Paul Tassi at Forbes: "Halo Infinite might be throwing the worst live event I've ever seen"

[ZeoVGM]

'Halo Infinite' Might Be Throwing The Worst Live Event I've Ever Seen

Halo Infinite's Fracture: Tenrai event might be the worst formatted live event I've ever seen in this genre.

www.forbes.com

The longer we all play Halo Infinite, the more one truth continues to emerge. For as brilliantly fun as gameplay is, the progression and microtransaction systems in-game are equally as un-fun. Reverse-fun. Anti-fun. As in, this is one of the worst implementations of free-to-play monetization I think I've ever seen. And that's saying something, I lived through the great Loot Box Wars of the mid 2010s.

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I am not being hyperbolic, this is genuinely the worst format for a live event I think I've ever seen a game have.

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- You do not progress with XP, but instead you get a level by completing a specific challenge related to the Fiesta event playlist. This is fine, except for the fact that eventually you will almost immediately run out of event challenges, and will have to go back to grinding out regular weekly challenges to even get further event challenges to appear.

- Even if you grind through all your weekly challenges, 343 has only put 7 total event challenges in this playlist this week. There are 30 levels to the pass. This means that out of the six weeks that the event is running, you will have to max out those challenges 5 times in order to unlock everything

- The time gate creates bizarre situations like the fact that you will be unlocking two separate samurai shoulder pads months apart, as you cannot get enough tiers to get the other side until the next time this event shows up in January.

- While you unlock the core at level 5, by the end, you are only unlocking one of the samurai-style sets from the advertising. The other looks are being sold in the microtransaction store, and some of those are timegated, and appears they may not be sold until future events, including the main samurai helmet that has been on dozens and dozens of pieces of marketing for the game and event.

- The prices are…absurd, like $15 for a sword on your waistbelt and a collection of emblems. There's at least $50 of stuff being sold for this "free" event so far, where it will take you five weeks and six months to earn a complete free look based on the slow-moving battle pass. And only one look.

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It's a ridiculous system on every level. The challenge-based battle pass was one thing because at least that doesn't expire. But here, you literally have to grind this event for a week, almost every week it shows up, to extract 7 challenges to get a singular free full set at the end of this season.

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343 has already commented that they've yet again, "heard the feedback" but obviously no changes are being made this week, because now it's Thanksgiving. That's understandable. What is not understandable is how this system got approved and implemented in the first place, and the wild, wide disparity between how fun the game is at baseline and how un-fun challenges make progression and mangle events like this.

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Halo Infinite is a blast. It also has the worst battle pass and live event system in recent industry history. We gotta close that gap somehow, and it should not be rocket science to do so.

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Tassi is on the mark here. The game is fantastic and it's very frustrating that it's being bogged down by a progression system and event system that should never have gone past the concept stage.

 

[TaySan]

Just make it like COD but remove the time limit. Let me play the game how I want to play it and gain XP.

 

[RockmanBN]

Next month you'll get to unlock a shoulder pad and then wait another month to unlock the other one.

 

[Uncle0wnage]

Next month you'll get to unlock a shoulder pad and then wait another month to unlock the other one.

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Yeeeeeeeep

 

[Finaj]

Eh. I think the worst live event has to go to when Bungie asked players to stare at the sky for 3 hours.

 

[Solid Shake]

Next month you'll get to unlock a shoulder pad and then wait another month to unlock the other one.

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The months of grinding really make you FEEL like you're a Halo Infinite.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Eh. I think the worst live event has to go to when Bungie asked players to stare at the sky for 3 hours.

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This is not even remotely the same thing in any way whatsoever.

 

[Kinthey]

F2P may have been a mistake

 

[Elliott]

Bring back the req system.

 

[Deleted member 8166]

The event quests are easy and the event gives you free stuff o_O yes they stretch out the event weeks but I don't see the problem with that

 

[Kill3r7]

F2P may have been a mistake

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Why? The game is awesome. The battle pass progression sucks.

 

[Pancracio17]

I guess its free but yeah, I hope future events are better.

Next month you'll get to unlock a shoulder pad and then wait another month to unlock the other one.

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Im so excited!

 

[Oreiller]

Eh. I think the worst live event has to go to when Bungie asked players to stare at the sky for 3 hours.

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... what?

 

[Vincent Alexander]

My phone recommended me this article a day or so ago and I avoided it based on the name alone. Seemed a bit much.

 

[Sephzilla]

Stretching the event out over multiple weeks is dumb but the challenges are easy. I completed everything in probably two hours at most. The event and Halo Infinite's progression system in general are poorly thought out but calling this the worst live event ever is pretty hyperbolic in my opinion.

 

[Stowaway Silfer]

Eh. I think the worst live event has to go to when Bungie asked players to stare at the sky for 3 hours.

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Lol I'll never forget that

 

[MavFan619]

The gameplay is ok, but I'm not nearly into Halo enough to pay for the pass so all I've unlocked is nonsense. Probably won't play again if this remains the case.

 

[sckathian]

Controversial opinion - I play games because their fun and bounce off most games with 'numbers go up' loops when my brain kicks in.

I honestly don't care about unlocking anything. None of this impacts the base game.

 

[Onebadlion]

Sounds badly designed, and I'm sure it will eventually change, but I still can't help thinking "so what?". I've been loving playing the game and couldn't really give two shits about the pointless unlockable armour. It's all completely disposable cosmetic crap that has no impact on how much I enjoy playing the game. The mentality of players needing constant rewards to keep playing and expecting to unlock everything is silly.

 

[TheDarkKnight]

F2P may have been a mistake

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They would have done these things F2P or not.

See consumble card packs in 5

 

[Zebesian-X]

Yeah… it really is underwhelming.

I'm happy the gameplay is top notch because this would have otherwise been a very long 6 month wait for the next season thanks to all the progression annoyances

For real though this MP's grabbed me in a way that few games ever have. Sooner they sort this shit out the better

 

[sibarraz]

I feel the main problem is that the challenges forces you to play in specific ways and modes (if you are lucky to play them on the playlist) making the grinding too tedious

 

[KDC720]

The whole progression system needs a re-work. I understand this is essentially a free to play game and they are trying to push people towards making real money purchases, but the way challenges are laid out right now is incredibly frustrating.

Some challenges are super simple, others are incredibly situational and put's your team at a disadvantage if you have players trying to chase them instead of playing the objective or whatever. Not to mention the way the playlists work right now it's grab bag of different game types and you won't always get the ones you need.

The challenges for the event aren't too bad, but they're shuffled in with the normal challenges and some of those are a pain in the ass to complete. Also the fact the event is spaced out between 3 weeks is super weird as well.

 

[Trey]

most concerning to me is they're using regular degular legacy gametypes to satisfy entire events.

free team snipers from a possible event purgatory

 

[Convasse]

Bring back the req system.

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Eh, pass. They need to re-assess and perhaps redesign the current system but let's not go back to the cards. Ugh

 

[Blackbird]

It's not the worst i've personally experienced but it is indeed bad.

And what's so frustrating about it is the fact this is all so easily fixable, just adding more 50XP for each victory and 10XP for every feat collected during matches would kinda be enough.

Doesn't really feel impossible to grind levels it is just exhausting to do so well and not being able to get anything from it.

Especially when you consider not everyone can progress through complicated challenges.

 

[RockmanBN]

Controversial opinion - I play games because their fun and bounce off most games with 'numbers go up' loops when my brain kicks in.

I honestly don't care about unlocking anything. None of this impacts the base game.

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It does impact multiplayer. Having specific challenges has already had many issues with players rather trying to complete a challenge than playing the objective in the multiplayer game.

 

[Embiid]

It really feels like 343 ignored the last 10-20 years of F2P games and the lessons learned from them in terms of progression and monetization.

Infinite is the best playing Halo ever made and, frankly, one of the best playing multiplayer games ever made as well. They absolutely nailed everything gameplay related.

But for the progression and monetization it's like they drove 99 yards down the field and fumbled at the 1 yard line. They've gotta address this shit fast and also add a slayer only playlist. This early period is critical.

 

[Disco Infernal]

Meh, I've done the Haunted Forest 100 times. I know shit. At least Halo MP is fun. With that said, I got bored with other games' battle passes, so I'm not even bothering with Halo's. Just playing because it's currently the best MP. But if this is indeed a big problem, MS better address it. They need their biggest franchise to have staying power.

 

[ZeoVGM]

... what?

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They're referring to a disappointing cinematic event. Basically Bungie told players to be in the social spot (the Tower) on a Saturday afternoon and something happened in the sky (a large ship threatening the city was shot down). The destruction of the ship was slow, however, and took a couple hours before the big moment happened.

It was poorly thought out but it makes no sense to compare a single afternoon cut scene to a gameplay event that spans over multiple months and directly impacts how people play the game.

 

[Prison_mike]

Can someone remind me why we need exp in Halo?

 

[Kalor]

most concerning to me is they're using regular degular legacy gametypes to satisfy entire events.

free team snipers from a possible event purgatory

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It's the first event after launch, I imagine this won't be the trend for event playlists. Just something that was easier to pull off that making a completely unique mode.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Can someone remind me why we need exp in Halo?

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To unlock items from the seasonal battle pass.

 

[sckathian]

It does impact multiplayer. Having specific challenges has already had many issues with players rather trying to complete a challenge than playing the objective in the multiplayer game.

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True in all games but part of challenges is to push players to try different things - weapons etc. - so its easy enough for 343 to tweak where needed.

 

[Yerffej]

F2P may have been a mistake

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*Looks at number of players playing* Yeah, no. The progression systems and battle pass shit is the easy part to tweak. The game itself is pretty fucking good. Would this level of engagement happened without F2P? I highly doubt it. They can figure this bit out. Hale 4 and even 5 (good as I thought that multi was in 5) wasn't penetrating the way this is.

 

[Stowaway Silfer]

They're referring to a disappointing cinematic event. Basically they told players to be in the social spot (the Tower) on a Saturday afternoon and something happened in the sky (a large ship threatening the city was shot down). The destruction of the ship was slow, however, and took a couple hours before the big moment happened.

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I know...I said I remembered lol. Unless you're contextualizing my response for other readers but then include the original post too lol

It was poorly thought out but it makes no sense to compare a single afternoon cut scene to a gameplay event that spans over multiple months.

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Man I'm just saying that Destiny one was funny

 

[BizzyBum]

Gonna have to agree here. Spreading out this event for months is so bizarre.

It sucks because the core gameplay is so damn good but it's surrounded by head scratching progression systems and total lack of content so it's really frustrating seeing it like this after being in the oven for so long.

 

[xGeneral Ice]

Eh. I think the worst live event has to go to when Bungie asked players to stare at the sky for 3 hours.

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Yup and he's a destiny player so not sure how he forgot that. Or maybe that's what's he wanted.

 

[Sephzilla]

It really feels like 343 ignored the last 10-20 years of F2P games and the lessons learned from them in terms of progression and monetization.

Infinite is the best playing Halo ever made and, frankly, one of the best playing multiplayer games ever made as well. They absolutely nailed everything gameplay related.

But for the progression and monetization it's like they drove 99 yards down the field and fumbled at the 1 yard line. They've gotta address this shit fast and also add a slayer only playlist. This early period is critical.

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Yeah this is kind of how I feel. The gameplay is incredible and probably the best playing Halo game in the franchise but these F2P choices are poorly thought out. I also don't like how there has been a massive regression in customization compared to previous Halo titles. I can't even customize my emblem that much

 

[Prine]

I assume they're deliberately prolonging progress due to not having items available, which is a problem most service games find themselves in early on. Studio and team are on a well deserved break and I'm expecting this to be cleared up next season. I doubt much can be done now, they'll focus on its roll out and balance fixes up until early next year imo.

I dont care about exp progress so not impacted by this, but can see next to others it's not as comprehensive. If the situation is that 343i focused on gameplay over asset building for progress that was absolutely the right decision. They must've known they'd get heat for this.

 

[ZeoVGM]

I know...I said I remembered lol. Unless you're contextualizing my response for other readers but then include the original post too lol

Man I'm just saying that Destiny one was funny

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Sorry, I quoted the wrong person. I meant to quote the person who said "...what?"

 

[Trey]

It's the first event after launch, I imagine this won't be the trend for event playlists. Just something that was easier to pull off that making a completely unique mode.

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theyve been marketing this event since the flights, ain't like it snuck up on them lmao

of course things can change but the precedent this sets while also having a very barebones playlist offering so far gives me some cause for concern. Hopefully this isn't indicative of future events. locking team swat behind the winter contingency event rip, not gonna see infection until Halloween 22 😭

 

[nadbmal]

Finally someone that isn't paid by Microsoft

 

[jelly]

Maybe I'm old school but I absolutely hate carrot on a stick progression, have people really been conditioned to it so much that a fun game isn't actually fun without it?

I'm more bothered that challenges make player do certain things, which just tilts the match to not being what it should be so what the hell is the point.

 

[~Millet~]

Sad but agree.

 

[aronmayo]

It's a free game and a free event giving out free cosmetics. Cosmetics is a word worth repeating. It's insane how much people demand to be given for free these days.

Fiesta which is the gameplay aspect of this event is fucking incredible fun. Incredible. Fun. For free.

But the take away is "this whole thing is the worst thing I've ever seen"? Lol

Could it be better? Probably. But at what cost?

 

[Deleted member 22750]

Should let us grind xp

they're being super greedy trying to sell those swap challenges cards

I got it finished yesterday. I think I did. I got 5 sprees

 

[bmdubya]

Controversial opinion - I play games because their fun and bounce off most games with 'numbers go up' loops when my brain kicks in.

I honestly don't care about unlocking anything. None of this impacts the base game.

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This is how I feel as well. I guess I'm just an old boomer gamer (I'm 33 lol), but I like playing Infinite because it's fun to play, reminds me of those early days of Xbox Live playing Halo 2. I get that customization is important to some and they need to feel like they are progressing to keep them interested in a game. But I also think if your sole reason coming back to a game is seeing your battle pass go up, then you don't actually like said game, you just like unlocking things.

 

[BrightLightLava]

He's not wrong about everything, but he is wrong about the math.

You don't need to max out the event for 5 of the 5 weeks. You don't need to max out any week, if it stays 7 levels per.

You can max out 4 weeks of events and then do 2 others, or do 5 of the 7 a week.

What remains to be seen is if you can make up for a week you missed in the future. Are there still only going to be 7 of you don't get the game until the last one? Or will they have more so you can catch up?

Should let us grind xp

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You can for the BP, if not the event. Slowly, sure, but you can.

 

[ZeoVGM]

It's a free game and a free event giving out free cosmetics. Cosmetics is a word worth repeating.

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This does not mean it should not be criticized if it is poorly designed.

It's insane how much people demand to be given for free these days.

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Literally no one is doing that.