I was just curious as to why 343 felt the need to copy COD and simply place it in the future...?
I understand business pretty well, but you guys had done fine without copying COD (See: Halo 3). I speak more directly to your ranking system. The TrueSkill system was the first of it's kind and despite it's flaws, it was a revolutionary first attempt.
Halo players are a unique bunch. Any TRUE fan knew that Halo was set apart and above all other shooters because if you played well and beat those ranked slightly better than you, your skill went up. (Disclaimer: I know Boosters ruined it). But that's where my next point comes in. Why decide to be part of the status quo? Why not put a few extra guys and gals on the problems with the TrueSkill system and set a precedent for how to reward a players skills online? It isn't fun just having to play a whole bunch to acheive a rank, unless you're a "BK"
I guess what I ask is that you please explain why you'd water a game down and have actual skill become irrelevant (See: Halo:Reach). As I said, I know you just want to sell more copies, but upon ruining a game with almost unrecognizable potential, both in how skill should be rewarded in shooters and becoming a leader in sci-fi video game design, you have also ruined the reputation of Halo entirely.
And on another note, you need to dismiss your map designers from your employ. Reach had the worst maps in the history of any FPS. With each successive map you designed, you only promoted more and more of the truly terribly-skilled players to camp even more.