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Halo: The Master Chief Collection Having Matchmaking Issues [UPDATED]

One of the big reasons people picked up this week's Halo set isn't fully working yet.

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UPDATE: While the issues with Halo matchmaking persist, the game's executive producer, Dan Ayoub, has written a lengthy letter about what's being done to fix it. You can read the whole thing, but here's an excerpt, which includes an apology:

"We are doing everything we can on an hourly basis to improve the experience, while we work on our solution. In the meantime, we’ve found a few things looking at the data that can help you a little as well. We’re seeing successful match times from anywhere from 15 seconds to 4 minutes. 4 minutes is a long time to wait for a match, but don’t quit out too quickly as it will come. If you haven’t found a match within about 4 minutes, please exit the search and restart, as this will reset the parameters and increase the likelihood of entering a match. I realize this isn’t ideal, but it’s temporary while we sort things out.

I’d like to personally apologize to you all for the current situation. I can assure you we’re attacking this from all directions from 343 Industries to the Xbox platform, and we won’t rest until it’s what it should be. People are reporting improvements across the board, which is great, but we’re not backing down until we finish this fight."

--

It's still unclear when (or if) Driveclub will ever be fully operational, but Sony's not the only company facing online issues for a high-profile release. The just launched Halo: The Master Chief Collection has notable matchmaking issues for new players.

A quick search of the terms "halo matchmaking" on Twitter reveals plenty of grumbling, and you have to feel bad for people trying to enjoy a day off with a troubled online game.

343 Industries pointed fans to this support post, promising updates as matchmaking is addressed.

"We are aware of the issues players have been experiencing with matchmaking and we’re working around the clock, alongside the Xbox Live team, to improve the situation. We have deployed an update that has shown some improvement, and we continue to optimize the experience. The update deployed to matchmaking was done on the server side and does not require an extra download to your Xbox One. This is our top priority and will keep everyone updated regularly as we deploy continued improvements."

Patrick Klepek on Google+

102 Comments

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Jnal

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@aleksandr: Man now you bummed me out thinking about Freelancer. That game was fantastic and I've been trying to catch that same excitement for a long time. It was so wide open yet so easily accessible and not obtuse like the few space sims out now. Elite Dangerous might fill that gap finally but we'll see.

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rudyarr

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I wish I could take a day off from work to play video games, but then again..nah I'm good

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mackgyver

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On top of that nor only are Achievements not working but I keep getting a message stating "untracked build won't upload" during the campaign that forces me to quit out.

I second that. It just happened to me. I just finished the first mission of Halo 4 and that came up in small font on the top left corner in red. Can't do anything else but restart the system.

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MichiganJack

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Well it wouldn't be modern day game release without some kind of major technical issue.

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Nardak

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I seriously think that publishers should maybe reconsider their stance on making every game a multiplayer experience if they cant release a game withouth major matchmaking problems.

There has been a lot of games lately with some serious issues when it comes to the reliability of matchmaking.

At least do a proper beta test in order to sort out the issues before the release.

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frytup

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Edited By frytup
@nardak said:

I seriously think that publishers should maybe reconsider their stance on making every game a multiplayer experience if they cant release a game withouth major matchmaking problems.

There has been a lot of games lately with some serious issues when it comes to the reliability of matchmaking.

At least do a proper beta test in order to sort out the issues before the release.

I don't think a Halo compilation without multiplayer is really an option, but in general you have a point.

The question is, are consumers really insisting on multiplayer at this point, or are publishers just too afraid to find out what happens if they leave it out?

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FrostyRyan

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I hope they also realize there are some serious problems with the SOFTWARE as well and not just servers and matchmaking.

there's a lot to repair here. Games need to work at launch, guys.

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bassman2112

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"People are reporting improvements across the board, which is great, but we’re not backing down until we finish this fight."

Groooaaaannnnnnn

The sentiment of that letter is reasonable, though. I do have a fair amount of hope that they will be able to fix the issues =)

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frytup

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Games need to work at launch, guys.

Yep. And nothing's going to change unless consumers start punishing them for it.

Never pre-order and wait for reviews.

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TrafalgarLaw

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Funny how they shouted Azure servers and million somewhat dedicated servers at the top of their lungs, only to be incapable of providing matchmaking to a last-gen and even a last-last-gen game. Unless offcourse, 343 is utterly incompetent.

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spraynardtatum

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Edited By spraynardtatum

What'd you get for preordering this game again? A colored helmet and a teabagging grunt sticker to put on master chiefs bicep? Hmm...

HMM!

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fram

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Nice of them to at least acknowledge the problems, tell us what they're doing to fix it without being vague and obtuse, and apologising for the situation.

It doesn't excuse the fact that matchmaking is broken, but it's appreciated.

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carg0

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matchmaking issues are just one more thing we can blame on Klepek's Bears...

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ReaganStein

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@kanerobot said:

The power of the cloud!

Why someone would take a day off of work on day 1 of a heavily multiplayer focused game, I have no idea. Learn from the past or repeat it. Take Friday off or something and make a 3 day weekend out of it, should be fixed by then.

I don't understand this sentiment. Failures of this magnitude are a pretty recent thing. "Learn from the past or repeat it" literally makes no sense in this context. The game is broken in ways other than strictly matchmaking. Singleplayer saves and overall performance in splitscreen is terrible. Blaming people for taking time off is perpetuating the problem. Perhaps I can offer an equally misguided quip. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

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KaneRobot

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Edited By KaneRobot

Excuses and apologies don't really cut it, sorry. It's very hard for me to have tolerance or sympathy for a company putting out a major multiplayer game without running some sort of real-world stress test/beta. Don't be stupid.

This is not going to take long to escalate from annoying-level to Driveclub joke-level.

@sargent_sobchak said:

I'm not surprised. I remember I had issues with Halo 4 almost never matching me into a DLC multiplayer map, and I think that was a pretty common complaint that was never fully addressed.

I don't recall ever having problems with H4 matchmaking, DLC or not...which makes the stuff with MCC even more baffling to me.

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BigBoss1911

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I've been getting into matches left and right for the past 2 hours more or less. It looks like people over at neo gaf are having brain aneurysms over this.Obviously, this kind of launch is unacceptable, but let's get real, wanting to refund your game after 3 DAYS is a bit of an over reaction.These things, although they shouldn't, do happen.At least wait a week before making that decision. It's Microsoft's biggest franchise, they ARE going to fix this. And, I probably wouldn't entirely fault 343 for this, I'm sure Microsoft pressured the hell out of them to get this out before Christmas.

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kindgineer

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I'm glad I didn't pick this up at launch now. This seems like a big slap in the face, and I hope Microsoft/353 learns from their mistakes. We don't need anymore Driveclubs & MCC's.

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deactivated-63b0572095437

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It's kind of crazy that online games are still releasing broken. This has been going on for years. Technology has improved, but the situation has not. I'm used to it now, but I'm genuinely curious what the problem is. It seems like a bigger issue than simply underestimating server load.

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Jensonb

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I'm surprised by this. Microsoft's network stuff is usually rock solid. I knew MCC would be more complex than usual, but damn, it must be even more of an engineering headache than I thought.

Meanwhile, I don't know what the hell the deal with Driveclub is. That's just silly.

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brownsfantb

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Edited By brownsfantb

Have they fixed the splitting of parties in team games yet? That's the weirdest part especially since we were still able to talk to each other and we weren't in a party.

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Hector

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Matchmaking is still barely working for me. If I do get it the teams are completely unbalanced.

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Thiago123

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I’d like to personally apologize to you all for the current situation. I can assure you we’re attacking this from all directions from 343 Industries to the Xbox platform, and we won’t rest until it’s what it should be. People are reporting improvements across the board, which is great, but we’re not backing down until we finish this fight.

What a total crock of S(*^&. So sick of PR speak, it's bad enough I deal with corporate talk on a daily basis at work. How about you apologize for KNOWINGLY releasing something in beta stage, that's the real situation. A true beta, not the glorified betas we get now that are basically working demos. This thing didn't function at launch on nearly all levels: Multiplayer is basically on fire. Campaign progress and achievements don't work properly. Nightfall was inaccessible. Next time, attack it from all directions before the game comes out.

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OldManLight

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still super busted as of this morning for me. i've been able to get into exactly 2 games for about 30-45 mintues of waiting total. just went back to playing CoD:AW.

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Alucitary

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Damn, this is not like 343 at all. It's obviously way too soon to even start speculating, but the fact that it came out just before Thanksgiving makes it kind of hard not to raise an eyebrow Microsofts way.

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Edited By mrsmiley

I'm shocked that no one is talking about the incredibly broken online co-op for Halo: CE and Halo 2 in this. There is quite a bit of input lag for the second player (the one who isn't hosting), and there is also a lot of latency when it comes to damage and shooting. Apparently this was also an issue with the original release of the Halo: CE Anniversary edition, but it's the first I've ever heard about it. It's easy to die almost instantly because what you see is not what is actually happening. It is incredibly frustrating, more so than any long multiplayer queues. At least when you get into a multiplayer game, it performs as you expect.

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ripelivejam

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I'm still surprised at the level of upset people will get at a game that's out for only three days that's having issues. I'm an adult; it's unfortunate but i'll enjoy the campaign while these issues will surely be ironed out in the near future. It's kinda like diablo 3 again with its whole couple of days of issues.

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JackBurt0n

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Edited By JackBurt0n

Still really surprised at how much vitriol there is towards this so soon after the game's release. I understand people want to play MP, but you know, Single Player is still pretty fun...and it'll take me a few days to get through just CE and 2! Plus, the way I look at it, once the whole thing gets finished up, I really don't need another game ever. 4v4 Slayer Pro on Damnation until the end of days....

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EXTomar

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Edited By EXTomar

@ripelivejam said:

I'm still surprised at the level of upset people will get at a game that's out for only three days that's having issues. I'm an adult; it's unfortunate but i'll enjoy the campaign while these issues will surely be ironed out in the near future. It's kinda like diablo 3 again with its whole couple of days of issues.

I'm not given how much Microsoft has been pushing the hype train for this thing. Microsoft through their own marketing set the buyer's expectations high with all of the new modern features and they just don't work or function correctly. So yeah it is just like Diablo 3 and buyers were correct in complaining then. Buyers for this thing are correct in complaining how poorly this is going now.

Or another way to think about it: This is as lame an excuse as "The game gets good 20 hours in". It is probably true this will get better days from now but it isn't a good excuse or tolerable behavior.

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jelyk

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Edited By jelyk

At this point I'm not convinced 343 can do anything competently. Seeing the higher ups party at "Halofest" while this steamer was unlocking around the world is just salt on the wound.

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MomoiroKaichou

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Edited By MomoiroKaichou

"...but we’re not backing down until we finish this fight."

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Real smooth.

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zombie2011

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Seems to be working well for me now, getting into games at a normal speed. Is it still slow for most?

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Edited By csl316

@ripelivejam: Same, but that's partly because I won't have multiplayer time til the weekend.

Diablo III had t-shirts made for an error that was around for a few hours. T-shirts!! Internet demands stuff immediately, I suppose. Sure, they messed up, but there's other stuff you can be doing in MCC for now.

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Edited By FrostyRyan

I'm still surprised at the level of upset people will get at a game that's out for only three days that's having issues. I'm an adult; it's unfortunate but i'll enjoy the campaign while these issues will surely be ironed out in the near future. It's kinda like diablo 3 again with its whole couple of days of issues.

Being an adult has absolutely nothing to do with it. People purchased a game that doesn't work properly. They have every right to be a little upset.

And once again, it's not just issues with the servers either- there are also SOFTWARE issues. My game has crashed to a black screen 3 times now.

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jsnyder82

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Edited By jsnyder82

I'm not saying any of this is excusable, but at least it seems like 343 is actually sorry about this whole thing and actually working on a fix. That's more than I can say about Ubisoft or Evolution studios after both of their recent shit-storms.

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ripelivejam

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@frostyryan: problem is there's some (not you) who are getting more than a little upset, over something that will probably be mostly resolved in the very near future. Just have to put things in perspective. It does suck that you and others are having a bad time with it though, ill agree.

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FrostyRyan

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Edited By FrostyRyan

I'm not saying any of this is excusable, but at least it seems like 343 is actually sorry about this whole thing and actually working on a fix. That's more than I can say about Ubisoft or Evolution studios after both of their recent shit-storms.

Ubisoft is the absolute worst out of all of this because they want so badly to have their annual "call of duty." and this year, they've proven it to us and their selves that they cannot do it. And who paid for it? The consumer. They've recycled the same game AGAIN unsuccessfully.

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FajitaBoss

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Edited By FajitaBoss

You would think MS and 343 would take better care of their flagship franchise, A beta test should have been done. Once again business side decisions firing back at MS, they know they should have delay this a couple of months, But they so desperate to "come back" this fall... Well shitty decisions are expensive, this is gonna take a toll in the Halo name and 343.

A flawless launch in Febraury would have been better for the whole xbox brand than this mess, short time decisions. When will they ever learn?

Saddest part of it, is that when it actually works it is pretty good, this is every Halo fan wet dream games running at 60fps 1080p consolidated in a single platform... but man.. what a way to shit your own brand.

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JoshBlalock

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I've been using HaloLobby.com to find custom games lately. Works well!

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ekajarmstro

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Edited By ekajarmstro

Yea that HaloLobby.com site is super janky, but I found a bunch of cool people on there (despite there being some spammers) and we played halo 2 customs all night and holy crap when this game actually works it's amazing.

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PJ

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@kanerobot said:

The power of the cloud!

Why someone would take a day off of work on day 1 of a heavily multiplayer focused game, I have no idea. Learn from the past or repeat it. Take Friday off or something and make a 3 day weekend out of it, should be fixed by then.

Speaking of the power of the cloud; all my achievement progress got wiped for Xbox One games. Was about to unlock a couple in Titanfall and the next thing I know, all my progress was set to 0% and wasn't moving. Like that for all my games now.

The power of the cloud...

Yeah... Only reason that would happen if you were breaking some rules. Loosing save data I have heard about, loosing all of your achievement progress for no reason, no.

And speaking of the power of the cloud, I haven't lost any saves or had any account problems whatsoever since they started cloud saves on the 360. Also, never had problems with Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive either. So yeah, the cloud is fucking awesome.

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Lukeweizer

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@pj said:

@lukeweizer said:

@kanerobot said:

The power of the cloud!

Why someone would take a day off of work on day 1 of a heavily multiplayer focused game, I have no idea. Learn from the past or repeat it. Take Friday off or something and make a 3 day weekend out of it, should be fixed by then.

Speaking of the power of the cloud; all my achievement progress got wiped for Xbox One games. Was about to unlock a couple in Titanfall and the next thing I know, all my progress was set to 0% and wasn't moving. Like that for all my games now.

The power of the cloud...

Yeah... Only reason that would happen if you were breaking some rules. Loosing save data I have heard about, loosing all of your achievement progress for no reason, no.

And speaking of the power of the cloud, I haven't lost any saves or had any account problems whatsoever since they started cloud saves on the 360. Also, never had problems with Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive either. So yeah, the cloud is fucking awesome.

The achievement system was down for a few days last week for some people.

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PJ

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@ripelivejam said:

Proud owner of a 'bone now! :D :(

I have no restraint.

Anyway playing through halo:ce while multi's borked and love the near 60fps but thought it'd be a tiny bit better looking. Also somewhat antiquated control throwing me for a loop but that's Halo for yaand me not having played this series in awhile. Im just hoping this and FH2 don't end up on PC or ill be kicking myself, at least until some more hot scloosies come out.

I think you're safe. Both first-party games, MS killed GFW without really replacing it and is currently trailing PS4 in total sales, so far as I am aware. Maybe they'll try the whole selling and publishing games on PC thing again on Windows 9Windows 10 Windows Start Menu Edition.

It's almost like they could put some hooks into their own operating system and have a game app that can launch games from any service (with their requisite overlays), getting all your game libraries and organising them in one place, and also sell you games direct through said app from MS in another tab with a version of Live that isn't total garbage and maybe end up making some money off games on their own platform. They could even make a new Freelancer. I'd make some shitty snarky comment about how none of this is going to happen but I'm just bummed out. Freelancer was the best.

Obviously you never used Windows 8 but just like bitching about it. They have put Xbox as a service on Windows and they sell games with Xbox integration on the store. You would know this if you ever used W8.

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FrostyRyan

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Edited By FrostyRyan

Anyone see any improvements with Matchmaking lately?

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falconer

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I've been using HaloLobby.com to find custom games lately. Works well!

Yea that HaloLobby.com site is super janky, but I found a bunch of cool people on there (despite there being some spammers) and we played halo 2 customs all night and holy crap when this game actually works it's amazing.

What if this was their plan all along? People are getting the authentic H2 experience by playing custom games with strangers they met on forums and now they're best buds.

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tavistavistavis

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I finally got into a game today! Team slayer, 8 people, i did horrible, but it was still fun.

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stackboy

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Edited By stackboy

I'm just going to wait until the patch comes out on Wednesday. Really disappointed.