Whether or not you are aware of it, Halo 4 has the worst downward spirals of population the franchise has ever experienced. In fact, as far as I know, Halo 4 is now resting in the absolute worst position the newest Halo game has ever been in franchise history (see here). Now I understand that there many new games out and additionally the game of the year should give Halo 4 a boost in standing on the charts. But the question is, where did it all go wrong? The following list details the top two reasons why I think Halo 4 has failed to retain anything close to the popularity it once had.
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The network conditions in this game have been some of the worst I have ever experienced, I imagine most other players have experienced about the same. For the first few months, which is a critical time for making an impression, the game was borderline un-playable. The lag, black screens, host migrations, host selection, random booting made playing this game an exercise in frustration. Still to this day, it is not worth playing with a guest, it basically guarantees poor play-ability. Above all other things, this is the most important. No matter how cool your game is, if it does not actually play well and consistently, it is doomed to fail miserably. Still to this day I run into more network problems then the previous game and that should never be the case with any franchise.
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Halo 4 was released missing critical staples of the franchise, a few that come to mind were Big Team objective, Infection (Flood is a poor excuse for Infection) and Classic Slayer. Im sure there were more, but I cant remember what they were. Customers have shown in the past exactly what they like and expect those to be included. New gametypes are cool, but if the standards are missing, you will most likely run into dissatisfaction. Take Flood for instance, 343 was handed a crowd pleaser and could have literally taken the new Flood skin, put it over the settings from the last game and had an instant hit. About a year and a half into Reach’s lifetime, Infection was attracting more then the most populated Halo 4 playlist currently has. 343 either did not understand what made that gametype fun or did not care, either way the ball was dropped, big time.
I hope for success with the franchise for 343, but if Halo 5 is anything other then a stellar, polished product from the second it is released, irreparable harm will have been to the franchise.
And even Spielberg wont be able to fix it.
EDIT
Other things called for by the community, but not included in Halo 4.
- In game visible rank with a much longer level progression system.
I agree. I’d like to add ranking to the list. Since 343 chose to go the COD route they should have done it right.
Some type of Prestige/reset option would have given Halo 4 some legs. I mean I never like COD but BO2 has my respect. There is always something to unlock or prestige. Then treyarch literally took Reach’s Arena idea and ran with it in League Play. Meaning Activision/Treyarch respect their competitive community enough to give them proper ranking, even if its somewhat of a ripoff.
CSR is a joke IMO. Not because of how it functions but because its hidden and one must search for it outside of the game.
My point is 343 didnt add any incentive to keep playing. I wouldve loved for H4 to be more like H2&3. However I could deal with Halo 4’s current settings if there were some type of in-game rank or prestige option. Bottom line is constant progress it what keeps people’s attention. Not necessarily progressive unlocks but some indication that the player is moving forward or getting better(or worse). SR 130 feels like Game Over not an accomplishment.
> Some type of Prestige/reset option would have given Halo 4 some legs. I mean I never like COD but BO2 has my respect. There is always something to unlock or prestige. Then treyarch literally took Reach’s Arena idea and ran with it in League Play. Meaning Activision/Treyarch respect their competitive community enough to give them proper ranking, even if its somewhat of a ripoff.
really a prestige or reset option why not most players blame now all that halo 4 has more cod stuff why not put more cod stuff in it.
the level system most be the same like halo reach has that it takes long to reach the max level.
thats the only way to keep a other piece to chance not in cod way.
> SR 130 feels like Game Over not an accomplishment.
why you not gone try to complete all achievements if you own the dlc maps?
or try to make you Commendations to 100%.
Halo may not ever be the giant it was again but it will always be a popular game with a solid fan base.
> Halo may not ever be the giant it was again but it will always be a popular game with a solid fan base.
What is your definition of “solid”
> Whether or not you are aware of it, Halo 4 has the worst downward spirals of population the franchise has ever experienced. In fact, as far as I know, Halo 4 is now resting in the absolute worst position the newest Halo game has ever been in franchise history (see here). Now I understand that there many new games out and additionally the game of the year should give Halo 4 a boost in standing on the charts. But the question is, where did it all go wrong? The following list details the top two reasons why I think Halo 4 has failed to retain anything close to the popularity it once had.
>
> 1. The network conditions in this game have been some of the worst I have ever experienced, I imagine most other players have experienced about the same. For the first few months, which is a critical time for making an impression, the game was borderline un-playable. The lag, black screens, host migrations, host selection, random booting made playing this game an exercise in frustration. Still to this day, it is not worth playing with a guest, it basically guarantees poor play-ability. Above all other things, this is the most important. No matter how cool your game is, if it does not actually play well and consistently, it is doomed to fail miserably. Still to this day I run into more network problems then the previous game and that should never be the case with any franchise.
>
> 2. Halo 4 was released missing critical staples of the franchise, a few that come to mind were Big Team objective, Infection (Flood is a poor excuse for Infection) and Classic Slayer. Im sure there were more, but I cant remember what they were. Customers have shown in the past exactly what they like and expect those to be included. New gametypes are cool, but if the standards are missing, you will most likely run into dissatisfaction. Take Flood for instance, 343 was handed a crowd pleaser and could have literally taken the new Flood skin, put it over the settings from the last game and had an instant hit. About a year and a half into Reach’s lifetime, Infection was attracting more then the most populated Halo 4 playlist currently has. 343 either did not understand what made that gametype fun or did not care, either way the ball was dropped, big time.
>
>
> I hope for success with the franchise for 343, but if Halo 5 is anything other then a stellar, polished product from the second it is released, irreparable harm will have been to the franchise.
>
> And even Spielberg wont be able to fix it.
I agree with most of all this except the Spielberg comment.
I called it day 1. Without a local only search option, the game would die in 3 months. That’s about when Halo 4s population started declining to about 30,000 and stayed there.
> I agree. I’d like to add ranking to the list. Since 343 chose to go the COD route they should have done it right.
>
> Some type of Prestige/reset option would have given Halo 4 some legs. I mean I never like COD but BO2 has my respect. There is always something to unlock or prestige. Then treyarch literally took Reach’s Arena idea and ran with it in League Play. Meaning Activision/Treyarch respect their competitive community enough to give them proper ranking, even if its somewhat of a ripoff.
>
> CSR is a joke IMO. Not because of how it functions but because its hidden and one must search for it outside of the game.
>
> My point is 343 didnt add any incentive to keep playing. I wouldve loved for H4 to be more like H2&3. However I could deal with Halo 4’s current settings if there were some type of in-game rank or prestige option. Bottom line is constant progress it what keeps people’s attention. Not necessarily progressive unlocks but some indication that the player is moving forward or getting better(or worse). SR 130 feels like Game Over not an accomplishment.
It took me about a year/ year and a half to obtain max rank in Reach. Halo 4, month and a half =/
Do you mean where it all went wrong with just Halo 4? I’d say not having a public beta. All the crap they spent fixing during the first 6 months of the game being out could have been all fixed before release. If they had one and maybe we would have a way to disable sprint and other things people want in the game.
> > Some type of Prestige/reset option would have given Halo 4 some legs. I mean I never like COD but BO2 has my respect. There is always something to unlock or prestige. Then treyarch literally took Reach’s Arena idea and ran with it in League Play. Meaning Activision/Treyarch respect their competitive community enough to give them proper ranking, even if its somewhat of a ripoff.
>
> really a prestige or reset option why not most players blame now all that halo 4 has more cod stuff why not put more cod stuff in it.
>
> the level system most be the same like halo reach has that it takes long to reach the max level.
> thats the only way to keep a other piece to chance not in cod way.
>
>
>
> > SR 130 feels like Game Over not an accomplishment.
>
> why you not gone try to complete all achievements if you own the dlc maps?
> or try to make you Commendations to 100%.
You dont get it. I dont like the COD stuff but since 343 took so much from it then they should have done it RIGHT. A prestige/reset option would simply give H4 some longevity. The other option would be make CSR visible but anything that resembles Halo seems impossible for 343 to pull off.
Also I could care less about Commendations because they dont interest me. I dont want to use Boltshot or AR just to get a bunch of points. I rather have a competitive ranking system
Reach’s ranking was pointless even though it took a while to get max rank.
Next Halo should have 1-50 or some type of dynamic ranking(rank-up and de-ranking).
Great topic, Plunder.
I think what we have here is that for the first time in the Halo franchise they made a game where there’s no point to “getting better”, whatever that means to you.
In War Games, you start off with powerful weapons and in short order with little effort you get power weapons, and they just keep coming. In SPARTAN Ops you just run from one end of a map to the other, fight enemies on the way, fight enemies when you get there, fight enemies on the way back, push some buttons along the way… getting good at your specialization doesn’t matter. Rank accumulates way too fast. In most games the incentive to keep playing for hours is just not there. Halo 4 Forge is more frustrating than Halo 3 Forge. Custom Games. Theater.
Matchmaking.
A while back some guy made a thread that kind of justified account selling, saying that, in a roundabout way, account selling was the mark of a good game.
What’s a SR130 worth? What’s a CSR 50 worth?
What’s really mind-boggling is that right up to Reach, although mistakes were made with every release, people have to admit that a lot of things were done right, and a lot of those things didn’t make it into Halo 4. Yet the things that were completely 343i’s that actually showed promised (e.g. SPARTAN Ops) have been abandoned.
What I worry about is that if some other game does for Microsoft and Xbox One what Halo did, Halo is doomed. With Microsoft, if you don’t produce, you’re through. They don’t have to finance the game to keep the franchise going.
Where it went wrong for me was when Halo stopped being Halo and tried to be something else. I am all for innovation and change but not at the cost of an almost perfect formula past Halo title’s had. Call me what you want but Halo 2 and 3 were the best in the series gameplay wise. When it comes to graphics and all that other not so important features Halo 4 takes the cake, but at what cost? I have stopped playing Halo 4 simply because I find no enjoyment in it. Will I play Halo 5? It depends on how 343i decides to go about the Multiplayer aspect. I expect a more traditional style game with new features that do NOT change the game played 5 years ago in Halo 3. Like I said I am ALL for change, but not at the cost making Halo something it isn’t… just another FPS. Halo was THE fps for me, but Halo 4 changed that. Lets hope 343i can redeem themselves around this time next year.
> Where it went wrong for me was when Halo stopped being Halo and tried to be something else. I am all for innovation and change but not at the cost of an almost perfect formula past Halo title’s had. Call me what you want but Halo 2 and 3 were the best in the series gameplay wise. When it comes to graphics and all that other not so important features Halo 4 takes the cake, but at what cost? I have stopped playing Halo 4 simply because I find no enjoyment in it. Will I play Halo 5? It depends on how 343i decides to go about the Multiplayer aspect. I expect a more traditional style game with new features that do NOT change the game played 5 years ago in Halo 3. Like I said I am ALL for change, but not at the cost making Halo something it isn’t… just another FPS. Halo was THE fps for me, but Halo 4 changed that. Lets hope 343i can redeem themselves around this time next year.
I agree.
Halo 4 just doesn’t seem… fun to play in extended playtimes. It feels different, and not in a good way.
> > > Some type of Prestige/reset option would have given Halo 4 some legs. I mean I never like COD but BO2 has my respect. There is always something to unlock or prestige. Then treyarch literally took Reach’s Arena idea and ran with it in League Play. Meaning Activision/Treyarch respect their competitive community enough to give them proper ranking, even if its somewhat of a ripoff.
> >
> > really a prestige or reset option why not most players blame now all that halo 4 has more cod stuff why not put more cod stuff in it.
> >
> > the level system most be the same like halo reach has that it takes long to reach the max level.
> > thats the only way to keep a other piece to chance not in cod way.
> >
> >
> >
> > > SR 130 feels like Game Over not an accomplishment.
> >
> > why you not gone try to complete all achievements if you own the dlc maps?
> > or try to make you Commendations to 100%.
>
> You dont get it. I dont like the COD stuff but since 343 took so much from it then they should have done it RIGHT. A prestige/reset option would simply give H4 some longevity. The other option would be make CSR visible but anything that resembles Halo seems impossible for 343 to pull off.
>
> <mark>Also I could care less about Commendations because they dont interest me. I dont want to use Boltshot or AR just to get a bunch of points. I rather have a competitive ranking system</mark>
> <mark>Reach’s ranking was pointless even though it took a while to get max rank.</mark>
> <mark>Next Halo should have 1-50 or some type of dynamic ranking(rank-up and de-ranking)</mark>.
Yup
> Where it went wrong for me was when Halo stopped being Halo and tried to be something else. I am all for innovation and change but not at the cost of an almost perfect formula past Halo title’s had. Call me what you want but Halo 2 and 3 were the best in the series gameplay wise. When it comes to graphics and all that other not so important features Halo 4 takes the cake, but at what cost? I have stopped playing Halo 4 simply because I find no enjoyment in it. Will I play Halo 5? It depends on how 343i decides to go about the Multiplayer aspect. I expect a more traditional style game with new features that do NOT change the game played 5 years ago in Halo 3. Like I said I am ALL for change, but not at the cost making Halo something it isn’t… just another FPS. Halo was THE fps for me, but Halo 4 changed that. Lets hope 343i can redeem themselves around this time next year.
I agree.
<mark>Halo 4 just doesn’t seem… fun to play in extended playtimes.</mark> It feels different, and not in a good way.
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Somewhat agreed. Typically play around an hour. Jump to campaign afterwards at times. Composer is a fun one for me.
I’m feeling confident however that 343i will deliver nicely in 5 and 6.
> Halo may not ever be the giant it was again but it will always be a popular game with a solid fan base.
I would certainly hope so, my worry is that another disaster like Halo 4 will cripple the franchise permanently. What Im concerned about most is, what is 343’s taking away from Halo 4 and to a certain extent, Reach.
I will expound.
Take for instance the gametype Infection, when 343 took over it was the number one playlist. 343’s ideas for making it better was to attempt to make maps that balance out gameplay, then to add insult to injury, they add Zombie Ghost (dont even get me started on that gametype). Infection is not meant to be balanced, the very essence of the gametype is the imbalance. The population lost about 20 to 30%, those players did not disperse to other playlist, they left. I would think that the lesson taken away from that is that balance is not desired in that playlist. However, 343’s next step in the saga of Infection is Flood, they went further down the road of balanced gameplay for this gametype. Even though the population for this playlist has plummeted to almost dead last, there seems to be a stubborn refusal change a single thing.
If this is 343’s learning curve for a single playlist, that does not bode well for an entire game.
to me, i think its more than just the multiplayer aspect of 4. campaign, spartan ops, theater, forge, and even custom games are all atrocious.
campaign: i would tie 4 with 2 as worst halo campaign. no joke, if they replaced master chief and cortana with other people, i wouldnt have known i was playing halo at all
spartan ops: just the fact that they replaced firefight with this instead bc firefight was “bungie’s thing” tells me straight out they didnt care for bungie at all. also, requiring an online connection to play it, even after having all of it downloaded, is a slap to all of your faces
theater: for what reason could anyone have to reduce this mode’s functionality and only record multiplayer and custom games?
forge: i really dont see how forge island is different from reach’s forge world. plus, island not being on the disc clearly tells me forge was not that high of a priority at 343
custom games: has anyone here figured out how to set up system link in 4 yet? i already updated the consoles, hard drives, game files, installed everything, switched the network setting to system link, and i STILL cannot get it to work. the problem is not any of the above or the cables bc all of that works just fine for 3 and reach.
Both of your points are blatantly wrong population decreased because people didnt like it being made by 343, people were more interested in COD, and then the smaller group which would be all of the community’s complaints
> Both of your points are blatantly wrong population decreased because people didnt like it being made by 343, people were more interested in COD, and then the smaller group which would be all of the community’s complaints
No. 343i was an unknown entity when Halo 4 was released. They had tweaked Reach a bit, but everyone had high hopes that this new developer could make Halo 4 as good or better than anything Bungie did. People started leaving after they got their hands on the game and saw that it was all looks and no performance. The rest of us stuck around hoping 343i would make things right. Most of their fixes cause as many or more problems than they solve, as is what happened with Reach. 343i’s performance in these matters does not give us the confidence that Halo 5 will be better. What it does mean is that Halo 5 will be whatever it is and if anything is wrong with it there will never, ever be an acceptable fix.
Bungie could recognize, take responsibility for, and fix problems that affected good gameplay (Halo 2). 343i ignores problems, blames them on someone/something else, claims to be working on more important projects, and just gives up trying.
You can’t get people to like your game by telling them it’s a good game. It actually has to be a good game.
No. 343i was an unknown entity when Halo 4 was released. They had tweaked Reach a bit, but everyone had high hopes that this new developer could make Halo 4 as good or better than anything Bungie did. People started leaving after they got their hands on the game and saw that it was all looks and no performance. The rest of us stuck around hoping 343i would make things right. Most of their fixes cause as many or more problems than they solve, as is what happened with Reach. 343i’s performance in these matters does not give us the confidence that Halo 5 will be better. What it does mean is that Halo 5 will be whatever it is and if anything is wrong with it there will never, ever be an acceptable fix.
Bungie could recognize, take responsibility for, and fix problems that affected good gameplay (Halo 2). 343i ignores problems, blames them on someone/something else, claims to be working on more important projects, and just gives up trying.
You can’t get people to like your game by telling them it’s a good game. It actually has to be a good game.
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You know ive been on theses forums on and off since release and they have been fixing and adding stuff because of the community and they built halo 4 from scratch with ideas from the community and them selves yes some of them were monstrous but they also couldnt finish because MS and its greedy way of life didnt allow them to delay the game anymore which is why theater doesnt have Campaign and
and spartan ops and of course the multiple issues