Challenges Need Rework

[BardicSound]

Let me start off by saying I love this game; more than I thought I would.

However, the challenge system really needs to be reworked. It seriously takes away from the fun of the game. It's a good concept but some of the challenges are way too difficult. I've successfully completed a weekly challenge and it was a serious grind. I'm a pretty good player and the fact it was tough for me means it's going to be impossible for most. Some of my friends are totally stuck because they're out of swaps and can't complete some of their challenges no matter how much they try. There's also the issue of only being able to earn experience points via challenges; players should be rewarded for winning games, getting medals, and killing enemies. I think there are some solutions:

- Give players 1-2 free swaps everyday so they don't get stuck with challenges they can't complete.

- Keep challenges simple. Instead of making them specific like getting perfect kills or knocking a warthog off a map with a repulsor, stick to things like getting 15-20 kills in a specific game mode or playing a game mode x number of times. Challenges everyone can complete will serve the player base more than challenges only a select few can complete.

- Require fewer weekly challenges to be completed in order to unlock the item available; after all these are just cosmetics and shouldn't be difficult to obtain.

- Reward experience points for winning games, getting medals, and making kills. Not just for challenges.

 

Finally, the reason for challenges should be to get players engaged in the game and logging in. When they're too difficult or specific it takes away from the experience of playing the game. Halo is about playing matches, doing objectives with your team, and just good old fashioned combat. It's difficult to concentrate on those aspects of the game (and dare I say frustrating) when your top priority is getting 5 splatters with a warthog or killing an enemy spartan with a coil.

That's all folks

Edited November 29, 2021 by BardicSound

[senadraxx]

Just want to let you know, I think your ideas are great and I hope 343 considers them! I agree that there needs to be a minimum of 1 free challenge swap a day. But I've got a couple more ideas that work very well with your ideas, I think.

I had a difficult time with challenges the other night. I stayed up all night to grind through the entire list, and 2 minutes before reset (at 9am) a 21st(?) challenge popped up out of nowhere on the list, preventing me from getting that armor coating. Looking back on that experience, here are some points of feedback I have. Fair warning, this will be a long list.

 

-Tiered challenge reward system, with a tracking counter. 5-10-20+ challenges completed, you should get some kind of reward, that increases in coolness, instead of just one reward for the week. 20 is a good place to put an armor coating, but how many challenges are things like a charm or a nameplate "worth", exactly? For your all-day players, how many matches do they go through on average per session, per diem? for your average players and your least-attendance players, what are their averages? there should be a tiered-something for everybody.

-Now, these don't have to be armor coatings or keychains, or even necessarily armor pieces/vehicle/weapon skins; although that would be nice for the community to see. It can be something as simple as in-game-currency, or challenge swaps, etc. for lower tiers. You can have repeating items week to week, if you want to make sure everyone gets a chance to get them. For players who complete challenges and reach a tier they've already received, they'd probably love an alternative reward, even if its a consumable or xp.

-people lately have been upset about paywalls, and offering the ability to earn 50-100 in-game-currency at a time, every 5+ matches, will make them feel much better about it. then people could earn the extra battle pass slot for free, and might be inclined to support the developers. Other solutions to the paywall problem include offering two separate currencies, (one you buy, one your earn) and giving them an equivalent exchange rate... but that's a topic for another post.

-Dont put a cap on challenges. let the players go through as many as they want to go through in a day. That way you keep your serious all-day players happy, and able to do all the progression they want to, and your part-time players who have actual work/life balance feel included.

-On that note, that gives you room to make as many fun challenges as you like! e.g, Earning points for 5 double kills, on top of the xp for those double kill medals? I'm not sure how big your master list is, but if its endlessly repeating on shuffle, the players will have a lot more engaging variety.

-Include a challenge counter in the score menu (back button) in-match, with live updates. If you are intent on including challenges into the gameplay, you might as well make them as accessible as possible. If you have that one player who is adamant on finishing them all in one day, people might lose track of their list or be thinking about BRs, for example, when what they really need is Chopper kills. There's even the possibility that those kills might be more satisfying, if the players can keep an eye on them!

 

Hopefully, these ideas will help player engagement, and help everyone feel more fulfilled when playing this game! I understand that there may be some roadblocks when it comes to the in-game-currency ideas, because large publishing companies are worried about de-incentivizing microtransactions. However, the important part is that it makes the players feel accomplished. The players actively spending money on xp boosts/cosmetics will continue to do that, and the average player might be more inclined to use the shop interface. Even if theyre not spending real money, that doesn't mean they wont. You may even get a sudden influx of people buying things, out of a desire to support the developers, which is ultimately the goal, right? 

But anyway, I hope this is a helpful contribution. @BardicSound thank you for making this thread and starting the conversation! you have great ideas!