- Plasma Prestige
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- Intrepid Legendary Member
Expressing my strong liberal views without shame. Favorite quotes below:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
"One starts to live when he can live outside himself."
- Albert Einstein
With the release of Reach, many of us were jarred by the apparent diversion from established canon the game took. This has bred legitimate concern about Halo 4's campaign and how it will contribute to the lore (i.e., in a meaningful fashion, or trite fashion).
I initially held pessimistic views about this. I figured that in the end, the appeal to the masses will take precedent over delivering a meaningful contribution to the Halo Universe. However, the latest Halo Bulletin on 343i's website has swayed my views for the time being.
Upon being asked how the games and books are connected at Greg Bear's book signing, Frankie responded with the following:
I think when you're building games instead of just fiction, you don't have as much control over the end picture as you think you do because you may have to delete an entire level or technology may not be ready. So the game alters way more than any of Greg's fiction does in a natural, organic way. In fact, Greg has made a lot of our stuff more rigid than it ordinarily would be in the game. So funny enough, the reverse is true. Greg is creating things in the fiction we now have to stick to rather than the other way around.
The key part is the last sentence. "Greg is creating things in the fiction we now have to stick to rather than the other way around."
This demonstrates a fundamental change in mindset in comparison to Bungie's ideology on canon; the games would substitute the fiction entirely if necessary to achieve what they believe to be the perfect game. While 343i may think that the game play is more important, at least the significance of the lore is not being overlooked any longer, and that is encouraging.
Of course, this must be backed up with solid writing, but I have no reason to doubt 343i's abilities in that regard right now. The future looks hopeful.
[Edited on 01.12.2012 4:52 PM PST]