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- How do I sign up to post on the HSP forum? I don't see a form!
- Who keeps this page up anyway? They sure aren't consistent...
- What are these books I keep hearing about? Where can I get my filthy mitts on them?
- What is this Marathon I keep hearing so much about?
- You're mad! You can't possibly expect me to read the MSP in its entirety!
- Hey! I've seen that logo before! Ooh! Ooh! The two stories must be related!
- I want my name and revelations to go down in infamy. How do I submit a post?
- But I sent my profound theories in last week/month/year and you still haven't posted it or responded to it. You must not like me very much...
- Your reply asked me to try posting my ideas to the Forum. What good will that do?
- So you monitor the Forum?
- Are there any criteria I can use to better my chances of having my ideas posted?
- But why did you post that one theory when it totally contradicts that other one? I think so-and-so's idea is totally wrong; here's why...
- You're mad! You can't possibly expect me to read the HSP in its entirety!
- Hey, new Halo games and novels have been released! Why hasn't the Halo Story Timeline been updated?
- Can you tell me what you think of my fanfiction? Here's my story!
- Can you tell me what Halo 2.5/3 is about? I have an idea for the game. Can you send me pictures of Halo 2/2.5/3 stuff? I heard there is going to be a movie. When does [insert upcoming Bungie game here] come out?
- Could you please withhold my email address or post a different one?
- You posted my theory with my Mom's name!
- Can I have Recon armor?
How do I sign up to post on the HSP forum? I don't see a form!
The Halo Story Page is not a natural formation. Someone built it, so it must lead somewhere...
The HSP is not a forum per se, but rather a tome comprised of speculation, rumour, and the occasional fact. While many of the resources are creations or collections made by the site administrators, the bulk of the content comes from its readers: you. Submissions sent in via email are sifted by administrators and eventually, if they hold up to examination, find their way to the front page.
How do you submit your thoughts to our scrutiny? The address is... wait. First you have to promise to read the rest of the FAQ. Promise? Alright. Send in your thoughts to halostory@bungie.org.
Who keeps this page up anyway? They sure aren't consistent...
It all started as a thorn in Louis' side: "Where's the story page?" "I want a place to post my theories!" "If I don't get what I want I'll *insert murmurings of rebellion here*" Apeman rose to the task of quelling the restless natives and began the page's first organizational duties. He's since made himself rather scarce, but he does surface now and again to dazzle us with his wit or scare children who don't finish their broccoli.
mnemesis was a natural addition to the force, budding with a lingering, youthful promise, yet grizzled and ocularly impaired from his extensive reading of the Marathon Story Page. Plus, Wu owed him some money, and this allowed him the perfect vantage to ensure Louis didn't get the heck outta Dodge.
Astro the Space Duck also served a term before succumbing to a freak carbon monoxide leak (I told him, the battery goes in the detector, not on your tongue).
Finn just took a wrong turn. During a walk about the farm, he managed to strike his noggin on some Forerunner junk. Well, there was mix-up in transit to the hospital, and when he finally opened his eyes five days later he was in the HSP basement, apparently finishing up a post to the front page. It really was one of his better pieces; his quality of writing has decreased dramatically as his lucidity has returned.
Finn and mnemesis became the best of friends, updating to their hearts' content, tenderly nurturing each budding thought they were entrusted with, and ruthlessly interrogating each Bungie staffer careless enough to go without an armed escort. However, as old age and responsibility began tightening their icy grips on our heroes' lives (Shhh! Wu's not human; we're sticking with this excuse!), it became apparent that more assistance would be needed.
Enter Jillybean. After a coast to coast search comprised of a series of exhausting auditions , we realized (as we have after so many other conclusive searches) that the answer must lie elsewhere. A call to the UK caught our agent in the middle of booking a young lady on charges of espionage and dumpster digging. We knew we had found the perfect recruit.
Jillybean has since taken the reigns of most day to day posting, with mnemesis and Finn predominately resigned to ongoing investigations and site functionality. Work continues, albeit intermittently, and, as always, your patronage and patience are appreciated.
What are these books I keep hearing about? Where can I get my filthy mitts on them?
Halo: The Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, Halo: First Strike, Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Halo: Contact Harvest, and Halo: The Cole Protocol are official tie-in novels (written by Eric Nylund, William C. Dietz, Eric Nylund, Eric Nylund, Joseph Staten, and Tobias S. Buckell respectively) in close association with the Bungie team. The Fall of Reach (TFoR) is a prequel to the game providing, amongst other things, information on the development of the Spartan program and the beginnings of the Covenant War. The book leaves off where the game Halo: Combat Evolved begins.
With a few pages of overlap, The Flood (HtF) also picks up here, taking us through the events of the game itself, while also revealing many additional conflicts and subplots behind the scenes, not immediately confronted during the game's course. In short, evil aliens pursue fleeing humans to ancient enigmatic artifact. Ass-kicking ensues. ;-) (Finn: For the record, I think deadlines, the setting of the story, and the need to not reveal too much information all contributed to slapping Dietz with a really raw deal.)
Halo: First Strike covers the span of time between Halo: The Flood/Combat Evolved and the opening of Halo 2. We are witness to the Master Chief's rescue of survivors from Installation 04 and Reach, his timely return to more familiar space, and the initiation of a "first strike" against Covenant forces.
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx follows a new generation of Spartans: the Spartan-III's, created by Colonel James Ackerson, stationed on the planet Onyx. As a team of Spartan-III's infiltrate Zone 67, a massive network of Forerunner constructs stirs, leading to one of the bloodiest battles in the Human-Covenant War.
Halo: Contact Harvest chronicles the first encounters between humanity and the Covenant as the UNSC is caught the middle of a raging insurrection throughout the outer colonies.
Halo: The Cole Protocol will tell the story of Gray Team - a Spartan-II fireteam - on a battlefield too distant to be easily recalled.
A Halo Graphic Novel (HGN) has also been released (July 2006), featuring a host of talented writers and artists of Bungie's own choosing. More details can be found here.
Marvel has also released a four-issue (two issues are currently available) Halo comic series entitled "Halo: Uprising", detailing the events that took place between Halo 2 and Halo 3.
These books are (or will be) available through most online book merchants and more than likely, at your local, more tangible shops as well.
What is this Marathon I keep hearing so much about?
In short, the title Marathon encompasses a trilogy of games for the Mac (with the exception of the second game also for Windows, and the open source project) released by Bungie between 1994 and 1996. While not a direct prequel, it is continually alluded to and drawn on enough to properly call it Halo's "spiritual prequel". Similar themes run through most Bungie games, and possessing at least a rudimentary understanding of the Marathon universe will prove invaluable in attempting to comprehend, and hopefully predict, the workings and intricacies of Halo and its characters.
Bungie.net's own article outlining Marathon and its relationship to Halo.
Congratulations. You've taken your first step into a larger world.
You're mad! You can't possibly expect me to read the MSP in its entirety!
Then don't. Read their FAQ through and take in this relatively brief synopsis of the Marathon story.
Try to shotgun the site: randomly choose a few links that interest you and read; see where your curiousity leads you. You'll make significant progress in no time.
Hey! I've seen that logo before! Ooh! Ooh! The two stories must be related!
Well, maybe, maybe not. As we said before, Marathon is more of a spiritual predecessor to Halo. They are lots of small things to be found in Halo that recall elements of the Marathon games. The Marathon logo, for instance, can be found in more than a few places. For a list of non-Halo-story-related but nonetheless interesting and/or artistic connections between Halo and Marathon, read this.
I want my name and revelations to go down in infamy. How do I submit a post?
Your carefully crafted treatises should be sent to halostory@bungie.org.
Additionally sending the same message to mnemesis, Finn, or the entire contact list at HBO will not further ensure its glad reception or increase the likelihood if it being posted; in fact it will probably place you at somewhat of a disadvantage.
But I sent my profound theories in last week/month/year and you still haven't posted it or responded to it. You must not like me very much...
Life is still worth living. I know it's hard to believe, but we haven't misplaced or even forgotten your email. They are, as with so many others, awaiting processing in the oppressive depths of the HSP Inbox. We get a lot of mail. Well, not as much as Louis mind you, but, without the benefit of neural implants, enough to make categorizing, sorting, replying, and providing coherent commentary for each an arduous task indeed.
Rest assured, however, that if we decide not to post your theory, we will still respond to your email and reason why your theory wasn't posted.
Your reply asked me to try posting my ideas to the Forum. What good will that do?
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
By posting to the Forum, you allow your idea to be molded, pruned, and/or tempered by the often less than gentle manners of those who call it home. Criticism can be fierce, and often blunt, but by checking back and interacting with others over the contents of your theory, new possibilities and perspectives can be gained; overlooked facts and inconsistencies alike may be pointed out. All this is in the hopes that a better and more likely theory will emerge. You may even receive praise for your trouble.
Yes. And no. We do our best, but we are still only human. Between Finn and mnemesis' intermittent checking, Jillybean's and UNSC Trooper's frequent stops, and the ever watching eye of Louis Wu, most pertinent posts are noted. If however, you feel your assertions have withstood the slings and arrows of the Forum denizens long enough without suitable recognition, try us again.
Are there any criteria I can use to better my chances of having my ideas posted?
We're so glad you asked ;) Yes there are. Seeing your contention added to the HSP is not as easy as posting to the Forum. As we struggle to grasp and organize the influences past and fated paths ahead, please take careful note of these main aspects we look for:
- Well written - While we apologize for beckoning you back to your academic roots, we cannot stress this enough. The ability to write well is a useful skill in every facet of life, and we are pleased to allow you the opportunity to hone that talent here at the HSP.
>Spell check your document.
Check for consistent and proper capitalization and punctuation.
Break large submissions into suitable paragraphs. Think of our eyes man!
Write clearly and concisely. Take it one concept at a time.
Don't try to cover too much ground in one sitting. Though a vast, unified theory is the eventual goal, acute reasoning and brevity will win the day over an expansive though poorly argued and largely empty submission. - Fecundity and Plausibility - No, they're not bad words. Does your theory facilitate and encourage future speculation and allow for the integration of other established facts, and, if possible, points that the community has reached some semblance of consensus on? Is the theory internally coherent? Examine the consequences and implications of your assertion for other sections of the story. Is it realistic? Does it consider not only the available data, but the style and context of the story at that point or on the whole?
In short, does it further our understanding of the story? - Closely tied to source materials - Back up your theories with examples, the consequences of your presuppositions, Bungie staff quotes, references from the books' text, and if at all possible, the game itself. A letter merely stating "the forerunner aRE HUmayn" is not a likely candidate.
- Does not duplicate other ideas - We automatically consider all submissions to bear the preamble of "sorry if this has been posted before", don't worry. However, a thorough check on your part can save both of us a great deal of time. By utilizing the search function at the top of the news page with different key words from your thoughts, and consulting the the appropriate character and subject pages on the left of the site, most unnecessary repetition can be nipped in the bud.
But why did you post that one theory when it totally contradicts that other one? I think so-and-so's idea is totally wrong; here's why...
The goal of the HSP has always been to discover the tru7h, no doubt about it. However, sometimes a theory comes along that, though it may not seem to make a great deal of sense, is just so funny, or so darn ingenuitive, unique, and thought provoking, that we feel it deserves to go up anyway.
If you see an idea you wholeheartedly disagree with, stop for a moment, savour it with a piece of salt, and ask yourself if it really needs to be rebuffed. If you still think so, take a second to see if someone else already has. After that, just follow the instructions in this FAQ.
You're mad! You can't possibly expect me to read the HSP in its entirety!
There was a time when we did. And though the HSP is still infantile in size compared with the MSP, it is getting a little large to sit and read in even a few goes, no matter how large a mug of cocoa you have. As with the MSP, try to shotgun the site (try different areas of interest randomly and see where they take you), and make liberal and creative use of the search function at the top. Come on, it'll be fun :)
Hey, new Halo games and novels have been released! Why hasn't the Halo Story Timeline been updated?
We are well aware of the fact that every year new Halo games, novels, and other media is being released. During the time since one or more Halo sources have been released, our team analyzes the source carefully, notes the important events that have been mentioned in the media, and includes it into the Halo Story Timeline. It just takes a little time - good things take time to finish.
Can you tell me what you think of my fanfiction? Here's my story!
Whoops! Wrong address. Go here to submit your fan fiction, but remember to read the instructions and the guidelines first.
Can you tell me what Halo 2.5/3 is about? I have an idea for the game. Can you send me pictures of Halo 2.5/3 stuff? I heard there is going to be a movie soon! When does [insert upcoming Bungie game/movie/novel here] come out?
Man, if we knew anything about Halo beyond what everybody else already knows, we'd tell the world. Well, first we'd cackle maniacally and gloat over our good fortune, but eventually we'd share the love... when the NDA expired. Unfortunately, while we might occasionally get a few gems tossed our way in the form of interviews or little hints, we don't know anything extra officially.
There is no word yet on a fourth book.
There really is a movie coming out. Check here for some pertinent info.
We are not Bungie. Bungie are Bungie. We are merely fans, not in any way associated with the actual artists and programmers who comprise Bungie.
Could you please withhold my email address or post a different one?
Sure, no problem. Just make sure to tell us in your submission.
You posted my theory with my Mom's name!
Many email programs associate whatever contact information is at your end with the messages you send. It doesn't matter where you send a message from, but if you want to be credited under your online handle, then make sure to note it in your submission.
As previously stated, we are not Bungie, this is not a Bungie website. We can't help you with that in any manner. Such emails will not be responded to.
We'll add to this page as necessary. If you have any further questions be sure to check the subsections listed on the left of the page, make use of the search function, consult the halo.bungie.org FAQ, or contact us at halostory@bungie.org.
That said, let loose the fury of your analytical skills!
