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Halo: MCC might not use dedicated servers (update: p2p only as fallback, post #278)

BigShow36

Member
It's literally all connected to issues that weren't visible in test. And getting better.

So it wasn't visible during test that you spawn with an SMG in Halo 2 games? Or an AR in H2A games? It wasn't visible in test that you need to go through 2 menus just to switch teams in customs? It wasn't visible in test that empty power weapons don't despawn when dropped in Halo CE?
 

Derpyduck

Banned
So it wasn't visible during test that you spawn with an SMG in Halo 2 games? Or an AR in H2A games? It wasn't visible in test that you need to go through 2 menus just to switch teams in customs? It wasn't visible in test that empty power weapons don't despawn when dropped in Halo CE?

This thread isn't about your personal gripes with Halo. It's about servers.
 
If there's a quality difference worth being concerned about, it should be self evident. The alternative is not having access to the game you want to play.

It's not always self evident. When dealing with FPS you're dealing with literally milliseconds. I thought the whole point of Microsoft's recent push for more e-sports bullshit was to appeal to the crowd where milliseconds matter.

Also, we are literally just finding out today... on a message board that P2P is a fallback. Shouldn't that have been known a long time ago?

All I'm saying is that supposedly one of the main features of the Xbox One was dedicated servers. It would be nice to know when those dedicated servers are working, because right now we're obviously putting way too much blind faith in the power of Microsoft to sort this shit out and be transparent about anything.
 
Or even ten minutes of caring. Seriously.

Wow. Fuck this.

They attempt to build a package with 4 games in it, a multitude of studios, a myriad of MP modes, updated graphics, crazy expensive cinematics, new music, a TV show, and all and you have the gaul to say that?

A lot can be said about the state of the game but saying they didn't care is a big fuck you.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Wouldn't be as big of an issue if online wasn't pay to play on top of buying games. That and the fact that MS pimp'd out the power of the cloud so much.

None of this means we can't be nice to each other, and at least there is a fallback. The fact that this is even an issue is totally unacceptable though.
 

Son of Zardoz

Neo Member

Hate that the game is having issues but glad you guys are facing them head on. I've been dying over here because of having to wait for payday to pick up a copy but as soon as that check hits I will start my download. Perfect time for some campaign coop or customs while everything else is sorted out.

My friends and I used to play CE online with an Xbox upstairs and one downstairs connected online through XBC using a pair of walkie talkies to coordinate. Can't wait to play Blood Gulch over Live, finally. Damn kids these days don't know how good they have it.
 

clav

Member
I think having P2P as a fallback is excellent, would people rather not be able to play at all (Driveclub)?

People are just heavily disappointed, and even that is an understatement considering how many hours Halo fans have put into multiplayer.

High expectations. Underdelivered.
 
i'm not saying they weren't pushed. i'm not even saying they didn't know there were issues. i'm saying you've no real evidence that they knowingly released a broken game for the sake of a few days sales

for example they could easily have released it ~early~ because of the shit storm / expense of moving the release date at such a late hour.

they could've massively underestimated a bug, or overestimated their ability to fix it on the fly. it may have nothing to do with a few extra days before christmas.

I'm not saying I definitively know why they shipped an unfinished game. I'm just saying that if you look at the history of unfinished or broken products (not just in the videogame industry) it's usually, if not always to get that product to market to start making sales.
 
I just want the issues to be ironed out quickly so playerbase doesn't take too severe a beating and I can buy the game already.

But this is a black mark against MS and 343i that they're going to have to make sure doesn't happen again.

A shame too, because they almost went 3 for 3 with the fall releases ... almost.
 

UNSCleric

Member
There's your answer, they didn't know. Hard to see a lot of things until a few hundred thousand people rampage your servers.

I mean, I guess they could have known something was up, but I really don't think this is some huge tinfoil hat (ubisoft) cover up to ship a broken game.

Anybody who had the game over the past weekend was saying everything was broken and not working with MP.

I ignored it since I was barely online and figured everything would be working, but they were right. Seems 343 ignored all that just like I did.
 
Sure, Sony pushed DC hard but to say that DC was bigger for Sony then MCC for MS? No way, especially not in the current sales climate of the consoles.

And both game launches were terrible. DC's was terrible for the sheer length of the multiplayer outtage and MCC's has been terrible because so many things just don't work or are borked (besides matchmaking). The comparison is unwarranted in a thread like this but man, I bought both games at launch and it hurts me inside (as I enjoy them both).

It's bigger in the sense that it was their big new IP. Who knows much money they sank into it's troubled development, marketing campaign, console bundles where the game was essentially free. It's not like they didn't want this to be their big new IP. They wanted this to be a success.

So yeah, I think DC was a much bigger deal for Sony than a compilation of legacy titles was for MS. This is borne out further by looking at the developers MS used for MCC.

Ruffian, Saber, Certain Affinity, UFG. It's almost like it was done on the cheap.
 

UNSCleric

Member
Wow. Fuck this.

They attempt to build a package with 4 games in it, a multitude of studios, a myriad of MP modes, updated graphics, crazy expensive cinematics, new music, a TV show, and all and you have the gaul to say that?

A lot can be said about the state of the game but saying they didn't care is a big fuck you.

Yeah, I do, because I paid a lot of god damn money for this and everything else Halo. I held up my end of the bargain.
 

EL CUCO

Member
We DO have dedicated servers.

First off – and I will say this for the next hundred years – SORRY – we are fixing it. It’s getting better slowly today and we expect that trend to continue, but what you’re seeing currently is actually just an element of this complicated problem – we do in fact use dedicated servers for matchmade games, but as an emergency contingency, MCC is designed to fall back to traditional peer-hosted gameplay in the event that there are connectivity issues with the dedicated servers. This can happen for a variety of reasons including intermittent unavailability of dedicated servers, poor ping times to the dedicated server datacenters, or network configuration issues that prevent you from being able to access the dedicated servers. We’re busy getting stuff fixed and improved, and I promise you I will give you a full breakdown of what happened (and it’s multiple compounding things) after we fix it all. And Dan is going to update everyone on the situation and improvements later today.


And sorry for periods of radio silence, we're literally rushing around fixing stuff.

So is MCC going to be running on Azure? The txt below gives off the impression that it's a third party.
Well...

MCC-Matchmaking.png
 

hawk2025

Member
It's bigger in the sense that it was their big new IP. Who knows much money they sank into it's troubled development, marketing campaign, console bundles where the game was essentially free. It's not like they didn't want this to be their big new IP. They wanted this to be a success.

So yeah, I think DC was a much bigger deal for Sony than a compilation of legacy titles was for MS. This is borne out further by looking at the developers MS used for MCC.

Ruffian, Saber, Certain Affinity, UFG. It's almost like it was done on the cheap.



I think this discussion is a bit fruitless, but if Microsoft sees it like you do, they done fucked up.

It's their biggest franchise. It's the star of their holiday season. It's what can keep momentum going over the holidays.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
So it wasn't visible during test that you spawn with an SMG in Halo 2 games? Or an AR in H2A games? It wasn't visible in test that you need to go through 2 menus just to switch teams in customs? It wasn't visible in test that empty power weapons don't despawn when dropped in Halo CE?

Why are you complaining about Halo 2, you only want/play Halo CE.
 
Wow. Fuck this.

They attempt to build a package with 4 games in it, a multitude of studios, a myriad of MP modes, updated graphics, crazy expensive cinematics, new music, a TV show, and all and you have the gaul to say that?

A lot can be said about the state of the game but saying they didn't care is a big fuck you.

Caring is not a useful word when discussing these big "AAA" videogames. Creating these videogames is a job. The end result is a product. The purpose is money.
 

theWB27

Member
I'm not saying I definitively know why they shipped an unfinished game. I'm just saying that if you look at the history of unfinished or broken products (not just in the videogame industry) it's usually, if not always to get that product to market to start making sales.

Or it could be because you can't test for everything and some things don't pop up until they're in the wild.
 

UNSCleric

Member
I hate Sony and their BS as much as anybody possibly could, but I'm getting REALLY sick of hearing them and their garbage online brought up or compared to Xbox Live and Halo.

Halo and Xbox Live should be leagues above whatever garbage PSN is up to on a weekly basis, and it makes me sick to see people try and defend what is going on right now with the Halo: MCC and Live in general. It's not even about demanding more for your money, it's about demanding what you already paid for.
 

Evilbert

Banned
I disagree we as gamers can not allow Sony or Microsoft get away with this crap!!!! This game is not worth the cost neither is drive club!!! Ubisoft us also screwing us over !!!!
Time for us to demand better from first party devs for sure!!!!
 
I think this discussion is a bit fruitless, but if Microsoft sees it like you do, they done fucked up.

It's their biggest franchise. It's the star of their holiday season. It's what can keep momentum going over the holidays.

It honestly feels like Sunset was the star of the holiday season. The bundle, the huge marketing campaign. Everything suggests that's where they put their eggs with MCC serving as a nice desert to the main Sunset dish...

Could be wrong though, but the lack of MCC marketing, the lack of bundle and the general lack of fanfare surrounding this compared to Sunset feels like they wanted that game to lead the holiday charge.
 
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

It's especially concerning because I don't think I have seen the "connecting to dedicated servers" once. Does that mean that I have only played P2P matchmaking?

This should be another issue that people should be outraged by. Don't just roll over because a mystical industry person entered the thread and told you that "everything is going to be alright."
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
So is MCC going to be running on Azure? The txt below gives off the impression that it's a third party.

the external partner in this case is 343.

unless of course you think 343 operates as a dev team under the xbox live service team
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
I hate Sony and their BS as much as anybody possibly could, but I'm getting REALLY sick of hearing them and their garbage online brought up or compared to Xbox Live and Halo.

Halo and Xbox Live should be leagues above whatever garbage PSN is up to on a weekly basis, and it makes me sick to see people try and defend what is going on right now with the Halo: MCC and Live in general. It's not even about demanding more for your money, it's about demanding what you already paid for.

Seems you're mixing up "defending the issues" with not having a meltdown over the issues and chastising devs on the internet.

None of us are happy about this, but shit-talking Frank or 343 devs does little to fix the problem. Right now the options are wait for fixes or return the product. Issues should be reported, but throwing a tantrum isn't going to fix shit. Some of us are appreciative that 343 is at least communicating with us over what's happening to resolve the issues. I've been through this a few times where the dev has been silent, and that's even more frustrating.
 

Gestault

Member
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

I notice you asked people if they thought it was ok, and it was in effect a resounding "yeah," but you're disagreeing and saying on their behalf that they shouldn't be.
 

j3ff3

Banned
]I'm not saying I definitively know why they shipped an unfinished game.[/B] I'm just saying that if you look at the history of unfinished or broken products (not just in the videogame industry) it's usually, if not always to get that product to market to start making sales.

no doubt that happens. and it is complete bollocks when it does.

but this isn't ubi, and it isn't a shit franchise that MS would knowingly burn imo. not with the approach they've taken in the past with MP - although granted its a different dev.

it genuinely sounds like something overlooked or underestimated and they're scrambling a bit, rather than this being overtly underhanded.
 
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

It's especially concerning because I don't think I have seen the "connecting to dedicated servers" once. Does that mean that I have only played P2P matchmaking?

This should be another issue that people should be outraged by. Don't just roll over because a mystical industry person entered the thread and told you that "everything is going to be alright."

So when dedi's don't work, what should happen? The game should be unplayable? You'd be happier with a game that doesn't work than one that offers some level of redundancy and allows you to continue playing?
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

It's especially concerning because I don't think I have seen the "connecting to dedicated servers" once. Does that mean that I have only played P2P matchmaking?

This should be another issue that people should be outraged by. Don't just roll over because a mystical industry person entered the thread and told you that "everything is going to be alright."

Wait, so if the dedis have an issue you just want the game to stop working entirely? I'd MUCH rather see it switch to p2p so it's at least playable while they fix the issues. Having a fallback plan is a good thing.
 
Yeah, I do, because I paid a lot of god damn money for this and everything else Halo. I held up my end of the bargain.

Boo hoo. It has been out less than 72 hours and they are still putting effort towards making the game stable. If they gave no fucks they wouldn't be bothering.

MP games almost always have launch issues. This isn't unique or unexpected. As soon as you deal with connections across countries all bets are off.
 

tuna_love

Banned
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

It's especially concerning because I don't think I have seen the "connecting to dedicated servers" once. Does that mean that I have only played P2P matchmaking?

This should be another issue that people should be outraged by. Don't just roll over because a mystical industry person entered the thread and told you that "everything is going to be alright."
What's with people telling me what I should be outraged about?
 

j3ff3

Banned
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

It's especially concerning because I don't think I have seen the "connecting to dedicated servers" once. Does that mean that I have only played P2P matchmaking?

This should be another issue that people should be outraged by. Don't just roll over because a mystical industry person entered the thread and told you that "everything is going to be alright."

i also hate halos match making for this reason. i don't want a nondescript loading screen. i want details of what the system is doing.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
Also the people saying that falling back to P2P in the event that dedicated servers are potentially unavailable or the use of dedicated servers is not optimal is a bad thing... they are making my head hurt.

Trying to make an issue where none exists
 

UNSCleric

Member
Boo hoo. It has been out less than 72 hours and they are still putting effort towards making the game stable. If they gave no fucks they wouldn't be bothering.

MP games almost always have launch issues. This isn't unique or unexpected. As soon as you deal with connections across countries all bets are off.

There's that ass-kissing mentality I've seen so much of lately. I hope you get something out of it. Maybe you'll be able to play one match of Halo MP per day from here on out. That'd be a treat.
 
Boo hoo. It has been out less than 72 hours and they are still putting effort towards making the game stable. If they gave no fucks they wouldn't be bothering.

MP games almost always have launch issues. This isn't unique or unexpected. As soon as you deal with connections across countries all bets are off.
Wtf at this attitude. So people should be fine the way this game was released? Let's just ignore the issues that the campaigns have as well.
 

j3ff3

Banned
Wait, so if the dedis have an issue you just want the game to stop working entirely? I'd MUCH rather see it switch to p2p so it's at least playable while they fix the issues. Having a fallback plan is a good thing.

i'm pretty sure he's saying people shouldn't be happy about using p2p.

and that we should be annoyed that its apparently done on the sly.

not that he'd rather no back up.
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
To get back to the thread topic. People should not be okay with P2P matchmaking as fallback. Especially when that fallback occurs behind the scenes.

It's especially concerning because I don't think I have seen the "connecting to dedicated servers" once. Does that mean that I have only played P2P matchmaking?

This should be another issue that people should be outraged by. Don't just roll over because a mystical industry person entered the thread and told you that "everything is going to be alright."

Oh, I'm totally ok with that. Things are steamy right now because it was released with serious server issues, but to have that fallback option is a really good thing! Maybe you have just played P2P, but thats not what should be, but thats also not because the solution itself, but because the server issues. The rule is to play on dedicated servers, if its not possible then P2P... thats a good solution, I dont understand why are turning this into a problem.
 

BigShow36

Member
Why are you complaining about Halo 2, you only want/play Halo CE.

Because I'm forced to play the TS playlist to play CE outside of customs, and then I get a bunch of idiots voting for Halo 2 and Halo 3. If I'm forced to play those games, they should at least have settings that aren't ridiculous.
 

BokehKing

Banned
Sounds like a depth of issues that could have been solved with an open beta.
People crowned destiny for their 'alpha and beta' for being nothing more than stress tests


End of the day it showed Bungie their weak points and what they had to fix

This makes me wonder if there will be halo 5 beta matchmaking errors
 

j3ff3

Banned
Could not test that the physical copy of your game did not include the multiplayer component. That alone indicates that the game was rushed.

when has software development NOT included working up to the 11th hour?

would it have been acceptable to push the retail release back? just the MP?
 
So when dedi's don't work, what should happen? The game should be unplayable? You'd be happier with a game that doesn't work than one that offers some level of redundancy and allows you to continue playing?

You're putting words in my mouth. The point is, if you don't know when the game is actually using dedicated servers, the game will only be using dedicated servers a certain percentage of the time. It would be nice to know, on average, how often we will get the opportunity to make use of these dedicated servers.

If I'm only connecting to dedicated servers less than 50% of the time, I would say that is pretty awful.
 
Boo hoo. It has been out less than 72 hours and they are still putting effort towards making the game stable. If they gave no fucks they wouldn't be bothering.

MP games almost always have launch issues. This isn't unique or unexpected. As soon as you deal with connections across countries all bets are off.

Go home, Your drunk.
 
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