I'm a fan of some of the extended canon too. It's just that I don't really have the time (or the energy) to devote to it like some people here (not saying that's good or bad - really.). And the people who do devote such time to the extended canon are the types that are only going to be found here or at a small handful of places. The average video gamer... heck, even the average Halo fan, just isn't going to pay that much attention to the extended canon. You're lucky if a player has read any of the books, or even found a terminal in Halo 3. But when you start taking things that were *only* in the extended canon/terminals and making them the center of the plot without *any* introduction for casual players, you're just asking for trouble. If *I* was confused about Halo 4, then I can only imagine what more casual players must have thought about it. And I imagine it went something like:

"So, f*ck this. I'm playing multiplayer."

:\