What Happened to Halo?

[@ZenkaiGoose]

The Tragic History of 343 Industries (Full Documentary) 👉kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZ6kooumid9-btk

[@TheFakeBriskeh]

your point on the differences between old halo and new halos competitive is almost on point, you should watch conradicalized's video on halos king of the hill playstyle

[@paintballJohn2]

It amazes me Microsoft let 343 fumble the bag this hard. It’s sad honestly.

[@r4k00n5]

Microsoft fumbled justvas much

[@XxOGSnIPesxX]

They were to focused on acquiring studios they got lost in the sauce

[@TheBig451]

@@The_Gent .......uh sure man

[@krynosisdreamer1421]

Yeah corps don't result in any of the excuses they've gotten.

[@khanhnguyen-tt3ff]

lol you should seen it coming when you see what they did to rare

[@SpottedHares]

What i never understood is how people pretend Halo is a competitive game when Bungie strait up said that they were making Halo 2 for the 80% that just want to kick back and have casual fun. Obviously making the game for casual fun worked a lot better even for the competitive players

[@orielsy]

You don't understand but you did see how much attention to detail was paid to balance and features. Perhaps you're choosing to not understand?

[@buckfordy4526]

Actually its both they said that and they said they want you too keep coming back for after dying because it has that competitive edge. Halo allways was and will be competitive

[@Jasondurgen]

@@orielsythat’s not the point, the point is it was originally meant to be a mostly casual game for casual people and it is during that period of Halo’s life time that Halo flourished

[@EggEnjoyer]

@@orielsyOf course the game is balanced. But also they literally said that halo is a party game. That’s why it has completely broken inclusions such as duel wielding, just because it looked cool and fun. They literally said their balancing was centered around lowering the skill gap and that they always matches to only be won by one or two more kills.

[@grimey666]

bro yes i’ve been saying this too lol esp with that skill based matchmaking it’s sucks who wants to sweat 24/7. I miss when it being fun first was the priority.

[@patrickholt8782]

It may seem surface level but Halo truly is the Star Wars of gaming. It launched so many people into a whole new world that seemed endless. Not to mention the multiplayer was basically smashing action figures into each other. 343 was given the golden goose but never fed the thing. Also like Star Wars.

[@sasaki999pro]

Honestly Star Wars is an apt comparison We had the first trilogy, the golden years, Combat Evolved was A new hope, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with Halo 2, and return of the jedi in Halo 3. Then because the story was effectively done, we had a saga of prequels that were very experimental, and the fans had mixed opinions on, but slowly grew to appreciate them for what they were. ODST, Reach and Wars. And then the IP was handed over to a new team and we got; *_The Sequal Trilogy_* A shotty first attempt at a return to the status quo, but fans gave it the benefit of the doubt that Halo 4 would be the launch pad into a new saga of greatness. And then The Last Jedi happened- I mean and then Halo 5 Guardians happened, and it appeared to be a big middle finger to literally everything that had come before, trying to subvert our expectations with flimsy marketing. The remaining fanbase then collectively said, whatever happens, atleast it wont be as bad as Halo 5.... and they were right! What awaited them was much....MUCH worse than Halo 5. Now we have Halo Infinite, the Rise of Skywalker of Halo titles.

[@curtisparenteau4704]

​@sasaki999pro that was one heck of comparison that I agree with, not saying I don't *don't like the new halo, it's just not the same

[@Luiggio_Reznikov]

The same goes for Mass Effect. Bioware dropped the best story-driven sci-fi trilogy in the history and then EA ruined it making them release Andromeda while it was nowhere near a decent product. That universe is so big that Star Wars is nothing compared to ME in terms of potential. Same goes for Halo.

[@drake0074]

I really like that "smashing action figures" analogy. I would add that 343 did feed the golden goose but unfortunately it was a diet of hard candy with no filling.

[@Dylan-uf7uf]

It's the same as any franchise/ games. Either you have a new fresh title that can stand on it's own, an old game that's lasted over time, or you have a "new" game in a franchise that exploits nostalgia while being a garbage money grab. The problem is people gobble up AAA Excrement and plead on their behalf no matter how bad it is. People keep holding on to the hope and false promises that their old game will come back one day. IT'S NEVER HAPPENING. Either replay older games, or move on to something new.

[@hung8969]

I got “let go” from 343i in 2020. Unfortunately the reason was “I asked to many questions, slowing down the progression of your unit” not untrue but simple questions would save a lot of fixes and bad end bs we almost never got a chance to flesh out. It was a hard time to lose that position but I’ve seen it as a blessing

[@BIZaGoten]

sad af that 343 has fallen this low.

[@Marcara081]

Give more deets.

[@MFS45]

I feel like this comment sums up everything wrong with the game development sphere It’s 100% profit and shareholder driven now. There’s little passion. Almost no incentive for putting out a good product. They just want it out as fast as possible so they can sucker a bunch of fools into buying it.

[@hung8969]

@@Marcara081 I mean nothing crazy, just they give you an idea or thing they like to see. Maybe a demo or something they give 3 weeks. Well let’s say you need 1 more day to make it 100% + be able to sell the idea better. Nopeeee. They’d rather deliver our demo at 85% with very obvious issues and just say “they would be worked out before release but you get the idea!” Then the higher ups trash the idea, demo whatever it was and you repeat over and over and over and over. If you get lucky to land a demo, big bonus but 99% of the time. The project gets scalped half way through and the good staff that knows the timeline gets moved to a new project. Leaving a barebones crew to scrap together old code and dig for files, email for things, and so on. At the end of my 3 years there I was working maybe 10-15 hours a week and then making mini games with other devs to play together. No one does a damn thing. 90% do 10% while the few 10% of hard workers do the 90% of serious stuff. It’s becomes a game of how can I show I’m needed but not needed so much I get moved around.

[@BlkPhoenix1111]

@@hung8969 I remember Ubernick forcing a fake reaction to the 2020 gameplay reveal while I was appalled to what I was seeing.

[@greatsol2444]

It is pretty depressing to see where Halo went over the years. But also positively uplifting seeing all the fellow Halo bros that viewed Halo as I did. I remember looking forward to getting with my buds for Co-op and taking on the flood in Legendary… we were just teens.

[@aiyacrystal3353]

Now we are 32

[@PopLadd]

bro pfp twinsies

[@Aether-Entropy]

As a dude in his 30s who was a huge fan of the original trilogy (and I mean HUGE fan). It's so depressing to see what 343 has done to this franchise. They loathe the original fans, plain and simple. In my opinion, no amount of good will can win my heart back with 343. One can only hope that it's given to a different developer.

[@blub9633]

The guy who brought back the mcc and actually made it good is now the lead for halo infinite. there's actually been a lot of promise so far

[@jjglazed4852]

@@blub9633yeah infinites definitely been getting better not gonna lie as much as I hate 343 😂 a couple more new equipments weapons and vehicles and the game will be a beast the forge maps and game modes recently have been sick

[@homelochino3864]

Nah bro 343 is finally getting good they took a lot to get good but they have been making a lot of good shit in a few months starting with a new studio would be begining from 0

[@vileshaft9730]

yeah i was so sad when halo 4 came out

[@NightShinerStudio]

​@@Riorozenawful writing? You genuinely think 5 is written better than Infinite?

[@kwisatzhaderach9591]

The OG trilogy is still a blast to go back to more than a decade later.

[@ROBBIEDZ]

No it's not. I've been playing Halo games since 2002 and I can't got back to the no-sprint Halo games. I tried playing Halo 3 2 days ago and couldn't even finish a match because it felt so sluggish.

[@purpincup]

​@@ROBBIEDZyes, it is.

[@deafyboy86]

@@ROBBIEDZAnd that’s your opinion and it’s fine. But I agree with the OP, the original trilogy is an absolute gold standard for FPS games.

[@soulivan827]

@@ROBBIEDZ Ah, sorry you got zoomer syndrome. I heard it's not recoverable due to the addiction of always wanting to press a sprint button.

[@Neoniq41]

@@ROBBIEDZ As someone who got into Halo back in 2020; you're high af mate.

[@IBISMK1]

Honestly, when I think about Halo, it just makes me sad af.

[@krow4249]

It’s good to show that you enjoyed the golden eras of Halo because many of these kids will never know what that felt like back in the days

[@slinkerdeer]

I feel the same way. It was my childhood franchise, and it was more than just the games.

[@RepresentWV]

Same. A game and legacy, forever tainted by corporate greed in its lowest form. It didn't deserve this.

[@BANANA42k]

⁠@@user-jq5um5on7ucope &/or bait

[@BANANA42k]

@@user-jq5um5on7ubro where’s your compelling arguement for 343 derailing the overall story/lore and launching infinite with a million missing features? how was that good for the ip? 343 took a cultural phenomenon and turned it into a sad joke. Bungie LAUNCHED old halos with the features missing today that they still haven’t added after 2 years. Anyone who thinks 343 is doing a better job is delusional or trolling.

[@BrandonFrisco]

You had to be there for that original trilogy . 1-3 was pure living in the moment and enjoying perfection for me. Now we live in a world of monetizing gaming.

[@something9005]

You have to include halo reach

[@Ripa-Moramee]

@@something9005Halo reach was when halo started it's down trend. Looking back at what it did to the comp scene still hurts.

[@jumpman2326]

@@Ripa-MorameeHell no you tripping, Halo 4 is when it started going downhill.

[@Ripa-Moramee]

@@jumpman2326 Objectively false, reach destroyed the halo competitive league at the time and if it weren't for forge it would have fallen off faster than infinite. Even halo 4 had nicer maps than halo reach.

[@tylercrebs466]

@@Ripa-Moramee lies, deception. Reach was one of the greatest multiplayer console games of all time. That campaign was incredible, forge, custom games, visuals/ui, ranking system and armor customization, the amount of content is staggering. Invasion, the falcon, ost. Name me a single FPS you played on console since 2010 that rivals halo reach because the only one I can think of is black ops 1 or 2. That game blows CE and 2 out of the water. What a time to be alive man. 4 started the downfall, 5 continued it, and infinite killed it.

[@trendkill3333]

i feel so sorry for Joe Staten having to go from working with Bungie in the golden years of Halo and then having to try and fix all the issues 343 caused but not being able to do much because of both Microsoft and 343 higher ups having the final say and ruining everything

[@guybeahmiv932]

Joe was brought for damage control only. It was already too late. Game was scheduled to launch with new xbox in 2020 and joe staten joined 6 months before it.

[@Ripa-Moramee]

Lmao average bungie stan coping because joe being at 343 didn't mean infinite didn't come out poorly.

[@alexedelweiss3267]

The biggest mistake of 343 in my opinion is that they screwed up the original Halo storyline. They simply ditched everything that was revealed in the original trilogy and started a new inconsistent storyline. Until today it doesn't enter my mind why they did it and why they thought it would be fine. The only reason that I see for that is a revenge plan against Bungie to try to destroy its biggest work and legacy.

[@ZenkaiGoose]

It’s really depressing how they handled the story and would keep abandoning their vision for the story they wanted to take. They literally ditched 3 villians that they setup. Didact, Cortana and Atriox were just skipped. I don’t get it. It feels like they make games for a focus group

[@TheCBoysDotCom]

The books had established a lot of the lore for the new trilogy already, while Bungie was still involved. Like the Didact. It wasn’t bad ideas, it was awful implementation- like not explaining who the hell the Didact was.

[@source3nergy203]

I would have been much more interesting if they were in a different galaxy like a neighboring one

[@anthonyortiz45]

​​​@@TheCBoysDotComexcepto que bungie no estuvo involugrado en las novelas, ellos los ignorabas, buscaban alejarse de ellos los mas posible y el didact no fue idea de bungie.

[@trE3E3]

It's because the guy who wrote that the Forerunners weren't humans was put in charge of the lore of Halo as a whole. As in, the entire 343 Halo universe is literally one guy's fanfiction and he's one of those writers who wants everything changed.

[@CliffDiverBOA]

The biggest problem I think for Halo is that 343 and Microsoft want to follow, not lead. They chase after the most recent trends and try and mold Halo into those (I'm horrified at the idea of a Halo Battle Royal). Bungie's Halo went on its own path, crafting its own legacy. Halo felt like Halo because nothing else felt like it. No other games could touch what Halo was trying to be, see all the "Halo Killers" that have come and died out the gate. If we could get back on track and just let the developers make a passionate game, rather than try to capitalize on the newest cash cow, Halo will be far better off.

[@ishanator3819]

I think this is an argument to let halo die. As much as I hate to say it but… when the magic of something was that it was all it’s own unique novelty that couldn’t be replicated… isn’t it ill conceived to try to recreate it?

[@thirdwordbird3011]

The sad part is, i actually think a halo Battle Royale would work pretty well. But it's too late.

[@ironmanmachine]

343 couldn't even make a Halo killer, they sure tried though. Just like all the other "Halo killers" everything they've tried followed suit and died at the gate. RIP Halo

[@wildeyoung3943]

@@thirdwordbird3011 Same. ODST drop pods? Covenant glassing the planet to reduce play zone? It's all there but sadly far too late.

[@ToxicallyMasculinelol]

frankly, they should just re-release halo 2. put its servers online, just halo 2 and nothing else. and take everything else offline. so there's one community, one game, one server. let the novelty of that build up into some momentum for a reboot, retconning 4, 5, and infinite. make a new sequel to halo 3 where master chief, cortana, and one UNSC ship get pulled into a slipspace rupture that takes them a gazillion years back in time to the height of the ancient human space empire. then they get to start fresh in terms of narrative, and gameplay can be just identical to halo 2, as it was before they screwed everything up.

[@userJohnSmith]

I've got to say proximity chat was the most significant and important part of Halo's sustained Xbox Live success. Every game felt competitive because you were trash talking the entire time. Even while failing horribly. It made the game feel a lot more like a LAN party or couch game.

[@PanzyPatrol]

This is a huge part of battle its success, now, too. It’s a lot of fun.

[@IToastMySocks]

Man thinking of that takes me back. Halo 2 was awesome for this

[@luvair6765]

Pre and post game chat rooms as well. Such a big detail overlooked.

[@ConfidentMelon]

tbf. most players are either on discord or in partychat these days, and have been for a long time

[@IToastMySocks]

@@ConfidentMelon you scared or some?

[@_KnuXles]

I was 13 when Halo 3 came out and managed to get the day off school thanks to a doctors appointment the night prior, and sat there all day in my pyjamas playing the multiplayer. I'd played the beta that came with Crackdown and it was so beautiful to be a part of such a lively community. It's sad to see how far the franchise fell once it had gotten to the top

[@tingles3091]

This is still the best part of my life. Fuck I’m depressed

[@MortekaisWorkouts-ko1tb]

​@@tingles3091are you doing alright?

[@lackoliver55]

@@MortekaisWorkouts-ko1tb none of us are :(

[@GrimmWarrior19]

The day Halo 3 went live was such a great one, felt like a kid again for the first time after joining the Navy and the rec folks had secured copies for every x-box in the base's two MWRs. You had guys/gals of all sorts sitting or standing 3-4 rows deep around the big screens just watching people play it, waiting for their turns to tag-in. Man...

[@12LoLproductions]

A red flag that everyone should’ve seen was when 343 was first starting up, they made it a point to bring up how they hired so many people that didn’t even like Halo to begin with

[@zalrohglekgolo6149]

Jesus Christ, they said that almost 5 years after they started. When they first started up was 2007. That quote is from almost 2012. You're so quick to try and make a jab you didn't even bother to fact check.

[@MrMegaMetroid]

​@@zalrohglekgolo6149does that really make a difference? They hired people who didn't like halo. Thats the takeaway.

[@bobob6128]

Its not about people not liking halo . The Problem is that not every Person there Loves halo . They should hardcore Fans too . Thats how you make a game with love and passion .

[@LKNear]

​@@zalrohglekgolo6149you mean when they started to make the games?

[@IToastMySocks]

​@@zalrohglekgolo6149that only emboldened the point. The seeds were laid at the start

[@matthewjalovick]

Jeez. That end got me teary. I used to go over to my youth pastor’s apartment after church and we would play Halo nonstop. I remember driving the Warthog around thinking this is the greatest game I’ve ever played… like, it was just… pure… fun. Every match was different based purely on that sandbox nature. So I bought an Xbox myself, the see through green that they made specially for Halo, and got Xbox Live when it came out the next year. Going on Halo 2 and making our own setup for Infection (we would literally have to hand punch giant boxes across the map to box in one room) and the honor system of changing your team after death or the legendary Golden Warthog that we would search for by doing the BR/Sword cancel trick and free climbing in the air out of maps. I was 14 when Halo 2 came out and yet every single person who was in our “clan” at the time I’m still friends with to this day… talking and joking and making fun of each other til 2am. Halo’s story was what got me pumped for release… but what kept me coming back for months and years on end was always because of the sandbox community. It was sandbox fun first and then could be as serious as you wanted it… but now it’s serious first and then the sandbox. And you know what? That’s the wrong way round. People leave when they’re not having fun :/

[@ZenkaiGoose]

You nailed it Matthew, I agree 100%. Halo is love, Halo is life and those old Halo memories were some of the best in gaming.

[@reformedbroski8988]

Yes my parents friends would host a Halo game and that was my first time playing.

[@mremptytheeclip9420]

​@TheRealCatofYou're a clown. 99.9% of pastors are good people. The media is making you believe all pastors are pedophiles. Which isn't true. Don't be a sheep.

[@PaulDozierZZoMBiE13]

The points about community really hit home for me. I used to be so proud of my contributions to the Halo "creator" sector. For those who don't know, I used to do a reasonably popular Halo fan comic (Another Halo Comic Strip, if you care). Stuntmutt started off with One-One-Se7en, and he and I struck up a friendship. He encouraged me to start up my own comic, and I did. It was a lot of fun being part of that space. Doing something community focused and creative, it was great. And I have always said that was Halo's secret strength. You could copy the game mechanics, but what Halo's real power always revolved around was the people who loved the games and Bungie so much. These were the days before Patreon, we did this stuff just because we loved doing it. The idea of "content creator" wasn't a career path back then. It was all just a laugh, and most of us did it proudly just to make other fans happy in our little space.

[@DeusExMunKy]

Always a treat to see y’all’s content in the heyday of HBO (and your recent comic, lol). And while I think there will always be new blood in the creator space, it really was a whole ‘ other thing when it wasn’t a monetizable thing. The passion was 100% the driving force.

[@PaulDozierZZoMBiE13]

@@DeusExMunKy Glad you enjoyed them, thanks.

[@Marcara081]

The moment Microsoft came in to censor the game lobby, when we didn't ask them to, was the moment Halo died. If they don't want to acknowledge and accept how men and boys bond through denigration and vulgarity then they don't want the men and boys to stick around. So they didn't.

[@therealdirtydan2940]

I was 5 when i beat halo 1 with my dad...suffice to say ive grown up very close and dear to this franchise It brings a tear to my eye and a lump in my throat to see it treated this way...

[@luvair6765]

I miss the pre and post game chat rooms. Made it easy to party up. I stopped playing after 5, but the way to communicate audibly was so awkward. It made it so everyone was in parties and couldnt communicate with the other people. Even being able to talk to the other team when they are in your radar was such a fun small tidbit.

[@lackoliver55]

The community in the post game chat was impressionable. Yes. Vulgarity was a thing. But the chatting thay lead to heading to a private online multi-player match. The creation of Halo Zombies. Tag. SWAT. Etc. Good times.

[@KruddyKaRL]

Can't forget Bungie day, the Vidmaster achievements, and the legendary Recon helmet

[@MATTE.U.K]

Its so depressing to me that one of my favorite childhood experiences is being lost to time, just like the Egyptian Pyramids people cant believe they were built by humans. We will probably look back at Halo the same way.

[@DynamicUnreal]

You made an incredible point about the competitive aspect. I play Overwatch, but even for me it’s hard to watch a match because of how unpredictable and hard to follow the action is. I never actually thought about that before but it’s definitely an important aspect of what makes games watchable.

[@xcynicalreasonsx]

I had played every single Halo game split screen with my wife. I had to buy another Xbox when Halo 5 came out. When I found out that there was no coop for infinite, I was extremely frustrated. I remember when the Master Chief collection came out and I took a vacation day from work so that we could play at home. I couldn't even get that thing to download faster than dial up speeds for 2 days and even then the game was glitchy and if you accidentally activated a terminal in the campaign, it would boots you out of the entire level without saving any progress. Heck I don't think I could even play a matchmaking game for the first 2 weeks after MCC released. Overall I've been very disappointed in the games direction for a while now. I love MCC now, I still have flashbacks 😂. I remember an error message that told you to check your privilege during multiplayer search. Haha. I really hope they fix things.

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico]

Some of my earliest memories is playing halo reach with my brothers and seeing 343 run this franchise through the mud has always made me sad

[@Ripa-Moramee]

And yet reach was the beginning of the end. It was a terrible game, and absolutely shattered the comp scene. Still really depressing to remember it, people have the rose tinted goggles on because reach was either their first halo game or because it was bungie's last, but in the end it is a bad game.

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico]

@@Ripa-Moramee no way you’d rather have any 343 game over reach. It didn’t follow the same lore as a book womp womp

[@Ripa-Moramee]

@@pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico Lmao I would literally rather any 343 game over reach, at least halo 5's multiplayer was fun even if it isn't original halo.

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico]

@@Ripa-Moramee I mean, at least we agree on something, you’re probably the only other person I’ve seen say that halo 5’s multiplayer was fun

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico]

@@Ripa-Moramee I also don’t play halo for the multiplayer so 🤷

[@DivineHellas]

Competitive is the outcome of a great casual game where people got so invested in it and enjoyed it so much that they took it to the next level and pushed it’s limits, became highly skilled at it and then the competitive culture started. Competitive is the outcome of the great casual, an extension/elaboration of the casual gameplay. This is what Bungies Halo always was, when something is very fun to do then some people are going to master it and become experts in it, it’s a very simple logic.

[@MarshmallowEclipse]

Competitive gaming, "sweathard" culture, and modding are the three biggest cancers on gaming.

[@BIZaGoten]

"Competitive is the outcome of a great casual game where people got so invested in it and enjoyed it so much that they took it to the next level and pushed it’s limits" THIS IS IT RIGHT HERE. Same thing for Melee same thing for Halo.

[@MarshmallowEclipse]

@@BIZaGoten I don't know if that's necessarily true though, a game that is particularly enjoyable to play non-competitively might be that way specifically because it's NOT good for competitive play.

[@DivineHellas]

@@BIZaGoten That’s what it is, everything that is fun / interesting is going to be something some of the people are gonna take to the next level.

[@BIZaGoten]

@@MarshmallowEclipse Hmm I don't know of any good examples for non-competitive games that are fun because they are bad for competitive. But basically a casual fun game is great for a lot of people. and then if fans of that game manage to take the game to the next limit and make it competitive, suddenly the game has both casuals and competitive players enjoying the game. Everybody gets to have fun with it. Basically I'd prefer if games were made for casual play and let the players stretch the game to its limit if its possible. Unlike Overwatch and 343 Halo games where they try to force it into an esport, it's just tough to make it work like that. Because you take away the fun component when you do that.

[@brenon45]

Rest in peace Halo.

[@thepuddingking5204]

They're gonna milk this dead franchise until it's so unrecognizable from its origin it'll make original fans sick

[@D_Vice88]

@@thepuddingking5204 id say it is more like some kind of zombie Frankenstein but also shitty clone type situation where they wanna resurrect something long dead and they think they're copying it perfectly but "better" or "superior and new" but just ends up being an ugly abomination.. its like a Frankenstein made up of old dead game parts that keeps dying but then they just try to resurrect it again and clone it again and fail again and the clone keeps getting more watered down and farther from the original every time

[@lukesterling2276]

I think there's a glimmer of hope for the franchise, if we can finally get rid of modded content, Halo has a chance. Not a good chance, but it's there.

[@brenon45]

@@lukesterling2276 modded content? You mean the stuff 80% of the playerbase is playing because the core part of the newer games are broken or missing and half the modded content is stuff 343 removed that the previous games had. Unless your talking about the cheaters, that's not modded content, that just 70% of the PC playerbase killing what's left of the enjoyment the Real Halo fans have left and console players suffering because there's no way to officially disable crossplay.

[@alexanderrobins7497]

@@thepuddingking5204 The Halo franchise was already in that state when 343 Incompetencies released Call of "Halo" 4. I would have preferred if the franchise went on a long hiatus after Bungie called it quits. What is happening now is as bad as what other franchises like The Simpsons, Star Wars, Aliens, Terminator, Fortnite, and countless others.

[@Donnirononon]

This was not Halo's second coming, it was its damn murder.

[@Uknown76]

6 fucking years of development and 343 industries made halo infinite have the least amount of content of any halo game at launch I just don't understand

[@sinisterskills17]

😊

[@Donnirononon]

@@Uknown76Big nope! They wasted all the time on Slipspace... Any developer who is 1 month into the thing can tell you why it is not a smart idea to develop your own game engine when you do not plan to support and maintain it... Open Source has changed, It had the image of "working for free" but today a LOT of cutting edge tech is done Open Source and sponsored by big tech. It is normal people, hobbyists and devs in their free time creating these solutions. In UE a lot of contributions also come from the Community, just take a look on their Git repository. Open Source and shared abstract code is a big factor in writing actually clean and maintainable code. I seen it so ofthen that a company ditches Open Source solutions because it is not under their control. They then proceed to create an inferior solution that is very buggy and just a pain to work with. I seen it SO OFTHEN! You give them an Expertise on the thing and they do a 180° of what you say. Management does not like listening on Devs... They just did not want to pay Sweeny for UE licensing, that is all. THis decision was the decision to bury halo and urinate on the grave

[@timm2003us]

I miss the multiplayer from Halo 3. You hit the nail right in the head about being able to talk to people prior to the match and building a community from that. My favorite experiences from that time were randomly meeting up with folks in matchmaking and then partying up so we could do more matches together into the early hours of the morning. Apart from that-the only Halo experience I really like anymore is playing the single player campaigns from Halo: MCC.

[@ZenkaiGoose]

Same the campaigns run so smooth that i hop in every couple of months to remember the iconic missions and vibe. That first time you land on Halo in CE, my lawd

[@josejuarez5177]

Very well done video, the ending had me heartbroken with the emotions that I used to feel being excited and ready to play new halos to only realize now that those emotions are put behind in replacement of dreading what decisions 343 will do next to the franchise.

[@LKNear]

343 has had Halo longer than bungie ever did and all they did was run it to the ground. Not a single aspect of the franchise has gone unscathed

[@apolloforabetterfuture4814]

The point about tension is such a keen insight because Smash competitive is the most watchable thing you'll ever see because it's just immediately obvious what's going and why a maneuver is awesome.

[@mitchjames9350]

All 343 had to do is remain faithful to the canon and gameplay that Bungie established.

[@RenzoRugnone]

Pretty much. All they had to do was recreate halo 2 with a different storyline and they'd have made all the money they wanted...

[@JohnSmith-ti9uq]

Wrong. Bungie were the ones that introduced sprint and armor abilities in Halo reach. Adding those things removed Halos soul and made it a boring generic shooter 343 needed to revert Halo back to Halo 1-3 gameplay in order to revive the franchise

[@Grinchillah]

@@JohnSmith-ti9uq bad take, halo reach was my second fav halo right behind halo 2. the community in reach was amazing, the abilities made sense and worked well and had tradeoffs, for example, armor lock would make you invincible but when you come out of it, you could easily get blasted. also if a vehicle hit you while armor locked, KABOOM

[@JohnSmith-ti9uq]

@@Grinchillah Doesnt matter what your favorites are. Reach was the beginning of the decline. It was largely hated upon its release and road the high of the trilogy. Sprint, DMR, Bloom, abilities, bad maps, no 1-50 ranking system, etc etc. Changing the core formula of Halo was one of the worst game design decisions of all time. Sprint completely alters the classic Halo pace of play. It also forces them to stretch every map design out into order to accommodate for faster travel times. It is no coincidence that there havent been many/any great Halo maps since the trilogy. Reach abilities were unnecessary clutter. Halo didnt need them. Overshield and Active Camo being fought over on the map is all Halo needs. Imagine if counter strike added sprint and ADS. It would have fallen off the same exact way Halo did when Bungie started modernizing Halo and 343 took it further. Instead CS stayed true to its original formula and is still a top shooter. Halo could still be there at the top if they never decided to chase and copy COD.

[@Grinchillah]

@@JohnSmith-ti9uq I see what you mean, I hold halo 2 and reach very close to my heart is all. very good memories.

[@incinerativemario]

Im past believing 343 messed up THIS SPECTACULARLY by mistake. There has to be a reason 343/Microsoft butchered the franchise so consistently for a decade, as if to alienate the fans and make them stop expecting quality games, and get us used to mass-produced, mediocre, soulless games. The whole thing is definitely deliberate.

[@defaultname7685]

I’ve heard rumors about it being a front for money laundering

[@opticalraven1935]

​@@defaultname7685That makes a lot of sense, actually. It is too similar to Rings of Power. The scent is disgusting

[@perfectxzero4037]

What you said about competition being based off of tension and not the ridiculous sweat fest gameplay style that is 343 Halos is something more than half of the fanbase completely lacks to understand. This is why they think Halo NEEDS speed and/or sprint

[@LinkiePup]

Halo 3 was such a perfect ending. It was so… Halo 3 was a magnum opus, for all of gaming. A turning point for gaming that we haven’t been able to return to. At this point, 343 needs to just STOP and do a full on reboot. But saying that, we’d just end up with a Halo Immersive sim. Because each halo game since 4 was has been a totally different fps genre.

[@SirJungleBunny]

No... no reboot, especially from 343. They'll do the same thing, drive it into the ground.

[@slayerr4365]

halo 3 wasn't the perfect ending because it left the door open for a sequel. Instead of having chief lost in space and slow panning to a forerunner planet at the end it should of just been fired the ring got home safe or died a hero and that's it halo is over. Just have chief in that same scene with cortana fire the ring couldn't escaped sit together and say "it's finished" that is the perfect ending. Trilogy over franchise forever immortalised in gold. If you speak of halo now you just think trash. If halo ended with halo 3 you would think masterpiece forever. That's why things ending is sometimes the better option even if you love it.

[@tristanwalker2858]

@@slayerr4365i thought chief being lost in space was a great ending. he gave everything to humanity and he doesn’t even have a corpse for them to show appreciation to. it left it just open enough to maybe continue his story in the future but i felt like they ended it in a way where they could have transitioned to a whole new main character

[@slayerr4365]

@@tristanwalker2858 You missed the point even though you said it in your own comment. "left the door open just enough to continue his story" that's what had led up to 3 games in a row absolutely destroying an iconic franchise.

[@tristanwalker2858]

@@slayerr4365 I’d argue when i said that “left it open to maybe continue the story”, i meant it was left very ambiguous. it was a single scene of him in the pod god knows where orbiting a shield world. they could’ve left it at that or continued on. nearly all established lore was rewritten anyways, so we’ll never truly know

[@88dejw]

This is a masterpiece, created from love to the true halo origins. Your work and channel is drastically underrated

[@Viper-jr4sp]

@@user-jq5um5on7u ohhhhhh just stfu it's a pretty damn good one

[@ColonelFatass3]

@@user-jq5um5on7u 343 is just that garbage I guess then lol

[@KaptainKarizzma]

As a small Halo content creator, I really enjoyed your spotlight on what Halo is going through. This was a really well put together video!

[@ZenkaiGoose]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@martymcfly88mph35]

Gamertag thief

[@slayerr4365]

You are ambitious to say going through thinking halo is not finished honestly.

[@KuyaPow626]

Your intro captivated me; im gonna share it with all my Halo friends

[@ZenkaiGoose]

🙏 Glad you liked it Juan

[@TwoQuickOnes]

Nice clip from my LAN party! You love to see it!

[@dominic5386]

To reignite the vision of Halo, projects like Digsite and the halo online maps is a definite step in the right direction for 343i, stuff like this is more of what we need for Halo.

[@kenshiroson4893]

I was gonna start gaming, but then this showed up in my feed. Got stop everything when zenkai uploads. Legendary content creator 🙌

[@ZenkaiGoose]

😭 Kenshiroson getting me misty in the morning! Thanks fam

[@kenshiroson4893]

U deserve it, every vid u upload feels like a passion project. Reminds why I started watching KZbin in the first place!

[@DreamHound]

I love how you went over everything with examples so perfectly capturing the problem and solutions

[@Hellfire0220]

Imagine how bad the community would errupt in tears, if we got a teaser, of Chief saying "We're going back, We left people behind."

[@ZenkaiGoose]

I just got goosebumps

[@Beyondqqq]

I keep hearing this narrative about listening to the community in all the big FPS/live service games nowadays. The fact is that all these old school loved franchises had developers that did not listen to the community. They just did their own thing for the most part and it was awesome.

[@jamespaguip5913]

R.I.P Halo it’s been a great journey you were the best shooter part of our childhoods.

[@yapflipthegrunt4687]

@@user-jq5um5on7u In theory. In reality, the game ended up as a fucking mess.

[@alexanderrobins7497]

@@user-jq5um5on7u Joined 9 May 2023 Ignore the troll account.

[@RepresentWV]

Those are truly the only words left for halo. RIP. It's gone.

[@johnsmith1034]

@@user-jq5um5on7uno🤣🤣🤣

[@cdv1qa]

This is a very well produced and edited video. Like, much better than the majority of (good) KZbin channels. Great job!

[@sethz91]

The opposite of love isn't hate, it's apathy. And I just don't care about Halo anymore. Let it burn. 343 had every opportunity to create the future of Halo and they have shown time and time again they have zero interest in doing anything but cashing in. It's over. Find a new favorite game, genre, whatever. All that's left is dust and echoes.

[@mcteags]

I never played Halo 4 or 5. I played infinite when it came out but was confused because there was no story mode to play with my friends. None of my gaming friends wanted to play the multiplayer and all of the lobbies I joined were silent. After about 3 weeks I moved on to a different game and haven’t thought about going back.

[@KyleWillson]

OG Halo 1 player here, was a top grinder and #1 player in my entire high school and region in my day. Spot on video lol.

[@ReXebl]

Hope that 343 will see that

[@ZenkaiGoose]

haha one can only hope 🍕

[@nize2beme]

@@ZenkaiGoose *p i z z a*

[@x_hibernia]

Believe me when I say this they won't, there all stuck on the MCC because that's where the community went and that must hurt them because the community abandoned there hot pizza burger

[@IwinMahWay]

They do, and then they use their alt account to vent on r/halocirclejerk

[@davidpelaez7176]

​@@x_hiberniathey actually will watch this ans then blacklist this guy lol

[@drewholbert4566]

I literally agree with every word that came out of your mouth. I love your take on how the armor hall should be etc.

[@sofaking1627]

Marty McFly knows what he's talking about. Great video, subscribed.

[@itsBRUNObruh]

It's so great to see someone tell it like it is instead of trying to sugar coat and hyperinflate dripfed changes as if it's actually going to change the abysmal state of Halo.

[@SwagKidzTV]

Excellent breakdown video. Couldn’t have said any part of this better myself. Hopefully they listen!

[@Villainized]

Bungie writing love letters to the fans, 343 writing hate letters to their fans.

[@efeerol1174]

The ending was sick as hell with the player count increasing again with the music and fan voices in the back.

[@WolfyRagnarok]

What an incredibly well done video. I miss Halo so much, but I just couldn't bring myself to play any of the 343 releases.

[@m0urn1ng5tar5]

A classic Halo game absolutely *CAN* work in the modern gaming landscape. Halo's severe lack in popularity in comparison to the Bungie era (don't come at me with Reach semantics - they were on their way out) is more than enough evidence that there's an audience for classic Halo, just waiting to be remembered. I will die on this hill.

[@mrj2654]

12:00 thats crazy talking about tension because i havent played any halo since 4 so i dont feel anything for this competitive stuff until i get the PTSDs watching the triple kill with the sniper rifle in halo 3

[@onyxserenitatem7636]

What hurts the most is enduring this and Destiny at the same time. Two games I grew up with now nothing but a joke due to dumb trends and horrific management

[@primemachine146]

Destiny has always been stupid, I played the Fk out of destiny 1(vault of glass and Crotas end) they were fun as Fk, doing the raids with my mates until 4 in the morning, but after that it dropped off very hard, everything new expansions came out it was like $30 aud, and we weren’t going to keep paying, so most people I knew all ditched destiny, then 2 came out and I thought they were going to change how things worked but nope, destiny 2 was more like destiny 1.5, everything was still the same, except a new story, so again everyone I knew that bought it ditched it again after a month or two, then to see what’s it become now, thank god I left destiny a long time ago

[@protercool8474]

Destiny is a funny one, because it never changed, it just took it's player base this long to work it out.

[@carmineSTAR508]

​@@protercool8474nah, it became a lot greedier

[@protercool8474]

@@carmineSTAR508 just became more blatant. Game was always pay to win with a subscription fee.

[@selphconscious]

​@@primemachine146.. as someone who was there beside you day one destiny.. its sad to see you didn't learn anything and participated in d2.. smh.. The moment they mentioned d2 .. two years into the "ten year plan" of d1.. should've let you know it had nothing to do with enjoyment and everything to do with $.. but 🤷🏻‍♀️ you live you learn.

[@sk8rlnk]

Sad to see how the great have fallen. Halo 3 for me was the pinnacle of my online gaming, I remember legitimately skipping classes just to go home and hop on some Ranked Lone Wolves! Friday night we'd be on custom games for HOURS!!! For those who never experienced Halo 3 in its prime then I do feel bad for you. HALO3 pinnacle era was a completely different experience.

[@libertyprime8964]

Wtf this shit just hits different. That ending legit made me shed a tear. Outstanding video overall man.

[@OKMBVideos]

On the topic of 343's firings and the potential future of Halo - I study business, extensively. Specifically, I study management. Management at the highest of levels create and dictate company culture such that it becomes endemic to how a business operates. So, in this case, will the firing of major 343 leaders and their replacement with Pierre Hintze have any noticeable effect on Halo Infinite or the future of Halo? Probably not. Pierre did his work well with MCC, but if he's of the same mindset as Bonnie Ross, Frank O'Connor and Kiki Wolfkill, he will just pursue their vision. Management specifically hires people that are in-line with their vision of what they want an organization to be - even with a number of 343 employees gone and the source of the rot removed, it's spread to most of the people in the organization itself. You don't have to look much further than the Dwersky incident, where a player made a video talking about a major issue with Halo 3's hit detection in MCC. On a livestream, Dwersky was sent that video by other employees at 343 and he states that he started laughing out loud at work, and on the livestream, called the player who made the video "trash" and the issue was never addressed nor fixed. Dwersky still works with 343, and the incident was largely memoryholed - Dwersky never apologized, 343 never apologized, and the issue was never resolved. If this is how 343 acts in public, laughing at player concerns, imagine the kind of things they're saying or doing on the back-end? Remember Moochers of Reach? Remember the Glassdoor reviews? The devs may be passionate, but everything we've seen so far indicates that they aren't and they're just as bad if not WORSE than the management that's lead 343 down a hole for the last few years. As for the future of Infinite - I do not anticipate it going much further past Season 5. Season 4 was BARREN in terms of content - it got 2 maps, one legacy game mode, one retooled equipment, and one new equipment (that is absurdly OP and busted). That's about it. Season 5 is looking better, but there has been nothing even discussed about Season 6 and Season 5 looks pretty substantial - to the point I think it will be the End of Updates Season where they do not put out major Seasonal content moving forward. 343 is also talking about making the next Halo experience soon, making me feel that they'll just update the store to make money off stupid kids and 343 shills that buy all of the badly colored armor color swatches. Honestly, at this point, I'd rather they just make no more Halo in the future. It's going to be years until we can get a game even approaching how amazing Halo 3 was.

[@thebluephanto7655]

"you don't want halo" -paramount before fucking up badly

[@DonLamancha]

I used to play cod search n destroy, headquarters, and domination purely for the competition. Halo, for the laughs and teabags. I now play halo to sweat in ranked, and cod has been disowned. I fantasize about a day that gaming will come full circle and a renaissance will be born from ash

[@NRalter]

I love this video. It made me shed a tear or two. I wasn't old enough to experience the peak of Halo. I've witnessed it though. When i did get go play the older titles. I sure did have a blast. I love Halo. It is my favorite video game series period. It's sad to see how it's been treated with the departure of Bungie. But we still have hope

[@louwegie]

What an amazing video! As a disheartened Halo fan it gives me great joy to know there are others out there like me who wish we could revive Halo from its current state. Hopefully someone at Microsoft sees this incredible and detailed breakdown and it sparks some sort of chain reaction for the better

[@SirRulean1223]

I'm sorry, but this is a really well edited shit take. I had never played a Halo game before the Master Chief Collection, but had fallen in love with the universe and the energy of the community since I was a kid. The fact of the matter is that Halo Infinite nailed the feel, gameplay, and narrative of Halo, but suffers from Microsoft's inability to put real energy, time, and money into their flagship title. To the people of 343: You've made a beautiful game that I continue to love playing with my friends or solo and enjoy the features you've been able to implement into the game! It's unfortunate Microsoft won't give 343 the resources it needs to be the next big thing, but I am more than happy with the current state of the game 🩵💙🩵

[@drunk_kat7942]

Bro the edit in ur video when chief says, "Spartans never die, they're just missing in action" and showed the old player count i had chills go up my spine.

[@karl___marx]

I was never a consistent Halo player, but my first experience with the game was the first halo on the original xbox. The first game i have ever played. My friend was the one who introduced me to the game, we used to play split screen co-op. Its sad that the game that began it all for me has fallen to such a low. Hope 343 can get things right in the next one. I even played combat evolved, absolutely amazing game.😢😢😢

[@BryanHC08]

Man more people should watch your videos

[@ZenkaiGoose]

More people should be as dope as Bryan here ☝️

[@BryanHC08]

@@ZenkaiGoose AW thanks

[@cayde6115]

Bro I swear I have the same pfp as you on xbox

[@BryanHC08]

@@cayde6115 I guess communism is destined to be

[@cayde6115]

Indeed Comrade

[@michaelgriffin5304]

This was so well done that it hurts. Hope they can revive the franchise and bring it back to its former glory!

[@tydenstorff8056]

really well paced video and good outro

[@christophergarrison2628]

Bro snowblind on halo 1 ramming two warthogs with my brother and watching the carnage of the vehicles yeet into the air was so fun as kids love you bro

[@greenchild38]

This was beautifully made. Thank you for conveying what's on my mind good sir!

[@Xyzima]

Halo infinite still has the potential to be amazing, I think that its the best of the 343i games. It returns a bit to a more classic formula while retaining more modern features (sprinting, clambering, etc) and bringing back the older artstyle while keeping it up to date. But its peoblem is its reliance on competitive, halo infinites gameplay is great, but the maps its on are specifically competitive designed. That is why when Squad Battle released, it felt so different. It was old Halo 3 and 2 maps recreated in the best Forge yet and with what i think is some of the best gameplay in the series. The monetization is terrible, no denying that, the lack of content at launch basically doomed the game to a low playerbase immediately. But i am putting faith in 343i (i know scary) because everyone who ruined the game has been fired and now the people who rose MCC from the dead are in charge. I am ready to put a bit of my faith in 343i and hope that all works out. (EDIT): I actually blame Microsoft for the way Halo infinite released, 343i needed more time, but it got pushed out the door to make deadlines Microsoft had set. And before you say "they had six years to work on halo infinite", no they didn't, well atleast the halo infinite we know, the first year wasn't even working on infinite, they were adding things to 5, but the second year was creating the slipspace engine and starting ideas for the campaign, then ideas for multiplayer and so on and so on, but around Year 3-4, They just scrapped it and restarted, originally Halo infinite was going to be a hero/class based shooter, but then they scrapped everything down to the bare bones and started working on the current halo infinite. They in reality had about 2-3 years of actual development time on Halo infinite. And before someone says "Well Halo 2 was made in 10 months!" Halo 2 was made dor the original Xbox, not current systems, Todays standards for graphics are WAYYYYY higher than when halo 2 came out, because of that, they could split their workload better. But with modern systems, graphics come first and we all know what halo infinite looked like at E3.

[@CommissarChaotic]

I don't know man, I feel fulfilled believing that 343i will always suck because they're not Bungie and I'm not gonna realise that they do not have the same vision of Halo Bungie does and lower my expectations accordingly so I will get pleasantly surprised when 343i does things right.

[@peterpoli2839]

The best gameplay in the series would be a mix between halo 2 and halo 3. Halo infinite's bloated HUD with medal spam plus with the reliance on having sprint just makes a lot of the original spark missing in halo infinite. 343i have fucked up in every way possible since halo 4, every time they needed to do something right, they just fucked up.

[@Xyzima]

@@peterpoli2839 sprint in halo infinite is not a reliance, the maps are designed so you can choose to walk or run and still have both be viable.

[@peterpoli2839]

@@Xyzima nonsense. You need to be able to sprint + slide across these maps, you won’t be able to contest power weapons otherwise

[@Xyzima]

@@peterpoli2839 so whats the problem with sprinting in the beginning, when are you pressed to sprint after

[@jessehall6471]

Beautiful work honestly been trying to find my own feeling about the last 3 games and I couldn’t understand why it was so difficult to find a reason but this video made my brain click and you said everything that I have felt you have earned my subscription thank you

[@indygamertag829]

The fact that that intro had me all mad at 343 all over again then the classics Halo music at 1:45 immediately gave me chills... You really know when you love and miss something. and damn... that ending montage broke my heart. Countless memories of Halo in my childhood.... and it's not just not that way anymore.

[@spartanwar1185]

You make a very very important point about "competitive" games and their complexity, it really clears things up and helps me understand why it is i like Halo and not stuff like Overwatch Simplicity has it's benefits, or in other words, sometimes less is more

[@rvnx_potatoe]

I can't believe that u don't have at least half a million subscribers

[@jodysin7]

343 has absolutely destroyed the halo story. Master cheif needs to wake up from cryo after halo 3 with everything after just being a bad dream.

[@NPCLiam]

Super awesome video, man! I’ve seen your UI redesign around on Twitter, it’s so good. It really is a huge bummer how far Halo has fallen. I try to just look at the Bungie games as my head canon for the only Halo games out there because those games mean the world to me and I just don’t care about anything recent. I do hope there’s another Halo truly worth playing sometime in the future.

[@Joe-in2kp]

I love how you bottled this feeling up so precisely. I wish I could like 100 times. Chefs kiss perfection.

[@ZenkaiGoose]

Wow, thank you Joe!

[@STiP0]

The editing in this video is incredible, love it.

[@ZenkaiGoose]

Thank you so much!

[@cesruhf2605]

This is such a good video for 343 to watch thanks to the simple pizza analogy, which they should be able to understand

[@balakingston4684]

Halo 3 was the peak and perfect balance of all that came before it. It was pure, it was beautiful, so many hours lost yet so many memories created. I never bothered after. I feel like all of us who grew up with the early games could see it drop off, it was night and day.

[@JohnSmith-ti9uq]

Halo 2 was better. Halo 3 was more polished but the polish removed a lot of the fun.

[@forrestdalpiaz284]

And Halo 4 was much better lol

[@UroboricNate]

Well, H3 is just watered down H2

[@thor15mx]

19:03 A wise man once said, "There's a thin line between being a hero and being a memory." 343, you're well on your way to making Halo a bad memory. There's a way to fix the problems with Infinite, listen to the community and put in the effort... otherwise Halo will die and be remembered as nothing but a bad memory.

[@defaultname7685]

“Well on their way”? Bro it’s already over lol it’s about a LITERAL half decade too late

[@opticalraven1935]

Best way is to get rid of the current Saga.

[@Deckya]

Feels similar to Star Wars 7-9. Lack of vision and plans changing wildly instalment to instalment

[@matthewrousseaux1022]

Just found your videos and I'm really impressed how you can critic while still being passionate and respectful. The callouts at the end to give the devs the credit is awesome. Amazing videos and quality. Way to go.

[@foosterOG]

I really appreciate this commentary. It was earnest, polite, funny, and offered creative solutions. Well done!

[@ZenkaiGoose]

Thanks fooster!! That was my main goal ❤️

[@gogousa6661]

Halo wasn’t a game, it was a sport when your parents yelled come inside the street lights are on.

[@silviobahr8556]

Your contant is really smart put together, well done and interesting to watch. You going to make it big on KZbin. 👌

[@LuckyBastardCandleCo]

Thank you for making voices heard, im subbing

[@c7zr179]

Nah, dawg. Halo is dead. This is far from the first well-intentioned KZbin video about the decline of Halo and about how to save the franchise. 343 doesn't listen. Infinite was their last chance, and they fucking blew it. You can only give somebody so many chances to get better before you see the writing on the wall and realize that they're just completely incompetent. Halo won't come back from this, and neither will the community. If you want to see Halo be saved, it'll have to be taken from 343. That's not going to happen. It's time to move on.

[@Somegoy]

I miss Bungie so much 😢 why did such an amazing story become this?

[@Nades_]

The original trilogy are my 3 favourite games of all time. Can't believe how badly this franchise has fallen.

[@Towner101]

How to fix halo: Find a sweaty halo nerd that can write an hour long video script and have every person at 343 versus that nerd in halo 3. If the nerd says they suck, then they get the axe. Halo will be fixed inside 2 months after rehiring efforts.

[@jeremyxb777]

this video is perfect. everything you said 343 needs to hear. we need to go back to the basics.