core of the franchise. That said, it would be interesting to hear other perspectives, so if you think it’ll have longevity to sustain it, I’d like to hear your side of the deal.
>
>
> Halo 4 Didn’t have a bad release is was sunspportive of the fans and thus population dropped off That was its issue.
>
> MCC had a bad release But learning from there mistakes of not listen to fan have been admit about fixing what was broken.
>
> Halo 5 They took Nearly every issue the community universally wanted fixed in halo 4 and fixed them.
> I would only suspect that After MCC they will never let a game happen like that Again, 343 want to please the fans they would not have Changed their whole vision of halo 4 Change nearly completely For halo 5.
>
> IM sorry You didn’t enjoy the beta As it was the best halo experience i have had since halo ce/halo 2 day in highschool with my friends in a room with 6 tvs and fun and all. only difference was my friend weren’t there.
>
> Halo 5 has way more communication and competitive atmosphere then any halos i have play at least for me. Ive been playing a long time but i have never played Super competitively, But in halo 5 it felt natural to communicate and have awareness of the maps that i never had until halo 5 which is a great thing. Team work for me was more important then any halos before for me atleast,(which is a good thing) Just about everything with the beta felt so good for me the mechanics the way it plays al felt Natural(halo) while also refreshing and new. It felt face paced and tactical. Im not saying It is perfect But even just from the feedback post, they are listening to fans make changes to everything fans were concerned about.
>
> the only thing that disapoints me about the beta is that IM going to have to wait 5 months to see the next major info for Halo 5.

H4 didn’t have a bad release, but it subsequently got dropped VERY quickly.

Problem with H5 for me is they keep trying to reinvent what makes Halo Halo when they know exactly what Halo is. I seem to remember them hiring people who hated Halo, and they’re still at 343 -_-

4

Kind of too early to say. We don’t know anything about the other mutiplayer experiences, forge etc.
Halo 5 has really intense competition this year. Battlefront’s gonna be huge!

5

Halo 4’s matchmaking dropped off, but from my experiences Halo 4’s customs thrived, MCC was just released too early and 343 knows that they Yoinked up. But for me Halo 5 has brought back the competitiveness back whilst allowing 343 to keep their imprint on it, based off the two forge maps, and H2A’s new forge features, Halo 5’s forge is probably going to be the best yet, thus meaning that customs will once again thrive, and maybe the campaign will be longer and more re playable than Halo 4’s. So even if matchmaking doesn’t last which I reckon it will as this is the most fun i’ve had in matchmaking out of all the Halo’s, customs and forge will still thrive.

6

> 2533274859193782;3:
> Problem with H5 for me is they keep trying to reinvent what makes Halo Halo when they know exactly what Halo is. I seem to remember them hiring people who hated Halo, and they’re still at 343 -_-

Halo is kind of whatever they tell us it is. I wish games were more like television shows where they could have a few sketchy episodes and still be generally considered great shows and the fan bases were more loyal and trusting. Like Family Guy. I hate all the James Woods episodes but love the rest and thusly love the show. But what it boils down to is Seth Macfarlane dictates Family Guy and 343i dictates Halo. We can give feedback but ultimately we have no control.

7

For me to answer your question at the end OP, I would have to honestly say…I don’t know. I cannot confidently think it (population/game usage) will swing big either way in regards to longevity for Halo 5 and keeping people around. I think it is too early, and it’s weird though because of all the pre-orders, but ofc they don’t mean much until launch day and the pre-orders are sold/picked up and numbers are counted at end of the day. Also though, there are all the people who are more outspoken it seems then previously who said they won’t be purchasing the game let alone an Xbone. So I feel we have a lot of evidence for it to go both ways, that’s why I’m not confident of the Halo 5 sustainment yet. I’m also not removing it from my mind either, I think it’s a possibility it could be just fine. I’m thinking I’ll be able to give a more solid answer once E3 comes around and what they release/preview for the audience.

In regards to the rest of your post and thread title with hype and everyone loving the game in the first few weeks or months, it’s all of the above reasons and more. That new feeling for me usually ends after the first month or so. I know I won’t be playing it constantly after I beat the campaign, I will play multiplayer on and off, but personally I just like to switch up games. Only thing that keeps me to stick around playing is achievements…and maybe friends or trying to get to top rank of multiplayer. In regards to multiplayer rank, I usually am done after I notice I can’t rank up anymore and have hit my max skill, usually. After that i won’t honestly bother with the game unless I have friends over or someone over live wants to play. Multiplayer never keeps me around, but it is fun to come back to ofc, along with the campaign.

Ya would like to know what others say in regards to longevity/sustainment of Halo 5, without blaming it on 1 game mechanic please.

8

> 2533274859193782;3:
> > 2533274796029854;2:
> > > 2533274859193782;1:
> > > snip
> >
> >
> >
> > SNip
>
>
> H4 didn’t have a bad release, but it subsequently got dropped VERY quickly.
>
> Problem with H5 for me is they keep trying to reinvent what makes Halo Halo when they know exactly what Halo is. I seem to remember them hiring people who hated Halo, and they’re still at 343 -_-

I just dont see it that way, I mean yes 343 has to make it their own that’s just part of it, even bungie wanted to to add new thing to distinguish each game.
But at its core halo 5 still has the golden triangle (Guns, Grenades, Melee)

As for the Hiring people that hate halo this is a quote taken way out of context, They didn’t hire people who hated halo they hired people who “hated” aspects in halo and had ideas on how to make halo better. There is a huge difference. And Seriously if anyone think halo 2 or Halo 3 or even halo CE are Perfect are fooling themselves thing can always improve

9

If you’re buying H5 because 1) it’s Halo and you buy on brand name or 2) you liked the beta. Then you are wrong. Destiny had an awesome beta and the game turned out to be crap. Halo MCC had Halo in the title and is unplayable 3 months later.

Use your heads.

10

Honestly it’ll fall off within 3 months just like Halo 4. Sprint says it all.

11

> 2533274796029854;8:
> > 2533274859193782;3:
> > > 2533274796029854;2:
> > > > 2533274859193782;1:
> > > > snip
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > SNip
> >
> >
> >
> > H4 didn’t have a bad release, but it subsequently got dropped VERY quickly.
> >
> > Problem with H5 for me is they keep trying to reinvent what makes Halo Halo when they know exactly what Halo is. I seem to remember them hiring people who hated Halo, and they’re still at 343 -_-
>
>
> I just dont see it that way, I mean yes 343 has to make it their own that’s just part of it, even bungie wanted to to add new thing to distinguish each game.
> But at its core halo 5 still has the golden triangle (Guns, Grenades, Melee)
>
> As for the Hiring people that hate halo this is a quote taken way out of context, They didn’t hire people who hated halo they hired people who “hated” aspects in halo and had ideas on how to make halo better. There is a huge difference. And Seriously if anyone think halo 2 or Halo 3 or even halo CE are Perfect are fooling themselves thing can always improve

Except all of these people’s idea on how to make Halo better were basically dropped in the next game because no one would buy H5 if the same problems were there. Its one thing to change and its another to reinvent yourself completely

12

Great read.

I 100% agree. People can blame “oh the beta got boring when BR’s got put as a spawn weapon” all they want, but the reality is that the shiny new toy effect was wearing off.

13

An impossible question because it depends on what you define as succeed. In my opinion both reach and 4 were successful much farther down the line because I could always hop into either game and find a match fast.

The fact is even if the newer games don’t sell near as much as 1-3 they still sell more then enough to be considered a profit and still maintain a healthy population.

14

> 2533274898131165;12:
> Great read.
>
> I 100% agree. People can blame “oh the beta got boring when BR’s got put as a spawn weapon” all they want, but the reality is that the shiny new toy effect was wearing off.

Well when the AR starts came back it was fun again.

Honeymoon that.

15

> 2535422112705145;13:
> An impossible question because it depends on what you define as succeed. In my opinion both reach and 4 were successful much farther down the line because I could always hop into either game and find a match fast.
>
> The fact is even if the newer games don’t sell near as much as 1-3 they still sell more then enough to be considered a profit and still maintain a healthy population.

I’m asking whether or not from your limited experience you have any thoughts on how long the game wll last at launch. I understand its a bit early to say, but at this point they can’t really revise anything major in terms of gameplay, so if you use that as a basis, would you think it has any longevity to it? And by being populated I mean being able to have a stable one, not one on a very sharp decrease like H4.

16

I just love how some people are convinced Halo 5 is already going to be the best Halo. People are so dumb when they jump to conclusions.

17

I’m not sure that game quality and longevity have any direct relationship anymore. The games don’t really change all that much, but the players do. People don’t seem to have the attention spans anymore. And they have a lot more games vying for whatever is left of their attention. The guy above said it all when he talked about beating campaign, hitting his skill ceiling in multiplayer, and then moving on. This is the world we live in.

18

> 2533274873843883;17:
> I’m not sure that game quality and longevity have any direct relationship anymore. The games don’t really change all that much, but the players do. People don’t seem to have the attention spans anymore. And they have a lot more games vying for whatever is left of their attention. The guy above said it all when he talked about beating campaign, hitting his skill ceiling in multiplayer, and then moving on. This is the world we live in.

And yet COD games from 3 or 4 years ago can retain players at a higher rate than h4 could.

19

I can already see Halo 4’s scenario once the hype wears off.

20

> 2533274859193782;3:
> > 2533274796029854;2:
> > > 2533274859193782;1:
> > > A lot of comments here are usually in favor of Halo 5. Totally fine. It’s not like someone having an opinion on a game is objective and you’re wrong. However, people getting hyped for this game seem to forget how in love we all are with Halo when we either beta test for the upcoming game or play at launch. Happened with Reach, happened with 4, sort of happened with MCC. I already have my opinion on where I think Halo 5 is going, but I’d like to hear from other people. Does anyone here see Halo 5 succeeding past its first 3 months before it gets stale? Or do you think it’ll drop off the map like Halo 4?
> > >
> > > Personally, I side with the latter. Not because I have it out for 343, but because, looking at their past two releases, it paints a clear picture on what their audience and wants and expects. Halo 4 was received very well at launch and pulled in a ton of 9’s and 10’s. Then come January, where were these people who up til recently were singing praises for the game? Did they lose interest? Could the game have any longevity? Seems like it didn’t. Then the MCC is released. Hype was off the charts, and we’re greeted with a slew of server, GUI, connection, and fundamental game issues. Another bad release, and this is probably the biggest offender here. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth and many have either refunded or quit playing the game.
> > >
> > > Then we got our hands on the beta. Everybody is in love with it! I’m not surprised. A new Halo game? This is exciting! And for the first week or so, I thought so, too. But as I played it more and more, I couldn’t really get into it. It started feeling like a chore. That week of bliss was replaced with boredom and frustration. Not so much at how well I was playing, but rather with how the game itself was playing. Still, people claim its a return to Halo’s roots. I, personally, think it’s growing even farther from the core of the franchise. That said, it would be interesting to hear other perspectives, so if you think it’ll have longevity to sustain it, I’d like to hear your side of the deal.
> >
> >
> >
> > Halo 4 Didn’t have a bad release is was sunspportive of the fans and thus population dropped off That was its issue.
> >
> > MCC had a bad release But learning from there mistakes of not listen to fan have been admit about fixing what was broken.
> >
> > Halo 5 They took Nearly every issue the community universally wanted fixed in halo 4 and fixed them.
> > I would only suspect that After MCC they will never let a game happen like that Again, 343 want to please the fans they would not have Changed their whole vision of halo 4 Change nearly completely For halo 5.
> >
> > IM sorry You didn’t enjoy the beta As it was the best halo experience i have had since halo ce/halo 2 day in highschool with my friends in a room with 6 tvs and fun and all. only difference was my friend weren’t there.
> >
> > Halo 5 has way more communication and competitive atmosphere then any halos i have play at least for me. Ive been playing a long time but i have never played Super competitively, But in halo 5 it felt natural to communicate and have awareness of the maps that i never had until halo 5 which is a great thing. Team work for me was more important then any halos before for me atleast,(which is a good thing) Just about everything with the beta felt so good for me the mechanics the way it plays al felt Natural(halo) while also refreshing and new. It felt face paced and tactical. Im not saying It is perfect But even just from the feedback post, they are listening to fans make changes to everything fans were concerned about.
> >
> > the only thing that disapoints me about the beta is that IM going to have to wait 5 months to see the next major info for Halo 5.
>
>
> H4 didn’t have a bad release, but it subsequently got dropped VERY quickly.
>
> Problem with H5 for me is they keep trying to reinvent what makes Halo Halo when they know exactly what Halo is. I seem to remember them hiring people who hated Halo, and they’re still at 343 -_-

The exact quote was “we hired some people who hated certain aspects of Halo.” Everyone is a Halo fan at 343i, but not all Halo fans love the same thing, some hate certain elements of it. This rumor that they hired people who hate Halo entirely is a fan story people like bringing up to make 343i look bad.