Absolutely, so much good would have come from that.
Firstly, a lot of the criticisms from the community would likely still be present: Coatings, armor cores, microtransactions, matchmaking issues, no red reticle for PC users, poor campaign unlocks, would all still be present.
However, forge, co-op, the extra two maps, and hopefully some bug fixes would have drawn attention away from that. If players are frustrated with the online progression system, they can focus on making forge maps or playing with their buddies. There would be more than the minimal amount of options we have today, so community frustration would likely be less of a problem.
Adding to that, this would also give 343 the opportunity for other Halo content without detracting from Infinite: More seasons and content for the Master Chief Collection, maybe Halo 5 Forge (probably not the entirety of Halo 5 in the small time window, as cool as that would be) and Halo Wars 2 could have been added to Steam. One year would have made a giant difference for Halo altogether.
I donât think delaying it wouldâve mattered. 343 thought what they released was a good product, from the multiplayer all the way to the store. If your out of touch that bad, no amount of delay would help. You need a change of leadership and just overall management at 343
Definitely needed another year, and covid would have been the perfect excuse to do so. I donât think the George RR Martin comparison is apt, cause the guyâs also literally off making other books and doing other projects. With 343 a delay is presumably work more on Halo, not to buy time while doing other things.
Thereâs a bit of this too though. So many choices in Infinite feel deliberate yet so out of touch. Its funny how Staten said the game was already âcontent completeâ when it got delayed, as either its a bold faced lie or it was the plan to release a shell all along.
Only 4 playlists at launch with any additional modes tied to events? Only the challenge system for progression? A UI that seems to fight their any move to add anything? Maps that all share the same basic layout? Random weapon spawns not mirrored between bases?
While store working perfectly fine is the meme, its actually funny how even its UI seems to causing them issues implementing any changes or more than a limited number of options at a time. Thinking colors limited by armor core was going to go well is also laughable.
We might have seen better performance and a few additional maps/modes if they delayed it further. But many of the things weâve seen at launch would have been just the same without the feedback they got after launch.
In that regard itâs arguably better that they launched it and got this feedback. Infinite at the end of 2022 with a launch in 2021 is likely to be a better product than Infinite launched after a delay to 2022 due to that.
I think Battlefield fell on its side the same way. That game is still severely wonky and the population is now a lot lower than Halo Infiniteâs. The company did not have a finished nor polished product to release yet management wanted to sell it. The problems with it are so fundamental; game balance, map design, tone, content; that I donât ever expect the studio to fix it post-launch.
I donât think a delay would have made any difference with multiplayer; the FTP model would have still been in place the prices in the shop would have still been over priced, the armour coating would still have been sold to us in the same way. We would have still only had one ranked playlist, cross play would have been apparent and desync would have still rose itâs ugly head.
Forge coop and apparently a progression system were delayed another year.
Fun fact. Tried giving 2042 a second chance. Still bad. Thatâs coming from somebody who stayed with BFV to the end.
But Microsoft gave them all the time in the world. Phil Spencer spent months saying Infinite would ship with new console.
If the game is in that much development hell and the tools that bad. There must be a law of diminishing returns. It could be they canât add anything without it risking breaking the game and that would slow everything down to a crawl.
I am just hoping this is a hump they just need to work through. If itâs like BFV and their updates start âbreakingâ the game in peoples eyes; then theyâre in real trouble. I mean, I never noticed anything for BFV and Infinite feels like itâs worse for the desync and BTB thing.
It is known in modern psychology that dreams are the mind using symbolisms reflectingg conflicts in the subconscious mind that are manifesting in ones waking life. Not all dreams mind you. But if Cheif is in cyro-sleep then these dreams (Halo 4, 5, etc) are manifestations of the subconscious mind trying to systematically heal (or compartmentalize) the PTSD and trauma the Cheif has endured to save humanity time and time again. In fact, Chiefâs âI need a weaponâ mentality is characteristic of PTSD/trauma based workaholic cognitive dissonance. Yes, Cheifâs character is that of a leader and hero. But normal people facing PTSD and trauma can also manifest some of the qualities that Chief possesses (not not always). Just look at Halo 4, Cheif seemed to lose Cortana for good. Given how sheâs been his guide out of situations he couldnât get himself out of and the source of information that has kept him alive for so long of course heâd have a nightmare of losing her (Halo 4). In fact, you could say the whole 343i series is about that. Just a thought thoughâŚ