Frank O'Conner addresses the community

[Destroyaaa]

 

This was taken off halo Waypoint from the bulletin posted today. I want to hear you guys's opinions on this.

 

 

 

From the face of Frank

"2012 was supposed to be the end of the world. Instead, it was the beginning of ours. Halo 4, despite being the seventh or eighth game in the Halo series (depending on how you count them), was our first game. That is to say, our first-ever fully fledged title, built from the ground up creatively and technologically. So let me save you the trouble of trolling my statement: We have a lot to learn. We made a lot of mistakes. We can do better. And we know this, and we will. But I don’t want to spend the first moments of the year thinking about the negatives, because frankly, I am incredibly proud of both the team and the game that team created.

 

And for a first effort, it wasn’t half bad.

 

Stepping into Bungie’s oversized shoes would have been difficult, even for a well-established team. The challenge of wrangling that engine, that universe and that community was dizzying, even withering. Four years ago when our charter began, the challenge of starting the seed of a development team and then creating a sequel to Halo terrified us. A small group of us – names you know, like Kiki Wolfkill, Bonnie Ross, Kenneth Scott Josh Holmes and other characters who have moved on to different projects, different places – was tasked with doing something that was almost impossible.

 

But the team grew. And we learned. And we’re still learning. And the game arrived and it succeeded. Halo 4 is the best and fastest-selling Halo game in the series. It won critical acclaim. It won awards, from Best Graphics at the VGAs to Game of the Year at the Inside Gaming Awards. We altered the engine. We expanded the universe. We innovated in storytelling, technology, and even marketing. It wasn’t flawless by any stretch of the imagination, but by most objective criteria, it was a resounding success. So we know we have a lot to do. And we know we have a lot to learn. But we also know that we now have the capacity, the teamwork, the technology and the experience to do much better next time."

 

 

"But my point is this: If you’d asked me three or four years ago if we thought we’d be where we are now, I would have looked doubtfully at you and said, “That’s a lot to ask.” But the team, through miracles of collaboration and individual contribution – and lakes of blood and tears – waded into the challenge with gusto and worked obscene hours with passion and verve to get it done. And now we’re beginning to really understand what “it” is.

 

I think that, perhaps perversely, rather than being looked at askance with doubt and cynicism, in some corners we’ve been given extra latitude – the only benefit of low expectations. And then the ability to exceed those expectations.

 

There are a ton of things we wish we'd done better: Features that didn’t make it into the final game. Glitches that emerged. Missteps made. DLC fiascos. Communication breakdowns. But there were things that went astonishingly well – the creation of a genuinely competitive AAA studio chief among them. A collection of talent and souls that can do something genuinely amazing on this and next-generation hardware. The overhaul of an amazing game engine – but one that really needed to be overhauled – and an amassed education on systems, people, code and audience that will stand us in great stead for the future."

 

 

"Some of the high points of the last few years have been products as well as people – like Halo: Anniversary and Forward Unto Dawn. There have been amazing events – Halo Fest, the E3 debut, ComicCon – all blurring into a sea of faces, excitement, light, and noise.

 

But the most important aspect of our success, and our efforts now and in the future, has been this community – a demanding, imaginative, engaged, vocal, varied and intelligent swarm of personalities, groups and individuals, each with subtly to radically different interests in this vast and varied universe we’re charged with. That isn’t lip service, nor is it pandering. You guys pay for the privilege of playing our game, and you have every right to have a voice in its development.

 

It may not have ended up precisely the way you imagined – there are simply too many voices and perspectives to make all of the people happy, all of the time – but we think of the community as a direct and democratic extension of the team and, indeed, of the development process. A litmus test, a pH strip and a sounding board for ideas and innovations, you are the tension between the need for change and evolution, and the necessity of inertia.

 

Technically, this should be a retrospective, but it’s safe to say I’m more excited about the future than the past. Excited about what this team is already working on. Excited about what this team is capable of. And excited about the future of Halo. A future we want you to be a part of. A future we’re building for you."

 

 

As a community we appreciate Frank O'connor stepping forward and telling us what's been going on with Halo 4. Allowing us to hear these genuine comments from Frank himself goes a long way and allowing the community to have insight on 343 Industries thoughts of Halo 4. We hope in the future we will continue to receive information like this from 343 Industries informing and updating us on a franchise we love so much.

View full article

[Reclaimer117343]

I appreciate what Frank told the fans (us). I've never seen a game developer do this before.

In my opinion, Halo 4 is the best Halo game yet!

I bet that, whatever they're working on, it will be a whoooooooole lot cooler/better!

[Kamakiriad]

This comment is more a "Please buy the NEXT Halo we are already working on" and very thin on "We will make THIS Halo you spent $60 on right as soon as we can!".

 

I am very disappointed they still can not run all the legacy game types like Team Snipers because they don't have the server capacity. How can that be? Why did they choose to invest so much time in the Modern Warfare like Weapons drop, but not allow players to customize what they get in the drop? Why are we still seeing the same maps over and over in multi-player because they don't rotate the choices enough?

 

These are simple issues, and before Frank starts asking me for the NEXT $60 he really needs to make my last $60 worthwhile. My first impression of 343 is that they killed Cortana, hate headshote and snipers, and could care less that the community is forced to play the same 5 maps over and over again because he is already on to the next Halo.

 

If he REALLY wants to show his gratitude towards the community that took a risk and bought his game, he would get on top of his people and say "Katie bar the door until we get this right."

 

At this point I won't buy the next Halo if it is done by 343. They have a few months to get this one right and win me back. If they don't, forget it. Excluding Team Snipers alone is an unforgivable sin. It has been in every game so far. Shame on 343.

[a live dinosaur]

This comment is more a "Please buy the NEXT Halo we are already working on" and very thin on "We will make THIS Halo you spent $60 on right as soon as we can!".

 

I am very disappointed they still can not run all the legacy game types like Team Snipers because they don't have the server capacity. How can that be? Why did they choose to invest so much time in the Modern Warfare like Weapons drop, but not allow players to customize what they get in the drop? Why are we still seeing the same maps over and over in multi-player because they don't rotate the choices enough?

 

These are simple issues, and before Frank starts asking me for the NEXT $60 he really needs to make my last $60 worthwhile. My first impression of 343 is that they killed Cortana, hate headshote and snipers, and could care less that the community is forced to play the same 5 maps over and over again because he is already on to the next Halo.

 

If he REALLY wants to show his gratitude towards the community that took a risk and bought his game, he would get on top of his people and say "Katie bar the door until we get this right."

 

At this point I won't buy the next Halo if it is done by 343. They have a few months to get this one right and win me back. If they don't, forget it. Excluding Team Snipers alone is an unforgivable sin. It has been in every game so far. Shame on 343.

 

Thats why most people love it

[BeckoningZebra1]

At least Frank's talking about it, it makes me feel better about Halo 5 the way he's talking right now

[DrThaddeus]

I'm not buying the next Halo...I refuse. And it is disappointing. 343 has totally changed Halo 4 into something that it is not. Halo was a game about skill and tactics. Now all you have to do is get a lucky ordinance and use Promethian vision and youre set. It's a shame. I will leave Halo to follow Bungie to it's Destiny. Burn bright, burn blue.

[36-2071 Pragmatic Avarice]

I do like Halo 4's multiplayer and Spartan Ops over the regular Campaign. Honestly the replay value for Campaign isn't that huge. But they did a good job with the story.

[lordcrusnik1986]

It is a public statement,...so for that i am grateful, campaign and MM are perfectly ok in my book, campaign is superb and MM is genuinly good (not great but good) But like another poster said it does seem like a plea to buy halo 5 and not focus on fixing a game that has hopefully 2 years on market, in terms of custom options, forge, and fileshare

 

However its a step in the right direction and what we were asking for in the first place so for now im good.....but customs, forge and FILESHARE needs to be address and they only have 2 months for me before im done

[Gobblekin]

Mate, I hope you read this. I like how you spoke to the community and all. But a lot of us need vanilla Halo back. I left COD to play Halo for equality in a match but now... I have lost touch. (He may have spoken to us, but trust me, nobody responds). Just a thought, how about a vanilla play-list where you bring Halo Reach (Vanilla, never a fan of TU) to Halo 4 by modifying the damage tables, no weapon drops, etc. Just like the good old days.

[Sinister King]

i love the game, as i love the world of halo. the story was surprising but i don't think it's over yet. as far as multi player goes. i think the ranking system wasn't that good, the weapons selection for load out's should not have been limited, armour selection was (and im sorry to say this) 85% crap. just add more armour, and that witch clearly looks more UNSC rather than japanamie.more game modes and fix the file share problems. "note i havent messed with it in a few day's so forgive me if it is currently fix'd" but i dont know it this is in the works but why dont we have theater for spartan ops? so many of those awesome moments can be captured there, a simple screen shot of me and my friends ripping down the cov. as we appear as we made our selves look, obviously armour but color as well, or capturing that odd moment when the ellite just wants to dance or play catch, i have no way to save that. oh and i have just started to forge maps again and i see this trend in alot of maps.... the flat pasty deapth-less textures of the walls. i can blend the edges of the walls and create a grey void that players would walk into for a while only realizing they have been walking in to a wall for 5min... lol. but dispite my minor list witch managed to grow, i am a true fan of what u created, it cas changed my life, it has granted me a dream, and for a 30 year old it is hard to still have a dream that drives u. so thank u for that....

 

oh and what happened to the "WARTHOG" regular axles really? lol sry but that one really bugs me.

[psychowarren102]

i give up trying to list what i want changed as it doesn't seem to be heard......

 

get rid of weapon drops=stops addict campers

 

more map rotation with mlg,team snipes and proper ranking...please for the love of god

 

and for the love of god get rid of choice of starting weapons leave it as AR & mag for slayer BR & AR for BR's

 

and the noobs can pick up run and camp with their boltshot as they please

[coolman27]

i love how 343 is dedicated to halo and at least they are trying. i still love halo and they made it better now with the multiplayer and the campaign. i wouldn't judge irrationally because this is their first time working on halo and their giving all they got to make everyone happy with binning halo back. i thought they did a great job with halo 4. still there was a few flaws, but it doesn't say that it wasn't bad. so for their effort i say great job and keep up with it.

 

thanks 343

[Chase-S201]

This one is the best Halo yet. All the others were fantastic, even reach. But being forced to use the same guns over and over, and being unable to get the guns that one can actually use well was always a pain. But, they managed to take the one or two good things from CoD, polished them, and they made it work, and well in the Halo world.

 

To all those who say Halo is dead, get over yourselves! Games must evolve, must move on. Nothing stays the same forever, and if it does, then it fades and is forgotten. No smart game company is going to let that happen to a game such as Halo. This game still takes skill, it still takes talent. It still takes team work. This game is still Halo, and Halo 5 will still be Halo. The game has simply done what every Halo has done before..

 

Halo 2 brought in slight customization and custom emblems, and the ability to duel wield.

 

Halo 3 added more Customization, added equipment.

 

Halo 3 O.D.S.T added customizable characters in campaign, and added firefight.

 

Halo Reach Added AA's, Loadouts, Assassinations, and refined armor customization, and refined Firefight.

 

Halo 4, added a wider selection of armor, refined the AA system, added Ordanence Drop system, Customization load outs, and added a second campaign of sorts; Spartan Ops.

 

Halo is a game of change. EVERY SINGLE Halo game has changed a good bit from the last. That is simply the nature of this series.. It changes. And it always will. If it didn't, then Halo would fail.

 

So to those who can't handle change.. Simply move along. Don't pester the real fans, who can handle change, and still see Halo as it is- Halo. It is what it always has been. A forever evolving, vast universe and wonderful game series that continues to strive to be better, and constantly succeeds. The constant change is what makes this game so great, is why this game will forever be better then CoD.

[its_Yasyszczuk]

Hmmm.....what can be said about Frank O'Connor's speech:

Well, I guess first I should point out how well he, and the rest of 343 Industries, handled the unnecessary negative feedback about some of Halo 4's few, very small flaws.

 

Second, it takes a lot of confidence to publicly speak about the flaws of a company's first full game. (Excluding Halo: CE Anniversary). Also, as the comment before mine stated, Halo is an ever-changing franchise.

 

The only thing that I think would make the games even better would be to:

 

-Add a Covenant Campaign

-Allow for Classes in Multiplayer (Marine, ODST, Spartan, Elite, Jackal, Hunter, etc)

-New UNSC weapons that show tech advancement (A UNSC Plasma weapon, like the Storm Rifle)

-Ability to have fireteams (Clans, like with CoD: ELITE)

-Ability to fly Phantoms or Pelicans in Multiplayer

[Bossofmagic]

When I read this post, I felt obligated to register just to answer this in the hope that 343 sees all we have to say

 

Personally, I find that the campaing was pretty good and very challenging in legendary. The new variety of ennemies and weapons made it very refreshing and I had to think over my strategy sometimes.

 

Aside from a smaller variety of maps, The only problem I have with multiplayer is that if/when the older gametypes reappear (Slayer, juggernaut and what not), I have zero knowledge of where the weapons spawn because I stopped looking for weapons on the ground.

 

My biggest dissapointment was the forge. I was really looking foward to a greater variety of objects to use and a big map like forge world but most maps feel cramped to me and the new map-specific objects don't work with what I had in mind (especially since I work on inpact, the largest map available and the items in that map are large empty corridors. Also, I was befuddled when I saw that the gravity volume items came in specific sizes isntead of varying in shapes and sizes like the radius of a trait zone. I also can't understand why the pipes in erosions are full instead of being hollow like the one in High Ground in Halo 3. It would give much more functionality to them; legitimate vent system to lurk in the ceilings, barrels of cannons possibly, etc.

 

On the upside, I appreciate the new texture of the old items and the Lock Feature is very appreciated. I feel much better knowing that I won't destroy my precise placing with one mispressed button (especially when you try to move an item's height with the bumpers between two coordinates to get the perfect height). The concept of gravity volume zones and player trait zones are also a nice addition, especially since you can change the traits of the player trait zone in the pause menue instead of having to leave the game and change the game settings. It allows for a quick way to test new settings.

 

I tip you my hat for the work you've done but I really look foward a new patch or maybe even a DLC centered around ameliorating the forge.

[halo]

At least 343 knows their mistakes about halo 4. This is a very good thing because they get to fix their mistakes like the fail making matchmaking balanced (classes) and so on. Halo 5 and 6 will be much better than Halo 4.

FYI 343 halo 4 needs some patchin and for the new title update make it that the MLG players would have their own playlists like in the other halos.

[Black jediZz]

I Love Halo 4 Best Game Ever <3

[Black jediZz]

This comment is more a "Please buy the NEXT Halo we are already working on" and very thin on "We will make THIS Halo you spent $60 on right as soon as we can!".

 

I am very disappointed they still can not run all the legacy game types like Team Snipers because they don't have the server capacity. How can that be? Why did they choose to invest so much time in the Modern Warfare like Weapons drop, but not allow players to customize what they get in the drop? Why are we still seeing the same maps over and over in multi-player because they don't rotate the choices enough?

 

These are simple issues, and before Frank starts asking me for the NEXT $60 he really needs to make my last $60 worthwhile. My first impression of 343 is that they killed Cortana, hate headshote and snipers, and could care less that the community is forced to play the same 5 maps over and over again because he is already on to the next Halo.

 

If he REALLY wants to show his gratitude towards the community that took a risk and bought his game, he would get on top of his people and say "Katie bar the door until we get this right."

 

At this point I won't buy the next Halo if it is done by 343. They have a few months to get this one right and win me back. If they don't, forget it. Excluding Team Snipers alone is an unforgivable sin. It has been in every game so far. Shame on 343.

 

they have said there gonna get team sniper and free for all in halo 4 again

[117 Evan 117]

I am glad that he is saying something.

[Destroyaaa]

Wow you guys for the most part seem to like his post. Unforutantely I am going to take the negative nancy road here. Check out this response I found on waypoint that I tend to side with (not as harshly though).

 

 

""I'm a bit disappointed in the actual content of the update, but I am thankful they at least acknowledged the issues.

 

Basically, I said a while back if 343 didn't at least ACKNOWLEDGE the games problems then I'd be more or less done with them until further notice.

 

But they did... barely. Its still super vague, and there are even some decisions being made right now that make no -Yoinking!- sense. Such as a TEMPORARY doubles playlist? What? It should have been standard since launch.

 

And super disappointing we have to wait another whole month and potentially more for file shares, but at least they're working on it.

 

There was mention of custom game options so at least they're looking into it.

 

I wish we could at least know what this next TU is about. Just tell me if its more fixing glitches oriented like last one, or gameplay/balance/features oriented like I'm hoping for.""

 

Yeah I mean I feel like every weekly bulletin is the same.

 

Very proud of the team, we did a lot with a little... no. Every business is hard as Yoink! to build, every product is hard as Yoink! to launch, the difference is most businesses aren't a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. There are no cafes in most businesses. There are no lounges with plasma TVs. There are no trips to NYC to hang out with celebrities. I've never seen a group of people congratulate themselves more on doing their job than 343. I completely understand being proud of the team and what people have accomplished, but don't try to frame it as though the struggle excuses some of the faults.

 

There are approximately zero people reading this:

 

Quote:

"We have a lot to learn. We made a lot of mistakes. We can do better. And we know this, and we will."

 

that were disappointed with Halo 4, but will now return to the game because of that statement. It means nothing to anyone but the people who already know you made mistakes.

 

There are approximately zero people reading this:

 

Quote:

"The overhaul of an amazing game engine – but one that really needed to be overhauled"

 

who then feel better about playing a Halo game with the worst frame-rate drops in the series.

 

Then I read this

 

Quote:

"It may not have ended up precisely the way you imagined – there are simply too many voices and perspectives to make all of the people happy, all of the time"

 

is it the community's fault that we're missing features from Halo 3? Frankie talks about how by all objective measures Halo 4 was a success. Missing core components of your predeccessors is a pretty damn objective failure.

 

and I read this

 

Quote:

– but we think of the community as a direct and democratic extension of the team and, indeed, of the development process."

 

What was influenced by the community? Any examples? Was FUD or TTL asking for Complex? If the community is such a direct and democratic extension of the team, which part of the community asked for the first map pack to be big brown maps? Was that ReadyUpLive or r/Halo's fault? Could you guys have democratically put up a vote with the major communities asking if recreating Seattle during crunch time was a good idea? I just find it hilarious that after a year of Trust Us, Feels Like Halo, now suddenly the community is apparently a direct extension of the team and there are just too many gosh darn voices to be heard to make people happy. To extend this makeshift olive branch while simultaneously refusing to outline the next title update is hysterical to me. To this day, we still have no idea who, why, or how 343 makes any of their matchmaking decisions. We open up the weekly bulletin every week and hope there's something interesting. That is literally the only involvement we get with matchmaking updates.

 

No end user gives a rat's -Yoink!- about the development process of anything. You don't think about the thousands of man-hours that go into the labeling of every single product in a grocery store, you just buy it. Give us some actual hard definable timelines for when we'll be getting fileshare, when we're getting a ranking system, when we're getting video uploading. Where are these features? Everything is always one or two weeks away. We'll have more details to share in a bit! As someone who hasn't played Halo in over a month, all I took from that update is that video game development is hard and that we'll be getting minor playlist updates in 3 or 4 weeks. Well, no Yoink!. Sometime in the future we'll get missing features added and a title update. Oh and we have more outsourced table-scrap maps to look forward to that we'll have to pay for. Halo 4 is hitting all time low daily peak populations right now, there are 200 people in the playlist of their new DLC pack, and a 4 year old download-only PC game is ahead of it in activity, but who cares, the team is working hard! Puhleaze. I'm sure Frankie will respond to this by calling me a troll and that I hate Halo and hate everything and am moving the goalposts and should leave GAF as I have been told by him before, which is fine, but it doesn't change the fact that all the 9.8's and long hours in the world can't stop this game from falling further on its face if they keep heading down this same path."

 

 

 

While I respect that he admitted he made mistakes, this business is about results. They have all the money, resources, time, and power to make a great game. This game was released as a beta and was not ready for the public. They have taken away things that the communuity loved with very little logic involved. Sure I might be "excited for halo 5" or "excited for updates to halo 4" but I was excited BEFORE the game was released. Im sorry but this is unacceptable, I paid $60 bucks for this.

[RANMAN10]

"Halo 4 is the best and fastest-selling Halo game in the series. It won critical acclaim. It won awards, from Best Graphics at the VGAs to Game of the Year at the Inside Gaming Awards."

 

You made over 220 million dollars in JUST pre-order sales, which means that over 3.6 MILLION people JUST PRE-ORDERED your game... and your game's population has dropped to 18,000 players before. ...That means that even with people added at that time that had just bought it and didn't pre-order it, 0.49% of people who bought Halo 4 were still playing it. -and that's being generous by adding those who did'nt pre-order it.

 

This is not successful. This isn't Halo.