This game is not going to move back up the XBL popularity charts. It simply isn’t possible - a title update isn’t going to push people to go purchase the game or to pick it back up again. An attempt to save Reach was made by use of a title update, but it was ineffective at boosting numbers.
The gameplay mechanics can potentially be fixed. There is nothing, however, that’s going to push the population of this game up to the 300,000+ levels that Halo 3 regularly maintained.
If 343i wishes to stop Halo’s decline in popularity, they need to get it right upon release. No “wait for the update.” There are countless problems with this game, and some core Halo fans simply aren’t playing it. The competitive community, for example, makes up a relatively large population that simply doesn’t play now.
Halo 3 received two title updates. One changed concurrent melee behavior and the other introduced experience-based rankings. Halo 2 was quite flawed upon release, but remained popular because not many XBL titles existed at the time.
This game’s population is as low as Reach’s was two years after release. That’s absurd.
EDIT: Also, as much as Bungie is responsible for starting Halo down the path it has taken, they were a bit more forthcoming with how they were approaching things. In Halo 3, BR spread was a point of concern for many people (myself included). Bungie clearly addressed the community and stated that they would not be removing the spread. With all of the problems people have with this game, a lot of us want answers.
Besides releasing a finished Halo game, they should first make a Halo game. That might help as well =P I don’t like call of duty, I like halo. No shotguns on spawn, no instant spawn, no kill cams, no ordinance.
Halo 4 reminds me of medal of honor when I look at how quickly the population is decreasing. Its sad that even Xmas didn’t do much for this game.
Because Halo was the king of console FPS games, and competed with cod. Halo 3 was 2 years old when MW2 came out and it still was #2 on the activity charts.
Buuut then Bungie took it away from its roots, and now 343 made CoD with spacesuits.
alright, so TU’s are pointless . . . so what do you propose that we do to try to fix Halo 4? Do we just suffer with the game as is for another two years until Halo 5 comes out, and allow the population to decline EVEN more? Even if a TU doesn’t draw in all the players that was lost, it will draw back some and stop the bleeding. As far as Halo 5 goes, I’m pretty sure 343 already understands everything you’re saying . . . people have been beating it down everybody’s throats since release.
> > Why does it need to be high?
>
> Because Halo was the king of console FPS games, and competed with cod. Halo 3 was 2 years old when MW2 came out and it still was #2 on the activity charts.
>
> Buuut then Bungie took it away from its roots, and now 343 made CoD with spacesuits.
So it needs to be high to fulfill a fantasy of being better than call of duty? Or it needs to be high to prove that it’s the “king of console FPS games”?
Regular updates keeps people playing and can bring back players who got bored of the game.
World of Warcraft has recieved many updates and keeps a large population. Team Fortress 2 is one of the most played PC games of all time, the constant updates help keeps this achievement and not the price (free). Minecraft, even on 360, has recieved many, many updates that keep adding to the game that keep people hanging around. Scott Pilgrim will be recieving DLC next week, over 2 years after its release and I’ll be playing through it again when it lands. Black Ops 2 has just recieved DLC where you can play as a zombie, which has tempted even me. Gears of War 3 was healthy and became the first Xbox game with 2,000 achievement points because of the constant updates.
The problem with the Reach update (which did increase numbers) is that it was designed mainly for MLG and for moving the game closer to Halo 3 instead of improving Reach to make it better at what it was. If Halo 4 is to recieve an update then it will need to be to make it better at it being itself.
Although frankly I think it’s the lack of a local only search filter that’s the real reason why people aren’t playing the game.
The issue an overwhelming majority of people have with this game is the fact that we are not allowed to play Halo in a classic manner. Following the title update, Reach allowed for that; Halo 4, however, has been stripped of the custom options to disable the chaos that 343i introduced.
A low population likely means there will be less money going into development of the sequel. Less funding is potentially bad. Halo is, at the moment, a dying franchise.
Also, I’m absolutely not suggesting that title updates are bad. Just that it is misinformed to believe that a title update of any kind is going to push this game’s population up the XBL charts. Since Reach was first release, we have constantly said “wait for the update.” The updates don’t ever seem to come in a timely manner, though. The next game needs to be released finished, not broken. Updates need to be used to maintain the game, not turn it into what it should’ve been to begin with.
> > > Why does it need to be high?
> >
> > Because Halo was the king of console FPS games, and competed with cod. Halo 3 was 2 years old when MW2 came out and it still was #2 on the activity charts.
> >
> > Buuut then Bungie took it away from its roots, and now 343 made CoD with spacesuits.
>
> So it needs to be high to fulfill a fantasy of being better than call of duty? Or it needs to be high to prove that it’s the “king of console FPS games”?
It needs to be high if they want to continue the tradition. Every Halo game has outsold the last for day 1 and week 1 sales. That wont happen if they don’t restore faith in the community.
They didn’t make a Halo game. They made an experiment to convert CoD players and it failed miserably. Halo has always been a LARGE population game to see it down is depressing to people who picked up Halo 1 in the beginning or even those that got it during Halo 3’s time. People who started on Reach won’t understand. Halo is Halo and to change Halo has done horrible things to the community and the numbers (obviously)
People care about their Halo, and this just isn’t Halo
Microsoft is a very greedy company right now. It has to be, its getting kicked out of every market because it tries to enter them too late (look at the Surface)
Halo is something they could always count on being a success and it seems that they are even blowing that trying to play catch-up with CoD. However, CoD and Halo can both be successful if they are different…
Making a watered down version of Halo that plays like CoD will only make CoD fans stick with CoD instead of switching between the 2.
> > > > Why does it need to be high?
> > >
> > > Because Halo was the king of console FPS games, and competed with cod. Halo 3 was 2 years old when MW2 came out and it still was #2 on the activity charts.
> > >
> > > Buuut then Bungie took it away from its roots, and now 343 made CoD with spacesuits.
> >
> > So it needs to be high to fulfill a fantasy of being better than call of duty? Or it needs to be high to prove that it’s the “king of console FPS games”?
>
> It needs to be high if they want to continue the tradition. Every Halo game has outsold the last for day 1 and week 1 sales. That wont happen if they don’t restore faith in the community.
>
> They didn’t make a Halo game. They made an experiment to convert CoD players and it failed miserably. Halo has always been a LARGE population game to see it down is depressing to people who picked up Halo 1 in the beginning or even those that got it during Halo 3’s time. People who started on Reach won’t understand. Halo is Halo and to change Halo has done horrible things to the community and the numbers (obviously)
>
> People care about their Halo, and this just isn’t Halo
I bet you 7 million copies of Halo 4 that Microsoft and 343i don’t care about matchmaking population. In their eyes and in business, Halo 4 is a success as most games dream about reaching half that amount of games sold. Halo 5 is probably already green lit.
The sooner you forget about being #1 in XBL population the better off you’ll be. You’re realize it doesn’t mean anything, you’ll enjoy your video games more and you’ll be more happy.
> > > a TU can maintain players and bring back some Halo fans. 343i truly needs to turn their focus into making -HALO- 5… not CoD: Space Warfare 2
>
> Microsoft is a very greedy company right now. It has to be, its getting kicked out of every market because it tries to enter them too late (look at the Surface)
>
> Halo is something they could always count on being a success and it seems that they are even blowing that trying to play catch-up with CoD. However, CoD and Halo can both be successful if they are different…
>
> Making a watered down version of Halo that plays like CoD will only make CoD fans stick with CoD instead of switching between the 2.
Calling a company greedy because they want to make money?
as much as everyone is like “i dont care” about the population decrease… i have but but one answer… it is kind of nice to know that the game you know and love is being played worldwide by a massive amount of people that know and love it just as much as you do… you want to see your game be successful and grow and progress among a lot of people.
but…sadly i feel there will never be anything like the golden days of halo. when on a friday night about half a million people were playing and a nice game of big team on sandtrap could be found in about a half a second and no one would quit. sadly the big team maps on this game arent even very good. sigh.
People got sick of Halo 4 unusually quickly. This leads to doubt in 343i, which could lead to sales below their potential. I have no doubt Halo 5 is green lit, that doesn’t mean that the franchise isn’t in decline as far as popularity goes.
Remember SEGA? They had a huge hit in the early 1990s with the SEGA Genesis. They then began making idiotic business decisions and subsequent consoles saw a gradual decline in sales and quality. They attempted to push the Dreamcast, but consumers had given up on the company by then; the quality of the system was irrelevant.
> > > > > Why does it need to be high?
> > > >
> > > > Because Halo was the king of console FPS games, and competed with cod. Halo 3 was 2 years old when MW2 came out and it still was #2 on the activity charts.
> > > >
> > > > Buuut then Bungie took it away from its roots, and now 343 made CoD with spacesuits.
> > >
> > > So it needs to be high to fulfill a fantasy of being better than call of duty? Or it needs to be high to prove that it’s the “king of console FPS games”?
> >
> > It needs to be high if they want to continue the tradition. Every Halo game has outsold the last for day 1 and week 1 sales. That wont happen if they don’t restore faith in the community.
> >
> > They didn’t make a Halo game. They made an experiment to convert CoD players and it failed miserably. Halo has always been a LARGE population game to see it down is depressing to people who picked up Halo 1 in the beginning or even those that got it during Halo 3’s time. People who started on Reach won’t understand. Halo is Halo and to change Halo has done horrible things to the community and the numbers (obviously)
> >
> > People care about their Halo, and this just isn’t Halo
>
> I bet you 7 million copies of Halo 4 that Microsoft and 343i don’t care about matchmaking population. In their eyes and in business, Halo 4 is a success as most games dream about reaching half that amount of games sold. Halo 5 is probably already green lit.
>
> The sooner you forget about being #1 in XBL population the better off you’ll be. You’re realize it doesn’t mean anything, you’ll enjoy your video games more and you’ll be more happy.
yeah but you have to think about the future… map updates… marketplace purchases…and breaking past sales records. i didnt buy the new CoD because the last one sucked. who’s going to buy the new halo if the old one was bad?
This post has been edited by a moderator. Please do not flame or attack other members.
*Original post. Click at your own discretion.
> > > > a TU can maintain players and bring back some Halo fans. 343i truly needs to turn their focus into making -HALO- 5… not CoD: Space Warfare 2
> > >
> > > You’re very clever. Do you spell Microsoft with a $ too?
> >
> > Microsoft is a very greedy company right now. It has to be, its getting kicked out of every market because it tries to enter them too late (look at the Surface)
> >
> > Halo is something they could always count on being a success and it seems that they are even blowing that trying to play catch-up with CoD. However, CoD and Halo can both be successful if they are different…
> >
> > Making a watered down version of Halo that plays like CoD will only make CoD fans stick with CoD instead of switching between the 2.
>
> Calling a company greedy because they want to make money?
>
> Wow…
Lol someone is a bit of a -Yoink!- fanboy. Plenty of businesses make money in their own way. My point is that instead of making something unique (like what Halo was) or doing something that no company is doing… they simply try to play catch-up… Zune, Surface, Halo 4… all entered into their market too late to be a success.
-iPod had/has the majority of market share and not many people were going to drop an extra $400 to switch to Zune which had less apps/songs etc.
-Surface… Need I say more? They couldn’t even get their Pro version out before the Xmas rush and the RT version was a flop.
-Halo 4… Halo has always been unique. Even Reach (without bloom and AL) was still a halo game… to make Halo 4 a halo game you need to take out: killcams, instant spawn, ordinance, shotgun has a spawn weapon (all of which are directly from CoD) add a rank system, and release it FINISHED.
Look at their stock compared to Apple and you will see that they dont have the power that they used to because they lack innovation or a unique product. Windows 8 is the most unique thing they offer and even that is getting mixed reviews because of the layout (I personally love it though)
> People got sick of Halo 4 unusually quickly. This leads to doubt in 343i, which could lead to sales below their potential. I have no doubt Halo 5 is green lit, that doesn’t mean that the franchise isn’t in decline as far as popularity goes.
>
> Remember SEGA? They had a huge hit in the early 1990s with the SEGA Genesis. They then began making idiotic business decisions and subsequent consoles saw a gradual decline in sales and quality. They attempted to push the Dreamcast, but consumers had given up on the company by then; the quality of the system was irrelevant.
Well until the SALES of the Halo games start declining, then 343i and Microsoft will take notice. Until then, they don’t care about population because that does not determine future sales. It’s about as usless as when gamers try to boycott games. We know how that turned out, they see a shiny new game and buy it.
Gamers are gullible, easy, money spending targets.