The competitive Halo 4 community has written an open letter to 343 Industries and Microsoft to express their excitement for the game—as well as the anxieties they have, given rise by the introduction of new features into the upcoming game’s multiplayer mode.
They wrote the letter expressing concerns that the new features would cause them to lose the game they know and love, especially with the changes company plans to implement with loadouts, progression, and balance changing abilities.
The open letter, penned by SurCampsALOT, is well-worded, without vitriol and threats, and reads as follows:
Dear 343,
As a competitive player I am both excited and terrified about Halo 4. Excited because it is a new game in my favorite franchise, and terrified because of some of these new features you have chosen to add.
You say there will be sprint, custom loadouts, some sort of abilities, and a progression system. Though I don't mind any of these being a part of Halo, what I do mind is this replacing the Halo we love.
Now I'm more open minded than many of the folks on these forums. They hear these changes and they instantly begin addressing their concerns. Sometimes they present their concerns in a way that may be a little over the top, but they have a point.
They are scared. They are afraid of losing the Halo that they love.
This is your game 343. You have made your decision on how to move the franchise and though it sounds bad for the competitive side of things, we will see it through. All we ask is that you don't forget us.
Don't forget the players that have been here from the beginning. Don't forget us that worked years on perfecting our techniques and developing our skill. Don't forget the players that are going to be here 3 years from now still playing your game while the others moved on and discarded it.
343, I know you care. If you didn't then you wouldn't have returned our BR. You wouldn't have worried about making the maps competitive, and you wouldn't have fixed the bloom for us. But you have to realize that even with these additions, which we are grateful for, we can not play the Halo we want to play with loadouts, a progression system, and balance changing abilities.
343, we want Halo 4 more than anybody. The competitive community has been waiting for its next game for 5 years, because Reach didn't do it for us.
We know you won't change the events you have already set in motion. We realize now that Halo 4 will add these things and we can't undo that. And it's ok. Make your progression system. Make your loadouts. Make your abilities. And make the game you want to make, but don't forget us.
Halo 4 has to be for us just as much if not more than the casual group you seem to be trying to cater to. So if you do those things for them. Do this for us.
Responses to the open letter can be found on here.
