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Re: The Loftus Approach
Posted By: Simpsons Rule <SimpsonsRule17@gmail.com>Date: 12/29/12 1:56 a.m.

In Response To: Re: The Loftus Approach (Cody Miller)


: When the fabric of the canon interferes with your ability to tell a good
: story, then you're going to have holes because any good storyteller is
: going to pick a hole over something non-engaging any day.

: Your attitude greatly limits not only the quantity, but also the quality of
: stories that can be told.

: Your attitude is bad for storytelling and bad for art .

Okay, I'll bite. I know there's been much discussion over the years concerning Reach's retcons, and I haven't combed through it all, but I hated those retcons specifically because they felt so unnecessary. The Pillar of Autumn being stationed on Reach, Halsey providing Noble with Cortana, it all felt so forced.

I'm okay with a retcon being made to create an engaging story or to improve on the gameplay, but when you could easily work with the existing material and you choose to change it for no good reason, I get really frustrated. I was a lore nut with Halo. I read all the books many times and jumped into discussions on the forum constantly. I lived for crazy fan theories.

When I played Reach, I just stopped caring. Why should I bother reading a novel that can be disregarded so easily? For what purposes were the changes made in Reach? What lore was sacrificed for engagement's sake? Or for the gameplay? Reach was about Noble Team. Bungie's intent was to make you care about them. None of that had anything to do with the Pillar of Autumn's location or transporting Cortana. It had to do with character development and sacrifice.

How hard would it have been to have the Pillar of Autumn in space and engaging Covenant forces? An ONI stealth shuttle could've delivered some important piece of equipment (that wasn't Cortana) to Keyes just before leaving Reach. Noble 6 could have delivered the equipment to the shuttle at the dock and still made his sacrifice by choosing not to leave the planet. And none of that would have so heavily contradicted The Fall of Reach.

How difficult would it have been to have Halsey communicate with Noble via holograms or monitors while she was stationed at CASTLE base?

I don't care that the Halo: CE manual didn't contemplate the existence of other Spartans when there are in fact several generations' worth. I don't care that there were no Covenant snipers in Halo: CE but that Halo: The Flood specifically mentions them. I don't care that melee damage to the Flood in Halo: CE was like smacking them with pinwheel while it was highly effective in later games. I don't care that Cortana looks significantly different in every iteration.

All of these things can be considered retcons in a rather descending order of significance. You said it's a problem "[w]hen the fabric of the canon interferes with your ability to tell a good story . . . ." I ask what retcons were in such dire need of being made to create a good story. I'm not arguing the concept, but we may be disagreeing where that line gets drawn.

Jen Taylor's voice acting was amazing. The team that designed and animated Cortana did a fantastic job. Steve Downes conveyed a seasoned solder's voice that cracked with emotion at Cortana's struggle in a heart wrenching way. These interactions hit me on an emotional level. I was engaged by this despite many illogical moments in the story. It would have been a far more engaging story if I didn't pause so many times to try and figure out what the hell just happened.

Do you recall the cutscene that introduced Gravemind? The Master Chief and the Arbiter were being held by a gigantic plant thing no one had seen before. But it was clearly a Flood specimen of some kind. The dialogue that followed clearly establishes its desire to stop Delta Halo from firing and that made perfect sense because we learned from Halo: CE that firing any of the Installations wiped out most of the life in the galaxy.

Contrast that with the Didact's introduction. The Librarian? Imprisonment? His guardians? Did he just make the Master Chief's cover disintegrate? What the fuck is with the giant sphere thing? How did he manipulate everyone while being imprisoned? Why have we never seen Forerunner technology do this before? The Sentinels were given laser points compared to this stuff, and they were designed to protect the gun pointed at the head of the universe!

The confusion just grows as time goes on. Give me consistency. Give me a universe that can withstand some scrutiny. Don't give me lazy changes that serve no purpose other than to demonstrate you give no deference to the previous canon.

-SR


Message Index




Replies:

Stop with your logicCody Miller 12/28/12 1:49 a.m.
     Re: Stop with your logic *SP*Jaydee 12/28/12 2:44 a.m.
     I.. Uhhh.... Agree...? With.... You....Lurono 12/28/12 3:22 a.m.
           Also meant Adywan instead of Adi-Wan *NM*Lurono 12/28/12 3:26 a.m.
           Re: I.. Uhhh.... Agree...? With.... You....Cody Miller 12/28/12 11:38 a.m.
                 Email sent *NM*Lurono 12/28/12 8:56 p.m.
     Re: Stop with your logicuberfoop 12/28/12 3:22 a.m.
           Re: Stop with your logic *SP*rhubarb 12/28/12 5:39 a.m.
     Re: Stop with your logicDEEP NNN 12/28/12 7:43 a.m.
     Re: Stop with your logicMetalingus627 12/28/12 9:43 a.m.
     I like this post. *NM*SonofMacPhisto 12/28/12 10:58 a.m.
     A nice hypothesis...NsU Soldier 12/28/12 11:05 a.m.
           Re: A nice hypothesis...Cody Miller 12/28/12 11:31 a.m.
                 Re: A nice hypothesis...Leisandir 12/28/12 11:53 a.m.
                 Re: A nice hypothesis...SonofMacPhisto 12/28/12 11:55 a.m.
                       Re: A nice hypothesis...Cody Miller 12/28/12 12:11 p.m.
                             Re: A nice hypothesis...SonofMacPhisto 12/28/12 5:01 p.m.
                 Re: A nice hypothesis...NsU Soldier 12/28/12 12:19 p.m.
                       This!Chewbaccawakka 12/28/12 12:59 p.m.
     The Loftus ApproachLeviathan 12/28/12 11:16 a.m.
           Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/28/12 11:24 a.m.
           Re: The Loftus Approachmc_leprechaun 12/28/12 11:27 a.m.
                 Re: The Loftus ApproachThe Lionheart 12/28/12 5:28 p.m.
           Qouth the Falcon, "YES!" *NM*NsU Soldier 12/28/12 11:33 a.m.
           Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/28/12 11:35 a.m.
                 Re: The Loftus ApproachSonGoharotto 12/28/12 11:38 a.m.
                 Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/28/12 3:09 p.m.
                       Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/28/12 3:22 p.m.
                             Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/28/12 5:56 p.m.
                                   Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/29/12 12:47 a.m.
                                         Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/29/12 1:26 a.m.
                                         Re: The Loftus ApproachSimpsons Rule 12/29/12 1:56 a.m.
                                               Re: The Loftus Approachuberfoop 12/29/12 5:15 a.m.
                                                     Re: The Loftus ApproachSimpsons Rule 12/29/12 2:49 p.m.
                                                           Re: The Loftus Approachuberfoop 12/29/12 9:46 p.m.
                                                           Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/29/12 9:52 p.m.
                                                                 Talking about this? *IMG*The Lionheart 12/30/12 4:54 p.m.
                                                                       Re: Talking about this? *IMG*Stephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/30/12 5:52 p.m.
                                                                             Ah, okay.The Lionheart 12/30/12 6:03 p.m.
                                                     Re: The Loftus ApproachGravemind 12/30/12 5:07 p.m.
                                               Thank you for this post. *NM*The Lionheart 12/30/12 4:15 p.m.
                                         Re: The Loftus ApproachRagashingo 12/29/12 2:42 a.m.
                                         Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/29/12 11:21 a.m.
                                               Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/29/12 11:56 a.m.
                                                     Re: The Loftus ApproachLeisandir 12/29/12 1:20 p.m.
                                                           Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/29/12 3:36 p.m.
                                                                 Re: The Loftus ApproachLeisandir 12/29/12 3:38 p.m.
                                                                       Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/29/12 9:38 p.m.
                                                                             Same here. *NM*The Lionheart 12/30/12 5:01 p.m.
                                                     Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/29/12 9:42 p.m.
                                                           Re: The Loftus ApproachCody Miller 12/30/12 11:55 a.m.
                                                                 Re: The Loftus ApproachStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/30/12 1:27 p.m.
                                                                       Re: The Loftus ApproachThe Lionheart 12/30/12 5:25 p.m.
                                                                             Re: The Loftus ApproachArchilen 12/30/12 11:36 p.m.
                                               Seconded. *NM*The Lionheart 12/30/12 4:59 p.m.
                       Re: The Loftus ApproachSonofMacPhisto 12/28/12 5:19 p.m.
                             Wow, that sounds like my kinda guy!The Lionheart 12/28/12 5:35 p.m.
                       Agree with this also. *NM*The Lionheart 12/28/12 5:30 p.m.
           *applauds* You're so awesome, Levi.Gravemind 12/28/12 1:26 p.m.
           TOOK THE WORDS OUT OF MY MOUTH *NM*The Lionheart 12/28/12 5:28 p.m.
           *Salute* *NM*Quirel 12/28/12 5:40 p.m.
     I don't disagree, but...SonGoharotto 12/28/12 11:29 a.m.
           My badSonGoharotto 12/28/12 11:36 a.m.
     Re: Stop with your logicscarab 12/28/12 12:09 p.m.
           Re: Stop with your logicCody Miller 12/28/12 12:14 p.m.
     It wasn't emotionally compelling for me at all...Phoenix_9286 12/28/12 1:21 p.m.
     No.Quirel 12/28/12 6:15 p.m.
           Very well said, sir. *NM*Leisandir 12/28/12 8:11 p.m.
           As always, I agree with QuirelIbeechu 12/28/12 10:38 p.m.
                 Re: As always, I agree with QuirelCody Miller 12/29/12 1:18 a.m.
                       Re: As always, I agree with Quirelscarab 12/29/12 5:02 a.m.
                 Not quite.Quirel 12/30/12 3:15 a.m.
                       I know this is slightly OT, but . . . .Leisandir 12/30/12 8:49 a.m.
                             Re: I know this is slightly OT, but . . . .Quirel 12/30/12 1:50 p.m.
           Re: No.TDSpiral 12/29/12 12:09 a.m.
                 Re: No.Quirel 12/30/12 3:33 p.m.
                       Re: No.scarab 12/31/12 8:51 a.m.
                 This is the limbo that I find myself in now. *NM*The Lionheart 12/30/12 4:04 p.m.
           Re: No.Cody Miller 12/29/12 1:04 a.m.
                 Re: No.Flynn J Taggart 12/29/12 2:12 a.m.
                 Re: No.Quirel 12/31/12 1:57 a.m.
                       Re: No.uberfoop 12/31/12 4:18 a.m.
                 Re: No.RC Master 12/31/12 8:59 a.m.
                 Your brain doesn't work the same way as mine. O_o *NM*The Lionheart 1/1/13 5:08 p.m.
     Re: Stop with your logicKermit 12/28/12 10:59 p.m.
           Re: Stop with your logicIbeechu 12/28/12 11:57 p.m.
                 Consistency and the Rules of Two WorldsNsU Soldier 12/29/12 7:06 a.m.
                 Re: Stop with your logicLeisandir 12/29/12 9:12 a.m.
                       Re: Stop with your logicscarab 12/29/12 9:30 a.m.
                             Re: Stop with your logicLeisandir 12/29/12 11:08 a.m.
                                   Tru datscarab 12/29/12 12:11 p.m.
                                         Re: Tru datLeisandir 12/29/12 1:22 p.m.
                                         Re: Tru datCody Miller 12/29/12 3:37 p.m.
                                               Re: Tru datLeisandir 12/29/12 3:39 p.m.
                 Re: Stop with your logicKermit 12/29/12 3:33 p.m.
                       Re: Stop with your logicIbeechu 12/29/12 7:32 p.m.
     Totally disagreeAvateur 12/29/12 1:04 a.m.
           Re: Totally disagreeStephen L. (SoundEffect) 12/29/12 11:30 a.m.
                 Re: Totally disagreeAvateur 12/29/12 1:47 p.m.
                       Re: Totally disagreeKalamari 12/29/12 6:44 p.m.
                             It's dog food?scarab 12/29/12 6:55 p.m.
     Re: Stop with your logicGeneral Vagueness 1/5/13 7:40 p.m.
           Re: Stop with your logic *LONG*Dundre 1/7/13 7:42 a.m.



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