ParsnipHero

ParsnipHero

Resident “just plays Halo” guy

Comments 1,022

Re: Xbox Studios 'Player Numbers' Graphic Provides Interesting Look At Microsoft's Most-Played Franchises

ParsnipHero

@Fiendish-Beaver yea, I'm aware of those polls. I find that absolutely wild. I'm in the minority here but I hardly rate Halo as a campaign experience at all. I've played each one (except for 5 which I skipped) but despite Master Chief being a cool character the stories just don't do it for me.

Halo is a multiplayer experience to me first and foremost. That's where the fun is but like a lot of modern trend chasing multiplayer experiences the bottom line comes before the fun. Halo Infinite has the most expansive cosmetics in the series but that's what 343 focused on. Get the shop updates out to fund Forge then get the Forgers to carry the game updates. No new additions to the sandbox like vehicles. Any guns were done to support HCS not the average Halo player.

So I guess the picture I'm painting is noone was happy. The fans of Halo who didn't get more story and the multiplayer crowd got a monkey paw'd experience.

I think switching to Unreal 5 is a smart move in attracting new talent to the series. The slipspace engine is still an iteration on the BLAM! engine though. Enough that Halo Infinite doesn't quite feel like classic Halo though. This is the biggest challenge we'll see going forward to Unreal 5, Halo has to feel like Halo. It had a vary specific physics engine which created so many of those Halo moments. As a developer I'm sure it was hell to work with though.

Re: Xbox Studios 'Player Numbers' Graphic Provides Interesting Look At Microsoft's Most-Played Franchises

ParsnipHero

@Ricky-Spanish I understand why you might think MS tears Gears as a franchise like crap. They probably have but I do believe Gears has been treated better than Halo in the last decade though.

Both franchises are treated very poorly by Microsoft though. They love to use the IPs on marketing but do little more than that.

I’m hopefully for the Gears franchise though. I hope E-Day doesn’t disappoint fans like Infinite has for Halo.

Re: Xbox Studios 'Player Numbers' Graphic Provides Interesting Look At Microsoft's Most-Played Franchises

ParsnipHero

@Ricky-Spanish at least PureXbox mentioned Gears. No one had mentioned Halo at all until you have. It’s a sad state of affairs.

I used to play Halo several times a week. Absolutely loved what MCC had become finally and Infinite while stunted was good time for the most part.

Gears as a franchise has a future but Halo is pretty much dead right now. I don’t see myself going back either. I’m getting too old to throw so much time into live service/multiplayer games.

Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About 2024 On Xbox So Far?

ParsnipHero

@Willbo47 I played a bit of MW or MW2 back in the day on the 360 with friends as after Halo 2 my friend didn’t really enjoy Halo any more. So I’ve never really played it for the story.

I’m sure Flintlock and Awoved aren’t really my thing. Not really sure what that is right now as I’m avoiding online shooters, don’t have the attention span for anything other than roguelikes/lites and might be getting tired of them too.

So I’m looking to take a break from gaming and cancelling game pass makes sense right now even though I think the service is a great idea.

Re: Talking Point: Has Your Gaming Slowed Down As You've Got Older?

ParsnipHero

I used to play a bit as a kid; NES, GB, SNES then a lot more as a teenage. N64 with GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark and DKR with friends. Then as uni age hit I started getting into Halo.

Took a bit of lull of console gaming. During uni I tried out MapleStory and meet my wife online. Then we did Guild Wars & World of Warcraft from Burning Crusade to Cataclysm.

Wife & I got married and then I got hooked on online multiplayer games like Halo 4 and starting proto live service games with The Division 1 and Destiny 1 before getting back into online multiplayer games again. Fortnite and then Apex Legends. Bounced around those games for a bit before finding Halo Infinite. Played Infinite multiplayer religiously from launch until the exchange came in and I quit.

I’ve tried playing single player games but I’m going to be 40 next year and I’m loving having more time with my wife and to do stuff that I find to have a more positive impact on my life. I just can’t get back into live service games again. They tend to really suck me in. I just play them healthily.

My wife is a fellow gamer though. She doesn't play multiplayer games but she loves Vampire Survivors and the odd ARPGs like Dragon Age or AC:Odyssey. She’s super supportive of me playing games but I just don’t want to get dragged in any more.

So I think in my late 20s and 30s I probably played more games than when I was younger.

Re: Preview: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Is A Confident Return for BioWare

ParsnipHero

@Savage_Joe the problem I find typically with the use of the word “woke” is it’s awfully lazily applied. Here in the US it’s used by Republicans to describe pretty much anything they disagree with.

You talk about woke and you’ve applied a meaning to it which is fine. I don’t have a problem with games that have a diverse cast but I do have a problem with bad games. I do have problem with people who attack a game simply because it has a diverse cast though. If that’s the only merit they have against a game that’s a red flag for me.

Critique a game for its graphics, story or its mechanics that’s fine but just because they decided to include a certain demographic yea nah. That don’t wash.

Woke is thrown around so much by people right of left it definitely causes an eye roll moment. I don’t think we should throw out constructive discussion because of it though.

Re: Talking Point: If Halo Infinite Is Finished, Where Should The Franchise Go From Here?

ParsnipHero

Honestly not sure. Infinite was a hell of a cope ride for me. Spent weeks of in-game time playing that game.

I’m sure I can’t do it again. I’m just at a
different point in my life now. During my late 20s and 30s I’ve put years into multiplayer and live service games. I’ll be 40 next year and I think I’ve finally cut the cord of live service games.

I love multiplayer games but they’re just FOMO time sinks these days. Instead I’d rather spend time with my wife or do something else productive.

Re: Xbox's New 'This Is Halo' Trailer Summarises 343's Journey With Halo Infinite

ParsnipHero

I’ve had lots of fun with Halo over the years. A lot of frustration too. They really messed this one up and the recent changes failed to capitalise on the season 5 momentum.

Switching to operations was one thing would switching over to Spartan points really made me quit. I really don’t want or need anything from the exchange. I’ve completed every weekly since launch except for this week when I decided is over for me.

The weeklies don’t take long to do but it’s still habit forming and I’m trying to get out of that now after so long.

You could say you’re playing for the wrong reasons but as someone who has had weekly of not daily at some weeks I’ve really stifled with matchmaking either I’m just getting worse or I’m getting destroyed by better teams. I find it could be several matches in a row where I get utterly awful games. That’s just not fun so why stick around for that? It’s not like I only want games where I stomp.

Anyways taking a break from Halo for a while. I really feel the game has been squandered and this trailer is great but too little too late for folks like me who have supported the game since technical test 1 and launch day.

Re: Xbox Is Apparently 'Very Confident' In Its 2024 Summer Showcase Lineup

ParsnipHero

I can't help but feel a tad negative going into this reveal. That's mostly fueled by hype for past years and it really not amounting to much.

I'm also pretty bummed out that Halo Infinite is on a death slide existing only to milk players with the shop between now and the next release.

Microsoft rarely use their showcases to show Halo projects. The last time was Infinite and despite my excitement we all know how that turned out. I just feel my favorite franchise is being terribly mishandled.

I guess this is somewhat what it feels to be a Gears of War fan?

Re: Halo Infinite's Latest Update Adds New In-Game Currency

ParsnipHero

@dreadful Feels like the end. Halo is pretty much the only game I play and maybe that’s the issue here.

I've played every week and for every weekly. There are orbs in the exchange I don’t have but do I want them? Not really. Even the 30000 credits one just doesn’t seem worth it.

With weekly rewards going I think I’m actually going to stop doing weeklies. I’d hope on each Tuesday night (as my calls it “Halo night”) but with how unenjoyable the game is to play nowadays I’m seriously reconsidering that.

You can really tell their heart isn’t in it any more.