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.

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[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.

[Guest Marko]

^Lolz you sound like you suck at the game and that you are just crying...

[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

[Guest 343 fails]

::::Bugs ::::

- muting players during game (control layout) i need 3 hands to do this

- killcam LAG

- if u choose the game and return to list you have tu choose again (UP)

 

:::::multiplayer wrong things:::::::

- to big, really maps

- not rain ,mist , snowing, or night maps

- Playlist without - sniperteam

- pro modes-

-or others games withtout radar

- Ranking system is so ..............

-loading players cards before enter game

- Players name are not in small font

- to many countdowns to begin the games

- snipers are to easy compare reach , making snapshots are so easy

- sound effect of snipers , brb is not cool (halo reach was ok)

-emblems unlocking is cool but not old emblems

 

::::: Player want::::::

- Choose players (EU vs EU) (USA vs USA)

- to play fast waiting is not cool

- choose wapens from olders games like all the snipers , brb, asoult, en the pistol from H1

- or cool maps like lockout original side

(remake or lockout on H3 was to big )

- CLAN SYSTEM

- A xbolive Tunel system like XBC or XLINK for xboxlive players only for sytemlink play

-(or simply remove 30 ping limit)

[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.

[Guest dapa]

im a big fan from day one and i dont wana slate so im not gona, but we need variation with maps yes there are a few things different and i dont like them but this game has some serious potential, just dont do what bungie did and make us wait too long till you start making variations of certain maps because people are already bored and we need changes in scenery, even if you had a forge competition or something, we need to be freed from the repetition from these maps currently in the playlist, please please please get those variants out soon if they are in the pipeline because to be honest i am bored and i know a lot of others are too and you are gona lose your fan base very quickly and it can be avoided.

 

A raked playlist would be very welcome to me so i could tell how well i fair against the best players on here i would love that. it drives me to be a better player.

 

one pet hate about gameplay.... take off the automatic pick up of the flag when you go near it, when you are trying to clear the enemies from the area and you automatically pick up the flag before you are ready.... that is not cool. if any of these ideas get taken on they would be very much welcomed by your halo community

 

Thanks 343

 

DaPz

[Guest thegaminggamer]

I understand its a new studio. I understand, there is a learning curve involved. I understand Frank O Connor is doing something in the area of damage control. I understand this and all other challenges you have had to overcome. Nevertheless these are my two cents.

 

I love that it's Halo. I like the new engine (graphics) to some extent, and I like certain aspects of multiplayer.

 

However...

 

The campaign was 6 hours long. WTF? I mean I like the multiplayer and always have but to me the campaign is the most important aspect of Halo. Six hours? The original Halo took me 11 hours to beat in normal, then I replayed it on heroic and finished with the legendary campaign. That for me was 30+ hours for the campaign. Won't even go into detail about Halo 2 or 3.

 

Replayability. Its just not there. I beat Halo 4 once on heroic and as much as I've tried I haven't been compelled to finish the game on legendary anymore or replay it at all for that matter. Simply put it gets boring. Gets repetitive. Unlock A. Now B. Now C. Rinse and repeat. Look at Goldeneye and the original Halo for cues on replayability. Love playing online but the solo campaign is still very important, even more so for me personally.

 

Cortana dies. Really? A program. Dies. Artificial intelligence? Dies. Come on, that's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I can believe it can get encumbered from so much data after so many years that it needs some sort of data purge or a firmware update... But dying? LMAO, thats got to be the most idiotic thing I've ever heard. Get your drama elswhere.

 

You ran out of ideas for adversaries so you had to bring the covenant back huh? Plus where are grunts' funny one liners. Honestly if they are there I didn't notice.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the Master Chief like one of the last Spartans? Seeing how you depicted so many Spartans in Halo 4 made the Master Chief lose its uniqueness. He doesn't feel so much like a hero now. The Master Chief was humanity's last hope now it feels like he's just one of the bunch.

 

Also I really didn't like how the Master Chief all of a sudden became very talkative, in previous games he was very quiet. Cortana was the yammering crazy one.

 

I understand how developers have reached the limitations of the X360 hardware and more specifically storage space on the optical disc. However take it as constructive criticism, levels feel very small. Both in the campaign and multiplayer. On the multiplayer side I really don't like that vehicles are limited to very few maps. It's no wonder people prefer Ragnarok and Complex so much. While I'm on the subject, there are just not enough maps in multiplayer. It gets tiring playing Swat on 3 or 4 maps over and over.

 

The multiplayer leveling system is bland. The rewards are stupid. Don't really care about gear that makes Spartans look like power rangers. If you really have to do this, rethink the rewards. Make it worth while.

 

System link, I went through a **** storm the other day trying to link two consoles together for a simple 8 player lan party. Dropped the ball big with this.

 

Umm, what happened to dual wielding? What about team snipers?

 

I don't want others to pick what type of game we're going to play in DLC's, give me the maps. Ill decide what to play on them.

 

And the wishlist...

 

Humans should have reverse engineered alien weaponry. There should be some evidence of new human/alien hybrid weaponry, technology, vehicles.

 

Multiplayer should include covenant classes. It'd be badass to play as a sniper Jackal, a Kamikaze grunt or an assault cannon weilding Hunter.

 

Take a look at GOW3 Beast Mode.

 

Instead of ridiculously killing of A.I.'s... Think about the dawn of human galactic colonization, covenant alliance, brutes, etc, etc.

[Guest benny]

for me custom games was what made halo a amazing game, the abillity to create your own maps and your own game types just made it so much fun and hilarious , unforunattely on halo i never are invited to custom matches anymore since not many people do them which is a shame since most people on reach did custom games , it would be great if halo 4 had a update for a matchmaking for custom games ,or custom game styled maps like on halo reach and its infection modes. :> BUT last night i made a lot more friends though the community of this site and we did custom games for hours on end so i can now finally admit that my love for halo 4 is beyond any other game, i wont even start to talk about the storyline <3

[Guest benny]

oh and bring back forge world. the maps you have givin us just don compare in a tiny bit to the forge world, the big open spaces :/........ and pelicons or hornets on multiplayer... its really **** having to use banshee over and over

[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.