I think 343 purposefully made the customization and monetization so restrictive, so hostile to users and cost so much so that they can eventually get us to accept a worse version of the systems that have been in place for 14+ years.
TL;DR: 343 purposefully went for an extremely predatory business model to make us accept more easily they’re original plan: monetizing colors, armor pieces, bundles and everything else that has always been included in the game. They will make changes that favor the community slightly, but will be a downgrade from every customization feature we were used to from past entries in the series.
Infinite’s business model
“They think me mad - Starbuck does; but I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened!”
We know we’re never getting back in-game unlocks, for achievements and campaign progress. That just doesn’t make any money, so there’s no incentive for 343 to implement those. You could argue that giving the player an enjoyable and rewarding experience is incentive, from a game development standpoint, but unfortunately, in these modern times, money is where it’s at. If it doesn’t make money - more specifically, ALL of the money - there’s no point in doing it. What’s the best way to make money?
Freemium games. Big whale hunting has been determined to be a lot more profitable than simply selling a game for 60-80$. See other companies like Zynga (which churns out ‘free’ games and makes bank) or even Bethesda who moved from the complete console games to Horse Armor DLC and mobile Freemium games. League of legends is free, but generates just under 2$ Billion USD every year (can’t link URL as source in these forums, article from Reuteurs). For comparison, Halo 3 total grosses totaled over 600$ Million by 2010 (Bloomberg Businessweek). That’s chump change. 343 isn’t going for the millions, they’re going for the billions. Which makes sense, financially, but only at the expense of the company’s reputation. Unfortunately, reputation is not a currency, so it’s now irrelevant.
Colors
''20$ for white on one armor? What a scam! 20$ for white on all armors? What a bargain!
I think 343 will keep the color schemes, especially color schemes related to pro teams and thematics, because that would sell more units than color palettes. They will most likely unlock the color schemes and allow them to be used on different armors, but if you accept that, you’ve already been played. Originally, colors have always been free, but that’s a mistake they won’t repeat ever again. Why would the colors be free when they could charge for them instead?
And having fixed patterns is a genius idea. We’ve already seen outrageous examples in-game where there is a gray with blue lights, and a gray with white lights. It’s at most 20 different pixels per skin, but the genius part is that they can charge for both. Some people will prefer one over the other. If you’re debating which one you prefer, you’ve already lost: they’re in your head and you’re that much closer to get out mom’s-- err, I mean your credit card.
Paid armor in free events
“The katana looks sick! Ah, it’s in the paid section of the ‘Katana Event’… Well, it is a free game, so I guess I can get this one piece for money. I’m sure I won’t get tired of having it equipped, and there’s no way 343 will ever come up with a model that’s even cooler!”
Again, genius strategy. Put a free armor in the free event, that way you’re not lying: users get FREE stuff! But the money move is putting the better armor as part of the paid limited time event. If a free user gets to the last level of the battle pass/event, the low 10$ price tag will be there, taunting them. 10$ will seem like a bargain for everything you will unlock! That is, if the user doesn’t remember that this was all free in the MCC and Halo Reach.
I don’t believe this will change, too much, but they will most likely add more FREE armors, and more PAID armors to each event, making the paid value seem more reasonable a purchase.
Paid boosts
“Argh, I’m just missing a few levels for the last unlock of the season, after that it’s gone for good! I can put money on and buy a couple of boosts after all, it’s a free game!”
The paid boosts have such a low individual cost! It would seem This is what is called the ‘crack dealer approach’, where you have a low priced item lying around that doesn’t seem like much, but when you realize the quantity you need to buy, it adds up really quick.
Pokemon GO did the same thing with their premium tokens: they have the mega bundle, which is 100$ USD but gives you the best value for you money (in terms of token quantity), and they have the smallest bundle, which is just but a few tokens, which are better priced than any of the token bundles in between. Kids say ‘Oh, it’s just 2$ for 100 tokens, that’s nothing!’ They do however end up buying obscene amounts of 2$ bundles, because the ‘crack dealer approach’ gets you hooked, and gives you the illusion of a low price.
I do think they will offer, in addition to the Credit bundles they already have, multiple versions of battle pass boosts that will give you better value for levels, the more you pay.
I’ve been very cynical on these forums, but this is something I 100% believe will happen. I might not get all the details right, but the core concept will happen, mark my words.
Witness me!