Problem is, you've got to keep adding new features to keep bringing in new people to the franchise from other platforms, and sprint is an easy one to add as people are familiar with it and how it works. You may annoy the classic fans, but 343 have already promised toggle sprint for custom games which will hopefully make it's way over to MM too in a classic playlist. The way it works in H5G to me is good, as it stops shield regen meaning that you can run, but you've gotta make sure you're not chased as it's not an instant recharge as soon as you stop sprinting.
Duck, I feel your comparison to global warming is bad. There are good arguments for and against sprinting and I personally feel that it does increase game pacing as it allows quicker movement from spawn to get back into the action, and its use for retreating has been somewhat nerfed with the new cooldowns in place in H5G. The h5G gameplay pacing felt a lot faster than H4 or HR to me, so hopefully 343 can get something right for a change.
The comparison is very appropriate, as we shall demonstrate here. The reason I made such a comparison has already been reinforced somewhat by the responses in this thread. There are
many thorough and strong arguments from experienced designers against sprint's inclusion in Halo. There are no strong arguments from experienced designers for why it should be in Halo, and the designers are the only ones with any real authority on the matter. The usual "arguments" in sprint's favor are either to the tune of "it's not
that bad", "I don't mind it", or "I like it". These arguments demonstrate a lack of understanding on the issue and an incapacity to look at the game's design in a more detailed fashion. Yes, sprint makes the game more accessible to non-Halo players, and that is precisely why it is now in Halo. However, it comes at a very high cost and is incredibly problematic. I was brief in my original post, because I have gotten tired of repeating this argument over the years, particularly when the general response to it is something along the lines of "I don't care about your logic or design knowledge, I like it so it's okay".
First of all, sprint
does slow down the pace of the game. The reason why Halo 5 feels fast-paced at a surface level is the wealth of movement options available to players and the fact that kill times were shortened to compensate. You might be able to
move faster, and you might be able to
die faster. However, the overall pace of the game is slowed because you are only doing one thing at a time. the idea that movement and combat are one in the same is a
fundamental design concept which has been the foundation of Halo's gameplay since day one. That players must simultaneously move effectively and shoot effectively raises the skill gap in Halo and is a key part of the game's identity. When you are always able to engage opposing players while on the move, the pace of the game is fast. With the inclusion of sprint (and several other problematic mechanics in Halo 5), this is thrown out. Sprint also slows the pace of the game in other ways.
When the entire game must be modified to account for one mechanic, it's usually a pretty clear indicator that that mechanic is broken. In this case, that mechanic is sprint. To account for the faster movement made possible by sprint, map scaling has grown dramatically (look at the monstrous size difference between Midship and Truth). However, when sprint is not in use, players actually move slower than they have in previous Halo games. This means that, while players can move around the maps in roughly the same amount of time it's always taken, the pace of their engagements is slowed. The end result? We have larger maps than ever before, but the speeds players are moving at while engaging one another are slower than before. This slows gameplay on its own, but this combined with the lack of multitasking (moving at full speed while engaging) done by players seriously slows the pace of the game. The delta between the sprint speed and base movement speed in Halo 5 has been decreased post-beta, but this is merely addressing the symptoms of sprint rather than the underlying problem itself.
We are left with large maps which are often segmented by lazy clutter (see: Empire, Eden) in order to compensate for their size. Preventing shields from recharging helps to nerf sprint, but this is like putting a bandaid on an amputated limb. Again, the entire suite of mechanics present in the game should not need to be modified to accommodate for a single mechanic. Is Halo 5 faster paced than Halo: Reach and Halo 4? Absolutely. Kill times were shortened to account for these new movement mechanics. Is Halo 5 faster paced than Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, or Halo 3? Absolutely not. Not only is the pacing slowed, it's also simplified as players are not engaging in combat while moving at top speed. Yes, the nerf to shields while sprinting helps. Yes, increasing the ramp-up time to reach terminal sprinting velocity would help. Yes, making sprint not infinite and less maneuverable would help. But, none of these nerfs and accommodations solve the root of the problem which is sprint itself. In conclusion, the mechanic removes a foundational element of Halo's design, increases map size, decreases kill times, and allows players to escape from bad situations which they got themselves into. These effects collectively serve to slow the pace of the game and lower the skill gap, and for what? The purpose of sprint is literally only to make Halo feel less like Halo in order to attract players of other games. Does that sound worth it to you?