Microtransactions in MCC.
As of the latest update, 343i has said:
No decision has been made around the potential for purchasable SP being added as a secondary vector in the future
but why? In the same blog, literally in the paragraph above that one they stated:
In addition to some frustrations at the prospects of purchasing SP, much of the feedback focused on general frustrations with the current SP earn rates in MCC.
So, basically, they know the community is upset at the prospect of purchasable SP in MCC but they want to wait because hopefully we’ll forget about it and they can put them in anyway. Uh, no?
343i should just definitively scrap plans for MTX in MCC and state unequivocally that MTX will not appear in MCC. They know the community doesn’t want it for the most part. They are addressing the grind for points (a good thing), so there really is no reason for MTX now. The player-base is low in MCC so it’s really not worth the negative PR it brings.
They’re either gonna wait until the heat for it completely blows over or pull yet another “We know better than you” to the fans and add them in anyways despite backlash.
It will always be in consideration until 343 can find a proper loop to get players to spend and stick to their game.
If Infinite’s Season 3 sticks the landing and does get more players and more earnings, they might shelve the idea. If it doesn’t, they are almost certainly going to push it out the door.
Reason? Videogames have become a business more than a product.
I’m not sure about whether them adding MTX to MCC or not hinges on the success of Season 3 in Infinite but besides that I agree.
It’s taken a long time but MCC has just been an experiment in “modernising” Halo and I don’t mean that in a positive light.
The entire progression system in MCC around earning cosmetics has been designed around following “modern trends” in F2P Live Service games that focus on maximising profit.
The Battle Pass System
The Exchange (weekly rotating store)
The Wacky Cosmetics
The only missing ingredient is microtransactions (which seems to be their ultimate goal).
These things were tolerated before because it they were all free additions. When you add the microtransactions it muddies the water and re-contextualises those previous moves as entirely cynical.
They’ve set up a framework ripe for monetisation but the thing that made MCC special before was that it didn’t monetise this stuff. That’s why whenever they continuously reinforced how that it wasn’t being monetised and how much they understand the community valued progression based rewards they earned a lot of good will.
Money. Businesses exist to accrue it for their shareholders.
They know that a vocal group in the community is upset about it. I’m not upset about it. The community isn’t a monolith. I’m sure there are many diverse and wonderful opinions about the direction of MCC in the community.
Seems like a fine idea to me. Makes sense from a business standpoint. Let the people with knee-jerk reactions to a monetization scheme spin their wheels in the mud for a while and when they get bored and move onto the next thing, add MTX to MCC and make a profit.
Nah
So they’re appeasing you somewhat with the upcoming changes, and that somehow means they should drop it because you’re already happy? I’m not following you here. I like the upcoming changes to SPs myself. I’m due for a big SP payday. I also work 40+ hours a week and I’m sick and tired of speedrunning Nightfall on Legendary difficulty to make enough SPs to fet a tier closer to the piece I really want. I might very well spend money to help that along. That alone is a good reason to introduce MTX. It’s about the $$$ baby.
It could very well be worth the negative PR if it turns a profit.
I’m very curious what it is about purchasable SPs that actively turns people off from playing the game. If the system for earning SPs is left in tact with some improvements in the near future, then what does the ability to purchase them take away? Why should I care?
Why ignore the fact that the game has a purchase price?
Why ignore the painfully low population the game has?
This is drawing blood from a stone.
The potential whales for these types of purchases have far too many SPs already accumulated, so they won’t buy this product. Most likely THATS the problem they haven’t figured out.
It’s their fiduciary duty to maximize profits, so yes. They will draw blood from a stone until there is nothing left. This is the system of capitalism we exist under. Forgive me for not dropping the surprised pikachu reaction.
Citation needed.
Well I hope they figure it out soon so this silly topic can be put to bed.
I have over 500 points accumulated - I have everything unlocked, play for hours every day, and love MCC.
I have a lot of disposable income.
But for some reason 343 in their fiduciary responsibility is trying to monetize someone else.
343 is probably going to implement whatever system they come up with and ignore the fanbase anyway; so maybe this is screaming into the void from both ends.
EDIT: I am aware my citation is anecdotal, but I’m also the most monetizable case.
Yes, 343 is trying to capitalize on a segment of the population that is not you. This is true. I will not argue that with you, certainly.
The fanbase isn’t a monolith, no matter what they do, they will end up ignoring a portion of the fanbase. Also, sometimes it’s okay to ignore the broader fanbase.
Also anecdotal. A citation of what is the case for one person is absolutely meaningless to me. We’re talking about a business decision being worked out and conducted by a multi-million dollar company owned by a multi-billion dollar corporation to increase profits off of Halo MCC. Out of the potentially limitless ways to increase profits, I see purchasing SPs as the least offensive, second only to buying armor packs outright that don’t exist in the exchange or season tiers.
No, this business practice exists under capitalism. There is no “vampirism,” economic forum. Believe it or not, but all of the good business practices we like exist under capitalism and so do all of the bad business practices we don’t like.
There is nothing unique to 343’s monetization scheme which doesn’t exist elsewhere under a free market system. I’m not making a moral argument about capitalism. What I’m saying is just simply true. This is bordering on off topic though, so I’ll just say, I haven’t heard a single argument as to why monetizing SPs is bad.
I don’t really get what’s so hard to understand. Microtransactions in MCC don’t accomplish anything positive for the player-base that can’t already be accomplished through means that aren’t meant to bleed dry the remaining players (of which there aren’t even that many). Any issues with the current progression system people may have are easily solvable through player focused means which has a knock-on benefit for 343 in garnering goodwill in the community.
The only people I can fathom being in support of MTX are those with a direct investment in the company where there’s a conflict of interest, since 343i really just wants this as a vector to make more money which they can then pocket. This exchange is skewed heavily towards the benefit of 343i and anyone with a stake in the company. But even then, this move gives terrible optics so it could also be detrimental, at least in the short-term.
I would argue that MCC does better as a loss leader; a gesture of goodwill towards the community to attract them to Infinite. An idea I have floated before is to keep MCC as is, but do crossover content with Infinite or other promotions to attract MCC players to Infinite. And there, is where they make their money through the F2P live service.
as long as evryone is happy and the game dosent suffer from it why not. i would not like to want them to spam cosmetics with barley any other update content , neither do i want them to make the way of earing points artificaly harder so people tend to buy more points . it should be rather a “cosmetic shortcut” for those who joined later or didnt have the time to play trough the seasons.
in my opinion the opposition does not come itself from the purchasable sp points but rather the potential effects and consequences it could have on the game. if they would present a clear concept of what exactly is planned that would be nice
Maybe I’m cynical, but I wouldn’t believe a word they said if they presented a “clear concept” of what MTX in MCC would look like. Why trust that after they said MTX would never be in MCC? Why trust them after what happened in Infinite?