How to fix the store (and ideas for store items that are not lazy remakes of armor we've had for free for years)

Games Halo Infinite
1

Currently the store has several problems.

  1. Capitalizes on FOMO - when an item is in the store, you have no idea when or if it will ever return, so your only* opportunity to buy it is NOW
  2. Bundles force you to buy a lot more than you necessarily want from the pack. An armor set of 8 different “Legendary Set” pieces costs a whopping $160
  3. (Without leaks) we have no idea what else is coming to the store, so that $160 armor that points 1 and 2 pressured you to buy when you had the chance might lead to needing to buy more and more armor - forever - to get the mercurial “perfect armor set” (and, as armor was leaked, we know it’s not currently being created for the season - hiding it is shady)
  4. Needing to buy credits forces us to spend more than the cost of the armor, and as there is no way in-game to earn credits, it is explicitly designed to cause this issue
  5. Due to having a monopoly on in-game cosmetics, the prices are targeting whales and isolating the vast majority of the community who would pay for much smaller microtransactions.

Here’s how to fix it.

  1. When an item is added to the store, keep it there FOREVER. This is the most important change.
  2. Offer all bundled items separately. Except colors/emblems, which should be always usable across all items.
  3. Everything should be usable across all cores.
  4. Bundles should be good deals for buying a full/curated set. Some percentage off for buying everything together (25% off?). Bundles/deals can still rotate through, now.
  5. Much more reasonable prices. Most would pay max $5 for an armor set. I don’t really expect it to go this low but it really should be.

These next three I don’t really expect, but they would be cool to see. The changes above are a lot more necessary.
6. Custom Bundles? Create your own bundle and get a smaller percentage off, encouraging players to buy a full set of their choosing rather than individual pieces, if there’s enough armor they like in there.
7. Don’t sell armor that has existed for years back to us. That sort of thing should be earnable armor pieces, at least in the battle pass. It’s a lot easier to justify paying a small amount and earning all that armor (like buying a new game) rather than paying for armor we have had in Reach, 4, and/or 5, and that was 100% free in the MCC. It’s also a lot easier to justify paying for new/unique stuff.
8. Approved retailers. Allow people to have their own stores of their own creations (if their content is high enough quality and lore-friendly, approved by 343i) to sell to other players to use in-game. Charge them to run their store and/or a percentage of their profits. (I really don’t expect this one but it would be super cool) they would need to be able to set their own prices.

Okay. That is the most basic of fixes. Now let’s talk about this pointless rarity system. Currently, everything seems random. But the rarity levels should reflect how much effort went into creating the piece that’s being sold. And I’m sorry but armor that has existed for years is definitely not “Legendary”.

Here’s an example of how rarity should work for visors:
Common: a simple recolor, maybe a material change
Rare: a simple pattern
Epic (should really be called Heroic but okay): a unique design
Legendary: a complex design or fully animated piece

Legendary armor pieces should have like moving parts, legendary coatings should be like animated flames, etc.

You could also sell legendary animations, including special intro anims, special assassinations (when they are back), special idle animations. Just as long as they aren’t like, ridiculous dances, and they definitely CANNOT take us out of first person view (well, assassinations can, obviously)

I know this is getting long-winded and I’m running out of steam, but here’s a few specific ideas that I’d like to see (priced accordingly):

Rare visor: abyss - black visor filled with stars
Epic visor: Bullseye - a matte white visor with a red crosshair over the right eye
Epic visor: vantablack - so dark it looks like a void
Legendary visor: Fishbowl - an animated fish swimming around inside the visor, which looks like glass
Legendary visor: Pulse - a heartbeat indicator going across the visor

Epic coating: hot rod bod - flame decals. Flame decals everywhere.
Legendary coating: super hot rod bod - animated flame decals.

These things would 100% sell, aren’t too ridiculous by lore standards (even the animated flame decals, ever since the introduction of armor effects, not to mention the skulls), and are a lot more player-friendly than selling us armor that has existed for years and that many people have used for years.

Thank you for reading.

Edit: one final note. On previous Reach armor. Please make it true to what it was. Reach armor all had a knife on the chest, to split that off was pretty slimy. Also remove the weird handle from Jun’s helmet. And his cloak should be tattered. Thank you.

2

mostly agree, though thb I think an overall 50% price cut is the best we can hope for short term at least. choosing what you buy instead of bundles is also needed, and id be okay if stuff wasnt always in the stroe, IF, and ONLY IF it kept rotating back in every so often forever, like how the exchange works in MCC

3

Yeah, I don’t expect a huge price cut. I still have a problem with that as a FOMO mechanic (the game should draw us back with gameplay, not purchases) but as long as we know WHEN everything is returning - and that it does forever - I suppose that isn’t the worst thing.

I think $2.50 for a piece of armor would be fair enougg. Bundles could be deals at $10. But the current system is hella problematic.

(I mostly want the individual retailer thing so I can put my bullseye visor in the game lmaooo even if I have to purchase a storefront to do so)

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4

Also, I would love to hear other ideas for various store items vs what should be free/battlepass unlocks.

5

I agree with this. The easiest fix we can do is lower prices. The best fix is have all shop items in the battlepass or unlocks through gameplay. Sure people will complain someone has an armor piece first cuz they bought it. But I’d rather have the CHANCE to unlock something through gameplay rather than buying it.

If 343i(MICROSOFT) came out with the store and the prices were $1-$5(for a full armor set) I doubt they would be having the backlash they do now.

Would on the street is it’s “possible” 343i isn’t getting any of the microtransaction cash, just Microsoft. Don’t know how much of that is true. It’s could be 50/50 or 90/10.

6

Pretty sure 343i is a subsidiary of Microsoft, probably fully funded by MS. Paying Microsoft is paying 343i. If the game doesn’t make enough money, they would shut the studio down. But those people would probably be moved within MS. I don’t know how their internal structure works though

7

Bundles only is so stupid.
I know this long term game needs money and I am willing to pay. But, please don’t force player to do anything!
It is killing the game!

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8

Yeah bundles are rough