: -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.

Yeah, at 343 the most prominent community-type faces are Frankie, David and Jessica. Frankie's got the fiction and is the face of 343, David's more of the quiet, behind the scenes passionate Halo creator (also IMO seems to be more approachable, perhaps?), and Jessica's all over the social/gamer community. Very different individual characteristics than the Bungie folk when they had a chance to go on about their universe and game. It's just different then Bungie.

: 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.

Personally, I think they put too much effort into creating their 'local' waypoint community, and it's super-saturated with "gamers". I rarely if ever visit the waypoint forums, and I think the direction that the "Section 3" viral/arg-like project that's still running has lost a lot of steam because it's focused so much on those codes and player/character stat boosting now. I think the general Halo "community" (which is for the most part recognized by 343, and in which they're actively involved) is less about loving the fiction and more about playing the game - compared to the past at least.

But that's just from my perspective. And I'm sure that in the local Waypoint community there are hard-core fiction fans. But it just feels like a kind of walled garden. If you're not in the waypoint forums, you're not really a part of the Halo community now.