: This seems like an utterly unfair accusation; 343 has never bothered to
: implement whatever's needed to control this stuff, as evidenced by the
: fact that you CAN'T MAKE ANY CHANGES TO ANY OF IT any more. To suggest
: that Bungie 'trashed the hotel room' by giving away stuff that they knew
: was going to be locked up forever seems... well, short-sighted.

You've got a point. It's a pretty uncharitable interpretation on my part, I admit. Thanks for calling that out.

I think that Bungie should not have unlocked things like the star nameplate for everyone in order to keep it special for those who got them in the first year after Reach's release. It could have stood as a signifier of Halo's biggest fans, like Recon in Halo 3. But, like Recon, it lost its awe-inspiring effect once it was available to everyone.

I'm not sure if adding the ability to switch nameplates was something that 343 didn't bother to do, or if they simply couldn't do it. There are many things regarding Bungie's games that 343 would like to continue to maintain (like updating Halo 3's playlists, for example), but they cannot because they don't have all the keys.