: The problem with this line of reasoning is something you mentioned yourself:
: COD switched from a "level playing field" to a player reward
: system, and did the game series grind to a halt? I'm sure they lost a lot
: of fans, but they also pushed that series into supernova mode, and every
: subsequent COD release became one of, if not the biggest seller of that
: year. To COD, change was very good. And don't say all the millions of COD
: fans are mindless drones either, I'm a fan of COD and occasionally dip
: into it for a fun game with my friends. Keep in mind that Halo has it's
: fair share of mindless drone "fans" as well.

: I'm not saying that Halo should emulate COD, I agree that ultimately doing so
: contributed to Halo 4's popularity drop, but if Halo remains stagnant and
: "old school," then they will wind up shedding new fans, which is
: what they need for continued survival, and a steady downfall will kill the
: franchise. Innovation is good, they just need to find better ways to do
: it.

I think this entire point is moot with the MCC. H5 might be really, really good, but what incentive do millions of people have to play a game that will launch with, what, maybe 13 maps tops, when they can play all their old Halo games and 100 maps just the way they like it? They've already innovated backwards to Bungie's games. For $60. Then they'll want you to pay $60 for a single game with nowhere near the features of the bundle they just released. I'm thinking H5 loses out to MCC's success, on top of Destiny having launched a few months prior, on top of the next CoD game that launches next year. Of course, only time will tell.