Halo 1 was just so optimal in a lot of ways. The Master Chief was the only remaining Spartan, so he was granted a unique and iconic appearance, towering over the other humans and giving the player a sense that, oh shit, if I can't pull this off, nobody can.

Now, Spartans are dime-a-half-dozen space marines wearing "distinctive" armor that looks like it was cobbled together from ten years wroth of discarded concept art.

One of the best things about Halo 1 was forerunner architecture. It was ancient, mysterious, alien. You could design any abstract gameplay space and it would work. Unlike Bungie's attempts at futuristic human architecture which come off as TOO abstract in design to be believed. At best, Bungie's human environments look like environments we've seen a thousand times before in other generic sci-fi games.

So, we get Earth for a third of Halo 2, half of Halo 3, and all of ODST. Wonderful.

I can trace all these missteps to some underlying need at Bungie to provide fan service. Fans wanted Earth and only Earth in Halo 2. Fans were fascinated with ODST's. And fans wanted lots and lots of Spartans.

Clearly, fans don't know what's good for them and Bungie needs to focus on making correct decisions that benefit their games. Hopefully, the new IP will embody that.

Just don't fucking publish any novels about it. Leave the details nebulous, lest you have to contradict them later.