I know this will probably never happen, but I wish they’d go back to the Halo 2 model of releasing the map packs for everyone after 6 months to a year or so.
My theory here is that the people that buy the map packs are typically the really good players. I’m a more casual gamer and find that the matches I get put in with new map packs aren’t fun because almost everyone else is a far better player.
I don’t think this policy would affect 343’s money flow. Most casual Halo players don’t buy maps anyway, and if they get bored of the game, they’ll move on, so 343 was never getting that money. The people that buy the map packs on day 1 are going to continue to buy them on day 1 since they’re probably already bored with the maps, or their friends will heckle them into getting. Actually, if I knew the maps would be available for everyone, I’d probably buy them right way knowing the noobs would eventually be there, it’s what I did in Halo 2.
Lastly, is it me or is the searching in these forums horrible? I want to just search the forum I’m browsing, not the whole site.