I don't post or participate here all that often, but I've been reading the boards regularly since the Halo 2 days. I've always enjoyed seeing mature, thoughtful people expressing the same enthusiasm for Halo games that I felt. Although it doesn't match Halo 2 and 3's level of excellence, I actually enjoyed Halo 4 a fair bit, so it's been a bit of a bummer lately to drop in and see that my excitement is no longer shared. So for what's it's worth, here a few loosely related thoughts that are on my mind:

-For me, Halo 4 succeeded at the biggest hurdle facing it, which was to prove that it needed to exist. I had been entirely satisfied with the ending of Halo 3, and wasn't sure there was any point exploring anything that happened in the universe after that. But although it stumbled in places, Halo 4's story got my attention and made me excited again to find out what happens next.

-I don't think burning out on Halo is inevitable so much as turning against the new guy is inevitable. I really can't think of a single change to fiction, design or gameplay made by 343 that isn't equivalent to a change Bungie made. Bungie changed characterizations and motivations of established characters on the fly (Sgt. Johnson, Prophet of Truth), added unfun or broken enemies (Halo 2 Brutes, flood pure forms), radically changed designs without explanation (Elites in H2, H3 and Reach) and regularly ignored books and other peripheral fiction. But speaking for myself at least, I loved each new game anyway because I knew I was seeing a group of artists refining their craft. But as soon as 343 puts their own (really rather modest) spin on fiction, design or gameplay, they are characterized as tampering with things that should never be tampered with. 343 seems to be in an unwinable position here, but I wish the community would be more open to change. It's not like you can't still play the Bungie games, after all.

-One of the biggest differences I see between Bungie and 343 is that I don't feel like I know anything about the people who work at 343. People like Joe Staten and Marty O'Donnell were always super charismatic in videos, interviews, podcasts and the like. Even though I never met those folks, I felt like I understood where they were coming from in their professional work, and could see their influence on the games they made. But the interviews with 343 I've seen...I dunno. They seem guarded, even corporate in their presentation of themselves. Knowing the faces behind the Bungie Halo games was always a big part of my appreciation of them, so it's a shame 343 employees can't be more open about their goals and interests. I'm sure there are some brilliant minds there, but we don't know anything about them so we're forced to draw our own, often negative conclusions.

So yes, I think there is room for improvement on both sides. I reckon 343 could do to be more transparent, but I think fans could do to be more receptive. You'll never enjoy something if you don't want to enjoy it. As for me, I think 343 got off to a good start with Halo 4, and with a few lessons learned they could really knock it out of the park with the next one.