YAY (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Saturday, September 26, 2026, 08:03 (2 hours, 4 minutes ago) @ Claude Errera

My point is, the dominant attitude within the studio was never we're going to do what we want, and if you don't like it, fine. They really, really wanted every fan they could get.

I would disagree with this point, pretty strongly; Kenneth Scott made a whole host of visual changes to Halo enemies for almost no other reason than "I want them to look different than they did before". There was no way to retcon those changes into the canon of the Halo universe in any smooth way. That's the opposite of 'we want to do what the fans want us to do.'

I defer to you because you saw much more on the inside than I ever did. Because Kenneth Scott did change the look of Halo enemies (Bungie did, too, but were much subtler about it from game to game), you can accuse him and others behind the retcons of not having a good sense of what they should preserve, but that's not the opposite of doing what the fans wanted them to do. Some fans were going to complain if the enemies weren’t changed. 343 didn't know what the reception was going to be. My point was that in their public presentation to their fans, especially in the lead-up to Halo 4, they seemed more eager to please (or more concerned about whether we would be pleased) than Bungie had been up to that point. Perhaps that wasn't a reflection of the dominant attitude inside the studio, but that's the vibe I got from the messaging, and I think there was probably some correspondence. I should disclose that I liked everyone I met at 343 very much and benefitted from their hospitality. It was a difficult task to take over the Halo franchise.

What I'm trying to describe is subtle, but significant. Watch the first Reach vidoc, then watch the first one for Halo 4 (A Hero Awakens). The Reach one is all about the game, the technical details, and the challenges they faced in building it. It's very concrete, and it's clear that they had specific goals that they wanted to achieve. They mention that there will be surprises, and that the characters deserve this detailed world. The word "player" isn't mentioned until the last minute. For Halo 4, the first sentence is about the player, and the player is referred to throughout. There are a few technical things discussed, but for the most part, it's full of psychologizing about characters and relationships. They basically tell you what the chief's character arc will be.

Bungie is presenting a cool thing they built to deliver an experience. 343 is grabbing you, the player, by the lapel, and pitching you on what that experience will be and the themes that will be explored. Much of that would have been better experienced in the game than talked about (they told when they should've shown in the game itself, too, but I made that post a long time ago). To me, the difference in messaging reflects a different level of confidence in their respective games to sell themselves. I hold this opinion looser than I did before this discussion, however. The bottom line for me is, I not only liked Bungie’s Halo games better, I liked the way they talked about them better. Regardless, I wish things had turned out differently for 343, and I hope the good people who were there find a good landing place.