Amidst the sea of perspectives and frustrations players are feeling, I just want to chime in with: I want to give 343 Studios my money. Halo Infinite should make money. 343 should take my money. So if we already share this goal, my buddy 343 and I, how was I alienated so quickly and so thoroughly by Halo Infinite’s multiplayer cash grab?
My own personal reasons for initial alienation are not the cash grab itself, and are laid out in my first topic in these forums, linked as my featured topic, “I wish Halo multiplayer still revolved around my busy schedule.” I also have a description of my central issues in my profile bio. But to add to what I’ve already written, I just want to make sure I say this also.
I am willing to pay more for great content, customization, long-term support, and updates. But not through microtransactions. Since it is too late to realistically put the microtransaction genie back in the bottle now, give players the option to simply pay more for the base game, or for a premium package, that automatically unlocks all seasonal content at the end of each season. This way players who unlock or purchase early can be cooler than me for up to 6 months, but nobody has to play the microtransaction / progression game to guarantee that they will eventually be able to experience all the content the game has to offer if they want to. The way it is set up now is a borderline scam, where players buy things like the Battle-Pass or custom armor before realizing that they can’t use the armor pieces, or that they can’t gain much value from the Battle-Pass due to their schedule.
There is a lot that we could talk about fixing, but while the many player complaints can seem complicated and overwhelming taken together, I believe most complaints boil down to a simple rule of thumb that can streamline trying to address frustrations.
The secret sauce is simply this: do not try to manipulate me. If you want my money, take it. But ask for it all up front, without withholding parts of the game and trying to sell little bits piecemeal over time. I came here to give you my money, you came here to take it. Don’t screw up a good, simple transaction by using manipulative marketing strategies.
I know I am not the first to say something similar, but I wasn’t able to find someone else saying it the way I wanted to. Hopefully this is not too redundant.
As always, thank you to everyone at 343 for all the hard work that has already gone into Halo Infinite. As a Halo fan since 2001, I am pretty excited to experience it all. Let me.