I think it's not that people [i]hate[/i] them, but that they're disappointed and feel that they could have done better. I enjoyed the game when it launched and I was quite optimistic about how they would refresh the series. However, observing them since then has been like watching a promising child star's fall from grace, and GDC was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. The reasons why I've withdrawn (which has been said millions of times on this site) are as follows: ­­• [b]They let down their fans.[/b] Promises weren't kept. Things turned out to be different than what was said. Year after year and Halo release after Halo release it seems that the number of people saying "This isn't Halo!" has increased. This is natural of course, but not unfounded, as the games have been growing further away from what defined them, with Reach being the biggest offender. Hope was put in the cycle being broken; alas, this was not the case. At first they'd show crisp gameplay without AAs and ordnance to say "Halo is back!". However, the true nature of the game and its shortcomings (like Campaign theater's removal) were mostly kept hidden until a week before release. Kudos to those with foresight to see this. • [b]They didn't support the community where it counte[/b]d early on (custom and competitive options being absent) which led to widespread apathy. [b]Halo sites and personalities are shutting down[/b]. 6 months later, the game was out of the top 5 on the LIVE charts. For a game that outsold all the other Halos, it's sad that it didn't outlast them there. [url=http://halocharts.com/2013/playlists_halo4.php]One look at the charts[/url] and it's obvious why - people played it for a week, realized it wasn't a "complete" Halo experience, and left (in some cases for the very game 343 tried to compete with). • [b]They rarely interact with their fans on their own forums[/b], and when they do it's either very PR'y or unrelated (see cookie bulletins). Nobody was expecting community involvement on Bungie's level so early, but then what reason is there to visit their site? The Waypoint UI/stats are slow to load and cumbersome to navigate. Coupled with moderation staff that filters out constructive criticism to the point where productive discussion isn't had and you just have a very sour forum experience. • [b]They hired people who hated Halo[/b], but this was a bad move IMO. You hire people who [i]appreciate[/i] and [i]understand[/i] Halo, but want to introduce new ideas to make it better. You don't hire people who dislike it and want to make it something else entirely (e.g. "I don't like how slow you spawn in Halo. Let's add instant spawning so you can spawn behind someone before his shields recharge. Then let's add a faster shield recharge perk!"). It seems like they hired people who wanted to make Halo a generic, mainstream shooter to capitalize on Call of Duty's success. The game has certainly improved since they've hired some new staff, but they're still beating around the bush and aren't hitting the updates where it matters. In an effort to personalize the game with their stamp, they skewed the original vision of Halo and put off fans by forcing the new one. I can't play without infinity's influence in some way, and Sprint is still forced into all modes. Instead of removing plasma pistols and grenades from loadouts to balance vehicles, they'll buff the vehicle's weapons, change the vehicles, or remove them from the map first. This is a classic case of "Trying to fix problems by creating more problems instead". • [b]They blame the community for this[/b] ([url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjWQyGi5nME]See GDC[/url]). The last point really drives it home and is why I chose not to bother. It was expected that they'd make mistakes as a company and learn how take the mantle of the Halo franchise (no easy task), but it just seems like they're hitting all the wrong notes. I think they'll need some restructuring and reorganizing of staff and mindset to pull themselves out of this hole. Halo fans just want a good Halo game led by a fun and engaging developer again. Reach was doomed to be a large schism in the community because of Bungie leaving, but even then we still had many people playing this time after release.

Because 343 changed their beloved series and defiled it's former glory. These same people seem to have forgotten that they hated Bungie no less that a year ago for doing the same thing with Halo: Reach. Don't get me wrong it feels quite different in many respects to classic Halo but it's not as bad of a game as "everyone" claims.

When they were hiring, their main thought process was to hire people who hate halo. I don't hate 343i, but that is an extremely stupid decision on their part. It's the complete opposite of what a game company should do.

Well..One thing I feel is their lack of attention to the Community. They don't have a "DeeJ" No one from 343 would ever post like the Bungie employees do here. 1. Halo 4 Forge was primarily farmed out to other companies like Certain Affinity. They didn't do a very good job with it. 2. Removal of aspects such as Elites from Custom Games 3. No Theater Mode for Campaign or Spartan Ops 4. Fileshare wasn't up & running for launch 5. JIP (Join In Progress for MM) This was HORRIBLE 6. They STILL run the "Link up with Bungie.net" daily challenge on REACH. 2x in 3 weeks

Self entitled negative nelly's. But they are somewhat justified in their disliking of the game, but overall it's a little ridiculous to say some of the extreme things the fans do.

I love 343.