My Thoughts on Continued Progression and Renewed Relationships

[washedfrank]

I’m guilty.

 

I wanted to start with this. In the trepidations involving the Halo community I find it easier to be critical than analytical. I let my emotions take precedent over logic. It’s not excusable and I don’t expect forgiveness. What I aim to achieve in this discourse is hope that light can be shed on both sides of the Halo franchise; the developer and the competitive community, to surmise where each party is coming from.  

 

I hope to bridge a widening gap so that progress and healing can occur.

 

In 2010 Halo as a competitive eSport was on its death bed. The entire community witnessed the highest of highs in 2007 with Halo 3, followed abruptly with the lowest of lows in 2010 and Halo: Reach. These singular changes in gameplay philosophy shaped entire attitudes towards the franchise itself, especially in terms of the competitive community. This then leads to one of the second biggest philosophical shifts which again rattled a community that had just started to believe again.

 

343 Industries took over the Halo franchise and made changes to Halo: Reach which lead it to, in some people’s eyes, be one of the most competitively viable titles in the Halo franchise, resonating most similarly to Halo 2 with the removal of bloom and sprint. In the competitive communities eyes this showed two things.

 

1) 343 Industries listens to the competitive community.

 

2) 343 Industries disagreed with Bungie’s design philosophies introduced in Halo: Reach.  

 

Intro Halo 4; the competitive community was once again met with the same level of dissatisfaction they experienced with the shift from Halo 3 to Halo: Reach. Sprint, loadouts, and armor abilities were at the forefront of this title.

 

These events set the entire tone and expectation within the competitive community; a feeling of distrust, of let down, of disappointment, of false promises.

 

Hopefully, no matter what side of the divide you find yourself, you can begin to see why, however inexcusably, the competitive community reacts to 343 Industries.

 

343 Industries task was not easy, a new developer, attempting to make a name for themselves, to prove they can do the Halo franchise the justice it so rightfully deserves. They attempted to make bold gameplay changes somewhat in line with Halo: Reach, however also in line with classic feelings brought about by Halo 3, on top of staying current with progressions in modern shooters. 343 Industries even goes so far as to introduce episodic content into Halo 4 with Spartan Ops, they attempt to please the community longing for a movie like experience with Forward Unto Dawn, and they expand into new novel and comic experiences.  

The competitive community wants what they know they enjoy, 343 Industries wants to survive.

 

The competitive community believes they should be the focal point because their greatest experiences and memories within the Halo series lie with competitive multiplayer. It’s what they have bled for and stuck with for over a decade. 343 Industries attempted to provide for us with the Master Chief Collection, and again parallels can be drawn from Halo 3 to Halo: Reach and Halo: Reach to Halo 4.

 

I’m not trying to provide a solution for multiplayer.

 

I’m not here to provide direction for 343 Industries.

 

If you’re reading this, you’re passionate about Halo, and that passion often drives our emotions to the point where we lose our ability to be tactful. I just want to extinguish this painstaking slow burning bridge that is the relationship between the developer and the competitive community. All I’m asking is that you take a shot at empathy, attempt to understand where the other person is coming from, what the other person is trying to achieve, and see if in some way, no matter how warped it might appear, that they somehow align with your goals; your aspirations for the Halo franchise. Don’t sacrifice your integrity, your passion for this franchise; just realize that all parties blossom from this passion. 

 

I think you might find we all want the same thing, so in an attempt to barter what little influence I have left in this community, please consider a path of empathy in an effort to better this franchise we all love. Forgive the mistakes of others, and move forward; keep moving forward.

 

<3

 

Original content found here: http://majorlabelgaming.tumblr.com/post/117094537813/bridges

[li97]

So we should see where they're coming from when a AAA studio owned by Microsoft fucks us out of 350+ for a game that is "just like we remember it" that didn't and still doesn't work 6 month later???

 

Nevermind all the lies and constant shoving of Halo 5 down our throats. All development and advertisement of Halo 5 should have been halted the second this travesty was released. It was done with Battlefield, it can be done.

 

No. No sympathy from me. If they were more upfront about ANYTHING, MAYBE they would have a chance at sympathy. They want our money. All we want is what we paid for. They got what they wanted and we still haven't gotten what we want.

[washedfrank]

So we should see where they're coming from when a AAA studio owned by Microsoft fucks us out of 350+ for a game that is "just like we remember it" that didn't and still doesn't work 6 month later???

 

Nevermind all the lies and constant shoving of Halo 5 down our throats. All development and advertisement of Halo 5 should have been halted the second this travesty was released. It was done with Battlefield, it can be done.

 

No. No sympathy from me. If they were more upfront about ANYTHING, MAYBE they would have a chance at sympathy. They want our money. All we want is what we paid for. They got what they wanted and we still haven't gotten what we want.

 

Forgive and forget, harboring negativity isn't healthy. 

[li97]

Forgive and forget, harboring negativity isn't healthy.

Do you expect things to change by "forgiving and forgetting"?

[washedfrank]

Do you expect things to change by "forgiving and forgetting"?

 

Don't stop providing feedback, but attempt to do so in a more tactful way that forgoes the emotionally charged and often times negative route. 

[mDm]

0 to 100 on the first reply god damn.

[Ravioli BR]

Excellent post. At the end of the day I don't think 343 is at home wringing their hands laughing at the state of Halo, right now. Hell, the guys working on the game are probably beating themselves up for taking so long. I refuse to believe they pour their hearts and souls into a game just to have it broken on release day, that's M$. It's the MS execs who really need to be blamed. I've even seen people call Bravo a bad community manager, that's just ridiculous. He can hardly use the bathroom without 343 breathing down his neck, much less give us the information we want. He's doing just fine and I'm happy for the guy. The pro team, too. God how I wish they would let the pro team pick out gametypes for the playlists.

 

Now that I think about it, you know what? Most of 343 probably doesn't even want sprint in Halo 5 but the shareholders get what the shareholders want. Also, please don't forget dev support. If 343 didn't give two fucks about us they wouldn't give us anything, instead we're getting at least a few tournaments a year with decent prize pools, plus the online cups. They even removed ricochet from HCS   !!!

 

I think we're all a little   over the current state of Halo but let's try to turn that salt into something somewhat productive, like telling 343 what went wrong in a polite way (Yes, I know we already did). Love you  . We might squabble amongst ourselves but we all have one thing in common. 

[Knighty Knight]

[AkaDemiK]

We've responded to 343's fuck ups in many ways - with anger, resentment and some with a calm demeanor while we patiently wait for them to get it. We, the halo fans, the competitive and the not so competitive, the forger, the speed runner and the guy that betrays everyone for sniper, we've all done our part in regards to the inept behavior this AAA company has exhibited...we shouldn't have to do anything else but wait for them to do better or move on (which is what some of us have done already). We don't need to baby them with words of encouragement, they are professionals, grown men and women who should be held accountable for their actions, not coddled like a child who made a simple boo boo. They have been making mistakes with this franchise for almost 3 years in a row now and we should simply forgive and forget? We should just pretend that Halo 4 never happened? We should forgive them for completely ruining MCC and putting a stain on this once great franchise and the memories we've made with it over the many years? Nah.

 

No one should forgive or forget what 343 has done to this franchise so far, but we can continue being critical of what they are doing till they actually get it. We shouldn't have to wait 6 months to have a functioning rank system two titles in a row, that shit screams amateur hour. Hold them accountable for every mistake they've made and praise them for the good they do, do not coddle them.

[Tattered]

Forgive and forget, harboring negativity isn't healthy. 

[Stephander]

I think there isn't enough negativity...

[Afro II]

This is off topic, and I only recently joined BE because I recognized a bunch of names from the old MLG forums and this is where I can read about competitive halo, but man u4ix has changed. Great post/plea.

[Cursed Lemon]

@@Sal1ent is literally the only Halo developer who has been willing to come down from the clouds and talk shop with us for more than a single post - and even then, his contributions are mostly somewhat brief and often side-step the more critical questions (although he claims he reads and considers everything we put out there).

 

Change starts with concrete evidence of acknowledgment, i.e. getting shit done in-game (without it being reversed in the future), something we've never had and something I doubt we ever will get. All for no good reason, seeing as sales of Halo don't depend on how many shots it takes to kill your opponent in multiplayer.

[TheHansBecker]

I still play the game, and I've gotten over the many flaws... but I think the criticism is completely justified. If this were Bungie circa 2005 with pre-patch settings, I would be more patient, because of their success with Halo 1, and the fact they weren't rushing new releases... But we all know in a few months 343 will abandon this game and focus on their new "Halo" game for the Holiday season.

[Knighty Knight]

Yeah, $600+ dollars definitely went down the drain. Not gonna lie, it was definitely false advertisement. But at least I've gotten used to the controller for Black Ops 3.  :ghost:

[Omn1science]

Honestly in the year or so I have been checking this site on a consistent daily basis I have seen maybe 1-2 posters who would write things that actually made me go "Alright, that's a bit much". And those posts were subsequently deleted by what I consider to be excellent moderation around here.

 

The only comments I really see consistently are "they are amateur" "they are incompetent" "they lied to us" and maybe 1-2 people who post about how 343 hates Halo. But by and large most people's comments seem to revolve around 343 being incompetent or liars.

 

And you know what? After H4 and the MCC, the first of those being a game glitchier than any of its predecessors (file shares on launch anyone) and an utter disaster gameplay wise, and the second being an utter disaster that I'm sure I don't need to go into, they have proven themselves to be incompetent.

 

With the MCC they have also proven themselves to be liars. The claim that no issues showed in testing is the most utterly ridiculous statement I've ever heard in regards to game development and if you believe it you ought to get your head checked. They lied through their teeth and essentially conned many of us into buying an X1. Sorry if that's harsh but it's the truth.

 

They are PAID PROFESSIONALS. If you can't handle comments along the lines of "you're incompetent" then you honestly need to grow some skin. I've watched the tech support guy at my work deal with so much worse than that and he goes home fine at the end of the day, And you better believe if I ever screwed up on the magnitude of the MCC I would be hearing a lot worse from my boss. That's just real life. This isn't tumblr where everything has a trigger warning. The reality of the world is that you reap what you sow and that's what's happening for 343.

 

Should we strive to be constructive with our comments? Absolutely. And I think all the staff here and even a majority of posters are reasonably constructive. But respect is a two way street and 343 has not been putting it in on their end. Remember when Frankie came in here, made a few posts that were honestly quite rude towards a FAN SITE that has been carrying the torch of competitive Halo, then left and acted like he had been grievously wronged by the fact that people called him on his comments?

 

That's not respect.

[sk0ls]

This level of ineptitude frankly just isn't excusable, and forgiveness isn't an option. The most basic things are a monumental struggle in all aspects of the game: Functionality, gametypes, UI, engine...everywhere. Take Team Hardcore for example (to keep running with your competitive focus): 343 employs Neighbor, Ghost and Strongside - three people who did nothing but play the same eleven gametypes featured in THC for three straight years. How is it possible to get the settings wrong across multiple gametypes? flag indicator on when uncontrolled? Shotguns on sanc? It's the little inadequacies like that that completely destroy my faith in 343. They have three of the best halo 2 pros in history working for them, but fail to deliver proper professional gametypes and also fail to fix it over several months? My point is that there are obvious disconnects that lead to a lack of proper discussion/feedback/communication. That's just one example, but there's obviously greater problems at 343 than not being great game designers: Communication with peers, the testing process, hearing community feedback - these staples of success in the industry are no where to be found. 343, to the naked eye, doesn't give a shit, so that sets the precedent that the people who buy their games also shouldn't give a shit - and that's just piss poor.

[Cadillac]

I have no doubt that 343 wants Halo to be great. This is kinda like politics where both democrats and republicans are striving for a great America. The issue is that one group thinks a great America is one in which god fearing Americans infringe on the rights of gay people (for the record I'm not a huge democrat or anything). In my eyes 343 is flat out wrong in the direction they are taking Halo. It's not good for sales or longevity, it's not good for casuals, and it's not good for competition. 

[Valour]

343 has done nothing to earn our respect back since the failed launch of MCC I see what you are trying to do but honestly 343 just doesnt care about us at all.

[Knighty Knight]

That's not respect.

 

[ZipCity117]

I know a lot of us are (rightly) angry at 343 for MCC. And we should be.

 

But when we're talking about H5 & HCS, we have to remember that the 343 employees we're talking with HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MCC. Don't take your anger out on them. 

[Batchford]

I am really torn between this being a troll post or not, I mean it is Frank

[Voodooman]

I am really torn between this being a troll post or not, I mean it is Frank

Frank is trying to be professional now. Take some time we will have to get used to it aha

[Kuki]

Ben using typos b4 it was cool.

[ZerueLX11]

LOL Censorship