The future of Halo and the community

[RondulfThegrey]

Do you know what I think? I think this community needs fewer people with boomer mindset mentalities. I mean, look at the game's population: it's dying. Fewer and fewer people play Halo Infinite every day. Yes, it does spike when they release a new update for the game, but more people play Halo MCC on Steam than they do Halo Infinite on Steam, and that doesn't concern people. (I'm using Steam numbers because Microsoft doesn't really post their population numbers on Xbox that much.) I think Halo needs more changes and improvements to mechanics and gameplay. I don't think it should change drastically like Call of Duty game mechanics, but I think there needs to be more of a change. I mean, take Halo 5 for example. Was it a hated game? Yes, the main story was bad, but the multiplayer was decent for a Halo game. It felt more competitive and rewarded players who mastered the game mechanics, especially for movement. Even Halo 6 does a good job with this very same concept. They even tweaked the movement to be more like the movement of the older titles. I have a theory that the reason most people don't play this game anymore is because of the community behind it is the whiniest community in gaming. Long story short, Halo needs good change, or its player base is going to drop off in a few years. It's just going to be the Halo veteran sweats and the occasional noob.

[countgrey]

It looks like you haven't realized that the Halo franchise came to popularity at at time when there were fewer and less accessible alternatives. Part of why Halo became so popular is because of making gaming more accessible via mass production of consoles that gradually became more powerful and capable. Halo did what it was supposed to: it captured our attention, and helped develop an industry, all while making Microsoft bundles of money.

Now that the industry is so much more developed, we have far more games available to us on a variety of systems, including a huge number of legacy games from systems that aren't in production anymore. This has made it much harder for games to become as big as Halo was back in the day. However, this also means that Halo will be relatively well preserved for future gamers to find and play. What we're seeing now is probably the future of most game franchises: veterans enjoying a familiar and beloved series, with occasional new players wanting to see what the hype is all about. Frankly, I think we are incredibly fortunate that the MCC came to PC, because now we don't need to purchase a console to access the MCC, or have older legacy consoles with various titles already downloaded or physical discs on hand.

[O-Qua Tangin Wann]

This game failed because they pissed everyone off with a lame monetization scheme, questionable design decisions, and bugs.

I'd say they need to go back to the boomer mindset. The new way of doing things has been an absolute disaster. At least back then they weren't so worried about a beancounter and the culture police looking over their shoulder every 5 minutes.

Elden Ring feels like an old boomer game because it's not trying to shove a narrative down my throat, it's clearly designed for its audience (in other words, actually cool), and it's a complete product on its own after I buy it. That's the right direction IMO. Screw the new mindset. It sucks.

[RondulfThegrey]

Originally posted by countgrey:

It looks like you haven't realized that the Halo franchise came to popularity at at time when there were fewer and less accessible alternatives. Part of why Halo became so popular is because of making gaming more accessible via mass production of consoles that gradually became more powerful and capable. Halo did what it was supposed to: it captured our attention, and helped develop an industry, all while making Microsoft bundles of money.

Now that the industry is so much more developed, we have far more games available to us on a variety of systems, including a huge number of legacy games from systems that aren't in production anymore. This has made it much harder for games to become as big as Halo was back in the day. However, this also means that Halo will be relatively well preserved for future gamers to find and play. What we're seeing now is probably the future of most game franchises: veterans enjoying a familiar and beloved series, with occasional new players wanting to see what the hype is all about. Frankly, I think we are incredibly fortunate that the MCC came to PC, because now we don't need to purchase a console to access the MCC, or have older legacy consoles with various titles already downloaded or physical discs on hand.

I do agree with this truly, and I know that gaming has become a lot more accessible to people, and that probably is why there are fewer people playing this game. But I feel like Halo can be more than just an arena shooter. Like how they made a new mode out of Firefight in Halo 5 and added a PvP mix to the game mode, I feel that something like a battle royale could be a good idea with good implementation.

[countgrey]

Originally posted by Big 'Uns:

This game failed because they pissed everyone off with a lame monetization scheme, questionable design decisions, and bugs.

I'd say they need to go back to the boomer mindset. The new way of doing things has been an absolute disaster. At least back then they weren't so worried about a beancounter and the culture police looking over their shoulder every 5 minutes.

Elden Ring feels like an old boomer game because it's not trying to shove a narrative down my throat, it's clearly designed for its audience (in other words, actually cool), and it's a complete product on its own after I buy it. That's the right direction IMO. Screw the new mindset. It sucks.

The thing is, the previous successes weren't due to a "boomer mindset" - they were due to some people being innovative and passionate about making a great game, with some other people simply taking advantage of the field being so ill-defined and unregulated (first mover advantage). Those mindsets aren't restricted to one generation, for better or for worse. They aren't new, either: every couple of years, someone finds a new way to get money out of an industry and then most big companies follow suit, until eventually things settle into an equilibrium. Video gaming is a relatively new industry, so we haven't reached that equilibrium yet - it's part of the natural development and growth of any industry.

Instead, most modern gaming decisions by big companies are heavily influenced by trying to maximize shareholder value via chasing profit. Rather than trying to make $5 in a few months, they would prefer to make $1 now. Small companies start up with the goal of making a quality game, and if they're successful they usually get bought out by a big company who either sits on the intellectual property or exploits it so much that it becomes unrecognizable. Another way to look at it is big gaming companies being run as businesses focused on chasing profits rather than as a gaming company focused on making a quality game that in turns brings in profit. There are some exceptions, but even games like Elden Ring considered using a battle pass.

I'd also like to point out that being worried about "bean counters and culture police" is a bit of a non-sequitur, considering how there will always be someone offended one way or another, no matter how politically correct or inoffensive a game is, as well as the fact that games don't get made if they can't at least pay for the bare necessities. Yes, some modern companies take their concerns too far, while others exploit those concerns to further their own interests. However, that doesn't mean that all modern games are made to appease certain sensibilities.

[countgrey]

Originally posted by Ritual6272:

I do agree with this truly, and I know that gaming has become a lot more accessible to people, and that probably is why there are fewer people playing this game. But I feel like Halo can be more than just an arena shooter. Like how they made a new mode out of Firefight in Halo 5 and added a PvP mix to the game mode, I feel that something like a battle royale could be a good idea with good implementation.

What's more important: bringing in some new users via diluting the identity of the franchise - a few of whom might stay and play other modes - or retaining the identity of the franchise? PvPvE was a fairly unique twist, but battle royale is not.

Chasing a trend is a quick way to lose what makes your product unique. Halo has always been an arena shooter, with a famously long time to kill (TTK). Ditching that in favor of attracting new players, many of whom do not like the rest of the game modes Halo has to offer (otherwise they would already be playing those modes), would ruin the franchise completely. We are already stuck with a timed battle pass system, but at least they're still available after the fact. Let's not slide any further down that slope, eh?

[RondulfThegrey]

Originally posted by countgrey:

Originally posted by Ritual6272:

I do agree with this truly, and I know that gaming has become a lot more accessible to people, and that probably is why there are fewer people playing this game. But I feel like Halo can be more than just an arena shooter. Like how they made a new mode out of Firefight in Halo 5 and added a PvP mix to the game mode, I feel that something like a battle royale could be a good idea with good implementation.

What's more important: bringing in some new users via diluting the identity of the franchise - a few of whom might stay and play other modes, or retaining the identity of the franchise? PvPvE was a fairly unique twist, but battle royale is not.

Chasing a trend is a quick way to lose what makes your product unique. Halo has always been an arena shooter, with a famously long time to kill (TTK). Ditching that in favor of attracting new players, many of whom do not like the rest of the game modes Halo has to offer (otherwise they would already be playing those modes), would ruin the franchise completely. We are already stuck with a timed battle pass system, but at least they're still available after the fact. Let's not slide any further down that slope, eh?

I'm not saying they should just stop doing arena game modes. Part of the reason multiplayer games are so fun is because the game has multiple game modes. People wouldn't stop playing arena or the other modes for that matter, and battle royale is a fairly new mode. There is also extraction to think about, and who knows, maybe someone will make a new battle royale-style mode. Yes, there are game modes that people don't play with Infinite, but it's better to have them than not to have them. The point is, to stop innovation is stale. And maybe that is a bad idea, but it would be better than not doing it.

[countgrey]

Originally posted by Ritual6272:

I'm not saying they should just stop doing arena game modes. Part of the reason multiplayer games are so fun is because the game has multiple game modes. People wouldn't stop playing arena or the other modes for that matter, and battle royale is a fairly new mode. There is also extraction to think about, and who knows, maybe someone will make a new battle royale-style mode. Yes, there are game modes that people don't play with Infinite, but it's better to have them than not to have them. The point is, to stop innovation is stale. And maybe that is a bad idea, but it would be better than not doing it.

I know you didn't suggest Halo stop doing arena modes. However, adding a battle royale isn't innovation, because it's already been done many times by other games. At best, it would be chasing a trend that other games already do very, very well with, and one that Halo isn't really equipped to handle.

Refining game modes and expanding into areas that are under-utilized - such as Warzone PvPvE - would be a viable method of continuing to innovate and avoid stagnation. Arbitrarily adding battle royale because some other popular games rely on that mode feels like a step too far.

[Batty Hen]

Halo is the best because its Halo, not because lack of games out at the time.... thats BS I was there! and there was NO SHORTAGE OF GAMES!

They are trying to cater to new age low attention span players, keep it true.... i've been playing since evolved! you are damaging almost perfection!

[UNITED STATES PATRIOT]

REF: CUSTOM GAMES!!!

Personally myself and few of my friends that like Halo will not buy the next Halo Version unless Halo Studios will let user's Host Custom Game Servers with the following:

1. Have our Forge Maps and Stock maps on our own devices NO CLOUD GAME SERVERS!

2. To be able ROTATE OUR MAPS!

FACT: EVERY HALO VERSION SINCE HALO COMBAT EVOLVED YOU WERE ABLE TO ROTATE YOUR MAPS EXCEPT FOR HALO INFINITE!

3. Have some ADMIN COMMANDS. IE: KIck, ban user's for creating discontent or using HAX/CHEATS, Switch user's, and text users on both teams.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> And most importantly!!!!! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Have a AUTO TEAM BALANCING option in all of the game mods. IE Slayer, Capture The Flag, KOTH ETC. ETC.



JUST MY 2 CENTS!!!

[RondulfThegrey]

It would make perfect sense game and lore-wise. Nobody thought Halo was going to be an RTS game, but it worked out because it fit the narrative of the games.

[UNITED STATES PATRIOT]

Negative Impact on Reputation:

Game developers can suffer from negative publicity and a loss of player trust if they fail to address the issue of cheating, game fixes etc. etc. effectively.

[Snark]

You blame boomer mentality yet for some reason more people play the boomer titles and not the new ones? Surely new people should be joining like crazy, yet Infinite as of writing this sits at 780 players. The problem is that Halo lost its edge, it doesn't have a gripping story, it doesn't have interesting visuals and it no longer innovates, it just copies trends (badly).

The devs saw that CoD was popular and so they copied it. The problem is, once something conquers a niche, it's hard to dethrone it by doing the same thing, you need to do your own thing. Halo used to play a certain way, look a certain way, feel a certain way, I can't get the same kind of vibes from other games and I can't get it from new Halo titles either. Blandness doesn't capture people's imagination.

[G-Yuki]

The game failed because 343 did not play to Halo's strengths, were unnecessarily hostile to both the former bungie devs and playerbase, refused to build on what makes the game great, try and reinvent what didn't need to be reinvented, unable to fulfill it's long term promises, and made idiotic decisions like outsourcing talent to make its engines for example.

They can re brand themselves all they want. It's still the same incompetent company underneath. There's no boomer mentality making it fail, just make a great game and people will flock to it naturally.

[RondulfThegrey]

Originally posted by G-Yuki:

The game failed because 343 did not play to Halo's strengths, were unnecessarily hostile to both the former bungie devs and playerbase, refused to build on what makes the game great, try and reinvent what didn't need to be reinvented, unable to fulfill it's long term promises, and made idiotic decisions like outsourcing talent to make its engines for example.

Halo infinite didn't fail; people still play it. It might not be as popular as other games, but people still play it. 343 gave us what we asked for, and somehow, it's still not enough for the community. It feels more like unchecked expectations.

[ILoveBEES]

This game is trash compared to every other halo