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[Ishan]

I just wish there was something we could do, just to let these companies know it's not okay. The whole "vote with your wallet" doesn't seem to work, as the majority of casual buyers don't really look into these things (aren't aware), or don't care. So it allows them to keep doing it over and over. Companies like this only will care, if they start getting a lot of negative PR and get embarrassed.

So I'm not sure what the solution is. But I wish someone could organize something to strike back at this bullshit.

Agree . Valid points on many casuals not being aware that's why a gaf/enthusiasts sourced finding makes sense . Like I said I personally don't have much of a problem with these things simply because I mostly play very few new games a year and most of my tastes are sp (nd etc) so I haven't had to deal with broken products . I do my mp on well established games like cs go dota etc . I can imagine if I just got a new copy of cs and it's like 2 months without online working properly I would absolutely want the right to return that copy if I choose to do so .

I've not been in that situation so I dunno how I would react but this bs of well do a one time courtesy refund as a favour has to stop . If I choose not to return the game I'm doing you a favour . You're not doing me a favour by taking back your broken product .

 

[Nick]

Just played against a guy whos gamertag is DontpreorderH5. Wow.

That's honestly amazing.

 

[Celestia]

Anyway, are pre-order bonus skulls fully unlocked now?

I never heard any news on skull permanent unlock. And I can't get any bonus skulls.

Yeah, I've had them unlocked for awhile now.

 

[Foolishfellow]

Talent is not the issue. It's management. Those artists and programmers work damn hard for executives who don't have the game and it's audience's best interests at heart.

Agreed.

 

[Allforce]

I agree that the brand and franchise had been tarnished now to a staggering degree, there isn't going to be a "recall" on a piece of gaming software.

We'll get some goodwill gesture that MS deems appropriate, like "first map pack is free" or even better would be "entire season pass is free". That would drive sales and basically not even cut into their profits since Halo and 343 working on Halo is an ongoing project anyways.

What I think WOULD get everyone to stand up and go "wow, ok that's awesome" is if they come out at E3 2015 and say, "For every customer who bought the Halo MCC, Halo 5 Guardians will be available digitally for 29.99 on release". Boom. You've just gotten a bunch of people who had already bought MCC and written off Halo for good back, and you got a bunch of people who never played MCC purchasing it to get Halo 5 cheap.

 

[Bgamer90]

What I think WOULD get everyone to stand up and go "wow, ok that's awesome" is if they come out at E3 2015 and say, "For every customer who bought the Halo MCC, Halo 5 Guardians will be available digitally for 29.99 on release". Boom. You've just gotten a bunch of people who had already bought MCC and written off Halo for good back, and you got a bunch of people who never played MCC purchasing it to get Halo 5 cheap.

Yeah, I think they are going to need to do something similar to this.

Halo 5 is already make/break for the Halo series due to the mixed reaction Halo 4 got and MCC has just made matters worse. I've enjoyed MCC (had many hours of fun with it... no lie) but it's simply amazing how many issues it has. Makes me wonder how long they spent testing the game.

 

[Foolishfellow]

I agree that the brand and franchise had been tarnished now to a staggering degree, there isn't going to be a "recall" on a piece of gaming software.

We'll get some goodwill gesture that MS deems appropriate, like "first map pack is free" or even better would be "entire season pass is free". That would drive sales and basically not even cut into their profits since Halo and 343 working on Halo is an ongoing project anyways.

What I think WOULD get everyone to stand up and go "wow, ok that's awesome" is if they come out at E3 2015 and say, "For every customer who bought the Halo MCC, Halo 5 Guardians will be available digitally for 29.99 on release". Boom. You've just gotten a bunch of people who had already bought MCC and written off Halo for good back, and you got a bunch of people who never played MCC purchasing it to get Halo 5 cheap.

Look, obviously we all know that a recall is not going to happen, but the main reason I want this game recalled is that I want this game to be worked on by a full dev team again. I want Microsoft/343 to deliver on the promises that they made in the vidoc. I want to be able to play Halo 1, 2, and 2A flawlessly because I'm not convinced that the design changes made in Halo 5 are any good. I'd be happen be to proven wrong, but all signs are pointing to 343 continuing the trend that they started with Halo 4, which means that we will never get the Halo game that most of us want and were promised.

I don't have any insider knowledge regarding the way 343/Microsoft handles their teams that work on products post-launch, and obviously you don't need a full team consisting of artists, composers, mo-cap actors, etc since that work is already done. I'm just saying that this game needs to be treated like a beta release more so than any full priced title that I have purchased/played to date.

 

[Mononoke]

Agree . Valid points on many casuals not being aware that's why a gaf/enthusiasts sourced finding makes sense . Like I said I personally don't have much of a problem with these things simply because I mostly play very few new games a year and most of my tastes are sp (nd etc) so I haven't had to deal with broken products . I do my mp on well established games like cs go dota etc . I can imagine if I just got a new copy of cs and it's like 2 months without online working properly I would absolutely want the right to return that copy if I choose to do so .

I've not been in that situation so I dunno how I would react but this bs of well do a one time courtesy refund as a favour has to stop . If I choose not to return the game I'm doing you a favour . You're not doing me a favour by taking back your broken product .

Yeah, the once in a lifetime courtesy refund thing was a joke. Especially when they sold me a damn broken product. Also, the CS are trained to give you the run around, and do everything they can to steer people away from getting refunds. They will even try to blame you for it not working (it's your router, or internet).

So not only did they sell you a broken product, they are going to make it difficult to get a refund, and then also try to blame it on you. It's all insulting. And that's really why I don't agree with people saying "well you can just get a refund". Considering this is a broken ass product that impacted millions, expecting customers to try to get a refund on their own and to jump through hurdles is still unacceptable.

In this case, MS should have jumped out ahead of this, and had an open refund policy, no questions asked. They should have emailed everyone that bought the game, apologized. Said they will work until they fix it. But if people want a refund go to this link. Something. But them keeping quiet. The process making it difficult to get a refund (I've seen plenty of GAF folk, that were turned away from Refunds. Even though it's a luck of the draw with who get as a CS...that's bullshit).

That is why, while I get some people don't agree with a recall (in the sense that you can send your game back), I do agree with OP that MS should say something, or do something. That this shouldn't be the way it is.

 

[wapplew]

Yeah and that's fucked.

MS spent all this money (lost money) just to beat PS4 in NPDs by a slight margin. They slashed all their prices, and did everything possible. But they couldn't be arsed to treat their loyal customers right, or the new customers that are jumping in for the holiday season.

Suddenly that NPD win doesn't feel like a win. They got their win, but at the expense of customers. And Spencer goes on and on about wanting us to feel like first class gamers. SMH (Sorry to keep repeating that, but I'm just so let down. I really wanted to like Spencer. Damnit. Damnit MS for letting me down again. I wanted to believe).

It's like, I'm just so passionate about gaming. And I really really love the MS brand when it is on. That is why I love my X1. Why, I'll buy games on X1 over PS4, even if the PS4 version runs better. Because i love the controller. Of the X1 experience. I really really want this to succeed. It's just ugh. Sigh.

But they got 1.2m Xbox in NA household. How many of those actually so pissed to sold their console or stop buying another game for it?
Market share is market share, they can get their money back from gold sub easily.
Red ring burn customer worse, still 360 sold the most in NA.
As long as its a cheap machine that play Halo, people will buy it.

 

[RPGam3r]

I'll just say I personally don't need a recall, nor do I want a refund. I've played many hours of MCC and loved it. In the campaigns I ran into minor bugs, and they were rare.

Even if this weren't the case I would just waited for a patch. I don't get the rush to sell back a game that you could play the entire gen, assuming it will be fixed.

 

[DoT2]

If the game is not functioning for you or anyone else call and get a refund. Some people if works fine. I played through all 1-4 by myself and some in co-op. While I'm not happy with the amount of bugs it is by no means a non-functioning product.

Call and get a refund.. yea okay.

 

[tanooki27]

insane that they flubbed this so bad. wasn't this xbone's ace in the hole?

 

[Jrs3000]

insane that they flubbed this so bad. wasn't this xbone's ace in the hole?

No it wasn't a ace in the hole. They should have delayed the game. For the bugs though, unity still has this beat, they are screwing up patches lol.

 

[Mononoke]

But they got 1.2m Xbox in NA household. How many of those actually so pissed to sold their console or stop buying another game for it?
Market share is market share, they can get their money back from gold sub easily.
Red ring burn customer worse, still 360 sold the most in NA.
As long as its a cheap machine that play Halo, people will buy it.

Yeah, well maybe in the end none of this matters. Maybe from a soulless business perspective, they got what they wanted.

But this fuckin sucks. And I'm sorry, but they really fucked their loyal customers (and I would argue, even the new customers jumping in for Halo). So yeah, maybe they got that 1.2m Xbox In NA households. Good for them. Hope they sleep at night. Good to know Spencer was all talk.

Fuck.

EDIT: Sorry. I got too emotional there. I get that, this is a business and they want to make money. They want to increase that install base. But I still think keeping your customers happy, and your public perception with consumers (in terms of trust and reliability) matters in the long run. MS actually are losing to PS4 because of this. Because of the shit they pulled early on, and because people lost faith and their perception was messed up.

So is that what they want out of this? Is that worth the install base that they got during the holidays? Like in the long run? I dunno. Maybe it is. I just think it sucks. And I love this system, and this brand. And I'm tired of being let down by it.

 

[catmario]

Yeah, I've had them unlocked for awhile now.

Oh... At least unlock is legit but It seems that I'm just unlucky man.

 

[JayEH]

Have been trying to get in a game now for an hour. No luck. It was working well last weekend, I have no idea what the hell is happening.

 

[justsomeguy]

I agree. Getting a refund on this shit was a pain in the ass, impossible to do online, and required I call up Microsoft and use my one accidental purchase per year to do so. Complete bullshit on their part.

took me 5 minutes online with no arguments from the cs rep

 

[Hatchtag]

insane that they flubbed this so bad. wasn't this xbone's ace in the hole?

It should've and could've been. Arguably it could have established a bit of a platform. If it worked, the thought of adding compatibility with Halo 5, future Halos, and probably eventually Halo Reach and ODST to cross-game playlists would have been something I could see them pursuing. But at this point they're probably going to want to distance themselves from this turd as much as possible.

took me 5 minutes online with no arguments from the cs rep

I tried twice, spent 30+ minutes with each of them, and didn't get one until I called.

 

[cantona222]

Come on guys, what about the 4 single player games in this collection? I don't think there are any issues there?

 

[justsomeguy]

They're pumping ridiculous amounts of resources into fixing this because trust us? Honestly, if you believe the PR spin by 343 you're a chump.

So who's creating all those patches? Magic pixies?

 

[MrGerbils]

Come on guys, what about the 4 single player games in this collection? I don't think there are any issues there?

There's still a lot of issues with the single player. But they are playable.

It's a sad state when a basic function not completely falling apart is a victory for a game.

So who's creating all those patches? Magic pixies?

None of the patches so far have done anything to improve my ability to join multiplayer matches, so it may as well be ghosts as far as I'm concerned.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

It's working for me better than seemingly a lot of people but man, it's still such a disappointment.

 

[Mononoke]

Come on guys, what about the 4 single player games in this collection? I don't think there are any issues there?

Some people can't save in these single player games. There have been issues in these. And even if there weren't any issues, MP is a big thing for Halo. A lot of people buy Halo purely for MP.

So that doesn't really excuse it (even if SP worked fine). Again, OP's idea of a recall doesn't mean people have to send it in. And has been discussed, you can't really send it in to get fixed. I think the bigger idea of this thread, is that more should have been done about this.

EDIT: To be clear, if someone buys this, and has zero issues...that is great. They bought something, and feel they got a product that works. But the fact is, many many many people are having issues. So that's really what this thread is about. And it being recalled (which again, isn't' realistic)...that isn't forcing those that love it, and have no issues to do anything other then what they are doing now.

 

[ClearData]

Are they still preventing refunds for this? Because if you bought it for multiplayer primarily they should give you a refund. That's how I feel.

Edit: My goodness. People are having trouble with co-op and single player too? That's terrible.

 

[Stackboy]

Come on guys, what about the 4 single player games in this collection? I don't think there are any issues there?

That's beside the point. Half of the game is broken. The single player is one half and the MP is the other. That's not acceptable. It's still broken weeks and weeks after launch. This is a first party developer!!

 

[Hatchtag]

Are they still preventing refunds for this? Because if you bought it for multiplayer primarily they should give you a refund. That's how I feel.

Edit: My goodness. People are having trouble with co-op and single player too? That's terrible.

There's still mixed reports on refunds, which is bullshit. I'm happy some people easily got a refund, but for others like me, it shouldn't have been a hassle at all. Getting a refund on this should not be a tough thing for anyone to do with how poor of a state it was in.

This wasn't just early after the game came out mind you. I had trouble getting a refund both a week and a half after release and a couple of weeks later when I tried again.

 

[AgentOtaku]

i almost pulled the trigger on a white Xbox one with sunset overdrive and Halo MCC for 400.

I am really glad I didnt...

I did :/

 

[Foolishfellow]

So who's creating all those patches? Magic pixies?

Obviously they have a team dedicated to patching the game. My point is that most likely resources have shifted post-launch, and that the team working on the game now is not the fully staffed team that existed prior to launch, look I obviously don't know that definitively. I'm just saying that business logic wise, it makes no sense to continue to staff a full team when you already have your customer's money. This isn't like World of Warcraft where you need a large team to continually craft a persistent world. Again, I don't know this as fact and I would be happy to be proven wrong, but I'm familiar with how software development teams are typically managed.

I'm saying that the Halo MCC needs a complete re-release, and the non-digital version of the game should be re-printed to disc and stable at the point of purchase. This isn't going to happen, but hence why I'm so frustrated with this game and the way that 343/Microsoft is handling it.

 

[Figments]

Yeah, well maybe in the end none of this matters. Maybe from a soulless business perspective, they got what they wanted.

But this fuckin sucks. And I'm sorry, but they really fucked their loyal customers (and I would argue, even the new customers jumping in for Halo). So yeah, maybe they got that 1.2m Xbox In NA households. Good for them. Hope they sleep at night. Good to know Spencer was all talk.

Fuck.

EDIT: Sorry. I got too emotional there. I get that, this is a business and they want to make money. They want to increase that install base. But I still think keeping your customers happy, and your public perception with consumers (in terms of trust and reliability) matters in the long run. MS actually are losing to PS4 because of this. Because of the shit they pulled early on, and because people lost faith and their perception was messed up.

So is that what they want out of this? Is that worth the install base that they got during the holidays? Like in the long run? I dunno. Maybe it is. I just think it sucks. And I love this system, and this brand. And I'm tired of being let down by it.

((((

Goddammit.

It's stuff like this that gets me really frustrated with how Microsoft handles Xbox in its entirety. I don't care what anyone says, brands mean a lot to some people. And I know it's fucking weird, but it's because they (and subsequently myself) care about the brand that they (and subsequently myself) want to see it be better than it is, and that means calling out the shit it does and making sure it's fixed.

It fucking sucks that this is happening, and you know what? They're getting their shit called out, because that needs to happen. I, personally, haven't had many problems with the game, but I empathize with the people who are having a hard time even getting the game to work at all.

Really sucks that this happened, but I suppose now's the time for them to make damn sure they learn from their fuck ups so we can all just move past this.

 

[Foolishfellow]

Come on guys, what about the 4 single player games in this collection? I don't think there are any issues there?

Solo campaign has been mostly functional for me thus far. Online and local coop is a different story.

I for one did not buy this game for the single player campaigns though. I bought the game because of the promise of 60fps Halo 1/2 gameplay and dedicated servers. There are a lot of people in the same boat.

The solo campaigns are fine, but there's only so much meat on the bone especially when most of us have played these campaigns a million times before.

 

[Pez]

This game was the deciding factor between getting an Xbox One or a PS4. =(

#shouldhavewaited

 

[Conduit]

Still sold well, at #10 in NPD? All that matters to MS in the holidays more or less.

It think good MCC sale is doubtful for November in US? Maybe globally sold well.

 

[Celestia]

((((

Goddammit.

It's stuff like this that gets me really frustrated with how Microsoft handles Xbox in its entirety. I don't care what anyone says, brands mean a lot to some people. And I know it's fucking weird, but it's because they (and subsequently myself) care about the brand that they (and subsequently myself) want to see it be better than it is, and that means calling out the shit it does and making sure it's fixed.

Agreed. This generation has been pretty lukewarm for me so far and it's sad because it could have been so much better. I really hope MS gets it together, 343 too.

 

[orochi91]

Including this collection in particular, reviewers have seriously compromised their integrity this year.

I bet they'll attempt to overcompensate for their incompetencies and be excessively anal with high-profile releases in 2015 lol

 

[spootime]

I'm really confused as to how this game was reviewed. Seems like theres really only two options:

A. Reviewers played multi in some sort of extremely controlled environment where everything worked. When you consider how fucked up the game was though, this seems somewhat unlikely.

B. They knew about it and lied.

 

[Gindor]

I'm really confused as to how this game was reviewed. Seems like theres really only two options:

A. Reviewers played multi in some sort of extremely controlled environment where everything worked. When you consider how fucked up the game was though, this seems somewhat unlikely.

B. They knew about it and lied.

multiplayer was patched in via the day one patch, many reviews were already done before that happened.

 

[Breakfast at Noon]

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

My only xbox one game, i've never regretted a purchase as much as this

 

[Mononoke]

I'm really confused as to how this game was reviewed. Seems like theres really only two options:

A. Reviewers played multi in some sort of extremely controlled environment where everything worked. When you consider how fucked up the game was though, this seems somewhat unlikely.

B. They knew about it and lied.

I think people need to take note of the writers and publications that thought this was acceptable (or who reviewed this before matchmaking went live). I still laugh at IGN's Ryan Mccaffrey (Granted, some people never liked IGN). But his stance was, it's totally okay if there are problems. It will get patched in later.

It's totally not fine. It's not fine to charge your customers full price, and then patch shit in much later. I've really lost a lot respect for a handful of writers and publications over this. I mean, you could argue this has been a problem for years now. And I know that. But this really highlighted for me, just how fucked this kind of thing is. I've lost a lot of faith and trust in devs/publishers. The media. Pre-ordering titles. I guess one could say, this is all common sense and is being a smart consumer. Okay. Guess I'm going to be a smart consumer from now on.

I'm sorry I had faith in something. =/

 

[Miles Quaritch]

They've already all but said there'll be compensation.

In the form of Spartan Strike?

Hardly seems fair compensation for the amount of problems there are with the game.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

In the form of Spartan Strike?

Hardly seems fair compensation for the amount of problems there are with the game.

If that's going to be it, I'm going to laugh. So hard.

 

[Snwaters]

I just tried to play matchmaking. Ten minuets in, still in the searching for players mode, not one person found. When I try to back out, the game freezes. Wonderful.

Halo 4 was an overall disappointment. But I drank the Kool-aid when they said that next time they would do better. I wanted Halo 2 Anniversary, and they offer Halo MCC. All four games. Dedicated Servers they said. All the features of the previous Halo games they said. The main reason I choose an Xbox One over a PS4 was because of Halo. Guess how I feel now.

Believe me when I say I won't preorder anything from 343 again. And I will not purchase Halo 5 on release day, until I get reports from players on performance. You all have no idea how utterly disgusted I am to write that. This is HALO. I remember ten years ago waiting for the release of Halo 2 and getting that Special edition metal box. It would never have occurred to me that I would ever view Halo like this.

What the Hell happened?

 

[Triggerhappytel]

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

Got any links to back this up? While I think EG have been pro-MS for a number of years, I've never seen any such rumours you mention.

 

[Leyasu]

Its the lack of dedicated servers that fucks me off the most. They have the entire azure network at their disposal for fuck sake.

 

[Nick]

I remember ten years ago waiting for the release of Halo 2 and getting that Special edition metal box. It would never have occurred to me that I would ever view Halo like this.

This was one of my best gaming memories of all time. Me and my buddies all skipped school (we were seniors in high school) just to get Halo 2 on launch day. I got the metal box, and I played for basically three days straight. It was a magical time with a magical game. And then 343i releases Halo: MCC and shits on all of my memories with online play. I can cry just thinking about.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

What the Hell happened?

Hubris.


I'm just thankful that my personality allows me to enjoy playing the campaigns solo. I feel like I got $60 worth of content just by being able to re-experience all four campaigns, especially Halo 2 Anniversary. I love it. I love being challenged to get better at campaign play with the 3hr speed run and LASO achievements. I'm thankful that my enjoyment of Halo hasn't been so multiplayer-focused that this collection's MM issues destroyed the series for me.

Having said all that, and despite my love for the campaign play, I too will not be preordering Halo 5 or purchasing it on day one. They need to learn a lesson here, and the only way it will be learned is if Halo sales tank miserably. They need to learn not to make promises they can't keep. They need to learn that hubris is a thing to be avoided at all costs.

 

[Gindor]

Its the lack of dedicated servers that fucks me off the most. They have the entire azure network at their disposal for fuck sake.

no they don't, those servers are meant for enterprise/business mostly.

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

I'm just thankful that my personality allows me to enjoy playing the campaigns solo. I feel like I got $60 worth of content just by being able to re-experience all four campaigns, especially Halo 2 Anniversary.

That's because you did, I feel the same. If all that this compilation offered were just the four remastered campaigns, most people would be happy. Remember when NTKRNL said that we would get Halo 2, 3, and 4 for $100, and nobody believed him at first because it seemed like such a great deal? But, just like with Destiny, the promises became the problem, the problem that is the vast gulf between expectations and eventual realization or the lack thereof.

It's a tremendous cockup on Microsoft's and 343i's part, but I'm not doubting at all that they are the ones kicking themselves the hardest because of these problems. The MCC was supposed to appease the community after the lukewarm reaction to Halo 4, and provide Xbox One with a killer holiday title, and now all of that has been turned on its head.

 

[Pez]

I can't believe how quiet they've been over the last month. That's really the worst part it.

Makes me think the scale of the project is so large even they don't know how to deal with it.

Then there's the Halo 5 beta - that fart in the wind. They really can't win with that one, I don't think. Regardless of what happens, I think it'll cause a stink. If it goes off without a hitch, people are going to be pissed that the beta works and MCC is still busted. If the beta is a technical disaster, then they just struck an iceberg and the U.S.S. 343 is sunk.

The entire Halo community pretty much hates then right now. I don't envy the position they've put themselves into here.

 

[Glass]

The post launch issues have taken the attention away from that crazy day one patch.

I think in the future, if your game is going to need a 15gb day one patch, your game is not ready to be released.

 

[Sojgat]

The post launch issues have taken the attention away from that crazy day one patch.

I think in the future, if your game is going to need a 15gb day one patch, your game is not ready to be released.

Pretty much.