What If the Community Was The Developer for Halo 6

Community General Discussion
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DISCLAIMER: Legitimate feedback for Halo 6 can be found below. Please read it before commenting how awful the community would be at developing a Halo game (because quite frankly that’s a given)

What would Halo 6 look like if the entire community was in charge of development? Obviously, the game would be a giant mess since the community can’t agree on what would make a great Halo game even if the franchise’s life depended on it (which some might argue it does). But let’s assume the community was able put aside their differences and come to a consensus. What would Halo 6 look like?

I would imagine something like this…

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Unlocks
Req Points/XP
Game Modes
UI/Menu
Gameplay
Warzone/Req System
Enemies/Art Style

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Unlocks:

Armor: Armor in Halo 6 would be unlocked in sets through ranking up (through Spartan Rank). These sets would include the helmet, shoulders, chest, forearms, and legs (which can later be mixed and matched with other sets in the armory).

Visors: Visors will be unlocked through ranking up as well.

Weapon Skins: Weapon skins will be unlocked by completing certain milestones pertaining to the specific weapon. For example, in order to unlock a certain skin for the Battle Rifle you would need to get X amount of kills, headshots, or perfect kills.

Assassination Animations: Assassination animations would be unlocked by getting a certain amount of assassinations and/or beatdowns (for those of you who just want the kill).

Stances: Stances would be unlocked by completing certain achievements such as beating the campaign on legendary.

Thruster Effects: Thruster effects (which includes different colors and animations) would be unlocked by winning a certain amount of multiplayer games (both arena and warzone)

Emblems: Emblems would be unlocked from the start as in earlier Halo games.

Warzone Unlocks: All Warzone unlocks, including permanent unlocks (loadouts and armor mods) and one time unlocks (power ups, power weapons and vehicles) would still be acquisitioned through a RNG requisition pack system (as in Halo 5). Req packs would be purchased using the same req points one uses to purchase unlocked cosmetics.

With the exception of Warzone exclusive items (loadout weapons, power weapons, vehicles, etc) which will be still obtained in req packs, once an item is unlocked it will have to be purchased using req points (kind of like Halo Reach’s system but with req points replacing credits).

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Req Points/XP:

Req and xp points would be obtained from playing matches of multiplayer, customs, forge, campaign, or any other mode. Like in Reach, players will earn points throughout the match based on their performance with additional xp and req points being awarded after the game as well. Completing a campaign level, for example, would give you points based on the difficulty you played on. Completing multiplayer games would obviously give points too (extra xp and req points would be given to players who join in progress and finish games). Forge and Customs would yield marginal amounts of points as well.

Req boosts (giving players more req points per game for a day) would be sold in the req store for real money in place of traditional req pack microtransactions. This way players would have to earn their unlocks, no matter how much they paid. This would also encourage payers to play more during the days they buy boosts as well. There could be different boosts offering players 1.5x, 2x, or 2.5x the req points, each priced according to their value. Note: There would be no xp boosts so that all players are on an equal playing field when it comes to their Spartan rank.

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Game Modes:

Multiplayer:

The multiplayer experience will be split into 3 sections: Warzone, Arena, and Social. Arena would not include sprint (just thrust, clamber, stabilize, and ground pound), emphasizing competitive gameplay. Warzone and Social would include all of Halo 6’s Spartan Abilities (including sprint) with less emphasis on competition, K/D, win/loss, etc (meaning it’s not tracked).

Warzone: Warzone would have multiple gametypes including Traditional Warzone, Warzone Assault, and Warzone Firefight. Warzone Turbo would also be featured.

Arena: Arena would include Team Arena (with Slayer and Objective Gametypes, but no Breakout), Team Slayer, Team Objective, Breakout, Free For All, Team Doubles, Swat, etc. A classic playlist (with no Spartan Abilities whatsoever) would also be included here.

Social: Social would include Big Team Battle (which needs more attention than it did in Halo 5), Infection, Griffball, Fiesta (including Super Fiesta), Social Slayer, Muti-Team, Invasion, Weekend Social (like in Halo 5), etc.

Customs:

Hale 6 needs to have a custom game browser that lets you set up a custom game (both private and public) or search for existing custom games. This would really add longevity to Halo 6 since Halo has the most unique custom games like Reaper, Flap-Jack, etc. However, for a custom games browser to be successful, there must be a wide array of custom games options.

Campaign:

The campaign of Halo 5 was unappealing to many people, including myself. Hopefully, Halo 6 will capture the grandeur of the previous Halo campaigns while building on Halo 5’s relatively interesting path. Regardless, the campaign needs replayability. (Edit: Here is a good outline for the campaign)

Forge:

Halo 6 need to build off Halo 5’s amazing forge. The ability to spawn AI in maps would revolutionize the Halo experience in my opinion. Otherwise, the forge team is already doing a great job and I would just encourage them to keep it up.

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UI/Menu (Just Make It Similar to Reach):

Halo 5’s UI has very many issues such as a terrible lobby system. For Halo 6’s UI, I propose the following:

Lobby: The Halo 6 lobby system should be very similar to Halo Reach. It should show a player’s gamertag, spartan tag, armor, stance, etc (all of which would be customizable in the menu). It should also have the option to mute players, switch between party and game chat, see a player’s service record, open a players Xbox live profile. Players would also remain in a lobby after the game unless they choose to leave. Players would be replaced by someone new when they leave.

Posts Game Stats: The post-game screen would show the MVP in addition to info such as who you killed the most and who killed you the most. It would also show your weapon of destruction. Another section would show each player’s number of kills, deaths, assists, and objective points (such as flag captures). Another section would include the medal screen showing what medals were earned. Make it like Halo 5’s current post game screen.

Announcements: Announcements would be the same as in Halo 5 but would have an option to not show again for the rest of the day.

Map Rotation: Bring back the Veto system from Halo 3 and weight each map choice equally so that they all show up as choices just as often as one another.

The Armory: The armory would be the area where players customized their Spartan with cosmetic unlocks purchased via req points. Players would be able to mix and match, helmets, armor, forearms, shoulders, and legs in addition to being able to change primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. They would also be able to select thruster effects, assassinations, and stances. Emblem customization would also be included.

Everything else can remain the same as in Halo 5.

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Gameplay:

Halo 5, despite its faults, has great gameplay. There are relatively few changes I would make. Here are the changes I would make:

Base Movement/Aiming:

Movement: Increase base movement speed to make it on par with previous titles and make sure sprint is useful but not necessarily with the new movement speed.
Aiming: Give players the option to use the classic aiming from Halo 1-4 or Halo 5’s two turn aiming system.

Spartan Abilities:

Ground Pound: I would keep as is.
Stabilizer: I would keep as is.
Thrust: I would keep as is.
Slide: I would keep as is.
Spartan Charge: Get rid of it.
Clamber: I would like keep as is, but make it such that you need to press jump before you clamber, removing the ability to hold the jump button to clamber. This would make clambering more like crouch jumping.
Sprint: Have the shield timer pause instead of reset while sprinting. Getting shot as your Spartan goes into a full sprint should kick you out of sprint entirely. Otherwise, keep it similar to Halo 5’s sprint mechanic.

Weapons: Halo 5 has great weapon balance since every weapon is relevant. I would keep weapon balance as is (maybe give autos an extremely slight nerf). However, I would change the current default aiming system on weapons. If a weapon had a classic scope earlier in the series (such as the BR, DMR, Sniper Rifle, etc.) it would revert back to the classic sight (which operates the same as smart-scope in terms of canon). Weapons that did not previously have a scope (such as most automatic weapons, the shotgun, railgun, etc.) would keep their projected hologram smart-scope (no physical sights). Of course, scopes would be changeable in Warzone as they are now.

Grenades: Would keep as is since it is already balanced. Maybe add in some fire grenades from Halo 3.

Vehicles:

Aerial Vehicles: I think air vehicles in Halo 5 work very well, especially the banshee. In fact, the only change I would make to air vehicles would be to add a UNSC vehicle (which hopefully arrives in Halo 5’s Memories of Reach update) and give the Phaeton a slight armor buff.
Ground Vehicles: These need to be changed, especially for the sake of BTB. Due to the introduction of Spartan Abilities, vehicles are no longer as powerful as they used to be. This is only worsened by the fact that boarders can’t be killed by a vehicles pilot. In Halo 5, I see many people pass over vehicles. Boarders should be vulnerable so that pilots of vehicles can kill them say with a blast from their wraith against a wall. In terms of the Mantis (which is still a bit weak), you should only be able to board from the back. This should return vehicles to their legendary status.

Power Ups:

Damage Boost: Keep as is.
Speed Boost: Keep as is.
Overshield: Keep as is.
Speed Boost: Allow shields to recharge while sprinting with a speed boost to make the power up more viable. Otherwise, leave as is.

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Warzone/Req System:

Whether or not you are a fan of Warzone, there is no way to argue it has not become a part of Halo multiplayer. It will therefore most likely be in Halo 6. However, that is not to say it should be changed. Here are some changes I propose:

Weapon/Vehicle Variants: Warzone is unique in that it allows players to use different variants of the same weapon or vehicle. Unfortunately, many of these variants are not unique (such as the camo variants of the warthog). In Halo 6, all variants should be unique just like how Hannibal and Oni variants of vehicles are unique. It would also be nice to have more classic weapons like the Halo 2 BR and the Halo CE Pistol (such as a Halo 2 Beam Rifle or a Halo CE Assault Rifle) to give people that nostalgia they crave.

Bosses: Many people dislike the boss system because they can be stolen so easily with as little as one shot. In order to fix the boss system, each team should have their own health bar they have to deplete to kill the boss. Whichever team works the hardest for the kill will get it. Bosses should also be more unique. Since Warzone is a simulation in terms of cannon, it would be cool to fight Tartarus or a Gravemind. The Grunt Goblin is an example of a unique boss already in Warzone. Bosses should also be nerfed a tad (looking at you Grunt Goblin needler and Mantis shield regeneration).

Bases: Bases in Halo 5’s Warzone are almost always copy and pasted. Halo 6’s Warzone should have bases unique to each map. This will make each and every game seem unique (if the map rotation works as it is supposed to).

Maps: Make each any every map in Halo 6’s Warzone have a different feel. Halo 5 has already started to do this with Battle of Noctus being Vehicle focused and Skirmish at Darkstar being infantry focused. Obviously each map should allow for every play style, but they should all have a unique focus. And home bases should have more than one exit to prevent farming players who are trapped (such as on Raid on Apex 7).

WZ Firefight: Many people complain WZ Firefight in Halo 5 is too hard, but the issue isn’t as much about the difficulty as it is about ridiculous Promethean spawns and bullet sponge bosses with overpowered attacks. Prometheans in WZ firefight need to be less like bullet-sponges (more on this later) and their spawns should be toned down. For example, knights should be treated like Hunters (since they are their Promethean counterparts) and spawned selectively. Getting overrun by 20 incineration cannon wielding knights isn’t fair and certainly isn’t fun. Attacks from bosses like Warden Eternal and the Grunt Goblin also need to be toned down.

Req Stations: Req stations need to operate smoothly and need to be more organized. One way to accomplish this would be a req loadout system. There should be 9 loadout slots, one for each REQ level. Upon reaching said REQ level, the gear in that loadout would be automatically equipped. Of course, a player would still be able to switch out one weapon/vehicle for another at req stations, regardless of their loadout. Loadouts would consist of a primary and secondary weapon as well as an armor mod.

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Enemies/Art Style:

Prometheans:

Crawlers: Crawlers should remain largely the same as they are in Halo 5, but it would be nice to see them running up and down walls again as it gave them a bit more depth as an enemy in Halo 4.
Watchers: Watchers should remain largely the same as they are in Halo 5 as well. It would be awesome if we could assassinate them once more like in Halo 4.
Soldiers: Soldiers are currently bullet sponges with the ability to teleport. This makes them not as fun to fight as their Covenant Elite counterparts. A soldier’s armor should be divided into upwards of 4 distinct parts, such as the head, body, arms, legs, etc, and function as non regenerating shield for a soldiers soft spot (their internals). In order to expose a soldier’s soft spot, a Spartan would need to shoot the same segment of the armor (whether that be the head, body, arms, legs, etc) until that part of the armor disintegrated, leaving the soft vulnerable. Shooting this soft spot would kill the soldier. Soldiers’ teleport ability should also be toned down.
Knights: Knights are fine, but they should be treated like their Covenant Hunter counterparts and spawned more selectively.

Covenant:

The Covenant should remain largely the same as they have been throughout the series in terms of combat. However, 343i should be a bit more faithful to the original Covenant design. It would nice to see a blend of the old and new Covenant (in terms of art style), especially on Sanghelios.

> Oh, and include split-screen.

How did I do? Does this seem like a Halo game the community would create if it came to an agreement?

Let me know if I missed anything crucial.

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No sprint

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It would be pure chaos lol

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It would never get released.

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Yea I’m going to go with it’d never get off the developer’s desk the way the wind blows around here.

It’s nice in theory…but would be poor in execution

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> 2535426262519166;9:
> No sprint

I mentioned the addition of a classic playlist in Arena with no Spartan Abilities. As a result, there would be gamemodes without sprint.

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A game created by the community would be the worst game I’d ever seen.

You’d have one side wanting balance down to the side of the bullet, everything being perfect, and another side of the community wants Triple Wielding, throwing that out the window.

The Campaign will be a bunch of plot points and fanservice thrown together in random order.

No one gets anything (Armor, skins, etc) without “gitting gud”.

Even the cover box would be a weird mix of Chief, Zombie Noble 6, Zombie Johnson, and Zombie AI Cortana.

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> 2533274973979999;10:
> It would be pure chaos lol

> 2535461287427665;11:
> It would never get released.

It was more of a hypothetical. I’m just trying to get this community to reach an agreement regarding what we want in future titles. 343i can’t really tailor Halo 6 to the fans if we all want something different.

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> 2533274922858087;13:
> > 2535426262519166;9:
> > No sprint
>
>
> I mentioned the addition of a classic playlist in Arena with no Spartan Abilities. As a result, there would be gamemodes without sprint.

No

The base game should have no sprint. Sprint is a dated mechanic that harkens back to the old days when COD had a strange hold on the FPS genre. Itd time to move forward.

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> 2533274833081329;14:
> A game created by the community would be the worst game I’d ever seen.
>
> You’d have one side wanting balance down to the side of the bullet, everything being perfect, and another side of the community wants Triple Wielding, throwing that out the window.
>
> The Campaign will be a bunch of plot points and fanservice thrown together in random order.
>
> No one gets anything (Armor, skins, etc) without “gitting gud”.
>
> Even the cover box would be a weird mix of Chief, Zombie Noble 6, Zombie Johnson, and Zombie AI Cortana.

Don’t forget 15 variants of the Falcon

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> 2535426262519166;16:
> > 2533274922858087;13:
> > > 2535426262519166;9:
> > > No sprint
> >
> >
> > I mentioned the addition of a classic playlist in Arena with no Spartan Abilities. As a result, there would be gamemodes without sprint.
>
>
> No
>
> The base game should have no sprint. Sprint is a dated mechanic that harkens back to the old days when COD had a strange hold on the FPS genre. Itd time to move forward.

Well for Social and Warzone gamemodes, where balance isn’t nearly as crucial, it is nice to be able to sprint from point A to B. In Arena, I agree that there shouldn’t be sprint (just thruster, stabilizer, clamber, and ground pound). I will make that more clear in the above post.

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> 2533274922858087;15:
> > 2533274973979999;10:
> > It would be pure chaos lol
>
>
>
>
> > 2535461287427665;11:
> > It would never get released.
>
>
> It was more of a hypothetical. I’m just trying to get this community to reach an agreement regarding what we want in future titles. 343i can’t really tailor Halo 6 to the fans if we all want something different.

That statement will happen at the end of days

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> 2533274922858087;18:
> > 2535426262519166;16:
> > > 2533274922858087;13:
> > > > 2535426262519166;9:
> > > > No sprint
> > >
> > >
> > > I mentioned the addition of a classic playlist in Arena with no Spartan Abilities. As a result, there would be gamemodes without sprint.
> >
> >
> > No
> >
> > The base game should have no sprint. Sprint is a dated mechanic that harkens back to the old days when COD had a strange hold on the FPS genre. Itd time to move forward.
>
>
> Well for Social and Warzone gamemodes, where balance isn’t nearly as crucial, it is nice to be able to sprint from point A to B. In Arena, I agree that there shouldn’t be sprint (just thruster, stabilizer, and ground pound). I will make that more clear in the above post.

Being able to move quickly in all directions while shooting is more fun than sprint. People have just forgotten this because of how overwhelmingly popular COD became. Luckily the genre is moving away from this and finally starting to think outside the COD.