This thread is inspired by another: view original post
Maybe I'm just a horrible Halo fan but I really haven't "understood" the story of Halo since Halo:CE. Can someone please explain this shit to me.
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13 Replies in this Sub-ThreadDon't even bother. Give up. As a nerd big into expanded universe stuff, I honest to God gave 343i and Greg Bear (Forerunner trilogy author) the benefit of the doubt and read the first book, Cryptum. It was so hard to read, and this is coming from a freak who is currently binging all nine novels of The Legacy of the Force in a week. I love to read and I am GOOD at it, and I couldn't freaking understand the new canon 343i created for Halo. Between that and piss-poor Reach TU gameplay decisions, I've given up on Halo and I will never give 343i another dollar.
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Most of it was really easy to understand. Besides, there was a glossary in the back of the book. But I actually find that the author explaining everything is an amatuer cliche. In response to your Star Wars example: One of the reasons Star Wars is the most popular Sci-Fi franchise of all time is because it appeals to the masses. There were no hard to grasp concepts, and everything in Star Wars was designed after human culture. And if you still can't grasp society in Star Wars, you still had thrilling action scenes with lots of bravado and explosions. That's why Star Wars is popular. It applies to the masses. Now, if the main character in Cryptum was a human, and constantly asking Forerunners questions we'd have two problems: 1. Humans shouldn't be able to ask complex questions that involve what needs to be asked because Humanity is just at the level of the Agricultural Revolution and Hunter-Gatherers. 2. Everything the Forerunner would be saying would be more directed at the reader, thus causing the main character to not grasp anything. Writing Cryptum in this way ensures a story focused on the characters and not explaining Forerunner society. In fact, they do explain lots of things in Cryptum, but they are incredibly different from our society and thus hard to grasp. This is essentially culture shock. Writing the book in this was is actually wonderful because it ensures that you get the raw, unfiltered Forerunner Society and culture. This allows the reader to interpret the society in there own way. Many Europeans thought Native-Americans were savages because they couldn't understand their way of life. It took quite a long while until that idea of them being savage was broken. Being introduced to a new culture with different words can be a slap in the face, but once you get past that initial burn and sting of the slap, it's wonderful.
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Then I suppose what I disagree with is the point-of-view. To me, the first-person alien immersion was an intellectual turn-off. I would have appreciated more distance, more detachment, again to gain a proper perspective to the storyline as it relates to the Halo I knew and loved. I'll agree with you that Cryptum was character-focused. But it was not character-driven. It was extremely plot-driven. We were along for a ride that not one of the main characters could do anything about. And you hit the nail on the head about Star Wars's appeal. It [i]was[/i] to the masses. The more people get into it, the more it sells, which is the point of making a lot of entertainment. It's good business to keep a franchise relatable and reachable for "the common man". As intellectually stimulating as such culture shock would be for some fans like yourself, that's not a very business-smart decision, because you start alienating potential customers, and in my case, other fans who might've kept buying but just couldn't get into this new direction. What is to gain by driving away customers? I guess we have to agree to disagree about Cryptum's quality in the end. Again, glad you liked it. Just not to my tastes.
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