This isn't a fair post. People are ready for a dominant Halo again, 343 just has to take the proper steps to ensure maximum success potential by making map packs free and charging for other DLC.
If you want your community to grow and continue playing your game for an extended period of time, these decisions need to be made from the top down. It has to be part of the culture at 343; Halo's keyholders need to step their shit up and get over nickle and diming fans.
Also, transparency. There are many ways to bring Halo back to the top with the unlimited potential of next gen tech.
Sorry for the late reply, I was out training.
I feel that it is a pretty fair post. Halo has lost three key identities with Halo 4: An adventure campaign (See my long rant about it), a skill based stripped down multiplayer and a feature rich toolset. All of those elements made Halo a standout among other titles, and could at one time be labeled as innovative features. We have seen the campaign bogged down, the multiplayer being turned into something that it never was or should be and a toolset that is barely even there. How does any of those squandered fundamental core elements invoke any trust in future installments?
Yes, you could say that Im being too cynical because Im not looking at the aspects leading to those elements being squandered. Of course there are development realities that just contributed to a less then stellar product. That is just how things are, I know that because well everywhere I have worked we have had to sacrifice something small for it not to hamper to overall product. The thing is that you have to keep those sacrifices as small as possible, or even replace it with something better or something that soothes the pain. With the industry rapidly churning out games, I feel that games will stop trying to be the whole package. And why would developers not release a stripped down game? Non regular players see the superficial stuff (pretty graphics, shooting), play the game and sell it and the game turns a profit by the sheer virtue of being a complacent product. And seeing how much Halo 4 was gutted, you cant help but feel that it will go even further in that route.
CoD fundamentals have not changed, most if not all features from older games are intact and on top of that you get new features. That is what I call bang for your buck. As much as people see Activision as the boogeyman, they sure do a lot to keep attracting players. If you analyze their strategies you notice that they are not being complacent with their position, they are actively trying to get more players to play their game. You know why Activision gets less flack if they do something bad? They do more good than bad. You know why 343i gets so much flack even when they do something decent? They have done more bad then good. People dont want to hate really hate 343i, but when you have done 60 things terrible; nobody is going to praise you for doing 1 thing good. That sentiment will stay for a while, and 343i has to respect that and well to be blunt: deal with it.
Halo will not magically be up there with franchises that consistently do more good than bad going into next gen. Their places on secure, so much goodwill built in years. Well, you could say that Im not asking 343i to do better, Im asking them to go above and beyond. I mean that is the most positive thing I can say right now. I will give it to them for outright announcing 60fps and Dedicated Servers out of the gate, though.
