The Current State of Halo

Games Other Halo
1

Right off the bat, I want to pose a very simple question to you supporters of Halo gameplay as offered in Halo 4.

If Halo 4 had been developed, marketed, and released as a “Classic Halo” game would you be defending that decision and the game itself if the popularity/population of the game mirrored what we see currently?

Let me answer that for you…no, you wouldn’t be (but don’t let that stop you from answering yourself).

There would be an outcry about how “classic Halo is dead, nobody likes it anymore, the game sold more than any other Halo game at launch but now the population is a fragment of what it once was - only half a year after release.”

Take a moment to flip all that around and you will see how hypocritical most of you on these forums are trying to claim Halo 4 as a success and how the changes to the gameplay were warranted.

Now then, I really want to get to the heart of an issue, something that has been debated on these forums (and many others) yet nothing has come of it. That is due to a whole mess of reasons: tensions are high on both sides of this argument, many “negative” critiques on Halo 4 and 343 are silenced by trigger happy moderators on these forums, there is a pervasive hive-mind to this community (both parties are guilty), but most notably, nobody ever answers legitimate questions.

Almost every thread discussing the direction Halo has taken (or should take) turns into page after page of people vomiting out their own opinions on the matter. Rarely does any positive discussion or debate take hold because people are too busy saying what they think about the broad subject, rather than discussing specific matters (questions) asked by an OP or other posters.

Take the question at the beginning of this post. Most people won’t even answer it. They’ll reply with something along the lines of “Halo had to evolve or else nobody would be playing the game” (hard to wrap my head around that explanation given the current state of things…) or “Halo 4 is a great game, learn to adapt, it’s not a big deal” (completely off topic) or “The population is fine, as long as people are playing it and I can find a game, who cares?!” (a classic attempt at minimizing a large issue).

How about a real answer?

I don’t care if you like Halo 4. I don’t care if you dislike Halo 4. I want to understand your reasoning behind that position and what that has to do with Halo’s current and future success or failure. What makes you think that way? Is it based in reality? Or is it based in your own head because of your own bias? Then, try to realize that your personal opinion on the matter does not change the reality of the situation.

Look at this issue from someone who has never played a game of Halo…separate yourself from what you think and try to understand what really is.

Try to use facts that support what you are trying to say. Enough with the opinions! I want to see a proper discussion about Halo as it is currently and what that means for its future.

To show you what I mean, here are some facts:

Halo 4 broke Halo Reach’s 24 hour sales record (a franchise record).

Over one million people played at launch.

Did you also know that Halo Reach outsold its predecessor (Halo 3) at launch?

Now check out the trend for Halo 4’s population (hourly/daily).

Notice how it is declining? (there is no argument against that)

Serious question: Why is it declining?

My answer: Halo 4 changed the gameplay too radically and because of this, a large number of people no longer wanted to play the game, despite purchasing it.

Let me makes this extremely clear for you - it does not matter that you can find a game, it does not matter that you enjoy Halo 4, it does not matter that you think the population isn’t that bad - the fact is Halo 4’s population has declined drastically since launch despite selling more than any other Halo game in history (at launch).

So…

Why do you think Halo 4’s population has declined?

What does this say about the current state of Halo (specifically the style of gameplay)?

and for 10 bonus points:

What is the only other Halo game to see such a rapid and steady decline in population? What does that game and Halo 4 have in common?

Available is a total of 40/30 points to those who can answer all four questions. You will be graded on the content of your reply along with its validity. There will be partial credit given. Best of luck.

2

  1. Halo 4 is terrible

  2. Halo 4 is terrible

  3. Halo Reach, because halo reach added so much crap that it became a constant -Yoink-, and added even more randomness to the game to give their “core players” the added advantage towards the skilled crowd so that they felt useful. Bloom? hahaha yeah, it was fun going from 4-shot kills in halo 3 to anywhere from 7-10 just because the gun sucked and it was my only option.

This has unfortunately been implemented over the many instances of Halo, and each just compounds the problem further and further. If i had to break it down, Halo 4 sucks so bad because of one major thing.

Stagnant, boring gameplay.

In the higher calibre player levels, depending on map, it is a viable tactic to camp down in a hallway or chokepoint, or one small portion of a map that gives the players an unreasonable advantage. In Adrift, pick a small door hallway or top flag base pushing into to attic. On Complex, look for the guys camping inside the main compound by sword, or peeking their little heads over the big roof building for a solid 15 minutes. Haven? top mid, and just feel free to push as a huge team, or with a power weapon down any of the hallawys of this map-sized chokepoint that you want. This is caused by A: the maps being stupidly large, which makes lots of spots spawn deathtraps, B: the precision weapons decreased in effectiveness, so noone has any ability to kill anyone who is posted up correctly and backs off after 3 or 4 shots. Their opponents only option is to run out into the open and die. The majority of Halo players dont entirely understand this, and it sets many people apart. I can camp all day long and pull perfections, and theres nothing those people can do about it. It is sad.

Couple that fact with how probably half of the “skilled” crowd is absolutely infuriated at this game for making them lose half their games by pure random personal ordnance drops. Theres no greater hatred to losing a game than by something that cant be countered with your own skill.

I’m sick and tired of running out of ammo shooting people, knowing full well that my only option is running across a map to watch them run away on radar anyway.

So by that statement, the DMR is too useful, which allows people to be far away with no repercussions. Boltshot on a loadout? yet another thing people are gonna use to stand still, or try to coerce you into chasing them down a hallway only to run face first into an insta-kill weapon, as your BR or DMR shots plink of their chest like peas from a straw.

12 single shot kill weapons available on loadout, or ordnance drop. yet another reason to never want to venture out and see what the person pulled out of their -Yoink- to obliterate you and your Peashooter with.

Having seen these problems coming and laughing at how bad Halo was since the Halo 3 days, i really lost all care, and only came back last week to check the game out again to reassure my opinions. Back in H3, id mention the flaws and people would say “no, you just suck! you need to adapt!” By Halo reach, the reach players told them to go back to Halo 3. by halo 4, we denounce Reach as the antichrist.

The only advantage Halo 4 has, is that it has the monumental lack of players so quickly after its release. This of all things will be the ONLY thing that opens 343’s eyes to their problem. 3 DLCs within 6 months of release? quite obviously nobody bought them 343, and the next 7 or 8 in 2013 wont get bought either.

its time to make a quality game. But you may not have another chance left.

3

> Right off the bat, I want to pose a very simple question to you supporters of Halo gameplay as offered in Halo 4.

This isn’t directed to me so moving on.

> Almost every thread discussing the direction Halo has taken (or should take) turns into page after page of people vomiting out their own opinions on the matter. Rarely does any positive discussion or debate take hold because people are too busy saying what they think about the broad subject, rather than discussing specific matters (questions) asked by an OP or other posters.

Not always, not even most of the time, but yes a lot of the time this happens.

> Take the question at the beginning of this post. Most people won’t even answer it. They’ll reply with something along the lines of “Halo had to evolve or else nobody would be playing the game” (hard to wrap my head around that explanation given the current state of things…) or “Halo 4 is a great game, learn to adapt, it’s not a big deal” (completely off topic) or “The population is fine, as long as people are playing it and I can find a game, who cares?!” (a classic attempt at minimizing a large issue).

Again, to be fair, question wasn’t directed at me, it was directed at people who enjoy Halo 4 as-is.

> I don’t care if you like Halo 4. I don’t care if you dislike Halo 4. I want to understand your reasoning behind that position and what that has to do with Halo’s current and future success or failure. What makes you think that way? Is it based in reality? Or is it based in your own head because of your own bias? Then, try to realize that your personal opinion on the matter does not change the reality of the situation.

Ask me about specific topics in Halo 4 and I will explain why I like or dislike them. And since you are being reasonable I will attempt to put any biases aside.

The game as a whole, generally because it’s unfamiliar, it’s too easy/stale at times, little to no one I know plays it, and there is so much obviously lost potential that they are just now attempting to get back.

> What is the only other Halo game to see such a rapid and steady decline in population? What does that game and Halo 4 have in common?

I actually do not know. I would assume you are referring to Reach, but even then Reach still had 150k near the end of its lifespan. So the drop was nowhere near as drastic.

As an added bonus, here is part of a gamespy review of Nexuiz, a relatively recently released arena shooter. Gives an insight to what the arena community wants, and how randomness kills it.

I should actually link the entire article. Nexuiz is an arena shooter that flopped for many of the same reasons Halo 4 did, not just because of what I’ve posted below.

> Luck of the Draw
>
> Mutators are fun and all, but they do detract from what might be the most fundamental appeal of fast-paced arena shooters: the purity of the competition. Sure, they have strategic uses – swapping your position with an opponent at the right point in a CTF match can be a game-changer. But they’re just so random most of the time that there’s always a question of whether you won or lost a match because of someone’s crappy luck.

4

  1. I could not take your post seriously. I read, in detail, halfway through, and I only uncovered condradictory and gross generalizations: a hyperbollic slab of condescension, hurredly super-heated and hammered in to fit whatever mold you were getting at.

  2. Halo 4 lost its population for two reasons. First that 343i went half-way in their ‘modernization’ of the halo franchise. That is not to reference Call of Duty so much as cooperative play; the game mechanics emphasizes teamwork and map awareness, but do not offer players the tool to take advantage of it. The lack of a ranking system only exacerbated matters.

Second that 343i amped graphics to the detriment of map layout. Halo 3 had far more replayability due in large part to its map design, and as an aside, the assault rifle loadouts. In retrospect they were why I played the game so much; there was always a fond new way of doing something to get the up on someone else, and dynamic experiences is what creates replayability.

  1. As sited above, Halo 4 heavily relies on teamwork and map awareness. Hand-eye coordination is still important, but less so than it was.

  2. Reach.

  3. Not randomness certainly. Bloom was a lot worse than ordanance drops since power weapons are to some extent counterable, while erratic and undeserved headshots are not. It was also a pain to get back into the flow of things after having been away from the fps genre - beyond aiming, you also had to relearn how to shoot as fast as possible to get as lucky as you possibly could… muscle memory for a happy trigger finger is a good thing I guess. And this is post-patch as well (a very ugh experience for me).

5

  1. Because 343i has failed to listen to the community and how we really feel about the game, but instead saying basically everyone loves the changes they’ve made.

  2. Partly due to more games having online available, but more importantly, because Halo 4 tried to appease the casual crowd by adding horrid gameplay features like personal ordnance that just does not fit within Halo. Custom loadouts is the other primary catalyst to demise, this isn’t Call of Duty, and the because of this, people have become so damn frustrated with the imbalance of this game, and all of the noob-friendly perks and features in the game: Wetwork, Boltshot, DMR, Active Camo armor ability, Stealth perk, Promethean Vision, etc., etc. that they stopped playing and went to something else. The maps are generic, very repetitive, and not vehicle-friendly at all. Hell, you wanna get killed in Halo? Jump in a vehicle, buddy.

  3. Halo is becoming more and more casual and noob-friendly. Armor abilities were one thing, but custom loadouts with 2 extra perks just like in CoD, default Sprint, and personal ordnance have made Halo a circus battlefield. Map control is non-existent, and not even needed when you can randomly get a rocket launcher.

  4. Halo: Reach!

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Feel free to discuss population here:

https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2222741_Daily-Halo-4-Population-Thread.aspx