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Halo Infinite's head of design Jerry Hook leaves 343 Industries

Codes 208

Member
Man thats like the fourth one this month

Kidding of course, but ever since infinite was revealed we’d hear about about a designer or director leaving almost every other month. 343i seems to be currently built on temp work with new people coming in to fill the spots before inevitably moving on themselves

Kinda reminds me of how my walmart is currently running (spoilers: like shit)
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Hook off!

I enjoyed the single player but the games a mess really. I tried hard to deny it as I was having fun while I played it but overall its just not lasted at all.
 

anthony2690

Banned
He could just fancy moving into some different?
Or probably just got tired of the daily harassment from idiots in the halo community.

I personally love the game, the battle pass is mega easy to finish though, it's week three, I play a few games a few days a week.

& I'm at level 89 on battle pass 2, my only issue is, once I finish this pass, the weeklies don't grant me anything exp wise, as there is no progression system and if I want to unlock the weekly reward I may have play modes or use a weapon I may not want to use.

Maybe once you finish the pass, they could change your weeklies to something like play X amount of games, get X amount of kills instead.

As people can just play how they want then and still unlock the weekly rewards.

I do have high hopes they will get to a point where people are happy with the content and roadmaps in the future though.

I think the gameplay/foundation for infinite is incredible. :)
 
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STARSBarry

Gold Member
So I have seen a few "it dousent matter, I'd be worried if it was a programmer" you can tell people have never worked in an industry with developers with comments like this.

Do people honestly think that programmers come up with all the ingame mechanics as they are writing the code? The level design and art direction just shows up? That literally everyone else on the team is just there to fill out the office?

Do people honestly not how direction works in a company or something for a product?

Anyway it's a shame that someone else who understands the cancer of F2P has left the project but sorry I have moved on as have many others.
 
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So I have seen a few "it dousent matter, I'd be worried if it was a programmer" you can tell people have never worked in a industry with developers with comments like this.

Do people honestly think that programmers come up with all the ingame mechanics as they are writing the code? That literally everyone else on the team is just there to fill out the office?

Do people honestly not how direction works in a company or something?

Anyway it's a shame that someone else who understands the cancer of F2P has left the project but sorry I have moved on as have many others.
If the head of design doesn't matter who matters?

Specially in the case of Halo Infinity where the game really lacked when it came to pretty much any technical aspects or even art. The core gameplay is pretty much the only thing that I see people still defending.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Seems, there is internal turmoil if people are fighting for things. Differences of opinion internally, pressure from the mothership? 🧐

Its pretty normal to have to fight for your vision, and as at the end of the day only one path can be taken... Disagreements can get fierce.

I wouldn't read too much into it.
 

oldergamer

Member
Man thats like the fourth one this month

Kidding of course, but ever since infinite was revealed we’d hear about about a designer or director leaving almost every other month. 343i seems to be currently built on temp work with new people coming in to fill the spots before inevitably moving on themselves

Kinda reminds me of how my walmart is currently running (spoilers: like shit)
They have a few hundred people at 343 and are working on two games. people leaving is normal for a studio of that size. I don't know why the narrative every time someone leaves a MS studio is " oh no they are in trouble!" or "Uh-oh that is person number 7 in X months". he likely had a team working under him with someone he is leaving in charge.

People need to understand that when someone leaves, someone else steps up or is hired to replace them. Considering how people on the forum probably never heard of him, or have no idea where he is going ( could be to a different MS studio for all we know ) all the concern is more then likely misplaced.
 

OldBoyGamer

Banned
So I have seen a few "it dousent matter, I'd be worried if it was a programmer" you can tell people have never worked in an industry with developers with comments like this.

Do people honestly think that programmers come up with all the ingame mechanics as they are writing the code? The level design and art direction just shows up? That literally everyone else on the team is just there to fill out the office?

Do people honestly not how direction works in a company or something for a product?

Anyway it's a shame that someone else who understands the cancer of F2P has left the project but sorry I have moved on as have many others.
I was going to say this but couldn’t be bothered.
 

Crew511A

Member
He could just fancy moving into some different?
Or probably just got tired of the daily harassment from idiots in the halo community.

I personally love the game, the battle pass is mega easy to finish though, it's week three, I play a few games a few days a week.

& I'm at level 89, my only issue is, once I finish this pass, the weeklies don't grant me anything exp wise, as there is no progression system and if I want to unlock the weekly reward I may have play modes or use a weapon I may not want to use.

Maybe once you finish the pass, they could change your weeklies to something like play X amount of games, get X amount of kills instead.

As people can just play how they want then and still unlock the weekly rewards.

I do have high hopes they will get to a point where people are happy with the content and roadmaps in the future though.

I think the gameplay/foundation for infinite is incredible. :)

The gameplay is good, agreed. But the battle pass system is absolute garbage. I'm at a stage in my life where I don't have as much time for gaming as I'd like. Why should I have to spend it playing game modes I don't like? If you don't play certain modes, or play a certain way, good luck completing the pass. Just let me play what I want, with the weapons I want, and reward me with extra XP if I do well.

Instead we get a manipulative, crap system that tries to encourage people to buy challenge swaps. This is precisely the kind of BS that makes people hate F2P games. I wish they'd put as much effort into creating new maps as they did gaudy skins.
 

Roman Empire

Gold Member
It can be a case of leaving for another project. It is a lot more common in this industry than you might think. Well, it could be as well a case of leaving a sinking ship but we never know.
 
People were wondering who were the people responsible for a part in how shit 343 have been recently.
Maybe you have been getting your answers.
 
Yes and Daniel our parcel driver left our company why i didn't make a twitter post and a thread, what a missed opportunity to get likes.... what's there to create a thread that someone left a company....I never understand it. Don't people in your workplace also leave for thousands reasons?
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Phil,

Do better.

I'm disappointed.

turn away out of here GIF by Ros na Rún
 
Man thats like the fourth one this month

Kidding of course, but ever since infinite was revealed we’d hear about about a designer or director leaving almost every other month. 343i seems to be currently built on temp work with new people coming in to fill the spots before inevitably moving on themselves

Kinda reminds me of how my walmart is currently running (spoilers: like shit)
Lot of the other people that left 343 went to other other Microsoft first party studios so that doesn’t jive with the narrative some are trying to create about Xbox management.
 

anthony2690

Banned
You’re right mate, rather than acting like an idiot and complaining about the lack of content and continuing to invest in the game I’ve just not played it once since hitting 100 in season 1.

I just had to prioritise the dev team’s well-being over my own satisfaction.

Not only that if you're not the happiest with the current state of the game, you can return anytime in the future when it has features or enough extra content to bring you back :)

Plus there is a crazy amount of others games to enjoy during time away :)

Poor Rod Ferguson still gets harassed about gears of war and he left the coalition nearly two years ago, it is insane.

I think the way the community handles feedback doesn't help though, they go after Devs on their personal social media pages and give them abuse. (It's not really normal behaviour in my opinion)

Edit: I still really awful for Ryan Cleveland (NodeZero) as the gears community really did a number on that guy with the constant harassment and abuse, it really got me thinking how crazy the gaming community can be towards Devs etc
 
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clarky

Gold Member
Good luck, but its probably for the best.

lets face it, While the core is decent enough the thing is duct taped together and lacking. Can only blame the higher ups for the state its in, time to let staten have a proper crack at it.

If Joe goes then we should he worried.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
They have a few hundred people at 343 and are working on two games. people leaving is normal for a studio of that size. I don't know why the narrative every time someone leaves a MS studio is " oh no they are in trouble!" or "Uh-oh that is person number 7 in X months". he likely had a team working under him with someone he is leaving in charge.

People need to understand that when someone leaves, someone else steps up or is hired to replace them. Considering how people on the forum probably never heard of him, or have no idea where he is going ( could be to a different MS studio for all we know ) all the concern is more then likely misplaced.

Yeah, but 343i delivered a game a year late, and it was still woefully unfinished. Something clearly isn't right.
 

The Alien

Banned
Standard video game work migration. He even did the "right thing" and left after Infinite (and 1st DLC) got out the door. Good for him if he moved in to bigger/better things. I wouldn't look too into deep into it.

I'm sure this will be one of many upcoming changes for 343i (especially if Staten replaces Ross).
 

oldergamer

Member
Yeah, but 343i delivered a game a year late, and it was still woefully unfinished. Something clearly isn't right.
Games get delayed. so, what if it was a year late. It was clearly finished. perhaps in your eyes its unfinished, but you basically know next to nothing about its development outside of regurgitating uninformed sentiment. So tired of people in game forums saying stuff like " it's unfinished " regarding things 343i never said were in the game at launch.
 

kiphalfton

Member
head of design...so was this the guy responsible for shipping the game with a whopping 2 biomes each featuring a vibrant 10 different textures?

What was the other biome. I'm only familiar with the one. Unless multiplayer has an additional one?

But yes, the environments felt mostly uninspired compared to previous games. Previous games felt much more lush and dense. I imagine the game would have looked a lot better, had they narrowed their focus to a *gasp* linear game. Open world has ruined a lot of franchise, and halo already was getting a lot of flack before this game.
 

MiguelItUp

Gold Member
Yeah, this dude definitely seems like he just wants a new experience. Can't blame him for that.

That being said, stuff does feel extremely off at 343, at least on the outside.
 

kiphalfton

Member
Just give it to ID software already...

But then 343 wouldn't have anything (though I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't have an issue with that).

Unfortunately they are THE halo dev. Microsoft has pigeonholed them into that role and sunk way too much money into them, to ever go with another dev.
 
If the head of design doesn't matter who matters?

Specially in the case of Halo Infinity where the game really lacked when it came to pretty much any technical aspects or even art. The core gameplay is pretty much the only thing that I see people still defending.
Because the core of the game is finally solid after 4 and 5. The only thing that brought me back every now and then to multiplayer is this "core". But everything else from content to progression to many more things just make me so bored that I cannot continue for a while.

So yes they are in a dire need of shaking up the management team. People like Bonnie Ross and Frank O'connor have had enough opportunities and their visions failed every single time ! I think thats enough ! These people must be changed and put some one like Jospeh at the helm. So I think these shake ups are actually a good sign. Along with promoting talented people like Paul Crocker to the position of creative director which has happened recently.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
This might actually be a good thing. Not a fan of the design in either the SP or the MP in Halo Infinite and its a good thing the head of design is falling on his sword. Hopefully some new blood can fix the issues over at 343.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
Yeah, this dude definitely seems like he just wants a new experience. Can't blame him for that.

That being said, stuff does feel extremely off at 343, at least on the outside.
It feels like 343 can barely keep the ship afloat, let alone get it back on course.

I liked Halo Infinite on it's initial offering, thinking, "I'll actually buy it when they release co-op and more content." Here I am, still yet to buy it. I really hope Phil Spencer or someone comes to their senses and replaces Upper Management. Not that I wish anything bad to happen to them, but they've completely botched Infinite's release after an already mediocre release of Halo 5. They've had their chances, time to give the helm to somebody else.
 
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Shmunter

Member
This might actually be a good thing. Not a fan of the design in either the SP or the MP in Halo Infinite and its a good thing the head of design is falling on his sword. Hopefully some new blood can fix the issues over at 343.
I think so. The pressure of the matter probably made the guy quit. Now it’s got a chance to bounce back without the guy that dug the hole in the first place.
 
Good or bad? Who fucking knows. Clean house, give the reins to Joe let him build his team from the ground up. I just pray to the gods that there’s a massive campaign expansion coming at the end of the year……….lol.
 
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