http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/01/24/halo-out-and-cod-in-at-major-league-gaming-but-why/

Goddamn, this has to be a harsh hit to 343. Between this and the XBL drop off numbers over the past few weeks... I wonder what direction this game is going in.

Funny how he's talking about it as if it's about the gameplay. The games MLG features has always been based on audience numbers. Halo used to be big, so it was their main feature. Then SC2 came along and blew it away, diminishing Halo to a sideshow. And now we have LoL even dwarfing SC2.

After playing some Halo 4, I can understand why. It just doesn't feel like a Halo game anymore, at least not to me. Too many small changes here and there that added up to a very different experience. It's still well-crafted; just not sure it's for me anymore.

It wouldn't surprise me if they dropped it for more PC stuff, either. It still seems very weird to me. I first learned of MLG when it was ALL ABOUT Halo 2. The idea of MLG without Halo is very strange. Without one, I feel like the other should go as well.

MLG and most of the games they run are pretty boring to watch anyway, there's nothing like this:

I don't mind SC2, but damn LoL is boring to watch even though I love playing the game.

eSports is all about that RTS stuff now.

If only they were move it to PC and make it free-to-play.

That's a joke by the way (mostly).

Esports, ehhhh

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

Some of this happened because they (Microsoft) have signed some sort of exclusive deal with Virgin Gaming (yeah, I know ha ha) and therefore they can´t support something like MLG officially.

There are actually some MLG settings and gametypes for Halo4, but since the fileshare doesn´t work you have to get them from some obscure gamertags.. and since the respawn timers of some weapon drops are also borked, they had to create one custom gametype per map. So, yeah there are a lot of really weird things going on with Halo 4- a lot of the multiplayer / forge issues really make it seem like this game was released a couple of months too early. There may be an official reason for MLG dropping it, but all the little issues have surely played a part.

Overall I think they have done the MP a huge disservice by releasing in this form and without a public beta. It´s still fun, but there are too many random elements and just flat out dumb design decisions in my opinion. They cut the Assault mode for crying out loud. That and some of the other team based modes were my favorites in previous games. Now it seems to focus on highly accessible Team Deathmatch modes and is trying to please people who can´t get a kill with regular weapons a little too hard by handing out power weapons a lot more.

343 dropped the ball. there is a great core game in halo 4, but there is no pro gametype settled on, and there are no pro maps settled on. they JUST got a custom forge map playlist up, but only one of the maps in there could be considered for MLG. that playlist right now is terrible. i expected much more, and there are about 5 amazing maps that they could have put in there.. i think theyre just completely out of touch with this side of halo .

Times be a'changing, folks.

Makes sense to drop Halo, but sticking CoD in? What? Get WoW or SF or something that at least attempts balance and has an audience.

CoD seems like the wrong choice, for the same reason Halo was never popular with esports. First person games just don't work well as a spectator sport.

I think Quake 3 was pretty fun to watch back in the day.

From the article:

"There’s no official comment from Major League Gaming as to why Halo has been dropped, though it’s been mentioned that Microsoft signed an exclusive deal with Virgin Gaming giving them access to the game over MLG"

I could see that being a big reason; even if MLG would have still been allowed to carry Halo per the deal between Microsoft and Virgin, they might have wanted to send a message by excluding Halo 4.

@Zereta said:

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

IMO, you can't have a large casual audience without a stable, dedicated hardcore crowd when it comes to FPS games.

So, does this mean all the "Halo pros" have to get regular jobs now?

E-Sports are fucking stupid

@Zereta said:

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

Yup, good way of looking at it, as it'll defiantly push them to evolve the series. Now if sales slowed enough for Call of Duty to get shaken up.

Maybe now they'll actually focus on making the game better, instead of treading a fine line to appease these kinds of people.

@Peanut said:

Maybe now they'll actually focus on making the game better, instead of treading a fine line to appease these kinds of people.

These kind of people are the people who actually put time into the game, now I am not the type of person who hates armour abilities, sprint, and such but really, I could care less what the people who put a grand total of two hours into the game think, it is ridiculous the the developers are expected by some to only cater to them. Halo 4 walked a line between hardcore and casual, it did a very good job all in all.

Halo 4 is a very fun game by the way.

What about Tsquared?

@TheHBK said:

E-Sports are fucking stupid

Personally I think anything that can lead to things like this has its awesome elements.

hopefully this humbles down 343 now, especially the dropoff in xbl numbers,

halo 4 is a very fun game, but the way 343 was running their mouth in their videos and comparing it to the actual game, they were pretentious to the max.

Theres absolutely nothing competitive about call of duty or Halo 4 for that matter, playing something that requires skill like Marvel Vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike, or even Halo 1-3 would actually be somewhat interesting to watch.

Sucks for them, but I don't watch e-sports anyway. I'd rather be playing than spectating.

I will say that he brings up a good point about the element of randomness being a potential problem for tournament play. At least assuming the parts that are random can't just be disabled or standardized (I haven't actually played 4 so I don't know whether that's the case).

@BigBoss1911 said:

Theres absolutely nothing competitive about call of duty or Halo 4 for that matter, playing something that requires skill like Marvel Vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike, or even Halo 1-3 would actually be somewhat interesting to watch.

How do Cod and Halo 4 require no skill? Every game you've mentioned is dependent on how capable your opponents are. What makes those two particular games any different?

eSports. Sports for dudes who aren't good at sports. if you want to watch real geniuses go to work, watch competition chess or Scrabble.

@Jayzilla said:

eSports. Sports for dudes who aren't good at sports. if you want to watch real geniuses go to work, watch competition chess or Scrabble.

Actually don't know if you're being dumb or joking.

343 clearly put players possibly having more fun and variety over time over the interests of maintaining it as an eSport. Which, to me, is nice to see. I love eSports, but developers shouldn't necessarily have to keep catering to it. First and foremost, most games should be fun, even if that comes at the expense of their professional viability.

@haffy said:

@BigBoss1911 said:

Theres absolutely nothing competitive about call of duty or Halo 4 for that matter, playing something that requires skill like Marvel Vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Unreal Tournament, Counter Strike, or even Halo 1-3 would actually be somewhat interesting to watch.

How do Cod and Halo 4 require no skill? Every game you've mentioned is dependent on how capable your opponents are. What makes those two particular games any different?

Its not that they require no skill at all, its just that if MLG is supposed to be composed of good game players, they should play games that are balanced and deep. Call of Duty is really shallow.

@cmblasko said:

@Zereta said:

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

IMO, you can't have a large casual audience without a stable, dedicated hardcore crowd when it comes to FPS games.

I do not comprehend how this makes sense?

CoD seems like the wrong choice, for the same reason Halo was never popular with esports. First person games just don't work well as a spectator sport.

I've never liked FPS based "eSports" (God, I hate that term.). I find fighting games and RTS are better suited for me and a general audience. 1. You see the action from both sides at the same time instead of from the view point of one player. And 2. A lot more strategy is involved I feel.

@big_jon: I never said it wasn't fun. Perhaps saying "make the game better" wasn't the correct statement either, when what I really mean is that I want it to change in more significant ways. Again, maybe now that they don't have this secondary pressure to appease the MLG "pros" they'll be willing to take bigger, more interesting risks with the multiplayer.

Then again, maybe there simply isn't enough to change with the formula anymore and it is what it is, now and forever. It's unfortunate, but if that's the case I have zero interest in playing Halo multiplayer anymore and very clearly I'm not alone.

@SomeDeliCook said:

@darthslughorn said:

CoD seems like the wrong choice, for the same reason Halo was never popular with esports. First person games just don't work well as a spectator sport.

Counter Strike

Halo 2 and 3 built MLG.

What exactly are the "Halo-cores" issues with 4?

I like Halo 4 and couldn't care less about "E-Sports," and now I am posting in this thread.

ok

Whatevs. I still really have fun with the mp, BTB especially. Need more maps though.

@StrainedEyes said:

What exactly are the "Halo-cores" issues with 4?

Not speaking from any sort of personal preference -- I think a lot of the stuff the "Halo-core" people liked involved holding points where heavy/important weapons drop, and timing for when the weapons would initially and re-spawn. Replacing that completely with Loadouts and Ordinances completely removes that aspect.

@Zereta said:

@cmblasko said:

@Zereta said:

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

IMO, you can't have a large casual audience without a stable, dedicated hardcore crowd when it comes to FPS games.

I do not comprehend how this makes sense?

There's never really been a successful, long-term multiplayer FPS that didn't have a core group of competitive gamers lauding it to attract a casual audience.

Maybe it would have been better if I had said that if an FPS game isn't built with competition in mind, it will have a short shelf life and fail to find a large audience. Halo 4 is kind of proving that right now.

@cmblasko said:

@Zereta said:

@cmblasko said:

@Zereta said:

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

IMO, you can't have a large casual audience without a stable, dedicated hardcore crowd when it comes to FPS games.

I do not comprehend how this makes sense?

There's never really been a successful, long-term multiplayer FPS that didn't have a core group of competitive gamers lauding it to attract a casual audience.

Maybe it would have been better if I had said that if an FPS game isn't built with competition in mind, it will have a short shelf life and fail to find a large audience. Halo 4 is kind of proving that right now.

Ah I suppose I do see where you're coming from. I disagree with it but it is a valid point.

Poor Captain King. :(

@cmblasko said:

@Zereta said:

@cmblasko said:

@Zereta said:

Best thing to happen to Halo, in my opinion. Hopefully, for Halo 5, 343 just stops trying to please the un-pleasable SUPER HARDCORE DUDEBRO GAMERS and focuses on making a FUN game.

IMO, you can't have a large casual audience without a stable, dedicated hardcore crowd when it comes to FPS games.

I do not comprehend how this makes sense?

There's never really been a successful, long-term multiplayer FPS that didn't have a core group of competitive gamers lauding it to attract a casual audience.

Maybe it would have been better if I had said that if an FPS game isn't built with competition in mind, it will have a short shelf life and fail to find a large audience. Halo 4 is kind of proving that right now.

I don't think that's true, considering how popular Left 4 Dead is.

I see your point. But it's not a hard-and-fast totem rule.

That's actually kind of a shame..

There might be a technical issue as well. If there is no way to host a spectator or manage teams then it limits orgs like MLG because they have to rig something to generate a feed that frankly looks sloppy. It makes it more difficult to do something like invite 32 teams, play and track them all simultaneously in a tournament allowing PPV subscribers to switch between any of them if the game's server tech doesn't support it.

Halo 4 is a fun game, but they don't let you melee your teammates anymore, so it's no wonder it's no longer recognized by the MLG, honestly.