How to fix Halo 4, by lifelong hardcore Halo fan

[Jake Phoenix]

Servers are lagging for the fifth day in a row.  There are still no DLC specific playlists (I spent $30 on new maps I never, ever see).  The coding is bad and very clearly being poorly managed.  I have am a 11 year veteran of the franchise, I max out GS on each title released, and the management of H4 makes me want to get a job as a community manager for Halo 4 simply to save the games multiplayer mode from the horrible reputation it has among gamers world wide.  My life revolves around games since I was a little boy, and as an adult with a TBI I spend more time at home playing games than others my age.

 

I've been taking notes the last two months.  My previous complaint with Reach was simply the booting system was overpowered and too punitive, also easily gamed.  I had reservations about posting this because, why do 343's job for them?  Well, I've played Halo non stop since CE was released.  From the first LAN parties on the Xbox to the blurry menus in Halo Wars, I have been through every last bit of the franchise, the fan fics, the DLCs, the Waypoint achievement hunting for no reason.  From watching Frankie's videos before he took over (oh ****s out of lazer juice!) to convincing my friends to buy Halo games to play with me, to my decision to get my first tattoo (a Halo tattoo at 27 years old).  I love Halo, it is to me what was once the greatest game of all time.  What I have seen of it now is a very clear and apparent downward trend that may be money driven, or indifference driven. 

 

Sorry for lack of punctuation, this list is quickhanded over a period of time:

 

Get rid of the Laser.  Make it ordnance drop only.
DLC specific playlist(s).  This would literally take less than 4 hours of lazy coding.
Boost default sprinting time and regen.
Increase reload speed on sniper rifle.
Boost boltshot power by 2x or more.  It is effectively 100% useless as is.
Ranked playlists.
boost ghost health.  It was once fun having to aim at the driver to stop their harassment instead of just blasting any part of the machine.  Changes like this were made to "level the playing field" for all players, which was a huge mistake and a franchise killing one at that.
randomized vehicles, presence of wraiths tanks and gauss instead of presets that never change and a narrow experience.
remove emphasis on non halo oriented gametypes.  Keep them, but stop depending on them, they are not the franchise and they are not why people buy Halo, they are not why people pay electric bills, broadband bills and buy TVs to play multiplayer.
legitimate reward for fulfilling in game scores (dmr kills, etc)

legitimate purpose behind armor choices, i.e. full Prefect set = 10% faster Promethean gun fire rate or reload, Verdant visor = 10% reduction in Plasma Pistol charged shot effect on driven vehicle
legitimate rewards for waypoint fulfillment (100% all titles, get a plaque, or even a signed piece of paper from a 343 team member)
remove charge hold depletion from plasma pistols, increase their burst fire damage
increase mantis fire accuracy, increase health, increase rocket damage, remove infinite rockets
bring back all voices through headsets, particularly from enemy team (spying on an enemy team used to be a legitimate tactic.)
hire new coders to fix betrayal system, it has been broken for years
add new class mods i.e. tank (can't sprint, takes double damage), hacker (disables armor abilities of specific enemies), un-nerf auto sentry
triple radius of healing sphere
increase accuracy of plasma rifle
slightly, slighty increase carbine damage
Increase fire rate on promethean light rifle
slightly, slightly decrease fire rate on dmr
increase damage of pistol to require one less round to kill full shielded opponent

double or triple thruster pack distance

increase damage range of shotgun, increase accuracy

it is easy to bring back its legions of fans (profit for 343).  shove the reality of the fact in the devs faces that the forums are convoluted with children, and to not listen to demands/requests made therein - if this is unacceptable, require max levels/achievements for any legitimacy to requests/claims by attaching XBL accounts to forum users.  10% done on waypoint?  Your opinion is mostly irrelevant.  80-100% done?  You should very seriously open discussion with these players based on pointed and well thought out arguments and evidence to support each idea.  Enough of the "1000 users on the forum like this post!  Let's get rid of DLCs because it's unfair!" garbage.