What's really hurting the player retention

Games Halo Infinite
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We can discuss pin blame on lack of customization, lack of content and even lacking pve, forge but to me I think the biggest culprit is this; lack of maps.

Playing Team Doubles and FFA, I realized these modes flow with the maps very well. The games feels more engaging and you have more breathing room. Sure it is still competitive but it isn’t frustrating.

4v4 is the norm for the pvp experience and yet none of these maps honestly work well for it. Which is a shame because while they are new and original, they really shine in FFA or Doubles/2v2. This made me conclude that Infinite’s multiplayer problem is that it suffers with Combat Evolved syndrome.

I will explain. Halo CE plays very well for 2v2 and FFA. Original base maps, not the ones on the PC port. The game couldn’t handle 4v4 because of the bad spawn system. While Infinite doesn’t contain the same spawn system as CE in terms of spawning by your teammate, being prone to spawn kills; Halo Infinite just has terrible spawn points and the maps are so cluttered and full of open areas to being shot at that the entire flow results in swears smearing your up close or spamming grenades, basically abusing the meta. This results in boring, predictable matches and as a result I see why the player base dropped. Halo Infinite plays terrible for 4v4 the same way CE is awful for 4v4.

Another mode Infinite gets right is BTB. For the first time the vehicle balancing and map spawns, even objectives, are actually engaging. Every Halo after CE, BTB just sucks. Maps aren’t proper scale or simply put, the maps aren’t good for objective play. I notice in matches that people actually are interested to play for the objective because the map is well designed for them. I still don’t consider these maps good, just average. We need more BTB maps in terms of diverse biomes. On their own, they play much better than the BTB maps we were given from 2-Guardians. And since they finally fixed the spawn issues with vehicles, the experience is even better.

Infinite solely suffers with it focused on 4v4 and their refusal to make maps that are for 4v4 play. A good inspiration are the maps in Halo 2. Heck, just bring back Turf, Gemini, and Burial Mounds. Maps like those would work wonders in Halo Infinite. The grapple hook too.

While I am blackpilled about Halo im general, and I still consider Infinite to be a disappointment, I would be lying if I said that 2v2, FFA or BTB are boring. Absolutely not. The game is at it’s peak in those three modes. Anything 4v4 is a crap shoot and hopefully 343 or Certain Affinity, make more maps that are meant for 4v4. They should frankly just remove 4v4 as it is until they put in new maps that actually work for them. My two cents.

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Halo Infinite is competing with MCC and Halo 5… and is a free to play model.

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Nah biggest issue is lack of a standard progression/rewards system.

Desync.

Underlying implementation of aiming mechanics.

Lack of basic community and lobby features.

Super slow and cumbersome UI.

Imo.

Small map pool is an issue for sure.
But not the biggest.

BRs can survive on a map for a year if the above elements are solid.

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The true answer here is desync. If the game was actually playable people wouldn’t be leaving. It’s that simple. Some may not play daily due to lack of content but they will check in/come back if the game plays properly.

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Might be overstating a little; but lack of content/progression, de-sync, and general “incompleteness” are for sure the major reasons.

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There are a number of issues but the most obvious ones are the features that were removed from Infinite that were normally found in previous Halo titles. On top of technical problems, Infinite is also missing other key things such as a steady flow of content and engaging activities that attract new and old players. The only engaging “activities” players get to participate in Halo Infinite is whenever an Event drops (usually the same event two or three times in a row) or when the new Weekly Challenges refresh but both of these “activities” require Challenges to be completed, usually the same kind of challenges, over and over again. Clearly, a large number of players are not having a good time with the lack of content or these poorly thought out activities in Halo: Infinite, so naturally, gamers are moving on to something else.

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I feel the exact same way. BTB, FFA & 2v2 are Infinites strongest playlists.

By far the maps play best and most like classic Halo in these modes.

Behemoth & Launch Site are the correct size of map for 4v4 but they’re just not great maps.

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We’re about the get overwhelmed with maps and unless you have an inn with the devs, 95% of the maps are probably going to be sub-par. Just porting and tweaking every map that has ever existed for multiplayer Halo should launch with Forge, imo, as it will give a massive database to build stuff on and if the studio doesn’t do it, a dedicated fan with probably waste all their time recreating their favourites when it’s probably a case of dragging and dropping files from different folders for the devs.

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i too blame the lack of maps but i also think it’s the lack of weapons and vehicles, alot of them just feel boring to me, and i want dual wielding to come back.

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Really, I think that player retention is being driven down by the reality that the current multiplayer ensemble doesn’t respect you (the player) or your time. It only acknowledges currency symbols followed by strings of numbers.

I could play Halo Infinite for 3000 hours or I could play it for 24, but it doesn’t matter. Besides a physical manifestation of accrued skill, I have nothing to show for it. An aspect that was omnipresent in all previous Halo titles-- unlocks, customizations, etc in exchange for effort and time spent levelling up or hunting achievements-- is completely missing from Halo Infinite. That inherently social aspect of the game, the ability to demonstrate how experienced you are through appearance-related means, is completely disrupted in favor of a business model that wants the last 4 digits of your card.

It doesn’t stop at monetization though. The other blatant disregard for your (probably misplaced) use of energy is the means of progression. In past Halos, this would mean some form of a level system tied to your cosmetic unlocks. In Halo Infinite, it refers to a Battle Pass that only very recently started becoming capable of positive returns. Another paid-for experience. But that Battle Pass isn’t progressed quite the same way as past Halos’ level systems were, and inexplicably so: In Halo Infinite, your progression relies heavily on the completion of challenges.

While such a system would be innocuous when supported by a much broader system like the one Halo Reach had relative to match performance, it’s incapable of serving as a primary means of progression and thus detracts heavily from the experience. For the first half of the game’s early life, one of the biggest gripes the player base had (and even had long before the launch of the game) was how slow and tedious progression was under the challenge system. It still very much is, though updates to XP-per-challenge and a bandaid fix for match-based XP have made things faster.

The last willful ignorance I’m willing to name is the lack of social features at large. Perhaps the true reason when compared to the other two I’ve presented, I must make the statement that Halo Infinite is primarily an anti-social game. Though means of bypassing this design exist (through the use of third party communication channels like LFG posts and Discord servers), the base game itself without any assistance is lonely and desolate, in terms of both communication and content.

That’s why people harp on Halo Infinite’s content, and that’s ultimately why we’re led to discussing what’s actively injuring this game’s ability to maintain popularity. If you can’t simply sit down and have a good time with a vast number of the game’s systems, what else is there to look at besides 343 Industries’ messy and rushed handiwork?

It’s just not a positive experience. Forge is definitely going to help in this regard (with me boldly assuming that Custom Games will be fixed in time for its release), since players will then be able to make their own fun through a powerful editor, but the game is just lackluster as it is.

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For multiplayer the biggest thing for me was how difficult it is to interact with your friends and others as well as the game itself, the lack of seeing detailed personal stats or other peoples, not so easy to access file share, poor UI, no pre or post game lobby, no party up, voice chat, poor progression systems, supplementary features like forge and theater, clans and custom games, customisation.

I suppose in essence it’s the interactivity, through social features, progression and things that add to the dimension or personability of the game. Infinite feels linear, closed off and hollow.

What I loved about the 2, 3 & Reach online era was how easy it was to network and connect with others, as well as be nosey and see their profile, to build rivalries. All these big companies love to prattle on about “Investment” yet the biggest thing that built investment for me during the xbox / 360 era is missing or very poorly executed.

Beyond that next thing would be gamefeel. In this case the poor netcode, desync, poor driving mechanics, no collision, outlines, aiming and stick accel that no matter how much tweaking feels bad, all the weapons with difficult handling or RNG.

Lack of interactivity / involvement / investment makes me not want to jump online, poor gamefeel makes me want to get off once I do.

If I can stomach both being bad then yea lack of content / weak content quality is next for me.

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For me its hands down the desync. I just finished a tactical slayer and on my screen I backed behind a wall to avoid death then two second later after I’m behind cover I die. So frustrating.

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The real reason I think it’s not doing well is because it just is less fun in nearly all aspects compared to other Halo games. Yeah it has some maps that are okay some suck for both BTB and arena, weapon sandbox has a few good weapons, its a bit boring but its ok. Desync is annoying af and I often get connected to US servers from EU. Stuff sometimes just bugs out but it can work. Aiming is bad in this game but it can do the job. There’s some cosmetics that are free but lots of them cost money I guess and its another game with a mobile-game style battlepass which just feels cheap.

Just so many things that are less good compared to previous titles and it impacts the experience. Just adding more maps or just adding an exp bar won’t magically fix the game.

I can pick an MCC title and just keep playing it in team slayer on the same playlist maps with the same weapons and I’ll have more fun than when playing Infinite, and I hardly ever look at the progression system and customization of that game.

It’s a combination of everything being lesser making Infinite a lesser game and ontop of that frustrating stuff like bugs/crashes/lag/desync/challenge systems/lack of non-cosmetic related content updates (I personally don’t see a new event battle pass with cosmetics and store stuff for playing a “new” old gamemode that could’ve been made in a working custom games for two weeks as new content) being the cherry ontop.

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I used to play games just for fun. I’ve never really craved a progression/level. I’d like unlocking rewards when they feel earned. Like beat the game on various difficulties or do certain achievements. I don’t buy cosmetics because I feel like it’s a rip-off. I do buy the battle pass but I don’t rush to get it done. It’ll get done.

I care more about fun game types than maps. I’ve a mindset that if we had only one map but a dozen different games to play it would still be fun.

I do think the game type, weapon, and movement settings have an effect on player retention.

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Why isnt sbmm on this list I have a 67% win rate on mcc and its fun knowing sbmm can’t screw you into sweaty games all the time

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Because cleary its not top of my list.

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It’s near the top for me as I get punished for trying in infinite. Do good you get sweaty games and teammates with no thumbs

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Issue for sure i just think the other things should come first.

I think that even when SBMM is addressed if the above elements arent fixed its impact on retention will be minimal.

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This game is screwed the game shipped half baked and it’s still not finished to this day. 343 only cares about the skin store. Too many missing features and de sync your post covered most is it

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For me, it’s the fact that 80% of my matches are at 250 ms ping time, because 343’s Server Selector thinks Alberta Canada is somehow closer to some European server (at 250 ms ping times) versus NW USA (Seattle). When I I get the Seattle Server, my ping times drop to 30 ms and I know from MCC/H5 the 30 ms ping Server is Seattle.

At 250 ms ping times, I can’t even tell if there is “De-Sync” happening, because it’s a laggy mess.

Until they let me pick the Server I connect too, the game (which I get for “free” with my Game Pass Subscription) will remain uninstalled on my Xbox. And I won’t try and drag my friends into it either.

1 Like