In the community's defense, Palmer is a terrible character who is terribly written and 343 is probably in denial about just how much the community can't stand its characters. They're so invested and have put so much time and energy into developing terrible characters like Palmer that they're not willing to throw them by the wayside even if no one else likes them. I also need to disclose this statement by stating this is all my opinion, of course. I'd love new story content that isn't about a character that ten different galaxies want to see dead, you know? I might dislike a ton of things in the Greg Bear novels, but that doesn't change the fact that Greg Bear is absolutely brilliant at what he does and really helped to craft some amazing things, flaws and all. This Palmer bit? It needs to die, like Palmer. :D