Jasper

Initially, I would say that you weren't a moron just because you love Flood, but I guess you self-fulfilled my statement by not being able to read. I never said Flood was bad. Flood is an outlet to many creative gametypes. I'm saying people suck at making it because, well, people suck. This isn't a war between Flood vs other gametypes, this is an invitation to a no-bullcrap customs lobby. Your comments have been very unnecessary.

I love a good customs lobby, but these are rare and hard to come by. And I'm not talking about a bunch of morons monkeying about on terrible Flood maps with overpowered humans. I am talking about a mix-up of everything good in Halo. Competitive slayer or objective matches on refined forge maps and creative mini-games that you can come back to time and time again. Essentially, the real definition of Action sack; a hot mess of pure fun. Don't get me wrong Flood can be fun too, most people usually just suck at making it. Now I really want this to happen, so if you like the idea of good customs lobbies as much as I do, maybe we can help the cause by initially sending a few friend requests and getting to know other fans of customs. I would love to host these, so feel free to friend me. Once I have a good about of people and content to share, I'll be happy to start the party. By the way, shout out to Monoxide89's incredible map pack that he just released. It features remakes of many of the great maps we loved in past Halo's and more. Check it out here: http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/22140-forge-map-pack-25-maps-with-all-gametypes-working/

I think this whole overreaction is simply because 343 spoiled the Chief's mysteriousness. His helmet became his face, and now since 343 revealed his actual face, people are having a hard time dealing with the reality. But guess what, reality happens. It's almost like finding out who voice acted for pixar films. It's a risk toward spoiling how you look at a certain character, and it is usually never good, but sometimes, it may be. I have not actually seen the Legendary ending yet, working on it, but if the full set of eyes is really shown, then I can understand how that can be too much. The eyes are the most significant and characterizing features of the human face. You don't remember someone for their nose, lips, or jawline as much as their eyes. There is a reason we say "you could see it in his eyes". It would have been a different story if his mouth were shown only. But ALAS, all of the points made earlier about showing his eyes as a good thing, are very correct. In the circumstances of Halo 4 and the direction 343 is taking Halo, on a more personal journey, the ending seems very fitting. People will just have to deal.

People in the military dis each other all the time. My roommate last year is in the Army and he told me that each branch (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) thinks every other branch is simply not as good as theirs, such as Marines beings stupid, and the Navy not knowing anything about combat, but it's all just fun and games; humorous rivalries. I mean, is that not what we do with our friends? Make fun of and downplay each other just for the heck of it? You develop something called jargon and nicknames. Just because it sounds demeaning does not mean that it really is. The military is a different world, and I think that 343 has done their fair of research on it, more than the average Halo player. So, quit jumping to conclusions. Sarah Palmer does not hate science. Think of it as tough love. ALSO, you are talking about Spartan II's such as the Master Chief. They're a dying breed. So are the Spartan III's, which were much less intense than Spartan II's. You can imagine that the Spartan IV's now are extremely casual compared to originals. They're made up of volunteers, not abducted 6 year olds who underwent extreme conditioning and physical enhancements with steroids and what not.

Because the Arbiter would destroy the Chief!!! lololololololololololol But seriously, fighting the Arbiter is risky. If MC fought the Arbiter, it shouldn't be allowed for either of them to win. They would just lose so much face. It's best that they are kept as equals. "Were it so easy" Best line from the Arbiter. It shows he's cocky, and he respects the Chief. I would like that maintained.

I was skeptical that the mere idea of this was reasonable. Having just one Anniversary of the original and just ending there seemed appropriate, because it's the original, ya know? It held a certain authority over every other game in the franchise because it was the beginning and is therefore more symbolic. BUT, I am so totally on board with a Halo 2 Anniversary. It was definitely the best game in the series for me because it was so adventurous compared to every other game. What Bungie did with Halo 2 was the most risky but extraordinary work of storytelling that the Halo franchise has ever seen. They expanded so much onto the depth of Halo that a rework of it would be simply amazing. It was essentially a story about the Arbiter, rather than the Master Chief. Not only was the story ambitious, but so were the environments. Halo 2 probably had the most epic environments, but since its graphics are so outdated now, it just feels dirty compared to Halo 4. Just imagine though: the skyline of Metropolis, the awe of a submerged Forerunner temple network, the vibrant colors of a Covenant holy city, and the unholy majesty of the Gravemind, all revamped into HD. That is something to look forward to. I just wish the anniversary was a year from now instead of two. I want Halo 5 to come quicker.

The Arbiter is a title that is passed down after death. The one in the Halo series is different than the one in Halo Wars. Pay attention during Halo 2 much?

I guess I was late to the party. I kind of read the first page and got tired of the arguments so i just replied haha.

Wow you guys really need to tone it down here. I strongly believe this original post was not intended to be of utmost gravity. No, I'm pretty sure the original poster does not actually see Halo 4 assassination steals as a real issue in his life. He is simply using a figure of speech. These exist in language, believe it or not. Justin Anderson is just like you. He is a player expressing an opinion, a very valid opinion, if you ask me. The point of this topic was not to prove that assassination-stealers are jerks or that assassination-stealers are not being team players or vice versa. The real POINT, is that Assassination animations are REALLY COOL, as they should be, and stealing them is simply a BUZZKILL. That, I am pretty sure, is something no one can disagree with. Who cares about whether it is better to shoot at a different enemy or to ensure a kill, that is definitely NOT THE POINT. Let's not get carried away with fighting words now.

Wow, not only are these great points, but you write very poetic in some parts. Refreshing. I've not much to say other than that haha.

That Batman quote is legendary. It's probably one of the most true things said about heroes that I have ever heard. Humans (in the real world) aren't perfect. It's hard to be a hero and just stay a hero. Look at Brett Favre. He was a legend. Everybody loved him until the **** picks and the switch to the Vikings. Now, everyone hates him for his "betrayal". It's as if he never did anything good in his life for his fans, yet he dedicated more than a decade of his life to the Packers and was an extremely great player. So, this quote has everything to do with the Master Chief, simply because he is a hero. Christopher Nolan is a genius (director of the recent batman trilogy). Also, to add onto that, the Master Chief IS growing obsolete. I don't know if you've noticed yet, but there's something called Spartan IV's that you play as in Halo 4 multiplayer and Spartan Ops. The Spartan II's, which the Master Chief is, are old news. There are only a few left. What use do they have when there are hundreds of Spartan IV's to be had? They may not be as good as the Chief, but they're more expendable, which makes them more useful. I really hope this issue of being obsolete is addressed in Halo 5's story. It would add much depth to Chief's character.

Good man. But really, it's okay to hate it. In fact, I want you to. =P

I know you're going to hate this answer, but just stop caring about it. I feel like it's more stressful than fun.

There's a good chance Cortana may have been copied or altered in a way. In the mission that you meet the Librarian, you lose Cortana in the Forerunner system due to some unknown force, and maybe that could have been the Librarian tampering with Cortana to keep her safe from her fate. WHO KNOWS, I just hope it's not cliche or readily predictable when 343 finally explains themselves. Actually, I don't care if it's cliche or predictable. I just want it to be GOOD.

I think maybe you're schizophrenic. Hahaaaa just kidding. Never heard it before. I will check it out.

No kidding. I'm pretty sure if they used appropriate names though, people would get used to it. Just like how people will eventually get used to Halo 4 and how different it is than the rest. Now that I think of it, Elites shouldn't really be called Elites either.....

Hold your horses. That first sentence is wildly ambiguous. ONI is helping the Arbiter or the Storm? If the Arbiter, then wtf? He would be working with them to ultimately avoid working with them? Paradox. If Storm, then wtf? Why is ONI helping an enemy?

Binders, full of them. I'm proud of the Halo franchise. They have a really good record of creating very strong, influential women in the Halo universe. First you have Cortana, then Halsey and Miranda, all who have had tremendous impact on the overall story's arching themes and events, and now (i'm sure there are more, haven't read the books) with Halo 4, Sarah Palmer is being introduced. Smart, headstrong, and even humorous, not to mention probably a great leader (we will see!). I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I like her a lot. I almost have a thing for her. Anyway, bottom line is, Bungie and 343 deserve due respect for their respect towards women. You don't see this a lot in the media. Usually media tries to adhere to populist standards, as unfair as they may be, because people are familiar with it and so they have a better chance of creating revenue. 343 even stated that sexism on Xbox live is not tolerated whatsoever and any evidence of sexist communication will get you a life-long ban. Kudos to you 343, kudos indeed. Next up, racism....

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but Halo as well as many other sci-fi stories, have profound structural similarities to StarCraft, which is probably as original as you can get, game-wise (as far as I know). Start off with god-like beings that can create new species entirely. > Starcraft = Xel'Naga > Halo = Precursors Then, make a species! =D > Starcraft = Protoss > Halo = Forerunners Whoops, bad batch. Try again > Starcraft = Zerg > Halo = Humans, Flood *In Starcraft, the Zerg were favored by the Xel'Naga, while in Halo, the humans were favored by both Precursors and Forerunners and jealousy arises from the Protoss and Covenant respectively that ignites war. The original god-like beings were destroyed by their own creations > Starcraft = Zerg infested Xel'Naga > Halo = Forerunners killed Precursors At the end of histories, you end up with three species in each story: > Humans > Religious, enigmatic aliens with really cool technology (Forerunners/Covenant and Protoss) > Infectious parasites that consume other species (Flood and Zerg) During the present day stories, the infectious parasite usually becomes the main enemy while the other species work together to contain it. For two entirely different worlds, they resemble each other quite accurately. But this type of sci-fi universe is a good format for other sci-fi's as well. There is however a lot more variation in Halo's overall story.

Sure, it made sense in the first few games, but now that we know that there were beings before even the Forerunners called the Precursors, what's the point of calling the Forerunners the Forerunners? The existence of the Precursors makes their name redundant and irrelevant. It would make more sense to me if they were referred to as "Firstborn" or something like that. Not really an issue, but just a minor detail that can be a bit misleading or irritating when trying to clarify history. It's even more disorienting when the Forerunners call themselves Forerunners as well. I'm sure they would have a better name for themselves.

I do see your point. While listening to the OST I have caught myself thinking that certain parts of some of the tracks sound shockingly reminiscent of other movie scores or game soundtracks. But I think that was essentially Davidge's point though, he wanted to turn Halo into a new direction with the music. So technically he wins. But in defense I have heard scattered bits of original Halo tunes subtly incorporated into some of the tracks. For instance, in "117" you can hear the classic Halo theme cello octave rhythm (at the beginning of the original song after the drums come in, and wow this is hard to describe with words) complimenting some parts of the new theme. Also the Halo 3 piano theme for Cortana is in the menu music at some point, although altered in a way And yeah that's probably not enough to make it feel Halo, but I think it's well done this way because you will want to feel some familiarity but not to the point where it's just repetition (like how they literally just used the same songs from previous games in Halo 3 with virtually no changes). Subtlety is magic in music. Also for the sake of argument, I do find a paradox in yours: You say you don't mind change but you want back what you had before. I think the point of change is that things dont say the same, including "roots"

Okay.... I guess I will just disregard the last few comments.... But about the whole mutation thing, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I will not stop having a hard time believing his telekinetic powers until someone explains how the Forerunners were able to harness such a power in the first place to be able to grant it to the Prometheans in the said process. I mean, hologram interfaces, hard light, levitation, I can understand all of that through my prior understanding of light particles, magnetism, and gravity, along with a dash of imagination, but telekinesis? That's just outrageous. Last time I checked, moving stuff with your mind never seemed plausible, even in a futuristic (or shall I say historic?) universe such as Halo's. Even the Gravemind's telepathic connection with all of its minions makes more sense because the Flood retains unanimous biology with itself.

Well well isn't this just neat? It looks like you've done a fantastic job so far. I am definitely going to add you and these maps. Good stuff!

My immediate prediction is that 343 will release another soundtrack like they did for Halo 2. There's probably about twice as much audio in the game that they didn't include on the OST. I haven't been able to find the Credits song (the Never Forget re-arrange) anywhere on the web yet but here is a good link for the menu music, which I think is very magical. I don't think it's the actual raw recordings from 343 but it will suffice. (DL link is in the description) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhm3FxcxOw

Skeptical. But explanations/sources are welcome.