Is the Joseph Staten Effect Finally Kicking In?

Games Halo Infinite
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As everyone I was super disappointed about the Season 3 news.

But I decided to try out the Yappening event and I actually found myself having allot of fun. The game can be competitive but also had some really fun social modes which are missing. I wonder if there is any stats to see if Halo Infinite numbers are up?

Is Joseph Staten’s Bungie philosophy of having fun within 30 seconds, kicking in here? If so I want more of the Staten effect on Halo!!

A small suggestion to maybe, now that the event is fun don’t force me to play other game types (last spartan standing was for sure just to grab data for the battle royal mode). I feel as if the challenges during an event should never leave the challenge list.

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Or at the very least challenges should be generalized so that you can complete most of them in any game mode/playlist you want to play and enjoy while still progressing through the event and battle pass.

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The event is incredible. That’s for certain. The challenge is all this around the whole game that’s been dropped in general and continues to get delayed.

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I’m curious how much Joe is involved with this. What does head of creative really mean?

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I would imagine it has more to do with franchise direction and what makes the experience definitively “halo”.

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If that’s what it is then Joe has his hands full and a long term job at 343i to get Halo back on track to what Halo is supposed to be.

Bungie: “Halo is ment to be a fun party game where you and 3 or more of your buddies sit down together and have a good time.”

343i: “Halo is a competitive game. It really is.”

Once that’s straightened out maybe then things will start getting better.

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I don’t disagree Derek, without a doubt he is going to have his hands full. Between Staten and Max Hobberman (working on the BR at Certain Affinity) I have high hopes and expectations. Those two know Halo. CA did such a great job of H2A multiplayer IMO it should of been Halo 4’s multiplayer.

At this point a soft re launch is what it’s going to take to bring halo back. It’s sad it’s gotten to this point. I’d love the BR mode to release with forge, custom browser, and Campaign DLC.

To your point on Halo being competitive v casual game I don’t think either point is wrong. I think the old Halo’s did a great job of catering to both crowds. You could jump into social playlist or ranked, HI for sure leans to be too competitive. Also I think back in the day Halo was “easier” compared to other arena shooters but than all these causal COD like games flooded the market lowering the skill bar even more, and Halo was all of sudden was “hard” compared to games now.

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Damn, way to give the credit of an entire development team to one dude.

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I thought the Bungie philosophy was 30 seconds of fun over and over… not fun within 30 seconds?

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Honestly I’m starting to believe Joe’s job at 343 is to give us bad news because they know how much we idolize him in this community, so they hope it is received better coming from him than anyone else.

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I don’t think he was primarily brought in for the reasons most think.
He and his ex cohorts have a proven record of live service monetisation.
Just prepare for disappointment.
Most of the issues haven’t been fixed and it’s buggy as.
Coming up a year now.

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Halo has grown and evolved over time with each game. Halo got more complicated. CE was a simple boiled down shooter for console. The invitation of aim assist is what made it feel so good. That feeling was fine tuned and improved upon in 2. 2 also saw the addition of dual wielding which added more options and depth to the combat as well as a proper fleshing out of the sandbox for both weapons and vehicles. 3 was basically 2, but actually polished and balanced with even more features like equipment and Spartan customization. Reach is where things changed with the addition of armor abilities. Suddenly things got a little messy and harder to predict. 4 only worsened this by letting people choose everything they spawn with. 5 moved to a more fair start direction, but cranked player movement through the roof which made the combat way to fast for a Halo game. Infinite has found a nice balance here with improved movement and balanced starts.

But here’s the main issue. The Bungie titles were social fun first and the pro level stuff came second. 343i has pushed competitive hard with each title. By doing this they’ve prioritized the wrong part of the experience. The mass majority of players are not “pro” level players and making the game play like a competitive ranked game every game just makes it an unfun sweat fest. Some people play to have competition, some play to relax and others play to hang out with friends. The overly competitive emphasis in infinite makes trying to relax while playing virtually impossible and it hinders you from playing with friends if you vary in skill. It’s hard to have fun if you’re forced to be alone all the time and playing nothing but competitive games.