It's really not that hard

Games Other Halo
1

Please note that this is NOT an official letter; it is one that I concocted to prove a point.

Dear players,

Having spent some time on the Halo 4 forum recently, our PR department has discovered that there exists a not insignificant proportion of players who are dissatisfied with the current state of Halo 4. We would like to take this opportunity to assure all players that we are aware of the complaints and we are actively working towards solutions that will, hopefully, please everyone.

As you can no doubt imagine, fixing these issues requires a great deal of time and manpower, and we simply do not have enough of either to address all issues at once. As such, we have begun to prioritise the list that we have compiled, and we will initially work towards fixing issues of the following type:

a) those that are severe enough to render the game unplayable at some or all times (e.g. connection difficulties, join in progress functionality, etc.)
b) those that are simple enough to correct with a basic patch and minimal effort (e.g. increasing the power of certain weapons, altering the number of vehicles and/or weapons on any given map, etc.)

Over time, we will address those issues that fall between these two extremes.

Due to the game-altering nature of the proposed changes, we will be instituting a two week long “mini-beta” after the changes have gone live, during which time we will seek player feedback as to what is and isn’t working. We will then use this feedback to make additional tweaks and release a final patch to the public.

We cannot yet offer a concrete release date for the changes, but we will keep you informed as progress continues. Finally, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the existence of these issues, and we ask that you bear with us as we work our hardest to fix them.

Sincerely,

343 Industries

Potential fan response: Thank you, 343; we appreciate being informed as to the status of our concerns, and, since we now know that they are being addressed, we are happy to wait patiently for the patch, and will stop flooding the forum with grievances. We also feel that your response to this matter has laid a good foundation for a fledgling developer and because of this, we will, in future, give you the benefit of the doubt.

2

BS. down with the system!

3

Seems legit!

4

I’m not even sure what this is, but it’s totally fake. If you’re trying to make a letter that sounds like it’s from 343, try “apologize” instead of “apologise.” It is an American company, after all. :wink:

5

So, 343 has to do this in order for you guys to be quiet?

6

The OP is saying its not that hard for a company to tell this type of thing to their fans… If they would say something like this, so many fans/population would be happy and wait for patchs.

And yes, I have no idea why its so hard for companies to do this nowadays.

7

> The OP is saying its not that hard for a company to tell this type of thing to their fans… If they would say something like this, so many fans/population would be happy and wait for patchs.
>
> And yes, I have no idea why its so hard for companies to do this nowadays.

Thank you; that’s exactly what I meant. I thought the title spoke for itself.

> If you’re trying to make a letter that sounds like it’s from 343, try “apologize” instead of “apologise.” It is an American company, after all. :wink:

Do I have to do all of their work for them?

8

> So, 343 has to do this in order for you guys to be quiet?

no, 343 has to do this to acknowledge that we’re not just numbers on a spreadsheet

9

> > So, 343 has to do this in order for you guys to be quiet?
>
> no, 343 has to do this to acknowledge that we’re not just numbers on a spreadsheet

^this

10

I agree. Even though, on the whole, I’m satisfied with the game, I think 343 should address the concerns I and many others have about the game.

11

Holy crap you guys have emotional attachment dependent issues.

They don’t have to do anything. However, they do communicate with the community.

Just because they don’t answer ALL of your problems the INSTANT you want them to be, doesn’t mean they aren’t listening.

They listen.

Do you see anymore wall glitches being exploited?

-No.

Are they rotating unpopular playlists?

-Yes

Are they trying to please old fans while pleasing the new?

-Yes

They’ll answer your questions in time. They don’t owe you a formal statement.

12

> > So, 343 has to do this in order for you guys to be quiet?
>
> no, 343 has to do this to acknowledge that we’re not just numbers on a spreadsheet

I am a statistic!!

13

> I agree. Even though, on the whole, I’m satisfied with the game, I think 343 should address the concerns I and many others have about the game.

That’s my point. Some of us have problems with the game, and we would like those to be fixed, but the lack of developer response is, in my opinion, the more serious issue. Nothing riles up fans quite like a developer going dark; and 343 seems to be making a habit of it.

14

> Just because they don’t answer ALL of your problems the INSTANT you want them to be, doesn’t mean they aren’t listening.

  1. They don’t have to answer ALL of our concerns
  2. They don’t have to answer our concerns INSTANTLY

No one is asking of 343 anything more or less than they ask of other game developers.

> They don’t owe you a formal statement.

Of course they don’t owe us anything. But since I assume they want to stay in business, public relations should be something that they invest in.

15

But then why the statement?

You really think they don’t care nor listen?

16

> Dear Playerbase,
>
> We are like totally almighty and don’t have to take that -Yoink- from you, whatevah, we do what we want.
>
> Thanks for the money,
>
> 343i
>
> PS: You’re all banned from matchmaking.

I would lol hard.

> They don’t owe you a formal statement.

Taking a real world example:

A cashier doesn’t have to smile and greet you or help you find things, they just have to bag your -Yoink- and handle your money.

But would you return to a store if a cashier did nothing but grumped at you and did the very basic requirements?

17

> But then why the statement?
>
> You really think they don’t care nor listen?

If they’ve already listened, that’s fantastic. But what they then need to do is to tell us that they’ve listened; otherwise, people just keep on talking.

18

UGH! I’m so glad I found this thread. I’m so sick of the moaning and groaning! I’m sorry, have you put out a video game lately? I didn’t think so. The sense of entitlement amongst gamers makes me wanna stick to campaign or only play with friends and be anti-social.

As for the letter, I used to do PR and went to school for it and people don’t realize that companies don’t have time and resources to address every whimper. Besides, they aren’t obligated to at all. This letter is pretty on point. I feel like the sheer fact that 343 posts regularly is proof that they pay attention. I’m very happy with this game, it’s one of the few times I feel like I got my money’s worth, especially with the Spartan Ops episode gameplay.

I play for fun and from the whinning online about this game I feel like either a lot of “hardcore” gamers need a diaper change or people are starting to take this too seriously. I’m pleased to see that others see this ridiculousness and are willing to call it as it is.

19

> > Just because they don’t answer ALL of your problems the INSTANT you want them to be, doesn’t mean they aren’t listening.
>
> 1) They don’t have to answer ALL of our concerns
> 2) They don’t have to answer our concerns INSTANTLY
>
> No one is asking of 343 anything more or less than they ask of other game developers.
>
>
>
> > They don’t owe you a formal statement.
>
>
>
> > Of course they don’t owe us anything. But since I assume they want to stay in business, public relations should be something that they invest in.
>
> Public relations?
>
> Microsoft’s idea of “public relations” is what happened to Jodie Foster on that pinball machine in “The Accused”.

20

> > But then why the statement?
> >
> > You really think they don’t care nor listen?
>
> If they’ve already listened, that’s fantastic. But what they then need to do is to tell us that they’ve listened; otherwise, people just keep on talking.

I gave you examples of them listening, JIP, Glitches.

How is that not listening?