[Archived] How 343 can Fix the Challenge System

[Archived] This guide is no longer updated. I have retired from Halo Infinite - I have lost all faith in 343. I've decided to leave the guide up for prosterity. I am proud of the efforts I made, but disappointed that it was all for nothing. At least I tried.

This proposal details necessary challenge system improvements with minimal programming overhead.

It can be easily implemented and will benefit 343 and the players.

There's a Summation / TL;DR at the end of the document.

343, thank you for considering this proposal.

Season 2 Changes

Gametype rarity has changed.

Strongholds

• Ranked 18%
  
• Quickplay 10%

Oddball

• Rumble Pit 26%
  • FFA: Progresses Challenge
    
  • FFA Vampire: Progresses Challenge
    
  • Rocket: Progresses Challenge
• Ranked 18%
  
• Quickplay 10%
  
• Rumble Pit 8%

CTF

• Big Team Battle 25%
  
• Ranked 18%
  
• Quickplay 15%

Please Show Your Support!

Consider supporting this proposal on:

• [May11] Latest Tweet at Jerry Hook
  
• [May11] Latest Tweet at John Junyszek
  
• [May11] Latest Tweet at Halo
  
• [May11] Latest Tweet at Halo Support
  
• [May07] Latest Tweet at Joseph Staten
  
• [May04] Latest Tweet at Brian Jarrard
  
• Halo Waypoint [forums.halowaypoint.com]
  
• Reddit r/halo
  
• Reddit r/haloinfinite
  
• Reddit r/LowSodiumHalo

343's Objectives and UI Limitations

This proposal considers 343's motivations and resources.

From a developers perspective the challenge system exists to:

• Keep players engaged with the game each week.

• Populate a variety of playlists.

• Funnel players into the current event.

• Teach players how to use a variety of weapons/mechanics.

• Earn revenue through player purchased challenge swaps.

UI Limitations and Non-Invasive solutions:

• This proposal serves as an immediate solution to be implemented with as little developmental overhead as possible.

• Further Improvements (outside the scope of this proposal) require extensive changes to functionality of the UI, which aren't feasible at this time.

• The entirety of this proposal is limited to changing the challenge requirements.

• Once approved, it could be implemented in less than a day.

Player Satisfaction and Enjoyment

This proposal prioritises the preferences of the overwhelming majority of players.

Most players love:

• Winning.

• Playing with good teammates, and being incentivised to be a good teammate.

• Playing with teammates who share a common goal.

• Being appreciated by their teammates.

• Focusing on winning, not challenges.

• Knowing that challenge progression depends entirely on their performance.

Most players hate:

• Losing.

• Playing with bad teammates, or being a bad teammate.

• Playing with teammates who prioritise challenges over team congruence.

• Being resented by their teammates.

• Prioritising challenges over winning.

• Being assigned challenges based on LUCK or RNG.

• Failing to remember what their challenges are.

CUPS!

CUPS! (Cumulative Unified Player Score!) is the backbone of this proposal.

CUPS! enhances multiplayer by:

• Incentivising teamwork and prioritizing victory.

• Populating a variety of playlists.

• Guaranteeing challenge progression every match.

• Retaining comparable player engagement.

• Ensuring players never feel their time is wasted.

CUPS! is easy to implement:

Step 1 - Increase the Cumulative Player Score point requirement.

• From: 2,000 (normal) / 5,000 (heroic) / 7,500 (legendary).

• To: 4,000 (normal) / 8,000 (heroic) / 12,000 (legendary).

Step 2 - add Victory and Defeat points.

• Victory: +2,000 points.

• Defeat: +1,000 points.

Step 3 - Remove Complete challenges.

• Players aren't incentivised to win.

• These challenges do not encourage teamwork.

• It may be more efficient to lose deliberately!

Step 4 - Remove Win challenges.

• There are many factors which ultimately decide which team wins.

• Players are at the mercy of teammates skill, internet connection, challenge incentives etc.

• Integrating into CUPS! ensures players try their hardest until the final moment.

Affected challenges

Gametype Completions
For the Fun Slayer Player Lone Danger Social Soiree Practical Tactical Competitor Large Squad Scuffle	Complete Quick Play Matches Complete Team Slayer Matches Complete Free For All Matches Complete Fiesta Matches Complete Tactical Slayer Matches Complete Ranked Arena Matches Complete Big Team Battle Matches
Gametype Performance
Gametype Victories

RNG

RNG (Random Number Generator) refers to technical probability.

Why RNG challenges need to be changed:

• Many challenges depend on specific maps or game-types.

• Players with the wrong map or game-type become frustrated and impatient.
  • Some players prefer to Alt+F4 and risk a ban rather than play challengeless matches.

• Players feel like they're wasting their time.
  • The Win 3 Capture the Flag Matches in Ranked challenge took me more than 10 hours.

Recommended Action:

• Remove from the challenge list.

Affected Challenges

Name	Requirements
Gametype Completions
Play Ball Raise the Banner Castle Crasher Collector Addition Under Control	Complete Oddball Matches Complete Capture the Flag Matches Complete Strongholds Matches Complete Stockpile Matches Complete Total Control Matches
Gametype Actions
You're Done Flag Switching Safe At Home We'll Take That Back, Thanks Not So Fast Land Grab Making Space Stay Off My Yard	Kill Enemy Spartans Carrying the Ball Capture Enemy Flag Return your Flag Kill Enemy Flag Carriers Kill Enemy Spartans Trying to Return their Flag Capture a Zone Kill Enemy Spartans Defending their Zones Kill Enemy Spartans Attacking a Friendly Zone
Actions
Coil Burner	Kill an Enemy Spartan with a thrown Fusion Coil

LUCK

LUCK refers to the rare circumstances needed, or excessive effort taken to achieve challenge requirements.

Why LUCK challenges need to be changed:

• These challenges may create conflicting team goals.
  • Players with the Shock a set of 4 or More Enemy Spartans with a Single Chain challenge might waste an entire match hoarding shock grenades, hiding, and waiting for the perfect moment.

• Players may spend multiple matches focused on completing a challenge as their top priority.

Recommended Action:

• Remove from the challenge list.

Affected Challenges

Name	Requirements
Actions
Back Smack Attack TBD Flapjack Autopilot Engaged Overwatch An Honest Cow Gaptacular Power Company	Kill Enemy Spartans from behind with a Melee Attack Kill an Enemy Spartan with a Shock Chain Kill an Enemy Spartan by flattening them with the Repulsor Kill an Enemy Driver of a moving vehicle with a Sniper Rifle Save allies' lives from far away Interrupt an Enemy Spartan's Energy Sword lunge Knock Enemy Spartans off the map with the Repulsor Shock a set of 4 or More Enemy Spartans with a Single Chain

REDUNDANT

REDUNDANCY refers to challenges which are obtained by playing the game naturally.

Why REDUNDANT challenges need to be changed:

• These challenges are essentially participation trophies.

• These challenges may create conflicting team goals.
  • Players with the Earn Assists challenge might pop an enemies shield, but refrain from killing them.

Recommended Action:

• Remove from the challenge list.

Affected Challenges

Name	Requirements
Gametype Completions
Agoge	Complete any Matches
Gametype Performance
Doing Your Part	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Matches
Gametype Victories
Wheelin’ Dealin’ Poultry Mealin’	Win Any Matches
Gametype Actions
Stopping Power Life of the Party Two Down Head of the Pack Double Header Squad of One	Kill Enemy Spartans in Team Slayer Matches Kill Enemy Spartans in Fiesta Matches Earn a Double Kill in Fiesta Kill Enemy Spartans in Tactical Slayer Matches Earn a Double Kill in Tactical Slayer Kill Enemy Spartans in Free For All Matches
General Kills
Wargames Warrior	Kill Enemy Spartans
Weapon Kills
Martial Artist Look, A Head!	Kill Enemy Spartans with a Melee Attack Kill Enemy Spartans with a Headshot
Actions
Team Player Chef's Kiss Quick Succession One Over Two	Get Assists Kill an Enemies using a semi-auto or burst weapon with peak efficiency Earn a Double Kill in Team Slayer Earn a Double Kill in Fiesta

PRACTICE

PRACTICE refers to challenges which instruct players test weapons, equipment and vehicles.

Why PRACTICE challenges are important:

• Players learn about how weapons, equipment and vehicles function.

• Players practice less popular tools.

Why PRACTICE challenges need to be changed:

• These challenges create conflicting team goals outside of Fiesta.

• Players focused on the challenge are often a detriment to their team.

Recommended Actions:

• Isolate PRACTICE challenges to Fiesta.

Affected Challenges

Name	Requirements
General Kills
Pig Roast Insect Repellant Big Wheel Bully Mortar Minimizer More like Fast & No	Destroy Enemy Warthog Destroy Enemy Wasps Destroy Enemy Choppers Destroy an Enemy Wraith Destroy an Enemy Banshee
Weapon Kills
Subanese Slayer Lead Zappin Misriah's Menace Trusty Sidekick Spread the Love Full Commando Dogged Determination Lethal Lernaean Noisemaker Jorge Would Be Proud Spike Drop Subanese Player It Bears Repeating Hot Pocket of Plasma Vlad World Blademaster Head Hammer Zap Music Brutal Stalker Beam Weaver Heat of the Moment Ultra Tech	Kill Enemy Spartans with the Needler Kill Enemy Spartans with the Disruptor Kill Enemy Spartans with the Assault Rifle Kill Enemy Spartans with the Sidekick Pistol Kill Enemy Spartans with the Battle Rifle Kill Enemy Spartans with the Commando Rifle Kill Enemy Spartans with the Bulldog Kill Enemy Spartans with the Hydra Kill Enemy Spartans with a Rocket Launcher Kill Enemy Spartans with the M247 HMG or M46 Vulcan Kill Enemy Spartans with the Mangler Kill Enemy Spartans with the Needler Kill Enemy Spartans with the Pulse Carbine Kill Enemy Spartans with the Ravager Kill Enemy Spartans with the Skewer Kill Enemy Spartans with the Energy Sword Kill Enemy Spartans with the Gravity Hammer Kill Enemy Spartans with the Shock Rifle Kill Enemy Spartans with the Stalker Rifle Kill Enemy Spartans with the Sentinel Beam Kill Enemy Spartans with the Heatwave Kill Enemy Spartans with the Cindershot
Vehicle Kills
Goose Juice Full Yellow Jacket Ghost Runner Brute Shoot Plasma Caster Fast and Loaded Banshee Bomber	Kill an Enemy Spartan with the Gungoose's Grenade Launcher Kill Enemy Spartans with the Wasp's Chaingun Kill Enemy Spartans with the Ghost's Plasma Cannons Kill Enemy Spartans with the Chopper's Spike Cannons Kill Enemy Spartans with the Wraith's Plasma Mortar Kill Enemy Spartans with the Banshee's Plasma Cannons Kill Enemy Spartans with the Banshee's Fuel Rod Gun
Actions
Separation Anxiety Zoom Boom Call Me Ishmael Grapple-jack	Kill Enemy Spartans by Sticking them with a Plasma or Spike Grenade Headshot Enemies while looking down the scope of a Sniper Rifle Grapple Shot an Enemy Spartan Grapple to and Hijack Enemy Vehicles

EVENT

EVENT challenges should be appropriate. For the sake of functionality, only RNG and LUCK challenges should be removed.

Recommended Actions:

• Remove RNG and LUCK based challenges.

• Future EVENT challenges should be appropriate.

Affected Challenges

Name	Requirements	Status
Tenrai
Autumn Wind of Eve Hold Forth the Sword A Life Unflowered Clouds of Attachment Cut Vacuity in Twain Two Awakenings Disappear Like Dew	Complete Fiesta Matches Win Fiesta Matches Kill Enemy Spartans in Fiesta Matches Earn Assists in Fiesta Matches Earn a Killing Spree in Fiesta Earn Double Kills in Fiesta Kill Enemy Spartans with a Headshot in Fiesta	OK
Dream After Dream	Stop Enemy Killing Sprees in Fiesta	LUCK
HSC Showdown
HCS Training Camp Main Stage Ready	Complete Ranked Arena Matches Win Ranked Arena Matches	OK
TBD Candy from a Baby TBD	Win Ranked Capture the Flag Matches Win Ranked Stronghold Matches Win Ranked Oddball Matches	RNG
Cyber Showdown
Counted Among us Overwhelming Outcome Dependable Kickflips Misriah Loves Company Tallyman Help Wanted Punch Box Laboratory	Complete Attrition matches Win Attrition matches Revive downed teammates in Attrition Kill Enemy Spartans with the Sidekick Pistol in Attrition Kill Enemy Spartans with the Assault Rifle in Attrition Kill Enemy Spartans in Attrition Get Assists in Attrition Kill Enemy Spartans with a Melee Attack in Attrition	OK
Star Ninja	Kill Enemy Spartans from behind with a Melee Attack in Attrition	LUCK
Tactical Ops
Tactical Slayer Medal Play Tacti-Cool Customer Tactical Slayer Medal Win Home Sweet Dome Head of the Class Chain the Pain So Many Doubles Three Ringers	Complete Tactical Slayer matches Complete Tactical Slayer matches Win Tactical Slayer matches Win Tactical Slayer matches Kill Enemy Spartans with a Headshot in Tactical Slayer Earn distinct Killing Sprees in Tactical Slayer Kill two Enemy Spartans in rapid succession in Tactical Slayer Kill three Enemy Spartans in rapid succession in Tactical Slayer	OK
Hip Shooting Battle Burst Vakara Approved Revolver Revolution	Kill Enemy Spartans with the Sidekick Pistol in Tactical Slayer Kill Enemy Spartans with the Battle Rifle in Tactical Slayer Kill Enemy Spartans with the Commando Rifle in Tactical Slayer Kill Enemy Spartans with the Mangler in Tactical Slayer	RNG
Smack Talk Tactical Slayer Medal Killjoy Streak Accident	Kill Enemy Spartans from behind with a Melee Attack in Tactical Slayer Stop Enemy Killing Sprees in Tactical Slayer Stop Enemy Killing Sprees in Tactical Slayer	LUCK
Interference
Cutting Their Teeth Camber Recon To Iritate Iratus Out on the Hunt Vengeance for Vihar	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Last Spartan Standing Matches Complete Last Spartan Standing matches Kill Enemy Spartans in Last Spartan Standing Kill Enemy Spartans with a Melee Attack in Last Spartan Standing Kill Enemy Spartans with a Headshot in Last Spartan Standing	OK
Opportunity to Improvise	Kill Enemy Spartans from behind in Last Spartan Standing	LUCK

Time Investment

Current completion time depends on how lucky a player is with their assigned challenges. This proposal guarantees progress every match.

The introduction of CUPS! gives us a completion time of approximately eight hours.

V = Victory points (2,000)
D = Defeat points (1,000)
M = MVP score average (2,000)
S = Standard player score average (1,000)
T = standard match length Time (10 minutes)
N = Normal CUPS! challenge point requirement (4,000)
H = Heroic CUPS! challenge point requirement (8,000)
L = Legendary CUPS! challenge point requirement (12,000)

W = Weekly Points requirement = ( 8 x N ) + ( 8 x H ) + ( 4 x L ) = 144,000
A = Average Points per match = ( V + D ) / 2 + ( M + S ) / 2 = 3,000

X = Average time commitment per week = ( ( W / A ) x T ) / 60 = eight hours

Example of a Good Weekly Assignment

Difficulty	Example	Requirement	Type
Normal	Kill Enemy Spartans with the Commando Rifle in Fiesta	5	PRACTICE
Heroic	Grapple Shot an Enemy Spartan in Fiesta	1	PRACTICE
Legendary	Kill Enemy Spartans with the Ghost's Plasma Cannons in Fiesta	15	PRACTICE
Normal	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Quick Play Matches	4,000	CUPS!
Normal	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Team Slayer Matches	4,000	CUPS!
Normal	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Free For All Matches	4,000	CUPS!
Heroic	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Fiesta Matches	8,000	CUPS!
Heroic	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Tactical Slayer Matches	8,000	CUPS!
Heroic	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Ranked Matches	8,000	CUPS!
Legendary	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Big Team Battle Matches	12,000	CUPS!
Normal	Kill Enemy Spartans with a Headshot in Tactical Slayer	7	EVENT
Normal	Earn distinct Killing Sprees in Tactical Slayer	1	EVENT
Normal	Kill two Enemy Spartans in rapid succession in Tactical Slayer	1	EVENT
Normal	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Tactical Slayer	4,000	EVENT
Heroic	Complete Tactical Slayer matches	5	EVENT
Heroic	Kill three Enemy Spartans in rapid succession in Tactical Slayer	1	EVENT
Heroic	Win Tactical Slayer matches	2	EVENT
Heroic	Earn distinct Killing Sprees in Tactical Slayer	2	EVENT
Legendary	Kill two Enemy Spartans in rapid succession in Tactical Slayer	7	EVENT
Legendary	Earn Cumulative Player Score in Tactical Slayer	12,000	EVENT

Ultimate Challenges

#	Date	Event	Name	Requirement	Status
01	Nov16		Hello World	Complete any Matches	REDUNDANT
02	Nov23	Tenrai	Peerless Warrior	Earn Killing Sprees in Fiesta	EVENT
03	Nov30		Number 1	Win Any Matches	REDUNDANT
04	Dec07		Tactical Precision	Kill Enemy Spartans with a Headshot	REDUNDANT
05	Dec14	HSC	Battle Tested	Win Ranked Arena Matches	CUPS!
06	Dec21		Platinum Warrior	Kill Enemy Spartans	REDUNDANT
07	Dec28		Bad Driver	Kill by hitting enemies with a Vehicle	LUCK
08	Jan04	Tenrai	Ronin	Complete Fiesta Matches	CUPS!
09	Jan11		Buddy System	Earn Double Kills	REDUNDANT
10	Jan18	CyberShow	Shift in Power	Complete Attrition Matches	CUPS!
11	Jan25	CyberShow	Endurance of Will	Win Attrition Matches	CUPS!
12	Feb01	Tenrai	Fiesta Killjoy	Stop Enemy Killing Sprees in Fiesta	LUCK
13	Feb08		Ranked Flag Win	Win Capture the Flag Matches in Ranked	RNG
14	Feb15		BTB Play	Complete any Big Team Battle Matches	CUPS!
15	Feb22	Tenrai	Daiymio	Win Fiesta Matches	CUPS!
16	Mar01		Total Control Win	Win Total Control Matches	RNG
17	Mar08	Tac Ops	Spike Striker	Kill with the Mangler in Tactical Slayer	RNG
18	Mar15	Tac Ops	Head Dead Reception	Kill with Headshots in Tactical Slayer	EVENT
19	Mar22		Stockpile Win	Win Stockpile Matches	RNG
20	Mar29	Tenrai	No Party Like Skull Party	Kill with a Headshot in Fiesta	EVENT
21	Apr05		To the Victors	Win a Slayer Match in PvP	CUPS!
22	Apr12		BTB Win	Win any Big Team Battle Match	CUPS!
23	Apr19	Tenrai	Way of the Warrior	Kill Enemy Spartans in Fiesta Matches	EVENT
24	Apr26		Shot Counter	Kill Enemy Spartans with peak efficiency	PRACTICE
25	May03	Interference	Camber Surveillance	Complete Last Spartan Standing matches	EVENT

Summation / TL;DR

• Players should be incentivised to cooperate, for the shared goal of winning every match as a top priority.

• Challenges which interrupt the shared goal of winning should be removed.

• The Cumulative Player Score should be improved to become the foundation of the challenge system.

• My updated challenge system; CUPS! supports all of 343's objectives, and provide players with a more engaging experience.

Leave Feedback!

It is imperative that I update this guide to reflect the views of the majority of players in accordance with sound epistemology.

If you have suggestions for improvement, or criticisms, please let me know.

If someone from 343 is reading this, thank you for your time, please pass this up the chain to someone with the authority to consider.

Fellow User Feedback

Originally posted by bradams (Steam):

the challenge system was made this way intentionally to sell challenge swaps. Its not bad on accident, its bad on purpose

I don't doubt it! Without an abundance of swaps though, players are either hoarding their stock for the worst challenges, struggling to complete the challenges instead of buying more, or leaving the game because they refuse to spend money on the system. Any fixes the challenge swaps need is outside the scope of this proposal. My proposal still includes challenge swaps as a feature, until a new system is made.

Originally posted by Super87Ghost (Halo Waypoint):

[This will take casual players more time to complete hardcore playlists like tactical slayer]

It will take less time because of the completion and victory bonuses. I’ve done the math in the previous topic, and it is actually quicker for casual players to complete the Legendary challenge for Cumulative Player Score - Tactical Slayer.

Originally posted by Super87Ghost (Halo Waypoint):

[This proposal isn’t good because it forces people to play many playlists they don’t like, many hardcore playlists like FFA and Tactical slayer are full of serious players]

I can’t think of any way around this honestly. 343 wants us to populate a variety of playlists, the challenges already account for that. In addition, a more diverse population would reduce the number of serious players in a hardcore playlist.

Originally posted by Windjammer19 (Halo Waypoint):

[Instead of playlist dependant challenges, there should be more generic style challenges:

• Win 5 Slayer games (Valid gametypes: Team Slayer, Fiesta, BTB Slayer, FFA Slayer, SWAT)
  
• Win Social games (Valid playlists: Fiesta, Big Team Battle, Quickplay)
  
• Win Competitive games (Valid Playlists: Tactical Slayer, Ranked, FFA)]

I love this idea, my only concern is whether it reduces the number of available challenges significantly. It’s always great when we can stack multiple challenges together, but I worry this will reduce the weekly expected playtime too much. 343 doesn’t want us to breeze through the challenges in an hour or two.

Originally posted by Carl Weezer (Steam):

[The challenges are too easy, I enjoy doing the challenges, they should be harder]

This proposal states at the top that it may not represent any particular opinion. This is an extremely nuanced take to say the least. The priority is improving the game for the majority of players.

[Zozano]

@Vipes #savetf2 too bad I already quit and 343 has lost all favour with the fan-base.

[Vipes]

Well, this finally happened.

[Zozano]

[Archived] This guide is no longer updated. I have retired from Halo Infinite - I have lost all faith in 343.

[Krucjata]

This is great , i just wish the rewards were more for these challenges , 300 to 200 for stuff when i gotta slog through 100+ levels of bullshit just makes me bored

[L1V1NGC0DE]

Came from reddit.

Great write up! 5 stars!

[KyberHobo]

Beautiful work! A very reasonable proposition which 343i should take into account. Currently the challenge system feels like a second job!

[Theleno97]

This is great. One thing I'd love to see is having the ability to swap a challenge to something we want.
As an example: I hate tactical slayer. I don't want a challenge that tells me to complete tactical slayer matches. I recently got one of these and swapped it....to....win tactical slayer matches...wasting 2 challenge swaps. the last swapped turned it into "Get kills with the heatwave".

An RNG based swapping system is terrible (and designed to be so).

[FALLEN]

343 Should hire this guy

[[KT] KD DREAMS]

Yes please, I should be rewarded for winning not doing out of the way challenges.

[jonny on the spot]

very perswading