First of all, don't click the link until you've gotten to the appropriate comment. Secondly, I'm relatively new. I joined in Nov 2010 and this only my second original post. The first was earlier this morning. Third, this is going to be long. If any of these things means you don't want to hear what I have to say, please go on your way. But if you are still interested, please continue. When I woke up this morning and saw the news that Marty had been fired, I was sad. Now I am disgusted. But I am in no way disgusted with Bungie. I am instead disgusted by the ignorance of some of the community. So this post is attempting to remedy this ignorance. Here we go. [b]1. Marty is not coming back.[/b] He has been fired by the company and the company will not take him back if a few hundred, or even a few thousand fans say so. And the reason is because we are [i]fans[/i], not stockholders. An analogy, if you will: Recently the owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, passed away. This leaves his wife as sole owner. There has been talk of the team moving to the West Coast, or some other place out of state. If the owner decides to sell the team, the fans can do nothing. They have no right to do anything, because they have no say in the business, they only buy products (tickets). If Bungie chooses to fire an employee you can't do anything about it because you only buy products (the game). [b]2. Destiny's soundtrack will be the same at launch as it was April 10th.[/b] Marty O'Donnell does not own any of the rights to Destiny's music. Bungie does. Therefore the music that he has already composed will be in the final product of the game without any legal ramifications. Bungie is entirely within their rights to do this. [b]3. Future Destiny games will have the same sound as this one.[/b] I'm a composer, so I know a bit about this. It is very easy to create new music in the same vein as a composer you've never even spoken to. It is easy to do this and still incorporate your own style and personal tweaks. Additionally, future titles will include the same major themes as the first, so not a lot of new writing will occur. [b]4. Terminated without cause does not mean terminated for no reason.[/b] Radical Edward has covered this very well in another thread, which I linked up at the top. I encourage you to click the link and scroll down to his comment for a really clear definition of termination without cause. The next point is closely related. [b]5. You do not need to know the reason.[/b] I've seen several posts urging members of the community to cancel their preorders and boycott Destiny until the reason for Marty's termination is brought to light. Quite simply, it's none of your business. Marty's termination is between him and Bungie. It is a private matter, and by demanding to know the reason you are intruding on Marty's private life. Imagine, if you will, a clamoring group of gamer fans pounding and your front door saying, "Why did you get fired, Marty? Huh? Why did you get fired? Tell us! Tell us!" Now I know you aren't asking Marty directly, but the end result is the same. If Marty wanted to tell us, he would. If Bungie wanted to tell us, they would. Neither group wants to right now, so neither group has. I'm sure eventually it will be pried out into the open by some "journalist" but until then, leave well enough alone. [b]6. Bungie did not wrong you.[/b] It's entirely possible that Bungie did not wrong anyone, but they certainly did not cause you any harm. Some of the anger I have seen in recent posts seems to suggest that some people have taken this change as a personal affront, as though Marty being fired is a smack in the face to the fans. Let me assure you, you were the furthest thing from anyone's mind when the decision was made to fire Marty. These are the things that you think about when removing someone from your company, in no particular order: Work environment, money, the employee (if you're nice). That's about it. You think about how this will effect the people already working under you, you think about whether this will save or cost you money, and you might think about the person you're firing if you're the empathetic sort. No one thought, "The community loves Marty, so let's fire him because we don't care about the community anymore." [b]7. Bungie is not dissolving, or folding, or falling apart because two people left.[/b] Bungie is growing. They have more employees than they have ever had before. Related to this is the fact that no one is irreplaceable. Bungie will still be Bungie without Marty. It will be different, but it will still exist, and thrive just as before. All of that to say this: Be sad. Change your avatar. Reminisce about Marty's work, honor him by remembering. Let him know, let the world know how much his work at Bungie has meant to you. Be excited for his future. But don't presume to know all the facts, don't pick sides in a non-existent war. Don't start boycotts and protests when the only solid information we have is this: "I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014." That is the only reliable information that we have obtained, and to lay blame based on that alone is ridiculous. Thanks for making it through this long post. I'll brace for reprisal now. In fair warning, I probably won't respond to very many comments.