Excuse me if this ventures into " Old Man yells at cloud " territory.
And that thing is how obsessed with useless and/or purely cosmetic progression gaming has become. I had hoped that the release of a new Halo would provide some counter, some balance to this idea, but no. It didn’t.
Hell, how many of the complaints on here and Waypoint and YouTube etc. are over how Infinite has “no content” and “no progression” and “nothing to work towards”.
Maybe it is because of the era I grew up in, but I and hell, everyone I knew played PvP games for two reasons: because they were fun and you wanted that fun, or because you wanted to get better and try to improve yourself.
“Progression” was a PvE and Co-Op thing where the game could be designed and balanced around them.
If the game has cosmetic unlocks, that was great. Especially if they were tied to getting better.
But now it seems like if the game is not constantly overstimulating you with shiny new toys and unlocks and fanfare, the game “sucks” and is “boring”.
I just don’t get it anymore.
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cod has had the same progression template for over a decade, its had small tweaks to it over the years but its barely changed its formula, in MW3 i made it to 15th prestige and the infinite leveling system always made playing feel somewhat rewarding, halo reach, 4 and 5 had good leveling system (though F getting to 152 in H5 and mad respect to anyone who did).
Hower in Infinite, after getting to level100 of the battle pass there is no reason to keep playing, except to grind rank which is a joke of a leveling system and unbelievably broken as well
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Reach set the standard, IMO, lots of cosmetic unlockables, and a related progression system.
I really don’t think you speak for the majority of the old school players when you imply we’d somehow be better off with Halo2 customization, that was the literal infancy of online consoles.
Also, if gameplay is SO important to you, shouldn’t you be ticked at what a technical trainwreak the game is? (De-sync/crashing)
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I do, even though it majorly sucks. 343 is running this beta as a business instead of a game. So this means the quality, quantity, respect, honesty, trust will literally be thrown out the window for the sake of a buck.
More and more companies are following this path, and more and more games are going to sh** because of it.
If I’m correct, but if not correct me. The company that pushed this BS to condition players was Fortnite. 2 of my favorite games are garbage now because of this. Destiny and now Holo because taking advantage of the player base is more important then creating an actual quality type of game, let alone a complete game that (343 has never been able to do) until years after any game they released.
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I understand the instinct to yell about those darn kids who only care about cosmetics and challenges, but people have always cared about cosmetics, that is precisely why these companies have tried so hard to monetize them.
Its easy for people to get irritated when something that used to be a more passive gameplay incentive has been turned into a chore in an effort to squeeze as much money as possible and Halo is most definitely not the only offender here.
Of course you are going to hear about tedious cosmetics grinds and lack of content, these issues are something the devs of these barren “live services” shine the worlds biggest spotlight on because cosmetics and progression are what the entire business model hinges on.
I don’t think its fair to blame the modern gaming community for corporate avarice, especially when these systems don’t even target the majority of the gaming community and are largely focused on the biggest(and often most vulnerable) spenders that forms the backbone of the current freemium economy.
People are more often than not completely justified when complaining about progression, cosmetics, and content, because many of these games like Infinite are demonstrably bad in all of these category’s.
People complain about content and cosmetics in Infinite because Infinite lacks both, even by the standards of those games you used to play for fun. Its the games that have gotten stingier, more frustrating, and all with less and less actual content to allow players to make their own fun.
Please get some perspective.
For whatever reason (most likely profit margins), they tried to follow the F2P live service business model and trend but completely dropped a huge ball with this empty shell of a game. Halo Infinite is great at one thing…demonstrating total incompetence.
I don’t think the community is asking for too much when simple and standard aspects like progression and levelling up your character, weapons and career are basic core elements of games.
What we’ve been given in Halo Infinite is an empty vessel of a BP based off a broken challenge system that rewards XP…to put it quite simply, what kind of brain dead development team would think that would be substantial to satisfy the playerbase? It’s almost as if they just don’t understand not only the community but also what Halo means to the community.
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A game being fun for it’s own sake is important, but I feel too often the people who make that argument forget that unlocking things, whether its a new character, modes, etc., have been a thing in gaming for decades. I mean, I played Halo 2 because it was fun and I did the same for Halo 3 and so on. But those games added another layer to their replayability with customization options. I think folks are especially up in arms with infinite is because of how nakedly transparent it is about making money above all else.
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YEAH ? and guess what ?
— The core game isn’t fun. Big Team battle is atrocious.
— Weapon spawns are horrendous
— Desync is like playing against Agents from the Matrix with bullet time
— Vehicle Spawns in BTB are horrendous
— The Warthog Handles like a Moon Buggy in low Gravity
And 1000 other issues like lack of chat between lobbies, lack of designated Slayer/obj playlist, lack of modes ( Assault, VIP, Juggernaut ), the sniper handling is vomit-tier, etc
So you wonder why people at least want some progression system to make it less painful.
I’ve played over 10,000 matches of Halo 2 and have been playing Halo since 2001. Halo 2 had no 'Progression system" or Cosmetics aside from Ranks and it was addictingly fun because it had AMAZING maps, perfect Balance, lots of modes, fun social play b cause of lobbies and Clan play with clan ranks, all of which Infinite does not.
Infinite’s AR, BR “feel” of the weapon Handling, movement and Sprint feel good but aside from that, core mechanics are either changed or make the game frustrating.
This game is nearly unplayable due to balance issues and is a nade-fest made worse by the fact that the Low Radar range makes avoiding backsmacks nearly impossible unless you’re on PC and can turn around in a millisecond.
Wake up
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Exactly. Games have ALWAYS had other systems in place that compelled people to play beyond “it’s fun” (what does that even mean?). Whether it was achievement/trophies for some arbitrary gamer score, a ranked/progression system that has numbers tick up each match, or even a simple high score screen to show off that you were the best player on that arcade machine.
The problem with Halo Infinite is not only does it lack these systems (no commendations, no lifetime stat tracker, buggy postgame report screen, no ranks, poor battlepass), but it removed legacy features from the game just to justify making players pay for simple colors and items. All while hiding behind “it’s free to play” while still charging full price for campaign.
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I’d argue player just got good at backsmacking because the challenge system ask us to get 3 every other week. =P
Nah, plenty of people complain about it.
The Radar range is 1/3 of What CE’s is and about half of what Halo 4’s was
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On the flip side, I’m complaining that the game is empty and boring because it is empty and boring.
I’m sick of playing on the same 3 BTB maps. I’m sick of waiting for vehicle drops to “make the match interesting”, I’m sick of the pretty piss poor sandbox.
Honestly, the whole “random weapon spawns every match” thing actually makes Halo boring as crap, because if the spawns of the map are boring/bad, then people don’t contest these weapon spawns, which focuses the battle too much in one area.
You’re right, if the game doesn’t stimulate me, it sucks and it’s boring. Especially if it doesn’t stimulate me during a match with all the points I’ve mentioned above.
What’s more, the modes also suck.
CTF : classic mode, cool.
Stockpile : basically CTF with extra steps.
Total Control : Territories with extra steps.
Andddd that’s it. Where’s KotH? Where’s Headhunter? Where’s Heavies?
Yeah, no, I feel about the same way. I do like something to work towards, but I prefer to just… Play the game. I don’t need to sit around for hours grinding stuff. What I want is MK V and Forge! Once Forge is out, boom.
But yeah, I feel you. People need a carrot on a stick and I… don’t get it.
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its pretty ironic too. Progression systems (leveling system, loot, etc. ) were seen for a very long time as timewasters and unhealthy to players.
Now people are coveting them like they’re drugs lol. Completely different eras.
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Yeah everyone’s obsession with “expressing themselves “ has definitely resulted in declining efforts to make quality content. I remember when Reach was out, and it was like every week or so, new maps would just pop up randomly when start a match.
The other thing about cosmetics is that they largely go unnoticed. During the game you are constantly glowing whatever color your teammates and opponents choose you to be, usually the most intense hyper-visible colors, which completely drowns out whatever is being “expressed “ underneath the intense glow. Really the only time you notice cosmetics is for those few seconds during the opening punch the air, knuckle crack scene and victory poses.
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I played CE BTB CTF on Blood Gulch for a decade without getting bored of it. Played countless hours of 3 and Reach customs. It was Reach and Halo 4 where I started caring about customization, because we actually had a lot of customization options.
Sure, I suppose I could care less about customization existing at all in Infinite, but my main gripe is Infinite restricting the core Halo basics, like a handful of helmets and basic colors. I could be fine with red or blue default recruit armor, sure, but my biggest gripe is, well, the multiplayer is just not fun to play.
It’s not fun. The BTB is terrible. If 343 added a large Blood Gulch style BTB map like every past Halo had, I would be content with just playing only that for hours. 343 keeps ruining the Halo basics and gameplay formula, so if we have to suffer unfun gameplay, we want to be compensated for our wasted time, even if it’s just some lousy number by our name showing our total XP level. Anything at all. 1000 matches is mind numbingly boring in Infinite.
I just want Halo to feel fun again, or at least give us anything at all for the hours we dumped into this heap
Its funny, but when you watch that new documentary about 343, you see the pros were complaining about 5’s radar size saying a player should be checking all their corners and using their skill rather than having radar do all the seeing. It wasn’t removed in 5, but changed for infinite.
And there’s a real stink from some players about it being too small (me included). I think it’s another aspect of what a pro game experience should be vs an average person experience should be and I agreed with the pros that the radar should be removed for professional games.
We can’t make the casual game about skill, it needs to be about giving the gamers a positive experience and the tools to have a good experience. Infinites small radar doesn’t help with that experience at all.
For me, I could care less about “progression”
However, I do enjoy customizing my spartan and there is hardly anything there without shilling out tons of money.
I could play a game for hours and not get bored, with or without progression, but this game? Nah man, there’s nothing there.
You currently only have a few options
Some kind of Slayer (Team, FFA, Tactical)
Oddball
CTF
Strongholds
Fiesta mixes it up a bit, but they ruined that mode for me with the Tenrai event
Attrition was a really fun mode (when all the sweats stopped playing) but I don’t understand why they took it away.
I wouldn’t call infinite’s cosmetics system overstimulating. In fact, it’s underwhelming compared to previous titles.
At its core, Infinite really lacks a lot of the things that made Halo fun.
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Maybe if they didn’t freaking sell it to you behind a pay wall where older games felt like they are more ahead of their time in content compared to modern day games, then it wouldn’t be a problem.
People who play Halo, like unlocking stuff while getting better. They like the creative freedom which comes as a result of performing feats to unlock them and create something new and unique in some way. And the people who do not care for unlocking stuff , still want nice options to choose from. You had options. As someone who doesn’t care too much about unlockables, picking and choosing color and remaking a Spartan in my image with this very good artstyle, it’s a shame Infinite is inferior in that regard to a 2007 and 2010 game. It’s one more thing to not care enough to play Infinite for long
infinite continues to show me how hollow modern day gaming is , MOSTLY AND ESPECIALLY for multiplayer games.
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