So I posted this in another thread, but I'll post it here too. How is a company adding more gameplay into a game a bad thing? While the Arena was just a branch of Multiplayer, Spartan Ops is going to be a whole new side-story. I think it'll be fantastic.
Well, it's a pretty straight forward "reason". It's all just training. Pretty simple, and doesn't change anything.
So yeah, spawning with shotguns is not going to happen. Already been stated that power weapons will not be available in the loadouts. Speculation is that it will be items like the BR/DMR for large, BTB type maps, and probably the AR/BR for more small to mid-sized 4v4 maps. As for balance issues? We'll just have to wait and see how that plays out.
So yeah, no armor lock! Great news! As for "Forerunner vision" - well, we don't know too much about it, other than it's more along the lines of a quick look see similar to a thermal vision type deal, and anybody who is around you when you use it will know that you are using it. So anti camping? Maybe. But chances are they know you'll be coming.
No firefight isn't a great loss to me. I wasn't a big fan of it, but I know there are others who love it. 343 has said that people who loved Firefight will love Spartan Ops, so hopefully that will fill their needs, but again, no great loss for me personally.
As a whole, I hope I helped clear some of this up for you, and I am personally excited for Halo 4. I'm loving most of what they are letting out, but a few items are irking me a bit. I want to know more about ranking, how it's going to work, is it skill based or is it like Reach? Each of those has it's supporters, and you can't make everybody happy, but I just want to know what to expect.
Loving the new weapon designs, loving the new weapons. I'd like to see more multiplayer game footage, showcasing some of these weapons and how they function.
But overall, I'm pleased with the way 343 is going. I still reserve the right to make a final judgement once the game is released and I've played it for a bit, though. Because as happy as I may be now with the way things appear to be going, that doesn't mean everything will be good once the game is released.