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Do 343 management & Phil Spencer need to be pressed on Halo development issues by industry vets?

Do 343 management & Phil Spencer need to be pressed on Halo development issues by industry vets?

  • Yes

  • No

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FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
9,611
EDIT: This OP is referring to journalist veterans like Schreier and Gertsmann asking 343 upper management (not devs) and Phil Spencer about why they release buggy Halo games and when they're not ready for long term post launch support.

This isn't about harassing devs and supporting crunch. Halo's development issues have long been documented by the likes of Jason Schreier, but history keeps repeating itself with 343 releases.

//----------

I can't help but to wonder why exactly Halo is in this state after over a decade of 343 at the helm. This isn't an OP about my personal feelings or to discuss Infinite's development issues in detail.

I want to pose this question --

Do we need gaming journalist veterans to step up and pressure 343 management and Phil Spencer on what's going on with Halo? Remember that moment with Jeff Gerstmann during his interview with Phil Spencer at E3 2015 talking about shipping buggy games?

Here's the video, timestamp is 15:19 if it doesn't automatically take you there --



What's it going to take for Halo to change? What's it going to take for Halo to not ship with a slew of issues and to not have a slow drip of features we've had in most games prior? Etc.


And here's a bonus level-headed video by Sean W about Frank O'Connor's recent post on feedback --

 
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Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,769
I don't disagree that I wish they handled Halo better, I'm basically waiting for more features sometime this year before jumping back in.


GIVE ME GRIFBALL 343 THANK YOU
 
JigglesBunny

JigglesBunny

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
31,173
Chicago
No, I don't think aggressive behavior from journalists is going to suddenly fix their glaring culture and management issues. That's a problem they need to choose to solve and the work needs to happen from within.
 
Karateka

Karateka

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,940
LewieP said:
Halo Infinite is the best new Halo in a very long time. So no.
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And its already 'dead' after it was supposed to be this big revitalization?
I agree the game was pretty good, but its not like halo is saved.
I'm pretty sure their revenue is going to be well down from halo 5 as well.

note: dead is hyperbole but its not in a good state.
 
OP
OP
FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
9,611
JigglesBunny said:
No, I don't think aggressive behavior from journalists is going to suddenly fix their glaring culture and management issues. That's a problem they need to choose to solve and the work needs to happen from within.
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Jeff Gerstmann was aggressive in that interview?

Gaming media press are often sensationalist, if anything.
 
J_Viper

J_Viper

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,747
This is a global issue, and it must be resolved before our grandchildren our left to face the consequences
 
sn00zer

sn00zer

Member
Feb 28, 2018
6,104
People need to stop asking why their space marine designed in 2000 isn't resonating with the kids these days.
 
Vinc

Vinc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,389
I think a lot of fans are just very toxic when they're not satisfied with a product. I think Halo is headed in the right direction for the first time since 343 took over, and I'm willing to be very patient for them to get to a point where they can consistently deliver the kind of Halo games I want. And if they don't, that's fine. I wish them the best. We don't need to be toxic about any of this.
 
ArjanN

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,122
VoltySquirrel said:
Dude season 2 is out in like 2 weeks, calm down.
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and also:

Vinc said:
I think a lot of fans are just very toxic when they're not satisfied with a product. I think Halo is headed in the right direction for the first time since 343 took over, and I'm willing to be very patient for them to get to a point where they can consistently deliver the kind of Halo games I want. And if they don't, that's fine. I wish them the best. We don't need to be toxic about any of this.
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TiltedParadoxes

TiltedParadoxes

Member
Oct 28, 2017
352
LOL. The master chief collection was broken at launch! It did not work at all!

Halo Infinite worked when I played it. It is not the same situation.

Nothing happened with the master chief collection when it should have but that has nothing to do with Infinite.

Shit happens and things are happening slower then people would like, including 343. There is nothing wrong with Infinite. 343 are clearly doing what they can. This is a general situation where everyone should be more understanding.
 
Powerofthecloud

Powerofthecloud

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,433
Covid is still a thing. MCC ended up getting a lot better. Halo infinite was delayed, but shipped in a decent state minus some things but is improving.
 
EntelechyFuff

EntelechyFuff

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Banned
Nov 19, 2019
10,228
I'm gonna go real weird with it and say that Xbox doesn't need Halo as much as they think they do. The "current state of Halo"--whatever that is--has more to do with what seems like a level of commitment to the series that doesn't match the current realities of the Xbox brand.

I'm not saying Halo needs to die or anything like that, but marrying the identity of the platform to the series just seems like a recipe for insane pressure to deliver. Just let it mellow for a while, let 343 explore new things, and come back to it when it seems like the right time.
 
Bulby

Bulby

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,040
Berlin
No. not really.

But I would still like to know what is causing the issues over there.
 
Tigerfish419

Tigerfish419

Member
Oct 28, 2021
4,533
Holy crap is there any studio or game that is so far under the microscope that you have people asking stuff like this wow, this is insane.
 
OP
OP
FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
9,611
vixolus

vixolus

Prophet of Truth
Member
Sep 22, 2020
54,921
We need the brave souls of the games media to fulfill their responsibility - nay, their duty - to tell the CEO of Microsoft Gaming to get it together with Halo.

I'm sure they're well aware and don't need to be told in an interview lol
 
thediamondage

thediamondage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,316
We need people on ERA to step in and say "stop being so weird" to people who post threads like this

Halo is in the same state as 90% of games, muddling along without any real creative vision and probably has a thousand people who want to take it a thousand different ways without any one person who has both the creative vision and more importantly the juice (power inside the company) to get their way. Until it gets its own version of Kevin Feige, Miyazaki, Jon Favreau, whatever it'll continue to be like 90% of AAA games - muddled and mediocre. Battlefield, Cyberpunk, GTA, pretty much every Ubisoft franchise, the list is endless of games that feel stale and recycled.
 
mojo

mojo

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,983
Everyone is gonna clutch their pearls over the idea so you might as well close the thread op
 
Det

Det

Member
Jul 30, 2020
12,899
This will be passed around on Twitter and I'm here for the takes cause this is some wild shit.
 
Druffmaul

Druffmaul

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account.
Banned
Oct 24, 2018
2,228
When it was announced that Bungie was done with Halo and MS was putting together a new studio to make more Halo games, 95% of me knew Halo was dead. The other 5% of me said, "Who knows, maybe this new studio will make good Halo games. Keep an open mind, jerk." After Halo 4, I knew 95% was right. I played the Infinite campaign and I enjoyed it, but imo it's still a weaksauce pale shadow of Bungie's Halo.
 
Izanagi89

Izanagi89

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,660
As an outsider I can't say I really understand any of the constant backlash this game gets. I don't like Halo, like at all, but I tried Infinite because I have a Series S and GP and thought what the hell…and the game is fine? It was a polished experience with incredible gunplay and mobility. I ended up really enjoying it.
 
Glio

Glio

Member
Oct 27, 2017
24,567
Spain
Why should someone in the industry get involved in what another member of the industry is doing.
 
TripleBee

TripleBee

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,694
Vancouver
Halo is just a title in MS catalogue - people need to get over it no longer being The Main Xbox Game. Which is good and healthy. It was bad when Halo dominated the other Xbox titles.

Halo Infinite is doing fine, and will probably only be in a better place heading forward. But even if it fails in the next few years, so what? I would argue Doom, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, eventually Call of Duty, and even currently Forza Horizon are bigger more important Xbox franchises.
 
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,474
I am not sure what folks want from them? For arguments sake let's play out the current premise that they fucked up. We are all in agreement that what they showed in 2020 was a mess. They rebooted and rebounded fairly well with last year's release. They took a prolonged break after the release and S2 launches in two weeks. They are clearly way behind the 8 ball on content. It's not like there is a magical shortcut they can take to make up the time wasted over the previous years. So admitting they fucked up doesn't eliminate any of the current issues. Does it boil down to just wanting your pound of flesh?

New content takes time and it will be ready when it's ready. We can't complain about working conditions and crunch and then on the other hand demand a product that is predicated on those practices.
 
IMCaprica

IMCaprica

Member
Aug 1, 2019
9,466
Should journalists ask something beyond softball questions about how a studio feels about their game? Yes, absolutely. Should 343 be the ones to field those questions? No. It should be Phil Spencer, and Phil Spencer alone. I want hardball, but I'm pretty much done seeing developers have to eat shit in public for things that may very well be beyond their control.
 
OP
OP
FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
9,611
Talk about thread backfire lol.

I pose what I thought was an interesting question based on the many fires going on behind the scenes with yet another Halo title and I'm getting hit with "calm down" and being called "weird" 🤷‍♀️
 

Deleted member 6235

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,447
Halo Infinite is a pretty good game, so, no? Fantastic campaign. The MP is the glaring issue, but if anything, the recent changes in leadership and the delays in a lot of stuff because they were opposed to crunch shows that 343i is actually trying to get things right within their studio.

I still have a ton of fun so i don't really partake in the overall sentiment of a vocal part of the Halo fanbase, and this is nothing near the case of MCC which just... didn't work at all, so i'm not sure what is there to pressure, other than the issues with contractors and other issues with leadership.
 
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