I think that something is getting lost sight of in threads like this and others.
Basically we have one group of players that have a deep appreciation and understanding of what they liked about Halo. Halo CE, Halo 2 and Halo 3 were three games in the series that were well received by players of Halo as a whole. Halo 2 became the benchmark for online Halo play, in general, and the competitive designs in it's map, movement, weaponry and ranking system became the key stone of this franchises online play. It was the first. It was what we feel in love with. Halo 3 showed a direct lineage to Halo 2 and also some refinements in graphics and sounds, some improvements in ranking and other various changes that improved and advanced game play and reduced glitches and other issues found in Halo 2. There was still no doubt it was a sequel to Halo2. The game still played very much the same. We now had a consistent style of game play even as the game progressed from the original game. When Reach hit, all of that changed. That is a fact, like it or not.
Reach brought a completely new set of wholesale changes to the Halo franchise. The graphics were improved over the prior game, you were still a Spartan, be it an earlier version, and the maps still were similar, but little else seemed to remain. The movement was slower and the game now incorporated "abilities" that significantly altered the way the game was played. These "abilities" changed the core play of the game. There was already a continuous thread that bound the previous titles together and now that thread was not there. These "abilities" altered game play so much that to those of us who played the original games at the times of their release and throughout Halo's history now saw what can best be described as a whole new game. Some of us referred to it as a "stand alone" game. To us it was not Halo, period. Regardless of how someone describes the changes, their feelings or expresses their opinions it was a complete departure from the three games in the series we had played from the beginning. It has nothing to do with "adapting", "being stuck in the past" or about "not being able to deal with change".
When the news of 343 Studios was being formed and that the series was to continue again where Halo 3 left off, players who heard Frank O'Connor say that Halo 4 was returning to what made Halo good, that they were going to bring back what once was, we saw hope. The use of "abilities" in Halo 4 would not be the continuation we thought we were getting. Since the "abilities" were part of a game that for one, supposedly predated Halo CE and two, was believed to have been, at least by me, what was referred to by Frank his statement of, "No more dead end stories", their return seemed to have no chance. They had been publicly despised by a very large group of fans. They fractured the fan base so far beyond any dispute that had ever existed before. They were a lightning rod of some of the most heated and contemptuous arguments that could have ever been imagined. Why would they return?
If Reach had never happened and Halo 4 had been the next game and sprint was introduced as a pick up similar to invisibility, over shield, bubble shield and gravity lift........it may not have been a big deal. Now that it is referred to as an "ability" it brings up all of the connotations that were dreaded before.
Please think about these thoughts, truly sit back, be quiet, stop your quick response posts and think about what was said here. Not to tear it apart piece by piece and argue minute points, but think about "our" side. At least try.