Another way of looking at it I think is that Bungie had a knack for telling the grander 'fantastical' story from a more, I don't know, philosophical(?) perspective rather than technological, tangible. We see musings about morals and ethics at enormous scales surrounded by localized events and characters, more than detailed descriptions of events, people, places, things happening in every corner of the 'ongoing story'. The terminals are a good example; tidbits of 'thoughts' from AIs and individuals, and because of the vague, mysterious nature of the content it was interpreted by us as mystery, inviting intrigue, speculation, and curiosity. We filled in the gaps, imagined what the characters might be like, motivations, hows and whys - not fleshed out stories. The bits we were given - whether character traits, or glimpses into their choices, were enough to provide a framework. Of course there were story arcs, but relatively speaking, all tiny in comparison to the looming bigger picture we couldn't put our finger on.

I wouldn't say that 343 necessarily has a different universe to work with now that Forerunners are at the forefront (nyuk). The above is really just a manner of storytelling. Where Bungie focused on plausibility and grittiness in the human future, leaving the grand history of Forerunner civilization to vague glimpses of things, it feels like 343 has taken advantage of the this..hole..the 'epic' scale of that vague fantastical space, and has begun to fill it in; a move that, while controversial for those of us latched on to the way Halo "used to be", was a very bold but smart move in gaining the attention and love from another type of sci-fi gamer demographic. That vast and rich emptiness that remained mystery is now the framework for the fantastical.

It's now like Master Chief and the Universe (increasingly fleshed out), rather than Master Chief IN the Universe (dealing with what's put in front of us and lots of stuff happening independently around us; coming back to the 'living world' effect, the example of walking into a raging battle already begun between Flood and Covenant foes)

The direction 343 is going isn't a "Bad Thing" objectively speaking, it's obviously doing something right because Halo is still going strong; at least for the demographic it seems like they are focusing on. But that shift has lost some of us, doomed to live in the nostalgic memories of the Halo that once was.

Again, not that any of this is bad - it's just different. I don't know if there's some alternate universe where Halo storytelling methodology and tactics could have remained unchanged and yet still provide a thriving and popular Halo universe and franchise, or if this is just a natural, and essential move, in order to keep Halo thriving among the changing gaming culture and generations.

Either way, some of the community will stay, some will move on. Personally, I still hold out hope, looking out into the unexplored depths of Halo's universe, hoping one day we'll explore more unknown - and undiscovered - territory, which all ties in to the existing epic, intriguing, grand scale of our civilizations' ongoing struggle for survival and independence, and/or domination of our home galaxy, without truly finding that answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

etc :)