If 343 responded to the massive backlash by making armor coatings free, would we be more accepting of that? Yes it takes away the custom colors, but since they already implemented this into the game, it’s pretty much permanent. They could pull a 180 and give us full color pallette and shade control, but that’s unlikely.
The issue I have with armor coatings is they are selling them for 5$. Imo, they went to far by selling emblems for 2$. Staple aspects of halo are disappearing, and that is something that should not be happening. This could be a Microsoft choice to monetize it, but I feel like a true love of the franchise would make you really reluctant to add this awful cash grab scheme.
To be fair, money has been dumped into this game, so what if 343 made free players pay for most customization (because most people are going to play it free, I won’t be), and people who buy the game are now allowed to get all those coatings free, or at least the ability to unlock them through gameplay. Don’t cheat your $60-$70c customers 343