i dont get it
I'm just gonna comment on a few specific things. Otherwise I agreed with most of it.
A Balance of Work in Halo.
Competitive Find a flow of constant engagement. 30 seconds of fun was a common saying back during the earlier Halos, no more
now its 15 seconds of fun. The best most competitive games Ive seen have had Avg Lives of 15 seconds or less. Allowing a team time to really get a hold of large maps grab all power weapons and survive for long periods of time too often isnt pushing their threshold they arent hitting the edge of their ability. They are bullying at that point, not challenging themselves, not overcoming obstacles. Not being challenged = Boring, its scientifically proven!
This reminds me of u4ix trying to describe the golden triangle and thinking it was "what are the three most important things of Halo", when it's actually a design concept around balancing three player mechanics. 30 seconds of fun is a concept that is creating a basic loop that the player will go back to. It can't be too long or people will get bored. It can't be too short or people will believe it is fairly random. It's not a literal 15 seconds or 30 seconds. Regardless of skill level and intent of playing, you want to create a basic loop that people feel is incredibly satisfying.
Creative Allow players to form their Spartan to be used interchangeably in both MP and SP and (Third gametype) giving an increased sense of development and meaning. This means allow them to build their card. Whatevers the current thing? Call symbol/Clan Tag etc. Allow them to purchase pieces allow them to choose the colors of the pieces. Allow them to earn special pieces through campaign and spec ops feats of strength. Ex: Halo 3s Katana was actually earned by earning every achievement this took time and perseverance; it was not giving to them by a grind of points. DO NOT CREATE A GRIND. Create a progression.
The Campaign should tell a story. This story is about the Master Chief character as he searches for his humanity. If you have the player become their own character, then it takes away from the story that is already being presented. Leave the player as a protagonist to something like Reach or SpOps.
Fresh Content
DLC. Halo 4s DLC has been great the only problem is the map packs seem to be bunched. Crimson was nearly all BTB DLC. When Halo 4 already has an abundance of BTB maps. Spread that out. One BTB One Medium One Small per pack. Each a month or two apart.
I'm actually a fan of how 343 bundled similar maps in packs. They should have done more arena styled maps, but that's a tangent of its own. The reason it is good to do similar packs is so that way the player doesn't have to buy stuff that they don't want. It is surprising how many people didn't buy Defiant because they were only getting 2 MP maps in it. If the player isn't a fan of Arena styled maps, then the player didn't have to buy the Majestic maps.