Link to Bonnie Ross' statement (head of 343)

As a Halo fan, I was as hyped for the MCC package as anyone and of course, extremely let down. I've been very vocal about it, but tried to not be derogatory or insulting (other than calling the game itself a burning pile/dumpster fire...which it was). I think this is essentially what we've wanted all along though - some real commitment to fixing the issues AND an actual acknowledgement from someone at the top. It is just a shame that they waited this long and let it get out of hand with the fans. You get the feeling that by the time it is fixed (IF it ever gets there), the player count will be way low.

I was planning on sticking with it at least through the end of the year to check out the Halo 5 beta, so again, hope they get there.

I haven't seen a lot of news talking about how broken this is. Not nearly as much as when Unity came out, and that game actually worked out of the box.

Yeah with all the shooter competition out there it's a shame that 343 shot this game's long-term player base in the foot by making it unworkable out of the gate. I wonder if Halo 5 is actually on track to be ready for next year or if the MCC will spook them into pushing Guardians out to ensure rock solid stability.

Yes, I agree completely. I think this was partly due to the fact that they were 'old' games, and that MCC is (obviously) a platform exclusive title, but mostly because posting a screenshot of a character missing his entire head except his eyeballs, makes for a better story. In general, I feel like that the 'games media' has kind of shuffled the MCC problems off as "multiplayer issues" and that people can't get into matchmaking, when in reality it has been far more widespread.

For comparison (and to make this post unnecessarily long haha), I have both AC:U and the MCC on XBONE

-I am well past halfway on the AC:U story and say about 40% complete in the game - I've experienced some frame rate hiccups and only twice did I sort of clip out of the world. None of these were game breaking (when I clipped out I was able to pull up the map and fast travel to reset the world) and the few graphical glitches and frame rate drops have been par for the course when it comes to AC games. I understand that there are more issues out there, but I've generally enjoyed my time with Unity as a big AC fan.

-Meanwhile, I tried for about a week to make the MCC work - what I saw is below - Extremely widespread issues, NOT 'just multiplayer'. How does this game release in this state?

• Matchmaking - in about 4 or so nights of trying for several hours, I got into, I'd say 15 or so games
  • About a third of the games did not load properly - Map assets did not load; crashed on the loading screen, etc
  • All of the matches had some issue with player count (not enough players, uneven teams, spawned me alone on the map, etc)
• Halo: Nightfall episode did not unlock properly on 'Halo Channel'
• In game party system ('Roster') is borked - you get split up from your party all the time, completing levels and matches kicks players out of the party, have to send multiple invites to get in, etc.
• Co-op campaign
  • Does not save checkpoint progress
  • Gave me credit for completing a level that I did not play
  • At least 3 achievements are showing as complete but not unlocked
  • Locked up and crashed the game multiple times on one particular level (second to last level on Halo 1 - I stopped playing the collection entirely at this point)

Am I the only one who bought the MCC and isn't going apeshit about this? Yeah, I'm disappointed the multiplayer isn't working yet, too, but I have no doubt they'll get it fixed. In the meantime, I'll play the campaigns, GTA V, Horizon 2, etc. There will still be plenty of people wanting to play the multiplayer once it gets going, and it sounds like they're going to throw some compensation back to the community as well. Oh, the humanity.

In terms of multiplayer, what I have seen from the Halo 5 beta footage (just prior to the release of MCC) got me so excited for it, but the MCC release has me spooked. I HOPE the MCC taught them a lesson though. I for one don't care about delays - we are in a time where there are plenty of other games to play, but it is also a time when more and more games are coming out broken. Give me a delay any day if it means the game will work.

@notnert427 said:

The only issue I've been having is multiplayer matchmaking, I guess it's a bigger deal to some than others.

I'm shocked they let the game out there like that. At the very least, there's a TON of game to play through. Doesn't excuse it, but at least it's something. I feel sorry for those that bought it though (at least for the time being).

I'd like to think this wasn't some cynical cash grab. That Microsoft and 343i have a bit more pride in their work than to knowingly put out a broken game. I mean, I'm certainly not going to pretend I know enough about development to make that call. For now, I've chosen to be patient on the matter. Admittedly, having a stack of other games to play at the moment makes it easier to wait.

So yeah, that probably makes me an enabler and an easy mark for gaming companies. curse my consumer apathy. :P

I mean, I'm not going apeshit about it because I haven't bought it yet, because it's broken, but there's no reason not to be outraged at a company selling a non-functioning release. The fact that Turn Ten made a great game doesn't make it any less offensive that Microsoft and/or 343 knowingly (I would assume) chose to fuck their customers over by releasing a broken product for full price. As consumers we need to create repercussions for this sort of behavior in order to effect change in future releases.

Yeah I am pretty goddamn disappointed in this collection. My brother and I keep trying to play multiplayer at least once a night, but last night we couldn't even get into a private session with one another to play co-op, much less play any Team Slayer. It's a fucking disappointment that the only fucking co-op shooter I can play reliably is Destiny.

It's actually pretty wild that they couldn't get matchmaking to work for a pretty basic multiplayer experience, with three of the games being known quantities. Games like Titanfall managed to handle similar amounts of players without this sort of shitshow, and had to deal with a game in development. It's also super disappointing that they couldn't get co-op checkpoints to work.

i get you, and i dont personally have the game, but i understand peoples frustration. When you buy a game, you expect the details on the back of the box to work

I had no idea this game was that broken, I knew it had launch day woes with server issues but I just assumed those all got worked out and people were enjoying the game. 2014 is continuing to be the year of quality control issues. 343 gotta be working hard to resolve this, no doubt in my mind they will get it working, but they have got to stop treating customers like beta testers.

It totally is frustrating that it has been messed up, the achievements not popping has been bugging me more than anything else at the moment. I've been busy though getting ready to move, hopefully It'll be fixed when I want to start putting time back into it again.

I don't absolve 343 for what seems to be incompetence on their part, but Microsoft did push them to get it out by this holiday and it is obvious they weren't ready. Publishers force developers to release a broken game all the time. They know that a large chunk of consumers pre-order and/or don't follow game forums. They majority of their sales will be based on their advertising and uncritical reviews before word of mouth travels. I will never understand the compulsion people have to play a game on day one. Thanks goodness for GB, after viewing a QL I can get an idea of how the game is rather then E3 CGI trailers and pre-rendered screens.

no issues with my few hours of halo 1 campaign, i played one match and got in fine with a relatively short wait but got d/c 3 maps in. wasn't a biggie but i think people are exaggerating how broken this is not sure how achievements not popping = game completely unplayable.

sounds like the internet magnifying things x100 as it is wont to do. sucks for those having a legitimately bad time with the game though, i suppose.