lore-and-universe

[dusty ferry]

i think its like 7 dreadnaughts or something

[terse sage]

The Banished probably took siginificant losses taking down the Infinity, and also the 6 month campaign on the ring before Chief came back

[steel stone]

Banished really feels like a bunch of genocidal aliens with no other motive. I dont mind this honestly

[carmine sleet]

Sure, Tremonius was a loss he was fine with, but I doubt he was happy with losing leaders like Chak 'Lok, Okro 'Vagaduun and En'Geddon

[dusty ferry]

is Chak 'lok the bloodblade guy?

[orchid kettle]

I still see them as basically Outer Heaven with Atriox as Big Boss

[carmine sleet]

No, that's Jega

Jega is most likely still alive

[dusty ferry]

oh, chak is the torture guy

[carmine sleet]

Aye

[dusty ferry]

yeah, thats a big sad for atriox

They also lost one dreadnaught as well

[carmine sleet]

I can imagine that once Atriox returns to take back command, he's gonna be upset that Escharum allowed Chief to kill so many commanders

[dusty ferry]

double rip

[steel stone]

Chak creepy Elite freakin nuts

[terse sage]

Do we really know the scale of the Banished?

[dusty ferry]

No

[orchid kettle]

its okay, if Infinite 2 ever happens, 15 bloodstar VIPs will probably spawn out of the ether for Chief to slaughter

[dusty ferry]

Its presumably large given atriox has most of the brutes on his side, but that's just basic guessing

we know Zeta halo isn't most of the banished

[orchid kettle]

Eescharum claims that a thousand legions are on the ring

[steel stone]

If one Spartan could do alot damage to the Banished (Chief) I bet our Spartan in the Halo Infinite story could give them hell

[orchid kettle]

and a legion could be as many as 20,000 or something

[carmine sleet]

So long as the Oath Warden from Outcasts isn't one of the ones we end up fighting

[terse sage]

And I assume the Banished don't have their entire force concentrated on one target (the ring)?

[carmine sleet]

No

They have forces on The Ark still

[dusty ferry]

It's been confirmed the ones on Zeta halo aren't the majority of the banished

[orchid kettle]

right, its implied Dinh and whatsherface fought some Banished on that planet where they found Iratus

[carmine sleet]

And Prism is their mining operation on Suban

[dusty ferry]

the one where the map with the moving laser is based on

[carmine sleet]

Not even implied, confirmed they did, the Phantom they used is Banished

[orchid kettle]

Iratus also looked like he was using the Academy's satellite dish to send something to the Banished

[dusty ferry]

probably

[steel stone]

Where will the Brutes live now? their planet went in several directions

[orchid kettle]

but Iratus cant contact the Zeta Halo or Ark forces

[terse sage]

I hope one of the firefight maps is set in the Academy

[orchid kettle]

so there just have to be Banished elsewhere

[terse sage]

That'd be fun

[dusty ferry]

I think thats gonna be the lore for firefight

[orchid kettle]

Zeta Halo

[dusty ferry]

ships i guess?

[orchid kettle]

thats what I assumed was part of the plan

[carmine sleet]

Yeah, my assumption is Atriox was going to use Zeta as a replacement for Doisac

[orchid kettle]

take Zeta Halo for their own, and now they have a fortress world that can teleport

[steel stone]

That would a be a nice place to chill oh wait 🙂 we takin it for our own!!!

[carmine sleet]

Anybody threaten to wipe the Brutes out, they could just threaten to wipe out life in the galaxy in retaliation

[orchid kettle]

or they just teleport to their enemy's home planet with a mobile fortress containing millions of troops

[steel stone]

Halo ring is cool but its a small place, why not some other planet this the Halo Universe is huge

[orchid kettle]

and then dip

[terse sage]

Which is why Cortana damaging the ring delayed that significantly

[carmine sleet]

Or that

[carmine sleet]

Halo rings are pretty large

[dusty ferry]

You see, Slipspace is a cruel mistress. Also, they had to go kill cortana first

otherwise she might just blow up the planet again

[orchid kettle]

Halo's diameter, if I recall, is the same as the Earth

[steel stone]

Ive seen them around other planets like Halo 1 and 2 they are not that big

[dusty ferry]

those were gas giants

[terse sage]

And isn't Zeta bigger than the average ring?

[dusty ferry]

yes

[orchid kettle]

it used to be

but then it shrunk

[steel stone]

Oh snap ok they may have been gas giants then

[orchid kettle]

yeah, they were orbitting Threshold in Halo CE, a gas giant

[steel stone]

woah

[dusty ferry]

I know that was the case for Installation 04

[carmine sleet]

Most Halo rings orbit gas giants

[dusty ferry]

oh yeah, that did happen

[steel stone]

Thanks for the correction this very new to me, cool

[dusty ferry]

I mean, logistically, Atriox could have just left the general area of the orion arm and been fine tbf

humans aren't gonna go that way for a long time

[terse sage]

But the rings double as both livable places and superweapons

[carmine sleet]

I am surprised he didn't go "Let's make The Ark into a new home for the Brutes"

[terse sage]

Which probably makes monke brain happy

[carmine sleet]

But I guess Cutter stealing that arm rest on that flight really made him mad

[dusty ferry]

yeah, but Atriox isn't the type to commit mass genocide like that. Probably

[orchid kettle]

ark has a barely contained high charity full of Flood

too smelly

[carmine sleet]

Fair point

Too risky

[dusty ferry]

this is the real reason he randomly picks fights with the UNSC

[carmine sleet]

And I hear Flood are not great neighbours

[orchid kettle]

also I dunno, the Ark may not be able to teleport for all I know

it may just be stuck far outside the milky way

[terse sage]

It is a bit big

[steel stone]

Oh no I forgot about the Flood on the Ark still oh crap

[dusty ferry]

yeah, it was a thing for the big Halo Wars 2 DLC

[steel stone]

Yeah I cant believe I forgot about it

[dusty ferry]

one of atriox's commanders broke containment because he wanted loot

[carmine sleet]

It's either that or that time at the car dealership

Atriox looked great in that tie

[terse sage]

I wish Awakening the Nightmare was longer, we could've seen a temporary UNSC/Banished truce to deal with the Flood

[steel stone]

Isnt the universe kinda screwed since the flood is still around? Ark is bad place for the flood to be, might be worse since its the Ark

[dusty ferry]

Thos ad's were god tier

you see, they are contained enough to not be a problem

supposedly

[carmine sleet]

There's constant monitoring from the local Sentinel forces

[steel stone]

How does that even work, if a facility yeah but its just in a bubble

[carmine sleet]

And despite the fact that Banished forces breached the quarantine zone, they did manage to recontain it

[terse sage]

It was only because those brutes decided to break the shield around high charity

Otherwise the flood probably would've just died out eventually

[carmine sleet]

Gotta starve it

Or just completely burn it away

[steel stone]

There was a shield??? how did it get there? did the Banished put it there?

[polar fog]

yes

[terse sage]

If I remember correctly the sentinels made it to keep the flood within high charity

But the banished used a scarab to break it open

[polar fog]

@echo portal

ur time

is now

[steel stone]

In Halo 3 it was shown to be in pieces theres no way it could been contained. It was in such a bad state it was barely recognizable

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/halo/images/0/03/Cortana_approach.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20120513201159

Several parts of it landed all over the place shown here, no way they did contain it completely

[terse sage]

They probably wiped out the smaller fragments then contained the main part

[dusty ferry]

Well, a lot of the ark exploded during halo 3

so much so the ark's monitor started mining earth to fix it

[terse sage]

Is that from a book?

[dusty ferry]

Yeah, i think its the one which introduced Vale

don't quote me on that though

[unique rune]

Yeah, that's from Hunters in the Dark

one of the books ever written

[steel stone]

I guess that makes sense

[dusty ferry]

oh, its that bad

rip

[steel stone]

But stil feels extremely off

[orchid kettle]

I always think Hunters in the Dark is the Veta Lopis one

because in that book, they're in a cave

hunting for a murderer

[unique rune]

That's uh
Last Light?

[carmine sleet]

Hey, that book at least gave us the duo of N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham working together

[unique rune]

the covers are weirdly similar now that I think about it

[carmine sleet]

Since we didn't exactly get much of them outside of playing Halo 3 in 4 player co-op

[dusty ferry]

I'm waiting for the Halo book where we get the forerunner device which lets us look at fracture universes more clearly

[spiral jewel]

For the issue that the UNSC Saturn ran into, since it was announced over UNSC broadcast... i wonder what the general thought of it A.J.J Academy staff and Spartan were

[terse sage]

Or a book explaining wtf the endless are

[dusty ferry]

That would be nice

[steel stone]

I think the flood is far more interesting, they got seriously upgraded in Halo Wars 2 its actually scary on a level I cant even say

[carmine sleet]

We don't have a when on when the UNSC Saturn was dealing with a Flood containment breach yet, so until we get solid dates attached to that event, I'm not assuming it's happening concurrent to the events of Infinite's multiplayer

Plus like, it's not canon that there's Flood infected Spartans casually training with non-infected Spartans

[steel stone]

Code name corrupter I think is gonna a big focus

[carmine sleet]

Those protocols have existed since the end of the war, for all we know, this could be an event that happened just after the end of the war because a Spartan got cocky about dealing with Flood

[dusty ferry]

It's plausible given all the armor is Mark V[B] that this was done by either some of the first class of IV's, or some III's i guess

[carmine sleet]

Aye

[dusty ferry]

because there are always more IIIs when we need them

[terse sage]

They'll find a way to explain one only just now showing up

[steel stone]

I bet it was the 4s that messed up they act the most insane

[carmine sleet]

I doubt they let a single Flood infected Spartan survive, too big of a risk to not check

[dusty ferry]

I mean its not hard, the classes are already more than 300 spartans each

[terse sage]

But they'd have to work around the fact that the majority of those classes died

Tho we don't know about Gamma company

[dusty ferry]

Yeah, but 300 out of 500 is easily the majority

[steel stone]

If the flood returns...damn I dunno think we are all actually screwed

[carmine sleet]

The IVs aren't the only ones capable of being cocky, Emile was a III and he definitely got cocky

[orchid kettle]

I kinda prefer to think that Gamma company have had their deadly one-way mission already, beyond the headhunters and Noble Team-like special bois

because otherwise thats a LOT of supersoldiers unaccounted for

[carmine sleet]

This is why I'm glad that they have protocols to ensure they don't return and most people aren't dumb enough to go into a Flood containment facility

[steel stone]

Emile gets a pass because his IS COOLER AND AWESOME

[dusty ferry]

Wasn't Gamma's whole thing that they never had to do that because the war ended

[carmine sleet]

Emile doesn't get a pass because of anything, being cocky cost him his life

[orchid kettle]

not necessarily-- 30 gammas remained on Onyx to compete for top honors back around when Halo CE happened

but the other 300 already left

they may have been deployed

[steel stone]

On a more serious note though Emile didnt see the Elite behind him

[dusty ferry]

Honestly, can we get a book about the corporate supersoliders and ONI enhanced operatives which exist

I'm dying to know what those are

[orchid kettle]

no

[dusty ferry]

he had a motion tracker

[orchid kettle]

some things are forever doomed to be armor lore only

like Delta-Six

[carmine sleet]

I was being serious, and he had a motion tracker

[dusty ferry]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[carmine sleet]

Give us Unggoy Farmer instead

[steel stone]

Just realized that too yup he was an idiot

[dusty ferry]

Delta-six would be so interesting. Long term missions in the middle of nowhere with basically no supplies

[steel stone]

We all doomed XD

[carmine sleet]

I wanna play the dumb mobile game that only exists as a joke from Hunt the Truth season 2

[dusty ferry]

its a fanfic authors wet dream

[dusty ferry]

The what?

[orchid kettle]

the Executors are my wet dreams now

[carmine sleet]

Unggoy Farmer, the Halo game we truly need

[orchid kettle]

i want more robocop

[unique rune]

does the Robocop attachment for Security GEN1 count

[orchid kettle]

you can put it on chimera

so sure

[terse sage]

I've never liked chimera

[dusty ferry]

I would play it. I have to know why the game is ranked galactically

[steel stone]

What are the chances of the Flood fully infecting the whole Ark? the fact they are around such an important place and might have absorbed Truth, they have ALOT of knowledge

[orchid kettle]

I think they're a more fun Created soldier than the Prometheans

because they're robots who bleeeeeeeeed

[dusty ferry]

Actually, what does having consistent galactic rankings mean for the civilian access to communications technology?

[terse sage]

Yeah the lore for them is interesting but the core itself looks terrible imo

[orchid kettle]

I mean, I know Prometheans are also humans turned into robots

[carmine sleet]

Well considering the Gravemind was killed (Again) and they have the Flood in containment on the Ark, I doubt we'll be seeing them taking over

[orchid kettle]

but no trace of their humanity remains, physically or spiritually or whatever

but thats not necessarily true of Executors

[dusty ferry]

I like how little its armored, really gives off the easily replaceable vibes

[carmine sleet]

I miss my Promethean Knights

[orchid kettle]

imagine a Spartan getting into a tussle with one, and they punch their robocop visor off, and they recognize the maimed, distorted face underneath

[steel stone]

In Halo 3 you never see the Gravemind where actually was he?

[carmine sleet]

With their tiny weird hands everyone hates... Their glowy faces that light up the night... I await their return to war

[dusty ferry]

I want prometheans for infinite's forge

[dusk jetty]

High charity

Somewhere

[carmine sleet]

And we blew that up

[dusk jetty]

Somehow, the gravemind returned

[orchid kettle]

I think it works for what it is

[terse sage]

How did he move from Installation 05 to High Charity? He doesn't look like the most mobile boi

[orchid kettle]

its barely armor. If you use the prothestics for the limbs, you'll notice its the same arms and legs, just with armor plating removed

[steel stone]

Was checking because I never saw him, was the only real letdown Halo 3 had, should of beena boss and he was going to be at one point

[orchid kettle]

thats probably just their body

aside from a head and a spine

[carmine sleet]

I am not joking, I have seen people saying they want something like that to happen with the Gravemind/Flood right after saying how much they hated that twist in that film

[dusty ferry]

I mean, it will always make more sense with the flood. Once flood reaches critical mass you get a gravemind

[orchid kettle]

to be fair, its kinda implied that every Gravemind is the same consciousness as the last

because Gravemind in Human Weakness speaks about memories of races he's consumed in the far past, if I recall

[dusty ferry]

Was that not outright confirmed?

[orchid kettle]

but that shouldnt be possible because this specific Gravemind only formed relatively recently

[carmine sleet]

I know but I mean in the sense of people wanting them to be leading a secret Flood fleet that's been there the whole time in hiding

Like, it'd be such a terrible idea

[steel stone]

With all that advanced knowledge and absorbing Truths dead body, think he would escape the bubble shield hes in

[orchid kettle]

i guess it makes sense now with the idea of Precursors existing as disembodied voices

[dusty ferry]

I'm sorry, WHAT????????????????

Why?

Huh?

[dusk jetty]

Both have lore behind returning but the graveminds isn’t dumb

[unique rune]

ew ew ew ew ew

[carmine sleet]

I have seen people wanting that because somehow that would "Fix the franchise!"

[dusty ferry]

How on earth would that make any sense, or make halo's current state any better

That's just adding yet another force which balloned in power out of nowhere

[dusk jetty]

Dark science, cloning, secrets only the Sith knew!

Sorry merry, but those aren’t secrets

[carmine sleet]

Exactly, this is part of why I am so uninterested in any sort of Flood storyline beyond what we got in the original trilogy

[orchid kettle]

ngl

[terse sage]

Where did the Halo 2 gravemind get all it's biomass from?

[orchid kettle]

I actually do want a lot of active forces in the Halo universe

[steel stone]

Alot of dead people

[dusty ferry]

I kinda do as well, but not like that.

[dusk jetty]

I think we have a good amount right now

[orchid kettle]

I really like the idea of a galaxy where there's UNSC, independent innie colonies, Created controlled worlds, Covenant Remnant (but good this time), Banished, and whatever else

[carmine sleet]

That is literally my response when I first saw someone say it and I realised they weren't joking

[steel stone]

I think if the flood returned it would be scary in gameplay and lore

[dusk jetty]

It would be silly

[terse sage]

Plus our favorite Elite boi's group

[dusty ferry]

I like that as well, but only if its not a new faction randomly being super powerful because reasons

[orchid kettle]

oh ye, the Swoods too

[steel stone]

What is your view on it?

[orchid kettle]

well yeah, the Flood specifically have the issue of how they cant get much more powerful than an isolated outbreak

[dusk jetty]

I’m not entirely opposed to it, but it should not re-appear alongside Chief.

[orchid kettle]

because if they do, then you gotta hit the galactic reset button

[dusk jetty]

If it comes back it should be confined to the multiplayer narrative and/or a spin off

“Dah marine vs deh floood” schtick

[terse sage]

Whoops, we really screwed up, time to reset all life for the 2nd time

[dusty ferry]

Yeah, Like the Banished stretch my general disbelief of how faction strength works. The Banished are a bit too far in the sudden strength gain imo. If its less than that, its fine i guess

[orchid kettle]

It seems unnecessary too given how they clearly didnt need a million Dreadnoughts and a thousand legions to accomplish what they did

if it takes three or four dreadnoughts or whatever to destroy the infinity

[dusk jetty]

Unless it was very very important to atriox which I have a feeling it is

[orchid kettle]

why do they need more, narratively speaking

[dusk jetty]

Like, he left the ark to come to zeta halo, whatever it is he wants is very important

[orchid kettle]

heck a single legion of 20,000 sound like a big enough threat to Chief already

[steel stone]

I want the flood because they look even more gross in Halo Wars 2. The flood now have giant flying squids that can infect air vehicles. The Abomination is the Flood Juggernaut but even bigger and big boss to fight. They could finally give us Flood Jackals and Grunts making them crazy scary to fight. They could add that scarab sized flood from halo Legends as a miniboss blocking an area.

[orchid kettle]

considering its just him and a few survivors

[steel stone]

Theres too many things the flood could add if they were brought back as an enemy

I really hate that dumb excuse for no grunt and flood jackals, it just limits the scope of what the flood can do in the games.

[dusk jetty]

Yeah, but that’s hw2. 343 kinda went crazy with flood ideas and while I don’t mind that at all, I think it limits Storytelling ability because flood write themselves into a corner

[dusty ferry]

I mean, i guess that was just the banished getting lucky by getting there later?

[unique rune]

I’m so tired of the Flood

[terse sage]

Halo wars 2 is still fun, I still occasionally play firefight on it

[empty bloom]

I don't mind the current event so long as it remains isolated.

[dusk jetty]

The flood should not be William afton

[orchid kettle]

I still think they have a lot of gameplay potential if you make them more like the Taken from Destiny, where they remix infected units

[dusk jetty]

“I always come back”

[terse sage]

terminus firefight not blitz firefight

[dusty ferry]

I mean they only came back the once.

[orchid kettle]

because fact is, an Elite combat form running at you in a straight line isnt all that different than a human combat form

and thats a big shame

[carmine sleet]

I honestly think that the current event is just because Halloween is coming up and 343i wanted to do a spooky themed season

Like, have the stuff in this season's pass is Halloween themed

I just got the spooky visor

[dusk jetty]

Twice, they ran away from ancient humanity then came back to get the forerunners, then came back during the great schism

I could argue thrice with the new event too

[orchid kettle]

yeah, but sometimes space zombies are fun

Mona Lisa is a really good short story. Reread Evolutions recently, and it was a lot of fun.

[dusk jetty]

Valid

[unique rune]

Yeah, I’m sure they could be made fun gameplay-wise but after 2 and 3 I’m just

I just really don’t want more of them

[steel stone]

Easy fix. Have flood elites turn into different types of randomized infected. Have one infected elite that runs on all 4s. Have one flood elite that transforms into a big tank form

[orchid kettle]

I dont know if I ever want them to be the main threat ever again, but I think they're fine as just like, a potential hazard of this universe that we all have to deal with from time to time

[dusk jetty]

What one playthrough of the library does to a man

[unique rune]

Honestly, I don’t even really mind the Library nowadays lol

[dusk jetty]

It’s not that bad, just a drag

[unique rune]

I’ve found it surprisingly fun on occasion. CE is the only game where I even remotely enjoy fighting the Flood

[terse sage]

The flood done well are really fun

[orchid kettle]

The Flood feel best in Halo Wars, honestly

where they infect other units as well

and thats something you have to play around

[empty bloom]

I enjoy the Lobsterary.

[dusk jetty]

Halo wars being an RTS let’s them get creative with the flood

[terse sage]

I don't get why most promethean weapons are precision based when the flood use horde tactics

Given that the prometheans were made to fight the flood

[dusk jetty]

Didact is bonkers

That’s the only reason

Lol

Also scattershot, suppressor and incineration cannon

And the axe on the knights

[steel stone]

I never liked the the forerunner weapons, just slightly different BRs and ARs

[dusk jetty]

Eh, there’s no niche for them to fill that isn’t occupied already

Infinite did it best

[orchid kettle]

Thats always annoyed me. Covenant tech is supposed to be Forerunner devices with the serial numbers crossed off

[unique rune]

Covenant weapons have largely been the same way since H2 and no one complains about those

[orchid kettle]

and yet, Forerunner weapons resemble human weapons far more

[dusk jetty]

Heatwave is just a better version of the mastiff from titanfall, cindershot is a cooler grenade launcher

[dusty ferry]

Halo 4's Lightrifle combing the DMR and BR was by far the best usage of promethean stuff

[steel stone]

Halo lore is such a mess so many are saying forerunners were human and saying they are a seperate species

[terse sage]

Sticky det > literally anything else

[dusk jetty]

And the sentinel beam which is the sentinel beam

[dusty ferry]

Don't bring that mess up.

[steel stone]

The promeath weapons should been alterations of the Sentinel beam.

[dusk jetty]

It’s not a mess now, but it is still confusing

[empty bloom]

One shot, one kill, move on?

That's what I assumed

[orchid kettle]

whats funny is that Halo 4 is firmly in the "forerunners =/= humans" camp... and yet they made all the forerunner weapons analogous to the human ones

[steel stone]

Exactly

[dusty ferry]

Like, The lightrifle makes sense to have the burst fire for weaker flood forms, and the focused fire for the bigger forms

[empty bloom]

Honestly, when I was doing notes for a possible Halo 4 mod, redoing some of the weapons to function like the sentinel bean was my plan.

[dusty ferry]

The Boltshot in 4 having a similar thing, but with a charged short range death thing also fit that multirole aesthetic

[terse sage]

Also why have prometheans when you already literally have trillions of sentinels

[empty bloom]

Like having the Light Rifle fire in three short beams that turned into a single beam when you zoomed in.

[empty bloom]

Different machines for different tasks.

[dusty ferry]

which infinite's hardlight weapons also had

[orchid kettle]

sentinels cant mock you in your native tongue like Soldiers can

[empty bloom]

Also that

[steel stone]

Thats how they logically should of been like just laser based weapons. I wanted to use that cool small weapon they used in Halo Legends

[orchid kettle]

actually wait

[terse sage]

why tf are prometheans british

[orchid kettle]

yes they can

[empty bloom]

Sentinels and Prometheans fulfil different niches.

[dusty ferry]

The ball gets dropped by the suppressor and binary though

[orchid kettle]

the Onyx sentinel calls that Spartan-III gross subhuman filth

[empty bloom]

The suppressor should've been a battery weapon.

[steel stone]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZLYE7-XwAI1KSv?format=jpg&name=large

[empty bloom]

And the Halo 5 Binary Rifle fired beams

[dusty ferry]

The incineration cannon gets two firing modes in 5, so it also fits the forerunner multirole weapon thing

[terse sage]

the worst part of halo 5 isn't the campaign, its that the promethean soldiers are british

[steel stone]

Thats more like it

[orchid kettle]

i got a couple of beam ideas

[dusty ferry]

I guess, but I wasn't really sure if that should be counted as different from its bullet style from 4

[orchid kettle]

a beam that fans out wider and wider the longer the trigger is held, but gets a shorter range over time

[carmine sleet]

You sure you're not getting them mixed up with Cybermen? Both are shiny and silver in colour

[empty bloom]

I mean since it's not a confirmed 1hk it's kinda worse

[orchid kettle]

and a beam that reflects off walls and surfaces

like the heatwave but its a concentrated beam

[dusty ferry]

The suppressor gained tracking when smartlinking in 5 if i remember right, so it at least also got better

[carmine sleet]

It did gain tracking

[terse sage]

I'm pretty sure i remember the promethean soldiers having a british accent

[empty bloom]

I feel like the overcharged boltshot should've been 5 regular shots fired out in a super rapid burst instead of a shotgun.

[steel stone]

Didact only composed british people??? that guy is such a prick

[terse sage]

Tho i'm probably wrong

[empty bloom]

Promethean Armigers (Soldiers) are AI. Only Knights are composed humans.

... Or Forerunners.

[dusty ferry]

then it would have just been a smaller lightrifle.

[empty bloom]

Which is why you change the lightrifle, because the gimmick of shotgun pistol blows.

[steel stone]

Boltshot should of actually been this weapon

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FZLYE7-XwAI1KSv?format=jpg&name=large

Such a standout weapon

[carmine sleet]

But that's a different weapon

[dusty ferry]

Yeah, but making everything beams is boring

[empty bloom]

So standout it appears in an anime adaptation and literally nowhere else

[empty bloom]

I'd take beams and bursts over 'haha instakill shotgun on otherwise useless pistol'

[dusty ferry]

It is still by far the coolest weapon that we've seen on an infantry level

[carmine sleet]

If I wasn't in bed, I'd pull up the notes for what I'd do the the boltshot if I was gonna rebalance it

[steel stone]

I think most of them should been beams because its a very unique type of weapon, can imagine someone with creativity could come up with a sick design

[dusty ferry]

Yeah, boltshot's shotgun effect shouldn't have been a oneshot

i'd have perferred a less concentrated effect which hit further to the sides of your vision

[steel stone]

Halo 4 is that one game where I dont how it could be fixed

[empty bloom]

Screw it, hold down the trigger and it turns into a sword

[dusty ferry]

so it'd be more crowd management

or i guess have the altfire be what it did in 5? which is different enough given those bursts track

[dusk jetty]

Honestly just give all promethans arcane sentinel beam

[dusty ferry]

Like, I like how 50% of the promethean weapons were multirole, but for the life of me thats annoying to try and make work

[steel stone]

Or maybe give some a sentinel beam thats a normal beam but main difference is it has a red beam in the center while smaller or yellow beams swirl around it, adding an unstable charge

Or maybe make a sentinel beam that fires 4 lasers?

Or add a laser that travels upwards and homes in on enemies?

You can do anything with the sentinel beams its easy coming up with ideas for that weapon, just need creativity and knowing what the forerunners about

[carmine sleet]

You just suggested multiple beam types, many of which are just "Add more beams"

[dusty ferry]

like, i can take the lightrifle, and the incineration cannon of 5 as more or less perfect. Suppressor needs tracking as its altfire to fit that aesthetic, or a general rework of the suppressor. Binary can have either the one hit for big targets or the beam thing for crowd control. Boltshot is hardest.

[steel stone]

Still are interesting variants

[unique rune]

...Yeah I'm not sure if "make everything a Sentinel Beam variant" is really the answer here

[steel stone]

You could go even further and add some eviromental effects, like a cryo freeze beam.

Cryo weapons are now a thing in Halo lets put that to use

[carmine sleet]

Please no freeze rays in Halo FPS games

[dusty ferry]

I only accept freeze ray if it makes cover

and nothing else

[carmine sleet]

If I wanted to be constantly frozen by a freeze ray, I'd move to Gotham City

[steel stone]

Or could easily be a weapon not wielded by enemies in Campaign but found as a secret easter egg

[carmine sleet]

Plus like, in general, being frozen by someone in FPS games always feels terrible

[steel stone]

I dont see a problem with freeze weapons, just another cool thing for players to play with

[dusk jetty]

I can tell you’ve never played classic overwatch

[carmine sleet]

I guess you've not played Overwatch or Destiny 2

Because it was horrible in both

[unique rune]

Hell, just go back to Halo 5 and get hit by an overcharged Void's Tear plasma pistol

[steel stone]

Topic is should prometheans weapons be like the sentinel beam? I think I was wrong, just some not all, think its not a good idea to have them all as that but a small few so they feel connected to the sentienel beam

[carmine sleet]

That thing has the decency to at least kill you somewhat quickly

[dusty ferry]

There should have been at least one beam

[steel stone]

The main thing is does it feel like your using a weapon that feels sureal and mysterious?

Halo 4 forerunner weapons honesly lost that to me

[unique rune]

A continuous laser beam doesn't really give me that vibe either but okay

[carmine sleet]

I don't mind their look, I love the fact they reassemble when picked up

[steel stone]

https://twitter.com/Halopedia/status/1554542667840774146/photo/2 I ask that is weapon be added because it makes me question what the Forerunners were about

[steel stone]

That was an awesome thing they did, glad you mentioned it

[carmine sleet]

We don't need to look at their weapons to ask that

[steel stone]

Thats the mystery I look for

[carmine sleet]

And we already have the answer since the Forerunners were big on making sure they were on top

[steel stone]

Felt like they revealed the forerunners too much in Halo 4, felt like they lost their mysterious feel to me

[unique rune]

I mean the other thing is that Halo 4's weapons were also designed with the loadout system in mind
Because these weapons don't just exist in a vacuum of lore

[steel stone]

I remember that, cool idea but damn it really killed the game

[unique rune]

In general I just think if guns as redundant as the Covenant Carbine could exist with no complaints, H4 and H5's Promethean armory is fine

it's a little boring but they're functionally kinda interesting spins on typical firearm archetypes

[steel stone]

Carbine in Halo 4.....oh no

[dusty ferry]

If we get new hardlight weapons in infinite, I'd like them to follow the multifunction stuff the forerunners seemed to have

[steel stone]

I want the hardlight shield back so badly, i wanna wield it with a sword too 😦

[dusty ferry]

was it op? I've always wondered what halo 4's meta was

[carmine sleet]

It was fine, but the BR dominated in Halo 4

[steel stone]

DMR and Light Rifle I think were top weapons

[empty bloom]

Didn't stop people from being angry about redundancies, but what will?

[unique rune]

If I never hear about a "Covenant shotgun" or "human melee weapon" ever again it'll be too soon

[dusty ferry]

Redundancy made sense though. Multiple factions having weapons for similar roles made sense when they are you know, completely different

Who complained about it

[steel stone]

Some guy did a needler shotgun design a while back I think

[dusty ferry]

Actually, do the subanese crystals only exist on suban?

[unique rune]

Pretty sure they've only been found on Suban, canonically

[steel stone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYSuZrubvT4

[dusty ferry]

Man, I guess the needlers on Zeta Halo are going to be the first to run out of ammo i guess

[steel stone]

dont think its a shotgun but damn...

[dusty ferry]

Wait, have the banished on Zeta Halo contacted the ones in traditional space?

[unique rune]

I think everyone on 07 is still out of contact.

Assuming that one cut Infinite campaign cutscene is still being ignored

[dusty ferry]

I have to guess no given some of propoganda grunts lines, but I'm unsure

[dusty ferry]

I mean, The UNSC will eventually know where Zeta Halo is. Whenever the signal gets to them.

Though i guess that isn't really contact

[empty bloom]

I actually thought that was a really cool idea.

Though, frankly, I'm a bigger fan of the Halo Online Shotgun Carbine.

[orchid kettle]

Blamite's always been too cool to be restricted to a single weapon

[steel stone]

Ive not seen that sounds really cool

[dusty ferry]

Blamite has that issue where it should be a big traditional sangheeli thing, but we keep not seeing that

[steel stone]

They went downhill, we got the needle rifle and then they removed it. We got the needle carbine in Halo 5 then they removed it

[dusty ferry]

Like, the 2022 encyclopedia outright has needler style weapons have been restricted by the prophets to keep the sangheeli in check

but you won't really see sangheeli use needlers that often

[honest idol]

honestly i'd like to see someone just stick a shard on a stick and go spear combat

[steel stone]

I always saw the plasma rifle being the main signature weapon of Elites

[dusty ferry]

and you get maybe 3 weapons which use it in the FPS, one air vehicle in halo wars which uses blamite in an anti aircraft role, and the anti air turret in wars 1 also used needler ammo like that

I don't remember if wars 2 had anything like that in the turrets

oh yeah, and the sword Warthog which is the only time I've ever felt that needler stuff is important to any sangheeli faction

(note: that last sentence is supposed to also include the needle carbine)

[steel stone]

The whole needler and Elite things sounds like an excuse for them not add more needler based weapons

[dusty ferry]

Basically, only Halo 5 gave the impression that sangheeli actually cared that one of their moons had this unique resource

[steel stone]

Reminds me of the whole Elites cant be playable due to lore stuff.

[unique rune]

To be fair, blamite weaponry must be a massive logistical nightmare considering there’s only one known source in the galaxy for their ammunition

[dusty ferry]

True, however it seems like suban has to be massive if it can support all the needlers we see in game given its a common infantry weapon

[empty bloom]

The second from left, the Type-51D.

I'd love to see someone put these in Halo 3 tbh

[steel stone]

Fans just really do stuff so amazingly well that is stunning

[dusty ferry]

To be honest, I'd like a game set during the war the arbiter was fighting on sanghelios where you play an elite and get to see a bunch of fun weird weapons being made in that vague cambriane explosion of new stuff thats implied from Halo 5 req descriptions

[empty bloom]

No, this was Halo Online.

It was official, not fanmade.

[steel stone]

This is the russian version??? I cant remember

[dusty ferry]

That was a different thing I think

[steel stone]

I think it was shutdown and brought back again by fans

[empty bloom]

Yessish.

TBH, I'd have loved to see Covenant weapons with this sort of variance in an actual game.

[dusty ferry]

Actually, a game where you play with whatever team of joint ops swords and UNSC guys which got the Sword Warthog made would be baller

[steel stone]

Those variants actually look different, they were just lazy with infinite

They made many of weapons a flat white colour with barely any actually changes

[dusty ferry]

I mean, Some of the variants are actually distinct. Bandit EVO has the scope...

[steel stone]

Halo 5 had some awesome looking skins for the req weapons but Halo Infinite they didnt bother

[empty bloom]

Well, tbf, skin changes in 5 were all that the variants had usually

[dusty ferry]

wait, i can't name differences beyond UNSC things getting yellow highlights and Banished things becoming white

[honest idol]

From what I gathered (and largely assume), there was a studio who were originally contracted to proto Halo 3 on PC as a test case for MCC being ported. After the project was closed, some of the files got out, and ended up in a public release which was quickly cease/desisted by Microsoft.

Don't quote me here; could be wrong and this is just what I've heard and put together

[steel stone]

Thats really interesting thanks for sharing

[unique rune]

That's pretty much it. Banished and Forerunner weapons got a coat of white paint, UNSC got some yellow striping.

[dusty ferry]

I want to say some things got more visible changes, but i legit can't think of any which aren't bloodblade and diminisher of hope, or the bandit evo

I guess the Skewer had visibly different ammunition? and that was the main change in the variant

[steel stone]

I swear Its so hard finding something positive for 343. They added swappable seats, AI in forge, 28 players. I just cant

[dusty ferry]

And it does make sense most of the energy weapons aren't super visually distinct. That'd be mostly internal stuff

though having the change generally be white paint is weak

[steel stone]

Im gonna jump on Infinite and host a flawed map of mine and hope It works

[meager pier]

Even though it's still a while away, how excited are you for Epitaph

[steel stone]

I don't follow the books honestly I focus on the games and the story contained in the games

Only book I think I looked into was that comic showing what happen to Chief when he was onboard the dreadnought during Halo 2s ending.

Its very Halo 2, art was sick as hell, chief still has cool one liners still and stuck a brute on the balls with a plasma grenade

That was a good comic

Others didnt grab my attention, man would like a comic explaining how Noble team was formed, explaining who Thom was as well.

[terse sage]

I really liked Rubicon Protocol because it explained a lot from Infinite

Like the dead spartans and a lot of the stuff happening on the ring

[dusty ferry]

I also like how it wasn’t entirely needed to understand the game on its own.

We got enough in game to get the gist of the past six months, but the book itself still adds to that story

It’s a great balance future tie ins should go for

[austere bison]

Rubicon Protocol was a nice new novel that was highly relevant to Halo Infinite story much needed background info

Was displayed

[icy yoke]

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/halofanon/images/2/25/Kevin-powell-anlace-starboard.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20230713041544

Good example render Anlace class frigate

Anlace is one my facorites

have fan theoies to it's more unique design

[versed helm]

How powerful is 'Nyon's covenant?

[patent aspen]

over 9000

look at me I made a topical meme

[rancid whale]

I feel that mendakin biases lore is the hardest to follow

[patent aspen]

Yeah because the Forerunner Saga tells a radically different story than the terminals lol

[meager pier]

Man, I really hope we eventually get Mendicant Bias in-game at some point

The next game might have Offensive Bias in there, would be cool to have the other Contendor-class ancilla in there down the road

[patent aspen]

He technically kinda appears in Halo 2 & 3 lol

[obsidian thistle]

We technically even heard em during IRIS!

And interacted with them directly

Thats better than seeing em

Shame you had to be there in 2007. Something I was not

[autumn plaza]

The best part is that Frank O'Connor's terminals don't even line up with 343's lore.

[abstract wren]

Don't understand the hype around them. Especially with how transmedia character were received in the past and how they would be used in FPS game that is supposed to be "fun" and not "complicated like Halo 5" MB and OB are exacly the opposite of fun and uncomplicated

[carmine sleet]

I don't see Mendicant showing up in any games in a meaningful way

Offensive Bias, however, I could see showing up in the future

Though as friend or foe, I don't know

Like, I imagine that with everything that's gone on with the Created and Zeta Halo disappearing as far as the wider galaxy is aware, Offensive likely would want to make sure that the ring isn't compromised again

[stoic hamlet]

third times the charm, amirite?

[carmine sleet]

Yeah

Would not be surprised if Offensive is just like "I left the ring for 1,000,000 years and you did this to it?! It was enough of a pain the last time it was damaged!!"

[stoic hamlet]

OB wakes up, sees the situation and just sighs.

He’s not mad, just disappointed.

[carmine sleet]

He just goes back to sleep as he can't be bothered today

[meager pier]

I imagine with the release of the Endless at the end of Infinite, I imagine Offensive Bias will ally with Chief and team to stop the Endless from doing whatever it is they plan on doing

[carmine sleet]

I would hope so

[meager pier]

If he appears in the next game, I hope he has this scale https://halo.wiki.gallery/images/f/f3/Enc22_LargeOffensiveBias.jpg

[dusky lava]

Would you guys say that the master chief story trilogy (Silent Storm, Oblivion, and Shadow of Reach) can be read without reading any other books prior? or is there other books that have context for them that i need to read

Sorry i come in here and ask these questions a lot haha

[unique rune]

You should be fine as long as you’ve got a general idea of what’s going on with the stuff like the Spartans and the war against the Covenant

[meager pier]

You could

There are references to Eric Nylund book stuff, but in general, Denning explains the characters and other elements he carries over from Nylund's books

[stoic hamlet]

I still definitely think Silent Storm benefits massively from reading the prior material.

It’s a love letter to the EU, in many respects. You get a lot more out of it with prior knowledge.

[dusky lava]

Okay i was planning on reading the fall of reach, the flood, and first strike first to get a little ground work and then skipping around to more modern stuff

after hearing that ill probably stick with that plan since Nylund's work sounds important anyways

[stoic hamlet]

I’d recommend adding Ghosts of Onyx to that list. The fourth book released, and arguably his best. Many consider it to be the best Halo book.

After Ghosts you’re (sort of) free to jump around.

[dusky lava]

okay cool

generally speaking, after those 4, is pretty much every trilogy good to read on its own, or is there still important books that connect to other trilogies?

[unique rune]

They’re mostly independent of each other

Though Kilo-Five kinda follows off of Ghosts of Onyx and the Rion Forge books have some connections to the Forerunner Saga

[orchid kettle]

I could have done with Cole's ex-wife not being there

I feel like it kinda makes her lamer

[stoic hamlet]

I kinda liked it, actually. It’s a bit odd, because I do despise the “great men fallacy” and the oh-so-common trope in fiction that everyone knows everyone, I didn’t mind it here, for whatever reason. It didn’t feel as egregious.

[orchid kettle]

Well, I meant how seeing her in this more antagonistic role kinda poisons how you're supposed to view her later in Impossible Life, where she's very much the cat woman to Cole's batman

Only now it's like if cat woman ||almost went and got billions killed for her own purposes||

[stoic hamlet]

Oh, I get you, yeah. It’s a bit out of place.

[orchid kettle]

I dunno, I always felt like it was intentional how after years of Innies being portrayed as bombers because CH and Cole Protocol were very post-911 stories and wanted to draw parallels with the current conflicts in the middle east, Nylund stuck to his guns and Cole's gf is just a freedom fighter

and she's never seen engaging in actions like we see in CH or Cole Protocol

[empty bloom]

It's almost as though there's different levels of insurrectionists and rebellions.

[last anchor]

Different views and different drives.

[orchid kettle]

Yeah, but Im pretty sure they name drop the Reach Innies who blew up a civilian cruise liner in Silent Storm as well

[last anchor]

And Jerald Anders widow.

[orchid kettle]

the whole scene has a real Sinister Six vibe that I don't really think meshes well with Castilla

I dunno, it reads more like Denning was looking up notable Insurrectionist groups on halopedia rather than a display of his understanding of these characters

[last anchor]

Considering none of them showed up again afterwards he probably was.

Silent Storm is really just set up for later material anyway so.

At least he DID look stuff up...its nice to see him using previous existing material again.

[orchid kettle]

i grow tired of set up

i desire complete narratives

because yeah, the Innie Council plotline just kinda stops in Silent Storm, and its never really a factor again

[stoic hamlet]

Like Mamore instead of Gao.

Even though Gao is featured via Nyeto, I’m glad Mamore finally got a mention again, lol.

Feels far more like things should be focused on that world than anywhere else when it comes to the insurrection.

That place has gotta be a total police state at this point.

[last anchor]

I'd think so, yeah.
Nyeto was a cool callback though.

Albiet talking with Denning at HCS made it sound like a lot of what we think he does unintentionally is in fact intentional, he keeps his stuff within his own work because of writing limitations

[stoic hamlet]

I mean I kinda figured.

I harp on it a lot, (and I mean, a lot,) but I do get it.

It’s just a shame, because his stuff feels so small when it shouldn’t? If that makes sense.

The new stuff or characters he adds don’t feel like they’re being added to the universe… just his works. If that makes sense?

Along with other issues when it comes to established characters. Those can’t be a case of writing limitations, in some ways, especially with Saber, for example, it feels almost malicious… maybe that’s too strong a word.

[stoic hamlet]

Though what do you mean by unintentionally?

[last anchor]

The word I heard among those not fully in the know was kind of a "oh, Denning's too obsessed iwth his own work to do anything else, look how he keeps bringing Gao up instead of branching out!"

Hearing how it is to work on a tie in novel from him, for two different universe, it makes it seem more like a consious choice.

Workign with what hes already had basically.

[orchid kettle]

To be honest, I don't really mind that a Halo writer gets to make his own pet planet as a reward for his contributions

its just kinda the issue that at this point, the Halo books are Denning and Kelly

[stoic hamlet]

I mean…. Yeah.

But it does kinda get obnoxious when Gao is constantly brought up when it doesn’t need to be, lol.

Once or twice sure, but like, it’s popped up in places it has no right to. Like it had no reason to have that one 717th member get mentioned in Shadows of Reach. Just so Denning could mention the events of Last Light again.

That’s kinda what I mean with the Gao stuff.

(When I complain about it, anyways.)

[empty bloom]

Well, isn't the new one not Denning or Kelly?

[orchid kettle]

I just think the bigger offense is the repeat of plot structure, scenes stretching well past their welcome because of how he writes dialogue

[empty bloom]

Not the Didact one, the other one.

[stoic hamlet]

Empty Throne, yeah.

[empty bloom]

The one people are theorizing is about operation breaker trip or whatever

I will seethe if the Banished somehow clip-winged the damn domain from the Created

[last anchor]

Thats the thing that annoys me. The pet planet idea.

[orchid kettle]

Like, Oblivion, Shadow of Reach, and Divine Wind are all the same story. Our protag group lands on a hostile world with their goal being to point A to point B, and the whole story is traversing a wasteland with the only real "twist" being how the protags come into contact with some natives and team up with them

[last anchor]

Traviss had it with Venezia too honestly, though its bene in other hands since then.

But no one but Denning has done anything with Gao

[orchid kettle]

In my mind, Gao and Venezia are essentially the same planet lol

[last anchor]

Empty Throne is its own thing, I'd be very down to see a different take on the Banished.

[empty bloom]

For all of the has pet planet Denning has with Gao, we still don't know Jack about Gao.

[orchid kettle]

maybe that's the issue too

[last anchor]

More for the loss too, it has indigenous weapon and vehicle design!

Give us more of that!

We dont even know what the emblem of the Ministry of Protection is!

I straight up asked Grim and Denning at HCS and they just looked at each other and went "uhhhhh"

[stoic hamlet]

But even Kelly does this somewhat better than Denning, I feel.

When she mentions planets, it’s almost in passing with no real focus to them. It feels organic.

Like her mention of Browning and Horvath both being from Alluvion.

It happens, then it’s gone.

There’s no “remember when a few years ago we did X? Of all the operations we went on, you know, don’t you remember that one?” Or “Did I tell you about the operation on Gao Chief? You wanna hear about it?”

[last anchor]

I mean, sure, yeah, tiny minor nerd quote literally NO ONE but me would care about but...

[orchid kettle]

Denning just kinda tends to focus more on plot more than anything, be it world building or characterization

[last anchor]

He also reiterates stuff a bit, like in Silent Storm when we learn about the way the Stanchion operates in vacuum, TWICE

[stoic hamlet]

It’s just his style of writing.

But yeah, it can get grating at times.

[meager pier]

With Empty Throne, what do you theorize the heroes could be looking for, which the synopsis says is something forgotten from an old war

[stoic hamlet]

Someone (I can’t recall who) said maybe the Janus Key? But I’m not sure.

[grand prairie]

Very annoying lol. I feel like it just gets mentioned in the most random places when it is not needed.

[last anchor]

Im still waiting for my mirror darkly to Gao and Venezia.

A hyperpatriotic stupidly aggressive pro-UNSC world.

Like, hilariously so

[empty bloom]

I doubt they thought about emblems as much as some random weirdo on the internet with nothing better to do.

Look at them, not me.

[last anchor]

Didnt figure.

[meager pier]

Possibly, though with the synopsis saying it’s living, who knows

[orchid kettle]

Kelly I think has made the wiser decision to focus on characterization above all else

[stoic hamlet]

Figured that might have been Neos Atlantis?

Maybe Corbulo, I guess.

[stoic hamlet]

Agreed.

[orchid kettle]

You can complain about Rion's crew feeling too Firefly-y or whatever, but at least I could tell you what every character wants in life, and what their dynamic is with each other

[stoic hamlet]

Characterization, even slight, can really help sell a plotline, more than just the plotline can.

Like, I recently reread the Mona Lisa, and that story works because of its characters. They’re all great to read. I think if it was too plot focused it would have failed.

The same is true of Breaking Strain, which features a Spartan. And his stoicism in that works in his favour, because it’s a characterization in and of itself.

[orchid kettle]

Yeah, just having one or two character traits highlighted can go a long way

some people may complain that its not realistic for all these characters to immediately put their eccentric personality on full display, but you just kinda have to do stuff like that in a story

because the audience doesn't have weeks or months to slowly learn about a person

[stoic hamlet]

I mean you can make it work naturally too.

It’s just about writing it well.

Difference between exposition dump and natural revelations.

Doing it through dialogue or actions, etc.

[orchid kettle]

when you only got a few hours, and you got stuff to do, it can be pretty effective to bust out the loud personalities

[stoic hamlet]

Even how you have them speak could indicate a difference in characterization. Or at least give people something to latch onto.

[patent aspen]

Denning’s inter-character conversations are a freakin disaster

Everyone speaks in such a bizarre way

[orchid kettle]

He's going for a verbal spar kinda deal, but it's between every character, and the spar proceeds the same way every time

[patent aspen]

And the “sparring” even happens between allies for some reason

[orchid kettle]

"We detected Dingle Particles in the atmosphere, the enemy must be preparing their Big Gun!"

"No, if they meant to fire their Big Gun, they would have arrived fully loaded, that must mean--"

30 minutes of speculation

[patent aspen]

Yep. Except the first sentence would never be a complete thought

"We detected Dingle Particles in the atmosphere!”

“Dingle Particles? That must mean they are preparing their Big Gun!”

"No, if they meant to fire their Big Gun, they would have arrived fully loaded, that must mean X.”

“X?! It cannot be so! The Dingles are matching the frequency of Y!”

[orchid kettle]

There are some chapters in the books too where characters, on barely any information, will infer the entire plot flawlessly

and I just don't buy it lol

[patent aspen]

Oh I actually haven’t noticed that as much.

It feels like they infer incorrectly a lot

Which is just frustrating

[orchid kettle]

It happens in Silent Storm twice. Silent Storm man sees one pixel is brighter than the others, and is able to deduce that humans have stealth ships superior to their own

[patent aspen]

Oh yeah.

[orchid kettle]

and Chief later surmises that the Innies have teamed up with the Covenant because they ran into them on the moon by pure coincidence

[patent aspen]

Oh at least he arrived at a “correct” answer the wrong way

[meager pier]

Do you prefer Troy Denning or Kelly Gay?

[patent aspen]

I don’t like Kelly Gay’s prose

[stoic hamlet]

Specifically because they had a built up base… but like… why wouldn’t they?

How is that the key information used to make that deduction?

[patent aspen]

Yeah that whole sideplot was weird as hell

[orchid kettle]

i am a Gay man myself

[patent aspen]

I hate everything

[orchid kettle]

I do genuinely really like the Rion Forge stuff. Sure, its Daddy Issues Galore, but Kelly feels like she actually sat down and thought Rion's character through.

[empty bloom]

My favorite writings are the unhinged stuff that originates in the Halo fandom deep net.

Like that one dude's AU that had Chief taking all the IIs and IIIs because he hates the IVs and the UNSC, and decides to start a new country where he kidnaps more kids and makes Spartan Vs (This is a good thing).

[orchid kettle]

While like, Veta Lopis is the victim of a sexual assault, which is a pretty heavy backstory

[patent aspen]

She’s a good character writer for sure

[orchid kettle]

but it doesn't really play into anything

her PTSD is never really a problem, and Fred cures it by looking good shirtless

and then from then on, she's written like she's just Spunky Master Chief

[meager pier]

Excited to see how Kelly Gay’ll bring the Didact’s story to an end

[patent aspen]

“OH THAT REMINDS OF THE CABIN. IT WAS ALSO DARK AND CRAMPED” — randomly interjected whenever something is dark or cramped

And that’s the extent of it for three books

[orchid kettle]

what gets me is introducing claustrophobia-- but never actually having Veta be paralyzed by it and needing Fred's support to get through it

you know-- like a character arc would include

[patent aspen]

There’s no character arcs lol

Remember when Castor gave up his entire religion on a dime

[orchid kettle]

At least Castor had his bro elite

that was kinda cute

Even though the Elite kept talking like he was up to something mysterious and his allegiances were truly impossible to know

but he never like, actually schemes or plots anything

dude said he's here to watch

and I guess he really was

Guess he just really likes speaking cryptically

[patent aspen]

Yeah I thought he had been secretly clued into the Ferrets’ plan and that’s why he continued to help Castor bring her

But no?

[orchid kettle]

And in the inverse situation-- you have Arby and the Oath Warden

where the dude is clearly scummy, we're told as much over and over

but we're told so much that it felt like a red herring, and actually he was gonna be a bro

[patent aspen]

“I kind of resented that the girl I liked was able to free herself without my help. But does that really make me want to wipe out all sentient life in the Milky Way? I need to think about it.”

[orchid kettle]

but no, he's a problem from start to finish

and I don't know why Arby tolerated him this whole time

[unique rune]

are you doing ok

[empty bloom]

NGL, that's a pretty funny character trait, even if there's no payoff. I'd have loved for it to have been explicitly 'nah, he is literally just messing with Castor.'

[empty bloom]

Look at him, not me.

[orchid kettle]

"The inner workings of my mind are an enigma..."

bro is just homeless

he wears no sword or armor because that tunic is legit all he owns

[carmine sleet]

Ah, the "Child soldiers are good actually" people. I would be so rich if I had a nickel for every time I've seen one. So tiring to explain why it's a terrible idea

[carmine sleet]

Sometimes you just gotta speak cryptically because you like the vibe of being the mysterious person

[surreal glen]

As Halsey said in Spartan Ops, the first step to make Spartans out of children was to first remove their childhood and make them behave like adults

[empty bloom]

If someone doesn't immediately understand why that is one of the worst possible ideas, that scares me.

[orchid kettle]

what I don't get are the people who say they wish they could be spartan-iis

like, enjoy your daily Mendez beating bro

[unique rune]

gotta get on that grindset

[orchid kettle]

i am winning that relay race on the first day for the all you can eat ice cream

and then i am dying on day 2

[carmine sleet]

Aye, same here, which is why I hate seeing it so often

[unique rune]

you’re not a real man unless you’ve watched 30 of your closest friends die in surgery

[carmine sleet]

I love the Spartan IIs ans IIIs but I would never want to actually go through what they did

[orchid kettle]

probably rather be dead than the people so disfigured they had to live in the Goo for the rest of their lives

[empty bloom]

Get your face clubbed in for a gentle correction regarding your name

[carmine sleet]

Yeah... The ones that died are the lucky ones

[empty bloom]

Considering how IVs are basically stuffed to the gills with new stuff, they don't sound much happier, lmao.

That post-op has to hurt.

[last anchor]

It is...unpleasant, I would assume.

[carmine sleet]

Yeah, but at least they all consented

[unique rune]

The idea of Chief breaking off to create his own human splinter faction is hilarious tbh

[empty bloom]

Chief, famed statesman and hater of Spartans who aren't IIs and IIIs (He has never once interacted with a III in any form of canon as far as I know)

[orchid kettle]

he could smell Six's dirty paws on Cortana's data chip in CE

[empty bloom]

No you don't understand he loves IIIs

He hates Palmer and all IVs because he was indignant over being called a manlet, you see.

[unique rune]

Hero to all eggheads

[safe hawk]

Halsey did nothing wrong

[grim nexus]

Yes she did

[patent aspen]

Okay, real talk: are people forgetting the Carver Findings or consciously disregarding them?

Because yeah they were kinda stupid

[meager pier]

Hope Halsey appears in the next game 🤞

[stoic hamlet]

No don’t worry, they were fixed later, more or less completely fixing that massive issue.

[stoic hamlet]

He apparently trained with some in wargames on Infinity… but we never see or hear any of this, it’s like a single line mention and that’s it.

Because we’re not allowed to explore anything else except this one specific plot we’re focusing on right now.

Anyone remember when the older books would have flashbacks and stuff? I do.

[polar fog]

@echo portal

How in the world did Seargent Johnson survive in Halo CE

[surreal glen]

He survived through bad writing

[unique rune]

He survived via the power of gun

and also popularity

[pallid knoll]

he and a few other people left Alpha Halo in one of the books

I think the book was First Strike

[surreal glen]

You see that Halo 5 haters?

Halo 2 also requires a book in order to understand context

[patent aspen]

People just assume the EU improves Halo 5. It really doesn’t.

[surreal glen]

Not improve, just explain

[terse lava]

There is another main difference here. Halo CE was met as a standalone game. No sequel was originally planned for it

[pallid knoll]

Halo 2 doesn’t require it as Johnson dies on multiple occasions throughout CE’s campaign, only to return unscathed in the same mission, and is also somehow on opposite ends of the ring at the exact same time, so it’s not really necessary to explain it once Bungie decided he should actually be a character

[patent aspen]

(Halo 5 doesn’t require context either. It’s just bad.)

[terse lava]

Halo 5 wasn't all bad. We got to see Sangheilos. Pity though it was a rather small section.

[last anchor]

Like many Halo games, it could have done well with more time to cook.

But really, what game these days wouldnt.

[terse lava]

It frankly doesn't help you can toss a game out half-baked and rely on later DLC to pad it out

[pallid knoll]

there was some good stuff in Halo 5, though it’s overshadowed by the game’s problems

the thing that comes to mind for me is how Halo 5 mastered the health UI

[surreal glen]

The most important part of a game is gameplay

And Halo 5 has an amazing gameplay

[terse lava]

that seems more personal opinion really

[unique rune]

5 has its issues but as an overall package I think its positives outweigh its negatives

Really just wish 343 didn’t have such a big problem with committing to narrative ideas

[terse lava]

Yeah still would have preferred the Didact as the main baddie of the "Reclaimer Saga."

[pallid knoll]

should I play Halo 5’s multiplayer some time?

I only played the campaign and then promptly uninstalled

[patent aspen]

Halo 5’s gameplay is good! Its story is not.

[pallid knoll]

though the rest of the game still factors in

[patent aspen]

I didn’t know this was a hot take

[terse lava]

Eh I figure halo 5 is just falling into that iconic pattern that the rest of the series(bar CE) did

[patent aspen]

I wonder how much that is influenced by new players coming in and praising the previous entry

Idk but my opinions have all been pretty static

[terse lava]

Perhaps, but the wheel on this turns regardless. Let's not forget the hate halo 2 got for simply including the Arbiter as a playable character.

And the Reach hate for the various AA abilities that now are praised.

[patent aspen]

…Not nearly as much as people say it did!

[terse lava]

There was a website dedicated to boycotting Halo 2

[patent aspen]

Yep! And they never mention the Arbiter once!

It’s all archived!

It’s all about SMG starts lol

[terse lava]

Oh, I didn't mean to imply Thel was the core of that halo 2 hate. Just that it was one among others

[patent aspen]

Yeah sure

[hot zodiac]

Halo 2 hate was an outlier. The game was as well received as a hot meal on a cold day.

[patent aspen]

^ people grossly overexaggerate the hate yeah

[hot zodiac]

And the opinion on that hasn't really changed either.

[patent aspen]

There was a website whining about SMG starts which I’ll also agree was a weird decision

[terse lava]

Quite

[hot zodiac]

Also, Reach still gets flak. It was divisive, not hated.

[unique rune]

I think a lot of it is just kind of. An internet thing

You can’t have middle ground opinions anymore, especially if you’re some kind of content creator. You’re either all for or all against something, and being against something is always more attention grabbing

[empty bloom]

I actually liked it from the start, I'm just sick and tired about hearing grousing about it constantly.

[patent aspen]

Halo: Reach’s story is halo 5 tier

[empty bloom]

You'd have put me in a bind if that were even approaching correct.

[terse lava]

You were being serious?

[empty bloom]

Reach is as bad as people think 5 is. 5 is as bad as people think 4 is.

[patent aspen]

“Let’s follow a bunch of boring characters meander around in a nothing plot”

[terse lava]

I must say I disliked the game from the get go, but I won't deny there were things in it that I enjoyed

[patent aspen]

Both stories had heavy Frank O’Connor involvement so it makes sense

[unique rune]

Honestly I would attribute a lot of my early complaining about 5 to being, well, like... 14 at the time? So, uh.

[empty bloom]

Me with 4

[hot zodiac]

Stop lying.

[patent aspen]

Frankie claims both!

[empty bloom]

I liked 5's plot from the start though, I thought it was actually a pretty neat subversion of expectations (I literally never once believed Cortana would be dead-dead, because who would be dumb enough to believe that?)

[patent aspen]

Unless Frankie’s lying.

[terse lava]

I agree with you there. I get the point is to get some form of attachment to Noble Team, but it doesn't really work well. It doesn't help you always fight on the outskirts of far larger battles

[patent aspen]

Or you’re making up facts.

[terse lava]

If they had to bring Cortana back, I think they could have at least done it better. That original h5 trailer to me hinted she was dead-dead, but could perhaps be revived via some Forerunner tech

[hot zodiac]

I know, you know, and Frankie knows the game that released in 2010 was not mostly his work.

[empty bloom]

I genuinely believe that idea is worse in every way and I'm sorry.

Typing that out got me killed in Halo.

[patent aspen]

“Wrote most of the story and script”

Enjoy halo 5

[empty bloom]

Bruh.

[hot zodiac]

Say his next one.

[empty bloom]

Are you like 11?

[patent aspen]

8, actually

[pallid knoll]

divided by 2?

[patent aspen]

4

I did math

[pallid knoll]

that’s your age

[autumn plaza]

Just make a game in between Halo 5 and Infinite give Cortana the story she deserved. Then we can move on.

[empty bloom]

It's how annoying they're being.

[terse lava]

I was thinking more so, ghostly shards of her exist in the domain(somewhat like we get in the domain) that way it couldn't be determined if it was truly her, another puppeting these parts, or something else

[empty bloom]

Bout the same level of discourse as two 4 year olds arguing as well.

[patent aspen]

“I have heard it is both the best Halo game ever, and the Worst Halo game ever, almost every day since it launched. See also, all the other ones. I have a soft spot for Reach because I wrote most of the story and script. There’s some stuff we cut that would have been interesting.”

[hot zodiac]

Cortana was "revived" by Forerunner tech

[hot zodiac]

Don't act 4.

You have the level of discourse of a four year old.

[patent aspen]

damn right 😎

No but seriously if you like Halo: Reach’s story you should like Halo 5’s story. They’re bad in the exact same way.

[terse lava]

@hot zodiac She was indeed revivded via the domain sure. But the execution from a story standpoint still feels lacking. Though perhaps there is no true way to critizie that as if I recall, Bungie themselves planned that for CE. Cortana "going mad with power" and whatnot

[empty bloom]

Not even slightly.

Nice false equivelancy though.

[patent aspen]

Halo: Reach has decent cinematic storytelling at least

[terse lava]

Still a missed opportunity in Reach to defend a MAC gun generator as both a level, and firefight map

[hot zodiac]

There's really not enough context in the famous clip where that's said.

[terse lava]

Actually I am still surprised they didn't try doing that. There were 20 generators afterall

Fair, I did say "if I recall."

[unique rune]

Reach’s campaign always just makes me wish Bungie had committed more to making their own version of the Fall of Reach instead of doing this strange… half effort where they seem to be trying to have their cake and eat it too.

[empty bloom]

I could understand it being mostly her with some corruption-something disconnecting her more rational parts regarding her attraction to John.

But as it stands it's mostly uncorrupted, which honestly still works just fine for her character considering the life she led.

[terse lava]

I could buy that too yeah

[empty bloom]

But making it more explicit would smooth over some of the more hardcore angy opposition.

[terse lava]

Hm, wasn't it implied though the Cortana of the Created literally was all those rampant shards she seperated on Mantle's Approach. The "core" of her being the one that shielded Chief?

[empty bloom]

It's kind of implied, yeah.

[terse lava]

The rest survived and reformed in the domain.

[empty bloom]

But I think it's something even the real Cortana (Taking the Mantle by force) might have at the very least strongly considered.

Well, it was the real Cortana in the end either way, but you know what I mean

[hot zodiac]

Oh, I don't really blame anyone. Jason Jones didn't elaborate because it would've been a long story. TL;DR, Cortana would've probably gone Rampant from absorbing all the Data inside the rings system, and started to rebel humanity. At that point she would've likely been directly related to Durandal from Marathon.

[terse lava]

Yeah, I get it was "her" and "not her" at the same time

Can't recall, in that story idea was there any mention of how they would have gone forward with a rampant Cortana on the ring?

[hot zodiac]

Nothing about it has actually been discussed.

Besides "it was too good".

[terse lava]

okay

[hot zodiac]

The only thing I could be really sure of is she probably would've gone through all the stages of Rampancy and came out the other side.

[terse lava]

Can't blame that view, people were likely still riding the Terminator waves

ah

[patent aspen]

halo reach is Shakespeare

have I made amends

[terse lava]

You done ther C3?

Not fond of Reach either here but kinda milking it now

[empty bloom]

They likely won't stop until a mod gets involved.

[terse lava]

shrug Oh well

[empty bloom]

Anyways, here's how Halo 4's loadout system wasn't bad for existing.

It was bad because it didn't go far enough.

[terse lava]

hm?

[patent aspen]

Do mods ban people for not loving Halo Reach?

[empty bloom]

They ban people for being annoying.

[terse lava]

No, but you'd get a warning for coming off as too annoying or obnoxious

[unique rune]

Are we talking like "it should've been a hero shooter" or...

[empty bloom]

No, it should've been a class/loadout shooter.

[terse lava]

So you mean like Battlefront?

[empty bloom]

Kinda!

[terse lava]

(the original ones I guess I should say now)

hmm...I am not sure on that

I love those games yeah

but having it as Halo, there is that balance issues obviously

[patent aspen]

I love Halo Reach

[terse lava]

Star Wars gets away with that due to how their universe works. Everyone, for the most part, is on a form of equal footing tech wise

@patent aspen Okay

Man more I think on it, that MAC generator defense would have been an excellent way to also give a sort of "covenant campaign," to Reach as well.

[hot zodiac]

Give me the plot

[terse lava]

Er, nothing special really. Campaign likely a strong word really. Figure it would be more-so a glorified version of Invasion replacing Lone Wolf. Rather than that rally point where all the S-III die, just have them being whittled down level by level by the advancing Covenant.

[hot zodiac]

Replace Lone Wolf?

This sounds like a good idea if they wanted to have some sort of Call Of Duty-style postgame mission

[terse lava]

You could still get it I suppose, have the final mission be Lone Wolf somewhere as the final spartan

[hot zodiac]

This also sounds like somewhat of a playable version of the Radio story

[patent aspen]

Too late

[terse lava]

Never heard of that, I am just imagining a handful of levels set after POA, where you now take part in the invasion as some Covenant Sangheili battling the various S-III.

Not really giving this any serious thought

[hot zodiac]

https://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Reach_radio_conversations

[terse lava]

Oh that. I honestly thought you were referring to some Indie game

But yeah sure

[hot zodiac]

That would be pretty confusing lol

[hot zodiac]

Give it serious thought

[terse lava]

I may

[patent aspen]

Halo: Reach.

[orchid kettle]

honestly I think he kinda is

because doesn't he immediately claim "Oh, but I didn't write the things that everybody takes issue with!"

Which I just don't believe.

Because like, the "latchkey discovery" plotline is where a lot of the retcons are concerned. This is where we confusingly see a second Cortana hanging out in Halsey's lab, this is where it's implied that Halsey is getting data on Alpha Halo from this underground facility, it's where we deliver Cortana to Keyes

For Frankie's words to make sense, he'd have to have "written most of Reach", but coincidentally had nothing to do with the latchkey stuff

and that's arguably the most important plotline in the game because its what ties Reach to CE

[scarlet hinge]

a lot of the retcons are also to do with the timeline of the game, and pillar of autumn deciding to do a quick landing in the middle of a space battle

i actually prefer the longer timescale of the invasion, but it's definitely not in the spirit of the original work

[orchid kettle]

Well, the Autumn is there for the handoff, which is the end of the latchkey story

[scarlet hinge]

eh fair

[orchid kettle]

I kinda get the appeal of "Woah, Humanity's greatest fortress world fell in a single day"

but the longer time frame at least means the other worlds in Epsilon Eridani get to have their own lil campaigns too

[hot zodiac]

I also did NOT do the date/PoA positioning retcon, but it didn’t bother me and it helped with one aspect of the story. That happened after I left tho.

I don't believe he's lying. I think he's speaking wrong.

He said first:"I wrote most of the story" which, he was the guy writing the first drafts back in late 07 and early 08, so you could say this. Of course he was surely working off already decided plans from various meetings, but he was writing the script at the time. The main beats were probably there in some capacity, thus "most of the story".

The problem is, his full quote is "I wrote most of the story and script." As in verbatim written word.

This is just impossible. He had been removed from the game for 3 years, and the story had gone through many many changes. There's no way it's mostly verbatim his first drafts.

To this, he did actually follow up, but adding another point:

"Peter O’Brien (and others) made it vastly better than my drafts but I’m certainly not lying about it. I worked with Marcus Lehto and a ton of other people on the story pitch and early scripts and then went to Microsoft (again)."

It's kind of like an unintentional correction. It wasn't verbatim his drafts, other people made it "vastly better".

[orchid kettle]

I honestly don't know how you can fit a whole game on Reach without doing a lot of retcons

ODST got away with making a whole campaign in a single night because it had five different POV characters

[hot zodiac]

Yeah, It's not hard to see why they extended Reach's fall to the length of a full military campaign. That said a lot of reworks have been suggested.

It was a big deal then but nowadays it's kind of a smaller thing all things considered. Reach still falls.

[orchid kettle]

Well yeah, I personally don't think it's a huge deal since I don't think any character or emotion is being altered

I just feel like Frankie says some weird things sometimes and it leaves us all incredibly confused

like the whole "1 Spartan-II could beat up 10 IVs out of armor, but in armor they're equal."

and I just don't get how that's consistent with the idea that mjolnir multiplies your strength and speed and such

[hot zodiac]

The widest reaching aspect is that "fell in a day" part.

[orchid kettle]

Yeah, it's probably the only real casualty because the characters were talking a big game with how they thought Reach could never fall

and its supposed to be an even harder gut punch that it fell so quickly

[hot zodiac]

Kind of a bad example but, there's a part in I Love Bees where it's announced to the characters that Reach is gone. Already wiped off the map. And it's like the death call for Earth.

[orchid kettle]

but at the same time, I don't know if we even have that many long lasting campaigns against the Covenant in Halo. Besides Harvest, of course.

But at the very least, I always had the vibe that the Covenant showing up and smacking a planet's defense to smithereens instantly was the norm

[hot zodiac]

Oh it was yeah. The norm was getting blasted from orbit, like the original version

[orchid kettle]

So I dunno, at least there's more room for future stories set in the Epsilon Eridani system

since Staten went and expanded Reach's system with Tribute and Circumstance

and Tribute's invasion is a multiplayer map in Halo 4 and is mentioned in Blunt Instruments

The big yanme'e hive thing that's harvesting hydrogen-3 is supposed to be fueling a blockade back on Tribute

[hot zodiac]

I think one could make the argument Staten didn't intend to lengthen Reach's fall with that though

Of course, he didn't work on those stories

[orchid kettle]

Probably not, but it does mean there's this weird period in the lore between 2007 and 2010 where you just kinda have to assume that the other big worlds in the system also were falling in a single day

and nobody was talking about it

[hot zodiac]

Well, it was the norm

There's a side that's saying "it actually not surprising because that's what always happened" but there's another side pointing out how Reach's instant fall was still meant to be kind of shocking

[orchid kettle]

Oh I meant like, nobody talking about how these other important planets fell and exploded too

but i guess that's still true of Circumstance because it's never been mentioned again since Contact Harvest

And will probably continue to go unmentioned, because 343 made up their own world with a super prestigious military academy on it, and that was all Circumstance had going for it apparently

[stoic hamlet]

It was mentioned as the birthplace of Kurt. So there’s that.

[sacred rain]

@hot ravine i see you've been stalking me in r/halo apparently

[hot ravine]

Nah, you just guessed correctly lol

[sacred rain]

[carmine sleet]

Ok but when do we see a recreation of that painting in a Halo game?

[sacred rain]

i.... idk how to feel

i was kinda messin around about things

why do i keep turning out to be accidentally right

[carmine sleet]

Luck maybe?

[sacred rain]

i am an idiot savant when it comes to halo

[tribal trench]

I want to render this with a gravemind tearing apart some random spartan or something

[meager pier]

That painting still creeps me the hell out
Even creepier is the name of the painting is what others gave it, we have no idea what Goya named it, or if he even did....

[surreal glen]

Does the UNSC use robots as soldiers?

Spartans and marines are good enough, but do they also have robots?

[carmine sleet]

Depends, what kind are you talking about? Robots in the sense of an automated turret or pilotless drone or the more humanoid androids that most people would call a robot

Because we know they have automated turrets and drones

But pretty sure they don't have androids

[grand prairie]

Does anyone know what the lore behind the Scorpion Tail weapon in Infinite's mp?

[last anchor]

It'd a joke. They added it in as an Easter egg

[unique rune]

Yeah I think it’s just a way to get a tank cannon onto maps where tanks don’t really work great

[grand prairie]

Oof

[last anchor]

It only shows up on the one map that doesn't normally spawn a tank so

[safe mauve]

Is it mentioned in the lore how much does the flood increase your strength?

[dusk jetty]

No indication of androids, if that’s what you mean, but automated turrets and drones are shown

[dusk jetty]

No, but it does increase it to a degree that the UNSC is deathly afraid of flood infected Spartans

So, probably a lot.

[safe mauve]

Like bro look how high they jump n how far they can launch u like what happened to johnson

[dusk jetty]

I’d imagine your average combat form is about as strong as a brute or so

Considering how much more muscle mass you’re “given” when your infected

[stoic hamlet]

They’re likely more afraid of the Intel they have.

That would then fall into flood “hands”.

[safe mauve]

Yeah especially since a spartan team got infected by the flood

[hot ravine]

The context will become clear in the Waypoint Chronicle, we've had this on the books for months lol

[stoic hamlet]

I for one am hype.

[empty bloom]

I always figured it was more the sheer amount of armor and shields and systems a Spartan has, considering the intel's usually gone.

[dusk jetty]

Did the lore tidbit on waypoint mention a data wipe?

[empty bloom]

I mean the intel in the Spartan's head, lmao

[dusk jetty]

Yeah, bad phrasing on my part. I looked it up, gallows was initiated

So yes, I’d assume the unsc would be very, rightfully, afraid of any and all intel falling into flood hands

Especially a smart AI that could be in the neural matrix

You know, that’d actually be really cool

[tribal trench]

Today I learned that Sergeant Forge was a Spartan 1.1???? Why didn’t anybody tell me this

[dusk jetty]

Wait really?

[tribal trench]

apparently?? i’m double checking with halopedia rn

[dusk jetty]

That would be awesome if true

[empty bloom]

Still find it a shocker that I augs were enough to meaningfully affect gametes.

[tribal trench]

the ones that died during the invasion of earth seemed to think they were special

side note, @native coral do you know someone named FootedGhost?

[native coral]

I'm aware of my Footed brother 😉

[safe mauve]

Is it said how many were infected by the flood

[carmine sleet]

Like, as in the number of people within a specific outbreak or in general?

Because the Flood has infected billions over the millennias

[unique rune]

probably at least 2

maybe even 3

[carmine sleet]

le gasp Not 3!!

[obsidian thistle]

Depends how ya view it. But Lucy Orion Forge getting the name Orion is rather telling.

[safe hawk]

Was Spartans the only answer to combat against the insurrectionists?

[last anchor]

The only really effecient one that wouldnt drag humanity into a spiraling civil war the likes of which only the Horus Heresy equates to

[safe hawk]

Do you believe Halsey actions were justified?

[carmine sleet]

Using child soldiers is never a justifible action

[safe hawk]

There’s a guy that I’m debating with that said it was lol

Because insurrectionists were killing in the “millions”

[carmine sleet]

They definitely did attacks but I don't think they were on the regular killing that many people each time they attacked a place

[orchid kettle]

There's a big attack on New Harmony that killed 3 million people and it's supposed to be the event that really solidified Halsey's resolve

[orchid kettle]

If you believe in the Carver Finding, then technically overwhelming force was just what the guy recommended

and then the guy unalived himself when his recommendation actually led to war

There's surely the obvious alternative of just giving the colonies in question what they want and granting them independence

I can't imagine interplanetary trade would have dried up entirely or anything, but the UEG would have probably had to pay planets like Harvest more for their goods and whatnot

and I guess they were so unwilling to give up that total economic control that they would have much rather kidnap a bunch of kids and turn them into supersoldiers

[tropic forge]

It wasn't always the UEGs to give though, as sometimes the rebellion was against Inner Colony mega corporations.

Even the ones the UEG did have the option to grant them independence the power system was very beneficial to the Inner Colonies, which would make it pointedly unpopular and very difficult to get going politically. They can't just announce the results of the Carver Findings for obvious reasons so you're stuck trying to convince people who benefit very heavily from the system to dismantle the system conventionally.

It's also clear that UNSC police actions on a number of colonies made political solutions impossible.

If you can find it, check out the Fleet Battles booklet. It's got a great five hundred words or less summary of all the early Insurrection stuff.

[orchid kettle]

Well, funny enough, we see that in Contact Harvest, support for the UNSC, even on Earth, has fallen so far that Johnson is getting dirty looks for being a man in uniform, and a recruiter laments not being able to find anybody willing to sign up

[empty bloom]

Truly, this is an Oppenheimer bomb moment.