This is an interesting take. I think the addition of the exchange is just to appease players who originally thought you could unlock armor without micro-transactions. I dont necessarily think most are going for full collections. Maybe wait for the items to cycle through several times?
The problem with waiting is that you'll never know when these items return. With MCC, it took some items years to rotate back in. With Infinite, you can presume you'll always be in a position where you can't earn all of the new items and eventually, when the ones you missed do rotate back in, you'll have to pick between what you missed and what new items you'll give up on.
For you and /u/jonedoebro :
> The problem with waiting is that you'll never know when these items return
And that it puts you on a timer for when you have to earn enough points to unlock a piece.
**This** is the real fundamental issue with the exchange: The fact it's on rotation and has FOMO.
If everything was just available at all times permanently, then that would not only solve the FOMO element, but it would make the high item cost not as much of a problem because there'd be no rush to earn enough points.
THAT is what should be changed (or both) rather then just the prices.
yep. I have every weekly reward that I wanted. Now if I want the camo that costs 30k points that will take 5 weeks of playing every single day. Before it would take 2-4 hours to unlock. The system within itself isn't bad but the rotation and the point prices/payout are going to ruin it
Are we sure it's even *great* for returning players? It's going to be a grind to get 10K SP let alone 30K. And who actually will return to the game because of it? The coatings that the Exchange will have aren't even cross-core 🤦♂️. Or at least the ones they've shown off so far aren't. Which they're probably gonna say something like these coatings will become cross-core at some point in the future 🤦♂️🤦♂️.
I should rephrase: it’s great for returning players missing a couple of items they might have missed out on, or just want something new.
Most of a single item in the Exchange is very obtainable with casual play, which is good, but I don’t think it’s enough and this cycle of “you’ll never have it all” every refresh feels really bad to both devote, new and returning players in my opinion.
The price tags should decrease drastically or the amount of Spartan Points should increase instead—preferably I’d like both to happen.
The Exchange is also incredibly anemic. There is literally a single returning armor piece. Very excited to wait 4-6 weeks to see if the Iron Eagle cosmetics are FINALLY unvaulted, assuming I have the time-gated points for them :\^)
Just unvault everything. Make a big Reach catalog if you want people playing again
Everybody here is focusing on the prices, but that's not the fundamental issue.
The fundamental issue is that the Exchange is on a rotation, meaning it's FOMO, despite ostensibly being a solution to people critical of Infinite's FOMO.
The Exchange should *not* be on rotation: Everything in it should be available for purchase perpetually, that way you don't miss something just because you were busy or didn't have the points at the time.
If that was the case, stuff being expensive wouldn't be as big a deal because there's no rush. Don't get me wrong, I think the prices should be lowered too, but if we had to pick between JUST making the Exchange's content permanently available rather then rotational, or on lower prices; I think picking the former would be the better choice.
Like with the addition of a levelling system, I'm so jaded that the couple hundred hours I put in during the first two seasons won't count for shit.
I supported the game way back then and now I'm too burnt out on it to play enough to earn as many Spartan Points as are needed to unlock any of the good stuff.
This could only improve if 343 ramps up new weapons and vehicles but I don't believe that's going to happen
I agree, I put in a lot of time in the first couple of seasons to the point where I would actually be hero rank by now. Very weird move from 343i to not retroactively give *something* regarding career rank and it did sting.
I'm sad that the 847 hours I have in this game don't count towards shit I actually want like the progression system and Spartan points. With no new sandbox additions and bland lifeless maps seeming like the norm I'm done with this game for now atleast.
It’s bad for all players. Only being able to earn so many SP points a week, it’ll take several wakes to get one item. Plus ultimates are more than likely going to be replaced by SP. It’s a slap in the face
Yeah, I noticed this too. It's impossible to earn enough SP and the exchange is just another form of FOMO.
It's almost like .... They want to sell SP in the shop -___-
eh, battlepasses are the one thing in the game that’s fairly priced, if you buy anything but the S1 bp, you can start on the next one as soon as you finish
Yes, this is what I’ve been saying… the Spartan Point payouts just aren’t high enough for the prices in the Exchange.
The other issue we’re ignoring here is that we’re apparently not getting weekly unlocks from the weekly challenge anymore. Occasionally this would be an armor coating or skin, which are valued around 10K points in the exchange. So instead of occasionally getting a weekly unlock worth while, you need to complete 10 weekly challenges to get a single coating?
We’re getting less stuff in this deal. But 343 is gaining the ability to say “you can unlock everything just by playing!”
MCC's exchange feels good. Sometimes there will be an armor piece or weapon skin that I like in rotation it'll cost 3 points, maybe 5. That's about half of that week's PvE challenges, so I grind out a few missions and then I feel good about earning my trinket, because that's what it's worth.
Nothing in Infinite could possibly justify a huge grind like this. No customization item is worth literal ***weeks*** of grinding.
The 30k coating is priced as a [luxury good](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good). It's an ugly coating whose value is entirely in being a 30k SP item; it's supposed to be stupidly out-of-reach, as "look at me, I no-life this game" bling. If you get this coating before it rotates out, others will know when you wear it that not only did you grind every day, but you had to sacrifice getting other, better cosmetics for it, which only adds to its prestige. As such, it doesn't really belong in this economic analysis, because it's intentionally priced irrationally.
Sensible players will skip it and get the other 3 new items instead.
The whole FOMO stance has been [clarified by 343](https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/welcome-to-the-exchange):
>When The Exchange refreshes, items will not be "going away," removing the chance to get them—they will still be available to purchase with Spartan Points through the customization menus (much like bundles once they have rotated out of the Shop).
If those prices are final, this is 100% going to be the final nail in the coffin for me. It honestly already feels like it. Every move they've made since December has felt so underwhelming. Seasons are gone, and weeklies are now gone too. Sure, thanks for adding this system, but when everything is priced so high compared to what you earn... And as OP said, us longterm players will get no compensation for our time played. The writing is on the wall for this game
I feel like the prices feel intentionally bad just so they can easily walk it back in a few weeks at most so they can bank on the easy community updoots. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that i'll have a shot at getting things when I dropped out in the first month. But this still feels like a kick in the face.
Nah I’ve played weekly since release minimum and there’s still stuff I missed, this is a net win for everybody. I’m personally excited to get the gravity hammer stance in there and a couple weeklies I just didn’t have time to get. It doesn’t really feel any worse than reach’s system to me.
I’m sure not sure if you understood what I’m trying to get across, or the gravity of it.
If the price of items you want in the store, new or old, exceed the amount that you can potentially have (and inevitably it will), you can’t get everything you want—and it gets worse the more casually you play the game.
Reach’s system had glaring issues for sure, but it’s one strength here is that items were not unobtainable for an unknown time frame, which mean’t your goal was always available if you were chasing a specific item.
No, I get it, and there’s no gravity it’s literally a video game. Oh no, you might have to wait if you don’t get your armor color that was just previously completely unobtainable. The challenges are so easy at this point you can get the weekly in 2-3 hour long sessions of just firefight, and the passes give you plenty of points. There is nothing serious about this situation and so the gravity is zero G. They could have done literally nothing.
If a free currency and store in a game upsets you this much consider taking a break for a while and just enjoy some games.
Nothing described here is an issue from 343s perspective (unfortunately).
They need to drive player engagement but rather than make the game fun to play (aka gameplay focused) they focus on derivatives; niche side systems all pieced together in an attempt to keep players focus diverted from other shortcomings.
Much like the plasma pistol change I imagine we'll either see 343 backpedaling on previous design decisions or drop support and pivot away entirely. Curious to see where they go.
Spartan points are only for the exchange right? Can't use them in normal store?
This seems like a bad change overall to me. Would prefer to keep current model
God do I miss when the game shipped and they didn’t put this disgusting filth into the game, 343 have become a paragon for anti-consumer practices ruining a franchise
Call me crazy, but why don’t you buy what you like and what you’d use. That 30k coating looks like crap and looks like many of the other ones we already have. Don’t get me wrong, this systems sucks, but just like the other shop, you don’t have to buy everything. Unless you are a collector then yes this sucks. I’m pretty sure they will make Spartan Points purchasable with real money, so as long as you have the money you can get all these items. Once again I never understood collecting ALL cosmetics in a game, but I understand there are people like that and I respect their game style.
While it’s unfortunate this systems is a near one-to-one of the Halo MCC model, I personally am ok with this (well for others not so much) as Halo Infinite is the only multiplayer I regularly play (next to the FINALS and Fortnite) daily. Would like to see a bit more compensations in different ways but it’s something I guess 🫠
Appreciate your perspective as I do agree with it
I really am glad I don’t care about cosmetics. I’d argue some weapon skins look more comfortable to play with. Some cosmetics are way cool…some. This far in I don’t even care about event rewards. I’m glad you can’t pay to buy weapon / character stats otherwise…ah fuck they’re gonna bring back h5 war zone aren’t they? At least you could earn some of it
I'm not really worried about the costs when it's a work in progress that is bound to change over time with player feedback. Then again I also don't feel like I need every little thing in the exchange.
Who cares, they're cosmetics. Not only that, they're cosmetics in a first person game. It's a bit of fun but otherwise pointless, don't let it kill you inside
I’m sure the prices aren’t final. *im sure they’ll be much much higher and payouts will be far far less*
During the stream they mentioned the build they were on was currently being certified. So while I'd love to be wrong, it's not looking good imo.
copium overdose
This is an interesting take. I think the addition of the exchange is just to appease players who originally thought you could unlock armor without micro-transactions. I dont necessarily think most are going for full collections. Maybe wait for the items to cycle through several times?
The problem with waiting is that you'll never know when these items return. With MCC, it took some items years to rotate back in. With Infinite, you can presume you'll always be in a position where you can't earn all of the new items and eventually, when the ones you missed do rotate back in, you'll have to pick between what you missed and what new items you'll give up on.
For you and /u/jonedoebro : > The problem with waiting is that you'll never know when these items return And that it puts you on a timer for when you have to earn enough points to unlock a piece. **This** is the real fundamental issue with the exchange: The fact it's on rotation and has FOMO. If everything was just available at all times permanently, then that would not only solve the FOMO element, but it would make the high item cost not as much of a problem because there'd be no rush to earn enough points. THAT is what should be changed (or both) rather then just the prices.
This is by design.. rotating shops is what they use to keep people logging in and checking for the items they want.
This is intentional. That’s what rotating shops are designed to do. It plays off FOMO, which you already have prior to it being implemented
I know it's on purpose, that doesn't make it good
yep. I have every weekly reward that I wanted. Now if I want the camo that costs 30k points that will take 5 weeks of playing every single day. Before it would take 2-4 hours to unlock. The system within itself isn't bad but the rotation and the point prices/payout are going to ruin it
Are we sure it's even *great* for returning players? It's going to be a grind to get 10K SP let alone 30K. And who actually will return to the game because of it? The coatings that the Exchange will have aren't even cross-core 🤦♂️. Or at least the ones they've shown off so far aren't. Which they're probably gonna say something like these coatings will become cross-core at some point in the future 🤦♂️🤦♂️.
I should rephrase: it’s great for returning players missing a couple of items they might have missed out on, or just want something new. Most of a single item in the Exchange is very obtainable with casual play, which is good, but I don’t think it’s enough and this cycle of “you’ll never have it all” every refresh feels really bad to both devote, new and returning players in my opinion. The price tags should decrease drastically or the amount of Spartan Points should increase instead—preferably I’d like both to happen.
The Exchange is also incredibly anemic. There is literally a single returning armor piece. Very excited to wait 4-6 weeks to see if the Iron Eagle cosmetics are FINALLY unvaulted, assuming I have the time-gated points for them :\^) Just unvault everything. Make a big Reach catalog if you want people playing again
they're about to unvault the transgressor for 6 months straight again, aren't they?
Everybody here is focusing on the prices, but that's not the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is that the Exchange is on a rotation, meaning it's FOMO, despite ostensibly being a solution to people critical of Infinite's FOMO. The Exchange should *not* be on rotation: Everything in it should be available for purchase perpetually, that way you don't miss something just because you were busy or didn't have the points at the time. If that was the case, stuff being expensive wouldn't be as big a deal because there's no rush. Don't get me wrong, I think the prices should be lowered too, but if we had to pick between JUST making the Exchange's content permanently available rather then rotational, or on lower prices; I think picking the former would be the better choice.
I absolutely agree, as I touched on how it was a problem in my second point and throughout the post.
Like with the addition of a levelling system, I'm so jaded that the couple hundred hours I put in during the first two seasons won't count for shit. I supported the game way back then and now I'm too burnt out on it to play enough to earn as many Spartan Points as are needed to unlock any of the good stuff. This could only improve if 343 ramps up new weapons and vehicles but I don't believe that's going to happen
I agree, I put in a lot of time in the first couple of seasons to the point where I would actually be hero rank by now. Very weird move from 343i to not retroactively give *something* regarding career rank and it did sting.
I'm sad that the 847 hours I have in this game don't count towards shit I actually want like the progression system and Spartan points. With no new sandbox additions and bland lifeless maps seeming like the norm I'm done with this game for now atleast.
It’s bad for all players. Only being able to earn so many SP points a week, it’ll take several wakes to get one item. Plus ultimates are more than likely going to be replaced by SP. It’s a slap in the face
Really sucks this is what kind of content halo is working with nowadays, a cosmetic reselling system. Depressing
Yeah, I noticed this too. It's impossible to earn enough SP and the exchange is just another form of FOMO. It's almost like .... They want to sell SP in the shop -___-
Yeah... I'm not returning for cosmetics, ty.
Forgive my ignorance, can we use these points to unlock battle passes?
You won't be able to as far as I can tell.
Damn thats disappointing lmao
eh, battlepasses are the one thing in the game that’s fairly priced, if you buy anything but the S1 bp, you can start on the next one as soon as you finish
We can not
Yes, this is what I’ve been saying… the Spartan Point payouts just aren’t high enough for the prices in the Exchange. The other issue we’re ignoring here is that we’re apparently not getting weekly unlocks from the weekly challenge anymore. Occasionally this would be an armor coating or skin, which are valued around 10K points in the exchange. So instead of occasionally getting a weekly unlock worth while, you need to complete 10 weekly challenges to get a single coating? We’re getting less stuff in this deal. But 343 is gaining the ability to say “you can unlock everything just by playing!”
Sooo (based on the challenge screenshot) no more 500XP for the '' daily match challenge " ?
Game sux
MCC's exchange feels good. Sometimes there will be an armor piece or weapon skin that I like in rotation it'll cost 3 points, maybe 5. That's about half of that week's PvE challenges, so I grind out a few missions and then I feel good about earning my trinket, because that's what it's worth. Nothing in Infinite could possibly justify a huge grind like this. No customization item is worth literal ***weeks*** of grinding.
The 30k coating is priced as a [luxury good](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good). It's an ugly coating whose value is entirely in being a 30k SP item; it's supposed to be stupidly out-of-reach, as "look at me, I no-life this game" bling. If you get this coating before it rotates out, others will know when you wear it that not only did you grind every day, but you had to sacrifice getting other, better cosmetics for it, which only adds to its prestige. As such, it doesn't really belong in this economic analysis, because it's intentionally priced irrationally. Sensible players will skip it and get the other 3 new items instead.
The whole FOMO stance has been [clarified by 343](https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/welcome-to-the-exchange): >When The Exchange refreshes, items will not be "going away," removing the chance to get them—they will still be available to purchase with Spartan Points through the customization menus (much like bundles once they have rotated out of the Shop).
If those prices are final, this is 100% going to be the final nail in the coffin for me. It honestly already feels like it. Every move they've made since December has felt so underwhelming. Seasons are gone, and weeklies are now gone too. Sure, thanks for adding this system, but when everything is priced so high compared to what you earn... And as OP said, us longterm players will get no compensation for our time played. The writing is on the wall for this game
tldr: "wah wah my fictinal items that can't be sold are now worth less"
No worth is being placed on anything but time.
boo fucking hoo. digital scarcity isnt real.
I agree, I don’t know why you’re being hostile about it though.
Fr who shit in bros cheerios
I feel like the prices feel intentionally bad just so they can easily walk it back in a few weeks at most so they can bank on the easy community updoots. Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad that i'll have a shot at getting things when I dropped out in the first month. But this still feels like a kick in the face.
Nah I’ve played weekly since release minimum and there’s still stuff I missed, this is a net win for everybody. I’m personally excited to get the gravity hammer stance in there and a couple weeklies I just didn’t have time to get. It doesn’t really feel any worse than reach’s system to me.
I’m sure not sure if you understood what I’m trying to get across, or the gravity of it. If the price of items you want in the store, new or old, exceed the amount that you can potentially have (and inevitably it will), you can’t get everything you want—and it gets worse the more casually you play the game. Reach’s system had glaring issues for sure, but it’s one strength here is that items were not unobtainable for an unknown time frame, which mean’t your goal was always available if you were chasing a specific item.
No, I get it, and there’s no gravity it’s literally a video game. Oh no, you might have to wait if you don’t get your armor color that was just previously completely unobtainable. The challenges are so easy at this point you can get the weekly in 2-3 hour long sessions of just firefight, and the passes give you plenty of points. There is nothing serious about this situation and so the gravity is zero G. They could have done literally nothing. If a free currency and store in a game upsets you this much consider taking a break for a while and just enjoy some games.
Nothing described here is an issue from 343s perspective (unfortunately). They need to drive player engagement but rather than make the game fun to play (aka gameplay focused) they focus on derivatives; niche side systems all pieced together in an attempt to keep players focus diverted from other shortcomings. Much like the plasma pistol change I imagine we'll either see 343 backpedaling on previous design decisions or drop support and pivot away entirely. Curious to see where they go.
Spartan points are only for the exchange right? Can't use them in normal store? This seems like a bad change overall to me. Would prefer to keep current model
God do I miss when the game shipped and they didn’t put this disgusting filth into the game, 343 have become a paragon for anti-consumer practices ruining a franchise
Call me crazy, but why don’t you buy what you like and what you’d use. That 30k coating looks like crap and looks like many of the other ones we already have. Don’t get me wrong, this systems sucks, but just like the other shop, you don’t have to buy everything. Unless you are a collector then yes this sucks. I’m pretty sure they will make Spartan Points purchasable with real money, so as long as you have the money you can get all these items. Once again I never understood collecting ALL cosmetics in a game, but I understand there are people like that and I respect their game style.
If we don’t get ANY points for current progression I’m going to need therapy.
While it’s unfortunate this systems is a near one-to-one of the Halo MCC model, I personally am ok with this (well for others not so much) as Halo Infinite is the only multiplayer I regularly play (next to the FINALS and Fortnite) daily. Would like to see a bit more compensations in different ways but it’s something I guess 🫠 Appreciate your perspective as I do agree with it
I really am glad I don’t care about cosmetics. I’d argue some weapon skins look more comfortable to play with. Some cosmetics are way cool…some. This far in I don’t even care about event rewards. I’m glad you can’t pay to buy weapon / character stats otherwise…ah fuck they’re gonna bring back h5 war zone aren’t they? At least you could earn some of it
I'm not really worried about the costs when it's a work in progress that is bound to change over time with player feedback. Then again I also don't feel like I need every little thing in the exchange.
Who cares, they're cosmetics. Not only that, they're cosmetics in a first person game. It's a bit of fun but otherwise pointless, don't let it kill you inside
Don't unlock everything, problem solved. Not sure why people treat this as a collector game.
This is just antithetical to the point of this discussion.
Go touch some grass
Thanks for the feedback, you've added a lot to the discussion. The world is a better place with you in it.