So, I’m sure a lot of the community has heard about the troublesome Battlefront II game that fans are going insane over because of the horrible pay-to-win system EA has brought into the game. (Don’t worry, moderators, this does link to Halo 5.)
Many people aren’t even buying the game, mainly because of this outrage system. EA has also lied several times to their loyal fanbase about such topics including duplicate items, etc. I mention this because I hope it teaches 343 a valuable lesson about microtransactions. I know 343 hasn’t gone to a level that EA has, but there are still some things that should be taken away from this. It’s not what will make the majority of revenue from microtransactions that will bring happiness to the fanbase, it’s the revenue from the game itself. Halo has systems (such as the armor customization system) that can define who a player is and give them their own unique style. If that’s taken away, everyone is generic, no-one can be special. Halo 5’s system was… interesting to say the least. Halo 5 and Halo Wars 2 manipulated their systems in making the multiplayer modes (Blitz and Warzone) ultimately pay-to-win.
IMPORTANT PART
The microtransactions that I would be A-okay with is the support for any causes/awareness towards the help of other people/esports teams, as well as assets that don’t affect gameplay. This includes weapon skins and all that. Supporting good causes I’m all for, but if it effects items that makes a player unique (i.e armor) or items that affect gameplay (i.e weapon variants) I would rather not bother because getting something off random order isn’t truly earning them, and it really doesn’t give happiness to the loyal Halo fanbase.
Otherwise, hopefully, this fiasco has taught 343 a thing or two about microtransactions. Here’s the Reddit link to the fiasco. It’s long but click here for those who want to read.