What path is best? *thread idea*=stick to core?

[Planet Etrius]

I posted this originally in response to another topic and I thought what I had could be pretty legit and I decided to go deeper into it. I was saying how originally I was all for perks and what not in Halo Reach but ultimately I found it wasn't enough change for my taste, and the way in which the change happened blew away much of the fan base. So I decided to re-analyze what happened with Reach and what Halo is "really about" more critically. As critically as I can at least. The original post is as follows:

 

This was all me too brotha, but unfortunately it seems that the conservatives rule the fanbase. And I seriously now think that they may love this game and be more passionate about it than us. They really may know whats best. I do agree that Halo should keep innovating, but the truth is what happened with Reach wasn't enough and at the same it screwed over so many fans. One of the things about Halo is that it's a game where you make the game and you provide the in depth experience. You provide the details in your play style for the gameplay. You are the perk. So I think the best way for Halo to go gameplay wise is to focus on things that directly build off the key points of its core:

 

Weapons (includes grenades)

Bonus Gameplay Aesthetics (can branch into weapons or map control)

Map Control

 

Those are really the only three. And you may see how equipment in Halo 3 did branch off in the aesthetics department. Dual wielding also did so in aesthetics and weapons as well. The man cannon added a new dimension to map control. So I do agree that Halo should go big or leave the scene. We need to be careful about how we do it though.

 

End Original Post

 

I posted this in response to "*********" (hold on I'll look up the name). What I meant was what happened with Reach wasn't enough and at the same time maybe it did go in a misguided direction. So now I'm thinking with these as the "Ultimately Subjective Truths" or things that I see as fact do to the reasoning that ultimately no matter which viewpoint you see it from, they can ultimately be simplified into an ultimately generic "subjective objective" truth. Like the saying "Life is what you make of it.". So let's examine them. I say these 3 are the ultimate core because obviously many people believe weapons, grenades, and map control are the core of Halo. I just put grenades in with weapons and replaced it with a new layer, "Gameplay Aesthetics",. Gameplay aesthetics often play into either weapons or map control. For example equipment in Halo 3 played a bit into the weapons category with the trip mine, and energy drain. They could also be used for map control like the gravity lift. They were also bonuses in their own category like the regenerator and bubble shield. Dual wielding in Halo 2 also played into the weapons category. I'm going to add a outer core and I will now call the three that I just talked about the "gameplay layer".

 

The outer core is composed of items on map, consistent enviroment, and "equal initial player palette". Now let's look at Reach. At first I had absolutely no problem with the title gameplay wise, and I still really don't except I will admit armor-lock does get pretty annoying sometimes. That's about it though. I wish the campaign were more impressive, and I still don't completely understand if my connection or the game is responsible for my lag in games at times (upstream bandwith?). I only going to focus on gameplay though. So why was the community in such a uproar with Reach? Let's look at my "Ultimate Core" of Halo. Where do armor abilities fit in? They're not intended to be directly used as weapons, most of the time. One of them fits into map control, but let's just call a rule here. Anything that is useable by the player as some kind of equipment or acts in loadout form is considered a gameplay aesthetic. Now how does this play into the other two gameplay layers? Sprint, evade, active camo,...let's throw in armor lock, and hologram are bonuses. That makes jetpack the only one that really plays into any of the other two categories, map control,. Now back to weapons and the armor abilities. Sprint and evade are designed to do 2 things which are to increase speed, and increase capability to close distances with ease and quickness. Any other factors come from the players use of it. Many people may not have a problem with this, but according to my attempt to articulate the hardcore fanbase we have a huge prblem and it's in "equal initial player palette", and items on map. The rule is, if a product in one branch of Halo contradicts another="failure". Now let's look at jet pack, armor-lock, and active camo:

 

Jet Pack

"Kills"-Map Control, and includes issues of sprint and evade

 

Armor Lock

"Kills"-Weapons, and includes issues of sprint and evade

 

Active Camo

"Kills"-same issues as evade and sprint

 

Hologram

I'm gonna say it's a harmless bonus

 

Now Loadouts?

"Kills"-equal initial player palette, items on map, and part of the point of map control

 

Armor abilities just are not the same as equipment. They are a entirely new bonus and only contradict the other branches. Same thing with loadouts. I think what I'm getting at is that it's not impossible for Halo to evolve, but we should be careful about how we do it. And change should almost always build off of these 6 core aspects and not directly contradict each other.

 

Note: I know this is kind of sketchy and I missed a couple things. Like how the bubble shield in Halo 3 had the exact same function as armor-lock with some differences. It really just depends on how the community reacts. The design of the gameplay aesthetic is really important too.

[Absolute Dog]

I will keep my response brief. First, your last analogy between the Bubble Shield and Armor Lock has no validity in my view. The shield does not make you indestructible, emit an EMP, destroy vehicles, denature the blast of a stuck on sticky. deflect rockets back at players, etc, etc. The bubble shield can be entered by another player to continue a fight, vehicles can pass through it and it is available to any player that happens across it.

 

With that said, I do agree with some of your points, but to me what set Halo apart from the other games was the "mild" target lock that exists. The maps were better, on whole, in the original Halo titles to me and had an overall better feel. I will, or we will, never know what the current maps of Reach may have felt like if not clouded by all the other factors. I honestly believe there is no way AA's will be seen again. Like you, I expect change and advancement of the original series and feel there were enough unliked changes that drove away or alienated fans. Nice OP to bring forward another good discussion.