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[The Guivre]

This thread isn't so much my questioning whether or not Halo 2 is a good game to own or buy, but just to maybe find some insight as to why people own it.

In two hours of play today, and about 4 hours of play last night on XBox Live my party and I probably participated in twenty or more matches, and that estimate is on the very low side. The point is, of all those matches maybe four or five were quality matches in which nobody dropped thirty seconds into the game.

The swearing, the slurs, the smack talk. All of that I'll put up with to a degree, after all it is online gaming. But people just quit, they're not losing, half the time they haven't even fired a shot. This all begs the question:

Why own a game to play online when you only ever play 30 second matches before you quit?

Training or Ranked. It doesn't matter there's just so many people that quit, be it when the chips are down or because they just don't like the gametype. If getting enough people for a decent custom game weren't such a chore I'd leave matchmaking entirely.

So anyway.. if anyone knows the answer, enlighten us as to why people do such things.

 

[Wario64]

i don't know if this is a troll post. 30 second matches?

...

 

[Jive Turkey]

This thread isn't so much my questioning whether or not Halo 2 is a good game to own or buy, but just to maybe find some insight as to why people own it.

In two hours of play today, and about 4 hours of play last night on XBox Live my party and I probably participated in twenty or more matches, and that estimate is on the very low side. The point is, of all those matches maybe four or five were quality matches in which nobody dropped thirty seconds into the game.

The swearing, the slurs, the smack talk. All of that I'll put up with to a degree, after all it is online gaming. But people just quit, they're not losing, half the time they haven't even fired a shot. This all begs the question:

Why own a game to play online when you only ever play 30 second matches before you quit?

Training or Ranked. It doesn't matter there's just so many people that quit, be it when the chips are down or because they just don't like the gametype. If getting enough people for a decent custom game weren't such a chore I'd leave matchmaking entirely.

So anyway.. if anyone knows the answer, enlighten us as to why people do such things.

Dude you've just asked one of the biggest online gaming questions I've ever had. Not exclusive to Halo 2. EVERY online game has this to some degree. I just don't get it.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

This thread isn't so much my questioning whether or not Halo 2 is a good game to own or buy, but just to maybe find some insight as to why people own it.

In two hours of play today, and about 4 hours of play last night on XBox Live my party and I probably participated in twenty or more matches, and that estimate is on the very low side. The point is, of all those matches maybe four or five were quality matches in which nobody dropped thirty seconds into the game.

The swearing, the slurs, the smack talk. All of that I'll put up with to a degree, after all it is online gaming. But people just quit, they're not losing, half the time they haven't even fired a shot. This all begs the question:

Why own a game to play online when you only ever play 30 second matches before you quit?

Training or Ranked. It doesn't matter there's just so many people that quit, be it when the chips are down or because they just don't like the gametype. If getting enough people for a decent custom game weren't such a chore I'd leave matchmaking entirely.

So anyway.. if anyone knows the answer, enlighten us as to why people do such things.

What is your ranking? I'm 20 in Team Slayer and 16 in Rumble Pit. I need to play tonight. At that level, you see people stick it out because there are a lot of good, close games.

Everyone has the skill level to go on a rampage and zone out. People stay longer and play till the ending

 

[Musashi Wins!]

fascinating.

 

[demi]

I was sucked into the hype.

I was fooled. I wish to remove this garbage from my household.

 

[Baron Aloha]

You just stated the exact reason why I generally can't stand online gaming.

Too many cheaters, too many whiners, etc, etc.

The only time I even think about playing a game online (such as UT2004) is when it is with people from GAF.

 

[The Guivre]

I think I'm around 13 or so in Slayer and the like, I could be wrong but I haven't touched it in awhile. I only do ranked matchmaking when there's a full party of trusted friends with me. Overall I think I appear as a 19 because whenever I'm just by myself online I'll go to Big Team Battle and I suppose I've been lucky enough to win more than I lose. I'd like to say I'm the reason why my team always wins but more often than not it's just because the people I'm with don't drop while the other team does.

 

[border]

I don't think quits happen that often. If it bothers you that much then play Slayer or Big Team, where one person dropping probably won't matter that much.

 

[bill0527]

I think people may quit immediately because they don't like the game type that is forced upon them.

I used to quit a lot back in the day until I learned how badly it was frowned upon. There are just certain types of games and maps that I abhor and I would give anything to not have to suffer through them.

 

[Shadow Moses]

What is your ranking? I'm 20 in Team Slayer and 16 in Rumble Pit. I need to play tonight. At that level, you see people stick it out because there are a lot of good, close games.

Everyone has the skill level to go on a rampage and zone out. People stay longer and play till the ending

Dream on. Level 22 Rumble Pit, 27 Team Slayer and people quit and act like idiots all day. You run into people trying to de-level all night, little bitches crying about sniping i.e I want to be the sniper..whaaaaaaa, people quiting cos they don't like a particular map, glitchers, etc.

Got rid of the game about 3 weeks ago though..

 

[ToyMachine228]

I play Halo 2 on XBL just about every night. Every once in a while I take a break, but the Maptacular Pack definitely has me back into it for a while right now. Really anticipating the new Auto-Update to rid the game of modders.

 

[bob_arctor]

It's like anything. All I play online is 3rd Strike. Every day I ask myself: who in the world would want to play upwards of 9000 matches, all with Ken? Secondary to that: Why, the second the match begins, does everyone in the fucking world back up, back up, back up? Lastly: Wow, you won 2 matches in a row against me. Both could have easily gone in my favor. Why are you quitting on me like you're the shit? *Sigh*

 

[border]

At the end of the day, Bungie's ranking/matchmaking system seems to have caused a lot more harm than good. It encourages quitters by not letting them choose the maps or game types they like, and it encourages cheaters by establishing a visible e-penis to try and inflate.

Rankings were a good way to prevent quitting in the beginning, but it was painfully obvious what was eventually going to happen. The majority of people realized that they aren't anywhere near the best, and stopped caring as much about ranking.....so they just quit whenever they don't like the game type.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

Yeah, they do the deleveling, I did forget about that, but it's not that rampant. I haven't seen it so much

 

[LowTecky]

Neutral Bomb Coagulation. They drop like flies.

 

[Beer Monkey]

I just play my 'friends' (all in their mid 20s to late 30s). Never have any problems.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

The trouble is that online gaming is a really good idea, but it is marred by one, fatal, flaw.

You have to play with other people.

And almost without exception, other people are asshats.

Bungies matchmaking was good on paper, but (for myself) it has turned out to be a disaster. People view it like their "score" and its all they care about. I would rather play games where some of the people are so far out of my league that they kick my ass the whole match, then have another 7 teammates who only care about their ranking.

I havn't played Halo2 matchmaking in MONTHS. Pretty much only custom games with friends. Its the only way to play.

 

[Wario64]

what they needed to do was allow people to make custom games and broadcast those custom games over the live network for everyone to join. people can leave and join freely. quitters wouldn't be too much of a problem since someone else can join the game. and more importantly, we can actually choose what maps and gametype we want to play. the whole random gametype matchmaking system is too stupid

 

[FiRez]

Halo 2: Why do people own it?

Because it was supposed to be a proper sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved......duh

I didn't buy it for the hype, I just buy it because Halo:CE is the best Single Player FPS that I've played. but this game fails on it.

 

[123rl]

It's the reason I only play online with people I know and like. Matchmaking in Halo 2 just isn't fun at all. Either people are cheating, or they're calling me (usually anti-British racism tbh), or they're so obsessed with their stats that they don't enjoy it, or they refuse to play properly and just mess about.

Halo 2 online was fun for the first few weeks (and I was there from the beginning btw...I was playing this online at midnight on release day) but it just nosedived gradually from December onwards. Last time I tried to go back to it, I didn't enjoy it at all so I eventually sold the game

 

[DarienA]

Dude you've just asked one of the biggest online gaming questions I've ever had. Not exclusive to Halo 2. EVERY online game has this to some degree. I just don't get it.

Yup and it's the reason I hung up my online gaming hat... which I'll briefly put back on to play only in "GAF" Socom 3 beta sessions..

 

[Instigator]

I never play H2 online.

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

Only play with friends. Easy enough. Some of my best gaming experiences ever were online because I game with a great group.

 

[border]

I don't like matchmaking because once you've reached your maximum potential, every damned match seems like it's the same. I want some games to be blowouts, I want some games to be hard-fought battles, I want to get beaten into the ground on occaision. When everybody is exactly the same skill it seems like a lot of hard work for games that usually wind up stalemates (2-2 or 0-0).

I like playing the Rumble lists better because nobody gives a shit about ranking, there is an interesting mix of newbies and experts, and I can quit without penalty if someone sends me an invite to their game. I think it's the closest you can get to having a PC-like experience.

what they needed to do was allow people to make custom games and broadcast those custom games over the live network for everyone to join. people can leave and join freely.

Ohhhh, but what about the poor, shitty casual players? Won't they hate the game if they are always getting their ass kicked?

That was the mentality behind matchmaking, but those types of people probably aren't even playing anymore while the rest of us slog through a system crippled for the sake of protecting them.

 

[FiRez]

the whole random gametype matchmaking system is too stupid

get used to it, because it will be the standard in every x360 game.
if you want a H2 experience with server list try tunneling, I swear that is better than most people can imagine.

I like playing the Rumble lists better because nobody gives a shit about ranking

I agree and the game modes are more varied than the ranked lists just like XBC

 

[Lhadatt]

I'm not sure why people still play this game, but I do know why I don't: Bungie's matchmaking system and the non-PC controls.

I hate not being able to stick to a particular gametype, like I can on Halo PC. The random matchmaking stuff is pointless and goes against most established conventions of online gaming. Everyone knows things just work best when there's a server browser, when people can select which server they want and which gametype to play, and when they can join at any point in the game.

As for the controls - eh, I just don't like FPS games with a pad. I tried the Smartjoy, but it doesn't work as well with Halo 2 as it does Halo 1.

 

[Stinkles]

get used to it, because it will be the standard in every x360 game

Totally true! Except for the part where that is dead wrong.

 

[duderon]

Competitive halo rox, matchmaking sux. Find a group of people that play MLG settings or something similar and stay on em like white on rice.

 

[hgplayer1]

I hate the quitting as much as anyone but lets not pretend there arent a million reasons why someone might drop as soon as the game starts. sure the obvious ones have already been talked about but with the number of people playing Halo Im sure some of them get dropped because of the connection or their box or a power outage or they just have to go all of a sudden.

I like MM for what it is. a quick way to get into games. I recently picked up Ghost Recon 2 and I hate searching for and joining games the way its set up. I wish there was MM for it so I wouldnt join a server only to listen to the guys in the lobby talk about setting up a clan match then all leave.

I just got done playing the Battlefield 2 demo for Xbox and I was on the terrorists team and people kept leaving and nobody from the other side would join our team and nobody that was entering the game would join our side. it was like 12-5 most of the game.

custom games dont always solve the problem either because sometimes they are a bitch to get set up with enough people to make it worthwhile. and dont act like people dont just leave a custom game for no good reason either.

 

[newsguy]

Totally true! Except for the part where that is dead wrong.

Dammit Stinkles, I'm always gravitated to your posts. Very clear, concise, and they give off that STFU attitude that's needed for some of these posts. Get a friends list and play custom games.

 

[Sp3eD]

The cheating has almost ruined the entire experiance. It is really showing Bungie's incompetence in the first person shooting genre compared to the likes of ID and Epic.

As for matchmaking, people in this thread have nailed it head on. I have been playing online FPS's since the days of Quake 1 demo. I have never had a problem with skill based spikes in games. IMO that is how you learn the tricks of the trade. In past FPS's, studying the weapon choices or overall stratagy of these types of players was part of the fun. I would go from getting my ass kicked, to slowly learning how to compete at such a high level. That is pretty much what Halo 2 is missing. Also there is something strangly enticing about killing somebody that is much better then you. In a deathmatch game simply killing a much better player 3 or 4 times gives you as much satisfaction as downing a similar play 30 times. That is where the fun is.

 

[border]

If every Xbox 360 shooter runs off a matchmaking system, then I'm cancelling XBL (or at least switching to Silver membership heh). Life is too short to slog through maps and gametypes I dislike, all in the name of protecting the self-esteem of shitty players.

 

[FiRez]

Totally true! Except for the part where that is dead wrong.

I just read it somewhere I think it was OXM.
I wasn't typing BS

 

[Ryck]

Sigh...........why do people own anything? I own it because I like playing it with my friends online. It is a fun and entertaining distraction from life.....

*insert popular game title* whats the point? (or I don't get it), I doubt you really care about the answer.....just wanna rattle some cages? The game is obviosuly a popular one

here are some suggestions

"final fantasy games what teh fuck?"

" Grand theft auto is stupid"

the ever popular " madden = roster update"

 

[Stinkles]

Cheating will be "mostly" solved in about a week or two. That said, some motherfucker will come up with some new way to cheat ten minutes later.

 

[Stinkles]

Totally true! Except for the part where that is dead wrong.

The matchmaking style is going to give developers tools to do the Halo 2 style AND whatever other methods they prefer to use. So some games will use it, some won't and some will use more than one method.

Personally speaking, I have such a hard time finding matches in other games I like, or missing the start of a game or race, that I actually like the matchmaking - even with its problems.

 

[Sp3eD]

Cheating will be "mostly" solved in about a week or two. That said, some motherfucker will come up with some new way to cheat ten minutes later.

and then bungie will take 4 more months to issue a patch that should normally take 1 week. Screw their blanket clearing cheat system. They need to learn the patch the big stuff first, THEN go after the tiny insignificant stuff instead of making everybody suffer while they test a billion different things at once. I would rather have a daily download update fixing cheats as they come then constantly find people abusing huge known cheats just to get their shit hard.

 

[fartblast]

i sold my xbox because i was over halo 2 and ninja gaiden is the only other good game, but i sorta miss it, fuckin around in multiplayer was a lot of fun. however, if i do get it again, i'm not touching singleplayer.

has anyone else done this :lol

 

[Wario64]

hey guys, remember when bungie told egm that they knew about the flag throwing wall trick well before the game shipped, but didnt want to fix it?

good times

 

[123rl]

If that's true then I'm only playing against people I know when I get a 360. Halo 2's matchmaking is a horrible joke. Not letting us join or make random games is a totally ridiculous idea, and if it catches on with other devs then Xbox Live is going straight down the toilet

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Sigh...........why do people own anything? I own it because I like playing it with my friends online. It is a fun and entertaining distraction from life.....

You and a few others have misunderstood the purpose of the thread; likely due to not reading the actual initial post.

What he is asking is, "Why do people bother to play Halo2 online, if they are just going to quit before the game is up. Often times inside the first minute."
If they don't want to play the round, why did they do us the dis-service of landing on our team?


Also, CTF in Turf is the stupidest matchmaking type I've ever seen.
1. spawn
2. throw grenade down the street
3. die and repeat

 

[hgplayer1]

you know the last couple times Ive played on new maps I saw absolutely no cheating

luck?

ban stick works?

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

hey guys, remember when bungie told egm that they knew about the flag throwing wall trick well before the game shipped, but didnt want to fix it?

The first time I saw that I was able to pull a flag through the wall, I wept quietly.
Seemed like an obvious fix from the first game, and yet...

Custom games with Gaffers and friends is the only way to go.
ArcadeStickMonk <-- Add this fucker to your friends list. He's good.

 

[FiRez]

Personally speaking, I have such a hard time finding matches in other games I like, or missing the start of a game or race, that I actually like the matchmaking - even with its problems.

This isn't a problem with a community like H2 (isn't even a problem with an overlooked game like UC2), there would be a ton of custom games going on (if the server list existed)

And what is the deal to begin in the middle of the game, is unranked custom games anyway, leave the ranked games for matchmaking, plus you will start from the beggining in the next match.

Matchmaking is a good feature, but the server list is a basic feature for an online FPS.

 

[Sp3eD]

Also, CTF in Turf is the stupidest matchmaking type I've ever seen.
1. spawn
2. throw grenade down the street
3. die and repeat

actually Turf neutral bomb has that beat. I think they took it out of MM becauase it was so horribly unbalanced that blue team I bet would win 90% of the time. Blue team takes the bomb to the downed alien ship thing (which I might add is uphill from spawns, while the red team takes theirs to the...warthog spawn (which is so out in the open it is beyond retarded.) Compound the fact that blue spawns in the garage with a BR spawn and granades and it turns into a simple "Well Red is planting....better open the garage door and spam them at their 100% wide open plant area, I'm so glad we have garbage bins to hide behind at ours...."

 

[Sanjuro]

People own it because it is a fun co-op game and has some of the best multiplayer games of all time. I prefer playing custom games of late with a large ammount of friends. As far as the dropping and cheating goes, it happens in all online games. Most PC games people don't notice because say out of a team of 16 people you might have 7 people leave and 6 fill spots during a game. Sure getting cheated or losing because of lack of teamates sucks, but you find ways around it and still can have a great time.

 

[monchi-kun]

play with friends.....problem solved. next please.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

All online games are good/bad. Such is life. I know from playing PC games, with GAF as well, how much those games can blow too. Usually their even less fun than console games like Socom, Halo, etc.

 

[Rabid Wolverine]

Yesterday we had this Chinese player who started shooting people on my team just because he didnt get the sniper rifle.

He was such a fuck that this was the first time in a long time that I quit a game. He was the only one left in the game. Fuck I hated his voice.

Halo 2 reallly sucks now, I hope Bungie will make things right in the next 2 weeks.

We had a guy on our team who fell a sleep during the game. Both teams came close to hear him snore :lol