Nobody here knows me. Nothing I say will have any impact. Most of the attention this will get be from people defending the product.
Let me begin again.
I’m saying goodbye to Halo. Nothing about this franchise sparks any positive emotions any longer. In fact the most common feeling I have to associate with Halo is resentment. I did all this to myself of course. A product is made with the intention of selling itself to a consumer base. The larger a potential to make money is, the more contorted the original vision becomes. Halo isn’t a game, it’s a market index investment. It’s a bullet point on the investment email chain.
I don’t know why, or even how, I have let myself arrive at a point where I feel I simply no longer supporting a product any further must be punctuated with a borderline break up letter.
"Dear John,
When you find this I will be gone. Your philosophy of maximizing profit and shrinking overhead, I feel is no longer in line with my goals. I barely get paid enough at my real job, so when you ask me to make maps or design your UI for you without financial compensation is something I feel you have taken advantage of for far too long. It’s even more heart breaking know how litte effort you put into these things yourself. I have watched you draw the same cancelation emblem, skin it, fill with clutter and call it a map for over a year.
I can’t even watch our home movies anymore. Not only because any means of documenting those memories doesn’t work, but also because there is no interest on either end to try and make new ones.
Our interactions with friends feels forced as well. Fear of criticizing you is actually fear of social expulsion. We get together, high-fiving one another all while shouting how great you are and how lucky we are to have you in our lives. But to be honest, the only thing most of us want to do is tell you how much you have let yourself go. You’re a shell of what you once were, and until you hit rock bottom and realize what I am saying is true, you will never achieve that greatness again. Say hello to Call of Duty franchise for me.
Goodbye,
Consumer "
Bizarre? I know, but this is kind of what it feels like. I think the only people equally frustrated about all this are the people actually developing the game. A roster of some of the best minds in gaming all handed turds and told to polish. Even more, every day they are verbally tared and feathered because those small handful of people who actually decide how the final product looks (i.e. the people who write the checks) will not come down from their high towers and be the face of failure.
It’s been a great 10 years followed by a bad 6. Now I say goodbye, not just to Halo but subsequently Xbox as well. No reason for me to stay since I also am a PC gamer. I sincerely hope one day all this changes, but it will definitely be under different circumstances. No longer will I be a prisoner to FOMO, no more will I forcefully reassure myself my purchase was justified and I’m having fun.
I will be resigning from Filthy Animals today. They are currently 91% from Achilles helm, and from top to bottom full of awesome people. I’m not going to be a waste of space for someone who actually wants to play.
Best of luck,
Ish
