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Did Bungie ever actually intend for Forerunners to be Human? (Spoilers)

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Yes. I believe some dev from Bungie even said after that it was what they intended, maybe on HBO or another place. 343 chose to take it a different route. I do feel that the earlier way was better. Allowed there to be some mystery for humanity/covenant/forerunner. It was why humans were so special, why the Prophets were deadset against them being allowed into the Covenant etc


I wrote the Librarian stuff quoted in the OP.


There were lots of ideas about how to continue the threads from 1, 2 and 3.

There was no plan carved in stone.
 

Solidsoul

Banned
I wrote the Librarian stuff quoted in the OP.


There were lots of ideas about how to continue the threads from 1, 2 and 3.

There was no plan carved in stone.

Wow, that's awesome to hear. Loved the stuff between the Librarian and Didact. A great contribution to the lore.

I'd very much like to see a ViDoc or something on the methods of exploring the lore and finding what direction works and what doesnt. Some day, hopefully.

Thanks for the info Frankie.
 

NimbusD

Member
Honestly, I don't remember any specifics and I sort of trailed off of anything Halo about 2 hours into Halo 4 (got bored so quickly, sorry 343.) after being a huge halo nerd (even read the novels) and while I don't remember things exactly, I'm surprised now reading this that the forerunners aren't humans. That's just some innate knowledge I remember from the time spent with that series.

So anyway, I guess I don't have much of value to add.
 

Madness

Member
I wrote the Librarian stuff quoted in the OP.

There were lots of ideas about how to continue the threads from 1, 2 and 3.

There was no plan carved in stone.

Never knew you wrote that in the OP. I was wondering if you'd post in this thread and make us all seem like idiots and you did, I was only saying based on the past games, comments by some Bungie devs that it was planned that humans would be some descendants of these long dead forerunners. It's why they were Reclaimers, why the Ark was buried on Earth etc.

Of course nothing ever set in stone during games development. For example, the writer of ME1 didn't even have a plan for Cerberus until ME2 started. Plus I just mean that I preferred if the Forerunners stayed dead and mysterious and there was something else.
 
I honestly like it better if the humans were not the forerunners. It sounds good but I feel it's too simple. I much prefer them to be different and that there is a reason for why the humans were choosen to take on the mantle.

I kind of feel like the two betrayals level in halo ce possible is a good hint. 343 was confused and thought he was talking to someone else and was recalling a conversation. It made no sense back then but in halo 4 when chief meets the librarian it is sort of explained I think.
 

213372bu

Banned
For as long as I can recall in the Halo 1 days, (Books+ Interviews/games?) they were very clear Forerunners were the precursors to humans, and the architecture seemed very "futuristic and alien-like".

And obviously, lots of infrastructures, devices, and more were not made for humans to use naturally. The idea of the Forerunner's technology being walled behind technology and data also implied early on that they were beings that heavily centered their lives around technology.

Of course, the books fleshed this out a lot more at the time, and it wasn't until Halo 4 where they shoved it down your throat, ruined it, and made them boring and annoying enemies.

Honestly, the best way to understand the Forerunners is Halo 1-3 + Forerunner trilogy(?)
 
I remember that legend(?) that the closest thing Myth had to a story bible was a bunch of pizza boxes that said things like "don't have kids save the day."

And now that I look into it,
With the release of Myth 3, the community expected an answer to all the questions left unanswered by Bungie. The hype had built up the idea that Mumbo Jumbo were writing the story with the aid of magical design documents, given to them by Bungie so that anything in The Wolf Age would be the Tru7h.

The fact is, this turned out not to be so true and the infamous design docs were revealed to be nothing more than a pizza box with phrases such as "Small children who save the world are lame" sketched all over it. In other words, there was no bible of Myth lore to speak of and the story resided entirely within the game creators' imaginations.

That sounds about right. Glad Bungie's creative processes haven't changed too much.
 

watership

Member
I remember that legend(?) that the closest thing Myth had to a story bible was a bunch of pizza boxes that said things like "don't have kids save the day."

And now that I look into it,


That sounds about right. Glad Bungie's creative processes haven't changed too much.

Bungie never really intended Halo to have too much of a story at first, but elements within Bungie, and especially Microsoft, realized there was thirst for context and stories to read about in this universe. One of the reasons 343i was created was to not only do the games, but to curate this universe with books, comics, and other media. Which they have.
 

Trey

Member
I like the direction 343 went with it. Forerunners were just petty, power hungry chumps. Their demystification made the current war over their legacy and technology feel smaller, so that the agency of the contemporary races were more important in and of themselves.

Whether the story will transfer better into the games remains to be seen. The only story bits I've liked from the 343 lore has been the Greg Bear trilogy of books and Broken Circle.
 
Bungie never really intended Halo to have too much of a story at first, but elements within Bungie, and especially Microsoft, realized there was thirst for context and stories to read about in this universe. One of the reasons 343i was created was to not only do the games, but to curate this universe with books, comics, and other media. Which they have.

Well, I'm not trying to convey that Bungie does or have done a poor job with storytelling, they absolutely don't.

Rather, my understanding is that it's more of a collaborative process that just kind of happens. And I can't speak for any game after Halo 2 since I didn't play any of those, but they've collectively had a talent to show little glimpses of things just out of reach, but don't tell what they are. Like OT Star Wars. And let the imaginations of fans run wild with what they could mean.

Destiny I think could have stood to have a bit more telling, but I hear they may have fixed some of that for Taken King. For what it's worth.
 

REDSLATE

Member
Bungie never really intended Halo to have too much of a story at first, but elements within Bungie, and especially Microsoft, realized there was thirst for context and stories to read about in this universe. One of the reasons 343i was created was to not only do the games, but to curate this universe with books, comics, and other media. Which they have.

This is incorrect. From the begining, Bungie had a highly detailed and cumulative "Halo Bible" from which all lore was established. Successive works were added to this, which is why Halo had one of the most solid canons in a multi-media (let alone, video game) series. Very few conflicts were present (most of which were simply typos) until Reach came out, which essentially paralleled the Star Wars rift. This was the price Bungie paid to gain their independence.
 
Dude... the title itself is a big spoiler for people like me who are still yet to play Halo 3 or 4 since it's not out on PC or have read the novels. Thanks.

As someone who identifies as Forerunnerkin, I find this whole topic offensive.

But seriously...you cannot possibly be serious?
 
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