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[Omnistalgic]

Same thing happened with Drive Club...Devs really need to suck it up and delay, I feel for people off work or out of school. I've avoided all this mess by just giving gaming a break for a few weeks.

If it helps, DC is now many users favorite game and after the fixing fans love it. I assume the same will happen with MCC, but the frustration is justified.

 

[SRTtoZ]

Do you know how a recall works?

Phil Spencer will come to his house and pry MCC from his cold dead hands.

 

[SanguineShark]

Is it really that bad?

I have a question for everyone willing to answer. Someone wants to get me a game on Xbox and I'm torn between GTA 5 or Halo in hopes it will eventually be fixed.

Normally I'd say GTA 5 without question, but I almost completed the game on the 360 before quitting ages ago

Spoiler

(from what I remember I had just got Franklin's new apartment and am in the process of aquiring a few items/vehicles for a merryweather heist)

.

Is GTA 5 worth purchasing for a few hours left of campaign and an online mode I barely touched on the 360? Or should I get Halo instead?

 

[The Inventor]

My first Xbox One game and i feel like i wasted my money, i have no desire to play this.

Sadly, coming from a Halo fan, it's not my first option to play anymore. I barely touch it to be honest.
I'm not 100% mad about it as I bought it to play 3 and 4 too, but I strongly feel I should ask for my money back, I don't want to beta test any longer...

 

[Craig Majaski]

Our reviewer, Dustin Chadwell, gave the game a C+ in his initial score (http://www.gaming-age.com/2014/11/halo-master-chief-collection-review-progress-xbox-one/). After several patches and updates he has since revised his score up to a B, but man look at all of those comments regarding our initial score. There was almost zero support for his complaints. Only a few people agreed with his analysis.

Unfortunately whenever someone scores a game "low" the reviewer is often met with hate mail (and in this case sometimes the entire staff). Perhaps bigger media sites are less apt to poke the bear?

It's too bad the game is still broken for many people. I was considering grabbing this last week in Best Buy's Buy 2 Get 1 sale, but remembered all of the problems surrounding it. If it ever works as it should I will reconsider, but they won't get a full $60 out of me, that's for sure.

 

[Aeqvitas]

What I find most alarming is that OP seems to get enraged at the idea that people can have differing viewpoints on this issue.

IMO MCC has been the biggest disappointment, because when it works it is amazing. It has improved to the point where I can regularly play matches, but it still takes a lot of time and has a lot of bugs. Definitely not worth getting worked up over to me. I can't believe that there was any QA run on the servers, its like they just coded it, figured it would work, and only tested over LAN.

MCC is one of the many examples of why companies need to have large, open, public betas on any online title at least 1 month before launch to identify these sorts of issues.

 

[hawk2025]

Is it really that bad?

I have a question for everyone willing to answer. Torn between getting GTA 5 on the Xbone or Halo in hopes it will eventually be fixed.

Normally I'd say GTA 5 without question, but I almost completed the game on the 360 before quitting ages ago

Spoiler

(from what I remember I had just got Franklin's new apartment and am in the process of aquiring a few items/vehicles for a maryweather heist)

.

Is GTA 5 worth purchasing for a few hours left of campaign and an online mode I barely touched on the 360? Or should I get Halo instead?

I don't think you were even at the halfway point of GTAV, if memory serves me right.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

I purchased a Xbox one mostly to play this game.

Amazon have already refunded me for my game purchase and the console was returned this morning.

So, I very much agree. We need to stop giving our money to publishers montha before a product is finished (pre ordering) and we need to stop accepting shit game releases. Alas all of the shit broken games this year have sold like shit off a shovel, so we'll be getting fed this crap for years to come I expect.

So far this year Amazon have refunded me for Destiny, Drive Club, Master Chief collection and Unity. Reason for refund: Poor quality.

This is the first time in my life i've returned a game because it was unfinished shit.

Talk about taking advantage of a company's good will. Refunds aren't given for games "you didn't like", they're for physically damaged products. In the case of software, exchanges are given for opened non-functional products.

Amazon isn't a rental service. Research a game before you buy and open it.

Do this too many times and they'll start implementing restocking fees which will hurt everyone. They'll also flag your account for abuse.

 

[Lord Panda]

The funniest thing about all of this is that it's halo.
Not some new ip, or annual sequel or a random fall blockbuster.

Fucking Halo. The disrespect Microsoft has shown it's literall Michael Jordan of a game franchise and the disrespect that they have shown the same fans that made it possible to even compete in the home console market is unbelievable.

Yep and they want a 30 year lifecycle for the franchise.

Our reviewer, Dustin Chadwell, gave the game a C+ in his initial score (http://www.gaming-age.com/2014/11/halo-master-chief-collection-review-progress-xbox-one/). After several patches and updates he has since revised his score up to a B, but man look at all of those comments regarding our initial score. There was almost zero support for his complaints. Only a few people agreed with his analysis.

Unfortunately whenever someone scores a game "low" the reviewer is often met with hate mail (and in this case sometimes the entire staff). Perhaps bigger media sites are less apt to poke the bear?

It's too bad the game is still broken for many people. I was considering grabbing this last week in Best Buy's Buy 2 Get 1 sale, but remembered all of the problems surrounding it. If it ever works as it should I will reconsider, but they won't get a full $60 out of me, that's for sure.

Elements of fandom can be corrosive and irrational. Good on you guys for scoring the game fairly.

 

[bananafactory]

I don't think you were even at the halfway point of GTAV, if memory serves me right.

Haha yeah he is so far away from the ending. More reason to pick up GTA

 

[I H8 Memes]

ITT Gaffers who think that a recall means 343 is going to walk in your living room and take the game back from you whether you like it or not.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

Come on what do you expect. When you get $750k from the parent company plus lots of ad money throughout the year, you'd best not drop it more than a point.

Holy shit, you weren't kidding......

http://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAct...gon_accepted_750000_from_microsoft_to_create/

 

[Gestault]

The collection would have been perfectly fine for me (I have a campaign focus), had the known issue of checkpoints not saving in Halo 2 not been combined with the hard-locks early on. I play these games on Legendary, and I'm happy to power through it in longer sessions, but when my progress gets stopped in a way where the game loses more than an hour of my play time, it's a worthless experience to me.

 

[Cider X]

ITT Gaffers who think that a recall means 343 is going to walk in your living room and take the game back from you whether you like it or not.

Yup. Talk about misunderstanding a word.
OP is spot on though with his complaints. The game is not functioning as advertised.

 

[samn]

Talk about taking advantage of a company's good will. Refunds aren't given for games "you didn't like", they're for physically damaged products. In the case of software, exchanges are given for opened non-functional products.

Amazon isn't a rental service. Research a game before you buy and open it.

Do this too many times and they'll start implementing restocking fees which will hurt everyone. They'll also flag your account for abuse.

It's not a companies 'good will', it's a calculation for maximum profit.

Amazon sold a product that was severely broken at time of purchase, and still quite broken today, and they should refund it.

 

[SanguineShark]

Haha yeah he is so far away from the ending. More reason to pick up GTA

Really? Thought I was a lot further into the game. According to my stats, I'm

Spoiler

in the process of prepping for an FIB operation. Collecting boiler suits/mask and a garbage truck. Before that I did the Merryweather heist - offshore.

 

[Cyrus_Saren]

It has been a shame that people are still having all kinds of problems with the game. I was hoping that this would have a decent population for a while but, with all the problems, I doubt that's going to be the case now.

Aside from the long matchmaking times I was having, I had no other significant issues. I beat 1-4 on Legendary with no real big issues like a lot of other people are having (aside from the level restarting itself in Halo 2 if you didn't beat it in one go).

It's disheartening for me that this is further killing the Halo name since this is still the main FPS series that I stick with.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Nobody is expressing any sort of real outrage about being scammed, because all videogame journalistic outlets are essentially advertisers.

He hasn't covered this specifically (tends to be more PC-focused), but you should subscribe to Jim Sterling on YouTube. He's one of the most honest and direct critics in the industry, and often articulates the community voice over subjects like this.

I wonder if we could perhaps ask Jason Schreier from Kotaku to investigate what went on and do a proper feature on this. He too is one of the last trustworthy journalistic individuals in the industry, and does some really well researched, in-depth articles.

 

[Petrae]

Talk about taking advantage of a company's good will. Refunds aren't given for games "you didn't like", they're for physically damaged products. In the case of software, exchanges are given for opened non-functional products.

Amazon isn't a rental service. Research a game before you buy and open it.

Do this too many times and they'll start implementing restocking fees which will hurt everyone. They'll also flag your account for abuse.

If the game is defective, why should consumers have to wait until a patch comes that may or may not fix the problems? Are consumers to just expect that games ship broken and will eventually be fixed, so deal with it?

If anything, Amazon should be charging back on publishers for selling defective merchandise, so, as the seller, the company doesn't lose out. Amazon is, in this case, following through with good customer service.

Obviously, some people will take advantage of this. Ideally, if a game isn't working with a short amount of time (say, two to a max of four weeks after release), defective returns should be allowed and covered in that window. After that? If you're still waiting/hoping for fixes, the risk is on you and the seller should no longer be responsible for refunds. Then the publisher should be held directly responsible.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

It is the most broken game I have ever played.
It is an absolute sham that this thing was released.

+1

It's the first gaming product in years that I'm angry about having bought.

They should offer refunds freely for disc or digital buyers,yes. This is the most shameful release of the year.

agree. I "played" for a couple of hours. I'd like my money back. All interest has bled away.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

It's not a companies 'good will', it's a calculation for maximum profit.

Amazon sold a product that was severely broken at time of purchase, and still quite broken today, and they should refund it.

Amazon's return policy states that they accept full refunds on "unopened software". Open software is refunded at 50% of the purchase price. Nowhere does it state that "if you don't like the game you can refund it". They're not responsible for a developer shipping out a half-finished game or a consumer making an ill-informed purchase.

 

[hospitaldriver]

I actually got a refund for this today. I'd held off playing for a fortnight and it was still a mess when I tried to play online this morning.

The online chat with MS was so hassle free it seemed as though they were dishing out refunds all the time. I didn't even mention refund before it was offered to me.

I gladly took my £45 back and will re purchase once all the issues are sorted. Going to miss the Halo 5 beta but that should be delayed until this mess is taken care of completely

 

[Crayon]

Holy shit, you weren't kidding......

http://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAct...gon_accepted_750000_from_microsoft_to_create/

Conflict of interest much? Jeez.

 

[RichiRamjag]

I had to raise a ruckus to get refund because it didn't work. I then took advantage of that MS store deal(bug?) to get another copy for free thinking it would work by then and I'm still having issues. At least when I trade this in ill be getting paid for the trouble.

Left a nasty taste in my mouth as I purchased xb1 for this game.

 

[secretanchitman]

I am extremely close to being done with this game. I have literally spent more time waiting for games than playing them. Luckily I can still return my Xbone and get my entire money back, though MCC I'll have to sell separately as I got a physical copy for it (at least it was free so I'll be gaining money for my trouble).

 

[beercr8te]

I completely agree, its broken, I won't be buying halo 5 after this fuck up, I bought an xbone just for this collection of games (and ryse), seriously thinking of selling off the xbone and finishing with MS and sticking with my ps4 and wii U.

 

[Zeus7]

I'm done with it. I have given my Xbox One with 20 odd games to my nephews for their Christmas. A lot of it is just not enjoyable anymore. My friends and I always seem to be having party chat issues, connecting to each others game issues (all games not just MCC). I find the Xbox dashboard slow and frustrating, and all these broken games are just taking the piss. Why this game wasn't delayed is beyond me, they had to know it was going out broken. It also took me so long to download even though I had the physical copy. I miss the simpler times of putting a disk in and playing the game!

 

[BrandonPckrfn]

Nah, I would have payed more than 60 dollars just for the campaigns, which have worked perfectly for me.

 

[everthustodeadbeats]

Not sure when and how you do re-reviews, but this game collection definitely could use them until things are fixed. We all know why the reviewers have trouble with online components, but at some point, you have to revisit things.

DriveClub should have had the same thing. In each game's case, I'd re-review to downgrade at some point and then re-review to upgrade if things get fixed significantly. There's too much not working here for those reviews to stand.

 

[OneUh8]

I agree with the OP. Sony had one of their heads (Shu) come out with a nice post about Driveclub, wonder when someone at MS will do the same. Considering this is MS #1 franchise, it is really embarrassing.

 

[RichiRamjag]

Not sure when and how you do re-reviews, but this game collection definitely could use them until things are fixed. We all know why the reviewers have trouble with online components, but at some point, you have to revisit things.

DriveClub should have had the same thing. In each game's case, I'd re-review to downgrade at some point and then re-review to upgrade if things get fixed significantly. There's too much not working here for those reviews to stand.

Some sites did re-review drive club. Sadly they haven't taken another look since everything has mostly been fixed.

 

[bishoptl]

I agree with the OP. Sony had one of their heads (Shu) come out with a nice post about Driveclub, wonder when someone at MS will do the same. Considering this is MS #1 franchise, it is really embarrassing.

Didn't Bonnie Ross make a statement a little while back? Not at the same level, but still it was something.

 

[vesvci]

Holy shit, you weren't kidding......

http://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAct...gon_accepted_750000_from_microsoft_to_create/

wow....hilarious in a morbid kind of way. I guess the rumors of Eurogamer also being funded by MS are likely true as well.

 

[Zeus7]

Didn't Bonnie Ross make a statement a little while back? Not at the same level, but still it was something.

Yep, around four weeks ago.

"On the matchmaking front, we have encountered unexpected issues that were not apparent in our internal test environment and that have resulted in a frustrating experience, including long matchmaking times and low session success rates. Within 343 Industries and Xbox, I can assure you that resolving these issues is our #1 priority. We continue to partner with the Xbox platform team to analyze all data to make ongoing server-side adjustments to continually improve the matchmaking experience. We are also preparing additional content updates that will address existing campaign, UI, and other issues to improve the overall experience. With each update we will carefully analyze data to confirm that the improvements we’re seeing internally are also happening with fans at home."

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/...nnie-ross-on-halo-the-master-chief-collection

 

[OneUh8]

Didn't Bonnie Ross make a statement a little while back? Not at the same level, but still it was something.

You are right she did. Which is definitely something. I just think it being MS biggest franchise, someone like Phil or Major Nelson should have came out and said something. It would mean alot for them to be honest and genuine. I was listening to the latest podcast from Major Nelson, and they just quickly mentioned 343's work on releasing patches and stating good job on them fixing the game.

 

[Beer Monkey]

It's really worth $60 for the campaigns but they definitely deserve to be taken to task. The year of the broken game is very real. This gen is frustrating.

 

[not_so_special]

I'm surprised how much little buzz this gets in the gaming journalist world compared to Assassin's Creed which got absolutely slammed. This game is a bigger blunder than both Unity and BF4, and that's saying a lot. I still can't properly play online one month after launch.

or driveclub..hell even in that game affected the scores,halo mcc got great reviews

 

[Bornstellar]

or driveclub..hell even in that game affected the scores,halo mcc got great reviews

TBF Driveclub reviewed poorly before any issues were manifest.

 

[I Want Your Cat]

But its finally fixed! Sort of, finding matches is quick now.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

I got the digital version yesterday at around 4:30 p.m. This morning at 10:30 a.m. it was still at 39% downloading/installing....

The most stable experience you're likely to have with it. I'm just playing campaigns because the MP is totes broken.

 

[not_so_special]

TBF Driveclub reviewed poorly before any issues were manifest.

scores were revised latter too to give a low score...and drive club is just another game to sony....halo is the flagship game from ms

 

[vatstep]

I can't say I would advocate for a legitimate recall, but I think this is about as close as a console game has come to deserving one. I don't even own an Xbox One, but considered buying one solely for this game; those thoughts have been long since abandoned, though.

 

[Bornstellar]

I can't say I would advocate for a legitimate recall, but I think this is about as close as a console game has come to deserving one. I don't even own an Xbox One, but considered buying one solely for this game; those thoughts have been long since abandoned, though.

I doubt you can render judgement then seeing as how you don't own it. The game (now) is functional, just not where we want it to be.

 

[RetrospectiveLamb]

I think it's complete BS and inexcusable how broken the game's matchmaking is, like this is Halo! How could 343 studios screw this up? It makes me speculate how rushed they were to release this. Only solace I can see are the campaigns are still awesome

 

[n0razi]

I bought it to replay the campaigns in HD so I'm happy.. Never cared for console fps multiplayers

 

[BumRush]

It's a video game that can be patched. It shouldn't be recalled. That's stupid.

Remind me why that's stupid? People say it's completely broken and a recall would get them their money back.

 

[Mass Appeal]

Totally agree. MS was doing so good too with their PR lately and 343i had to come and screw it up with the MCC. The game was my most anticipated this fall and it's the one I have least played. My friends and I were so hyped and we have barely played any games together.

MS and 343i owes us who invested in this game day one $60 or something equivalent. I am not the type to be asking for refunds and shit but this is our of hand. These patches barely do anything to do game because of how broken it is.

I have Sony and DriveClub a lot of crap but atleast their game is working now. As a long time Halo fan who played Halo:CE back on Xbox connect in the OG Xbox, I am so disappointed with 343i.

 

[PopcornMegaphone]

I'm so glad I don't buy games day one anymore.

 

[k3rn3ll]

Oh jeeze... not sure you know what a recall is or how it works.

Either way I get people's frustrations but it is way better than it was at launch. Actually for myself, who hasn't played the MP too much, maybe just a couple hours a week, I have very few problems anymore. No to mention the what 35 hours or so of Single Player campaigns that I haven't had a single problem with. I started playing all the way through and I'm almost done with 3.

But if you want a "recall" call the BBB. But a recall would mean every copy being sent in to Corporate, until the ge is in a playable state,(which depending on your perspective it already is) and then they ship it back to you. Needless to say I don't think this have ever been done fore software in history. Even then we can still play the game just fine in most cases

 

[Ellite25]

One of my biggest issues regarding the MCC are the reviews. Half the game is broken, yet the game still has great scores in the upper 80s. I've heard people in the industry talking about how the SP portion still gives you bang for your buck, so they justify the high scores. A game where half of it is broken, one where that half is one of the most anticipated and heavily advertised aspects, deserves nothing more than to be completely hammered in reviews. That's one of my problems with games journalism and their reviews, that they won't take the necessary steps to deduct points for broken games. If headphones came out where you only got sound half of the time, those headphones would be slammed and proclaimed as broken, and people would be told to avoid them. I want to see the same response from reviewers in the game industry.