I no longer feel comfortable supporting 343i

Games Halo Infinite
1

343i have come a long way from the botched launch of MCC, and even Halo 5: Guardians. The constant stream of posts on MCC’s development and design decisions/intentions in regards to them launching/fixing the game post PC launch has been refreshing.

Going forward to Infinite, the “ViDoc” style videos chronicalling its development were great and helped further that relationship of transparency and built further trust.

Of course, we all know Infinite launched in a less than amicable state lacking many of the features of even Halo Reach (which imo is the gold standard of content in a Halo game), a game from 2010.

Whilst this was disappointing, the continued developer communication through blog posts and livestreams helped maintain that trust. (Although, at times it has been shaky with things like feedback on Collision completely dismissed, despite the overwhelming majority in favour of it). Another big blow was the fact that Season 2 was also extended leading to another extended downtime of no content. Though, I will maintain that Season 2 was an improvement over Season 1, despite us being nowhere near the “gold standard”.

Previously, I had been saving up to get Battle Pass 1 and 2, especially because of the value provided from earning back the investment in Season 2 (another pro point).

But overall, I find the “Store” to be exorbitantly overpriced. Like, $12-20 for a single armour set?! Compared to the Battle Pass which provides so much more content for a fraction of the price, it just seems completely untenable.

Does anyone remember the “Champions Bundle” from Halo 4? It included;

  • 2 Maps (Pitfall and Vertigo)
  • 4 Armour Sets (Ricochet, Prefect, Mk. V and ODST)
  • 10 Weapon skins
    Additionally;
  • 5 exclusive weapon skins
  • 5 armour skins
  • 8 stances.
    All of this was $10, less than any armour set in Infinite but you get way more content for that price.
See more details here

https://www.halopedia.org/Champions_Bundle

So, whatever the store doesn’t provide good value but the Battle Pass is still good value (aside from the fact that Reach Pass doesn’t have all the Reach armour which is a little misleading). It’s still good to support the good practices to reinforce those good decisions.

On that, I was still fairly comfortable getting the Battle Passes up until the latest community update “Bioroid Boogaloo” in which they very jovially informed us that they’re adding Microtransactions to MCC, Huzzah!!

Uh… no?

Honestly, this move really has me deflated what with the context of 343i constantly refinforcing about MCC lacking monetisation and how they understood the value of progression. Remember how they decided to not rotate the Avalanche Sniper skin in Halo 3 in the exchange too soon because it would annoy people that grinded for it?

It honestly felt like a passion project up until now. Even with the news of cut content being restored, that’s super appreciated but still it feels marred by the decision to “explore” microtransactions in MCC.

I really feel like this undermines the game and they talk about “transparency” in said post, but then try and pretend they’re doing us a favour by asking for money to “fix” a problem they created (grindy progression, their words, not mine). This really damages trust with all the context we have imo.

Before I was relatively happy to support them in Infinite, but now whenever they continue to sully the legacy of MCC, I don’t feel it’s appropriate. It’s sad because there are a lot of passionate Devs at 343i, and you can tell but it’s sad to see them go back on their word.

So, like the title says, I no longer feel comfortable supporting 343i.

22 Likes
2

When Halo 4 came about, I wasn’t happy but I said: “343 is new to creating Halo, they’ll do it better in Halo 5…”
Then Halo 5 came about, I still wasn’t happy with 343 but I was forced to cope with Halo 5 and grew accustom to how it played because it stuck around for 5 years.
Then they released MCC, which was just other games put inside of Halo 4, and yet they still completely borked MCC. So at that point, I lost all hope for 343 and stopped supporting them in the forums.

So just like you, I also refuse to support 343 and their TERRIBLE work ethic, and it is leaving such a bad taste in my mouth that I am looking beyond 343 at their parent-company for answers and wondering when Microsoft is going to step forward and reprimand their adolescent child.

I’m really starting to judge Microsoft now based off of 343’s continued actions. They are just allowing 343 to struggle and struggle, and they even abandoned their own 343 studio in favor of Starfield and Bethesda lol. So what happens if Starfield falls flat on it’s face, what then? Microsoft will just turn their backs on them next. These aren’t the type of companies I want to give my money to anymore. Microsoft purely only cares about Game Pass sales, they don’t want to push video games to a new limit… they are just looking for new ways to monetize video games through streaming or cloud gaming or whatever BS scheme they conjure up. I’m becoming disenchanted with Xbox, Microsoft, 343 and Halo… it’s a real shame but all good things must come to an end I suppose…

10 Likes
3

There are pockets of hope for Infinite, but I feel like at this point it’s going to be a case of too little too late.

There’s so much potential and they were pretty much on a steady roll with the MCC updates. To whittle away at all that progress in such a short space of time is disappointing but I guess it’s not entirely unexpected looking at their track record.

Some consistency would be nice. I am just really upset that they can’t even leave well enough alone with MCC, the one good thing they’ve done in recent memory

4 Likes
4

Regarding the battlepass, microtransactions, I fully believe that stuff is here to stay. The entire gaming industry is going that route, hell even single player games have microtransactions and season passes.

343i tends to do something really awesome, and then something really bad. Like they did a lot great with Infinite that really drew me to it, but also a lot of not so great that is pulling me away.

1 Like
5

Infinite will eventually become a completed game, but it’s going to take some more time.

I don’t have a problem with microtransactions they add more to an already completed game. I mostly have a problem with half finished games that are designed around microtransactions.

There are plenty of games out here still doing the right thing with microtransactions, it’s the few bad apples that ruin it for everyone.

2 Likes
6

On principle, I don’t have an issue with microtransactions in Infinite, despite the fact that I would prefer a boxed model like previous releases. Infinite is F2P, so microtransactions are excusable, as much as the implementation on them is sketchy (value for one thing, as covered in the OP, and also, I feel it’s a bit over-monetised). On principle, of course, in a F2P game they’re needed to continue support in a live service game.

Though, I do agree on the point that it looks bad when the only 100% functional part of your game is the shop. It shows your intentions and focus

What I do have an issue with is retroactively adding microtransactions to a paid game (technically games) which go as far back as 2 decades ago. Games which heavily emphasise progression (which these MTX undermine) . Going back on affirmation that these games wouldn’t be monetised.

Why squander all that good will you built up just for a quick buck? Like, you’re choosing to do that on a game which barely charts on the “Xbox most played games” these days. It seems utterly pointless and self-destructive imo. There are so many other ways to address the issues they cite as the excuses for MTX and if they actually delivered on those it would be way better for their image.

Honestly, MCC is the one good thing 343i has going for them atm, it would do them well to maintain that positive image, maybe do a few crossovers between MCC and Infinite to shift people over to Infinite and then they can make money off of MTX through fairly priced items in Infinite. This is mutually beneficial for everyone

It’s sad how true this is. I try to be open-minded and I genuinely want them to do well but you can only trip and stumble so many times before it’s untenable to move forward anymore.

2 Likes
7

Exactly. It’s pretty obvious where Infinite’s priorities lie, and that is making money from the players who like the store first, and then delivering quality new content for all players second.

I’ll use Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla as an example. Ubisoft is still using the traditional ways of DLC with a Season-like twist to it to keep up with today’s methods. You purchase the game($60-$70), 100% completed and with after-launch support for patches, bugs, etc… then IF YOU CHOOSE to purchase the extra Season Pass or DLC packs individually, you can get even more story, more characters, more locations, more things to do, and overall, more quality content.

I feel like all my money was well spent on AC: Valhalla, but I feel like my $10 for Infinite’s Battle Pass was ripped up and burned to ash.

3 Likes
8

Meanwhile the official halo tweet account is posting stuff about the commando rifle.
" weapon with enhanced optics"
In reality the gun has its own standalone magnification x2 & no individual sensitivity slider in game to adjust ADS sensitivity as its adjustment is shared with the BR x2.5 so if you adjust sens for commando you break BR sens.
https://twitter.com/Halo/status/1545437839361511424

And the community manager posted this little gem!
Riddled with scope glint & spawn killing.
But!
Its “One of the best Halo clips I have ever seen”
https://twitter.com/Unyshek/status/1545517706060869632

Tell me 343i that you are out of touch (even after all these months) without telling me you are out of touch!

4 Likes
9

The last AC game I played was Odyssey, but pretty much the business model is the same. I’m not sure Ubisoft is the “shining star” of modern games when it comes to that. There are some merits and some criticisms I have, personally.

I agree on the base game and season passes providing value for money on terms of the actual content (moreso when discounted). Although, I am not a fan of the “tier” system they have for the game Standard/Deluxe/Gold/Ultimate. To me that’s a bit excessive.

Plus, to them, even that isn’t enough as the games have a MTX store in them despite that tier system, at full price you’re paying upwards of $100+ and they still feel the need to have recurrent monetisation in the game (it’s been like this for a while).

Like, we’re at a point where buying games is so needlessly complicated that you have to literally refer to a chart to understand what you’re actually paying for.

However, at the same time, I get what you’re saying. When it comes to Season Pass content in AC games, at least you can see tangible result in what you’re paying to fund. Whereas with Infinite, we’re waiting for them to deliver on things to have parity with a game from 2010. Despite being a “full game” launch, it still sorta feels like a beta and we’re basically doing QA for them for free, or even paying them for it.

Right, I find the radio silence disheartening. Personally, I find it frustrating that 343i knows they can push any changes to MCC, no matter how they will negatively impact the game. All the focus is on Infinite, so the community as a whole isn’t as critical of decisions on MCC and surely won’t keep the same pressure up as they have on issues on Infinite.

They say all the time “we’re listening” but they are very selective to what they actually listen to and honestly that dampers my spirits a bit

1 Like
10

Yeah, Ubisoft isn’t perfect, but I do like how they handle their Season Passes and DLC packs. The whole Standard/Gold/Deluxe versions of the game are just extra ways to make money. I can’t blame Ubisoft
for doing it because EVERYONE and their mother does it now, even outside of video games like Amazon, YouTube, Hulu, etc. Every thing has to have a “Standard version” and than some slightly better “Premium version…” What happened to the normal version of stuff that isn’t designed to over charge me or give me less product?

1 Like
11

Ubisoft is far worse than Microsoft:
https://quartz.ubisoft.com/

Enter NFT crap.

2 Likes
12

Right, the old model from 7th gen consoles was acceptable to me. You had the standard edition and then a deluxe which had the season pass for post launch content. Just 2 versions. That’s fine, but then they decided to chop up more and more parts of the game and sell it back piecemeal (which is how the 4 editions come about now). But even that’s not enough, there’s “time savers” and other microtransactions sold within a store of a paid game. Which is a little disrespectful imo

I sure do miss the times where you bought a game and then that was it. You paid for a game and you got the complete product to play with, but nowadays, “recurrent spending” is pretty much a must for shareholders. Which again, is perfectly fine for F2P games (within reason), but I take issue with it when it’s put into a product I already paid for

With that, it’s evident the move to add MTX to MCC is not for “new players” to “skip grind” but mainly for their bottom line to appease shareholders. And that’s what I take issue with since they can’t even be transparent anymore. They try and deceive the remaining playerbase on adding something which has been shown in Infinite to actively harm the game, only for profit. It seems like the complete antithesis to the philosophy of MCC thus far. It being one of the last few examples of a “game you pay for and that’s it” with meaningful progression that’s earned and only that

So in a way, it’s a bit of a cruel irony, the “redemption arc” of MCC which is the main reason I would’ve like to support 343i for their efforts is also followed by yet another “downfall” causing me to, again, grow sceptical and unwilling to support them.

1 Like
13

I think your time line is a bit off. Didn’t MCC come between H4 and H5?

2 Likes
14

Yeah, you’re right, MCC was Nov 2014 and Halo 5 was Oct 2015 but the MCC didn’t actually work until about two years after it’s launch so… I’m not completely wrong lol

2 Likes
15

Something drastic needs to change at that company for the Halo brand to retain any level of the popularity it once had. This consistent trend off offering less content for more money, taking longer to produce that content, and releasing it in a less polished state, simply isn’t sustainable.

They have already gravely stunted their ability to hold a casual fanbase by retconning & rebooting the story 3 games in a row thus removing any sense of continuity and leaving the most interesting story points happening off screen in books or audio. In addition, removing the social features like lobbies & chat, like forge & functional custom games, like gametypes such as infection & firefight, and campaign coop. And yet they claim their efforts are to bring in new fans. They already had a customer base ready to sustain the franchise. They’ve got barely anything left now.

Those who aren’t on these forums weekly, big book fans, or big HCS/ competitive fans left the game in the first couple months and have no reason to return outside of maybe the fracture events.

And sure some of these features are coming eventually but it’s simply too little too late when you’ve already lost your fanbase and the hype from launch. Game’s gonna need a full relaunch next year when these things are patched in just to stay relevant.

This game is the first that zero of my friends play, but I keep up with it so I can tell them when it is actually good. But if this continues then my patience is done and I’ll just play the next campaign & jump straight out again. I feel most people have already reached that point, infact I know that to be the case since that’s what everyone I know have done.

2 Likes
16

It’s ironic. 343i did a lot of things right with MCC over the last few years and knows what it takes to maintain a live service. There are so many lessons learnt through the development and delivery of that game (in terms of expectations of content and features). They have the perfect template. Yet, a lot of those lessons have been lost, seemingly and Infinite is a step backwards in many regards.

Instead the one lesson they seem to have “learnt” is to take microtransactions from Infinite and put them in MCC which is pretty backwards if you ask me.

17

Theres some small hope from Eastern Developers. Elden Ring is an 80 hour game with zero microtransactions, and massive swaths of game that could have been cut out and sold as Day 1 DLC.

Western gaming has hit a massive rut as innovation takes a backseat to imitation. There are some holdouts like Larian Studios and Divinity 2, or indie devs like Stardew Valley’s dev, but just look at Halo. Halo 4, 5 and Infinite were just trying to be as homogenous as possible to games around them. What will really change things up, is if the video game industry has another gaming crash where people just dont buy games anymore.

Given that every Triple A game just feels like a clone of the next, I’d say we’re close to that crash.

2 Likes
18

As soon as I heard Halo Infinite was going free to play I knew 343 was not going in the right direction.

“Free to play live service” is just a less antagonizing way to say “We’re going to launch the game in an unfinished state and nickel and dime the player base instead”

The store in Halo Infinite has no right to exist. The average player is already paying $60 for the campaign and $10 per battlepass. The store only exists out of greed.

As for the MCC we can only hope 343 actually listens to the player outrage and doesn’t go through with adding MTX to the MCC.

3 Likes
19

Let’s be real the Halo:Reach/PC release was the real release of the MCC.

20

I didn’t feel comfortable from the start.

I wanted Halo 4, not Halo Reach with 5,000+ mods installed that made it look, feel, and sound like an entirely different experience.
Halo 4 was the start of the great downfall. It is Halo in name only.
It honestly feels like another game entirely where someone actually made a mod to have some Halo guns and vehicles added in simply because Steve Downs voices a guy in green armor and Jen Taylor voices the A.I. companion.
The story it presented was easily a 9/10, but I will dock extra points for the fact that it is so brief and stands upon a major deep-lore retcon (Humans and Forerunners are now entirely different species instead of being separate sub-species of the same origin.)
It also didn’t help that Spartan-Ops was co-developed alongside the main game instead of being turned into a spin-off title that would reuse the engine and assets of the game.

Then came Halo 5 Gorbians, which made a few adjustments to actually have gameplay akin to what the fans wanted; but it still kept the shoddy art style change and the story Brian Reed presented was far more underwhelming and time-wasting than earlier drafts of the narrative.

And now we have Halo Infinite; which went through three separate builds of the game until Build No.4 was the one that became the final version presented to us. And with the pandemic slowing production, the game is like 1/8 complete and the servers are still pretty much in the Alpha stage of the game.

Furthermore, 343 Industries insists that their books, comics, and movies are ESSENTIAL to understanding the main story of their games.
The beauty of Bungie’s decade with the franchise was the fact that you could play Halo Reach through Halo 3 and understand EVERYTHING needed within each game and feel satisfied with how each game picked up where the other left off.
Out of the six-books released by Bungie, only one of them could be argued as essential as it takes place between Halo CE and Halo 2. The Bungie games took place during the course of ONE YEAR.
Meanwhile Halo 4 to Halo 5 has a two year gap, and Halo 5 to Halo Infinite has another two year gap.
So now there is a lot of stuff that needs to be happening between what amounts to Episode 6 and Episode 7 and Episode 8.

Imagine, if you would, that you were watching a TV show.
And suddenly you had a two year time-skip between Episode 6 and 7.
Now to understand who Jameson is, who Vale is, who Tanaka is, why the main character is suddenly a traitor, why the main character is suddenly joined by three long-time companions that weren’t in Episodes 1-thru-6, why a companion that died in the last episode was now the main villain, and what events transpired to even get to this point; you have to read AT LEAST three novels, read a comic series, listen to a 5 hour long audio series, watch two movies, and a bonus episode?
That is literally what happened between Halo 4 and Halo 5.
And here is the infographic of all the transmedia (yes that is the actual term for this) required to fully comprehend the two-year gap.

  • https://i0.wp.com/news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/sdcc-halo5-transmedia-infographic-png1.png?ssl=1

When your target audience is filled with gamers, people who aren’t exactly known for being the type to sit down and read a few inch-thick novels, and then you hide key elements of story WITHIN SAID NOVELS; it is honestly no wonder that the majority of fans have no clue what is going on in the franchise when it comes to story.
If they wanted to go with transmedia, they should’ve honestly just stuck with comics and small animations akin to “The Mona Lisa” when it came to information essential to understanding the narrative; since such depictions of story provide the needed visual action that gamers have a preference for over words on pages.
Leave the books to explaining information that does not tie directly into the stories of the books. The Cole Protocol has hardly any ties to the main story of Master Chief.
And it is a fairly descent novel.

TL;DR
343 Industries is just that.
And Industry.
Not a Studio.
They are focused far too much on mass-production than they are with careful fine crafting of their work.

2 Likes