This is the situation Halo has fallen into: it’s unfair to blame 343 for most of the problems we’re seeing with Halo because Halo’s problem is the industry’s problem. This is something that reaches a lot further than Halo. Let me explain.
Mostly everyone who started playing Halo as early as Halo 3 is probably done with high school and in college already. Sht, they might already have a job. They have new responsibilities that they didn’t have when Halo first released which makes less time to play games. Now here’s the real issue. Halo cares more about maintaining its popularity than putting out a quality game. Now, I had a lot of fun with the beta and I’m sure I’ll have a lot fun with the final game (when I get to play it between college and work), but it’s clear that Halo is just trying to put out a big game,* not a quality game. Halo needs to maintain it’s status, but why?
Because Microsoft.
Microsoft, being the big corporation that it is, is concerned about money. They need to sell a product that people will buy, and the largest audience are new gamers: people in middle school or high school (in this sense, Halo is becoming Call of Duty, although not in a way that involves the core gameplay). I’m sure 343’s budget is directly correlated with the amount of profits they bring in which means you really can’t blame them for catering to a younger audience. ____By “catering to a younger audience” I mean they’re making the game easier not copying Call of Duty. They aren’t copying anyone else’s game but they are using a tried and true marketing strategy, that is targeting the largest audience. I’m sorry for all of us who grew up with Halo, but we aren’t the largest audience or the target audience.
That being said, props to 343 for trying to include old fans as much as possible (nerfing automatic weapons, slowing down sprint, and removing killstreaks and loadouts). But the problem remains that Halo has to be successful because Microsoft demands it.
Unfortunately, this leads to other issues. If the game is too easy, people lose interest faster, but if the game is too skilled, new players won’t play the game, and Microsoft needs those new players. We see the same thing happening with Call of Duty with the addition of skill based matchmaking. Halo 5 will also have skill based matchmaking, and that should help fix the problem a little. All I’m trying to do is help some people understand the situation a little better, because Microsoft really isn’t trying to sell Halo to all of us on the forums, they want the new gamers. Don’t take it personally, it’s just business. 343 understands and is doing the best they can.