It’s been quite a while since I wrote anything on this forum, partly because I have the feeling that it’s useless, and on the other hand because I don’t feel the strength or the desire to try to contribute anything to a project that I consider to be in decline.
But there is a doubt that I have and I would like if someone can solve it for me. We have been talking for 6 months about the pressing problem that this game has with its sick FOMO system, in examples such as the weekly challenges, the products in the store, and a long etc.
Alternatives were being given, such as putting all the items to buy in the store without rotations, making a system of permanent weekly challenges, gradually unlocking them week by week, separating the event challenges from the weekly challenges, and many others good options that both I and other users have been contributing in this same forum.
After the arrival of the new season, it is not only that the worrisome problem of the FOMO system has been turned a deaf ear, but another issue has been added that has left me stunned: The need to include all the elements of the first season blocked forever in the customization menu.
Has anyone ever thought how dirty that menu is going to be after several seasons when it’s full of things locked forever rather than things we can unlock in the current season?
But back to the topic, is it known if 343 has finally decided to do something with his FOMO system? Some blog or statement on the subject or something they have said.
I know that there are other more pressing problems than solving its FOMO system, but for me personally, seeing all this has caused me to lose any desire to play season 2, I have not even bought the battle pass having bought the first one.
While the FOMO aspect of the game doesn’t bother me, the message is loud and clear. I really appreciate that you’ve stepped back, came here with some really solid and constructively worded feedback. Whether it changes anything, it makes a world of difference to the value it adds to the forums.
They did say they didn’t want to weaponise FOMO, the only udpate since is 343 on twitter saying if they make weekly rewards too good it will be increasing FOMO bad too bad then people won’t like then and grind for them basically.
Your solution is a good one. You unlock weekly challenges in order of release, or selecting the one you want each week after you finish the ultimate. Maybe you still have to do the ultimate challenge tied to that unlock if you want it. E.g if you select Willow Tea armour coating you need 5 killing sprees in Fiesta. It eliminates FOMO but still means players must play at least on a weekly basis to keep up with the unlock schedule.
Maybe they could have bonus double weeks where you can claim two weekly challenges. This gives players opportunity to catch up and will pump up population numbers on those weeks. It completely eliminates FOMO without losing an incentive to play regularly. As if you don’t play regularly, you fall behind. This means they could also improve the quality of the weekly challenges too. As too weak and players will just leave them on locked forever.
In relation to the store, another user had a great idea. Make it so everything is purchasable at any time, but the store is a discounted price. So the bundle will be 1200 in weekly store, but 2000 when it isn’t. This means players can wait to get the discount but buy at a higher price any time. It gives meaning to the store and means players need to check in regularly but doesn’t lose any sales. Will actually mean items are more expensive, but it’s a win-win for players who really want the items and don’t want to wait for them/check every day. No waiting for them to pop up if you just want to pay a little extra. They lose out on players who panic buy due to FOMO but gain on players who want things now.
I understand they said something they shouldn’t have in terms of FOMO. It’s incredibly difficult to make a good live service system that doesn’t utilise FOMO to some extent. They shouldn’t have mentioned it in my opinion. But now they have I would appreciate if they took steps towards achieving it by making changes that don’t compromise their population planning and cashflow while offering players better opportunities to avoid feeling the FOMO.
I also would say I would keep the format of the special times events the same. Then if they do the same event in future like Tenrai 2. Players could work towards Tenrai 1 or Tenrai 2. Usually the event gives you opportunity to do more event challenges than tiers so players could catch up to old events using this method. It still requires a bunch of regular playtime. Reward the players for their input whether they start playing on launch or 12 months from now.
If they eliminated any type of timer for, for example, the weekly challenges, they would gain a lot in quality of life. It would become something similar to the MCC, being able to play whenever I want without rushing to unlock things at my own pace. It is a simple solution that costs absolutely NOTHING.
Instead we continue to maintain this current system where I feel like I play more like a job than just for fun. If we already have little reason to play due to lack of content, and the content to unlock is currently behind a paywall, or has a time limit that forces me to play like it’s a job, why should I so even consider dedicating my time to this game?
I thought my concerns about the FOMO system and the lack of a real progression system were minor complaints, but reading the entire forum and catching up I’ve realized that it’s the main issue with the game.
Literally the lack of a real progression system, having a fake one based on trying to get the weekly prize with a sick FOMO system, or having an option to pay, is what is killing this game.
The worst thing is seeing people who defend this with the argument of “I play for fun”. People who play just for fun are not the ones who are going to keep this game going for years.
Yeah, by the time the progression system is implemented, I’ll probably have logged nearly enough time to have reached SR-152. Saving up those double XPs.
That’s my main thing. I’m sure they know how much XP we’ve all collected so I hope they accomodate us accordingly. I’ve already played nearly 1200 matches.
If you don’t want FOMO then don’t MO. The rewards are there and given to you for PLAYING the game. Why should someone who logs in one week a month have access to all the same rewards as someone who plays on a daily or weekly basis.
I agree with you on the event challenges though, tying them in with the weekly challenges is dirty, people cant do the event without the weekly challenges and cant complete the weekly without doing the event, they just assume that people want to do both of them.
I also think that the shop needs a revamp as well as some access to previous items. Players also need to be able to just buy parts from the spartan customization screen.
Players want to play the game. However, they feel trapped. If the game is not engaging enough to the point where they want to play, how are you supposed to have fun? At that point, you’re only playing to get this gear that disappears in a week. Which sucks.
if you still unlocked them in order of progression then I don’t see why it’d matter. The time gating is what the issue is. Not everyone has the time to play Halo all day, every night, etc. Should rewards just be for truly dedicated fans? Is that a healthy mindset for a videogame? If they got rid of the time limits and implemented the system described above, you’d still have to do challenges (in order) but at least the rat race of getting them done would be gone.
They lied about FOMO and if nothing changes and the next big FPS comes along, the numbers will drop even more. Unless they somehow manage to have a worse monetization and progression system but I find that hard to believe. Halo Infinite currently takes the cake on idiocy and player anti-retention.
Maybe respawn will drop a surprise Titanfall 3…who knows, they did it with Apex.
The challenges were the worst idea in the history of Halo. Its a flawed, busted system that serves only to encourage spending and ruin your good time.
343 surely knows this because legions of us have been screaming ourselves stupid on boards like this from day one. Theyre silent on this because they KNOW if they scrap it then there goes their revenue stream.
Its gotta go. Or at the very least, drastically changed into something far more compelling. I could come up with something better. Easily. Lots of others here already have. Many times.
Because it’s not feasible for everyone to have the time to do this. People have work, have to take care of family, have any number of things preventing them from spending the time required to achieve these things including health issues. I’ve missed a couple weeks of play due to health issues as have some of my friends. There doesn’t need to be reward scarcity in terms of basic cosmetics.
I work a full time job, have 2 kids under 4 and can only play post 8pm until 11-11:30pm, I had all my challenges done by Thursday night. There is no need to play all day everyday. It realistically takes about 10h per week.
If you want the gear then put in the time to get it. The issue isn’t the fact that they have time limited unlocks, hundreds of games have them and don’t get piled on like Infinite does. The issue is the challenge system needing to be reworked so that it doesn’t take 30 games in order to get a game type you need to complete a challenge.
