I agree halo was a or rather "the" defining game for them, I am just saying they already had a good start with games like Myst etc. they certainly made themselves a big name with halo and they also started losing the plot as they released more and more games in the franchise. one can only speculate but it certainly seems like MS had a part to play in the milking and the series lost it's edge in some aspects as they got to Reach. I think most people would agree with what you have said about the controls etc and that is really one of the big redeeming points. As I like to believe, a lot of the people who do complain about the game, do so not because they are haters but actually because they want to love the game and they can see the potential the game has. The gameplay, shooting mechanics, visuals are all top notch. it's the greater purpose behind playing the game etc that has let it down. A lot of us really did want to that epic story they talked about. sure we didn't expect the WHOLE story in the very first game, but hey we at least expected a story of the standard we got coming from the Halo series. After that didn't meet expectations, everyone then turned on the next driving factor behind playing - the loot system, the raid, the rewards... and when that lets you down as well it's hard not to be vocal about it.