The Halo community is a divided one. It can be roughly divided into three sides. As we all know, Bungie left Halo to 343, which was presented with a task difficult for any game developer: The continuation of a legendary franchise that millions of gamers love. The final result, Halo 4, was met with both criticism and praise, and created opposing opinions from both sides.
Here is the community in a nutshell.
On one side, we have the Halo patriots. These are the people who favor a traditional Halo. They are accustomed to the traditional core gameplay of Halo, and do not like change. They like Halo the way it was from Halo CE to Halo 3, and favor less intervention from 343. They believe the key to Halo’s success derives from maintaining the core elements that define Halo. These are the people who criticize the game for introducing new and different elements, and incorporating them. They believe that changing the traditional, core gameplay elements will destroy Halo.
And on the other side, we have the people who are open to new things. They favor change, and believe that because the modern FPS is changing, Halo must change and adapt in order to stay relevant. They support 343’s intervention in the game, believing the changes made to Halo are necessary for the franchise to stay relevant. They have grown accustomed to the gameplay changes, and believe they make the game interesting. Some even define Halo 4 and one of the best in the franchise.
Lastly, you have the independents. These are the gamers who just play the game, and don’t really care what changes were made. They don’t pick sides in the community. They just play it. Simple as that.
For many, Halo is more than just a game; Its a lifestyle. The franchise, specifically Halo 4, have spawned a divided community that could never agree with each other.
> The Halo community is a divided one. It can be roughly divided into three sides. As we all know, Bungie left Halo to 343, which was presented with a task difficult for any game developer: The continuation of a legendary franchise that millions of gamers love. The final result, Halo 4, was met with both criticism and praise, and created opposing opinions from both sides.
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> Here is the community in a nutshell.
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> On one side, we have the Halo patriots. These are the people who favor a traditional Halo. They are accustomed to the traditional core gameplay of Halo, and do not like change. They like Halo the way it was from Halo CE to Halo 3, and favor less intervention from 343. They believe the key to Halo’s success derives from maintaining the core elements that define Halo. These are the people who criticize the game for introducing new and different elements, and incorporating them. They believe that changing the traditional, core gameplay elements will destroy Halo.
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> And on the other side, we have the people who are open to new things. They favor change, and believe that because the modern FPS is changing, Halo must change and adapt in order to stay relevant. They support 343’s intervention in the game, believing the changes made to Halo are necessary for the franchise to stay relevant. They have grown accustomed to the gameplay changes, and believe they make the game interesting. Some even define Halo 4 and one of the best in the franchise.
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> Lastly, you have the independents. These are the gamers who just play the game, and don’t really care what changes were made. They don’t pick sides in the community. They just play it. Simple as that.
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> For many, Halo is more than just a game; Its a lifestyle. The franchise, specifically Halo 4, have spawned a divided community that could never agree with each other.
>
> Which side are you on?
I understand that Halo does not belong to me, and that 343i can do anything that they want to it.
The moment that it ceases to be fun for me, it will not buy another Halo game.
Once we understand that MS owns Halo, then we can move on from the multiple threads where individuals implicitly project that they have some sort of ownership over the game.
> I like this.
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> I play for fun.
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> I enjoy the changes because they work for me.
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> I still feel that H4 is a Halo game.
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> I feel that H4 can be improved upon.
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> I understand that Halo does not belong to me, and that 343i can do anything that they want to it.
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> The moment that it ceases to be fun for me, it will not buy another Halo game.
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> Once we understand that MS owns Halo, then we can move on from the multiple threads where individuals implicitly project that they have some sort of ownership over the game.
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> Halo does not belong to us.
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> If you don’t like it… Don’t play it.
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> Also don’t buy Halo 5.
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> Vote with your wallets.
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> The King is Dead. Long Live the King
I’m part of a different classification. I like games that I enjoy playing, whether they have Halo printed on the disc or not. I like skilful multiplayer fps games that make you think, engage your brain and also develop your skill with various challenging weapons. I find that enjoyable, its exciting, its challenging, its rewarding.
Halo 4 is not a particularly skilful game, it doesn’t have the above characteristics, it is heavily dumbed down which to me is a shame as I was hoping for a return to form for the Halo franchise after Reach.
Now I just play other games. I think if the rest of the community communicated with their feet and walked away from Halo to play games they truly enjoy (I know there’s a lot of people still playing Halo 4 just because its a Halo game who don’t really like Halo 4) then we might see a change in developer attitudes toward Halo. Thankfully this is already happening as the Halo 4 population figures are in relative terms the worst of any Halo xbox live game by a long way.
This idea about Halo needing to adapt to modern fps trends is absolute nonsense and the history of the Halo franchise suggests that emulating MMS or spunkgargleweewee(look it up) shooters like COD is actually directly correlated with Halo decreasing in popularity.
Halo was at the zenith of its popularity when it was an original arena shooter and nothing like MMS/COD games. It was a very viable alternative to MMS games actually. Not evewryone has the same taste in fps games, sub genres can and do exist.
Don’t forget the Sangheili community, with the biggest and longest running thread on the forums.
As a Sangheili though, I feel that small, meaningful changes are good for the series. Like the addition of equipment in halo 3, and then armour abilities in halo reach. But adding hitmarkers, three perks, specializations, unlockable weapons and emblems and whatnot was just too much.
And I will admit that some of the changes were understandable, but a lot of it just felt wrong for the halo series like unlocking emblems and weapons, pointless, unfair, and, call me a hippy, too mainstream coughcodcough.
And I thought some of the idea’s they had for halo 4 were good, the original premise of spartan ops was a good one, but I was disappointed with the recycled maps, poor writing, and stock characters.
But mainly, I’m just a Sangheili wanting to get my spot in halo multiplayer back just like all the other Sangheili on this forum.
I’m like Skizzy, but I’d prefer for Halo’s competitive settings to begin to adapt. A competitive loadout system should be supported by 343i as well as a competitive classic setting.
I don’t care what they do to the game as long as it still feels like Halo and I enjoy playing it. Which Halo 4 has done. I don’t think I’ve disliked a single Halo game yet…except for Halo Wars shudders
> On one side, we have the Halo patriots. These are the people who favor a traditional Halo. They are accustomed to the traditional core gameplay of Halo, and do not like change. They like Halo the way it was from Halo CE to Halo 3, and favor less intervention from 343. They believe the key to Halo’s success derives from maintaining the core elements that define Halo. These are the people who criticize the game for introducing new and different elements, and incorporating them. They believe that changing the traditional, core gameplay elements will destroy Halo. <mark>While the more radical side of this sect will only complain, a lot of these patriots give constructive criticism to try and help return halo back to its roots</mark>.
> This idea about Halo needing to adapt to modern fps trends is absolute nonsense and the history of the Halo franchise suggests that emulating MMS or spunkgargleweewee(look it up) shooters like COD is actually directly correlated with Halo decreasing in popularity.
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> Halo was at the zenith of its popularity when it was an original arena shooter and nothing like MMS/COD games. It was a very viable alternative to MMS games actually. Not evewryone has the same taste in fps games, sub genres can and do exist.
Kind of a long-winded way to say which side you’re on.
I prefer the old gameplay (Halo 3 was perfect), but I’m not against changes either. Equipement in Halo 3 and now AAs have opened up countless doors. And, thanks to custom games, if you don’t like it you don’t have to play with it.
I will say I wish we could have equipement and AAs.
OT, I am not pleased with Halo 4. The core gameplay is awesome, the campaign was amazing, the graphics are stunning, but multiplayer is broken. 343 screwed the custom community over, the game is unbalanced, and some things were better before. Ultimately, I have more fun playing Halo 3 than Halo 4.
But, Halo 3 does feel aged. There are mechanics that just feel…old. Floaty jump height, projectile bullets, just to name a few.
> Sorry but I don’t fall into any of those categories.
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> I was quite receptive to Halo 4 before it came out, not minding most changes and being very positive.
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> Change for the better is what I want.