: I don't think Halo 4 is bad, I think people are bored with Halo overall. It
: just happens to be convenient that there is a new studio at the helm of
: the franchise that's heading in a new direction so it’s easy to point to
: that and say it is the reason for displeasure.

: Here's the deal: Bungie was DONE with Halo. We've had 10 years of Halo.
: That's a LONG time for a video game franchise! Most TV shows don't even
: make it 10 years!

: Would you have been satisfied if Halo Reach was the final Halo game to ever
: be made? You might say 'yes' right now, but you have the benefit of
: hindsight with Halo 4 being out so that's not really fair.

: Bungie was ready to move on. They wrapped up the story arc they wanted to
: tell and left the player with answers and more questions to ponder or
: dream about which is something great authors do. They don't do it the
: tacky way and leave a big "the end?" at the finish and they
: don't do the 'happily ever after' either. They finish the main plot, and
: they leave it to the imagination of the reader or player to make their own
: adventure going forward.

: All things come to an end eventually.

: Bunige was ready for their end to Halo, so they could have new beginnings in
: another world.

: Microsoft was not ready to let Halo end.

: What do you do when the artist wants to stop but the store wants to keep
: selling that kind of art? All great franchises go through this. For MS
: Halo is a cash cow for them. As long as there are people who are willing
: to play it (and as long as it’s still profitable for MS, naturally)
: they'll continue to make Halo games that the market wants to play.
: Eventually Halo won’t be main stream popular anymore; people will look for
: the next ‘big thing’. Microsoft will move one. Hopefully they’ll end Halo
: in a good way.

:

: I'll wrap it up like this:

: If Bungie had continued to make Halo games, their hearts may not have been in
: it and the work likely would have suffered for it and alienated a bunch of
: fans. A good story deserves a finish. An ending. A chance for the creator
: to be 'done'. No one wants to be type-casted into one role. Bungie
: deserves a chance to be more than ‘those Halo guys’.

: Good fans accept this.

: Selfish fans demand more.

: Great fans keep the story going themselves.

: That's what I view 343 as. I view it as a studio of fans that are keeping the
: franchise alive and telling their own story. Some might even look at it as
: a giant fan fiction, of sorts. While they do this, some will not be happy
: with the direction of the story or the adventures taken and that's OK.
: Others will really love it. 343 have the unenviable task of keeping Halo
: alive while also making money for Microsoft. Even now there are people who
: are discovering Halo for the first time that may start with Halo 4 and
: love it, and they’ll want to dive into the universe and look back on its
: history, a history that admittedly, some of us have been in a long time.

: Halo has been around for 10 years.

: Some players deserve a break. They should take it! Step back, catch your
: breath.

: Then maybe you come back.

: After enough time away, you might find that your love and sense of adventure
: has been rekindled. That’s when you’re ready for the next chapter, the
: next adventure.
: A lot of people here aren’t ready for the next chapter. They need to take a
: break.

: Some of them may come back stronger than ever.

: Some of them may never come back at all.

: Either way, each will be happy with the experiences they had and shared in
: one way or another.

Or maybe people want more, aren't tired of Halo, and 343 blew it in many, many ways. Nah, couldn't be that, right? Hell, could be both tired of it and them blowing it. Nah.