Some of these are bigger than others, but i feel like they fit here. Also, some of these have been in Halo before, others are ideas from different shooter franchises that i think should be implemented (return) in Halo Infinite.
Player count and map for each matchmaking gamemode. I just think it’s neat, but it could also help players determine what gamemodes have shorter wait time for them (especially if player count starts to dwindle).
I’m not sure if a custom games server browser is too big to include on this list, but it really should happen. Not everyone will care, but a lot of us really love that stuff.
Post-match party up or rematch systems in matchmaking. These are just nice social features that help players find teammates they work well with, or fight against opponents who were equal in skill.
Map vote/veto systems in matchmaking. No matter how great the devs think their maps are, they’re bound to have a dud or two. Don’t make players suffer through that if the majority of players in the party decide it’s funner to skip. If you’re worried about the game becoming stale, stick with veto. Otherwise, let us vote between three (or two + replay).
Seeing player Spartans in lobby. There have been good and bad implementations of this across the series. I’d like to see everyone’s name/emblem/rank in a list, while in the background i see both teams in full (superhero standoff style), then when i put my cursor over a player on the list, their spartan (and stats) are brought forward.
A good view of the map, based on my team’s spawns, during the start of the match (where we see the teams and the announcer says “slayer” or whatever). Some maps could be disorienting on first spawn if you’re not familiar with them. Pre-spawning without being able to move until a timer counts down would probably help too. Overwatch has pre-match skirmishing, maybe the XSX’s super fast load times could improve upon this system.
Don’t spawn players within line of sight from each other, at least not in 1-shot gamemodes like SWAT. That is, unless the gamemode is supposed to start with a quickdraw, in which case players should be pre-spawned but can’t move (or something).
Timers on power weapons are a controversial topic, i think. I don’t mind them in social gamemodes at least. The casual player probably doesn’t have time to memorize all the weapon timers on every map.
If the maps have verticality, i’d like a radar that represents that well. Maybe there could be different types of radar (upgradable in campaign) for different gamemodes.
I don’t like hit markers, especially on grenades, please remove (for all players, not just a toggle option). It’s not necessary, it’s not Halo, and it encourages grenade spam. That’s my opinion at least.
On that note, full control over HUD UI elements (position, size, transparency, colors, etc.). Maybe some players want to see each individual bullet, others just want numbers. Similar choices for killfeed, crosshair, radar, etc. would be nice.
Control over aiming sensitivity for multiple situations (normal, zoomed x, vehicle x, etc.).
I thought the mask outline on your HUD in Halo 5 was a bit much, but the option would be cool. And maybe the option to just have a thin line pattern on your screen to represent which type of helmet your spartan has on.
Option to turn off head bobbing, especially when sprinting. Also, i think in Reach, when you fell from a great height, your screen would tilt down, messing up your aim. I’d like the option to turn that off as well, and the game can handle fall accuracy another way.
In some gamemodes, i feel like you shouldn’t be able to see your dead body in third-person, or switch to observing your teammates in third-person. It can give your team a lot of unfair information.
I liked maps that had man-cannons, conveyor belts, elephants, or even just Valhalla’s water physics for inanimate objects. I’d like to see things like this, which really give a map character, in Halo Infinite.
I liked firefight voices in Halo Reach. I’d like them to be implemented in standard matchmaking in some way. This could allow for non-mic users to communicate better with their team, if Halo Infinite has some sort of auto-call-out system or pinging.
I have a lot to say about battle royal in Halo, but i just want to say here that (if included in Halo Infinite) i hope they find a way to include all the small details that give Halo it’s own identity. That goes for all gamemodes i suppose.
I’d like a mid-match-fill option, so afk players and leavers don’t ruin social games. This would be disable-able by players searching for a match. You can’t really punish players in a free-to-play game, but maybe you can make griefers less of a problem to the genuine players. This is kinda a big detail, but it seems like such a small change to me.
An endorsement system would be cool to see in Halo. I think it worked pretty well in Overwatch. I don’t know how far 343i should take it, but i wouldn’t mind some level of implementation in Halo Infinite.
I like how you can keep fighting for a short time after a round is over, even though it doesn’t count. Maybe some gamemodes could add an unofficial post-match minigame. Maybe players can toggle it off in settings to auto return-to-lobby faster.
During the match-over screen, i like seeing the winning team’s spartans, but i don’t want it to take too long. People just want to jump into the next match. However, it would also be cool if the losing team was dead on the floor or something during the match-over screen, just so you can see their armor and whatnot too.
Post-match, i don’t want a big, drawn out XP/level-up/credits/unlock screen. Find a way to do that in parallel with the post-game lobby. Players should be able to immediately start map voting, party up, quit, whatever.
I also hope they have better Xbox/Steam integration than on the MCC. As a Steam player, it can be hard linking up with my Xbox friends.
I suppose some items on my list ended up being “little things i’d like to die”, but you can pretend i reworded my paragraphs to fit this thread’s purpose.
TLDR: I want systems (even small ones) that encourage social interaction, celebrate individuality, enable player preference, impose fair play, and make it faster to jump into the next match.
Of course, i like all the little thematic things (like monk chants on the title screen) too.