You're missing the point. It's a HUD interface. The user should not have to angle the camera elsewhere just to read the HUD. It's also not always a option.

: It's weird coming from elsewhere, but with this you can be in whatever
: position and aim you want to move an object. Maybe the "lock-on"
: orbit should've been default though, and the free camera should've been
: not default. What's really weird is the automatic lock-on when you
: duplicate and object or group, but not when you spawn one from the menus.
: (Also the orbit controls are reversed if you have your regular controls
: inverted, which is hard to handle.)

Yep. That's one of the the issues that keep throwing me for a loop. In Past Forges, there were separate options for adjusting the camera/monitor controls. Not anymore.

: How can that be the case? Do you press RB all the time without meaning to?

Yes and no. When I'm looking at something, that happens to be in front of something else, it might select the wrong object. This seems to happen the most with transparent or semi transparent objects. And as I've stated, reading the text under the reticle is not always easy. Especially when working with ice/snow, spawns, and decal objects.

: Well which is it, do you like it or not?

Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages to it, William. I can like something and still not agree with it. The best option would be to have the option to turn that feature on or off under the Tool Settings.

: Holding a trigger and a button to select would feel tedious and overwrought
: really fast, and the reticle changes when you grab something and it shows
: you're holding something if you're not aiming at anything. It is a bit
: confusing when you grab an object and then aim at another object.

How exactly would it "feel tedious and overwrought" when we are already doing it just to rotate and move it? Yesterday, I somehow managed to select a number of ungrouped objects when all I wanted to do is move the camera. As a result, it screwed up my map and I had to quit and restart. Something I've already had to do way to often with this Forge. This is possibly because I was, once again, trying to move the camera with the bumpers instead of the B button. Which resulted in my holding it down and panning. As I've already stated, the color changes are not always easy to see and nor is the text under the reticle. It gets even harder to see it when you are use to the tried and true controls and trying to move fast. Only to learn, again, those controls no longer apply. And lets not forget that the little hand reticle stays open when you're not looking directly at the object you're have selected. This results in the mind thinking that nothing is selected, when it is. As for the Highlight Stroke around objects, that needs improving. To start with, it needs to be much thicker and vanish when you are moving the object. The highlight also needs to stay present when you're not looking directly at the object. This way it have a easier time to see you have it selected when looking at another object.

: It also shows a relatively thick flashing line around the thing you're aiming
: at. (This is where that should have been, not for every dropped weapon,
: and it's better than having the entire piece flash green.)

I partly address this above. The further you are from a object, the thinner that highlight is. And it does not always flash (possibly another glitch). That highlight is also yellow, which becomes even harder to see when it's thin.

: You have to group stuff to weld it, so it makes sense that if you ungroup it
: then you unweld it.

Actually it doesn't. Wielding and grouping are two completely different mechanics. Just to for example, lets use real life objects. If you have to metal beams and you wield them together, then they will not come apart. If you instead took those two beams and grouped them together, then they can easily be taken apart. Be it by placing them next to one another, gluing them or simply tie them with a rope. The definition of wielding items, means making their join-ment permanent. In Forge, it's why the game gives you a warning when you do this. A group is basically nothing more then a box that contains objects, that can be removed later. As it stands, there is absolutely zero difference, in Halo 5's Forge, between grouping and wielding. Zero Difference

: I could've sworn that was the default. Also setting it to world-oriented
: should fix your problem above, that or one of the other orientation
: settings under move/translate settings.

Nope. They are set to their own by default. The Tool Settings allow you to change it to World, Camera View, or back to Object. And it seems to be working properly again. But, unless I've missed it, this would be best effective if it was a D-pad option. I've found myself switching between all modes, by going to the Tool Settings. It gets tedious very quickly.

: I don't remember them saying this would speed up anything, just that it would
: be better and you could make more things. I agree on some of your points
: though, and I think the controls are a complete mess and not at all
: intuitive to existing Forgers, and I can't find a good reason for the vast
: majority of the changes.

Speeding up Forge Building was one of their biggest selling points.
Some changes do make sense. Mostly how we move and rotate objects now. Without it, Grouping would be impossible. But changing the button configuration (Lb, Rb, X, Y) for camera does not. They could have left them as they were and it would not have changed a thing. Other then making it much easier to use for Forge Veterans.