Removing the H2 servers is morally incorrect

[half0mike]

Halo 2, as most people here would surely agree, is a classic. In the same way that Super Mario World, Starcraft Brood War, Zelda games, Final Fantasy VII, Pokemon for the gameboy, smash brothers games, are all classics. I could go on.

 

But what's the difference between Halo 2 and the rest of those games? You aren't allowed to pay Halo 2 anymore. Why is that?

 

Well I sort of seen it coming but I didn't think microsoft would have the audacity to do such a thing. I, and many many others, played halo 2 long long after the 360 came out. I bought perfect dark zero because I was a huge perfect dark fan (it sucked) and Halo 3. Then, well, most people who came from h2 agreed that h2 was the better game. We didn't need any new games. Perfectly fine with our precious Halo 2. So Microsoft sees this, realizes what's going on, and asks, "what can we do to boost xbox 360 game sales?"

 

The answer is obvious for anyone examining the xbox live participation data. Cut service for Halo 2. If they can't play Halo 2 anymore, they have no choice but to go buy more games. Well, that's exactly what they did. And I will never forgive microsoft for this. I genuinely feel like the Halo 2 players,  the players who helped make xbox live what it is today, are owed a halo 2 comeback in full glory. I think MS is hoping everyone will eventually give in, forget, and move on. But it's not moral in this video game world. I was a semi-pro halo 2 player. I had over 20k games played across my accounts in those 6 years. If I knew that one day microsoft was going to deny us from playing the game ever again, I would not have invested so much into it at all.

 

 

It's just a dirty, dirty move.

[Eriatarka]

They didn't shut Halo 2 down specifically, at least not on the Xbox. Microsoft shut down all of the original Xbox Live servers, so that obviously affected Halo 2 just like every other game. It wasn't really something aimed at Halo 2 players specifically, dont'cha think that's kinda silly to say Microsoft was specifically targeting the Halo 2 audience just to increase sales? Keeping those original XBL servers up were costing them money, when they already had new and improved servers up and running for the 360.

 

I also really disagree that Halo 2 fans are owed anything. I mean you did get 5+ years to play it online, Microsoft even extended the original Xbox Live shutdown by a few months or so, didn't they? Plus, we had Halo 2 Vista to play on the PC until just a couple of months ago. You've really got to admit that we have had plenty of time to play and enjoy Halo 2. They're not really denying you from playing the game. Playing it online in matchmaking? Sure, but you had around 5 to 6 years to play it. Playing the single-player, co-op, and multiplayer over Xbox Connect? You can still do that and set up private servers and stuff for the PC version if you still wanna play.

 

Honestly dude, I think you're getting a little too worked up over it. :/  I can't agree with calling it morally wrong. Everyone's got different sets of morals, and I don't see how it was morally wrong myself. Halo 2 and indeed all the other original Xbox games had their time to shine. Yea, I'd love to play some of them online, but I feel like it's just time to move on.

[half0mike]

I do appreciate the reply, and yes they shut down the entire original XBL servers however every other game on that server was basically dead while Halo 2 was thriving. So it's affects Halo 2 players the most by far. And of course Microsoft knew this, so while that may not be "targeting Halo 2 players" it is still "doing something that will severely (totally) destroy Halo 2, and knowing you're doing it".

 

With regards to the feelings of being owed, I understand i'm a little more serious about this than most people. However, it's not fair that other classic games have gone unaffected throughout the entire history of video gaming. As long as the community is there, you can still play. Imagine your favourite game is Super Mario World, and nintendo decided one day, "you aren't allowed to play it anymore - ever" and everyone SMW cartridges became useless. I mean sure you don't play it every day, but if you try to go back and relive some memories-- NOPE. There is NO OTHER GAME as big or even near as big as Halo 2 is in which the companies involved decided one day "no you cannot play any more", and I HIGHLY feel like it was strictly profit motivated. I see it as screwing over the fan base in order to increase profits, and that is what I find morally wrong about this whole thing.

 

And yeah "move on" is just the attitude microsoft wants us to take, as I said in my original post. AKA let micro$oft have their way with you. Honestly, the rest of the halo games really do suck balls compared to Halo 2. They keep changing the physics engine which alienates the people who played the previous game and are just adding more and more gimmicks every time. No wonder MLG is finally dropping Halo and CoD has surpassed it in popularity. Yeah and the PC servers are getting shut down and who are you to say that 5/6 years is sufficient time to play the game? As long as I payed 70$ for the game and it says "xbox live enabled" on the front it should work.

 

Just give us Halo 2 back. Do not mess with it, please. This forum will surely be full of brown nosers who are afraid to call you out 343 (just liek the old bungie forums), but I do speak for a lot of people when I beg that you don't screw with the remake. 

[Eriatarka]

I've still gotta disagree with the way you put it. I mean yeah it'd be pretty bad if Nintendo did say we couldn't play it and took away all our carts, digital copies, etc., but Microsoft isn't doing that with Halo 2. Sure it's a pretty big bummer you can't play it online over its own MM system and stuff, but like, you still have the game right? You can still go ahead and play SP, Co-Op, and multiplayer with a few friends in splitscreen or xbox connect. Besides, SMW's not got an online mode and it's a local singleplayer, possibly co-op game. You're talking about taking away the entire game with that example, which isn't really the same thing as this, y'know? 

 

I'm not any kind of official spokesperson or anything, but you can still play the game with people, you've just got to do that through XBC on the consoles and private servers/LAN on the PC. It's not quite the MM experience, I understand, but at least it's something right? I don't think I can think of many console games, if any, from older gens that're still capable of their original online suite. That's pretty much a PC exclusive thing as far as I know, and that's 'cause PCs don't have to worry about that sorta thing when you upgrade them. I'm not gonna get into which Halo game is better or worse, or the whole MLG thing. That wasn't really what I was talking about and it's kind of a moot point for me.

[Grumpy]

 

I've still gotta disagree with the way you put it. I mean yeah it'd be pretty bad if Nintendo did say we couldn't play it and took away all our carts, digital copies, etc., but Microsoft isn't doing that with Halo 2. Sure it's a pretty big bummer you can't play it online over its own MM system and stuff, but like, you still have the game right? You can still go ahead and play SP, Co-Op, and multiplayer with a few friends in splitscreen or xbox connect. Besides, SMW's not got an online mode and it's a local singleplayer, possibly co-op game. You're talking about taking away the entire game with that example, which isn't really the same thing as this, y'know? 

 

I'm not any kind of official spokesperson or anything, but you can still play the game with people, you've just got to do that through XBC on the consoles and private servers/LAN on the PC. It's not quite the MM experience, I understand, but at least it's something right? I don't think I can think of many console games, if any, from older gens that're still capable of their original online suite. That's pretty much a PC exclusive thing as far as I know, and that's 'cause PCs don't have to worry about that sorta thing when you upgrade them. I'm not gonna get into which Halo game is better or worse, or the whole MLG thing. That wasn't really what I was talking about and it's kind of a moot point for me.

No, you are saying 'Let 'em eat gruel instead of steak'. No, we reject KAI, XBC and all other make-do efforts to appease the H2 players. That is not what most of us want, imo, we want H2 back on Live. I feel, as a consumer, that yes I am owed because even though I played it for a number of years, it was no gift, I paid for it. I bought the 360 specifically for H2, I paid my Live dues specifically for H2 and one of their big selling points...Come, play Halo 2 on Live, spend your money with us. Then we get the ax.

 

I never like buying a product and then the product is taken away. 

 

So, any comparison that you make with other games will not do in this case, H2 stands alone. I think MS has always been wary of H2, H3 had to live under the comparisons to H2 and even Reach makers had to listen to the comparisons...Reach so so, H2 best...kind of thing. At this moment the H2 Juggernaut is looming over MS and 343, frightening them like children. They are afraid H2A, done right, will be better than what they can make today.

 

They were apprehensive about CE too, so they frumped us with the MP bull they gave us and then claimed they did that so they would not split the community. Total bull, they split the damned community by giving us crap for CEA MP. 

[Eriatarka]

No, you are saying 'Let 'em eat gruel instead of steak'. No, we reject KAI, XBC and all other make-do efforts to appease the H2 players. That is not what most of us want, imo, we want H2 back on Live. I feel, as a consumer, that yes I am owed because even though I played it for a number of years, it was no gift, I paid for it. I bought the 360 specifically for H2, I paid my Live dues specifically for H2 and one of their big selling points...Come, play Halo 2 on Live, spend your money with us. Then we get the ax.

 

I never like buying a product and then the product is taken away. 

 

So, any comparison that you make with other games will not do in this case, H2 stands alone. I think MS has always been wary of H2, H3 had to live under the comparisons to H2 and even Reach makers had to listen to the comparisons...Reach so so, H2 best...kind of thing. At this moment the H2 Juggernaut is looming over MS and 343, frightening them like children. They are afraid H2A, done right, will be better than what they can make today.

 

They were apprehensive about CE too, so they frumped us with the MP bull they gave us and then claimed they did that so they would not split the community. Total bull, they split the damned community by giving us crap for CEA MP. 

 

Halo 2 "Juggernaut"? What're you talking about? It's a nearly decade old game that ran its course with the rest of the games for the original Xbox. None of them, even those that're still popular with people, get a chance either. What makes you think this "Juggernaught" whatever that's supposed to mean, is "scaring" them? Like, really? What've they got to be scared of? Why would they be afraid of H2A being done right and gaining lots of players? I don't think lots of people now want to play a decade old game instead of more recent games, Halo or not. Halo's not really as popular as it used to be, so you probably wouldn't be seeing the numbers you did when the game was still fresh, still extremely popular.

 

They'd be the ones making the money either way, y'know. Microsoft and 343i would be raking in the cash from whatever profit a H2A gave them. The reason they didn't have the original MP for Halo Anniversary isn't the same reason you're giving for H2A, it's because the original Halo didn't have online netcode, and if they just put its MP over xbox live, like they did with co-op, you'd be having HUGE amounts of lag, just like you do with the co-op if not worse. It wouldn't be something they could do in a small amount of time either. It'd take quite a while to create proper netcode, test it, and make sure it's all working peachy-keen. 

[Grumpy]

 

Halo 2 "Juggernaut"? What're you talking about? It's a nearly decade old game that ran its course with the rest of the games for the original Xbox. None of them, even those that're still popular with people, get a chance either. What makes you think this "Juggernaught" whatever that's supposed to mean, is "scaring" them? Like, really? What've they got to be scared of? Why would they be afraid of H2A being done right and gaining lots of players? I don't think lots of people now want to play a decade old game instead of more recent games, Halo or not. Halo's not really as popular as it used to be, so you probably wouldn't be seeing the numbers you did when the game was still fresh, still extremely popular.

 

They'd be the ones making the money either way, y'know. Microsoft and 343i would be raking in the cash from whatever profit a H2A gave them. The reason they didn't have the original MP for Halo Anniversary isn't the same reason you're giving for H2A, it's because the original Halo didn't have online netcode, and if they just put its MP over xbox live, like they did with co-op, you'd be having HUGE amounts of lag, just like you do with the co-op if not worse. It wouldn't be something they could do in a small amount of time either. It'd take quite a while to create proper netcode, test it, and make sure it's all working peachy-keen. 

The Juggernaut was what H2 was back then, if you could not see that then there's no use talking to you. As I said, H3 got highly questioned because people were comparing it to H2. Then Reach came out and the comparisons continued, even as nobody played H2, Reach was compared and it didn't fare well. I stated it plain enough, 343 is afraid of not being able to release a game better than a 10 year old game. I essentially restated my post, so next time read it before you blurt out a "what are you talking about" statement.

 

No, you are wrong about the sales being the same either way, you could not be more wrong. The sales of CEA dropped off as soon as the MP was released and people are aware of that and are angrily awaiting H2A and if they give us the original, the sales will be high...if they give us junk, the sales will tail off. So I think you are wrong, they will make money with junk but they'll make a ton more if they do it right.

[Eriatarka]

The Juggernaut was what H2 was back then, if you could not see that then there's no use talking to you. As I said, H3 got highly questioned because people were comparing it to H2. Then Reach came out and the comparisons continued, even as nobody played H2, Reach was compared and it didn't fare well. I stated it plain enough, 343 is afraid of not being able to release a game better than a 10 year old game. I essentially restated my post, so next time read it before you blurt out a "what are you talking about" statement.

 

No, you are wrong about the sales being the same either way, you could not be more wrong. The sales of CEA dropped off as soon as the MP was released and people are aware of that and are angrily awaiting H2A and if they give us the original, the sales will be high...if they give us junk, the sales will tail off. So I think you are wrong, they will make money with junk but they'll make a ton more if they do it right.

 

I'm well aware of the popularity Halo 2 used to have. It was such a juggernaut back then for multiple reasons. A few of those being the lack of any real competition, the rise of online play on consoles that Xbox Live helped to create, and the hype surrounding it before its release. What you stated is speculation. Why do you think 343i, or even Microsoft for that matter, are afraid of not being able to release a game that, in your eyes, isn't better than Halo 2? That's pure speculation with, as far as I can tell, no real evidence, no statements, no data to really base such an assumption on. I mean, you know they're well aware people want a Halo 2: Anniversary and they're willing to do one, right? Why would they be willing to do something they're afraid might overshadow their own work? That doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

 

I never talked about the sales of HCEA or a possible H2A. What I said was that Microsoft would still be the ones making the money from a H2A, so the "fear" you're talking about makes no sense. They're going to make lots of money with the new Halo trilogy, that's a given. Whether or not H2A were to be more popular (and I really doubt it would be) doesn't matter so much, seeing as how 343i and Microsoft are the ones still getting all the profit at the end of the day. Get it? 

[Grumpy]

 

I'm well aware of the popularity Halo 2 used to have. It was such a juggernaut back then for multiple reasons. A few of those being the lack of any real competition, the rise of online play on consoles that Xbox Live helped to create, and the hype surrounding it before its release. What you stated is speculation. Why do you think 343i, or even Microsoft for that matter, are afraid of not being able to release a game that, in your eyes, isn't better than Halo 2? That's pure speculation with, as far as I can tell, no real evidence, no statements, no data to really base such an assumption on. I mean, you know they're well aware people want a Halo 2: Anniversary and they're willing to do one, right? Why would they be willing to do something they're afraid might overshadow their own work? That doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

 

I never talked about the sales of HCEA or a possible H2A. What I said was that Microsoft would still be the ones making the money from a H2A, so the "fear" you're talking about makes no sense. They're going to make lots of money with the new Halo trilogy, that's a given. Whether or not H2A were to be more popular (and I really doubt it would be) doesn't matter so much, seeing as how 343i and Microsoft are the ones still getting all the profit at the end of the day. Get it? 

The fear is the possibility that they can't make a game that is equal to or better than what H2 was. Imo, the reason they dummied CEA was because if it was too good, that would impact not only Reach but H4 after that and if they do the same again, it will be for the same reason. To solve that, they should just make sure H5 is one of the best Halo's ever instead of the crap like CEA MP was. If they don't, then the sales would be hurt by the, yet again, comparisons to H2 MP.

 

In the ideal, they will give us H2 MP as it was and roll in the dough, then they would put out a worthy H5 and they would again roll in the dough and we would all be happy. They need to have confidence that the only way to slay the Juggernaut is to make a better game and that they are the best...now go out and prove it.

 

So yes, my opinion is they are frightened of the Juggernaut still, albeit a ghost Juggernaught that's still there.

[half0mike]

You know what's sad? And this is absolute 100% honesty. My best bests and I all played Halo 2 religiously, basically. And we've had conversations about how we're going to play this game till the day we die. I've said out loud on many occasions that i'm never going to quit Halo 2 and am looking forward to playing it when i'm 50.

 

Yeah, just sad. It's just not fair.

[halo2days]

 

They didn't shut Halo 2 down specifically, at least not on the Xbox. Microsoft shut down all of the original Xbox Live servers, so that obviously affected Halo 2 just like every other game. It wasn't really something aimed at Halo 2 players specifically, dont'cha think that's kinda silly to say Microsoft was specifically targeting the Halo 2 audience just to increase sales? Keeping those original XBL servers up were costing them money, when they already had new and improved servers up and running for the 360.

 

I also really disagree that Halo 2 fans are owed anything. I mean you did get 5+ years to play it online, Microsoft even extended the original Xbox Live shutdown by a few months or so, didn't they? Plus, we had Halo 2 Vista to play on the PC until just a couple of months ago. You've really got to admit that we have had plenty of time to play and enjoy Halo 2. They're not really denying you from playing the game. Playing it online in matchmaking? Sure, but you had around 5 to 6 years to play it. Playing the single-player, co-op, and multiplayer over Xbox Connect? You can still do that and set up private servers and stuff for the PC version if you still wanna play.

 

Honestly dude, I think you're getting a little too worked up over it. :/  I can't agree with calling it morally wrong. Everyone's got different sets of morals, and I don't see how it was morally wrong myself. Halo 2 and indeed all the other original Xbox games had their time to shine. Yea, I'd love to play some of them online, but I feel like it's just time to move on.

actually Nooo!! because people didnt play any other games...Only halo 2 Im not gonna call it morally wrong altho I do see where hes coming from and understand completly! Obviously you must have no idea how fun halo 2 was!

[Eriatarka]

actually Nooo!! because people didnt play any other games...Only halo 2 Im not gonna call it morally wrong altho I do see where hes coming from and understand completly! Obviously you must have no idea how fun halo 2 was!

 

Oh people most certainly did play other games online over Xbox Live. Please, don't go off and assume something like that, because I can assure you I've played a lot of Halo 2 in my lifetime. I first played the game while travelling down to Florida to visit my grandparents and cousins. There we spent a large amount of time almost every day playing custom games with one another. I also purchased at one point my own copy of the limited edition, and I not only played through the campaign, but I did continue playing custom games with my brother and occasionally anyone who might have visited us.

 

When I came to have an Xbox 360 and was able to create my own Xbox Live account, Halo 2 happened to be one of if not the very first game I played on Xbox Live. I even downloaded its map packs. I played that for a while and definitely enjoyed it, though I wasn't as good as those who'd had a considerable amount of time to play it over matchmaking. So, as you can probably tell, I've had plenty of experience with Halo 2, despite not experiencing its matchmaking when it was still incredibly popular. The amount of fun someone has with this game also varies depending on who you ask. A lot of people seem to enjoy things like button combos and other multiplayer glitches, but these are considered cheating both by Microsoft and Bungie themselves. Regardless of their view on it though, I still consider those things cheating and do not approve of them in matchmaking or competitive use, no matter how much skill it may or may not take in timing them properly. That doesn't make them any less of cheats/exploits. 

 

Multiplayer glitches aren't my only problems with it either. I don't think the campaign is all that enjoyable because the enemy encounters just come across as a lot less dynamic and a lot less fun. For a majority of the time I usually find myself skipping past most of the fights just to get to the story bits, but even these aren't all that amazing. The story comes across as some kind of Hollywood action flick, where as the original Halo: Combat Evolved was very much a science fiction FPS all throughout. Some levels were interesting and fun to look at and move through for the first few times, but they just ended up being as lackluster as the campaign and enemy encounters before long. The music, as always, was pretty good though. 

[Chris Hansen]

 

Oh people most certainly did play other games online over Xbox Live. Please, don't go off and assume something like that, because I can assure you I've played a lot of Halo 2 in my lifetime. I first played the game while travelling down to Florida to visit my grandparents and cousins. There we spent a large amount of time almost every day playing custom games with one another. I also purchased at one point my own copy of the limited edition, and I not only played through the campaign, but I did continue playing custom games with my brother and occasionally anyone who might have visited us.

 

When I came to have an Xbox 360 and was able to create my own Xbox Live account, Halo 2 happened to be one of if not the very first game I played on Xbox Live. I even downloaded its map packs. I played that for a while and definitely enjoyed it, though I wasn't as good as those who'd had a considerable amount of time to play it over matchmaking. So, as you can probably tell, I've had plenty of experience with Halo 2, despite not experiencing its matchmaking when it was still incredibly popular. The amount of fun someone has with this game also varies depending on who you ask. A lot of people seem to enjoy things like button combos and other multiplayer glitches, but these are considered cheating both by Microsoft and Bungie themselves. Regardless of their view on it though, I still consider those things cheating and do not approve of them in matchmaking or competitive use, no matter how much skill it may or may not take in timing them properly. That doesn't make them any less of cheats/exploits. 

 

Multiplayer glitches aren't my only problems with it either. I don't think the campaign is all that enjoyable because the enemy encounters just come across as a lot less dynamic and a lot less fun. For a majority of the time I usually find myself skipping past most of the fights just to get to the story bits, but even these aren't all that amazing. The story comes across as some kind of Hollywood action flick, where as the original Halo: Combat Evolved was very much a science fiction FPS all throughout. Some levels were interesting and fun to look at and move through for the first few times, but they just ended up being as lackluster as the campaign and enemy encounters before long. The music, as always, was pretty good though. 

 

The campaign was awesome dude. Not like campaigns today where you need to play the linear path the developers lay out for you. In halo 2 you could actually explore, and there was a TON of stuff to uncover/mess with as a result, unintended or otherwise.

 

The game has the biggest diversity of enemies to fight, elites (more then 7 different types all with different resistances and abilities), grunts, jackals, hunters, drones, brutes, combat flood, elite combat flood, infection flood, carrier flood, two different types of sentinels, sentinel enforcers (which never showed up again in any other halo title for some stupid reason). I think that's everything but I might have left out some obscure things.

 

Not to mention the way all these different units interact creates some of the most memorable and entertaining campaign play of all the halos.

 

Flood vs covenant vs sentinels, Flood vs covenant brute faction vs covenant elite faction, Covenant vs heretic covenant (making some really interesting fights). So anyway...how are enemy encounters less dynamic then other halos? The most epic moment in the game comes from some of the enemy encounters...the scarab sequence and having to board it with a TON of enemies inside, the mausoleum sequence, where epic music comes on as you decide which side to attack. Not to mention boss encounters with regret and tatarus.

 

It sounds like you really didn't get into halo 2 that much. Playing fusion frenzy instead? What other xbox 1 games were even remotely as popular as halo 2 online Crimson skys? LOL. Pandora tomorrow splinter cell? Even remember that game had online? lolz. Rainbow Six 3? I think I've made my point here in terms of online game popularity, and those games I listed came out BEFORE halo 2; there weren't many people playing them before it came out and I can imagine there was even less after its release.

 

You mention xbox 360 so you didn't have an original or got the game back in 2004?

[halo2days]

Chris hansen,

I know you remember how hilarious the Grunts were and the things they would say! Lol sometimes Id just sit and listen to them talk!

[Eriatarka]

The campaign was awesome dude. Not like campaigns today where you need to play the linear path the developers lay out for you. In halo 2 you could actually explore, and there was a TON of stuff to uncover/mess with as a result, unintended or otherwise.

 

The game has the biggest diversity of enemies to fight, elites (more then 7 different types all with different resistances and abilities), grunts, jackals, hunters, drones, brutes, combat flood, elite combat flood, infection flood, carrier flood, two different types of sentinels, sentinel enforcers (which never showed up again in any other halo title for some stupid reason). I think that's everything but I might have left out some obscure things.

 

Not to mention the way all these different units interact creates some of the most memorable and entertaining campaign play of all the halos.

 

Flood vs covenant vs sentinels, Flood vs covenant brute faction vs covenant elite faction, Covenant vs heretic covenant (making some really interesting fights). So anyway...how are enemy encounters less dynamic then other halos? The most epic moment in the game comes from some of the enemy encounters...the scarab sequence and having to board it with a TON of enemies inside, the mausoleum sequence, where epic music comes on as you decide which side to attack. Not to mention boss encounters with regret and tatarus.

 

It sounds like you really didn't get into halo 2 that much. Playing fusion frenzy instead? What other xbox 1 games were even remotely as popular as halo 2 online Crimson skys? LOL. Pandora tomorrow splinter cell? Even remember that game had online? lolz. Rainbow Six 3? I think I've made my point here in terms of online game popularity, and those games I listed came out BEFORE halo 2; there weren't many people playing them before it came out and I can imagine there was even less after its release.

 

You mention xbox 360 so you didn't have an original or got the game back in 2004?

 

 

If you had read my post carefully you'd have seen where I talked about playing it at my grandparents house with my cousins, and this was on their original Xbox, well before I ever got an Xbox 360. We would play custom games together for hours nearly every day for the time I was visiting (which had been at least a week), and of course we had fun. This was before I knew about the button glitches, and I'm fairly sure they weren't aware of them either. Not long after that I was able to get my hands on a copy of the limited edition, which I played at home with my brother, and the occasional visitor, in custom games. Again I had a lot of fun with it, but when I decided to play through the campaign... well, you can see my previous post on that. It just isn't as fun as the original Halo's campaign, and far from being as memorable. Please note I didn't just play Halo 2 on occasion in customs, it was a game I played pretty regularly.

 

When I did get an Xbox 360, guess which game was the first I played over Xbox Live? That's right, it was Halo 2. I downloaded all of the map packs and headed into matchmaking, where I proceeded to get my butt kicked, but still had a good bit of fun. However, while I was playing matchmaking, I did notice problems like the button glitches and other exploits, and these were a real turn off for me. Here I was, playing the game without the use of any glitches, where as other players were exploiting these cheats to win in situations they should have died in. It really left a bad taste in my mouth, and I stopped playing the online after a while. It didn't appeal to me so much when I saw how often people were using things like the BXR, BXB/BYB, RRX(Double Shot), etc. 

 

I'm well aware Halo 2 was the most popular original Xbox game, but there were still plenty of people playing other online games like Mech Assault and Mech Assault 2: Lone Wolf, Medal of Honour, any of the Rainbow Six or Ghost Recon games, a myriad of sports and fighting games, etc. Their populations might not have been as big as Halo 2's, but there were certainly a good amount of players for those games. 

 

Anywho... that's all I've got to say on it. You can disagree with my opinion on Halo 2, but please respect that I don't feel the same way you do about the game. We've all got different tastes here, y'know?

[Chris Hansen]

I suppose you're opinion is your own, but I had so much fun with halo 2's campaign your opinion is crazy to me is all.

[Son Of Anarchy]

Halo 2's campaign gave me an orgy the second it began.

[Son Of Anarchy]

You sound snobby saying something is "morally incorrect". No, just no.

[coldkeyes]

Halo 2, as most people here would surely agree, is a classic. In the same way that Super Mario World, Starcraft Brood War, Zelda games, Final Fantasy VII, Pokemon for the gameboy, smash brothers games, are all classics. I could go on.

 

But what's the difference between Halo 2 and the rest of those games? You aren't allowed to pay Halo 2 anymore. Why is that?

 

Well I sort of seen it coming but I didn't think microsoft would have the audacity to do such a thing. I, and many many others, played halo 2 long long after the 360 came out. I bought perfect dark zero because I was a huge perfect dark fan (it sucked) and Halo 3. Then, well, most people who came from h2 agreed that h2 was the better game. We didn't need any new games. Perfectly fine with our precious Halo 2. So Microsoft sees this, realizes what's going on, and asks, "what can we do to boost xbox 360 game sales?"

 

The answer is obvious for anyone examining the xbox live participation data. Cut service for Halo 2. If they can't play Halo 2 anymore, they have no choice but to go buy more games. Well, that's exactly what they did. And I will never forgive microsoft for this. I genuinely feel like the Halo 2 players,  the players who helped make xbox live what it is today, are owed a halo 2 comeback in full glory. I think MS is hoping everyone will eventually give in, forget, and move on. But it's not moral in this video game world. I was a semi-pro halo 2 player. I had over 20k games played across my accounts in those 6 years. If I knew that one day microsoft was going to deny us from playing the game ever again, I would not have invested so much into it at all.

 

 

It's just a dirty, dirty move.

 

I'm a Halo 2 Xbox Live Veteran, and I would want to see Halo 2 PC get the Original Xbox Live Servers for the game to run on, with a powerful anti-cheating engine, from Valve

[Dr.Buttons]

I too will never forgive microsoft  for this atrocity they've committed. 
They do owe Halo 2 players everything because if it wasn't for Halo 2 kick starting the popularity of Xbox Live then Microsoft wouldn't be this wealthy and successful. I you say otherwise then you are not a true gamer of Halo 2.
Halo 2 is a classic and classics should last for ever in every possible way.

 

Oh people most certainly did play other games online over Xbox Live. Please, don't go off and assume something like that, because I can assure you I've played a lot of Halo 2 in my lifetime. I first played the game while travelling down to Florida to visit my grandparents and cousins. There we spent a large amount of time almost every day playing custom games with one another. I also purchased at one point my own copy of the limited edition, and I not only played through the campaign, but I did continue playing custom games with my brother and occasionally anyone who might have visited us.

 

When I came to have an Xbox 360 and was able to create my own Xbox Live account, Halo 2 happened to be one of if not the very first game I played on Xbox Live. I even downloaded its map packs. I played that for a while and definitely enjoyed it, though I wasn't as good as those who'd had a considerable amount of time to play it over matchmaking. So, as you can probably tell, I've had plenty of experience with Halo 2, despite not experiencing its matchmaking when it was still incredibly popular. The amount of fun someone has with this game also varies depending on who you ask. A lot of people seem to enjoy things like button combos and other multiplayer glitches, but these are considered cheating both by Microsoft and Bungie themselves. Regardless of their view on it though, I still consider those things cheating and do not approve of them in matchmaking or competitive use, no matter how much skill it may or may not take in timing them properly. That doesn't make them any less of cheats/exploits. 

 

Multiplayer glitches aren't my only problems with it either. I don't think the campaign is all that enjoyable because the enemy encounters just come across as a lot less dynamic and a lot less fun. For a majority of the time I usually find myself skipping past most of the fights just to get to the story bits, but even these aren't all that amazing. The story comes across as some kind of Hollywood action flick, where as the original Halo: Combat Evolved was very much a science fiction FPS all throughout. Some levels were interesting and fun to look at and move through for the first few times, but they just ended up being as lackluster as the campaign and enemy encounters before long. The music, as always, was pretty good though. 

 

I CAN TELL YOU DIDN'T PLAY HALO 2 AS MUCH AS YOU CLAIM BECAUSE IF THAT WERE TRUE YOU WOULD BE COMPLETELY IMMERSED IN THE FACT THAT IT IS MORALLY WRONG. i CREATED MY ACCOUNT JUST NOW BECAUSE IF THIS MANS POST.

[I_Make_Big_Boom]

If you wan't to keep playing Halo 2 online so much then why not play Halo 3? The game-play is almost identical in most ways, and from what I can see it probably won't be shut down for years to come.

If what I posted above sounded obnoxious then I'm sorry I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I can fully understand what you guys are going through, and I'm just trying to give some advice. 

[Grumpy]

I too will never forgive microsoft  for this atrocity they've committed. 

They do owe Halo 2 players everything because if it wasn't for Halo 2 kick starting the popularity of Xbox Live then Microsoft wouldn't be this wealthy and successful. I you say otherwise then you are not a true gamer of Halo 2.

Halo 2 is a classic and classics should last for ever in every possible way.

 

I CAN TELL YOU DIDN'T PLAY HALO 2 AS MUCH AS YOU CLAIM BECAUSE IF THAT WERE TRUE YOU WOULD BE COMPLETELY IMMERSED IN THE FACT THAT IT IS MORALLY WRONG. i CREATED MY ACCOUNT JUST NOW BECAUSE IF THIS MANS POST.

A thousand times this.

 

Also, to say, just play H3 because it's almost the same game is insane. Not even close.

[Is not JL]

Removed Halo 2?

 

K.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, before you go do any research into the fact that many people still play it online, let me ask you this.

 

Why haven't you?

[Ryu♥Hayabusa]

When was this revived? Hell, M$ never guaranteed un-ending online services so there is nothing owed.

[The Stig]

When was this revived? Hell, M$ never guaranteed un-ending online services so there is nothing owed.

This. And didn't Jessica state somewhere that they are planning a big update for Halo 2 Vista/PC? I'm pretty sure she did, I just can't remember...