343/Microsoft did PHENOMENAL work with Halo Infinite
The one thing we just need now, is for a big adjustment to the progression system. This post will cover a possible solution/re-structure of the Battle Pass and Battle Pass progression system, as well as address challenges and experience gain. The solution aims to be as profitable(Higher price) as possible while also maintaining player satisfaction (Consistent quality rewards) and also accounting for developer work load (Limiting amount of unique content, adding more reskins/“easier” content to make).
The current system requires far too much grinding with very poor rewards for people who even grind that hard. Battle passes as a whole are disliked. However, this one is just very poorly implemented. Probably the most lackluster in the industry right now, not only is the progression limited and extremely grindy. The rewards for those who are free players are very lazy. Furthermore, even the premium path of the battle pass has a lack luster amount of content for you paying additionally for it.
The key to a good battle pass (If a battle pass is required). Is having good content in the free path at incremental points. Lets say every 3-5 levels a free player is rewarded. The rewards should range from basic/advanced armor shadings, AI variations, basic armor pieces that are different, etc. The premium path should have access to all of this content, then every level some basic armor/weapon skin/animation/shading/AI custom (eg. basic customization rewards) ,then on top of that you get access to the premium rewards which are rewarded every 20 levels and should consists of completely unique armor sets (eg. what is already done with Carter, Kat, Emile, etc.), complete aesthetic re-model of a gun (eg. AR with rope and branches on it, BR with bullets on side, non-functional flashlight, non-functional laser sight, etc.), or completely unique vehicle aesthetic remodel (eg. Warthog with canteens, gas tanks, back packs on it).
This layout actually makes the free tier players (Everyone is free tier before they buy premium, keep that in mind) want to grind your battle pass. They actually are incentivized to keep working on it and keep playing and spending time and effort getting more XP because you have rewards they won’t want to miss out on. Then about 33% - 50% into the battle pass the sunken value fallacy kicks in and most people will feel like they NEED to buy the battle pass to truly justify/maximize their already dedicated time to the battle pass.
One last thing about the battle pass, progress of a battle pass is done within a season. The whole theme of battle pass based games is based on seasons and ones experience in the season. If progression is only made through random challenges it doesn’t really feel like there is anything unique about that season and its theme. Passive gameplay progression XP must be added in order to convey that seasonal feeling of progression and aid in the dedication to a season (eg. grinding that seasons battle pass). Challenges are also required, however it should be kept in mind that challenges are lump sum XP rewards. They are essentially supplementary to the progress. XP should be drip fed through the same technique all games for the past decade have used. (eg. in-game time, score, kills, objectives, wins, contribution, assists, etc.) If this drip fed XP isn’t present or doesn’t feel significant enough it leads to people playing the game for small bursts of time to simply achieve a very specific challenge goal. That leads people to develop a sense of work not necessarily passive enjoyment. This work eventually leaves you fed up, burnt out, and not buying another battle pass (eg. Lost Profit).
The key to profit is battle pass sales here, its much harder to force someone to do something than to make them WANT to do something. Make the appeal of the battle pass natural, make us want and feel a need to justify our time by buying the battle pass. Don’t try to force us to buy it by making the whole free path garbage and glorifying the premium path. That just makes us angry and ultimately lowers the total amount of battle pass purchases. The battle pass should also feel passive, fun, and most importantly EASY. Not tedious and laborious, otherwise we don’t get far enough into it to make us feel like we have done so much we need to purchase the premium path to maximize our rewards for all our effort.
All this being said, if Microsoft/343 actually did this, I wouldn’t mind paying $0 - $15 for the battle pass at all. That extra $5 feels fair, if your battle pass actually has quality rewards put into its free path, quality premium rewards in its premium path, and a EASY & FUN battle pass progression system supporting it then you have a great battle pass right there that is worth $15 for access to it’s premium rewards path.
The biggest insult for a free player is the fact that the most common thing you recieve for progressing in the battle pass. Is literally just challenge swaps to change the challenges to continue the grind for the battle pass which in turn gives you more challenge swaps. Its like a loop of grinding and tools to grind more to just recieve more tools to grind more. With little to no reward.
Please remove re-rolls from the battle pass. (Other games handle re-rolls as a free time-delayed function built into the base of the challenges platform)
Every reward slot on a battle pass is an opportunity for enticement, do not carelessly fill it with garbage filler. The pass should have 100 levels, each level should be thought about.
Please feel free to comment with the issues with my idea, point out improvements, ask questions, provide solutions/alternatives, etc.
Sorry for the wall of text, I’m just passionate about Halo and want to see it succeed in this new era of always online, battle passes, and monetization. Please don’t ruin such a good game Microsoft, the hard part is already done, making a good Halo. Now just correct the battle pass and don’t let it -Yoink!- your name.