I am very, very outraged at 343i and the utter nonsense that has turned out to be the monetization of the MP. I have already created several topics expressing my opinion, both in a way that provides feedback, and to vent my outrage a bit.
For several days now, we have been creating topics expressing our discontent and creating an atmosphere of tension, and seeing no response from 343i my indignation grew more and more. But then today I got to stop for a second and reflect on the situation.
We are a year behind, the 343i workers have suffered a severe crunch (They will never admit it but it is a fact), they have worked hard to bring us the best Halo to date, both in story and in gameplay. They have left their skin to correct their mistakes, and I am sure that they will continue to leave their skin to correct the rest of the errors that still have to be solved.
If I remember correctly, I think that in the United States they are now on vacation for Thanksgiving week. (Let my colleagues across the pond correct me if not.) And surely the majority of workers will be on vacation enjoying their well-deserved rest.
Maybe we should relax a bit on the matter and give them a break. With this I do not mean that we stop complaining about this monetization that is clearly WRONG. But let’s be patient to wait for a statement from 343i, I know they are reading us and keeping in mind, let’s have a little faith in them.
I at least want to think about that worker who is not to blame for the decisions made by the men in suits who only seek to obtain benefits, but who is going to have to bear all the work of correcting the mistakes of said people.
The game is really fun to play, I just wish the systems that surrounded that experience were more refined.
343i fell short with some of the decisions they made, but isolating those problems for a moment, the game really is the best Halo experience they’ve created, both in a visual & gameplay sense.
Credit where it’s due, the game feels like Halo should.
I appreciate you posting a reflection like this opposed to the twenty copy-paste rage threads.
For me the current state of the game is a result of many factors outside of 343i’s control and I can’t imagine their teams not doing there best to try and deliver a good product.
The major point I think they need to reflect on is the communication with the community. It’s okay to have troubles but they mostly left us in the dark with our own (sky high) expectations so then it’s not odd they are not met.
Especially when they chose to share that assassinations were not part of the game it gave me the assumption that all major functions were ready (playlists, matchmaking parameters, customs etc).
Now it turns out they are not so we’re disappointed, then add in that the only properly function part is the shop with scary prices and the cocktail is complete.
I’m not worried about this not becoming the best halo game yet, and I do hope 343i employees get some well deserved rest, but please come back with a transparent roadmap where you handle with subjects currently bothering the community.
My heart goes out to all the hard working 343 employees who put their blood, sweat and tears into making such a fantastically playing game, only for corporate to come and massacre it.
I feel like this isn’t something we should just gloss over. 343i made changes that hurt Halo IP and their rep. I understand the holidays but this is exactly why Infinite should not have been released so early. To be blunt if we ignore the issues and they come back then people at 343 will look like the issue has been forgotten about.
What people need to remember is not blame the entire of 343i. Whoever is making the decision making should listen to the fans or things will continue to get worse and Infinite will fall. Some people at 343i need to be accountable if this leads to the decline of Infinite or/and job loses. This moment and the next couple of months may decide on if the game becomes the biggest flop or recovery. Leaving things in this state is just hurting the IP and leading to further trust issues.
Criticism and patience is fine as long as feedback is taken and listened to with action being taken but in my past experience some people at 343i tend to ignore feedback and don’t handle it well. Plus based on what’s happened with one of their recent blogs involving false information claiming to do better then doing the opposite…makes me wonder if there going to continue ignoring feedback. I don’t know what’s best when a company has mislead fans multiply times.
It’s currently a ßeta anything could change before full release. That’s what I am hoping for. But there are things in this game that is fun but I noticed some things to that need worked on.
They call it that but how many beta’s out there try to charge people £20+ real money?
I feel like beta term is being used to try dismiss complaints.
To be blunt a ‘beta’ it would have needed to be a gap between release and the beta itself and 343i would have to ask for feedback regularly…343i have done none of that. It’s more like an early access game that is normally sometimes involving people paying extra to play early. A beta is meant to be for testing purposes only and that is not what 343i are doing.
It’s a live service game, so I expect to see vast improvements, especially since 343 has been receptive to feedback, as far as I can tell.
That being said, I understand why fans, myself included, are disappointed with the current customization system.
I really hope we don’t see classic, nostalgic items in the store locked behind a 20 dollar pay wall.
Look at Gears 5, their store launched similarly, but saw huge improvements over time. Their challenge system was overhauled to where pve players could level up fairly.
All that being said, the gameplay is fun, and that’s what is most important.
I have sympathy for all the modelers, and animators, and programmers that had to work overtime. I have zero sympathy for the management or company as a whole.
They could bandaid the battle pass situation by upping the match xp while they work on a better system. They can bandaid the store prices by slashing them in half and coming up with better bundles later on.
It’s really not that hard. They’re just trying to see if they can get away with the predatory system.
I can be understandable with the situation, but this is not a beta, if it were a beta it would be being monitored, with the store blocked, and asking for feedback to work on it.
The thing is classic content like classic armour is blocked behind a paywall due to cores and feel like there going to continue ignoring the complaints. I feel like there hoping when campaign comes out that people start getting distracted.
If I want classic armour from Halo 1 then the base core is blocked behind paywall making Mark V restricted unless owning the core. This is what basically made me realise how bad the predatory system is.
Hey @ronnie42 , don’t despair, I’m sure everything will turn out fine and 343i won’t let us down, I have faith in the pressure that the community gives
I am truely impressed they launched the games 3 weeks early, the netcode is good, the matchmaker is decent and the gameplay is superb.
Battlefield and CoD fans aren’t so lucky.
