Halo 5 is not Halo

So, first off, if you disagree, then you may. My objective is not to spread hate across the Halo community, but to pinpoint what I mean by Halo isn’t Halo. I will keep this relatively short, conposed, and concise.

So I’ll first begin at the way 343i changed Halo. Halo used to be a game about just getting together and having fun, playing with many different players around the globe who all enjoy what Bungie set it’s sights out for. They wanted to create a game that could touch the fans heart, who could relate to the game and who could grow up with it, and see it in all it’s glory (looking at you, halo 3). But now with the release of Halo 5, all that’s changed. Halo 5 is highly based at trying to get you to buy their god forsaken Requisition Packs. That’s exactly what Warzone is all about. Req packs. It’s why Firefight is so short and why you have to grind through all of them, because they want you to buy more even after you’ve used them all. Even taking away Splitscreen was a marketing decision. You take away people’s ability to buy one game and have 2-4 people play one game, then all 4 people have to buy a xbox and a copy of halo 5. No one cared about maintaining a perfect 60 frames per second. The community even gave backlash at you for removing it and you did nothing to fix it, just stayed on your merry way to make Halo even worse than it turned out to be.

Next, bugs and monthly updates. We don’t want MORE reqs after every monthly update. What we WANT is for YOU to FIX all the broken and unfair methods you’ve placed in the game. No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in. What we asked for was for you to fix Firefight, to fix theatre, to fix campaign issues, to fix bugs present in all the game modes, but you can’t even pay attention to the fanbase to grant them simple wishes.

I’m not even gonna finish this because i’m so disgusted at you, 343i. You’ve ruined the game i so gratefully looked up at since i was 4 years old. But now that i’ve seen your true practices with the game, to use it as your bag of profit. I’m just so tired. I’ve been begging you to just fix the small things, but all you seem to care about is your awful req system and making people buy more. So i see how you treat us, how you give us the salutary neglect that you’ve always given us.

Disgusting, 343. Absolutely disgusting.

If REQ packs is what stops Halo 5 from being Halo, then I should be allowed to say Halo 3 isn’t Halo because they locked you out of certain playlists entirely because you needed the map pack to get in. It was really after the final pack was released that they made DLC playlists. Oh, and not all of them changed to being free like Halo 2 did.

And then when Halo 3 ODST was coming out, the price was increased from $40 to $60 because they shoved the map packs inside.

So if you:

  • Don’t play Multiplayer - Didn’t want the map packs - Already have the map packsYou were throwing away $20 for something you were already going to buy.

> 2533274864477733;1:
> No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in

Now that is just plain not true. Plenty of people did. People were upset with the Memories of Reach update because all you got were the Noble Team set. (Falcon anyone?)

You throw a lot of this “we” around, when not everyone thinks as you did. It should be “I”.

> 2533274833081329;3:
> > 2533274864477733;1:
> > No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in
>
>
> Now that is just plain not true. Plenty of people did. People were upset with the Memories of Reach update because all you got were the Noble Team set.
>
> You throw a lot of this “we” around, when not everyone thinks as you did. It should be “I”.

It is called the false consensus. The person thinks their opinion speaks for everyone.

> 2533274954911187;4:
> > 2533274833081329;3:
> > > 2533274864477733;1:
> > > No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in
> >
> >
> > Now that is just plain not true. Plenty of people did. People were upset with the Memories of Reach update because all you got were the Noble Team set.
> >
> > You throw a lot of this “we” around, when not everyone thinks as you did. It should be “I”.
>
>
> It is called the false consensus. The person thinks their opinion speaks for everyone.

Oooooooooo that’s a nice phrase. Wait… we like that phrase. Huh? Did I do it right?

I am highly aware that my usage of “we” is a bit off, I’m not going to say I’m right about that, but I’m talking about the reviews of the community as a whole. I’m not just pointing at req packs or bugs, but as 343 as a whole. That’s where I get the “we” from. Because I know that its not just me who dislikes many of the decisions that 343 has done with Halo. I know PLENTY, of people who want Halo 5’s bugs to be fixed, and to have these bugs prioritized heavily over the new reqs that they’re adding in the game.

This has nothing to do with what defines Halo, this is you bashing 343i.

REQ packs = Literally every game is doing this. It makes a ton of cash.
Splitscreen= It was not a marketing decision, they had it then removed it so that the game would always be at 60 FPS
And they fix plenty of stuff with each update and in smaller bug fix updates every so often. Just because they aren’t the specific ones you want fixed doesn’t mean they aren’t fixing bugs.

> 2533274864477733;6:
> I am highly aware that my usage of “we” is a bit off, I’m not going to say I’m right about that, but I’m talking about the reviews of the community as a whole. I’m not just pointing at req packs or bugs, but as 343 as a whole. That’s where I get the “we” from. Because I know that its not just me who dislikes many of the decisions that 343 has done with Halo. I know PLENTY, of people who want Halo 5’s bugs to be fixed, and to have these bugs prioritized heavily over the new reqs that they’re adding in the game.

Waypoint and the YouTube comment section of Halo Follower & LNG is not the entire community.

> 2533274864477733;6:
> I am highly aware that my usage of “we” is a bit off, I’m not going to say I’m right about that, but I’m talking about the reviews of the community as a whole. I’m not just pointing at req packs or bugs, but as 343 as a whole. That’s where I get the “we” from. Because I know that its not just me who dislikes many of the decisions that 343 has done with Halo. I know PLENTY, of people who want Halo 5’s bugs to be fixed, and to have these bugs prioritized heavily over the new reqs that they’re adding in the game.

Outside of bugs and glitches, a lot of what you said were either subjective, containing no evidence, or just impossible.

“(looking at you, halo 3)”

My first comment.

“It’s why Firefight is so short and why you have to grind through all of them, because they want you to buy more even after you’ve used them all.”

Firefight is short because it’s multiplayer only, and 8 people won’t agree on an infinite round game. On average, a game of Firefight is as long as a game of Warzone, up to a max of ~25 minutes.

Look at Halo Reach, most multiplayer Firefight matches was 1 set = 5 rounds. (Especially considering most people picked Arcade anyway.)

“No one cared about maintaining a perfect 60 frames per second.”

Uh yes they did. 60fps is like the bare minimum for an FPS this day and age, especially for something that’s expected to be taken competitively.

“The community even gave backlash at you for removing it and you did nothing to fix it, just stayed on your merry way to make Halo even worse than it turned out to be.”

How do you “fix” Splitscreen? If it’s an engine problem like they say, then they can’t simply patch Splitscreen in or flip a switch. That’s just unrealistic.

“We don’t want MORE reqs after every monthly update.”

More REQs = More Weapons and vehicles.

Even right now people are clamoring for more weapons and vehicles, especially weapons from older games.

“to fix campaign issues”
There are Campaign issues? Outside of the story and what used to be no score attack, I haven’t heard any technical complaints.

And the biggest part. One is only now getting to this point? Has no one recognized the forest fire that was Halo 4? If 343i was going to fail anywhere, it was there and MCC.

> 2533274954911187;4:
> > 2533274833081329;3:
> > > 2533274864477733;1:
> > > No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in
> >
> >
> > Now that is just plain not true. Plenty of people did. People were upset with the Memories of Reach update because all you got were the Noble Team set.
> >
> > You throw a lot of this “we” around, when not everyone thinks as you did. It should be “I”.
>
>
> It is called the false consensus. The person thinks their opinion speaks for everyone.

But to be perfectly honest, we didn’t really need reskins of armor that we already had in the game.

What “makes” Halo is entirely subjective, and anyone claiming to know what a true Halo game is comes off as a bit pretentious. To some people split-screening with friends make Halo, to others it’s about competitive multiplayer, others no sprint, and even just a good campaign. Depending on how you view this determines whether or not Halo 5 is a real Halo game. Heck, I’ve even see some people say that Halo 3 isn’t a good Halo game.

> 2533274864477733;6:
> I am highly aware that my usage of “we” is a bit off, I’m not going to say I’m right about that, but I’m talking about the reviews of the community as a whole. I’m not just pointing at req packs or bugs, but as 343 as a whole. That’s where I get the “we” from. Because I know that its not just me who dislikes many of the decisions that 343 has done with Halo. I know PLENTY, of people who want Halo 5’s bugs to be fixed, and to have these bugs prioritized heavily over the new reqs that they’re adding in the game.

Can you list a few of these bugs specifically? I ask because my H5 experience is almost entirely bug-free.

Dude I haven’t actually paid for anything but the EG pack and the game itself.

The problem with the Halo community (At least some of the community) is they always compare Halo games to a golden standard, like H3. Yes, I had a freaking great time with that game.

But if you compare Halo 5 to any current FPS or just evaluate it as an individual game, you CANNOT say it’s not a great multiplayer experience. 343i are in the business of making a great game, but also the primary function of any business. To make money.

I just think perspectives need to change, not the game.

Halo 5 has offered me the same enjoyment as the previous titles did. The gaming industry is much different and thus affects the layout and design of this game and others. Bungie would not and could not produce the same Halo today. All that aside, split screen does not take away from the quality of this game in significant aspects. Plus they elaborated on why split screen was not feasible and I will not dive into that because the evidence is there and it’s not a conspiracy that 343 simply did it to jab a spear into everyone’s hearts. Also, you do not have to purchase any REQ packs. I simply play the game and earn them with the points. You play, you earn. No real currency involved. It’s a pointless argument. It’s not pay to win. Sure pay if you want it now, but that’s not my style. Regarding the updates and bugs, this game is pretty generous concerning the updates. Regardless of your biased, senseless criticisms; this game has a lot of features and content. Yes there are bugs, but I expected that. Every modern game now has bugs. Destiny does. COD does. Oh and Bungie produced Destiny and you have to PAY for content. If 343 did that I wonder what the feedback would be then. You guys assume since Bungie isn’t creating Halo anymore they are a better company yet here they are sabotaging a different game in ways you guys believe 343 is doing to Halo. And 343 isn’t. You know, I think concerning this day and age…the method and business model of creating games; 343 would sustain and prolong Halo. The glory days are over. Halo 1-3 had no real competition, no other shooters to really go against, and the industry and fanbase was much different. Halo 5 is here and it’s a great game. Label me a fanboy, I care not. Bungie isn’t the champion of anything, nor is 343. I simply observe and state the facts.

> 2533274974217755;14:
> Halo 5 has offered me the same enjoyment as the previous titles did. The gaming industry is much different and thus affects the layout and design of this game and others. Bungie would not and could not produce the same Halo today. All that aside, split screen does not take away from the quality of this game in significant aspects. Plus they elaborated on why split screen was not feasible and I will not dive into that because the evidence is there and it’s not a conspiracy that 343 simply did it to jab a spear into everyone’s hearts. Also, you do not have to purchase any REQ packs. I simply play the game and earn them with the points. You play, you earn. No real currency involved. It’s a pointless argument. It’s not pay to win. Sure pay if you want it now, but that’s not my style. Regarding the updates and bugs, this game is pretty generous concerning the updates. Regardless of your biased, senseless criticisms; this game has a lot of features and content. Yes there are bugs, but I expected that. Every modern game now has bugs. Destiny does. COD does. Oh and Bungie produced Destiny and you have to PAY for content. If 343 did that I wonder what the feedback would be then. You guys assume since Bungie isn’t creating Halo anymore they are a better company yet here they are sabotaging a different game in ways you guys believe 343 is doing to Halo. And 343 isn’t. You know, I think concerning this day and age…the method and business model of creating games; 343 would sustain and prolong Halo. The glory days are over. Halo 1-3 had no real competition, no other shooters to really go against, and the industry and fanbase was much different. Halo 5 is here and it’s a great game. Label
>
>
> > 2533274974217755;14:
> > Halo 5 has offered me the same enjoyment as the previous titles did. The gaming industry is much different and thus affects the layout and design of this game and others. Bungie would not and could not produce the same Halo today. All that aside, split screen does not take away from the quality of this game in significant aspects. Plus they elaborated on why split screen was not feasible and I will not dive into that because the evidence is there and it’s not a conspiracy that 343 simply did it to jab a spear into everyone’s hearts. Also, you do not have to purchase any REQ packs. I simply play the game and earn them with the points. You play, you earn. No real currency involved. It’s a pointless argument. It’s not pay to win. Sure pay if you want it now, but that’s not my style. Regarding the updates and bugs, this game is pretty generous concerning the updates. Regardless of your biased, senseless criticisms; this game has a lot of features and content. Yes there are bugs, but I expected that. Every modern game now has bugs. Destiny does. COD does. Oh and Bungie produced Destiny and you have to PAY for content. If 343 did that I wonder what the feedback would be then. You guys assume since Bungie isn’t creating Halo anymore they are a better company yet here they are sabotaging a different game in ways you guys believe 343 is doing to Halo. And 343 isn’t. You know, I think concerning this day and age…the method and business model of creating games; 343 would sustain and prolong Halo. The glory days are over. Halo 1-3 had no real competition, no other shooters to really go against, and the industry and fanbase was much different. Halo 5 is here and it’s a great game. Label me a fanboy, I care not. Bungie isn’t the champion of anything, nor is 343. I sim
> >
> >
> > > 2533274974217755;14:
> > > Halo 5 has offered me the same enjoyment as the previous titles did. The gaming industry is much different and thus affects the layout and design of this game and others. Bungie would not and could not produce the same Halo today. All that aside, split screen does not take away from the quality of this game in significant aspects. Plus they elaborated on why split screen was not feasible and I will not dive into that because the evidence is there and it’s not a conspiracy that 343 simply did it to jab a spear into everyone’s hearts. Also, you do not have to purchase any REQ packs. I simply play the game and earn them with the points. You play, you earn. No real currency involved. It’s a pointless argument. It’s not pay to win. Sure pay if you want it now, but that’s not my style. Regarding the updates and bugs, this game is pretty generous concerning the updates. Regardless of your biased, senseless criticisms; this game has a lot of features and content. Yes there are bugs, but I expected that. Every modern game now has bugs. Destiny does. COD does. Oh and Bungie produced Destiny and you have to PAY for content. If 343 did that I wonder what the feedback would be then. You guys assume since Bungie isn’t creating Halo anymore they are a better company yet here they are sabotaging a different game in ways you guys believe 343 is doing to Halo. And 343 isn’t. You know, I think concerning this day and age…the method and business model of creating games; 343 would sustain and prolong Halo. The glory days are over. Halo 1-3 had no real competition, no other shooters to really go against, and the industry and fanbase was much different. Halo 5 is here and it’s a great game. Label me a fanboy, I care not. Bungie isn’t the champion of anything, nor is 343. I simply observe and state the facts.
> >
> >
> > Dude people will really just gripe about anything. Pay to play? Oh no man, guess I wont have 10 super OP hammers in Warzone…what will I ever do hahaha.

Still more Halo than Halo 4

> 2533274864477733;1:
> So, first off, if you disagree, then you may. My objective is not to spread hate across the Halo community, but to pinpoint what I mean by Halo isn’t Halo. I will keep this relatively short, conposed, and concise.
>
> So I’ll first begin at the way 343i changed Halo. Halo used to be a game about just getting together and having fun, playing with many different players around the globe who all enjoy what Bungie set it’s sights out for. They wanted to create a game that could touch the fans heart, who could relate to the game and who could grow up with it, and see it in all it’s glory (looking at you, halo 3). But now with the release of Halo 5, all that’s changed. Halo 5 is highly based at trying to get you to buy their god forsaken Requisition Packs. That’s exactly what Warzone is all about. Req packs. It’s why Firefight is so short and why you have to grind through all of them, because they want you to buy more even after you’ve used them all. Even taking away Splitscreen was a marketing decision. You take away people’s ability to buy one game and have 2-4 people play one game, then all 4 people have to buy a xbox and a copy of halo 5. No one cared about maintaining a perfect 60 frames per second. The community even gave backlash at you for removing it and you did nothing to fix it, just stayed on your merry way to make Halo even worse than it turned out to be.
>
> Next, bugs and monthly updates. We don’t want MORE reqs after every monthly update. What we WANT is for YOU to FIX all the broken and unfair methods you’ve placed in the game. No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in. What we asked for was for you to fix Firefight, to fix theatre, to fix campaign issues, to fix bugs present in all the game modes, but you can’t even pay attention to the fanbase to grant them simple wishes.
>
> I’m not even gonna finish this because i’m so disgusted at you, 343i. You’ve ruined the game i so gratefully looked up at since i was 4 years old. But now that i’ve seen your true practices with the game, to use it as your bag of profit. I’m just so tired. I’ve been begging you to just fix the small things, but all you seem to care about is your awful req system and making people buy more. So i see how you treat us, how you give us the salutary neglect that you’ve always given us.
>
> Disgusting, 343. Absolutely disgusting.

My sentiments as well.

4 huh? your parents were pretty lenient then I’d say. I hope my future wife will let my children play at that age XD

> 2535457885829552;13:
> The problem with the Halo community (At least some of the community) is they always compare Halo games to a golden standard, like H3. Yes, I had a freaking great time with that game.

I fail to see a problem with this. If we expect a certain experience, plenty of content, and the best experience possible, why shouldn’t they deliver? Bungie did a fantastic job with the Halo franchise and made it (and Microsoft) juggernauts in the gaming world.

> 2535457885829552;13:
> But if you compare Halo 5 to any current FPS or just evaluate it as an individual game, you CANNOT say it’s not a great multiplayer experience.

Sure, it might be a great multiplayer experience, but it is not a great Halo multiplayer experience.

> 2535457885829552;13:
> 343i are in the business of making a great game, but also the primary function of any business. To make money.

Well that is clearly obvious with the Requisition system and how half -Yoinked!- everything else (excluding Forge mode) feels.

> 2535457885829552;13:
> I just think perspectives need to change, not the game.

You are half wrong about that, but I will agree with the second half. The game drastically changed wether we liked it or not, and many of our perspectives were ignored.

I know. Its just a ghost of what we know. Ony has the soul of what we rember, what we loved and enjoyed. Like every great spirit, the time has come for it pass, though it may be resurrected with a strong will and support, which I doubt we will get… In all of my lifetime of playing halo for fun and now I am afraid… I am afraid that its drifing away from my reach and that I am hopeless to stop it. Just like you and many others…

> 2533274864477733;1:
> So, first off, if you disagree, then you may. My objective is not to spread hate across the Halo community, but to pinpoint what I mean by Halo isn’t Halo. I will keep this relatively short, conposed, and concise.
>
> Ok, we’ll see… a lot of people have this complaint, where’s OP going with this?
>
> So I’ll first begin at the way 343i changed Halo. Halo used to be a game about just getting together and having fun, playing with many different players around the globe who all enjoy what Bungie set it’s sights out for. They wanted to create a game that could touch the fans heart, who could relate to the game and who could grow up with it, and see it in all it’s glory (looking at you, halo 3). But now with the release of Halo 5, all that’s changed. Halo 5 is highly based at trying to get you to buy their god forsaken Requisition Packs. That’s exactly what Warzone is all about. Req packs. It’s why Firefight is so short and why you have to grind through all of them, because they want you to buy more even after you’ve used them all. Even taking away Splitscreen was a marketing decision. You take away people’s ability to buy one game and have 2-4 people play one game, then all 4 people have to buy a xbox and a copy of halo 5. No one cared about maintaining a perfect 60 frames per second. The community even gave backlash at you for removing it and you did nothing to fix it, just stayed on your merry way to make Halo even worse than it turned out to be.
>
> I can understand some of what you’re saying here, but those changes don’t make the game “not Halo.” As you said, the franchise used to be about getting together and having fun with different players from around the globe. In Halo 5, you still do that, and I’ve had a blast with it personally. Not sure about the “touching fan’s heart” part, but if you were to make that case, what other mean to that end could you possibly do then actually ripping Cortana from us in the story (our closest friend and ally, as the player and Chief) throughout the games and force us to face her as the villain who we may end up needing to kill in Halo 6? Halo 3 was my personal favorite by the way, as it sounds is the case for you. Warzone is, in theory, about non-competitive (hence, unranked) fun, which is what your argument seems to be against Halo 5. The REQ system is a means to achieve that end, giving us cool new variants on vehicles, weapons, customization, etc. No one forces you to spend any real money beyond your initial $60 investment of the game, same as all of the past Halo titles. And I sort of disagree with you on Firefight as well… yes, you could argue it’s short to build up RP and keep that train going. But 343 could have done the same exact thing by giving you RP based on how long you survived a traditional Firefight match, which just goes to show that REQ packs have nothing to do with the length of Firefight matches, they just wanted to try something different with the game mode in Halo 5. Personally, I like it better, but the old version was fun too. The one thing I agree with you wholeheartedly about is the lack of local split-screen. That was a cash-grab move, because if they’d taken a poll of the community pre-launch, there’s exactly a zero % chance they’d have traded slightly better graphics and resolution for couch co-op and MP. Damn near 100% of the community would have been against that, so the goal was to sell more consoles and copies of the game, and that’s pretty clear I think.
>
> Next, bugs and monthly updates. We don’t want MORE reqs after every monthly update. What we WANT is for YOU to FIX all the broken and unfair methods you’ve placed in the game. No body asked for Reskins of the Noble Team set. No body. But you still put it in. What we asked for was for you to fix Firefight, to fix theatre, to fix campaign issues, to fix bugs present in all the game modes, but you can’t even pay attention to the fanbase to grant them simple wishes.
>
> I find a lot of this paragraph really interesting, since I’m not aware of very many bugs in Halo 5 overall and I’ve been playing since launch. I’ve seen myself get stuck in base in WZ Assault once, but that’s about it, and it hasn’t happened again. It’s played relatively flawlessly for me from a technical standpoint, unless network connection were poor, which is beyond their control outside of narrowing the search criteria for games (which they did). Same goes for the campaign, I’m not aware of many bugs there at all. I guess you might be referring to broken maps or unfair farming tactics. To the broken maps end, that’s why they’ve removed at least two maps that I’m aware of from the Arena playlist since launch (hence, clearly listening to fan feedback about them being broken). As for farming, yes, I wish they had a solution to that, but I’m not sure what that’d be or how it’d be best implemented. I don’t care much for the new REQs typically, but they do add variety to the game (the Wasp anyone?). But the content updates were fantastic (Forge, file browser, new playlists, Fiesta, Assault, Grifball, Infection… do I need to go on?). Again, it clearly shows they’ve paid attention to the fanbase and the feedback they’ve been provided, as they’ve given us most everything (not all) that people have been asking for since launch. So I guess I find your “can’t even pay attention to feedback” comment absurd. Perhaps it’s the other way around.

Part 1 of 2. I thought it’d be better to respond to each paragraph individually for ease of reading, so see above!