Suppose X players do not have DLC and Y players do have DLC.
Previously, you had X players play Infinity Slayer and Y players play DLC Slayer.
Now, it is Y players playing DLC Slayer, and I’m not sure where the X players have gone (the 5k+ haven’t popped up elsewhere; big team has stayed about the same). I thought DLC playlists were taken out due to low population (may be wrong on this one), but isn’t putting DLC requirements on Infinity Slayer the same as having a DLC playlist because they have the same barriers to entry?
I feel like I’m missing something because 343i said they did some research and stuff, but how is the new Infinity Slayer playlist different from a Majestic DLC playlist in terms of population? Unless the population count is not the focus. Like from what I understand, the new Infinity Slayer has Majestic + default maps, whereas the DLC focused playlist maybe had only DLC maps?
I suppose some percentage of players will buy the maps for Infinity Slayer, but this seems like a small number (Infinity Slayer was at 400 people a few hours ago). I thought consolidating playlists was meant to avoid splitting up the population, but isn’t the population anyways split up by the barrier to entry of the DLC requirement into Infinity Slayer? And if the new Infinity Slayer is basically like a DLC playlist in terms of population and barrier to entry, why not still have a “basic” or “cheap” Slayer playlist like the old Infinity Slayer? The “Majestic Infinity Slayer” playlist won’t see a drop in population because of it.
Furthermore, is Big Team now the “basic/classic/average” Halo experience? It is now the only one that can be played out of the box, after all.
I apologize for the questions but I am confused. I definitely have my opinions as you can see, but I know I don’t have all the facts and accept that.