If you've listened to episode 002 of the 343 Sparkast you heard Vociferous and I mention an upcoming mailbag segment for the December Sparkast.

We're taking your questions! We'll pick our favorites and answer them on the show. So use this thread to ask* away!


*Asking does not guarantee you're question will be picked for the show. :(

First question.  Will there be any official word on why The Fall of Reach does not coincide with Halo Reach? (Pillar of Autumn)

I'll come up with more later.

1. Are you hoping to get the actors from the other games to work on the next game? (MP announcer, Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, etc.)

2. Is the next game going to be called Halo 4? Please say no.

3. Will you give us time to get to the top ranks in Halo: Reach before you release the next game?

4. Is the Arbiter supposed to be similar to Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter?

5. Will there be a Waypoint app for the Android platform?

6. Will you guys ever start doing your own weekly updates?

7. Is that still your favorite number?

8. If Bungie owns the rights to the Superintendent, is there any chance he will make another appearance?

9. Grunt Plushie

10. Can you give a target date for a beta? (2012, 2011, 2015, 2552)

11. Was Roland named after me?

12. Will we ever see a Mk. VII armor?

13. Will you ever give more support to Halo 2: Vista?

14. Will Jun ever be in a future game?

My question is: Will we see any fictional videos(ex: The Spartans, The Arbiter) about Dr. Halsey and/or about ONI anytime in the future?

What do you most enjoy about working at 343i? 

:) 

Why was there no legendary ending?

What was the fate of Noble 6?

And of course, why was it considered necessary to ignore 10 years of established canon.

There are so many grievances to ask, but I gotta start somewhere.

Especially the issue with the fleet engagement for control of Reach. Regarding this, the novel states that the UNSC's Monitoring stations caught the Covenant fleet easily. However, the game follows this ridiculous notion that the Covenant sent a scouting force, such that none of the UNSC sensors caught them. Even then, where were the 150 warships and 20 ODPs that were defending Reach? Surely, you don't intend that I should believe that a 27km SuperCarrier would go unnoticed by hundreds of satellites and spectroscopic sensors.

And even in the battle itself, the UNSC allowed the SuperCarrier to freely float in low orbit above Reach, like seriously, was there no home fleet defending the planet?

Following that, there is the issue of the armor testing. I don't even care about dates at this point, but Eric Nylund tried to fix an inconsistency by asserting that Halsey, the Spartans, and High Command actually sat around test the Mark V armor while the Covenant were murdering millions of human beings. Like seriously, tying loose ends are fine. But don't make it stupid.

*sigh* so much to ask...

Have mercy and answer at least one of those questions.

This is more of a demand than a question: Pull that Vociferous punk off the mic and bring back Frankie!

Okay, that's all I got.

Vociferous:

This is more of a demand than a question: Pull that Vociferous punk off the mic and bring back Frankie!

Okay, that's all I got.

What, I can't put context to my questions with critical analysis?

Otherwise, they would be softball questions.

And did I mention Frankie? No, I would assume you have a say too Vociferous.

And is it a demand? No, I've already admitted that you guys can choose whatever you want. I mean, it is stated in the OP.

Not so important question: Do you guys have a full staff yet, and what are the people you have now working on? Anything being done on the next Halo?

1. Do you plan to cater the next Halo to the casual crowd and entire market like Bungie tried to do with Reach, or do you plan on focusing your reticule on the long-time Halo fans and cater to what we expect? Bungie got the money, but population counts are proving they're losing their longevity.

2. Do you plan on going back to the roots of the franchise and try to rejuvenate the series or do you plan on picking up where Bungie left off? What I'm saying is, do you plan on rolling with the DMR, bloom, armor abilities, changed physics, multiplayer focused development and what not? Or are you going to look back to BRs, no bloom, deep stories and quick gameplay? (As you can tell by my wording, I'd love to go back to BRs/No bloom and play a Halo that plays like a Halo, not a casual-money grabber with the name "Halo" on it. I was a huge Halo fan boy and Reach gutted that part of me and left it to die. The only reason I'm hanging around is because I believe you guys can turn it around.)

3. Do you plan on devoting quality time to the lore and story? Halo was built on The Chief and the story, and with each game focused more and more on multiplayer. To me, it feels as though Reach's campaign is forced, fails to portray ambient life, and fails to connect to me. I was really disappointed by the end of it. :(

4. What can you tell me to restore my faith in Halo? Why should I give you a shot? Do you 100% believe, although under the pressure of wavering long-time fans, Bungie's empty shoes, and Microsoft's time and money goals, that Halo 4 will be the blockbusting title a Halo game is supposed to be? The Halo name is dangerously close to getting milked (if not already), and this next title is everything. It will either milk the series and prove it should have stopped (possibly even back at 3) or it will be one of the first to rejuvenate itself, stay relevant, and restore the magic we got back in the trilogy.

I'm a-scared 343.

I put all my eggs in one basket, and that basket is Halo. Reach cracked a few of my eggs, but the rest are in your hands. I'm going to stand in line for your title, I'm going to pop your title in my Xbox, I'm going to see the glimmering visor of Chief, and a tear is going to roll down my cheek. That's for certain. What's not for certain is how I'm going to feel when the credits roll. I desperately want that burning passion to coming roaring back like it did when I saw The Chief finished the fight and was floating towards an unknown planet. Although somewhat sad, that was one of the (if not the) highest feelings in my entire life.  I'm not sure I can go through another black-hole feeling like I did at the end of Reach. :(

So that's my two cents 343... no pressure though. ;D

A Puzzled Mind:

Vociferous:

This is more of a demand than a question: Pull that Vociferous punk off the mic and bring back Frankie!

Okay, that's all I got.

What, I can't put context to my questions with critical analysis?

Otherwise, they would be softball questions.

And did I mention Frankie? No, I would assume you have a say too Vociferous.

And is it a demand? No, I've already admitted that you guys can choose whatever you want. I mean, it is stated in the OP.

I don't think he was talking to you at ALL bud...

Re-read the post...

I think Vociferous was more likely to be acting as someone replying to the OP so yeah..

Anyways here are my questions:

Halo hasn't got anything new and exciting we can look forward to with media released once in a while... Surely we got the forerunner books, and the Halo Reach DLC, the comic books etc., but I just wished we had some footage of anything new to Halo.

Will we get to see anymore animation/CGI movies related to halo anytime this year or early next?

Will you guys announce anything at VGA? Or maybe E3 next year?

Oh! And one more thing Telligent.

I know Waypoint will show it's significance to the Halo Canon later, will Telligent be of the same significance? Maybe something you can't say yet, but if you guys can answer why telligent is highlightet in the forums thingy up there... Or maybe you can confirm whether or not Halo Waypoint is something we should consider might be more than our source for Halo News?

I read that once, some employee of 343 stated that there is more behind Halo Waypoint than we think..

Big Team Butch:

Not so important question: Do you guys have a full staff yet, and what are the people you have now working on? Anything being done on the next Halo?

1. Do you plan to cater the next Halo to the casual crowd and entire market like Bungie tried to do with Reach, or do you plan on focusing your reticule on the long-time Halo fans and cater to what we expect? Bungie got the money, but population counts are proving they're losing their longevity.

2. Do you plan on going back to the roots of the franchise and try to rejuvenate the series or do you plan on picking up where Bungie left off? What I'm saying is, do you plan on rolling with the DMR, bloom, armor abilities, changed physics, multiplayer focused development and what not? Or are you going to look back to BRs, no bloom, deep stories and quick gameplay? (As you can tell by my wording, I'd love to go back to BRs/No bloom and play a Halo that plays like a Halo, not a casual-money grabber with the name "Halo" on it. I was a huge Halo fan boy and Reach gutted that part of me and left it to die. The only reason I'm hanging around is because I believe you guys can turn it around.)

3. Do you plan on devoting quality time to the lore and story? Halo was built on The Chief and the story, and with each game focused more and more on multiplayer. To me, it feels as though Reach's campaign is forced, fails to portray ambient life, and fails to connect to me. I was really disappointed by the end of it. :(

4. What can you tell me to restore my faith in Halo? Why should I give you a shot? Do you 100% believe, although under the pressure of wavering long-time fans, Bungie's empty shoes, and Microsoft's time and money goals, that Halo 4 will be the blockbusting title a Halo game is supposed to be? The Halo name is dangerously close to getting milked (if not already), and this next title is everything. It will either milk the series and prove it should have stopped (possibly even back at 3) or it will be one of the first to rejuvenate itself, stay relevant, and restore the magic we got back in the trilogy.

I'm a-scared 343.

I put all my eggs in one basket, and that basket is Halo. Reach cracked a few of my eggs, but the rest are in your hands. I'm going to stand in line for your title, I'm going to pop your title in my Xbox, I'm going to see the glimmering visor of Chief, and a tear is going to roll down my cheek. That's for certain. What's not for certain is how I'm going to feel when the credits roll. I desperately want that burning passion to coming roaring back like it did when I saw The Chief finished the fight and was floating towards an unknown planet. Although somewhat sad, that was one of the (if not the) highest feelings in my entire life.  I'm not sure I can go through another black-hole feeling like I did at the end of Reach. :(

So that's my two cents 343... no pressure though. ;D

343 had nothing to do with the creation of Halo: Reach. That was all Bungie.

Anyway, more questions:

1. Droid forum app?

2. Will you guys make Halo: Reach DLC when Bungie stops supporting it?

3. Will you guys have open beta testing for your next game?

4. Are fans allowed to send gifts to you guys? I imagine you would fear bombs or other naughty things, so I wouldn't be surprised if you don't accept packages.

5. How radical will the changes from Halo: Reach to the next game be?

6. Will you guys still consult with Bungie for certain things?

7. Did you guys have anything to do with the Halo easter eggs in Kinectimals?

8. Do you guys play a lot of Halo: Reach matchmaking? How likely is it that we've actually seen you in the game? Do you have blue flames like Bungie? If not, will you when you takeover MM support from Bungie?

9. If you guys ever start production of a Halo movie, will you have any contest for fans to have cameos ala Halo 3?

10. Ditto for the above question, but for the next game.

11. Will you and Bungie be bitter rivals now?

12. Will you ever do tours of the offices for fans?

13. Do you have any need for unpaid interns?

"343 had nothing to do with the creation of Halo: Reach. That was all Bungie."

I have no idea how, based on what I said, you pulled that I had any reason to believe 343 had anything to do with the creation of Reach.  Ever in the first question I asked if they planned to pick up where Bungie left off. That alone should be enough to prove it. lol

So heres on,
Q) Is there any new Halo Storys you are going to tell and can you give any hints about what they are.