I will pay you 343i one million dollars IF.....

Games Halo 5: Guardians
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<mark>Do not make nonconstructive posts.</mark>

… you let me sit in on your creative decision making meetings. It would shed so much light on what is going on, because this Memories of Reach update is, to me, much more frustrating than exciting; despite all of the things I’m excited for in the update, I would rate it as a complete disappointment, personally. And what is so frustrating is that the opportunity was easily there for this to be the best update yet, except that it fails to deliver a truly Reach themed update (IMO).
This post is gonna be long, please skip around, choose a point to discuss/debate… TL;DR at the bottom. This is intended for 343i to read (as many believe they DO NOT, myself included), but I really want to know what everyone thinks.
My reasons for being angry with this update are a little different than other posters on these forums, but my frustration is equal if not greater. I have no clue how these decisions were made were made by 343:
1. Making a remixed map (Stasis) instead of a Reach map remade for Halo 5
2. Adding a weapon that was not in Reach at all, the Brute Plasma Rifle
3. Adding a weapon that was from Reach that no one (that I saw on these forums or Reddit/TeamBeyond, pls discuss below if I missed something) was asking for, Jorge’s Turret
4. The lack of a Reach themed [remade] map for Warzone, or at the very least a Warzone Assault variant of the new map, Skirmish at Darkstar
5. Using the ONI symbol to cover up the Phaeton REQ reveal
These decisions are frankly infuriating - I do not pretend to understand coding, animating, or writing BUT I come from a marketing/economics background and I work in quality control, so I know a bit about time management and delivering a quality product. I’m fully aware developing and coding doesn’t happen over night. I believe that my frustration, as well as that of the community already speaking out against 343, is TOTALLY WARRANTED. I think transparency in decision making would be a big help (aka an EXPLANATION). What this update feels like is a cheap way to deliver content that 343 had already scheduled, months if not years ago, for release in a way to maximize cost savings on the development side as well as saving time by reusing assets already in the game (for the chaingun, the remixed map, for example). The shameless use of the ONI symbol covering the Phaeton Helios was a marketing tactic to generate hype, and I believe the very late release of the full content reveal was a deliberate part of that tactic as well.
There are things that are great about this update - Infection, post game medals, matchmaking preferences, new armor sets, removing the one hit Spartan Charge kill with speed boost (THANK GOD), and Team arena balancing. I don’t even like Infection, but I know the community loves it, I love the custom games that come from it, and I want Halo to have the content that will make fans happy (ironically, that is what I feel the rest of the update taints). I’m definitely going to try the playlist, even though I always prefer ranked play. I have no beef about the armor designs, I get that they aren’t 1:1 replicas because they need to fit the Spartan IVs and I think Reach armor sets are a million times better than the plastic cartoon looking sets from Halo 5. Medals have been much needed for months, and that is another point of bad decision making I want to address after this. So it’s not all bad, I’m glad we have these components and plan to enjoy them thoroughly. I like the fact that the REQ system, imperfect as it is, allows for this model of free updates as it is - it’s in a league of it’s own.
BUT…!
The rest is ridiculous. Look at my list above - my #1 issue has nothing to do with the lack of the Falcon being added (we’ll get to that in a minute). I cannot believe, after posting in a previous update that they listened to our dislike of the remixed Halo 5 maps, they deliberately chose to remix Torque into Stasis, instead of recreating a Halo Reach favorite like Countdown, Sword Base, Powerhouse, Uncaged, etc. WAIT - I know what you’re going to say now: “You over hyped this, 343 didn’t promise any of this, you’re acting like you’re entitled to all of Halo Reach being added into H5, people just hate on 343 for no reason.” These arguments have problems though: 343 chose to name the update and invoke the nostalgia of Reach. A map and a weapon happily remembered from actual gameplay [Grenade Launcher] are not asking for the whole game to be ported in, it’s asking for the nostalgia that 343 themselves brought on to be satisfied. I have read these forums all day and I know that players are upset about the “Phaelcon” - tbh I couldn’t care less, I’m not a vehicle player in Warzone and I wouldn’t use a Phaeton even if I had one (though I might try a Falcon). [1/2]
TL;DR - The decisons that 343i has made is directly related to the negative feedback on the forums. There is greatness in this update, but it simply misses too many opportunities that could have been easy, obvious crowd-pleasers like the Falcon, Grenade Launcher, remade Reach map just like Truth, and a WZA map. It is so frustrating to know that disappointment comes with each update, especially the one that I was looking forward to the most. I think the negativity is partially justified, though things like the armor design and the weapon skins shouldn’t be a part of that. This updaate for me is a huge swing and a miss. But to be fair, I will still play the hell out of it, and I think 343 for the free update. But we owe it to ourselves as players, to 343i, and to Halo itself to question these TERRIBLE decisions that jeopardize the future of the best game out there

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<mark>Do not make nonconstructive posts.</mark>

[2/2]
It’s the same issue and bad decision that has us scratching our heads at the addition of the Brute Plasma Rifle and Jorge’s Chaingun. I read the forums a lot and I have not come across anything about that chaingun, and only brief mentions of the Brute Plasma Rifle (if I’m wrong please link and quote sources in the threads). I have seen somewhat frequently requests for the Grenade Launcher, the Reach DMR, the Needle Rifle, the Concussion Rifle however. Any one of these would be a great addition but I specifally think the Grenade Launcher would have been an infinitely better choice then either the plasma rifle or the chaingun - it had the great timed explosion, could EMP vehicles (like the Hydra variant, it’s not unheard of), and has been used by big time MLG players like Ninja as a favorite. Similarly, the Brute plasma rifle wasn’t in Reach, and the description does not indicate that it is different in any way from the standard storm rifle - is the range different? Rate of Fire? Cooldown time? The chaingun has the same problem - it is obviously a reskinned turret with boosts associated with it, something I personally have 0 interest in for nostalgia or gameplay.
The lack of a Warzone addition, new and Reach themed or simply another WZ Assault variant from Skirmish is just as questionable. I think my premise that 343 is set on reusing game assets to cheaply create content is valid, and giving us a Darkstar WZA map fits right in line with that strategy - maybe that disproves that as a. motive for this update, and previous ones. But either way, it is frustrating and simply confusing - it would be an easy way to keep players coming back to the gametype 343 is obviously pushing players to play!!
And the big one - choosing to add the Phaeton instead of the Falcon and hiding it behind the ONI symbol. This is unbelievable to me, even though I said before I’m not a big vehicle player. The problem is the marketing strategy - hiding a Forerunner vehicle behind an ONI [human] symbol is purely misleading. I think a huge part of the frustration would not exist now if they would have hidden it behind some kind of Forerunner symbol/glyph. Hiding it behind the ONI card was a play on the obvious demand for the Falcon that has been present since nearly day 1 of Halo 5. It was a 'bait and switch’ trick to get a lot of hype for the update, maybe as an attempt to bring players back to the game. The way I perceived it was that 343 is assuming that the vocal minority would not outweigh the 343 supporters, and people that have gone back to playing BC Halo Reach might check this update out. More and more, Halo 5 seems to be marketed toward younger, possibly new players to the franchise on which this tactic would work. It’s maddening to those of us that have an expectation of quality and acknowledgement of our feedback. THe ackowledgement from 343i is nearly non existent, and their explanation of creative decisions even less. I hate the strategy employed, it was false and misleading similar to the Hunt the Truth campaign. This REQ is controversial enough, but this blatant assumption that we are not smart enough to realize the falseness of 343’s strategy is salt in the wound. It is enough to infuriate me to write this enormous post, and totally different from most poeple that just want the Falcon.
343i, Bravo, Josh Holmes, whoever - I’m dead serious. respond to this post or send me an email and I will show you the series of checks I will write to you to sit in on your creative meetings. I will always support Halo because it is my favorite franchise ever, but your decision making needs improvement from outside your office. There is a reason that the vocal community members are relentlessly negative on your own forums, and it is because we do not understand why you don’t respond to us. I’m completely aware that &You can’t please everybody&, but you can please the ones that will shout the loudest for the game. I have pointed out the decisions that are so frustrating, and I have tried to expose exactly how your decisions affect our rections. This is meant for YOU 343, even if you don’t read the whole thing there is a wealth of information into the minds of passionate Halo players. I know that other members have more info and points than I can ever provide. We are your biggest and most reliable resource, please use this and other threads to improve your decision making and stop Yoinking! on us with falseness and disappointent