Halo 4 Creative Director Calls It Quits

[xXDeMoNiCXx]

"one of the most popular FPS franchises of all time"
halo will lose that title without bungie making it just saying.
probably the best move he could make moving away from what is probably gonna be a train wreck

IMO, it lost that title years ago.

Caaan't exactly have an "opinion" on something like that dude. If you don't like it, hey, cool, good for you, but that doesn't change the fact that it is insanely popular.

Anyways, on topic, I'm glad for the guy. If he's supposed to be the creative director, and EVERYONE on the team seems to want something different, well... it'd be hell to work in that environment.

Besides, trying to make one of the main games in the series fundamentally different is asking for trouble. Halo is Halo not by title, but by sound, atmosphere, story, and tight gameplay. Yeah, put some twists to it, but fundamentally it should still be Halo.

Make drastic changes to spin off games. Not to the main series.

Actually I can. In my opinion Halo isn't the best FPS by any means, I didn't say it wasn't popular, there's a difference. It's not the worst though either but I find it extremely overhyped, except for glitching and superbouncing in Halo 2. That was very fun.

The title the original dude you quoted, and therefore the article, gave Halo was "one of the most popular FPS franchises of all time".

You said "IMO, it lost that title years ago".

You said that it lost the title of "one of the most popular FPS franchises".

So yeah. You did say it wasn't popular.

And the glitches didn't end with Halo 2. Some of them got funnier. Check out Rooster Teeth's Fails of the Weak videos. Hilarious stuff

Yeah I didn't realize until now that it said that. My bad. lol Also I am quite familiar with post-Halo 2 glitches (I have vids of a few in Reach on Youtube ) and RoosterTeeth, I watch RvB religiously, those guys are awesome. XD

And there's something we can all agree on!

Long live Rooster Teeth!

Haha definitely.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

it's official halo 4 won't be a worthy sequel it's being made by fans and it causes severe depression

You know what else was made by fans? Transformers Animated. Guess what? Most people who actually watched it, and didn't just judge it by the trailer or the opening, agree it is one of the better series, if not right up there with G1. Tropes Are Not Bad.

Yeah I didn't realize until now that it said that. My bad. lol Also I am quite familiar with post-Halo 2 glitches (I have vids of a few in Reach on Youtube ) and RoosterTeeth, I watch RvB religiously, those guys are awesome. XD

And there's something we can all agree on!

Long live Rooster Teeth!

Haha definitely.

Make that three. RvB is awesome.
Simmons: Did you just spit inside your helmet?
Sarge/Church: Yeah.
Simmons: Permission to speak freely?
Sarge/Church: Granted.
Simmons: That's really fucking gross.

 

[Kojiro ftt]

Ryan Payton isn't "going to waste one more day" working for Microsoft.

OK, it's not quite as harsh as it sounds.

That is a serious misrepresentation of his words. He didn't want to waste one more day on this particular project, and you guys turned it into essentially a slander against Microsoft as a whole. For all we know, he'd be happy to return to Microsoft someday on a different project. In fact, I'd argue he spoke favorably about Microsoft with this quote:

"I had a great run at Microsoft," Payton told Kotaku. "I don't regret one day of it."

 

[Robert Ewing]

Wow. What a wimp. You're working on one of the biggest games in history, boo-hoo. Give me your job, you swine!

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

While some people are dicking around, trying to define what "clinical depression" really is i'll focus on the actual article.

I like that he wants to do something he could find interest in. Not many would walk away from a project like this that's obviously going to milk fanboys until dusty moths come flying out of their drained carcases.

He just walked away from a lot of money to pursue his own desires and i admire that. I doubt i'd do it myself even though i'd have no interest in the project.

Then again... getting rid of a guy who hasn't been on this wagon before and who doesn't care about his work is probably not bad. Imagine how shitty the game would be if the Creative Director stopped caring halfway through the creative process.

 

[SenorNemo]

First reaction: Uh oh...director changes almost never bode well for anything.
Second reaction: He probably made the right decision deciding to quit though.
Third reaction: Still...can you say Halo Genesis Evangelion?

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

While some people are dicking around, trying to define what "clinical depression" really is I'll focus on the actual article.

I like that he wants to do something he could find interest in. Not many would walk away from a project like this that's obviously going to milk fanboys until dusty moths come flying out of their drained carcasses.

He just walked away from a lot of money to pursue his own desires and I admire that. I doubt I'd do it myself even though I'd have no interest in the project.

Then again... getting rid of a guy who hasn't been on this wagon before and who doesn't care about his work is probably not bad. Imagine how shitty the game would be if the Creative Director stopped caring halfway through the creative process.

Couldn't have said it better myself. As someone who has been severely depressed, and isn't totally convinced he's recovered, I know that depression is not something to be taken lightly, and it pisses me off to see people say stuff like "Cry me a river." when someone turns out depressed.

No, no one is saying that in this topic. But I had people in real life who had, as their first reaction upon finding out I was suicidal, say that they never saw me cry or get upset, and that therefore I was only trying to get attention. To be slightly more fair, I was in boot camp, and around people all the time. To be less fair, they apparently never noticed my multiple requests to take a trip to the latrine.

 

[fozzy360]

Ryan Payton isn't "going to waste one more day" working for Microsoft.

OK, it's not quite as harsh as it sounds.

That is a serious misrepresentation of his words. He didn't want to waste one more day on this particular project, and you guys turned it into essentially a slander against Microsoft as a whole. For all we know, he'd be happy to return to Microsoft someday on a different project. In fact, I'd argue he spoke favorably about Microsoft with this quote:

"I had a great run at Microsoft," Payton told Kotaku. "I don't regret one day of it."

It isn't the first time they've done this. Sensationalist headlines designed to cause a stir. Reading the story on Kotaku, I can understand why he left. Why would he want to stay somewhere he couldn't express himself creatively. No hard feelings. This wasn't some corporate shenanigan, but simply a guy who is kind of sick (not sure what the best word might be) and wanted to do something else. But hey, let's stir the hornet's nest and see what happens!

Here's the story:

http://kotaku.com/5837475/halo-creative-director-leaving-halo-4

 

[RaikuFA]

He was diagnosed with severe depression because things weren't going exactly how he wanted them to go?

The guys lucky he's got a job in the gaming industry. Because I think he'd have a hard time doing any normal job. Were you don't have any say over what you do.

mayabe he was being insulted with every idea, like hed be called a dumbass or something

 

[YodaUnleashed]

This doesn't exactly bode well for the upcoming Halo 4's promise (or at least the promises of it's creators) to deliver something new and interesting from the tried and true halo formula if one of the creative directors has left because he wasn't creatively challenged enough. Who knows, maybe his ideas were so far left field Halo might have been almost unrecognisable from it's previous installments to the point it would have suffered an 'identity crisis'. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Edit: Okay, I have read this story on Kotaku and other sites and it's seems the escapist is guilty of a little sensationalism by making the headline overblown and misleading. But then I guess that's what journalists are best at isn't it.

 

[WhatHityou]

I'm not quite sure how to take this....this could be a very very bad sign for the games overall quality and creativity, or it could just be the director who feels that he isn't valued/ agreeing on the direction.

No offence I love halo but I am going off the pattern that seems to be happening. This is mostly opinion but I'm sure that many will share my sentiments.

The first game had the most creative freedom and was very, very good.

The second had the same but more budget was very very good though flawed because they bit off quite a lot.

The 3rd had much less creative freedom and was worse than the others. Some argue it was the worst.

ODST had a rigid script short time and the creativity seemed to be so limited as to use cliches. While it was trying to be creative they were strongly limited.

Reach they went back to basics but it didn't have the creative flair of the first or second and while the new things they came up with were new and interesting it still had the stick to the formula. It's considered by many that it's one of the better ones but it once again has cliche characters and lacks originality outside of multi-player balance and gameplay tweaks.

you can also look at crackdown 2 to as a point of comparison when microsoft contracts internal company's to take control of new ip's

So if the pattern consists then now the microsoft has full control of a guaranteed gravy train. There will likely be few changes and the game will have plenty of cliches if there is any characterization. The meat of the money will go into multi-player and god forbid will end up like crackdown 2 and lack much in the way of depth.


The exodus of there creative director and they way he described how the project made him feel seems to reinforce the appearance that they are not being very creative. I hope though that all that new talent will breath new life into halo but i'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Payton didn't "just" help in the development of MGS4. He basically designed the controls for the game to appease western players, which, I think, you really have to give him credit for, as the controls for other MGS-games were quite overblown with unnecessary button combinations.

Exactly. I'm guessing he also had a big hand in developing the online portion of the game, Metal Gear Online, which is IMO the best online shooter this gen has seen, I still play it on a weekly basis. I'd say it's a big loss for Microsoft and Halo, I think Payton would've changed several things up for the better. I'm not at all a Halo fan, but I don't hate as I feel it's better than COD both single player and multiplayer.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

it's official halo 4 won't be a worthy sequel it's being made by fans and it causes severe depression

Means it will be downbeat, gritty and depressing. The ending will be Master Chief eating a bullet as he cant deal with the constant fighting and hero worship any more. Cant wait. ;-)

 

[monkey_man]

He was diagnosed with severe depression because things weren't going exactly how he wanted them to go?

The guys lucky he's got a job in the gaming industry. Because I think he'd have a hard time doing any normal job. Were you don't have any say over what you do.

I think it was just being unhappy with his job. People who have good jobs, like the jobs, or they wouldn't do them (unless you make lotsa moneys). If you having a concept of creation colliding so severely with your ideas and imagination, at the point where it's no fun no more. Would you like that?

I think that's what did it. If you don't want to work on the piece of rubbish you are served, and have options to choose something you like, why not take the good option?
Also, the halo real series (not reach or the rts) should have stopped at 3 already. The milking has gone too far, halo 4? really?

 

[Korten12]

He was diagnosed with severe depression because things weren't going exactly how he wanted them to go?

The guys lucky he's got a job in the gaming industry. Because I think he'd have a hard time doing any normal job. Were you don't have any say over what you do.

I think it was just being unhappy with his job. People who have good jobs, like the jobs, or they wouldn't do them (unless you make lotsa moneys). If you having a concept of creation colliding so severely with your ideas and imagination, at the point where it's no fun no more. Would you like that?

I think that's what did it. If you don't want to work on the piece of rubbish you are served, and have options to choose something you like, why not take the good option?
Also, the halo real series (not reach or the rts) should have stopped at 3 already. The milking has gone too far, halo 4? really?

Honestly Halo really hasn't been milked... Compared to other franchies, it doesn't have that many games. 8 games if you consider Halo Anniversity.

Halo is imo one of the last games I would considered being milked. Now there is two that has been... for a long time now... *cough*Mario,Zelda*Cough*

 

[hailfire]

this doesn't surpise me. of course he had severe depression. this is what halo does. IT DRAINS YOUR LIFE ENERGY!

 

[Shifty Tortoise]

I feel bad for the guy, and i've been in a similar position before in regards to work. Depression is no picnic, hope he gets back into the game industry soon.

I was gonna quote the first reply and start an argument with him on the causes and symptoms of depression, but it seems people have ninja'd me en masse.

 

[sabercrusader]

I hope that the guy thought about his choice and wasn't making a reckless decision. But hopefully things will work out for him. As for Halo 4. I'd imagine that if he left and now a creative director that has the same views as the rest of the team will help the game. But I still won't buy the game untill I know 343 knows what they're doing.

 

[monkey_man]

He was diagnosed with severe depression because things weren't going exactly how he wanted them to go?

The guys lucky he's got a job in the gaming industry. Because I think he'd have a hard time doing any normal job. Were you don't have any say over what you do.

I think it was just being unhappy with his job. People who have good jobs, like the jobs, or they wouldn't do them (unless you make lotsa moneys). If you having a concept of creation colliding so severely with your ideas and imagination, at the point where it's no fun no more. Would you like that?

I think that's what did it. If you don't want to work on the piece of rubbish you are served, and have options to choose something you like, why not take the good option?
Also, the halo real series (not reach or the rts) should have stopped at 3 already. The milking has gone too far, halo 4? really?

Honestly Halo really hasn't been milked... Compared to other franchies, it doesn't have that many games. 8 games if you consider Halo Anniversity.

Halo is imo one of the last games I would considered being milked. Now there is two that has been... for a long time now... *cough*Mario,Zelda*Cough*

Those have just been bled dry. the udder was a sad little heap of flabby empty tissue.
I still think Halo was milked. after 3, maybe four games it was enough. BUT NOOOOOO ALWAYS MORE. *ahem*