I’ve only had this thought, or realization maybe a couple times before, and I’ve just had it now again. Seeing Black Ops 4, Battlefield 5, any other new popular game that is not…steady makes me appreciate 343. There’s no doubt that we could sit here and talk about all the faults of Halo 5 and why it doesn’t live up to what it was founded on. While that is true, I think Halo is doing very well compared to other popular franchises. EA has been doing a lot creating arguments and discussions, many will say that COD has already lost its way. Their new “Blackout” mode has already turned many fans away, especially people who were starting to find interest in COD again because of WW2. Watching this all go on, while nothing about Halo 6 has been revealed yet makes 343 look like they are getting better. For example when Frank O’Connor came out and talked about the EA Battlefront 2 lootbox and microtransactions controversy saying their system (Halo 5’s REQ system) is way better. Many people, mostly all the majority disagreed with Frank saying that the REQ system IS bad. Microtransactions ARE bad. 343 has been sitting back, and doing things slowly, learning. That talk helped 343. Mostly all the popular Halo Youtuber’s made videos about that talk. The point of all this is to think what place is 343 actually in, and how we are looking at them. They are getting better at making their “Halo” closer to Bungie’s Halo. And when we try to do nothing but bring 343 down it doesn’t help.
Has anyone else thought of this?
P.S. What I mean by “Halo has spoiled us”, I mean because of how good the original Bungie’s Halo’s were, we were set on a standard for Halo games. And when the new caretakers 343i took over we were left “spoiled”. Again, of course 343’s Halo games has many flaws, I won’t defend that.
There is a lot of unjustified crying about 343. Of course they have made a few mistakes as well. Look at where the gaming industry is now, with the microtransaction/loot box cash grab completely out of control, games dropping campaigns totally, and content cut out to sell as DLC immediately after games launch, it’s a terrible time for gamers in a way. 343 has done a pretty good job of limiting their role in all that. No company is immune from the insatiable greed of investors, but so far 343 has been able to give us a good experience without feeling like a walking ATM. Halo 5 had reqs and a bit of content that seemed to be held back to release over the months following launch, but no paid dlc or season pass and I never paid a penny for reqs and still finished the collection. I’d buy Halo 6 under the same system. Let’s hope 343 continues to walk the fine line of giving us a good experience while also pleasing their masters enough to continue the franchise.
This always happens to games that have a legacy spanning more than 15 years. The fans that first grew up with it will inevitably clash with those that are new. Times change and with it are ways to adapt that can be be disastrous or innovative and both, I.e. Sprint.
IMO, I don’t see any middle ground where 343 can stand, but I will remain optimistic until halo 6 comes out, because I played since CE and was spoiled by just how fun it was…
The Last time 343 made any negative shockwaves in it’s own community was 3 years ago. Activision and EA’s faults are still very fresh and raw in their own way, so that gives Halo a slight boost. We know there are many out there who see Halo 6 as the last chance for a flawless FPS experience later this year.
343i has done waaay more good things than bad so I really like them as a studio.
And even with all of the faults people like to list on Halo 5 (only a few which I agree with) after playing Battlefront II (before they got rid of crates permanently) it looks and feels even better.
Oh yeah totally man. That’s why I don’t like to hear the Bungie/343i comparison all the time. It’s unfair to both companies because they’re making games in totally different cultures. Look at Bungie’s rep after how poorly they’ve handled Destiny. Not to say they wouldn’t have done well with Halo had they stuck with it, but the point is that each company deserves their own compliments and criticisms in an absolute sense.
Realistically, Microsoft as a publisher isn’t as bad as some of the big ones you mentioned. Now this could be because the studio higher-ups from 343i and The Coalition, for example, don’t take much crap from them or Microsoft is pretty good with understanding what is and isn’t appealing to a gaming audience for the most part.
Either way, we should still demand good quality games without casinos built into them, but it is good to sometimes take a step back and see how terrible some other publishers like EA and Activision are in comparison.
As much as I loved Bungie I think 343i is doing a way better job, yes Halo 5 does have its faults but I find it mainly in the campaign. Forge actually makes since to me now and I’ve been be able to use it to make maps and I have gotten a lot better at it then I was in H3 (que falling blocks from the sky) and the multiplayer is excellent to me. Halo 4’s multiplayer was good, not as it is now but it was good. I don’t really understand why people complain so much about Halo 5, I mean it is in their right to but sometimes the things they list are really simple to look pass and forgive or forget. The only that I was bummed out about the most in H5 was playable elites and the customization; I also thought the story was okay and wasn’t completely as bad as some make it out to be.
What do you mean when the other franchises aren’t as steady? Controversy wise? Reception? Success?
how then is halo doing better compared to them?
controversy wise they all have it. Halo 5 had the lack of master chief running the entire game, the lack of split screen, things 343 said they’d rectify (show me don’t tell me), then the game delayed and withheld content. I’d even say the MCCs reception effected how H5 would sell cause it pissed people off to the point “I’m not buying till you fix this”. CoD has the current controversy of no campaign and replacing it with battle Royale. Battlefield 5s current issue is a bunch of uneducated people are wrong on the games inaccuracies while ignoring the fact that every battlefield has inaccuracies to begin with. After that, there’s the EA name behind them so of course MicroTs will always be the big issue for them. Overwatch paves The road for lootboxes, it simply missed out on being predatory. But has lately been under fire for starting what I’d currently going on industry wise, after that you have a 60$ tag for a multiplayer only game (which originally launched with 3 modes only). RB6S makes so much money and has such a large playerbase that it started off not even upgrading things to which they’re not rectifying. The want for a dedicated server was neglected, fixes to netcodes, ect ect.
reception wise they’re all still going are they not? Reception honestly means little at this point cause people will still buy what they -Yoink- about. CoD copies things? Well go ahead and keep buying I’m sure they’re fine being in the top 5 In most categories even with their “issues”. Battlefield 1 has influenced other games to go more old school in setting and it did define, enough so that BF2 is doing the same but “bigger and better (show don’t tell). The setting also brought the “why are we going backwards” remark which did little to deter the playerbase. Overwatch is still the most played hero game on consoles and has little to compete vs it and RB6S seems to be the only twitch shooter that isn’t run and gun being why it’s still doing so good even after 3 years. How about halo 5? Campaign was mediocre to many but the multiplayer “more than made up for it”, furthermore it did good enough to keep live content going for a year.
success wise? This is where you’ll see some differences. Battlefield is on the verge of hitting their new peak after BF1 and like I said, it’s influenced other games to go to an older setting over the futuristic stuff most shooters put out. CoD wil still be top 5 because if it’s brand and marketing power, good game or bad game, plus they’ve other games to fall back on with so many out (Bo3 has better numbers than infinite warfare and WWII and as a result, still gets updates to it, it’s also older than both). CoD no longer relies on just one game but has a variety to support itself on. Odds are Bo4 will sell, but the playerbase goes back to older games. RB6S would be the most played thing on consoles if Fortnite and PUBG weren’t around so it’s doing pretty good. How about halo 5? 12>9>9>(5) franchise wise it’s at its lowest since the very first game. Vs everyone else? It sits near #30 consistently on the most played list so longevity wise the playerbase isn’t there when compared to RB6S, overwatch, Bo3 or BF1. Sales wise it has been outdone by games that weren’t even exclusives on its very own console, why is a flagship franchise getting outdone by games that aren’t?
i’d need to hear how halo is doing better besides an opinion piece cause numbers just don’t back that up. When it comes to controversy and the media, come H6 that will start back up. Halo has the luxury of not launching every year so it won’t be scrutinized by the media all the time like CoD, battlefield and a few other games are, launching every 3+ years means people will get tired after the first year and you get 2 years of piece till the cycle repeats.
I guess in the grand scheme of things… yeah… 343 isn’t that bad… but halo 5 came out 3 years ago and I’m still salty over it!!
And also what I’m about to say is an objective fact: Halo is not doing good compared to other games… yes more people hate call of duty and battlefront 2, but they still have huge fanbases and player population… Nowadays halo is honestly in their shadows… I would love this to change with halo 6, but only time will tell.
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> They are getting better at making their “Halo” closer to Bungie’s Halo.
The only way I can even imagine this being true is if the only aspect of the game that matters to you is equal starts. But just because Halo 4 didn’t have 'em and Halo 5 does… I’d hardly call that a “return to form.”
And even if you want to call this some form of consistency, I’d say that it’s neither the ‘too much’ that would please the old school nor is it the ‘not enough’ that would win over some CoD kids or maybe even some battle royale people. And whatever you say, please don’t say that you’d rather Halo stayed “true to itself” and died rather than evolve and find an audience again. Please don’t say that.
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> What do you mean when the other franchises aren’t as steady? Controversy wise? Reception? Success?
>
> how then is halo doing better compared to them?
>
> i’d need to hear how halo is doing better besides an opinion piece cause numbers just don’t back that up. When it comes to controversy and the media, come H6 that will start back up. Halo has the luxury of not launching every year so it won’t be scrutinized by the media all the time like CoD, battlefield and a few other games are, launching every 3+ years means people will get tired after the first year and you get 2 years of piece till the cycle repeats.
Like you said, Halo has the luxury of not launching every year. Imagine if 343 were to do that. How much pressure would be on them to make a HALO game a “Halo” game. I am saying that 343, or Halo sits back and takes their time, listens to the community more. That is how Halo is doing better. I made this topic because it occurred that while every other franchise is having so many changes and not a lot of input, to go back and play Halo 5 feels good. It feels good to have a franchise where you can actually rely on in a way. I don’t know how to describe it but its just the perception of how 343 is treating Halo, to how all these other developers are treating their games.
My big favourite about 343 is how transparent they are. Most developers of massive game franchises are kind of hidden away from their communities with an obvious corporate barrier between them. They don’t chat much with good reason too; frankly gamers are very toxic and will often issue death threats and all round stupidity at people they don’t like.
343 on the other hand are quite honest about what’s going on in the heads of the department. The admission of mistakes in previous games, comments on projects like the haggar game, casually chatting about the game (GrimBrotherOne on reddit, ske7ch on Twitter, Frankie popping up randomly) and smoldering recent community controversies in a way which isn’t tragic but promises more in the future.
While I certainly don’t like some of the things they have done in the games and have progressively become more critical of them; I still totally have respect for the public members of the company and the company as a whole for developing the best heckin game franchise on the planet. They’re doing a better job than I ever could.
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> And also what I’m about to say is an objective fact: Halo is not doing good compared to other games… yes more people hate call of duty and battlefront 2, but they still have huge fanbases and player population… Nowadays halo is honestly in their shadows… I would love this to change with halo 6, but only time will tell.
Of course, what it means to be “doing good” is entirely subjective, so what you said is, in fact, not an objective fact.
I am more or less burned out of H5 only playing a little bit here and there but out of all the multiplayer shooters out there I still think it is the best even 3 years later. I need H6 at this point as I’m kinda bored of H5 but nothing out there is as good as it so I don’t really have a drive to play them.
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> > 2535420568109893;9:
> > And also what I’m about to say is an objective fact: Halo is not doing good compared to other games… yes more people hate call of duty and battlefront 2, but they still have huge fanbases and player population… Nowadays halo is honestly in their shadows… I would love this to change with halo 6, but only time will tell.
>
> Of course, what it means to be “doing good” is entirely subjective, so what you said is, in fact, not an objective fact.
We can criticise as much as we want, and sometimes it is definitely warranted, but when you compare 343i’s work to that of other developers in the current video game industry it becomes clear that 343i are doing an amazing job.
They’ve provided us with plenty of content and hours of solid gameplay experiences. I bought Battlefront II when it came out and I’ve probably only touched it twice. In Halo 5, I have spent countless hours enjoying myself. If it had four-player splitscreen I have no doubt I’d still be playing it all the time.
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> > 2533274825830455;14:
> > > 2535420568109893;9:
> > > And also what I’m about to say is an objective fact: Halo is not doing good compared to other games… yes more people hate call of duty and battlefront 2, but they still have huge fanbases and player population… Nowadays halo is honestly in their shadows… I would love this to change with halo 6, but only time will tell.
> >
> > Of course, what it means to be “doing good” is entirely subjective, so what you said is, in fact, not an objective fact.
>
> You know exactly what i mean by doing good
Maybe, but my “doing good” may not be the same as your “doing good”. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t start with “what I’m about to say is an objective fact”, when you’re going to present a subjective opinion.
I agree with everything that you have stated. 343 has not only shown that they are getting better at developing quality content within their games but better games in general. You can see this with comparison between Halo 4, Halo 5, the additional Halo 5 and its changes, then with Halo Wars 2. They have also shown that they are listening to the community. They have displayed this with some tweets from Management in 343 talking about the future of Halo after Halo Online became popular.
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> > 2535420568109893;16:
> > > 2533274825830455;14:
> > > > 2535420568109893;9:
> > > > And also what I’m about to say is an objective fact: Halo is not doing good compared to other games… yes more people hate call of duty and battlefront 2, but they still have huge fanbases and player population… Nowadays halo is honestly in their shadows… I would love this to change with halo 6, but only time will tell.
> > >
> > > Of course, what it means to be “doing good” is entirely subjective, so what you said is, in fact, not an objective fact.
> >
> > You know exactly what i mean by doing good
>
> Maybe, but my “doing good” may not be the same as your “doing good”. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t start with “what I’m about to say is an objective fact”, when you’re going to present a subjective opinion.
You see i know you know exactly what i mean by doing… but whatever you say whatever you want to say
I’m sure they’re fine being in the top 5 In most categories even with their “issues”. Battlefield 1 has influenced other games to go more old school in setting and it did define, enough so that BF2 is doing the same but “bigger and better (show don’t tell). The setting also brought the “why are we going backwards” remark which did little to deter the playerbase. Overwatch is still the most played hero game on consoles and has little to compete vs it and RB6S seems to be the only twitch shooter that isn’t run and gun being why it’s still doing so good even after 3 years. How about halo 5? Campaign was mediocre to many but the multiplayer “more than made up for it”, furthermore it did good enough to keep live content going for a year.