Should Halo be put on hiatus? (a la Mass Effect)

Community General Discussion
1

The discussion on r/halo : https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/comments/6bm32f/community_should_halo_be_out_on_hiatus_after_halo/
The discussion on r/halostory : https://www.reddit.com/r/HaloStory/comments/6bm8f8/loremasters_should_halo_be_put_on_hiatus

So, if you haven’t been paying attention to gaming news this past week, it was announced that the Mass Effect franchise was going to be put on hiatus and is “taking a break.”
This happened following the release of Mass Effect Andromeda, a game which in the eyes of many didn’t live up the expectation the past games had set. (In terms of story)
Now, look at the state of Halo. The last main entry into the Halo series was Halo: 5 Guardians, a game that I think received a lot more criticism from the gaming community as a whole than Andromeda.
H5 was a game that divided an already separating community and for many marked the lowest point in the series so far.
These two games seem to me to be in very similar situations. (In my opinion at least.)
So, Community, how would you feel if after Halo 6 the franchise (main story fps games) took a break for around 4-5 years?
Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. I think this a conversation the community needs to have.
I personally think the franchise needs a rest. There’s so much negativity in the community and (unless Halo 6 is a godsend) I think putting the franchise on hiatus will allow the community to heal (or at least forget a little bit) and give 343 a chance to lick its wounds and pump out a masterpiece.
Please share this with anyone who you know cares about the franchise and its direction as a whole. (Or who cares enough about the lore to be concerned)

2

Its pretty late to have this conversation so why even bother.

3

Well, I would only say yes if it meant giving the guys at 343 more time to perfect the game.

So not necessarily stop making the game, but as we’ve seen one of the biggest problems is that the games always come out to early, as in they aren’t totally finished or polished.

Could you imagine if they had shipped forge on halo 5, only to have it totally broken? It took them time to finish that and make it just right.

If anything, we should petition to give them more dev time before they have to release a game.

4

Nah, I’d rather have more Halo

5

> 2533274847563380;3:
> Well, I would only say yes if it meant giving the guys at 343 more time to perfect the game.
>
> So not necessarily stop making the game, but as we’ve seen one of the biggest problems is that the games always come out to early, as in they aren’t totally finished or polished.
>
> Could you imagine if they had shipped forge on halo 5, only to have it totally broken? It took them time to finish that and make it just right.
>
> If anything, we should petition to give them more dev time before they have to release a game.

See this is what needs to happen, games do need to stop being made what they need is more time for development!

To the OP: you need to realize that the best majority of halo players are pretty casual and don’t really care about the story of halo. The opinions on this forum are from two vocal minorities for halo (pro 343 and against 343) it’s the same with Reddit so I would not take the general feelings of here or Reddit as to major opinions for 343 halo games.

6

No.

How was Mass Effect not put on hiatus before? It was 5 years between ME3 and Andromeda, if that’s not a hiatus then I don’t know what is. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that their newfound “hiatus” isn’t even 5 years long.

I would also say that 343 has shown more signs of improvement than Bioware. ME has consistently gotten worse after the first one (ever since EA took over, sorry ME2 lovers - that is a great game, but isn’t as good as the first), while Halo has shown life in the campaign of H4, the multiplayer of H5, and all of HW2, all from a relatively new studio.

7

> 2533274882881665;6:
> Putting the Halo games on Hiatus would be silly move by Microsoft IMO. 343 Halo, unlike Mass Effect, has released 4 successful FPS games (CEA, 4, MCC and 5) all of have an active and excited community. Communities do not have to unified and in most fandoms will have massive disagreements of some sort. Look at a variety of them,
> - the passionate Harry Potter fans are always arguing over something. - The CoD community too has a split about boots on ground and futuristic gameplay (although this is admittedly leaning more towards the boots side). - Comic fans are split between primarily Marvel and DC, and on an even deeper level Marvel fans are split between the old heroes or the new ones, DC with a similar issue. Both of them are split again into Movies/Comics. - Destiny fans are currently unified in speculation of the long awaited sequel, but before that (and definitely after Destiny 2) they will be going mad over what class is superior, what console is superior, why PC sucks, what exotic is the best and so on. - CSGO in generalWhat I am trying to say here is that community splits are very normal and this is probably a sign of passionate and caring fans who can be (let’s say annoying) during the process. Mass Effect Andromeda on the other hand completely forgot who it’s audience was, the developers created a game aimed and young people with blatantly obvious left wing opinions scattered across the Helios Cluster. The ME games were always militarized and mature; ME:A forgot that primary focus of the franchise and committed suicide when it also forgot to advertise for new players.
>
> Halo 4 was a new introduction to the franchise, while sustaining the franchise’s most basic functions and changing everything else. It made something new but did not forget who it was. Halo 5 continues this with a really bad campaign and a very very popular multiplayer which has created the most competitive eSports in Halo for years. Halo 5 also got popularity among reviewers and is an important title for the Xbox company, leaving the Halo franchise for a few years could be potentially devastating unless the Microsoft announce amazing new exclusives at E3 which turn out to be fun.

I’m just going to copy over my post from the locked duplicate version of this thread. I put a lot of effort into it and want it in the active version of the thread.
…That’s allowed, right? If not then someone swing the banhammer. (well not the banhammer, just the warning device or whatever)

Edit: Grammar Check

8

I don’t really know how much more of a hiatus we need for halo we will be lucky if we get Halo 6 by 2018. We are going to be pushing 4 years without a mainline halo game pretty soon.

9

> 2533274882881665;7:
> > 2533274882881665;6:
> > Putting the Halo games on Hiatus would be silly move by Microsoft IMO. 343 Halo, unlike Mass Effect, has released 4 successful FPS games (CEA, 4, MCC and 5) all of have an active and excited community. Communities do not have to unified and in most fandoms will have massive disagreements of some sort. Look at a variety of them,
> > - the passionate Harry Potter fans are always arguing over something. - The CoD community too has a split about boots on ground and futuristic gameplay (although this is admittedly leaning more towards the boots side). - Comic fans are split between primarily Marvel and DC, and on an even deeper level Marvel fans are split between the old heroes or the new ones, DC with a similar issue. Both of them are split again into Movies/Comics. - Destiny fans are currently unified in speculation of the long awaited sequel, but before that (and definitely after Destiny 2) they will be going mad over what class is superior, what console is superior, why PC sucks, what exotic is the best and so on. - CSGO in generalWhat I am trying to say here is that community splits are very normal and this is probably a sign of passionate and caring fans who can be (let’s say annoying) during the process. Mass Effect Andromeda on the other hand completely forgot who it’s audience was, the developers created a game aimed and young people with blatantly obvious left wing opinions scattered across the Helios Cluster. The ME games were always militarized and mature; ME:A forgot that primary focus of the franchise and committed suicide when it also forgot to advertise for new players.
> >
> > Halo 4 was a new introduction to the franchise, while sustaining the franchise’s most basic functions and changing everything else. It made something new but did not forget who it was. Halo 5 continues this with a really bad campaign and a very very popular multiplayer which has created the most competitive eSports in Halo for years. Halo 5 also got popularity among reviewers and is an important title for the Xbox company, leaving the Halo franchise for a few years could be potentially devastating unless the Microsoft announce amazing new exclusives at E3 which turn out to be fun.
>
> I’m just going to copy over my post from the locked duplicate version of this thread. I put a lot of effort into it and want it in the active version of the thread.
> …That’s allowed, right? If not then someone swing the banhammer. (well not the banhammer, just the warning device or whatever)
>
> Edit: Grammar Check

Good post, especially on the Mass Effect section. EA really is turning into the Disney of gaming, the politically correct studio that changes things for the saking of changing them, instead of for the betterment of the story they’re trying to tell. They also made a huge error in that ME:A is a very empty game quest wise, usually just travelling from Point A to Point B and collecting things. It’s like collecting flags in the first Assassin’s Creed all over again.

10

> 2533274850493408;9:
> > 2533274882881665;7:
> > > 2533274882881665;6:
> > > Putting the Halo games on Hiatus would be silly move by Microsoft IMO. 343 Halo, unlike Mass Effect, has released 4 successful FPS games (CEA, 4, MCC and 5) all of have an active and excited community. Communities do not have to unified and in most fandoms will have massive disagreements of some sort. Look at a variety of them,
> > > - the passionate Harry Potter fans are always arguing over something. - The CoD community too has a split about boots on ground and futuristic gameplay (although this is admittedly leaning more towards the boots side). - Comic fans are split between primarily Marvel and DC, and on an even deeper level Marvel fans are split between the old heroes or the new ones, DC with a similar issue. Both of them are split again into Movies/Comics. - Destiny fans are currently unified in speculation of the long awaited sequel, but before that (and definitely after Destiny 2) they will be going mad over what class is superior, what console is superior, why PC sucks, what exotic is the best and so on. - CSGO in generalWhat I am trying to say here is that community splits are very normal and this is probably a sign of passionate and caring fans who can be (let’s say annoying) during the process. Mass Effect Andromeda on the other hand completely forgot who it’s audience was, the developers created a game aimed and young people with blatantly obvious left wing opinions scattered across the Helios Cluster. The ME games were always militarized and mature; ME:A forgot that primary focus of the franchise and committed suicide when it also forgot to advertise for new players.
> > >
> > > Halo 4 was a new introduction to the franchise, while sustaining the franchise’s most basic functions and changing everything else. It made something new but did not forget who it was. Halo 5 continues this with a really bad campaign and a very very popular multiplayer which has created the most competitive eSports in Halo for years. Halo 5 also got popularity among reviewers and is an important title for the Xbox company, leaving the Halo franchise for a few years could be potentially devastating unless the Microsoft announce amazing new exclusives at E3 which turn out to be fun.
> >
> > I’m just going to copy over my post from the locked duplicate version of this thread. I put a lot of effort into it and want it in the active version of the thread.
> > …That’s allowed, right? If not then someone swing the banhammer. (well not the banhammer, just the warning device or whatever)
> >
> > Edit: Grammar Check
>
> Good post, especially on the Mass Effect section. EA really is turning into the Disney of gaming, the politically correct studio that changes things for the saking of changing them, instead of for the betterment of the story they’re trying to tell. They also made a huge error in that ME:A is a very empty game quest wise, usually just travelling from Point A to Point B and collecting things. It’s like collecting flags in the first Assassin’s Creed all over again.

I feel in the minority even though I know there are others that agree with my thoughts on ME:A. It’s a solid enough game that has issues (don’t get me wrong there), but nostaglia can be a powerful thing. The original trilogy set the impossibly high expectations that ME:A wouldn’t live up to.

Anyway, on topic, take a hiatus is a bad idea. While I think they should take time to ensure they make Halo 6 a fantastic game and, hopefully, resolve the issues brought on by Halo 5’s narrative, I think fixing it sooner rather than later is best. It will allow for resolution and the answer to questions that really bother the general community, and with those answer, we can then move forward.

Disclaimer: I have a complete bias on this topic as I will 100% take as much Halo as often as possible.

11

Dude it’s too late for that. They have to end the trilogy or saga whichever it ends up being. We can’t have a cliff hanger like that and then wait 4-5 years. That would suck.

12

> 2533274796523661;10:
> > 2533274850493408;9:
> > > 2533274882881665;7:
> > > > 2533274882881665;6:
> > > > Putting the Halo games on Hiatus would be silly move by Microsoft IMO. 343 Halo, unlike Mass Effect, has released 4 successful FPS games (CEA, 4, MCC and 5) all of have an active and excited community. Communities do not have to unified and in most fandoms will have massive disagreements of some sort. Look at a variety of them,
> > > > - the passionate Harry Potter fans are always arguing over something. - The CoD community too has a split about boots on ground and futuristic gameplay (although this is admittedly leaning more towards the boots side). - Comic fans are split between primarily Marvel and DC, and on an even deeper level Marvel fans are split between the old heroes or the new ones, DC with a similar issue. Both of them are split again into Movies/Comics. - Destiny fans are currently unified in speculation of the long awaited sequel, but before that (and definitely after Destiny 2) they will be going mad over what class is superior, what console is superior, why PC sucks, what exotic is the best and so on. - CSGO in generalWhat I am trying to say here is that community splits are very normal and this is probably a sign of passionate and caring fans who can be (let’s say annoying) during the process. Mass Effect Andromeda on the other hand completely forgot who it’s audience was, the developers created a game aimed and young people with blatantly obvious left wing opinions scattered across the Helios Cluster. The ME games were always militarized and mature; ME:A forgot that primary focus of the franchise and committed suicide when it also forgot to advertise for new players.
> > > >
> > > > Halo 4 was a new introduction to the franchise, while sustaining the franchise’s most basic functions and changing everything else. It made something new but did not forget who it was. Halo 5 continues this with a really bad campaign and a very very popular multiplayer which has created the most competitive eSports in Halo for years. Halo 5 also got popularity among reviewers and is an important title for the Xbox company, leaving the Halo franchise for a few years could be potentially devastating unless the Microsoft announce amazing new exclusives at E3 which turn out to be fun.
> > >
> > > I’m just going to copy over my post from the locked duplicate version of this thread. I put a lot of effort into it and want it in the active version of the thread.
> > > …That’s allowed, right? If not then someone swing the banhammer. (well not the banhammer, just the warning device or whatever)
> > >
> > > Edit: Grammar Check
> >
> > Good post, especially on the Mass Effect section. EA really is turning into the Disney of gaming, the politically correct studio that changes things for the saking of changing them, instead of for the betterment of the story they’re trying to tell. They also made a huge error in that ME:A is a very empty game quest wise, usually just travelling from Point A to Point B and collecting things. It’s like collecting flags in the first Assassin’s Creed all over again.
>
> I feel in the minority even though I know there are others that agree with my thoughts on ME:A. It’s a solid enough game that has issues (don’t get me wrong there), but nostaglia can be a powerful thing. The original trilogy set the impossibly high expectations that ME:A wouldn’t live up to.
>
> Anyway, on topic, take a hiatus is a bad idea. While I think they should take time to ensure they make Halo 6 a fantastic game and, hopefully, resolve the issues brought on by Halo 5’s narrative, I think fixing it sooner rather than later is best. It will allow for resolution and the answer to questions that really bother the general community, and with those answer, we can then move forward.
>
> Disclaimer: I have a complete bias on this topic as I will 100% take as much Halo as often as possible.

My biggest qualm with ME:A is that it forgot its roots. Forget how good the original trilogy was (minus the ending), it takes what the originals did so well and forgets they exist. Direct consequences from your dialogue and actions? Hardly noticeable. You can choose polar opposite dialogue actions and get the same end result. Meaningful quests that impact the characters and universe? As if - they’re mostly just fetch quests, running from Point A to Point B. I feel as if I could have listened to multiple rock operas while playing ME:A, mostly because half the game is just plodding from one point to another, or meaningless dialogue.

And I think that’s something that Halo 5 has done well - returned to Halo’s roots of skilled gunplay. Sure the game has changed a little bit with the abilities, but IMO they’re necessary in today’s gaming environment.

13

It should be mentioned that the “Mass Effect on hiatus” story remains unconfirmed, and has only been reported on by that Kotaku article citing “anonymous” sources. Personnel shifting of Bioware’s Montreal studio isn’t necessarily indicative of the franchise taking any more of an extended break than is normal for them; it’s more likely just standard business practice for developers with multiple studios to reallocate staff to other studios/projects and leave a smaller crew for maintenance/patches/updates for ME:A.

14

Halo 5 released with minimal content while Mass Effect Andromeda released with a completely broken animation system, non-engaging story and gameplay.
I’d say that 343 needed an extra 6 months, while Bioware needed an incinerator. Halo 6 is already happening anyway, the only question now is will Microsoft give them the time they need to ship a complete package this time.

15

I don’t play ME and am not that familiar with it. But as far as Halo going on hiatus, with the news now that Halo 6 is not yet ready to be shown this year at E3, in my mind strongly implying it may not release in 2018 as we expected (since 343 nearly always shows off new releases one year prior), I almost wonder if that’s what’s already going on. That they’ve already decided they will put Halo 6 on a short hold until they get their ducks in a row. Which is fine, although I sure hope there’s more non-Halo 6 stuff coming out in the meantime to keep people’s attention.

16

It already feels like it’s on hiatus, practically.

  • Halo 5 released in 2015.
  • One E3 has passed, another has confirmed to not feature Halo 6’s teaser trailer, no guarantee it’ll be at E3 2017 either. Nearly two and a half years before we get the TEASER TRAILER, then another E3 or two will pass before the game actually releases. (At least, based on their usual schedules.)

Take that in comparison to Halo 5:

  • Halo 4 released on November 11th, 2012.
  • Months later, Halo 5’s first trailer was released at E3 in June, 2013.
  • E3 2014 featured the announcement of the multiplayer beta.
  • E3 2015 featured campaign and multiplayer gameplay trailers.
  • Released in 2015.

So… I wouldn’t expect Halo 6 news until 2017 at the earliest, and I wouldn’t expect it to release until 2019.

17

no - that was easy

Though I mean plenty of other games take as long if not longer than the break we are seeing between H5 & H6 - as long as the game is good I am okay with a short break in between releases - but we don’t need a “hiatus” like Mass Effect that is basically saying they don’t know about the future.

18

Remember that Halo 6 is not the end of the series, they turned the trilogy into a saga, so we might have a Halo 7, and I won’t wait more than 3 or 4 years for it.

19

[Friendly reminder that I’m a community volunteer, not a 343i employee. I’m not speaking officially on behalf of the company here.]

Studios like Bioware and Bethesda have multiple mechanically-similar franchises to juggle (Mass Effect and Dragon Age; Elder Scrolls and Fallout), so they can put one franchise on hiatus if need be and simply move the personnel that were working on it to the other franchise. Implementation work (programming, modeling, and so on) will generally be the same between mechanically similar franchises; design work will differ, but even if you have a writer who excels at coming up with fantasy stories, they’ll still be able to contribute to sci-fi stories by checking for basic completeness and consistency, among other things. In fewer words: the Mass Effect team remains useful even when Bioware isn’t making Mass Effect games.

343 Industries only has one franchise, and within that franchise, all of the works are mechanically distinct. Halo 5 and Halo Wars play differently and run differently; talents and skill sets will not always be interchangeable between those two teams. If 343i puts either series on hold, there will be a sizable portion of the development team that will have nowhere to go within the company. Generally speaking, businesses are reluctant to keep employees that aren’t making them money, and they’re reluctant to keep very many employees around after a major decrease in revenue. (This is also part of the reason why DLC and microtransactions have become so common so quickly: they make it easier for a studio to stay afloat by earning money between major releases.)

Economically speaking, I’d rather they not put Halo on hiatus. Besides, time doesn’t heal all wounds. There are specific things that Halo 5 does poorly, and waiting around without doing anything won’t solve that.

20

> 2533274843742113;19:
> [Friendly reminder that I’m a community volunteer, not a 343i employee. I’m not speaking officially on behalf of the company here.]Studios like Bioware and Bethesda have multiple mechanically-similar franchises to juggle (Mass Effect and Dragon Age; Elder Scrolls and Fallout), so they can put one franchise on hiatus if need be and simply move the personnel that were working on it to the other franchise. Implementation work (programming, modeling, and so on) will generally be the same between mechanically similar franchises; design work will differ, but even if you have a writer who excels at coming up with fantasy stories, they’ll still be able to contribute to sci-fi stories by checking for basic completeness and consistency, among other things. In fewer words: the Mass Effect team remains useful even when Bioware isn’t making Mass Effect games.
>
> 343 Industries only has one franchise, and within that franchise, all of the works are mechanically distinct. Halo 5 and Halo Wars play differently and run differently; talents and skill sets will not always be interchangeable between those two teams. If 343i puts either series on hold, there will be a sizable portion of the development team that will have nowhere to go within the company. Generally speaking, businesses are reluctant to keep employees that aren’t making them money, and they’re reluctant to keep very many employees around after a major decrease in revenue. (This is also part of the reason why DLC and microtransactions have become so common so quickly: they make it easier for a studio to stay afloat by earning money between major releases.)
>
> Economically speaking, I’d rather they not put Halo on hiatus. Besides, time doesn’t heal all wounds. There are specific things that Halo 5 does poorly, and waiting around without doing anything won’t solve that.

did a moderator remove my post that i just posted here just yesterday cause i cant find it in this topic post?cause there was nothing offensive in my post and I hope my post was not removed and im not insinuating this.but was it removed cause I had a different opinion.This was what I posted

"Halo 5 has not returned close to skilled gunplay(maybe exept HCS), depending on who on what side of the community your are asking and in my opinion,sure its better than halo 4 and reach to some degree but issue is that we STILL have the abilities,no classic gameplay like Halo should have been since Halo 4 where 343 had the chance to bring the community back together after it was reach mechanics that divided us in the first place.When you say those abilites are necessary trust me they are not,once again depending on what side of the community you are asking,these abilities so you feel spartan w bunch of power ranger abilites so you can kill players in more ways and faster and that not nessacarilly more skillfull than classic halo.
H5 sprint shoot,grenade,pound,charge,thrust,ads,stabilize etc its to much at the moment.Once again you said halo 5 abilities are needed,truthfully so far thats wrong cause of the reasons i pointed above and others but look at games like CS GO,the core game mechanics have been refined and stayed the same for as long as i can remember playing it on the OG Xbox and PC.Has CS GO a community that wants CS GO mechanics to change or has Valve decided to change them even in todays shooter market?No cause the mechanics work and people like them and have no reason for them to be changed,at least not yet no one has cause you never know.

Thats how halo should have stayed and 343 should have had that vision.Halo should have and should be be its own thing not add features from other games like cod etc in order to say its "evolving"when its truthfully right in front of our eyes just trying to cater to younger/new market players instead of mostly keeping together its core audience which is the classic halo community.But cause it started w reach,343 did the opposite w halo 4, halo 5 is better but still the same mechanics.Gears 4 is also game that has kept its core mechanics mostly the same and only added mantling,yanking out of cover.Now that the situation w modern players n classic players is like this and cause Bungie started it with reach which was their mistake yes,BUT it was 343’s mistake to continue w them in the first place,the question is why did they make that decision and what did they base that decision on,why not ask the community what mechanics they prefer when they started to take over the franshise like the sprint pool that was asked a few years ago.However i want 343 to offer a fair compromise to mostly the classic players but also modern players.

Remove 2-3 most hated and game breaking mechanics from halo 5.Sprint,spartan charge and ADS for CQC weapons,only leave them on for precision weapons without extra damage buffs.Halos gameplay would slow down like some classic players may want(something i want as well who plays h5)while modern players will still have most mechanics like ads,stabilize,thrust,ground pound,clamber etc."