Bringing Lore to Halo: Infinite

Games Halo Infinite
1

I noticed somewhere else in a discussion about emoting in game in Halo: Infinite that someone mentioned how in “The Fall of Reach,” Spartan II’s were depicted as showcasing their smiles by tracing the outline in front of their helmets/visors. Of course the first thing that comes to people’s minds when mentioning emotes is probably the over-the-top ultra-zealous Destiny emotes, but I didn’t think the more subtle emoting was such a bad idea. The main point of this topic isn’t emoting itself, but more about how 343 may expand on the Halo lore. Obviously there are Spartans from across multiple iterations, and they all have their own bread to bring to the table. Many people don’t read the extended lore in the novels, and I think it would be a great homage to insert small details like that into the game (or future games). Granted, this probably wouldn’t make it into multiplayer because then you’d expect the devs to make emotes rather vibrant and intentional so that they could be showcased; but more than likely be limited to single player or campaign experiences when the Spartans are interacting in the story rather than in their training simulations between players.

Just seeking other people’s opinions.

2

It’d feel out of place. I can’t imagine Fred tracing a smile in front of his visor, with his finger, to Chief. Maybe if you had a less serious or sarcastic Spartan, or ODST/Marine, it’d work with their personality, such as in Spartan Ops. But in general, it’d take me out of the experience.

3

After H5 made all of Blue Team so chatty, it might come off kinda strange. More casual fans would be like “why doesn’t he just tell the Chief ‘thanks’ or something over the radio?” when another Spartan makes the smile emote to him. Lore fans would know it’s because Blue Team really wasn’t all that chatty, especially on missions, but the rest would be scratching their heads. It’s definitely a nice nod to the lore fans, and I agree with you there, but with how the characters were portrayed in H5, it would just come off as a weird new mechanic imo.

4

Since it’s going to be on Installation 07 (one of the rings from the destroyed Greater Ark) it will be amazing to see Master Builders Palace of Pain as well as some of the Flood Facilities. Though the most important part of Installation 07’s lore is that the last precursor known as “The Primordial” was on that ring, be nice to see terminals introducing it.

5

Lore more generalised, should be left as easter eggs and terminals. One of Halo 5’s campaign’s greatest issues was the requirement to be up to date with the lore, as if you had only played the FPS games, you would have no idea who Blue Team is, why Buck is now a Spartan, who Locke is, why Halsey lost her arm, etc. The expanded universe should add to the games, not be a necessity.

EDIT: Before anyone says, yes, Spartan Ops is FPS. But most didn’t play it to completion, so it can’t just be assumed knowledge.

6

> 2535419441797248;5:
> Lore more generalised, should be left as easter eggs and terminals. One of Halo 5’s campaign’s greatest issues was the requirement to be up to date with the lore, as if you had only played the FPS games, you would have no idea who Blue Team is, why Buck is now a Spartan, who Locke is, why Halsey lost her arm, etc. The expanded universe should add to the games, not be a necessity.
>
> EDIT: Before anyone says, yes, Spartan Ops is FPS. But most didn’t play it to completion, so it can’t just be assumed knowledge.

Halo 5’s shortcomings weren’t necessarily from being overly reliant on external media, but rather not expanding upon characters or events in the game. Out of the 4 examples you listed, Blue team is the only thing that would need external sources.

  • Bungie teased Buck for 2 games being Spartan material; 343 then announces the Spartan-IV program. Reading New Blood to what equates to ‘Buck is offered to become a Spartan and finally accepts’ is not needed. - Locke was sufficiently explained who he is in the marketing material and then in-game; ONI agent-turned-Spartan. Nightfall gives a little more glimpse into just who Locke is, but is not needed at all. Could more have been done with his character? Most certainly, but again, that’s a Halo 5 issue, not external media issue. - As you’ve already stated, Halsey losing her arm is explained in SpOps. If people chose not to complete it, then that is their own making for not knowing why her arm is missing.
7

> 2533274851065491;6:
> > 2535419441797248;5:
> > Lore more generalised, should be left as easter eggs and terminals. One of Halo 5’s campaign’s greatest issues was the requirement to be up to date with the lore, as if you had only played the FPS games, you would have no idea who Blue Team is, why Buck is now a Spartan, who Locke is, why Halsey lost her arm, etc. The expanded universe should add to the games, not be a necessity.
> >
> > EDIT: Before anyone says, yes, Spartan Ops is FPS. But most didn’t play it to completion, so it can’t just be assumed knowledge.
>
> Halo 5’s shortcomings weren’t necessarily from being overly reliant on external media, but rather not expanding upon characters or events in the game. Out of the 4 examples you listed, Blue team is the only thing that would need external sources.
> - Bungie teased Buck for 2 games being Spartan material; 343 then announces the Spartan-IV program. Reading New Blood to what equates to ‘Buck is offered to become a Spartan and finally accepts’ is not needed. - Locke was sufficiently explained who he is in the marketing material and then in-game; ONI agent-turned-Spartan. Nightfall gives a little more glimpse into just who Locke is, but is not needed at all. Could more have been done with his character? Most certainly, but again, that’s a Halo 5 issue, not external media issue. - As you’ve already stated, Halsey losing her arm is explained in SpOps. If people chose not to complete it, then that is their own making for not knowing why her arm is missing.

This, so much this. The whole ‘needing to read outside media’ thing is way overblown.

8

I think it’s a great idea and a fantastic way to extend the lifetime of Halo Infinite. Stories and lore could be incorporated into Halo Infinite as Spartan Op’s DLC. Each release would be different and focus on a specific individual, team, event, or whatever the case would be. Gears of War 3 did this when they released a campaign DLC called Raams Shadow which focused on the rise of General Raam who was the big villain in the first Gears of War. It was a tremendous success and fans loved it! 343 Industries could do the same thing and really please the lore fans out there. We all know there is plenty of content to work with.

9

> 2533274851065491;6:
> > 2535419441797248;5:
> > Lore more generalised, should be left as easter eggs and terminals. One of Halo 5’s campaign’s greatest issues was the requirement to be up to date with the lore, as if you had only played the FPS games, you would have no idea who Blue Team is, why Buck is now a Spartan, who Locke is, why Halsey lost her arm, etc. The expanded universe should add to the games, not be a necessity.
> >
> > EDIT: Before anyone says, yes, Spartan Ops is FPS. But most didn’t play it to completion, so it can’t just be assumed knowledge.
>
> Halo 5’s shortcomings weren’t necessarily from being overly reliant on external media, but rather not expanding upon characters or events in the game. Out of the 4 examples you listed, Blue team is the only thing that would need external sources.
> - Bungie teased Buck for 2 games being Spartan material; 343 then announces the Spartan-IV program. Reading New Blood to what equates to ‘Buck is offered to become a Spartan and finally accepts’ is not needed. - Locke was sufficiently explained who he is in the marketing material and then in-game; ONI agent-turned-Spartan. Nightfall gives a little more glimpse into just who Locke is, but is not needed at all. Could more have been done with his character? Most certainly, but again, that’s a Halo 5 issue, not external media issue. - As you’ve already stated, Halsey losing her arm is explained in SpOps. If people chose not to complete it, then that is their own making for not knowing why her arm is missing.

  1. Being an ODST from a game in 2009 doesn’t equate teasing to being a Spartan IV in a 2015 game. At best, you’d go ‘Oh, so Buck’s a Spartan now. All right then.’

  2. Fair enough for Locke. But only because of the info in-game. You shouldn’t need to watch trailers to understand the story. It should be able to stand on its own.

  3. Saying that it’s their own fault for not playing Spartan Ops is like saying it’s their own fault for not reading the books, or the in-game terminals. If Halo 4’s population fell like a brick, the majority of those that played Halo 4 will not have completed all ten episodes. Especially since Ep 6-10 came out later. Halo 5’s story should have been smart enough to realise this, and fill players in. Maybe a comment from Buck or the other two in Osiris (I can’t remember their names right now) to Locke, and have Locke briefly explain.

You’re assumed to know the events of the Escalation comics and Spartan Ops, which just isn’t realistic. Also just occurred that you don’t know who Roland is if you didn’t play Spartan Ops much, and don’t remember it after 3 years…After Halo 5’s story, with a load of AI turning against humanity, why he didn’t turn matters, and will hopefully have an explanation in Halo [6]: Infinite. But unlike Serena or Cortana, you don’t know the character because he is explained outside of Halo 5.
Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.

10

> 2535419441797248;9:
> 1. Being an ODST from a game in 2009 doesn’t equate teasing to being a Spartan IV in a 2015 game. At best, you’d go ‘Oh, so Buck’s a Spartan now. All right then.’

Well yeah, he did become a spartan now. Thats how the book handeled it pretty much too. Its not that big a deal.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> 2. Fair enough for Locke. But only because of the info in-game. You shouldn’t need to watch trailers to understand the story. It should be able to stand on its own.

Even Locke’s ONI connection isn’t important to halo 5.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> 3. Saying that it’s their own fault for not playing Spartan Ops is like saying it’s their own fault for not reading the books, or the in-game terminals. If Halo 4’s population fell like a brick, the majority of those that played Halo 4 will not have completed all ten episodes. Especially since Ep 6-10 came out later. Halo 5’s story should have been smart enough to realise this, and fill players in. Maybe a comment from Buck or the other two in Osiris (I can’t remember their names right now) to Locke, and have Locke briefly explain.

The videos are freely available on youtube. I dont even have xbox live and I was up to date with it. If you’re going to drop off and not watch freely availble media, I don’t think you’re going to care about halsey’s arm.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> Also just occurred that you don’t know who Roland is if you didn’t play Spartan Ops much, and don’t remember it after 3 years…

Ship’s AI is hard to comprehend? Did Cortana confuse the heck out of you in CE?

> 2535419441797248;9:
> After Halo 5’s story, with a load of AI turning against humanity, why he didn’t turn matters, and will hopefully have an explanation in Halo [6]: Infinite. But unlike Serena or Cortana, you don’t know the character because he is explained outside of Halo 5.

Not really sure what extra explanation you’re referring to.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.

Now this I fully agree on.

11

> 2535419441797248;9:
> 1. Being an ODST from a game in 2009 doesn’t equate teasing to being a Spartan IV in a 2015 game. At best, you’d go ‘Oh, so Buck’s a Spartan now. All right then.’

That’s all that really needs to be said, though. It isn’t a hard concept to grasp, or at least shouldn’t be, for people. Both Halo 3: ODST states his potency, and again in Halo: Reach. If people are already familiar with his character, seeing him now being a Spartan should come as no surprise nor need an explanation. I mean, the explanation really is just ‘offered to become a Spartan, and he accepts’. There’s some extra stuff that happens, but doesn’t need to be explained.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> 2. Fair enough for Locke. But only because of the info in-game. You shouldn’t need to watch trailers to understand the story. It should be able to stand on its own.

Bungie was just as guilty of relying on outside trailers for their character introductions. Both the characters of Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach have character introductions in trailers, that being Desperate Measures, and A Spartan Will Rise. When the games launched, there was nothing more than a name-check and then it’s to the first mission, so I find Locke’s initial introduction being in trailers par-for-the-course.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> 3. Saying that it’s their own fault for not playing Spartan Ops is like saying it’s their own fault for not reading the books, or the in-game terminals. If Halo 4’s population fell like a brick, the majority of those that played Halo 4 will not have completed all ten episodes. Especially since Ep 6-10 came out later. Halo 5’s story should have been smart enough to realise this, and fill players in. Maybe a comment from Buck or the other two in Osiris (I can’t remember their names right now) to Locke, and have Locke briefly explain.

Spartan Ops was advertised as post-story missions dealing with the aftermath of Requiem and Halo 4’s main story. It was made clear that the events of SpOps were important. Halo 4’s population isn’t a justification for not understanding aspects shown in SpOps. If people chose to ignore and not play it, that’s on them. Bungie didn’t – and 343i continues to – not hand-hold people through prior game events if not pertinent to the current game’s plot: Bungie didn’t explain what happened in Halo 2 in Halo 3’s campaign. If people chose not to play through Halo 2, they don’t get to complain that things are confusing in Halo 3. The same holds for SpOps.

The criticism is that there is too much outside material and not enough in-game material for the players to understand the story. I find it odd that there is now a criteria that must be met for what is considered acceptable in-game sources.

Another thing is that Spartan Ops cutscenes were offered separately from the missions through Halo Waypoint, and the Halo Channel. If people didn’t want to even exert that much effort, Youtube is a place as well. With all these readily available avenues, I don’t feel for anyone confused because they didn’t bother with SpOp’s cutscenes.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> You’re assumed to know the events of the Escalation comics and Spartan Ops, which just isn’t realistic.

The one bit of Escalations that would be ‘needed’, is when Blue team reunited with Chief, but that was so underwhelming and brushed aside quickly that absolutely nothing is lost by not having to read it.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> Also just occurred that you don’t know who Roland is if you didn’t play Spartan Ops much, and don’t remember it after 3 years…After Halo 5’s story, with a load of AI turning against humanity, why he didn’t turn matters, and will hopefully have an explanation in Halo [6]: Infinite. But unlike Serena or Cortana, you don’t know the character because he is explained outside of Halo 5.

Again, this is stemming from actively avoiding SpOps, which is offered on multiple fronts. If one chooses to ignore a side campaign released for free (twice; again in Halo: MCC) which was stated as being important, then that falls as the player’s error, not 343i.

> 2535419441797248;9:
> Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.

I do a agree that Blue team should have had a better introduction, but at the same time I don’t think every facet needs to be explained away. Simply stating more than “They’ve grown up together in the Spartan-II program” as was said in-game could have done them more justice, but we also don’t need their life-story. How they reunited with Chief is the major crux that needed better explanation.

12

> 2533274851065491;11:
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.
>
> I do a agree that Blue team should have had a better introduction, but at the same time I don’t think every facet needs to be explained away. Simply stating more than “They’ve grown up together in the Spartan-II program” as was said in-game could have done them more justice, but we also don’t need their life-story. How they reunited with Chief is the major crux that needed better explanation.

> 2533274964189700;10:
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.
>
> Now this I fully agree on.

So at least we agree on Blue Team.

13

I think Red vs Blue should be canonized.

14

> 2535419441797248;12:
> > 2533274851065491;11:
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.
> >
> > I do a agree that Blue team should have had a better introduction, but at the same time I don’t think every facet needs to be explained away. Simply stating more than “They’ve grown up together in the Spartan-II program” as was said in-game could have done them more justice, but we also don’t need their life-story. How they reunited with Chief is the major crux that needed better explanation.
>
>
>
> > 2533274964189700;10:
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.
> >
> > Now this I fully agree on.
>
> So at least we agree on Blue Team.

The comic they came back in was a travesty and it would have been better had it not been made. All it did was shove the didact from one ‘defeated for now’ box into another, have a missing spartan team suddenly be back home only to killed off immediately, and have a 1 page reunion for blue team.

Most complaints about ‘needing the books’ I feel cover unimportant things, explained well enough in the game, or things that in the books get no focus either. Chief suddenly having childhood super soldier buddies who are also famous materialize out of thin air after 5 games with barely a mention is rather jarring.

15

> 2533274851065491;6:
> > 2535419441797248;5:
> > Lore more generalised, should be left as easter eggs and terminals. One of Halo 5’s campaign’s greatest issues was the requirement to be up to date with the lore, as if you had only played the FPS games, you would have no idea who Blue Team is, why Buck is now a Spartan, who Locke is, why Halsey lost her arm, etc. The expanded universe should add to the games, not be a necessity.
> >
> > EDIT: Before anyone says, yes, Spartan Ops is FPS. But most didn’t play it to completion, so it can’t just be assumed knowledge.
>
> Halo 5’s shortcomings weren’t necessarily from being overly reliant on external media, but rather not expanding upon characters or events in the game. Out of the 4 examples you listed, Blue team is the only thing that would need external sources.
> - Bungie teased Buck for 2 games being Spartan material; 343 then announces the Spartan-IV program. Reading New Blood to what equates to ‘Buck is offered to become a Spartan and finally accepts’ is not needed. - Locke was sufficiently explained who he is in the marketing material and then in-game; ONI agent-turned-Spartan. Nightfall gives a little more glimpse into just who Locke is, but is not needed at all. Could more have been done with his character? Most certainly, but again, that’s a Halo 5 issue, not external media issue. - As you’ve already stated, Halsey losing her arm is explained in SpOps. If people chose not to complete it, then that is their own making for not knowing why her arm is missing.

You make it sound like it is there fault for not being obsessed with halo lore so they deserve it.

P.S. Nightfall was pretty boring and predictable so you can’t expect people to know about it just saying.

16

> 2533274851065491;11:
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > 1. Being an ODST from a game in 2009 doesn’t equate teasing to being a Spartan IV in a 2015 game. At best, you’d go ‘Oh, so Buck’s a Spartan now. All right then.’
>
> That’s all that really needs to be said, though. It isn’t a hard concept to grasp, or at least shouldn’t be, for people. Both Halo 3: ODST states his potency, and again in Halo: Reach. If people are already familiar with his character, seeing him now being a Spartan should come as no surprise nor need an explanation. I mean, the explanation really is just ‘offered to become a Spartan, and he accepts’. There’s some extra stuff that happens, but doesn’t need to be explained.
>
>
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > 2. Fair enough for Locke. But only because of the info in-game. You shouldn’t need to watch trailers to understand the story. It should be able to stand on its own.
>
> Bungie was just as guilty of relying on outside trailers for their character introductions. Both the characters of Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach have character introductions in trailers, that being Desperate Measures, and A Spartan Will Rise. When the games launched, there was nothing more than a name-check and then it’s to the first mission, so I find Locke’s initial introduction being in trailers par-for-the-course.
>
>
>
>
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > 3. Saying that it’s their own fault for not playing Spartan Ops is like saying it’s their own fault for not reading the books, or the in-game terminals. If Halo 4’s population fell like a brick, the majority of those that played Halo 4 will not have completed all ten episodes. Especially since Ep 6-10 came out later. Halo 5’s story should have been smart enough to realise this, and fill players in. Maybe a comment from Buck or the other two in Osiris (I can’t remember their names right now) to Locke, and have Locke briefly explain.
>
> Spartan Ops was advertised as post-story missions dealing with the aftermath of Requiem and Halo 4’s main story. It was made clear that the events of SpOps were important. Halo 4’s population isn’t a justification for not understanding aspects shown in SpOps. If people chose to ignore and not play it, that’s on them. Bungie didn’t – and 343i continues to – not hand-hold people through prior game events if not pertinent to the current game’s plot: Bungie didn’t explain what happened in Halo 2 in Halo 3’s campaign. If people chose not to play through Halo 2, they don’t get to complain that things are confusing in Halo 3. The same holds for SpOps.
>
> The criticism is that there is too much outside material and not enough in-game material for the players to understand the story. I find it odd that there is now a criteria that must be met for what is considered acceptable in-game sources.
>
> Another thing is that Spartan Ops cutscenes were offered separately from the missions through Halo Waypoint, and the Halo Channel. If people didn’t want to even exert that much effort, Youtube is a place as well. With all these readily available avenues, I don’t feel for anyone confused because they didn’t bother with SpOp’s cutscenes.
>
>
>
>
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > You’re assumed to know the events of the Escalation comics and Spartan Ops, which just isn’t realistic.
>
> The one bit of Escalations that would be ‘needed’, is when Blue team reunited with Chief, but that was so underwhelming and brushed aside quickly that absolutely nothing is lost by not having to read it.
>
>
>
>
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > Also just occurred that you don’t know who Roland is if you didn’t play Spartan Ops much, and don’t remember it after 3 years…After Halo 5’s story, with a load of AI turning against humanity, why he didn’t turn matters, and will hopefully have an explanation in Halo [6]: Infinite. But unlike Serena or Cortana, you don’t know the character because he is explained outside of Halo 5.
>
> Again, this is stemming from actively avoiding SpOps, which is offered on multiple fronts. If one chooses to ignore a side campaign released for free (twice; again in Halo: MCC) which was stated as being important, then that falls as the player’s error, not 343i.
>
>
>
>
> > 2535419441797248;9:
> > Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.
>
> I do a agree that Blue team should have had a better introduction, but at the same time I don’t think every facet needs to be explained away. Simply stating more than “They’ve grown up together in the Spartan-II program” as was said in-game could have done them more justice, but we also don’t need their life-story. How they reunited with Chief is the major crux that needed better explanation.

Halo 2 was legendary and Spartan ops was copy paste from the already less legendary campaign you can’t act like it is the same thing especially when you can just play halo 2 but need Xbox live to play Spartan ops.

17

> 2535411172875535;16:
> > 2533274851065491;11:
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > 1. Being an ODST from a game in 2009 doesn’t equate teasing to being a Spartan IV in a 2015 game. At best, you’d go ‘Oh, so Buck’s a Spartan now. All right then.’
> >
> > That’s all that really needs to be said, though. It isn’t a hard concept to grasp, or at least shouldn’t be, for people. Both Halo 3: ODST states his potency, and again in Halo: Reach. If people are already familiar with his character, seeing him now being a Spartan should come as no surprise nor need an explanation. I mean, the explanation really is just ‘offered to become a Spartan, and he accepts’. There’s some extra stuff that happens, but doesn’t need to be explained.
> >
> >
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > 2. Fair enough for Locke. But only because of the info in-game. You shouldn’t need to watch trailers to understand the story. It should be able to stand on its own.
> >
> > Bungie was just as guilty of relying on outside trailers for their character introductions. Both the characters of Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach have character introductions in trailers, that being Desperate Measures, and A Spartan Will Rise. When the games launched, there was nothing more than a name-check and then it’s to the first mission, so I find Locke’s initial introduction being in trailers par-for-the-course.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > 3. Saying that it’s their own fault for not playing Spartan Ops is like saying it’s their own fault for not reading the books, or the in-game terminals. If Halo 4’s population fell like a brick, the majority of those that played Halo 4 will not have completed all ten episodes. Especially since Ep 6-10 came out later. Halo 5’s story should have been smart enough to realise this, and fill players in. Maybe a comment from Buck or the other two in Osiris (I can’t remember their names right now) to Locke, and have Locke briefly explain.
> >
> > Spartan Ops was advertised as post-story missions dealing with the aftermath of Requiem and Halo 4’s main story. It was made clear that the events of SpOps were important. Halo 4’s population isn’t a justification for not understanding aspects shown in SpOps. If people chose to ignore and not play it, that’s on them. Bungie didn’t – and 343i continues to – not hand-hold people through prior game events if not pertinent to the current game’s plot: Bungie didn’t explain what happened in Halo 2 in Halo 3’s campaign. If people chose not to play through Halo 2, they don’t get to complain that things are confusing in Halo 3. The same holds for SpOps.
> >
> > The criticism is that there is too much outside material and not enough in-game material for the players to understand the story. I find it odd that there is now a criteria that must be met for what is considered acceptable in-game sources.
> >
> > Another thing is that Spartan Ops cutscenes were offered separately from the missions through Halo Waypoint, and the Halo Channel. If people didn’t want to even exert that much effort, Youtube is a place as well. With all these readily available avenues, I don’t feel for anyone confused because they didn’t bother with SpOp’s cutscenes.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > You’re assumed to know the events of the Escalation comics and Spartan Ops, which just isn’t realistic.
> >
> > The one bit of Escalations that would be ‘needed’, is when Blue team reunited with Chief, but that was so underwhelming and brushed aside quickly that absolutely nothing is lost by not having to read it.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > Also just occurred that you don’t know who Roland is if you didn’t play Spartan Ops much, and don’t remember it after 3 years…After Halo 5’s story, with a load of AI turning against humanity, why he didn’t turn matters, and will hopefully have an explanation in Halo [6]: Infinite. But unlike Serena or Cortana, you don’t know the character because he is explained outside of Halo 5.
> >
> > Again, this is stemming from actively avoiding SpOps, which is offered on multiple fronts. If one chooses to ignore a side campaign released for free (twice; again in Halo: MCC) which was stated as being important, then that falls as the player’s error, not 343i.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > 2535419441797248;9:
> > > Blue Team are definitely the biggest offenders, as without knowledge of the expanded universe, there is absolutely no explanation as to why there is now three more Spartan IIs, and where they’ve been in the previous games.
> >
> > I do a agree that Blue team should have had a better introduction, but at the same time I don’t think every facet needs to be explained away. Simply stating more than “They’ve grown up together in the Spartan-II program” as was said in-game could have done them more justice, but we also don’t need their life-story. How they reunited with Chief is the major crux that needed better explanation.
>
> Halo 2 was legendary and Spartan ops was copy paste from the already less legendary campaign you can’t act like it is the same thing especially when you can just play halo 2 but need Xbox live to play Spartan ops.

Your preference for Halo 2 doesn’t really matter, neither does Spartan Ops structure. People were more than capable of not knowing major details from Halo: CE to Halo 2 that were covered in First Strike and being okay with that, but now are suddenly outraged when story material from Halo 4 to Halo 5 is tackled in a MUCH LESS demanding and time-consuming media fashion (takes way less energy to watch cutscenes on YouTube than reading a book)? That’s ridiculous. You don’t even need Xbox Live, the story from SpOps is widely available and easy to access.

I’m sorry, but this fanbase too often confuses me about the crap they are willing to let slide. It’s outright hypocritical at times. It isn’t even about being obsessed with the lore as you said above, sometimes it seems to come down to laziness or an inability to pay attention at best and (not saying you personally) just an extension of the “Bungie good, 343 bad” mentality people will bend over backwards to justify,

18

> 2535411172875535;15:
> > 2533274851065491;6:
> >
>
> You make it sound like it is there fault for not being obsessed with halo lore so they deserve it.
>
> P.S. Nightfall was pretty boring and predictable so you can’t expect people to know about it just saying.

…no? On the contrary, I’m saying that you don’t need to read every nitty-gritty detail to understand what’s going on. The original assertion was that multiple pieces of outside media were needed, and I explained how it wasn’t.

Regarding Nightfall; I was addressing how people don’t need to watch it to understand Locke. It’s irrelevant whether you found it boring or not.

> 2535411172875535;16:
> > 2533274851065491;11:
> > Spartan Ops was advertised as post-story missions dealing with the aftermath of Requiem and Halo 4’s main story. It was made clear that the events of SpOps were important. Halo 4’s population isn’t a justification for not understanding aspects shown in SpOps. If people chose to ignore and not play it, that’s on them. Bungie didn’t – and 343i continues to – not hand-hold people through prior game events if not pertinent to the current game’s plot: Bungie didn’t explain what happened in Halo 2 in Halo 3’s campaign. If people chose not to play through Halo 2, they don’t get to complain that things are confusing in Halo 3. The same holds for SpOps.
> >
> > The criticism is that there is too much outside material and not enough in-game material for the players to understand the story. I find it odd that there is now a criteria that must be met for what is considered acceptable in-game sources.
> >
> > Another thing is that Spartan Ops cutscenes were offered separately from the missions through Halo Waypoint, and the Halo Channel. If people didn’t want to even exert that much effort, Youtube is a place as well. With all these readily available avenues, I don’t feel for anyone confused because they didn’t bother with SpOp’s cutscenes.
>
> Halo 2 was legendary and Spartan ops was copy paste from the already less legendary campaign you can’t act like it is the same thing especially when you can just play halo 2 but need Xbox live to play Spartan ops.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to prove here. It’s irrelevant of the “quality” of the campaign (since it boils down to opinion) when it’s the presentation of information that was being addressed. It was stated by 343i even before Halo 4 launched that the content within Spartan Ops would continue the story post-Halo 4 campaign. If someone didn’t want to bother playing through it, I already laid out the multitude of avenues people could take to be ‘in the know’ on Spartan Ops, even without Xbox Live.

19

> 2533274851065491;18:
> > 2535411172875535;15:
> > > 2533274851065491;6:
> > >
> >
> > You make it sound like it is there fault for not being obsessed with halo lore so they deserve it.
> >
> > P.S. Nightfall was pretty boring and predictable so you can’t expect people to know about it just saying.
>
> …no? On the contrary, I’m saying that you don’t need to read every nitty-gritty detail to understand what’s going on. The original assertion was that multiple pieces of outside media were needed, and I explained how it wasn’t.
>
> Regarding Nightfall; I was addressing how people don’t need to watch it to understand Locke. It’s irrelevant whether you found it boring or not.
>
>
>
>
> > 2535411172875535;16:
> > > 2533274851065491;11:
> > > Spartan Ops was advertised as post-story missions dealing with the aftermath of Requiem and Halo 4’s main story. It was made clear that the events of SpOps were important. Halo 4’s population isn’t a justification for not understanding aspects shown in SpOps. If people chose to ignore and not play it, that’s on them. Bungie didn’t – and 343i continues to – not hand-hold people through prior game events if not pertinent to the current game’s plot: Bungie didn’t explain what happened in Halo 2 in Halo 3’s campaign. If people chose not to play through Halo 2, they don’t get to complain that things are confusing in Halo 3. The same holds for SpOps.
> > >
> > > The criticism is that there is too much outside material and not enough in-game material for the players to understand the story. I find it odd that there is now a criteria that must be met for what is considered acceptable in-game sources.
> > >
> > > Another thing is that Spartan Ops cutscenes were offered separately from the missions through Halo Waypoint, and the Halo Channel. If people didn’t want to even exert that much effort, Youtube is a place as well. With all these readily available avenues, I don’t feel for anyone confused because they didn’t bother with SpOp’s cutscenes.
> >
> > Halo 2 was legendary and Spartan ops was copy paste from the already less legendary campaign you can’t act like it is the same thing especially when you can just play halo 2 but need Xbox live to play Spartan ops.
>
> I’m not sure what you’re trying to prove here. It’s irrelevant of the “quality” of the campaign (since it boils down to opinion) when it’s the presentation of information that was being addressed. It was stated by 343i even before Halo 4 launched that the content within Spartan Ops would continue the story post-Halo 4 campaign. If someone didn’t want to bother playing through it, I already laid out the multitude of avenues people could take to be ‘in the know’ on Spartan Ops, even without Xbox Live.

Been a few months since this chain was active.

Halo 3 was a direct sequel to Halo 2. Spartan Ops was a spin-off within Halo 4. Not understanding the story in Halo 3 because you only played Halo CE and not 2, is completely understandable. If you just watched Ep IV of Star Wars, missed Ep V, and then jumped to Ep VI, it would be completely your own fault for not knowing about Vader being Anakin. However, if that had been revealed in a TV spin-off series, most people watching wouldn’t know. Obviously, finding out that Vader is Anakin is not exactly akin to three Spartan-IIs appearing seemingly out of nowhere with no explanation, but it’s still a big detail that should have been elaborated on in the game. To the games, Master Chief was the last Spartan. It made the Spartan IVs more significant, as Master Chief was no longer the last Spartan. But then Halo 5 just starts with three more just like Chief.

Unless you’re a dedicated fan, you’re not going to pay attention to such announcements. Especially not Blue Team coming back (or even existing if you don’t follow the lore) in a comic book, or why Halsey (last seen in Halo: Reach, 2010, to the casual audience) is with the Covenant, and missing an arm. I don’t buy the cutscenes for Spartan Ops being available on YouTube as a good enough reason for not being covered in the game. If they’d happened in Halo 4, the previous game, and somebody didn’t play the Halo 4 Campaign, that’s on them. But because they didn’t play a spin-off mode that had a staggered launch, read a comic series, or do background research? That’s on Halo 5’s story. It didn’t need to do a full recap of Spartan Ops and Escalation. That’d be ridiculous and out of place. But have Buck, for example, ask Locke about what happened to Halsey’s arm, and why she was with the Covenant in the first place. Just a minute or so long scene. That’s all it would need. Neither are particularly key plot points, but the details matter in refining a story.

Another Star Wars example - if in Ep IX, the Resistance/Rebels (they were used interchangeably in Ep VIII) suddenly have a massive fleet, there should be some explanation as to where it came from, considering the last we saw them, it was 15-20 people on-board the Millennium Falcon. I’m well aware there are books and comics available to fill in the gap in time between the films, because I read comics and franchise books. I fit inside that market. But I shouldn’t have to buy them to find out where all the ships came from, and most people that’ll watch the film won’t fit inside that market. Arguably, because they don’t care where the ships came from. Likewise with Blue Team and Halsey: they don’t care. Yet that shouldn’t be an excuse for writing standards to slip. I don’t need names, dates, and entire histories…Just a minute long explanation.

Halo 5 even did this with Vale: it was established she could understand Sangheili, and then gave a brief explanation as to why - she learnt it as a child because she had nothing else to do on a spaceship. Great. I now know why without having to read a book (assuming that I know the book exists), and it gives her more character. It really doesn’t seem like much to ask.

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> 2535435902217648;3:
> After H5 made all of Blue Team so chatty, it might come off kinda strange. More casual fans would be like “why doesn’t he just tell the Chief ‘thanks’ or something over the radio?” when another Spartan makes the smile emote to him. Lore fans would know it’s because Blue Team really wasn’t all that chatty, especially on missions, but the rest would be scratching their heads. It’s definitely a nice nod to the lore fans, and I agree with you there, but with how the characters were portrayed in H5, it would just come off as a weird new mechanic imo.

I agree.

I feel like emotes COULD have a place but not flossing or something. Have emotes unique to halo. Salutes, tbag, etc for social playlists and customs toggle. I wouldn’t put it as a main selling point but sIVs are more expressive of themselves so having celebratory or angry expressions could make sense. Or maybe bring back more of the bro fives at the end of a match like halo 5 had in the beta. I personally thought that it fit the SIVs