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Subject: Do you think 343i will try to give MC character?
  • gamertag: MGTrey
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The Seventh Column demands it.

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Bungie clearly meant for that Master Chief to be a blank slate in the games, and from a design standpoint, I think they pulled it off well. Master Chief is a gaming icon.

By allowing players to insert themselves into the game as the Chief, it took the focus away from the character and placed it on the setting and overall story instead. Halo was a much more colossal game because of that.

However, Bungie no longer runs the show, and I get the feeling that the biggest way for 343i to stand apart from their predecessors would be to try to tell a more personal story for MC. And considering that it seems evident a lot of the Halo backstory will be pushed into the spotlight enjoyed by the games in the franchise, it allows for MC's character to be fleshed out according to the canon already established. I can already imagine the Chief dreaming of his Spartan training as a child being the tutorial for Halo 4, right before he's waken up by Cortana.

[Edited on 08.13.2011 1:50 AM PDT]

  • 08.13.2011 1:48 AM PDT

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I'm pretty sure they've talked about fleshing out his character, somewhere...

  • 08.13.2011 1:50 AM PDT

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[*Please note that anything in my posts is likely to be filled with sarcasm, and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to help people, usually*]

I hope they recognize that the Chief is supposed to simply be a vehicle to drive through the Halo Universe, delivering the story to the player in a way that keeps them both involved but not alienated.

Imagine if the Chief went on long scpheels about what he was planning to do in the next mission; would be kind of annoying, no? Basically hearing exactly what the guy you play as is thinking of doing when it's supposed to be you that controls him. That's why most of his lines were one-liners or directions for him wanting weapons or saying hai to people.

So I, for one, want them to keep to the formula that worked.

  • 08.13.2011 1:59 AM PDT

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Posted by: SonicJohn
I hope they recognize that the Chief is supposed to simply be a vehicle to drive through the Halo Universe, delivering the story to the player in a way that keeps them both involved but not alienated.

Imagine if the Chief went on long scpheels about what he was planning to do in the next mission; would be kind of annoying, no? Basically hearing exactly what the guy you play as is thinking of doing when it's supposed to be you that controls him. That's why most of his lines were one-liners or directions for him wanting weapons or saying hai to people.

So I, for one, want them to keep to the formula that worked.


I agree completely, if they give him a fully fleshed out character then the likelihood is that we won't like him. We already know that his current formula works, so there's no reason to try and fix what isn't broken.

  • 08.13.2011 3:01 AM PDT

We know enough about the Chief as is. I'm hoping they leave him the same.

  • 08.13.2011 3:23 AM PDT

yeah leave him as he is. I hope they focus on the storyline and hopefully give more insight to the halo universe

  • 08.13.2011 3:31 AM PDT

They better do something to Chief to show off his character a little bit more if I have to put up another trilogy of playing as him.

  • 08.13.2011 3:51 AM PDT

Causing mischief from the shadows

Posted by: MGTrey
Bungie clearly meant for that Master Chief to be a blank slate in the games, and from a design standpoint, I think they pulled it off well. Master Chief is a gaming icon.

By allowing players to insert themselves into the game as the Chief, it took the focus away from the character and placed it on the setting and overall story instead. Halo was a much more colossal game because of that.

However, Bungie no longer runs the show, and I get the feeling that the biggest way for 343i to stand apart from their predecessors would be to try to tell a more personal story for MC. And considering that it seems evident a lot of the Halo backstory will be pushed into the spotlight enjoyed by the games in the franchise, it allows for MC's character to be fleshed out according to the canon already established. I can already imagine the Chief dreaming of his Spartan training as a child being the tutorial for Halo 4, right before he's waken up by Cortana.



A lot of people are always talking about the chief having no personality because 'we' are meant to be the chief. But I don't really buy into that. For a story to be compelling the it needs characters. If the protagonist of the entire series is just 'um ... um ... i are a guy ... who is going to win everything' I begin to disconnect.

I want more personality from the chief, I want more reason and motivation and risk and character. If he's just another 25 words over 5 hours of gameplay Halo will stay where it is.

  • 08.13.2011 3:52 AM PDT


Posted by: Shadow Artiste
Posted by: MGTrey
Bungie clearly meant for that Master Chief to be a blank slate in the games, and from a design standpoint, I think they pulled it off well. Master Chief is a gaming icon.

By allowing players to insert themselves into the game as the Chief, it took the focus away from the character and placed it on the setting and overall story instead. Halo was a much more colossal game because of that.

However, Bungie no longer runs the show, and I get the feeling that the biggest way for 343i to stand apart from their predecessors would be to try to tell a more personal story for MC. And considering that it seems evident a lot of the Halo backstory will be pushed into the spotlight enjoyed by the games in the franchise, it allows for MC's character to be fleshed out according to the canon already established. I can already imagine the Chief dreaming of his Spartan training as a child being the tutorial for Halo 4, right before he's waken up by Cortana.



A lot of people are always talking about the chief having no personality because 'we' are meant to be the chief. But I don't really buy into that. For a story to be compelling the it needs characters. If the protagonist of the entire series is just 'um ... um ... i are a guy ... who is going to win everything' I begin to disconnect.

I want more personality from the chief, I want more reason and motivation and risk and character. If he's just another 25 words over 5 hours of gameplay Halo will stay where it is.


Yeah u say stay where it is.... Its already such a good game why change it now?

  • 08.13.2011 4:01 AM PDT

Posted by: Chopsticks08
They better do something to Chief to show off his character a little bit more if I have to put up another trilogy of playing as him.
But you're not playing as the Chief. You are the Chief.

Also, read the 'Fall of Reach' novel if you want more back story on the Chief.

[Edited on 08.13.2011 4:07 AM PDT]

  • 08.13.2011 4:01 AM PDT


Posted by: talon2000
Posted by: Chopsticks08
They better do something to Chief to show off his character a little bit more if I have to put up another trilogy of playing as him.
But you're not playing as the Chief. You are the Chief.


Agreed, by giving him a vague character you connect more with the game as if you are the chief by giving him to much character you will be less conected

  • 08.13.2011 4:04 AM PDT


Posted by: Shadow Artiste
Posted by: MGTrey
Bungie clearly meant for that Master Chief to be a blank slate in the games, and from a design standpoint, I think they pulled it off well. Master Chief is a gaming icon.

By allowing players to insert themselves into the game as the Chief, it took the focus away from the character and placed it on the setting and overall story instead. Halo was a much more colossal game because of that.

However, Bungie no longer runs the show, and I get the feeling that the biggest way for 343i to stand apart from their predecessors would be to try to tell a more personal story for MC. And considering that it seems evident a lot of the Halo backstory will be pushed into the spotlight enjoyed by the games in the franchise, it allows for MC's character to be fleshed out according to the canon already established. I can already imagine the Chief dreaming of his Spartan training as a child being the tutorial for Halo 4, right before he's waken up by Cortana.



A lot of people are always talking about the chief having no personality because 'we' are meant to be the chief. But I don't really buy into that. For a story to be compelling the it needs characters. If the protagonist of the entire series is just 'um ... um ... i are a guy ... who is going to win everything' I begin to disconnect.

I want more personality from the chief, I want more reason and motivation and risk and character. If he's just another 25 words over 5 hours of gameplay Halo will stay where it is.


This, unfortunately the Halo community doesn't like change. :/

But he is not "The Chief" anymore. When Cortana called him John, he became John, a human being with a name and history, not a vessel to carry a story (which I always found to be bull -blam!- anyway). I'd prefer the main character of a story to be likable with real human characteristics. We know he is not "us" plaing as him. We know he is still human. Its not like the silent Rookie where we had nothing to identify with.

And, 343i has said they will be devoloping his character more in this one, which is good. Characters further the plot, especially when, in this case, there's likely only going to be two main ones. Machines don't.

  • 08.13.2011 6:03 AM PDT


Posted by: SonicJohn

Imagine if the Chief went on long scpheels about what he was planning to do in the next mission; would be kind of annoying, no? Basically hearing exactly what the guy you play as is thinking of doing when it's supposed to be you that controls him. That's why most of his lines were one-liners or directions for him wanting weapons or saying hai to people.


Don't compare extremes of Halo and Metal Gear. The alternative to blank vehicle characters isn't monlogues but a few extra lines of dialogue here and there to connect you to the character you control (but which you are ultimately not, just as with any other good protagonist) and the immediate setting he's in to make the fiction compelling. Otherwise you have a wall of ambiguity stemming from that "blank slate" of a Noble 6 or Rookie which inhibits the plot by awkwardly allowing nothing but personal reactions to guide it (despite the fact that they don't.) The covenant blew up most of Reach, and the best anyone can do is look solemnly towards the horizon giving nothing but the pixels of their helmet to the now stunted experience the player is treated with.

Story telling 101, and something Halo 4 best follow.

[Edited on 08.13.2011 6:21 AM PDT]

  • 08.13.2011 6:07 AM PDT

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They're not going to change his character. How he acts has been ingrained in books and games for 10 years now. There's no going back.

  • 08.13.2011 6:07 AM PDT


Posted by: talon2000
Posted by: Chopsticks08
They better do something to Chief to show off his character a little bit more if I have to put up another trilogy of playing as him.
But you're not playing as the Chief. You are the Chief.

Also, read the 'Fall of Reach' novel if you want more back story on the Chief.


I've got all of the novels thank you very much; I'd rather have a non silent character to make them more interesting to learn about rather than being my silent self.

  • 08.13.2011 6:15 AM PDT


Posted by: About 9 Grunts
They're not going to change his character. How he acts has been ingrained in books and games for 10 years now. There's no going back.


"....some of his behaviors have changed...."

-Frank O'Connor.

Yes, he's getting character devolopment.

I seriously don't understand how its a bad thing. Is having a good, emotionally drawing story a bad thing now? Or is it because some people just simply do [i] not [i] like change that much they'd sacrifice a good story for their own selfish wish for everything to stay the same?

Look, odds are, John and Cortana will be the only two main characters in the game. Frankie has mentioned Cortana's mental state is in doubt, implying that the story will revolve heavily around the pair's relationship. With only two characters to drive the story, neither one of them has the luxery of being a mindless vessel to drive the story. That only works when their are larger things going on beyond the vessel character.

But there aren't. Its quite clear with the "face his destiny" line in the description that the story is quite obviously about John, and Cortana. There is nothing now but John and his destiny. Having him remain a vessel would detract from the story, keeping us from feeling all the little emotions and connections. And in a story like this--one that comes off as a character driven story--connection with the character and what he/she is thinking and feeling is paramount.

As someone above me said: story telling 101.

[Edited on 08.13.2011 6:25 AM PDT]

  • 08.13.2011 6:25 AM PDT
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I certainly hope they keep him quiet with the few badass remarks every once and a while.

  • 08.13.2011 6:28 AM PDT

Looking to the future is better than watching the past

Well 343 has been with Bungie since the every beginning and helped a lot with Reach and Halo 3 so I think they will do fine with the game

  • 08.13.2011 7:53 AM PDT

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Posted by: ROBERTO jh
This, unfortunately the Halo community doesn't like change. :/
Yeah, look at all of Reach's complainers. ¬_¬

  • 08.13.2011 8:07 AM PDT
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"Time was your ally human. But now it has abandoned you. The Forerunners....have returned. And this tomb... is now yours". - The Didact


Posted by: TwilightJak365
Posted by: ROBERTO jh
This, unfortunately the Halo community doesn't like change. :/
Yeah, look at all of Reach's complainers. ¬_¬


Which is why we can't expect a ton of -blam!-ers when they see Halo 4.

"OMG REACH is sooo better,Halo 4 sux,343 shipped a broken game"

  • 08.13.2011 8:14 AM PDT

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I'm not the chief, I play as the chief.

  • 08.13.2011 8:18 AM PDT

Umm... since when has the chief been a silent protagonist? He has personality. He's a hard torn get it down type guy. Saying he's gordon freemany just shows you don't pay attention.

If Freeman for example became full of emotion, etc. that'd be unlike his character (he doesn't have any personality, at all), where as chief easily could, and Halo 3 had hints at an attachment between Cortona and MC

  • 08.13.2011 8:37 AM PDT

It's not Hip-Hop, its Electro.... prick.

They better not. He was perfect the way he was.

  • 08.13.2011 8:52 AM PDT


Posted by: SonicJohn
I hope they recognize that the Chief is supposed to simply be a vehicle to drive through the Halo Universe, delivering the story to the player in a way that keeps them both involved but not alienated.

Imagine if the Chief went on long scpheels about what he was planning to do in the next mission; would be kind of annoying, no? Basically hearing exactly what the guy you play as is thinking of doing when it's supposed to be you that controls him. That's why most of his lines were one-liners or directions for him wanting weapons or saying hai to people.

So I, for one, want them to keep to the formula that worked.


I completely agree on this.
Chief having more character is needed in the novels and worked out well enough there. But in the games he should be the mostly silent protagonist.

Its not only the strong point of him as a character to which we as the gamers bond, but also nothing more than logical. He is a killing machine after all. Made to follow orders, made for action and not for dialogue.

Will we hear him speak more in cutscenes? Probably, because the supporting cast has been killed off or isn't with Chief. So he will undoubtly have conversations with Cortana. But will 343i turn Chief into a emotionally driven character who speaks freely all the time? I highly doubt it.

  • 08.13.2011 10:21 AM PDT

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  • 08.13.2011 10:26 AM PDT

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