welcometonobleteam.com - Become a Spartan III

[Imppa]

Join your friends in defending humanity. Start your augmentation today.

In the very end of Halo: Reach Live Action Trailer [Extended Version], under "XBox 360 - Jump In", it reads welcometonobleteam.com.
The page consists the Live Action Trailer, and a chance to become a SPARTAN-III.

All you have to do is to set your name (and optionally, your GT) and upload your image. After this, the augmentation starts. You hardly even notice the liquids flowing in and your body changing! Then, you get to see your face reflecting from your new, shiny armor, just like in the Trailer.
Congratulations! You are now a real SPARTAN-III! If your friends don't believe, you can shove them the diploma you got! In fact, you could share that diploma to all your Facebook friends right away, And print that cool insignia and slam it to your jacket! Girls like Spartans, no?

There really isn't anything there, it's just a marketing page made by Microsoft.
Still, that insignia bugs me: Have we seen that before, Ark?
EDIT: Seems like it's Lambda from Greek alphabet. Thoughts?
EDIT2: Ah Yes: This symbol was used by Spartans (the Originals). Should've remembered that...

[EnigmaBiz]

Stargate symbol.

(maybe)

[The Arkaeologist]

Maybe it's just a visual gag but when you go to www.welcometonobleteam.com, you encounter a webpage that is missing some characters.

Assuming it is intended to read, "BY ORDER OF UNSC HIGHCOM" and below that, "ENTER YOUR DATE OF BIRTH," the following eleven elements are missing (in order):  BUSIMTUTBIT

Does it mean something?!    Was it like this earlier today, Imppa?

Wait....what?!  Now, when I click the link, the site looks perfectly normal.  Does anyone else encounter this strangeness, or was it some page load fluke?  (Am I Reach-tarded?  )

[Scatcycle]

I noticed you seemed to have use the "print screen" method, Ark. Do you still have the whole pic intact? I would like to know the exact time you entered the site.

[nightcrafter27]

I can't seem to reproducer your results, Ark. How did you get there, and what did you do?

[Scatcycle]

OMFG! It says ARG.... CG, any thoughts? Ark? Heres the full text.

[Arg_NullReferenceException]
Arguments:
Debugging resource strings are unavailable. Often the key and arguments provide sufficient information to diagnose the problem. See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=106663&Version=3.0.50106.0&File=mscorlib.dll&Key=Arg_NullReferenceException

   at Halo_Reach.Views.Dossier.OnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Controls.Page.InternalOnNavigatedTo(NavigationEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationService.RaiseNavigated(Object content, Uri uri, Page existingContentPage, Page newContentPage)
   at System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationService.CompleteNavigation(DependencyObject content)
   at System.Windows.Navigation.NavigationService.ContentLoader_BeginLoad_Callback(IAsyncResult result)
   at System.Windows.Navigation.PageResourceContentLoader.BeginLoad_OnUIThread(AsyncCallback userCallback, PageResourceContentLoaderAsyncResult result)
   at System.Windows.Navigation.PageResourceContentLoader.<>c__DisplayClass4.<BeginLoad>b__0(Object args)

I dont want to leave the page... Here goes: Clicking enter.

Edit: It came up with this scroll by thing and one isnt loading.

"Loading Reflection"

BTW Ark, thx for the times. I'll be sure to test it out.

Edit: Dammit arg means arguments doesnt it. ****. Dead end. D:

EDIT: Is my pic messed up?

[The Arkaeologist]

@Scat:  I took the pic at 10:10 p.m. EST.  I entered the site about 9:45 p.m. EST.

@Night:  I used Imppa's linky.  Other than that, I was tooling around in another tab and it (the noble tab) was a black screen when I clicked back - it took a little bit to load - and then it just appeared like that.  I dunno...

[ColdGlider]

NOTE:  The URL for welcometonobleteam.com does NOT appear on the short version of the "Birth of a Spartan" live action trailer.  The short version is what's available for download/viewing on bungie.net and was (originally?) posted here in an news item from 4/27/2010 (nearly a week before the launch of the Reach Beta).

What that means is:  only viewers of the longer version were the intended target audience for welcometonobleteam.com.  The longer version was made available through Halo Waypoint.  Was it anywhere else?

I'm afraid I don't really watch much broadcast television... I'm assuming the short version ran on television.  Can anyone confirm?

I don't see what Ark is seeing when viewing the page in Firefox.  Ark... what browser are you using?

EDIT:  Also, this site is 100% marketing (as if that needed to be explained) but it's worth noting because ARGs are part of marketing campaigns.  The site reports its usage through a marketing platform called SiteCatalyst (made by Omniture) and the SiteCatalyst ID for the marketing campaign appears to be "msxboxcampaignhaloreach".  I inferred this information from the source code of the main page (post date entry):

Code: [Select]

 <!-- Omniture Tracking -->
    <!-- SiteCatalyst code version: H.16.  Copyright 1997-2008 Omniture, Inc. More info available at http://www.omniture.com -->
    <script type="text/javascript">
<!--
        var s_account = "msxboxcampaignhaloreach";
-->
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="js/s_code.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript">
<!--
        s.pageName = 'msxboxcampaignhaloreach';
        s.prop2 = 'es-us';
        s.eVar1 = 'es-us';
        s.channel = 'haloreach';
        s.prop36 = 'haloreach';
        s.trackingServer = "o.xbox.com";
        s.trackingServerSecure = "s.xbox.com";
        s.trackInlineStats = false;
        s.prop36
        var s_code = s.t();

        if (s_code) document.write(s_code);
        if (navigator.appVersion.indexOf('MSIE') >= 0) document.write(unescape('%3C') + '\!-' + '-');
-->
    </script>
    <noscript>
        <a href="http://www.omniture.com" title="Web Analytics">
            <img src="http://o.xbox.com/b/ss/msxboxcampaignhaloreach/1/H.16--NS/0" height="1"
                width="1" border="0" alt="" /></a>
    </noscript>

</body>


[The Arkaeologist]

@Cold:  Firefox.  

I think it was a fluke, a page load error.  Basically, the letters S, U, B, M, I, and T didn't render.

A probable over-REACHaction on my part.  :police:

[ColdGlider]

It's notable that Carter's eyes change color during the bio-augmentation procedure.  They go from a hazel/brown color to brilliant computer-generated blue. 

In Section I, Chapter 1 of "The Fall of Reach" (pg. 14 in the First Edition of the Del Rey trade paperback) it reads:

Her blue eyes fixed upon the Lieutenant as she looked him over.

which is a description of Dr. Halsey.  (Thanks to Ark for previously mentioning Halsey's eye color in a previous conversation... which may have even been related to this video.)

[ColdGlider]

When you customize your own spartan at the site, you get a Silverlight video of your augmentation process.  During the video, you can see some code on the screen.  It's not SVG (like we saw in ODST Wallpaper 06).

[Imppa]

NOTE:  The URL for welcometonobleteam.com does NOT appear on the short version of the "Birth of a Spartan" live action trailer.  The short version is what's available for download/viewing on bungie.net and was (originally?) posted here in an news item from 4/27/2010 (nearly a week before the launch of the Reach Beta).

Thanks for pointing that out CG. I wasn't paying enough attention on that...OP edited.

[Dunder Moose]

Contrast that lambda insignia with the Bungie Aerospace one.

[Pulse Cloud]

Contrast that lambda insignia with the Bungie Aerospace one.

Aerospace's logo is a triangle, not a lambda... Yeah, lambdas are triangular but you get what I mean.

[The Arkaeologist]

The Marathon logo is also visible on Carter's augmentation "index" in the extended trailer.