Forum:Waypoint's new Universe section

So, this just came out. I'm kind of disappointed at the lack of new info on old stuff - we get birth dates and so on for some characters but not all of them. Then there's also obvious mistakes, like Randall Aiken as being part of the Spartan branch. And I can't help but grin at the thinly-veiled copy-pasting from Halopedia which despite the use of slightly different wordings most of the time is readily apparent in some places (I suppose that's a sign we're doing a good job, though some acknowledgment would be nice). For instance:

"...the discord eventually culminated in both the Master Builder’s takeover of the Forerunner Old Council as well as the exile of the Didact."

vs.

"This conflict eventually culminated in Faber's takeover of the Old Council and the Didact's exile."

or

"On Charum Hakkor, Forthencho the remaining human forces were pushed back to the Citadel Charum, an ancient Precursor ruin; here they would make their final stand."

vs.

"Eventually, he and the other surviving human forces were pushed back to the Precursor ruin known as Citadel Charum where they made their final stand."

But like the now mostly defunct Catalog I think there's potential for something great here. It's clear this thing isn't going to surpass Halopedia in terms of detail but it can serve as a decent enough reference document for some details. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 10:32, 10 November 2014 (EST)


 * At least they're not copying that other wiki, right? -- Our vengeance is at hand. Gravemind.svg ( Talk to me. ) 22:56, 10 November 2014 (EST)


 * That's something I suppose. On that matter it's also funny to see all the different renderings of things like "human-Forerunner wars" (Human-Forerunner War, Human-Forerunner wars, etc.) or "Forerunner-Flood war" around the wiki find their way into these entries. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 09:39, 11 November 2014 (EST)

Comments
Well, at least we now know the updated ranks of Douglas-042, Jerome-092 and Alice-130. Still find it odd that these three Spartans of Red Team are part of the newly found Spartan branch even though they're still considered MIA. Blue Team on the other hand remains independent of Spartan branch... — subtank   10:48, 10 November 2014 (EST)
 * It's probably a mistake, just like the way Randall Aiken is listed as being part of the Spartan branch. They probably copy-pasted the same "infobox" base in all Spartan entries and that was left in. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 11:01, 10 November 2014 (EST)

"I suppose that's a sign we're doing a good job, though some acknowledgment would be nice"

- Jugus


 * Some acknowledgement would really be nice considering that the wiki just turned 10 six days ago. *sigh*— subtank   11:06, 10 November 2014 (EST)

The quality of the entries fluctuates a lot. Some, mostly ones that have a lot of new and specific info (e.g. Alpha Shard) are great stuff while others mostly rehash old stuff we already know.

There are a few errors. Unyielding Heirophant is listed as only being 11 km tall when its 30 in First Strike. Says the humans were composed on Gamma Halo when it occurred on Omega Halo. Also not sure how the Librarian and the Didact met on Charum Hakkor but also had children that fought in the war. That needs to be clarified somehow. ProphetofTruth (talk) 11:45, 10 November 2014 (EST)
 * It's never stated when their first meeting happened, but it can be assumed they met before the war with the humans commenced (we know very little about human-Forerunner interactions before the wars). We know they first met as Manipulars (I think this was said in Silentium) so maybe they let wandering Forerunner youths to the human capital? That's really the only explanation. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 13:59, 10 November 2014 (EST)


 * I think someone had already voiced his concern about this info a long time ago (it's not new). But, in my opinion, I never really had the impression that Forerunners were "banned" from any kind of interaction with humans. I mean, each species had billions of individuals and probably dozens of thousands of worlds. On another note, am I the only one who finds it stupid that 343i are revealing some "important stuff" from Halo: Nightfall? They should never have given Axl his ("its" is more instinctive for me right now) own page. Imrane-117 (talk) 18:46, 10 November 2014 (EST)


 * Yes, the writing quality really seems to follow a sine curve from one entry to the next. At least they to reflect the installation's survival. -- Our vengeance is at hand.  Gravemind.svg ( Talk to me. ) 22:56, 10 November 2014 (EST)


 * A few missed opportunities too. Sarah E. Palmer's "E." disappears. And Oth Lodon Station still doesn't have a name. (by the way, we should change its name, it sounds as if it were a real name... "Station at Oth Lodon"? Like Covenant cruiser at Longhorn Valley...)Imrane-117 (talk) 23:04, 10 November 2014 (EST)


 * Any mention of Palmer's rank has also curiously disappeared. I also agree with your suggestion about the station. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 09:39, 11 November 2014 (EST)


 * Overall the entries on the lower end of the quality spectrum suffer from a problem I've often noticed in 343i's lore fluff: a lack of substance. It's like they're shying away from detail and specificity and staying comfortably within the very general limits of what we already know and even keeping the facts they establish, I've often found, rather wishy-washy. Contrast the entries in the visual guides with the Codex of the Mass Effect series; there's a clear difference in the level of detail the authors are willing to go to. Part of it could be 343i's historical lack of interest in maintaining visual continuity (I'm not saying Bungie was much better, though they were just a bit) and at the same time their dedication to making everything count, so it's too often that we end up with vague and circumspect statements as to why a suit of armor is different in every piece of Halo media, ever, for example. I've been hoping this would change now that 343i's franchise team has supposedly gotten more technical-minded writers, though it doesn't solve the main problem with allowing the artists too much freedom to express themselves. This is their job, not an art gallery dangit!


 * Some of the entries are showing promise, though—my favorite is the one about the Alpha Halo fragment—and in general the ones about new or immediately relevant stuff seem to be of better quality than those which mostly rehash older material. I get the feeling the writing in the Universe section was, for the most part, rushed, as they needed to roll it out with the release of the Master Chief Collection and the Halo Channel so the integration features would work as should. I'm hoping they'll keep improving and adding to the existing entries over time—why would they, for example, leave out details like the ages of certain characters which won't most likely get revisited, particularly the cadets from Forward Unto Dawn (Sully is the only one who gets a birthdate which is odd). --Jugus (<font color="Gray">Talk  | <font color="Gray">Contribs ) 09:39, 11 November 2014 (EST)


 * It's also funny to see the great deal of speculation (for Sully). Sounds like what Halopedia would have done a long time ago. And well, at least Halopedia couldn't confirm anything by itself; you would expect more from the developers. Anyway, I guess it's just a beginning. Imrane-117 (talk) 11:28, 11 November 2014 (EST)