I’ve played Halo for most of the almost 19 years that I’ve been alive. One of my favorite features was being able to play as an elite and goof around as a big blarg monster. It hasn’t been since Halo: Reach that I’ve been able to do that… As awesome as Halo: Infinite sounded, the blatant disregard for tons of requests from fans, requests that have been happening since they were in removed in Halo 4, has made me no longer interested in the Halo series. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later, but it sucks that it was sooner rather than later.
Edit: I wrote this when it was late at night and I didn’t really want to expand on my opinion. So, I will do that now. I think that Halo: Infinite has good potential and I don’t have too many issues with the game as it stands currently. I’m just floored that a small request like “allow us to play as elites in casual playlists or even just in custom games” has been ignored for almost ten years. No one reasonable is asking for them to be in competitive playlists, because we understand that it would be a complex task to balance.
It feels like 343 really just doesn’t care about this group of fans. No one offers an explanation other than “this is a spartan story.” That explanation doesn’t even make a lot of sense. The game has always been about humanity and the Master Chief the covenant subplots have always been just that – subplots.
Bungie didn’t add elites into the multiplayer experience because Halo was a “spartan and elite story”, they did it because they thought it would be cool for their fans to be able to play as more than just spartans. Of course it presented challenges when adding them, of course they couldn’t add every race as a playable species, and of course they eventually had to make them playable in select game modes in Reach. They kept them though. They kept them because they understood that certain people like playing as elites and it doesn’t hurt the game when done right.
Same boat as you. And the argument mentioned during Ask343 felt so weak and insignificant. I guess we’ll see them down the line, but it doesn’t seem like they are listening.
And before anyone tries to argue about “balance”; keep Elites out of Ranked/Comp games then. Problem solved.
You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for such a small missing feature.
> 2535466533436400;3:
> You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for a small missing feature that has no impact on how the game actually plays.
Cus bungie actually cared for the community and included them in for the people that did like to play as them… So boring seeing the same character model on the battlefield man… Its nice to have diversity once in awhile
> 2535466533436400;3:
> You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for a small missing feature that has no impact on how the game actually plays.
It is the fact that they literally do no harm when in casual games or customs. I’ve never had issues fighting against them, except for the glitch in halo 3 with the head hitbox, but these problems can all be fixed with some fine-tuning. I’m not advocating for ranked playlists to have them, but there’s no harm in making them a thing in casual game modes/custom games. They’ve blown players that enjoy the experience to the wayside and don’t hide the fact that they don’t care what we want.
> 2533274891931957;5:
> > 2535466533436400;3:
> > You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for a small missing feature that has no impact on how the game actually plays.
>
> It is the fact that they literally do no harm when in casual games or customs. I’ve never had issues fighting against them, except for the glitch in halo 3 with the head hitbox, but these problems can all be fixed with some fine-tuning. I’m not advocating for ranked playlists to have them, but there’s no harm in making them a thing in casual game modes/custom games. They’ve blown players that enjoy the experience to the wayside and don’t hide the fact that they don’t care what we want.
I still think you’re overreacting. At the end of the day, its character model. Sure, it’d be nice to have for those who want it, but it makes zero sense to me to not buy the game just based on that. Now if you’re unhappy with other aspects of the game and this is just the straw that broke the camels back, I’d understand that.
> 2535444071186727;4:
> > 2535466533436400;3:
> > You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for a small missing feature that has no impact on how the game actually plays.
>
> Cus bungie actually cared for the community and included them in for the people that did like to play as them… So boring seeing the same character model on the battlefield man… Its nice to have diversity once in awhile
Except it’s not the same character model. Everyone is wearing different armor and in FFA they have different colors. Maybe we’ll even see things like armor effects return, the backpacks from MCC, visor colors, etc. But using your argument, having two character models instead of one doesn’t diversify the game that much.
> 2535466533436400;6:
> > 2533274891931957;5:
> > > 2535466533436400;3:
> > > You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for a small missing feature that has no impact on how the game actually plays.
> >
> > It is the fact that they literally do no harm when in casual games or customs. I’ve never had issues fighting against them, except for the glitch in halo 3 with the head hitbox, but these problems can all be fixed with some fine-tuning. I’m not advocating for ranked playlists to have them, but there’s no harm in making them a thing in casual game modes/custom games. They’ve blown players that enjoy the experience to the wayside and don’t hide the fact that they don’t care what we want.
>
> I still think you’re overreacting. At the end of the day, its character model. Sure, it’d be nice to have for those who want it, but it makes zero sense to me to not buy the game just based on that. Now if you’re unhappy with other aspects of the game and this is just the straw that broke the camels back, I’d understand that.
It has been 10 years since playable elites were a thing in halo. We’ve been asking for ten years. That’s my biggest issue. There’s a thread on this forum that has over 900 replies (I think?) of people discussing and asking for playable elites. I’m just tired of being ignored at this point tbh. I understand that some people think it is an overreaction, but it is just the culmination of feelings that have been compounding for 10 years.
To be fair they did say they are not playable for now, necessarily. Because of the Spartan story. Don’t get me wrong I would love to play as an elite at launch but they didn’t say it’s totally not going to happen. It’s not something there are focused on atm
> 2535467179739507;9:
> To be fair they did say they are not playable for now, necessarily. Because of the Spartan story. Don’t get me wrong I would love to play as an elite at launch but they didn’t say it’s totally not going to happen. It’s not something there are focused on atm
The only reason they said that was to placate people that actually believed them. They said “never say never, but we have no plans to add them.” or something along those lines. It was barely a "they won’t be at launch but they could be added later. If anything it was “they won’t be at launch, but they just might be added later if something catastrophic happens that demands we put them in the game.”
> 2533274891931957;10:
> > 2535467179739507;9:
> > To be fair they did say they are not playable for now, necessarily. Because of the Spartan story. Don’t get me wrong I would love to play as an elite at launch but they didn’t say it’s totally not going to happen. It’s not something there are focused on atm
>
> The only reason they said that was to placate people that actually believed them. They said “never say never, but we have no plans to add them.” or something along those lines. It was barely a "they won’t be at launch but they could be added later. If anything it was “they won’t be at launch, but they just might be added later if something catastrophic happens that demands we put them in the game.”
The almost exact quote was: “Never say never, maybe we’ll see that one day, but right now the current plan is… you’ll be playing as Spartans.”
> 2533274891931957;10:
> > 2535467179739507;9:
> > To be fair they did say they are not playable for now, necessarily. Because of the Spartan story. Don’t get me wrong I would love to play as an elite at launch but they didn’t say it’s totally not going to happen. It’s not something there are focused on atm
>
> The only reason they said that was to placate people that actually believed them. They said “never say never, but we have no plans to add them.” or something along those lines. It was barely a "they won’t be at launch but they could be added later. If anything it was “they won’t be at launch, but they just might be added later if something catastrophic happens that demands we put them in the game.”
they said the same thing about duel wielding or classic weapons on the first ask343. As it stand their focus is to return halo to a more classic feeling in terms of sandbox and art style. They also have the “10 year plan” (hopefully they actually follow it). To update and add content to the game. So they most likely want people to get their hands on it and play before they worry about new content
> 2535466533436400;3:
> You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for such a small missing feature.
We have people from Halo CE - Halo 3 era and then Halo Reach - Halo 5 era. Elites were fun, but annoying. They should only be playable in Customs if they are eventually brought. The hit boxes are annoying for them in general.
> 2535466533436400;3:
> You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for such a small missing feature.
Seems silly to me to disregard what others want in the game just because you don’t favor it.
> 2533274793908725;14:
> > 2535466533436400;3:
> > You’re not going to buy Infinite because Elites aren’t playable? Whatever floats your boat lol. I’ve always found them a nuisance to fight against in multiplayer and I can’t understand why its such a big deal to people. Seems silly to me to disregard an entire game for such a small missing feature.
>
> Seems silly to me to disregard what others want in the game just because you don’t favor it.
How did I disregard what he wants. I never said he’s wrong for wanting playable Elites. All I said was I think its dumb to not buy a game solely because it doesn’t have them. But whatever, do what you want man.
I’m sick of Infinite continually shooting itself in the foot for things that were included in previous games but can’t be bothered to bring back.
343 need to seriously reconsider this decision. If the focus is on the campaign, fine, but I’m not playing the multiplayer until Elites and a complete multiplayer experience are included.
Out of all the things people can think to complain about you pick not being an Elite? Something that doesn’t change how the game plays at all.
Hardly anyone played as an Elite compared to a Spartan in previous games so obviously most people don’t care. If you’re going to skip out on a whole new Halo game because you can’t cosplay as a Lobster then that’s your loss.
> 2533274800264382;17:
> Out of all the things people can think to complain about you pick not being an Elite? Something that doesn’t change how the game plays at all.
>
> Hardly anyone played as an Elite compared to a Spartan in previous games so obviously most people don’t care. If you’re going to skip out on a whole new Halo game because you can’t cosplay as a Lobster then that’s your loss.
Understand, that a minority opinion is still an opinion. Must everything be a unanimous majority decision for it to be included in a video game?
It is unfair to disregard an opinion because you don’t see the value in it. How would you feel if someone too something away from you because they said “It’s not popular, so you shouldn’t have it.” Is that fair to you because you weren’t the majority?
> 2533274847563380;18:
> > 2533274800264382;17:
> > Out of all the things people can think to complain about you pick not being an Elite? Something that doesn’t change how the game plays at all.
> >
> > Hardly anyone played as an Elite compared to a Spartan in previous games so obviously most people don’t care. If you’re going to skip out on a whole new Halo game because you can’t cosplay as a Lobster then that’s your loss.
>
> Understand, that a minority opinion is still an opinion. Must everything be a unanimous majority decision for it to be included in a video game?
>
> It is unfair to disregard an opinion because you don’t see the value in it. How would you feel if someone too something away from you because they said “It’s not popular, so you shouldn’t have it.” Is that fair to you because you weren’t the majority?
The point is game devs have a list of priorities and usually things that a lot of people don’t want are not high on that priority list. If they just kept trying to add whatever any random group of people threw out there the game would have a feature creep problem and keep getting delayed. Something that has no effect on gameplay like being an Elite doesn’t matter to most people and they know that.
> 2533274800264382;19:
> > 2533274847563380;18:
> > > 2533274800264382;17:
> > > Out of all the things people can think to complain about you pick not being an Elite? Something that doesn’t change how the game plays at all.
> > >
> > > Hardly anyone played as an Elite compared to a Spartan in previous games so obviously most people don’t care. If you’re going to skip out on a whole new Halo game because you can’t cosplay as a Lobster then that’s your loss.
> >
> > Understand, that a minority opinion is still an opinion. Must everything be a unanimous majority decision for it to be included in a video game?
> >
> > It is unfair to disregard an opinion because you don’t see the value in it. How would you feel if someone too something away from you because they said “It’s not popular, so you shouldn’t have it.” Is that fair to you because you weren’t the majority?
>
> The point is game devs have a list of priorities and usually things that a lot of people don’t want are not high on that priority list. If they just kept trying to add whatever any random group of people through out there the game would have a feature creep problem and keep getting delayed. Something that has no effect on gameplay like being an Elite doesn’t matter to most people and they know that.
I agree, devs have priorities. But is pleesing a community they inherited not one of them?
Let me ask this ; how many games before Halo 2 let you play as anything but a human soldier/super soldier in multiplayer? The answer is not many. Having it added all those years ago added a completely new dynamic to a players identity that very few games offered. It created a smaller, yet prominent community that has CLEARLY stood with Halo all these years.
Just look at this backlash. Yes, it’s no armour coating backlash, but it’s still something that’s about to kick up some dirt. We didn’t just spawn overnight, we’ve been fighting for this longer then any other struggle in the halo community to date. So we shouldn’t pretend like this is an unexpected thing that 343 shouldn’t care about.