[343 RESPONSE] Open letter to 343i

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

343 response:
https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/comments/5lq65k/open_letter_to_343i/

Original post:

This letter (also my first reddit post) is to elicit a response from 343 regarding a completely ignored issue.

I’ve been a loving fan of Halo since CE, more for its story but I eventually came to adore the multiplayer since MCC (despite its issues) and became a full blown addict with Halo 5 (also despite its issues). And I’m glad to see the dialogue between the devs and the community, to constantly better (or sometimes even correct) the multiplayer side of things. The way the DLC was rolled out to keep the community together is commendable. And I believe Monitors Bounty has fleshed out the game to showcase its MP glory.

However, my experience with Halo 5 did not start off all rosey. The night before launch I barely slept due to uncontrollable excitement. My mind was racing with theories about the story. About Cortana. About John. Would he go against the UNSC to bring her back to life? Would he endanger the lives of others for the sole purpose of resurrecting Cortana? Would ONI paint him as a traitor for doing so? Would we get behind the scenes with ONI or possibly meet Benjamin Giraud ingame? Will Locke follow his mission without questioning why? Would we see the Flood? Blue Team!!? Would Mendicant Bias finally appear and commence his redemption arc?..After what seemed like an endless night, I rushed to buy a copy…rushed back home…started the first day patch download (which took ages thanks to my -Yoink- Internet)…and started the campaign. 10 hours later, I was… to put it bluntly…catatonic.

I refused to acknowledge what had transpired in Halo 5. Because doing so would mean that everything I felt while playing Halo 4 was for nothing. All my emotions that crescendoed when Cortana finally said, “Welcome home, John” was for naught. While I had fun with the story of every Halo which filled me with intrigue, wonder and fondness, Halo 4 pulled at my heart strings and I fell in love completely with what was a tragic masterpiece between two iconic characters. Halo 5 essentially took all of those experiences and memories I had from Halo 4 and threw them in the bin with complete disregard,

Now the point of this letter is not to express my negative feelings toward the story of Halo 5 without an intended recipient but rather to start a dialogue between 343 and the fans. When MCC had its disastrous launch, 343 acknowledged it and reassured fans that they will make it right. When proplayers and fans had issues with gametypes, settings, gameplay mechanics, 343 acknowledged it and got to work. What happened when fans had issues with the story? Nothing. Sure, the way the disappointment was conveyed may have been aggressive but thats no reason for not providing any sort of medium to communicate our questions and concerns. Honestly, I feel insulted that the fans of the story are being ignored.

Even amidst some backlash from the community regarding Cortana’s “death”, Halo 4 had a postmortem panel 5 months after its release. Its been over a year since Halo 5 came out and there have been no constructive conversations between 343 and its fans regarding the story, the marketing campaign, the ‘Cortana is dead’ lie and much much more.

Read - https://haruspis.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/halo-5-a-compendium-of-lies/
which details all of the misleading/false statements made by 343 which havent been explained or even acknowledged post release.

Also, I highly suggest fellow fans to read “Haruspis Level by Level analysis” on Halo 5 to truly understand the consequences of Halo 5’s story (or a lack thereof) and how it effectively ended what could’ve been brilliant stories that would’ve enriched the entire Halo Universe.

I believe 343 are on the right track with bringing the MP of Halo back to glory. And I believe, it is largely due to the fact that they communicate with the community. I believe Halo’s story needs the same attention.

From a fan who is grateful for memories formed from playing their creations…

Dear 343i,
This is a request to a dialogue regarding the story of a game that we love.
Happy New Years.
Fuzzyyogi

2

Also, I’d appreciate if someone added a lazy link to the one I provided in the post :slight_smile:

Wish my MP rank transferred to my halowaypoint user rank :wink:

3

> 2535424770694943;2:
> Also, I’d appreciate if someone added a lazy link to the one I provided in the post :slight_smile:
>
> Wish my MP rank transferred to my halowaypoint user rank :wink:

Link here.

4

^ Thanks!

5

Can this post be blessed with another lazy link?

6

> 2535424770694943;5:
> Can this post be blessed with another lazy link?

Here you go. Link to ske7ch’s Reddit response.

7

Hurrah. We have words of some kind, finally. It’s a start. Well done! I’d honestly like nothing more than to know why we got what we got. Like… yeah, a post-mortem, I guess. How did we go from Halo 4 to Halo 5?

8

I know they’ll never admit they effed up the campaign, but I’m sure privately they do know they did. It’s going to take a lot to redeem Halo SP fans in Halo 6, and in my personal score, 343 stands 1-1 on campaigns.

9

> 2678033349858034;7:
> Hurrah. We have words of some kind, finally. It’s a start. Well done! I’d honestly like nothing more than to know why we got what we got. Like… yeah, a post-mortem, I guess. How did we go from Halo 4 to Halo 5?

Yup ske7ch is doing a fantastic job! I’m being cautiously optimistic now. As opposed to earlier, when I had little to no hope haha

10

OP

That’s an extremely diplomatic response from Sketch. Its nice that he replied, but essentially he is saying that “we’re aware of peoples feelings and we’re putting together a great campaign with those in mind”. He doesn’t say they’re changing direction or reply to specifics.

Plus in the Sprint, Brian Reed and F O Connor did a “post mortem” on the campaign. I mean they didn’t discuss everything, but they did do that. I don’t imagine we’ll see much more on this until the Halo 6 bandwagon comes back around.

I think in 343i minds they wanted people to get really invested in the bond Chef/Cortana had so that you would feel something when she turns her back on the Chief in Halo 5. The full on “Khaleesi, I have loved you!” moment. So to them it wasn’t inconsistent to bring Cortana back as the villain. Its also likely they’re just tearing the two characters apart so we can be really happy when they reunite later on. Coz drama.

Also 10 hours! My god this guy got his monies worth! An exhausted and tired me did it in 5 hours past midnight.

11

> 2533274803587475;10:
> OP
>
> That’s an extremely diplomatic response from Sketch. Its nice that he replied, but essentially he is saying that “we’re aware of peoples feelings and we’re putting together a great campaign with those in mind”. He doesn’t say they’re changing direction or reply to specifics.
>
> Plus in the Sprint, Brian Reed and F O Connor did a “post mortem” on the campaign. I mean they didn’t discuss everything, but they did do that. I don’t imagine we’ll see much more on this until the Halo 6 bandwagon comes back around.
>
> I think in 343i minds they wanted people to get really invested in the bond Chef/Cortana had so that you would feel something when she turns her back on the Chief in Halo 5. The full on “Khaleesi, I have loved you!” moment. So to them it wasn’t inconsistent to bring Cortana back as the villain. Its also likely they’re just tearing the two characters apart so we can be really happy when they reunite later on. Coz drama.
>
> Also 10 hours! My god this guy got his monies worth! An exhausted and tired me did it in 5 hours past midnight.

I rewatched the sprint episode, and it wasn’t necessarily a postmortem…more so a “This is what we wrote. We think its fantastic. And you can never guess where the Halo universe is headed tee hee” kinda conversation. There was no Q&A or a conversation as to WHY or WHAT inspired them to come up with this story. In Halo 4’s postmortem, Josh Holmes spoke of a family member’s deteriorating mental health as a source of inspiration for Cortana’s spiral into rampancy. With Halo 5, we get nothing of that sort and I don’t think we ever will.

Now regarding them changing direction, I don’t think it is fair for us to demand a narrative change. (although I would LOooVEE if Halo 5 ends up being non-canon). Firstly, it is near impossible to cater to all story fans because our affinities to the lore vary with each individual. Secondly, it is THEIR art and creation. We can only provide constructive criticism. When I made the post, I was hoping for an acknowledgment form 343 which ske7ch provided. Best case scenario would’ve been to hold a panel with the narrative department and the fans which, also, I dont think we will be getting anytime soon (maybe close to Halo 6)

And I agree with the whole ‘Coz drama’ concept. I think 343 relied too much on shock value to MAKE us fall in love with the story instead of giving us an actual story to fall in love with.

“Look! Awesome opening sequence!”
“Look! Blue team!”
“Look! Cortana is back!”
“Look! Giant forerunner in the sky”
“Look! Sanghelios!”
“Look! Kraken!”
“Look! Scary forerunner boss!” x 9

Moving on, Halo 5’s MP is the way it is because of the backlash that Halo 4 MP received. And I’m choosing to believe the same thing will happen to Halo 6’s story.

Lastly, I’m getting my moneys worth from Halo 5 MP. The story isn’t worth a single penny to me.

12

> 2535424770694943;11:
> > 2533274803587475;10:
> > OP
> >
> > That’s an extremely diplomatic response from Sketch. Its nice that he replied, but essentially he is saying that “we’re aware of peoples feelings and we’re putting together a great campaign with those in mind”. He doesn’t say they’re changing direction or reply to specifics.
> >
> > Plus in the Sprint, Brian Reed and F O Connor did a “post mortem” on the campaign. I mean they didn’t discuss everything, but they did do that. I don’t imagine we’ll see much more on this until the Halo 6 bandwagon comes back around.
> >
> > I think in 343i minds they wanted people to get really invested in the bond Chef/Cortana had so that you would feel something when she turns her back on the Chief in Halo 5. The full on “Khaleesi, I have loved you!” moment. So to them it wasn’t inconsistent to bring Cortana back as the villain. Its also likely they’re just tearing the two characters apart so we can be really happy when they reunite later on. Coz drama.
> >
> > Also 10 hours! My god this guy got his monies worth! An exhausted and tired me did it in 5 hours past midnight.
>
> I rewatched the sprint episode, and it wasn’t necessarily a postmortem…more so a “This is what we wrote. We think its fantastic. And you can never guess where the Halo universe is headed tee hee” kinda conversation. There was no Q&A or a conversation as to WHY or WHAT inspired them to come up with this story. In Halo 4’s postmortem, Josh Holmes spoke of a family member’s deteriorating mental health as a source of inspiration for Cortana’s spiral into rampancy. With Halo 5, we get nothing of that sort and I don’t think we ever will.
>
> Now regarding them changing direction, I don’t think it is fair for us to demand a narrative change. (although I would LOooVEE if Halo 5 ends up being non-canon). Firstly, it is near impossible to cater to all story fans because our affinities to the lore vary with each individual. Secondly, it is THEIR art and creation. We can only provide constructive criticism. When I made the post, I was hoping for an acknowledgment form 343 which ske7ch provided. Best case scenario would’ve been to hold a panel with the narrative department and the fans which, also, I dont think we will be getting anytime soon (maybe close to Halo 6)
>
> And I agree with the whole ‘Coz drama’ concept. I think 343 relied too much on shock value to MAKE us fall in love with the story instead of giving us an actual story to fall in love with.
>
> “Look! Awesome opening sequence!”
> “Look! Blue team!”
> “Look! Cortana is back!”
> “Look! Giant forerunner in the sky”
> “Look! Sanghelios!”
> “Look! Kraken!”
> “Look! Scary forerunner boss!” x 9
>
> Moving on, Halo 5’s MP is the way it is because of the backlash that Halo 4 MP received. And I’m choosing to believe the same thing will happen to Halo 6’s story.
>
> Lastly, I’m getting my moneys worth from Halo 5 MP. The story isn’t worth a single penny to me.

Well if you get burnt for having said the story would go one way and not deliver the last thing you do is come out and make big statements on the direction of the series. I imagine they are keeping their cards close to their chest and are being tight lipped because they’re being a lot more guarded with what they say.

They probably talked a lot about Halo 4’s campaign because people liked it and wanted to hear about it. Nothing like free advertisement where you can pat yourself on the back. But if they know there is a lot of negativity around Halo 5 campaign then, naturally, commentary will focus on the multiplayer and competitive scene. Whereas in Halo 4 the MP was a trainwreck from what I have heard and so they were probably bigging up the campaign to excuse the player base vanishing.

I love the idea of Cortana becoming this galactic AI. I think that’s a really cool concept and you can do a lot with that in the story they set up. But, I am completely not sold on the reasoning that “oh shes like Halsey so shes totally going to totally kill millions of innocent people…”. Just no. It has to be something fundamental that changes her base nature and that should either be spelt out to the player or heavily hinted at. Has her transforming into this thing changed her moral compass, is she damaged from rampancy, does she have the Logic Plague? I simply refuse to believe she would just go mad with power.

I mean its not that bad. I mean when you go and play other shooters you realize that the standard of story telling and dialogue isn’t too different in quality. “Oh look its a wizard!”

But yeah you’re right. They can’t not talk about Halo 5 in the build up to Halo 6 campaign. So that’s likely where we will get that discussion.

13

> 2533274803587475;12:
> > 2535424770694943;11:
> > > 2533274803587475;10:
> > > OP
> > >
> > > That’s an extremely diplomatic response from Sketch. Its nice that he replied, but essentially he is saying that “we’re aware of peoples feelings and we’re putting together a great campaign with those in mind”. He doesn’t say they’re changing direction or reply to specifics.
> > >
> > > Plus in the Sprint, Brian Reed and F O Connor did a “post mortem” on the campaign. I mean they didn’t discuss everything, but they did do that. I don’t imagine we’ll see much more on this until the Halo 6 bandwagon comes back around.
> > >
> > > I think in 343i minds they wanted people to get really invested in the bond Chef/Cortana had so that you would feel something when she turns her back on the Chief in Halo 5. The full on “Khaleesi, I have loved you!” moment. So to them it wasn’t inconsistent to bring Cortana back as the villain. Its also likely they’re just tearing the two characters apart so we can be really happy when they reunite later on. Coz drama.
> > >
> > > Also 10 hours! My god this guy got his monies worth! An exhausted and tired me did it in 5 hours past midnight.
> >
> > I rewatched the sprint episode, and it wasn’t necessarily a postmortem…more so a “This is what we wrote. We think its fantastic. And you can never guess where the Halo universe is headed tee hee” kinda conversation. There was no Q&A or a conversation as to WHY or WHAT inspired them to come up with this story. In Halo 4’s postmortem, Josh Holmes spoke of a family member’s deteriorating mental health as a source of inspiration for Cortana’s spiral into rampancy. With Halo 5, we get nothing of that sort and I don’t think we ever will.
> >
> > Now regarding them changing direction, I don’t think it is fair for us to demand a narrative change. (although I would LOooVEE if Halo 5 ends up being non-canon). Firstly, it is near impossible to cater to all story fans because our affinities to the lore vary with each individual. Secondly, it is THEIR art and creation. We can only provide constructive criticism. When I made the post, I was hoping for an acknowledgment form 343 which ske7ch provided. Best case scenario would’ve been to hold a panel with the narrative department and the fans which, also, I dont think we will be getting anytime soon (maybe close to Halo 6)
> >
> > And I agree with the whole ‘Coz drama’ concept. I think 343 relied too much on shock value to MAKE us fall in love with the story instead of giving us an actual story to fall in love with.
> >
> > “Look! Awesome opening sequence!”
> > “Look! Blue team!”
> > “Look! Cortana is back!”
> > “Look! Giant forerunner in the sky”
> > “Look! Sanghelios!”
> > “Look! Kraken!”
> > “Look! Scary forerunner boss!” x 9
> >
> > Moving on, Halo 5’s MP is the way it is because of the backlash that Halo 4 MP received. And I’m choosing to believe the same thing will happen to Halo 6’s story.
> >
> > Lastly, I’m getting my moneys worth from Halo 5 MP. The story isn’t worth a single penny to me.
>
> Well if you get burnt for having said the story would go one way and not deliver the last thing you do is come out and make big statements on the direction of the series. I imagine they are keeping their cards close to their chest and are being tight lipped because they’re being a lot more guarded with what they say.
>
> They probably talked a lot about Halo 4’s campaign because people liked it and wanted to hear about it. Nothing like free advertisement where you can pat yourself on the back. But if they know there is a lot of negativity around Halo 5 campaign then, naturally, commentary will focus on the multiplayer and competitive scene. Whereas in Halo 4 the MP was a trainwreck from what I have heard and so they were probably bigging up the campaign to excuse the player base vanishing.
>
> I love the idea of Cortana becoming this galactic AI. I think that’s a really cool concept and you can do a lot with that in the story they set up. But, I am completely not sold on the reasoning that “oh shes like Halsey so shes totally going to totally kill millions of innocent people…”. Just no. It has to be something fundamental that changes her base nature and that should either be spelt out to the player or heavily hinted at. Has her transforming into this thing changed her moral compass, is she damaged from rampancy, does she have the Logic Plague? I simply refuse to believe she would just go mad with power.
>
> I mean its not that bad. I mean when you go and play other shooters you realize that the standard of story telling and dialogue isn’t too different in quality. “Oh look its a wizard!”
>
> But yeah you’re right. They can’t not talk about Halo 5 in the build up to Halo 6 campaign. So that’s likely where we will get that discussion.

Wait…did 343 explain Cortana’s motives as being a consequence of her being essentially Halsey?? Or is that your speculation?

If it is your speculation then yeah, that’s the whole problem with the story. Not knowing WHY things are happening.

14

@Fuzzy

Well it depends on if Halsey is correct in what she says. But in the cutscene before the Battle of Sunaion she tells Locke that she did all her evil acts for the greater good. That Cortana is based off of her mind so is doing the same thing now.

This is seemingly confirmed during the Breaking.

Cortana “I am offering people a chance to be more than they are naturally?”

Chief - “Like Doctor Halsey did to me?”

Cortana - “No! That monster forced you, this is a gift.”

This is further backed up by what is said by Mr Reed and O Connor in the Sprint where they talk about how Cortana isn’t evil but is in the long run trying to make the galaxy a better place at the expense of individual freedoms in the short term. ie Greater Good like Halsey. So assuming they aren’t keeping stuff from us for future plot twists, this is 343’s stated reasoning behind her being the villain.

F O Connor did also mention that she sees things longer term. But he doesn’t elaborate on if its because Cortana becoming this eternal galaxy spanning AI has warped her mind or if he just means being immortal means she can consider these possibilities. IMO, under the latter, Cortana wouldn’t do that and its too much of a leap of logic to assume the former.

Now theres an enormous plothole with this because Cortana’s mind has always been based off Halsey. So if she was a good person in previous games then the Halsey excuse doesn’t hold up. Either Cortana’s moral compass is different to Halsey or Halsey isn’t all that bad. It certainly isn’t enough to justify being okay with callously killing millions of innocent people.

15

> 2533274803587475;14:
> This is further backed up by what is said by Mr Reed and O Connor in the Sprint where they talk about how Cortana isn’t evil but is in the long run trying to make the galaxy a better place at the expense of individual freedoms in the short term. ie Greater Good like Halsey. So assuming they aren’t keeping stuff from us for future plot twists, this is 343’s stated reasoning behind her being the villain.

Their argument as to how Cortana is not evil is soooo weak. “America does things people dont agree with…”…well so did -Yoink!-. Point is, when you’re trying to TELL the audience what a character is or isn’t, you’ve essentially failed as a writer. Halsey did monstrous things, but she always danced on the line between thirst for knowledge and doing whats right. This was explored in the novels and a in Spartan Ops. And fans had to decide for themselves whether she’s evil or not, with both sides having valid arguments. With Cortana’s actions, we don’t see her inner conflict (there’s one cringe-worthy scene where Cortana tears up after she armor locks Blue Team…ugh) or why she’s come to this decision? She was asking John, who was human and who was machine…for crying out loud! and then in Halo 5 BOOM…all humanity out the window.

Coming back to Halsey, up until Halo 5, she was a fierce character. Not taking -Yoink- from anyone and always being two steps ahead. Yet in Halo 5 she seems like this frail old lady who is filled with remorse who only wants to save John from Cortana. Even Jen Taylors’ performance seemed different to previous depictions of Halsey. I’d say Cortana’s galactic emperor actions are more in line with Halo 4 Halsey than Halo 5 Halsey. I think the greater good Halsey is gone for good. Now we got good ol’ grandma Halsey. Anyway I doubt Cortana’s motives have anything to do with Halsey. And on a side note, the two apparently hate each other now, which comes out of nowhere.

16

Meh, I don’t buy it either. I think they’re not telling us something.

Well her inner conflict centers on dealing with the Chief. That is fairly well done but its colored by her commitment to the plan not making any sense.

There is also just some really bad dialogue that kills the mood and they don’t manage to carry the story in a succinct manner.

17

I’m just worried that if they’re not telling us something, they might not know what it is themselves.

I hope this is all part of a master plan, but right now I’m not seeing the necessary bread crumbs.

18

I have exactly the same feelings about H5’s story. I hope 343i to redeem their mistakes in H6

19

As much as I respect Ske7ch’s open nature towards the community and want to believe him when he says that there are exciting things to come regarding future stories, I just can’t take his word for it. 343i and its employees have lied to us time and time again prior to the release of their games, there’s really no reason for us to believe them again this time. Plus, he is an employee of the company, I doubt they would allow him to say that the things he sees regarding the story are crap and there’s no hope. His job, whether directly or not, is to sell a positive image of the game and series, after all, just like any other employee. I distinctly remember having an employee (Unyshek, I think) write on the forums that he had full confidence in Brian Reed’s ability to make Halo 5’s story great. Whether or not he truly believed that, he certainly wouldn’t be allowed to say “No, Brian Reed sucks and Halo 5’s story is crap”. It would go against the company’s interests.

So while it’s nice to be told that the developers are listening to our criticisms about the campaign, I’m not getting my hopes up in the slightest.