What happened to the Halo community?

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I love the Halo franchise above all others. Mainly because it offers amazing campaigns compared to most other FPS’s, on top of addictive MP.
But i have to ask, what made this community so toxic?
I have never seen a larger, more vocal group of elitist, nit-picky, and hostile group of “fans.” Not even in CoD.
CoD may be full of little kids and trolls, but they don’t go around throwing a tantrum like: “wow, they put wall-running in Black Ops 3? Treyarch killed CoD. It’s CoDFall now, RIP”
Halo 4 has an 87 on metacritic. And I understand that it’s not a great HALO game, but people who aren’t Halo fans hear the hatred towards it and think it is actual trash. Like Aliens: Colonial Marines trash. I’m not kidding you.
I mean I hear self-proclaimed Halo fans saying Halo 5 is garbage because BTB isn’t gonna be there at launch. Even though Warzone is literally BTB on steroids.
It is very rare to find a topic in these forums that is even constructive in its criticism. For the love of God, someone on here said they were boycotting the game because 343 altered the lighting on one of the maps. It’s unbelievable.
And as for MCC?
When I’m playing a game, 90% of the people I run into with mic’s spend the whole match complaining: “you’re garbage at this game, quit Halo” (obviously censored).
A full game of 4v4 slayer happens maybe 1 out of every 8 matches, because everyone quits.

Forgive the incessant complaining. But I’m appalled as to why a community is so dead set on trashing the franchise it’s built upon. Halo 5 is looking to be up there with some of the best Halo games ever made. If you made a list of all the objectively positive features vs negative features, the good FAR outweighs the bad.

Also, I’m not saying criticism of Halo isn’t warranted. I’ve just observed that the majority I see on YouTube, or in these forums is either not constructive, or simply ridiculous.

2

It’s truly a sad sight. Sometimes I feel ashamed to call myself a Halo fan, but then I remember that no matter what 343 does to Halo and no matter what anyone else thinks about it, I’ll be playing Halo until the end of my days, so it’s all good.

3

For the millionth time, nothing happened to the Halo community. They have been like this since Halo 2.

4

> 2533274850519091;2:
> It’s truly a sad sight. Sometimes I feel ashamed to call myself a Halo fan, but then I remember that I don’t care what anyone else thinks because I’ll be playing Halo until the end of my days.

This. Every community’s got its rotten apples (Minecraft’s official forums are pretty toxic at times too, and it’s not a game restricted to one platform - so you’ll be attacked for playing older/newer versions, or insulted for playing on the console instead of PC, or for what console you play on, or for playing on a server, or for not liking PvP / liking PvP… Even what extensions you do or do not play with. The list goes on.) but I try not to let that affect how I feel about myself as a fan or the community as a whole.

People can say “I refuse to consider H5 a Halo game” all they want, but that won’t change anything except for making themselves look a bit silly. Same goes for calling others children because they liked (or at the very least didn’t hate) Reach / H4. We’ve all got different tastes and whatnot, so belittling others just because they don’t share yours? I mean, we’re all human here (I’m assuming. Any Smart AI’s from the future on these forums?) but…

5

> 2535460843083983;3:
> For the millionth time, nothing happened to the Halo community. They have been like this since Halo 2.

Not exactly but if your talking about that toxic thing then yes.
the manner the community has been toxic has changed though. We used to be a lot more mature as a whole and since late H3 and Reach we’ve lost that.

Folks got older stopped playing and life moves on. There’s not very many original day 1 players left compared to back then, though you’ll probably find quite a few here.

I completely agree with the OP with the following

> Halo 5 is looking to be up there with some of the best Halo games ever made. If you made a list of all the objectively positive features vs negative features, the good FAR outweighs the bad. Also, I’m not saying criticism of Halo isn’t warranted. I’ve just observed that the majority I see on YouTube, or in these forums is either not constructive, or simply ridiculous.

6

> 2533274850869596;4:
> I mean, we’re all human here (I’m assuming. Any Smart AI’s from the future on these forums?) but…

No we’re not. Look at my name and tell me what I am.

7

Ugh.
I can’t stand threads like these. And they’ve been occurring since the B.net days.

8

> 2533274978553590;6:
> > 2533274850869596;4:
> > I mean, we’re all human here*(I’m assuming. Any Smart AI’s from the future on these forums?)* but…
>
>
> No we’re not. Look at my name and tell me what I am.

Gonna take a wild guess… A Rhydon? Spartan Rhydons, oh my. As if they weren’t already terrifyingly strong enough without powered armor D:

9

> 2533274850869596;8:
> > 2533274978553590;6:
> > > 2533274850869596;4:
> > > I mean, we’re all human here*(I’m assuming. Any Smart AI’s from the future on these forums?)* but…
> >
> >
> > No we’re not. Look at my name and tell me what I am.
>
>
> Gonna take a wild guess… A Rhydon? Spartan Rhydons, oh my. As if they weren’t already terrifyingly strong enough without powered armor D:

I have not yet seen a Rhydon in MJOLNIR armor, but I have seen a Yoshi in it.
But back on topic, the community has been like this since Halo 2. However, the negativity is more intense due to the fact that 343 is not the same company that made the original trilogy, so there will always be someone who has their grievances over that. Furthermore, people like to use Halo 4 and the MCC as their reasons for being doubtful of 343 and their take on Halo. But I pay no mind to them, everyone has their own views and games that suit their tastes. I’ve played Halo 5 and it suits my tastes quite well. Some people seem to think that all of these ramblings will somehow take us back in time, but it won’t.

10

> If you made a list of all the objectively positive features

Like what though? Very few things are objectively positive.

> For the love of God, someone on here said they were boycotting the game because 343 altered the lighting on one of the maps. It’s unbelievable.

That guy also spammed threads, created alts for the sole purpose of spamming threads, and threatened to hack the website.

I’d say he represents a small minority of Halo critics, but he doesn’t even do that. The guy was just a random loon who was quickly laughed off the forums by everyone.

You’re really reaching there.

11

> 2533274825044752;7:
> Ugh.
> I can’t stand threads like these. And they’ve been occurring since the B.net days.

Why can’t you stand them? Is what OP is saying not true?

12

I’m pretty sure that the community has been this toxic since the days of Halo 2 when people thought Halo 2 was great and sucked at the same time.

13

> 2533274978553590;9:
> > 2533274850869596;8:
> > > 2533274978553590;6:
> > > > 2533274850869596;4:
> > > > I mean, we’re all human here*(I’m assuming. Any Smart AI’s from the future on these forums?)* but…
> > >
> > >
> > > No we’re not. Look at my name and tell me what I am.
> >
> >
> > Gonna take a wild guess… A Rhydon? Spartan Rhydons, oh my. As if they weren’t already terrifyingly strong enough without powered armor D:
>
>
> I have not yet seen a Rhydon in MJOLNIR armor, but I have seen a Yoshi in it.
> But back on topic, the community has been like this since Halo 2. However, the negativity is more intense due to the fact that 343 is not the same company that made the original trilogy, so there will always be someone who has their grievances over that. Furthermore, people like to use Halo 4 and the MCC as their reasons for being doubtful of 343 and their take on Halo. But I pay no mind to them, everyone has their own views and games that suit their tastes. I’ve played Halo 5 and it suits my tastes quite well. Some people seem to think that all of these ramblings will somehow take us back in time, but it won’t.

I immediately thought of this raptor in MJOLNIR heh. Kig-Yar are about as close as we’re getting to sentient dinosaurs in Halo though I wager (Blind Wolves come close too, but they’re not sentient AFAIK)
On Topic… Times change, new fans come in, and as a franchise grows so does the criticism along with it. I don’t think any less of people for liking something I’m not fond of, and I try and see things from their perspective as well, but I do admit I tend to feel a touch defensive when someone starts insulting something I like. I imagine we all do, to various extents.
Still, I try and be respectful when possible. I don’t think anyone truly likes being insulted or laughed at :slight_smile:

14

> 2533274819302824;10:
> > If you made a list of all the objectively positive features
>
>
> Like what though? Very few things are objectively positive.
>
>
> > For the love of God, someone on here said they were boycotting the game because 343 altered the lighting on one of the maps. It’s unbelievable.
>
>
> That guy also spammed threads, created alts for the sole purpose of spamming threads, and threatened to hack the website.
>
> I’d say he represents a small minority of Halo critics, but he doesn’t even do that. The guy was just a random loon who was quickly laughed off the forums by everyone.
>
> You’re really reaching there.

Objectively positive:

Lengthy, lore-rich Campaign
60 FPS
Equal starts in arena gameplay
Warzone and Breakout are entirely new, promising modes.
20 maps at release
15+ DLC maps are all free.
$1,000,000 tournament to open competitive play.
True competitive rankings
Soundtrack is miles better than H4’s
Dedicated servers
Spectator mode
Forge mode rumored to be vastly improved
Base movement speed has been sped up, and sprint has been slowed down since the beta. Also sprint won’t be allowed to be abused because shields don’t recharge while sprinting.

Objectively negative:

microtransactions
no split-screen
no BTB at launch
1080p not confirmed

Questions?

15

I guess when people play a game most days out of the year for 6-9 years, it becomes a big part of there life and they get attached to it. So what happens when it’s then turned into something else when they already loved what it had been for those 6-9 years? Well, they may get a little angry. That’s probably what happened.

16

I am tired of arguing with Halo purists. The same debates have been held at so many occasions. 343i has changed from Halo 4 to Halo 5 to hopefully bring them back but nothing seems to please them except Halo 2-3 with better graphics. I hope they find solace within the MCC.

I really thought I was a purist. I bashed Halo Reach and Halo 4 so much. But now Halo 5 is coming, looks amazing, and I cannot understand why the people who disliked Reach and 4 for the same reasons as me won’t like the next Halo. I’m just now starting to realize that these people are on a whole other level of purism.

17

> 2533274856274009;1:
> I love the Halo franchise above all others. Mainly because it offers amazing campaigns compared to most other FPS’s, on top of addictive MP.
> But i have to ask, what made this community so toxic?
> I have never seen a larger, more vocal group of elitist, nit-picky, and hostile group of “fans.” Not even in CoD.
> CoD may be full of little kids and trolls, but they don’t go around throwing a tantrum like: “wow, they put wall-running in Black Ops 3? Treyarch killed CoD. It’s CoDFall now, RIP”
> Halo 4 has an 87 on metacritic. And I understand that it’s not a great HALO game, but people who aren’t Halo fans hear the hatred towards it and think it is actual trash. Like Aliens: Colonial Marines trash. I’m not kidding you.
> I mean I hear self-proclaimed Halo fans saying Halo 5 is garbage because BTB isn’t gonna be there at launch. Even though Warzone is literally BTB on steroids.
> It is very rare to find a topic in these forums that is even constructive in its criticism. For the love of God, someone on here said they were boycotting the game because 343 altered the lighting on one of the maps. It’s unbelievable.
> And as for MCC?
> When I’m playing a game, 90% of the people I run into with mic’s spend the whole match complaining: “you’re garbage at this game, quit Halo” (obviously censored).
> A full game of 4v4 slayer happens maybe 1 out of every 8 matches, because everyone quits.
>
> Forgive the incessant complaining. But I’m appalled as to why a community is so dead set on trashing the franchise it’s built upon. Halo 5 is looking to be up there with some of the best Halo games ever made. If you made a list of all the objectively positive features vs negative features, the good FAR outweighs the bad.
>
> Also, I’m not saying criticism of Halo isn’t warranted. I’ve just observed that the majority I see on YouTube, or in these forums is either not constructive, or simply ridiculous.

Thing do seem to be getting better though the Halo 5 hype is putting the community in a good standing there’s just a small percent and sadly the loudest percentage that complains to 343. In short these true fans of Halo (sarcasm) are slave driving 343 to appease them then there’s the majority who just want a good story and a good MP who they seem to be doing the most for thankfully. Also there are actually quite a few forums talking about his. The Irony is games like COD need more complainers because those games are getting extremely repetitive but their fan-base just doesn’t seem to care much. (Black OPS 3 stole the supers and classes from Destiny)

18

> 2533274819302824;10:
> > For the love of God, someone on here said they were boycotting the game because 343 altered the lighting on one of the maps. It’s unbelievable.
>
>
> That guy also spammed threads, created alts for the sole purpose of spamming threads, and threatened to hack the website.
>
> I’d say he represents a small minority of Halo critics, but he doesn’t even do that. The guy was just a random loon who was quickly laughed off the forums by everyone

IDK what you’re talking about. That guy is a pillar of greatness in the community.

/s

19

I see what you’re getting at but I have indeed read many complaints about Black Ops 3 being a Titanfall ripoff. That’s just one complaint off the top of my head. Every gaming community I have been a part of has a degree of toxicity that is difficult to ignore. The toxic people, are the loudest.

20

> 2533274856274009;14:
> > 2533274819302824;10:
> > >
>
>
> Objectively positive:Lengthy, lore-rich Campaign
> 60 FPS
> Equal starts in arena gameplay
> Warzone and Breakout are entirely new, promising modes.
> 20 maps at release
> 15+ DLC maps are all free.
> $1,000,000 tournament to open competitive play.
> True competitive rankings
> Soundtrack is miles better than H4’s
> Dedicated servers
> Spectator mode
> Forge mode rumored to be vastly improved
> Base movement speed has been sped up, and sprint has been slowed down since the beta. Also sprint won’t be allowed to be abused because shields don’t recharge while sprinting.
>
>
> Objectively negative:
>
> microtransactions
> no split-screen
> no BTB at launch
> 1080p not confirmed
> *paper vehicles again
> no offline modes aside from campaign
> no LAN
> only 2 new modes, one of which could easily be made in past Halos
> no custom games browser
> no ability to switch characters in SP
> no campaign theater again

I could list a larger list of positive things about Halo 4 before it released as well.

The reality is that 70% of the things you don’t like about Halo 5 are things you don’t know about Halo 5 yet, and will only arise after playing (or perhaps even beating) the game, having already spent your money, and having gathered your sentiments on the overall experience. At least, that’s how it’s been so far.

But lacking new features are a negative at this point. Halo has only improved incrementally since Halo 3, and with Halo 5 that should be on it’s way out. The offline play is positively barren, Multiplayer only has 2 new modes, Campaign scoring is still probably just as unrewarding as ever, and the unlocks system is probably equally barren and unrewarding as well.

Also, since when is only being able to use 2 of the 8 Spartans in campaign a positive thing? Don’t you want to play as Kelly for the first time in your life? Shouldn’t 343 want that? In the long run, these are all things that weigh positive experiences of the game down, and I can’t seem to get that across lately.

> Equal starts in arena gameplay

This is a requirement.

You literally can’t call something ‘competitive Arena gameplay’ without equal starts.

> $1,000,000 tournament to open competitive play.

This will never affect you and doesn’t make Halo 5 a better game. Of course it’s not a negative, but… not a positive.

> Base movement speed has been sped up, and sprint has been slowed down since the beta. Also sprint won’t be allowed to be abused because shields don’t recharge while sprinting.

I’m going to call a spade a spade, and say that punishing players for using Sprint is not an objectively positive thing.