Infinite isnt getting any worse (lol). If you still at least somewhat enjoy the game now then you likely will at least somewhat enjoy what is coming.
The winter update is still a fairly substantial content drop. Forge will give people a lot to play (no customs browser will hold it back slightly but there are workarounds for that such as discord, xbox lfg. not the end of the world).
2 new maps to play in the winter update. That WILL help freshen up gameplay.
A free 30 tier battle pass on top of 2 free event passes is a fair amount of new customization.
Network Co Op and Mission Replay will freshen up campaign somewhat
New One Flag variant sounds unique and interesting
More drop pods will be coming (hopefully including things like more cross core, ranked playlists, matchmaking, connection improvements, etc.)
This update clearly had more bad news than good news and it really shouldnât take as long as it is looking like it will take to get this game into a good place. But the game is (slowly) getting better. If you are still playing in the state the game is in right now then things ARE getting better.
Fully agree. Still no mention of many iconic Halo modes (infection for example). It is taking too long. But again, it definitely could be much worse AND take even longer. Destiny 2 launched awful, Forsaken revived it a year later and now it has a big playerbase. No Mans Sky launched awful, few years of updates later and its a completely different experience.
Right, but I still find it concerning that Sean considers Halo to be a competitive franchise. That take is incorrect in at least 20 different contexts, and spells a grim future for Social players. (He did mention that Social players arenât being âleft behindâ, but is there really any way to tell what he means by that?)
As for the content itself, Iâm glad that they have a pipeline moving, but it is disappointing to me that Custom Games Browser isnât shipping with Forge. I suppose it makes sense, especially since their networking is already so unreliable, but yeah- it really will hold it back a little bit. But itâll be alright, since itâll encourage people to LFG and organize externally. Who knows? Maybe thatâll be healthy for Social Halo
All in all, Iâm glad they put out a 30 minute video of just being straight with us. Iâm not going to say a âstep in the right directionâ because that phrase has gotten quite old with me, but itâs better than radio silence, and Iâm glad they feel that way.
I mean, I really enjoyed the game initially. But everything is taking so long that Iâve experienced the current maps dozens of times with the same handful of modes. I want to believe in Infinite, but it feels like 343 is barely able to doggy-paddle and keep their heads above water for some reason. Its hard to say âwell, its not getting worseâ when the current mindset of the industry is âLive Service.â
Forge is definitely a gamechanger, and I sure as hell hope that it releases in a decently functional state. Itâs looking really good. I honestly think Infinite will live or die by Forge at least for the close future.
2 new maps are nice, though itâs taken us what, 7-ish months total (after Season 2âs launch) to get them?
The new pass is neat, but lets be honest it looks like its just the stuff they cut out of the Reach pass to nickel and dime it back to us later (and now is conveniently free to deflect from the delays).
Campaign changes are nice, agreed. Mission Replay is a big positive. Unfortunately my friends (and I) are pissed that it looks like local splitscreen for Co-Op is completely off the table for now.
No argument from me.
Hopefully weâll see Drop Pods in the future that add a new map or weapon alongside the little quality of life fixes. Thatâd make for really cool little mid-season updates.
Well, yes, they arenât actively making it worse, but ongoing player attrition will probably continue.
A very small percentage of total players (a percentage that is very overrepresented on these forums) will understand how to access Forge content without an in-game customs browser.
One map per mode is better than nothing but still not much.
Sure. I donât really care about cosmetics and my understanding is this is all content that was cut from S1, but hey, itâs content.
Sure. Again, Iâm not running to replay that campaign but respect othersâ desire to do so.
Will be interesting, but doubt itâs in ranked.
Sure.
Finally, is there any degree of confidence any roadmap dates will be met? For example, would anyone put money on Forge beta being released in November and not, say, January?
EDIT: me and the guy above basically had the same post
Itâll be tough getting community content from forge into the hands of cusom games players until this feature comes. However, it wonât be impossible, we do have file share. So everyone who is making forge content will have to put it on their file share for others to find. Those who are enjoying it need to put the same content on their file share so others in the community can possibly find it from you and so on.
The forge hub community + discord & LFG groups will be the mainstream source of forge content.
Well to be entirely fair after theyâve released Forge into the wild it should very very easy for them to add more later down the line, the reason you wonât be able to predict how many or when is because its entirely community based, so theyâll slowly enrich the map pools with Forge maps over time. Lets hope the ones we get in November arenât dogwater so we donât have to suffer those few months.
