Halo has gone down many paths but this one is conflicting. I’ve followed #HUNTtheTRUTH before H5, but now I don’t know why but this doesn’t add up. There is no relation to either one. The ending just confuses me. I don’t understand
So no news about Chief being supposedly framed, his name was cleared, and now the main guy is locked up so someone else has to take care of it.What happened? Nobody mentions this in H5. there are no references to it at all. There’s no possible way it could’ve happened in between H4 and H5 because why would this be researched at a time this close to H5? if it were that close, then something has to be wrong with the story.
My theory is that Microsoft created a story and 343 made a story at the same time and they didn’t know where each one was going until it was too late… or one of them didn’t care because it mentioned that #HUNTtheTRUTH was a tie-in to Halo 5. SO what happened? it doesnt make any sense after I checked all of it.
I mean come on now… The game ends with Cortana being God now controlling the Universe and sending Infinity on the run with the Chief and Arbiter meeting up again, and there was no real “Hunt for the Chief” because he wasnt even a fugitive, that was a search and retrieve mission. Does anyone have an idea to what happened? Cuz i believe this break in continuity may have ruined people’s opinions on the series. I definitely think that if there was some degree of cooperation between this maybe we could’ve had a better game and better build up.
Basically what it boils down to is that everything 343i said and did prior to ‘Halo 5’ was all part of an elaborate ruse meant to trick fans into buying a product that effectively didn’t exist. Because how else could they sell something with a story as insultingly bad as what we actually got? It’s been over 9 months and the devlopers refuse to explain why they did this, let alone apologize for lying so extensively - and we’re not likely to get either in the future. They made their money and that is all that matters. That’s all there is to it.
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> Basically what it boils down to is that everything 343i said and did prior to ‘Halo 5’ was all part of an elaborate ruse meant to trick fans into buying a product that effectively didn’t exist. Because how else could they sell something with a story as insultingly bad as what we actually got? It’s been over 9 months and the devlopers refuse to explain why they did this, let alone apologize for lying so extensively - and we’re not likely to get either in the future. They made their money and that is all that matters. That’s all there is to it.
That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists (or the less sensationalist, really), Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
The entire change in direction would also leaves a lot of what 343 has said about the game previously as “proof” of their lies about the game. If you look at Hunt The Truth, commercials, the MCC bookends, the 2015 E3 demo, and just about anything else pre-release, I think it takes a HUGE leap to say they created ALL of that just to mislead the consumer. Why spend all that time in effort in lies when you could spend that time and effort making the game? It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
The one thing I can say for sure is 343 isn’t happy with how Halo 5 was handled. All any developer wants is to make the game they want to make and have people play and enjoy said game. I honestly believe that, no matter what face they want to put on it publicly, that 343 is disappointed with the, seemingly forced, direction of the series.
Yes, we know. It’s been said time and time again that the stellar marketing done to promote Halo 5 was in no way connected to the story we got in the game. Many people, including myself, were disappointed in this, especially since the story we did get just wasn’t up to par. As far as continuity goes, the Hunt the Truth events did happen in the Halo-verse, but as they aren’t relevant to Halo 5’s story, those events aren’t mentioned in the game. Why this occurred is unknown, and any ideas out there as to why this happened are speculation at best. I will say that because 343i is a division of Microsoft designed specifically for developing Halo games and Halo stuff, there was probably no other division of Microsoft creating a story for Halo 5 in parallel to 343i; 343i is the Halo part of Microsoft, and having to parts of 1 company do the same thing would be redundant and lead to conflict. That doesn’t mean that Microsoft didn’t review what 343i had made and potentially suggested/required changes (in all likelihood, they probably did, as publishers tend to do this), but again, we don’t know for sure the things that took place during the course of Halo 5’s development.
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> > Basically what it boils down to is that everything 343i said and did prior to ‘Halo 5’ was all part of an elaborate ruse meant to trick fans into buying a product that effectively didn’t exist. Because how else could they sell something with a story as insultingly bad as what we actually got? It’s been over 9 months and the devlopers refuse to explain why they did this, let alone apologize for lying so extensively - and we’re not likely to get either in the future. They made their money and that is all that matters. That’s all there is to it.
>
>
> That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists (or the less sensationalist, really), Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
>
> The entire change in direction would also leaves a lot of what 343 has said about the game previously as “proof” of their lies about the game. If you look at Hunt The Truth, commercials, the MCC bookends, the 2015 E3 demo, and just about anything else pre-release, I think it takes a HUGE leap to say they created ALL of that just to mislead the consumer. Why spend all that time in effort in lies when you could spend that time and effort making the game? It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
>
> The one thing I can say for sure is 343 isn’t happy with how Halo 5 was handled. All any developer wants is to make the game they want to make and have people play and enjoy said game. I honestly believe that, no matter what face they want to put on it publicly, that 343 is disappointed with the, seemingly forced, direction of the series.
I entirely agree with you.
People complain about how 343 “tricked” them and how evil they are, but it’s quite easy to see that the just didn’t have the time to finish the story the way they wanted it. They rewrote huge parts of it shortly before the release (originally, for example, the arbiter was supposed to have a bigger role, Locke’s task was going to be to kill Chief, and all in all, there would’ve been more of a focus on “the hunt”).
I mean, it’s not a secret that H5 wasn’t finished on release (lots of gamemodes missing etc.), and while they could fix the multiplayer through adding the missing gamemodes, they weren’t able to fix the campaign, as this campaign became canon the moment they released it.
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> That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists, Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
I won’t argue that that isn’t also a possibility, but for the time being we simply have no way to know for sure. And either way, the fact remains that even IF Microsoft came in and demanded changes 343i did nothing to try and course-correct the game’s marketing or their own statements about the story in interviews and the like right up to the day of release. Which is still utterly dishonest no matter what may or may not have gone down with the game’s development.
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> > 2533274794312469;3:
> > That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists, Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
>
>
> I won’t argue that that isn’t also a possibility, but for the time being we simply have no way to know for sure. And either way, the fact remains that even IF Microsoft came in and demanded changes 343i did nothing to try and course-correct the game’s marketing or their own statements about the story in interviews and the like right up to the day of release. Which is still utterly dishonest no matter what may or may not have gone down with the game’s development.
Whether Microsoft told them to change the story or they realized that the story they originally intended to tell wouldn’t fit, they were out of time to make everything right, so they concentrated on preparing the sequel (and not -Yoink- up the whole canon they thought of) rather than staying true to their marketing.
You can’t expect any developer to be like “everything we said is wrong, we just rewrote the whole story and hope this works,” because then nobody would buy the game.
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> Whether Microsoft told them to change the story or they realized that the story they originally intended to tell wouldn’t fit, they were out of time to make everything right, so they concentrated on preparing the sequel (and not -Yoink- up the whole canon they thought of) rather than staying true to their marketing.
Still doesn’t change the fact that their marketing and outright lies about the game promised a story infinitely better than what was actually delivered. And they should take responsibility for that.
> You can’t expect any developer to be like “everything we said is wrong, we just rewrote the whole story and hope this works,” because then nobody would buy the game.
Maybe not - but unless the entire plot was rewritten after E3 of 2015, they had time to at least start trying to curb some of the false statements coming from people on the dev team and within the marketing itself. They did not. So if they’re going to be dishonest and refuse to even remotely acknowledge that what was done was wrong after the fact, then they should also be prepared to kiss the trust of their dedicated fans goodbye and for there to be an environment of cynicism and frustration within the community.
> Still doesn’t change the fact that their marketing and outright lies about the game promised a story infinitely better than what was actually delivered. And they should take responsibility for that.
That. Regardless of how it got there, whether they were intentionally deceitful in the advertising campaign OR the advertising campaign/actual game disconnect was due to heavy rewrites late in development, what they shipped is what they shipped either way, and they should own up to it. But we’ve gotten pretty much deafening silence.
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> > Still doesn’t change the fact that their marketing and outright lies about the game promised a story infinitely better than what was actually delivered. And they should take responsibility for that.
>
>
> That. Regardless of how it got there, whether they were intentionally deceitful in the advertising campaign OR the advertising campaign/actual game disconnect was due to heavy rewrites late in development, what they shipped is what they shipped either way, and they should own up to it. But we’ve gotten pretty much deafening silence.
well I say if they want to try this again, they should agree on something. The “HuntfortheTruth” wouldve been a great story and Microsoft butchered it with the rewrites. I wish things worked better
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> > > 2533274794312469;3:
> > > That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists, Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
> >
> >
> > I won’t argue that that isn’t also a possibility, but for the time being we simply have no way to know for sure. And either way, the fact remains that even IF Microsoft came in and demanded changes 343i did nothing to try and course-correct the game’s marketing or their own statements about the story in interviews and the like right up to the day of release. Which is still utterly dishonest no matter what may or may not have gone down with the game’s development.
>
>
> Whether Microsoft told them to change the story or they realized that the story they originally intended to tell wouldn’t fit, they were out of time to make everything right, so they concentrated on preparing the sequel (and not -Yoink- up the whole canon they thought of) rather than staying true to their marketing.
>
> You can’t expect any developer to be like “everything we said is wrong, we just rewrote the whole story and hope this works,” because then nobody would buy the game.
but a “Hunt for the Truth” would’ve been a perfect way to change the game. Actually getting to go up against Blue team in Halo, that’d be great. I don’t care if fans would be mad about chief being the bad guy, that story could work and there would be a great explanation for why he’s the bad guy
Ah, this old topic. I guess it should keep coming up, so 343 Industries knows that people don’t forget.
There’s no proof of anything. Just evidence, and dubious evidence at best. I agree with the notion that 343 was made to change the story, because Halo Origins, the Forerunner Trilogy, the Kilo Five Trilogy, Halo 4, and Halo 5’s marketing all worked in concert to lead us down a particular path. Halo 5 itself just… did not do that path at all. That’s just about all we have, and for me it’s enough. Because for four and a half years, 343 Industries had proved to me quite consistently that they had a complete, unified and deliberately-paced plan for their story. And suddenly, that is thrust into doubt.
> 2533274823537944;1:
> Halo has gone down many paths but this one is conflicting. I’ve followed #HUNTtheTRUTH before H5, but now I don’t know why but this doesn’t add up. There is no relation to either one. The ending just confuses me. I don’t understand
> So no news about Chief being supposedly framed, his name was cleared, and now the main guy is locked up so someone else has to take care of it.
> What happened? Nobody mentions this in H5. there are no references to it at all. There’s no possible way it could’ve happened in between H4 and H5 because why would this be researched at a time this close to H5? if it were that close, then something has to be wrong with the story.
>
> My theory is that Microsoft created a story and 343 made a story at the same time and they didn’t know where each one was going until it was too late… or one of them didn’t care because it mentioned that #HUNTtheTRUTH was a tie-in to Halo 5. SO what happened? it doesnt make any sense after I checked all of it.
> I mean come on now… The game ends with Cortana being God now controlling the Universe and sending Infinity on the run with the Chief and Arbiter meeting up again, and there was no real “Hunt for the Chief” because he wasnt even a fugitive, that was a search and retrieve mission.
> Does anyone have an idea to what happened? Cuz i believe this break in continuity may have ruined people’s opinions on the series. I definitely think that if there was some degree of cooperation between this maybe we could’ve had a better game and better build up.
343i made it do a disappearing act. 
Because reasons…
Jokes aside, Halo 5 is a clear example of why last minute changes to a big game they have been building up for 5 years is a terrible idea. Now why these changes occurred we have no idea. Either 343i decided to give all of their build up the middle finger for whatever reason or Microsoft came in and forced them to change it. Which of the two is anyone’s guess but going how Reed, lead writer, has been essentially calling people idiots too stupid to understand his brilliance and how Microsoft took down some of the trailers for Halo 5 only after its release, my money is on 343i changing the story at the last minute and not warning Microsoft ahead of time to play damage control.
> 2533274920039666;2:
> Basically what it boils down to is that everything 343i said and did prior to ‘Halo 5’ was all part of an elaborate ruse meant to trick fans into buying a product that effectively didn’t exist. Because how else could they sell something with a story as insultingly bad as what we actually got? It’s been over 9 months and the devlopers refuse to explain why they did this, let alone apologize for lying so extensively - and we’re not likely to get either in the future. They made their money and that is all that matters. That’s all there is to it.
Because halo is only about the money anymore. They only focus on esports which is where they can build up money. The REQ system doesn’t give us anything by the way. When you buy a REQ pack it only goes towards the competitive teams playing nothing else. Even proof to this is when the Prize went up to 2 million. Halo is only about esports now a days. The story isn’t as important
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> > 2533274920039666;2:
> > Basically what it boils down to is that everything 343i said and did prior to ‘Halo 5’ was all part of an elaborate ruse meant to trick fans into buying a product that effectively didn’t exist. Because how else could they sell something with a story as insultingly bad as what we actually got? It’s been over 9 months and the devlopers refuse to explain why they did this, let alone apologize for lying so extensively - and we’re not likely to get either in the future. They made their money and that is all that matters. That’s all there is to it.
>
>
> Because halo is only about the money anymore. They only focus on esports which is where they can build up money. The REQ system doesn’t give us anything by the way. When you buy a REQ pack it only goes towards the competitive teams playing nothing else. Even proof to this is when the Prize went up to 2 million. Halo is only about esports now a days. The story isn’t as important
not all E-Sports and money. If what we heard was true, then this was because they couldn’t decide a story. H5’s MP was good but the story was trash. The continuity has a chance to be saved once again, but that’ll depend on whether 343 and microsoft can agree this time. If there’s a 343 or a Microsoft official overseeing this post, I hope they realize they need to fix this or Halo will just become the next COD. So far, Titanfall is the only game I know that stands out in the FPS Genre and if that doesn’t change, then Halo will be lost to the Genre as another generic shooter. Gears of War still stands out due to it’s Lancer (The Chainsaw Gun), Borderlands stood out because of RPG factors with FPS, Halo Wars stands out because it’s a game based on an FPS Shooter. What made Halo so great? It’s story. Now that Cortana is god, there’s only so much that can happen left, For example, How do you stop a god? Thats probably why many of the levels weren’t memorable (Ok only the Guardian drop was fun because there’s not many games that have you running down a giant machine shooting enemies in the way). I say we bring the story back
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> > 2533274794312469;3:
> > That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists, Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
>
>
> I won’t argue that that isn’t also a possibility, but for the time being we simply have no way to know for sure. And either way, the fact remains that even IF Microsoft came in and demanded changes 343i did nothing to try and course-correct the game’s marketing or their own statements about the story in interviews and the like right up to the day of release. Which is still utterly dishonest no matter what may or may not have gone down with the game’s development.
Given the option to fix the marketing or shipping a pretty polished, albeit stripped down, game, I’d rather have the polished game. In my opinion, that’s the most important thing. People will forget or forgive the marketing, but they won’t forgive a non-functioning game.
As an aside, how did you get your Fodder Feeder badge?
The bottom line is… We don’t know.
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> > > 2533274794312469;3:
> > > That’s the cynical side, sure. For the apologists, Microsoft came in as last minute as possible and had 343 change a lot about the story and direction of the game. Because of the last minute change, they didn’t have the time to both create the game Microsoft wanted and have everything else changed as well. What you end up with is a game that doesn’t match the tone or direction of any of the previous fiction or marketing.
> >
> >
> > I won’t argue that that isn’t also a possibility, but for the time being we simply have no way to know for sure. And either way, the fact remains that even IF Microsoft came in and demanded changes 343i did nothing to try and course-correct the game’s marketing or their own statements about the story in interviews and the like right up to the day of release. Which is still utterly dishonest no matter what may or may not have gone down with the game’s development.
>
>
> Given the option to fix the marketing or shipping a pretty polished, albeit stripped down, game, I’d rather have the polished game. In my opinion, that’s the most important thing. People will forget or forgive the marketing, but they won’t forgive a non-functioning game.
>
> As an aside, how did you get your Fodder Feeder badge?
well the canonites won’t forgive the broken canon. I cannot forgive the “Hunt for the Truth” that turned into crap. I will forgive the lack of content with what we have though since now we have more. Gameplay is forgivable because it’s pretty good to tell the truth.
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> The bottom line is… We don’t know.
We really don’t know
> 2533274794312469;16:
> Given the option to fix the marketing or shipping a pretty polished, albeit stripped down, game, I’d rather have the polished game. In my opinion, that’s the most important thing. People will forget or forgive the marketing, but they won’t forgive a non-functioning game.
Except the game was everything but “polished” as far as the story was concerned. In fact it was downright insulting - that is what has so many of us upset. And it was the marketing that promised us a story that built on all the progressive themes and character development that had been set up over the last several years, when the only “truth” was that ‘Halo 5’ actually took huge steps backwards in pretty much every narrative area.
> As an aside, how did you get your Fodder Feeder badge?
They got Kelly-087’s birthday wrong (it’s in September - this was established in Dr. Halsey’s Journal years ago) when they initially published her bio in the Universe section, and I pointed it out…but unfortunately when they corrected the day they then messed up the year (it should be 2511, not 2510). But I don’t know if anyone knows/cares. Hopefully it gets 100% fixed eventually though. :\