Halo 5 and the importance of resource allocation.

Community General Discussion
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Fayvn has just uploaded a brilliant video about H5’s greatest issue… an issue I’ve been here arguing for months, and really it is perfectly captured in this video.

For those that aren’t familiar with Fayvn, he is an active member of the Halo community that has semi-recently visited 343’s studio by way of invitation, firsthand, to interact with them and discuss the state of the game. To pick 343’s brain, so-to-speak… at least in my interpretation of the situation. This guy whether you agree with some of his points or not, or views on the series, knows what he’s talking about, and clearly is valued by 343 staff.

In this video he talks about the “split” of player experiences in the game, the flawed design philosophy in how H5’s content was developed. Notice that he is strictly talking about experience-defining content, as it is absolutely IMPERITIVE to be made without compromise and with as much variety in mind, to satisfy all players… Something H5’s content does not do!

How can this be fixed moving forward while retaining all of the benefits of H5’s current system? It means streamlining the less critical content, incorporating a MODULARLY designed pool of content and modes, and fine-tuning the REQ/Warzone business model and in how the mode itself is played… that modular “cross-utilization” of assets, is exactly the point in why Warzone should be played on developer BTB maps. It corrects the large issue (based on massive outcry) that 343 did not make any BTB maps for Halo 5.

Instead Warzone maps were created… were too big for Arena modes or BTB, and the allocation of resources to this component of the game pulled focus away from Arena and everything else. This is why we have remixed maps, recycled ideas, recycled EVERYTHING in H5! It creates that “void” that we have in the game today…

It is why us is absolutely crucial for 343 to refine their design philosophy going forward, in H6 and beyond. There are so many better ways that they can implement their content, better manage and allocate their time and resources, that will produce a much better, and more quality experience in the future. It’s an argument that you really can’t make without the basic understanding of how big businesses/companies and designers and engineers manage and are allocated work, respectively.

TL;DR: Fayvn’s excellent video is linked HERE.

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I’ve been thinking this forever the only problem was I couldn’t say it as good as fav. Thank you for sharing this.

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> 2533274827113670;2:
> I’ve been thinking this forever the only problem was I couldn’t say it as good as fav. Thank you for sharing this.

No problem man, I’ve presented this argument a few different times… but Fayvn has a way of really restating it from a variety of different ways, and giving it clear context, no matter who you are.

I’ve always thought I’ve been pretty clear with my own presentation of the argument here, but I’ve been met with an outrageous amount of backlash lol, as if I were a crazy, one-off that felt this way about the game, when in reality, that’s far from the truth.

Either you get it, or you don’t… and what this series needs is people that understand the importance of maximizing value by way of lean and modular design, not just by way of creating separate experiences, microtransactions, and tons of unlockable content that just allocates excessive costs elsewhere. Microtransactions are a necessity to make it all happen, but they need to be dirt cheap to produce, with the highest amount of PERCEIVED value as possible. However, they mostly should ideally fit the all-round aesthetic of the game/universe.

If you want an example of a game that does it well, look at R6: Siege… people go crazy over some of the skins in that game, but they’re just simple image projections on a weapon that an artist basically whips up in a couple of hours. Very low cost… Modeling new Spartan armor? A much more expensive endeavor, relatively speaking, and the over-abundance of armor sets in H5 is just another example of poor allocation of resources (money spent on execution of the work) that ultimately affected other aspects of the game.

They have to prioritize and get the fine balance right. But experience-defining content absolutely takes precedence!

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I really like classic halo but tbh in halo 6 I hope they just dedicate the game to the new mechanics. Then maybe add a classic playlist with forge maps later on. This way 343 can focus on making the best game they can rather than spread themselves to thin.

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> 2533274827113670;4:
> I really like classic halo but tbh in halo 6 I hope they just dedicate the game to the new mechanics. Then maybe add a classic playlist with forge maps later on. This way 343 can focus on making the best game they can rather than spread themselves to thin.

Well classic game modes are going to need magnetism and aim assist modifiers to work effectively… could be done by way of custom game options… modular design.

As far as the maps though, either 343 can really work to fine-tune map proportions and scale to reasonably accommodate new and old styles of play, or make physically modular maps. Custom forge pieces could shut off or reshape default map geometry to better allow it to work with classic settings. Forge maps would of course be an option as well, in addition.

They just need to design smart… be creative, first and foremost, and refine their business model and better manage their time and resources. Management has been an issue at 343, and H5 is clear evidence of that. They need to dial in the overall vision and prioritize work effectively.