Offering something totally optional - in a FREE to play game - to people for money is “predatory”.
Get real. Grow up. Such a ridiculous criticism of Halo Infinite.
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Fortnite lmao
(20 characters)
27 days later. But the people were ALREADY paid for their work. The sales of these armors doesn’t actually make THEM more money, just microsoft
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Telling people they can ignore the main progression system of the game is an unbelievably bad situation to be in. The main progression system is supposed to draw in new players, not chase them away - earn rates must be doubled at least or rewards must be given earlier, at the moment there is absolutely nothing there to keep players playing.
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I hate to break it to you guys, but this is a fight that was lost during the days of the Xbox One and PS4 generations.
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And yet, people are still buying them…what does that tell you?
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lmao literally who cares about cosmetics or armor. Play the game? Get good?
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This is getting ridiculous. It should be obvious that 343 and Microsoft tried to get away with ridiculously expensive microtransactions. $20 for an armor set? $10 for a weapon coating? That’s BS. I don’t give a crap that it’s “Free to Play.” It’s not free to play when the only way to unlock all of the armor is to literally buy in. And to anyone who says “who cares about cosmetics,” have you been living under a rock? Armor customization is one of THE core elements of multiplayer in nearly every first person shooter Halo game.
I know 343 put out their “apology” for their monetization scheme, but those are just words. They mean nothing without any concrete action. And since 343 seems reluctant on actually making meaningful changes, here are some ideas that I hope people will spread. I know that some youtubers have put out these ideas.
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Allow us the ability to earn credits in game. Fortnite does this, and even CALL OF DUTY does this. Get with the program 343.
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Make everything cheaper. Make armor sets $5 and weapon and vehicle coatings $1. And to anyone who says “no free to play game is going to make store items cheap,” it’s basic capitalism. If more things are cheap, then it’s more likely that more people will be into it, which will provide a net increase in profits.
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For future seasons, make them larger, make them include more stuff on the free track, and make challenges easier to complete so that people can have a reasonable rate of progression.
The only way 343 is going to make the changes we want is if we push them. Don’t be content with what their doing now, The changes are minimal and they’ll regress the moment we let up on the valid criticisms, so keep pushing. Keep pushing to make their monetization plans actually reasonable.
I apologize but armor cosmetics are not part of the core elements in a first person shooter.
I love when people compare Infinite to games like Fortnite or COD, and people conveniently tend to forget how much they charge for cosmetics. In COD you literally pay $20 for 3 weapon blueprints and a nameplate.
Armor customization has been a big feature of Halo games since halo 3. Imagine being able to unlock everything once you level up in multiplayer and unlock all of the achievements. For so many players, that’s sense of accomplishment is nigh euphoric. That’s what makes armor customization a staple of Halo games going forward, that sense of accomplishment. You just don’t get that with microtransactions.
And as for the comparisons, I know it’s instinct for people to bash on Fortnite and COD. But dude, you do realize that it’s possible for a game like Halo to draw inspiration from the good parts of other games and still do it’s own thing right? No one is saying that Halo Infinite should be a copy of COD and Fortnite. If you’ve been paying attention to the conversation, most people are saying the exact opposite, we want this game to be better.
So no, do not tell me that “people conveniently tend to forget how much they charge.” That’s a stupid quote. It’s because we’re all too aware of the negative aspects of the other games microtransaction strategies that we’re criticizing 343’s dip into aggressive monetization, which is why we have to nip this in the bud before it’s too late.
I noticed that you were unable to articulate a retort to some of my other proposals, such as the reduction in pricing, the ability to earn currency in game, etc. so at the very least I must be on the right track. In any case, we have to vote with our wallets and make our voices heard. 343 needs to ease up on the monetization and listen to the players, that’s the important thing.
I agree with you there. My main point was generalizing this sentiment with all multiplayer games.
My other point was about the pricing of cosmetics in video games. They’re literally the same price as every other top AAA game on the market. I agree Halo & MS should be on the front with changing the way we do monetization. One point you made in your op was earning credits in game, which is what I’ve been advocating for.
Perhaps my quote wasn’t aimed directly at you, but more towards the community in general. Look at the title of this thread " This is the most predatory monetisation scheme in a long time " and conveniently people tend to forget how much other AAA games charge for cosmetics.
Don’t assume my reply to you was in complete disagreement with everything you said. I was only giving my 2 cents on some points you made. I don’t see pricing coming down, that would be silly from a business perspective. Few options that would (definitely) make this system more consumer friendly.
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Earn credits in game. Not thrown into the battlepass, rather earned in gameplay, but given to us at a snails pace, to encourage people to either play the game for a ridiculous amount of time or buy credits as a means of shortcutting to the good stuff.
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Don’t limit cosmetics to bundles. Bundles should be used as a deal to the consumer, but limiting the colour white to a $20 bundle is absurd. bundle items should be sold separately in the store as well
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I think I should apologize the way I worded much of my own retort. You’re right, many other big triple A games have also dipped into this monetization trend. Halo just has a special place in my heart. I also have a day job, so I don’t get a lot of free time playing Halo, so seeing this trend in Halo is particularly frustrating.
I will admit, the title of this thread may be just the slightest bit exaggerating, but it was best way where I felt I could voice complaints specifically about monetization. Admittedly, I don’t have many criticisms about other aspects of the game, even if it can feel barebones at times (though I’m aware they’ll be adding more features down the line).
I think part of the reason why I was so hostile in my previous post is because I felt particularly jaded at 343. To me, it felt like they’ve been becoming like other companies like Activision and EA. But seeing their post gives off just a sliver of hope, but that hope can be fleeting if it’s just an apology and no further action.
As for some of your other points, I can see your point about splitting up the bundles so that people can just buy certain parts, say like a helmet or a shoulder piece, instead of being forced to buy the whole set. I imagine that at least some players would appreciate an option like that. Anyways, I just wanted to take some time to say I’m sorry (to you at least, not 343). I imagine that you’re frustrated with parts of 343’s monetization like I am. I’m just worried that if we let up, they’ll think it’s okay to leave it as is. Still thanks for responding, I will endeavor to be more civil.
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Didn’t take it personally my dude. We’re all on here because we love Halo. My original context wasn’t made clear in my first post and apologize for that as well.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely dude. It’s not just with 343 but with other great companies that used to make great games, and now there only goal is to make as much money as possible (Looking at Rockstar and Bethesda). I’ll be honest if the campaign gave me even the slightest Halo 5 vibes, I would have been done with the franchise and moved on. We can both agree the multiplayer is very barebones, but what is there is great. This is what we all wanted from Halo.
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That is true. The core gameplay I thought was really good. The story, the artstyle, music? I felt like 343 did a lot of course correcting in those areas for the better. I really do hope that much of our complaints on monetization (as well as the battle pass) get resolved by the time season 2 is released. To me at least, those issues would be easier to fix than having to adjust something like the weapon sandbox. Like I think we said, 343’s community gives us some hope, but I guess we’ll have to see what their promised changes look like once they actually implement it.
One thing I still don’t understand is how they intend to make Halo Infinite their “platform” for the next ten years or so. That seems like a long time for a game to be supported. But I guess time time will tell.
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Yup 10 years is a long time, I’m surprised people are still playing GTA V. I think just like Halo 5 we will see similar stuff added with new seasons, maps, modes weapons etc. However with this being the first mainline Halo confirmed to receive story dlc, I wonder if we’ll be getting large updates in similar size to Infinite itself, or smaller story additions over the course of a shorter period. Regardless there are many things that need to be added for the sake of longevity (co-op campaign and forge) that it may be a while before we start seeing some really fresh ideas come to play
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Am I the only person that doesn’t really care all that much what my character looks like? I mean for starters it’s a first person game and more often than not I don’t see my character. I’ve also never once cared what other players look like. I could see the frustration a little more with third person titles.
What happened to playing the game because it was fun? Don’t worry about the armor or the shop. Just play to have a good time and I promise you will have a good time.
This isn’t just directed towards OP or anyone in particular. Kind of just for any game that comes out anymore.
It’s been said before and it will continue to be said. If people would stop throwing money at in game content that literally does nothing besides changes the way things look the devs and publishers would find another way to make money. Kind of like how they used to do it by selling maps that people no longer have to pay for.
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Can we talk about how I paid $60 for the campaign and thats all I got.
I love the campaign but there are games like Red Dead 2 that give so much more for a lower price, they could’ve at least given those that bought the campaign a the battlepass for free
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I’ve decided to move my post over to this larger, more consolidated effort to fix the pricing system.
"So to the 343 dev reading this, thank you for
reading this and Merry Christmas!
I believe reducing the store prices by 50% would
be beneficial to you and the consumer. Right
now the prices are too steep that for anyone
who is old enough to remember how much value
you could get with $20 in old videos games will
is outright insulted and refuses to purchase
anything drom the store. The system caters
to the younger generation that only knows the
systems from Fortnite or Apex Legends and has
no perspective on what a fair deal is.
By reducing the prices those that already
consent to the current prices will spend more in
addition to your older audience that has refused
to purchase will now be inclined to do so and I
believe your profit margins will be larger.
Don’t be the bad guys and alienate your fan
base. I remember how much you could get with
$10 in games like Halo Reach. I cant stand with
practices designed to be predatory to younger
audiences."
Absolutely agree. We have a crap game here and 343 spent an entire year twiddling their thumbs to bring us a 2 stroke engine instead of a V8.
Its not even “armor sets” being sold for $20, its just a helmet and a few attachments like shoulders or knees. Probably 80% of the model you already own, whereas other free-to-play games give you entire new 3D models for that price.
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