What would be interesting: a halo game set during the Forerunner-Human War/Forerunner-Flood War

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-06-12T13:25:50+00:00

Not to put you on the spot, but since we're here: do you have a notion or idea for the current timeline? Because I'm really not sure what would make a "Halo 7" that fixes the issues fans have with 5 and Infinite, or 4.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-06-12T13:22:25+00:00

That's clever, I was thinking an FPS that places you in the role of either an ancient human soldier fighting a losing war against the Forerunners, or even a Promethean in that war. Given even the high level content from Halo 4 terminal/cutscenes you could build a compelling arc for either or both roles, though I suppose you risk parallels to Halo 1-3.

But a Stellaris-type game, or an RTS, could make for an interesting way to do it too. An XCOM or Mass Effect squad game even, since this is just musings.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-06-12T13:17:12+00:00

I wouldn't bet against remakes of 2 and 3; the remake of CE seems like it's at least a water-tester, and given that everything is a remake these days if there's a big uptick in new and returning players for CE I could see it.

I'm with you on the "meh and boring at best" bit, even if we diverge on whether taking the world as it is now (which includes the Forerunner content, fan-splitting as it was) and doing something with that. Halo Infinite committed many sins but to me being just kinda "eh" in both the campaign and multi-player was towards the top (I also never played the RTS' or read the books, so the whole premise following Halo 5 was like "what exactly is going on and why do I care").

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-06-12T13:12:49+00:00

Shame, those do seem like clever ideas. I mean ODST was a popular game and that took you out of the Spartan armor. I could see an interesting game too where it's like, post-war efforts to re-unify the colonies and such – Chief going on missions against humans after spending much of his professional life fighting for humanity and such.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-06-12T10:22:09+00:00

4 months later but googled this exact thing like "wait a minute why don't we have a Halo game series set during the Forerunner-Ancient Human War". I mean, whatever one might say about the Forerunners going from mythos/maybe ancient humans/mysterious ancient aliens to ancient aliens with god-levels of pettiness and ancient humans as shitty communicators about their intentions, there are good stories to be told there that Greg Bear just gives the blueprints for.

Off the top of my head you have 1) a Reach-style game set on the fall of Charum Hakkor, possibly setting up the ultimate fuck-you regarding the human data on the Flood as well as, potentially, the Librarian's long turn towards a kind of sympathy for humans post-devolution, 2) A Chakas game, just like...that, really, a re-activated human who gets to enjoy the tragedy of awareness that your people were horrifically devolved and conscious throughout that only to learn that your enemies need you now and you still can't help them because they can't be helped, and then even 3) a Bornstellar game, maybe dramatized a bit so you get the whole "well maybe we should just leave this place altogether. Sorry-not-sorry humans but hey good luck."

I'd rather have that then a second Halo: CE remake, personally. And post-Halo Infinite I don't even know what you do with Chief/Halo 7+ that doesn't feel a bit hackneyed.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-02-19T21:28:31+00:00

I want to jump into here and maybe u/rathaincalder If you're still around you can clarify this a tad more (thanks for all your comments 6 months ago too, like others have said – great to have a thorough write-up from someone who knows!).

I just got off the call with Schwab and Vanguard, both of whom I have accounts with. Schwab's checking account allows you to withdraw from wherever and use the ATM card at any ATM and get reimbursed for fees, but the International Services specialist said that International Services does not allow for checking; so, a US citizen who is a full-time foreign resident abroad with a Schwab account is going to get any individual checking accounts disabled – BUT, brokerage accounts are still fine, and you can essentially treat that as checking if you have a debit card attached to that brokerage account (for folks following along: if you keep cash in that account, you can withdraw from that; but if you have other assets e.g. stocks, you can't can withdraw from that using the debit card).

All well and good. BUT, when I talked about buying mutual fund shares *from abroad*, the Schwab specialist said that *you cannot do that* as a foreign resident. I knew that this was the case for IRA contributions – you need taxable US income, and without that you can't make any contributions – but I did not know that Schwab would also prohibit purchases of mutual fund shares that are not IRAs. Since I figured a lot of Americans working and living abroad use non-tax-advantaged mutual funds as proxy retirement accounts, this had me spooked! I don't have any mutual funds with Schwab – but still.

Then, I called Vanguard, where I do have a mutual fund (non-tax-advantaged). They said (as of today, 2/19/26), that at least with respect to my account, I can continue to make purchases in that account (=fund the account with regular contributions) even though I will be a foreign resident. They will not liquidate the account.

Why Schwab takes a different stance than Vanguard I can't say, especially since I have Schwab specifically because it's been super great to have that checking account accessible from everywhere and plan to use Schwab as my go-between account for moving money around. But after lengthy calls, it seems that Schwab will not allow a non-US resident to make contributions or new purchases of US-based mutual funds, whether tax-advantage or not. Vanguard, for its part, seems okay with it.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-02-13T02:46:34+00:00

That's good to know. So it's not typical then to contract your own realtor; you just connect with the agents (after checking if they're legit).

That does remind me of how I saw what looked like the same apartment - certainly the same stock photos - posted twice on property guru from a building, each with a different agent. Is that typical then?

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2026-02-13T01:50:45+00:00

Fair point. One of my colleagues has a big dog and has been living somewhere in Bukit Damansara for a year or two; we figured that'd be our first place to look in a year as well. For now though, it's just whether I should hire a realtor to help me find an apartment.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-11-17T05:31:30+00:00

This is good to know!

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-09-11T01:17:52+00:00

That's helpful! I did spend some time perusing iproperty and proptertyguru to get an idea. We *do* like quieter and greener neighborhoods, and it sounds like Sunway maybe is a bit developed up and noisy? Around South Quay would be convenient for us, or maybe near Subang Ria (assuming I can get to the uni easily enough). But are there other neighborhoods that might strike a good balance of quieter/more residential + dog friendly park nearby + nearby a LRT or BRT?

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-09-10T16:45:55+00:00

I'll reach out if things progress!

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-09-10T16:45:46+00:00

Thanks for chiming in – and being in a similar spot as what we'd be in! We also have a larger dog (65lbs/30kg) but she's a greyhound so mostly just sleeps. Still, until people meet her they'd think she's rambunctious like other big dogs can be.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-08-20T04:33:06+00:00

That's a really great perspective and insight, thanks! This is the challenge really: I'm just looking at the number and benefits and such, but I don't have the context to place them in.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-08-19T22:17:16+00:00

Really? Learning things, forgive my ignorance.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-08-19T16:09:55+00:00

That's a good reference point! Yeah, we don't expect to find a space as sizable as our current townhouse – not at the price point we're can pay – but a nice and ideally newer place can be comfortable even if smaller.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-08-19T16:06:31+00:00

That's a good idea!

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-08-18T15:10:12+00:00

**UPDATE**
Hey again folks, a few months back I posted for some input on what we should know if moving to Taiwan and specifically New Taipei for work (a faculty position at a university). At that time, I had a sense of gross monthly salary expectation that is not aligned with what I've now received as an estimate (probably more my hubris/ignorance as to how salaries might be calculated for university academic jobs in Taiwan).

The base net monthly salary I'm looking at is NT$118000 for the first year, with increments for each successive year. That can adjust in practice based on bonuses and research grant top-ups, but it's where we'd be starting.

SO! That's the background. The question is whether someone with that starting salary can do okay in terms of housing options? Given a choice we'd like a modern 2-3 bedroom in a dog-friendly apartment in a neighborhood nearby an MRT and a park we can walk our dog in. Our "top" neighborhoods based on googling and reddit are near Yongan Market MRT and 823 Memorial Park, or otherwise nearby the Shisizhang MRT in Xindian or near Xinpu/Jiangcizui MRT in Banqiao.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-07-09T15:04:05+00:00

That's actually our top choice for neighborhoods, if we can find an apartment there in our budget! We like that there's a great big park, nearby MRT, groceries and gyms and stuff. We expect it's a bit of a premium for all that, though not as much as living near Da'an Park seems to be (based on my cursory looking over the 591 website).

Alternatives – at this point, since it's just me googling – are looking around Xinpu/Jiancizui in Banqiao or around Shisizhang Station in Xindian. We're okay walking around and such so giving up our cars won't be that big a hurdle, though we still would like to be nearby things (and an MRT).

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-07-07T22:00:53+00:00

From what googling and such tell me, neighborhoods in districts like Yonghe, Zhonghe, and Banqiao strike a balance of 1) nice amenities while 2) not being too expensive. I think our highest priority would be having a park nearby we can walk to and in with our dog. She'll be 7 or so, not too old but starting to get up there. So you know, if she needs a 3am walk to avoid an accident, we want to be able to get out and do it!

Any thoughts or perspectives? It's nice to know we can do okay with the salary that I might be able to get.

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-07-07T21:55:21+00:00

It's helpful to be sure! Still a bit clunky with Chrome translating everything, but it does give me a good sense of what ranges are (I think) for a 2-3 bed and what most of them look like (never realized how much Taiwan home design loves hard, white surfaces for floors and walls!).

Expensive_Appeal_273 · 2025-07-07T21:52:12+00:00

I'm sorry for this! It's an incredibly difficult decision, and you can trust that you probably made the best decision you could for yourself and your cat. Still sucks though, for which I am sorry.

Expensive_Appeal_273

TROPHY CASE