A letter of contempt from an older gamer.

Games Halo: The Master Chief Collection
1

Let me start by saying, when this game has worked for me I love it. I have a broken foot and have been on disability for 3 months. Lucky me right? Anyways, I’ve logged in some hours on solo.

“Dude, it’ll be just like old times.” I said to my 3 of my friends at an engagement party. I’m nearing 30, as are my buddies. You get to a point where priorities change for everyone. Hanging out isn’t as easy as it used to be, whether it be significant others, or work schedules. It’s depressing not seeing the guys you grew up with. So I pitched the idea. Xbox ones for all, Halo. Now I’m really the only one who plays games outside of halo, and FIFA. And I’m tired of playing by myself! I thought lets bring it back to the good ol days, when it was the 4 of us together. With the new Xbox it gives us an opportunity to stay in touch without being in the same room. It took some needling but it worked! Everyone invested close to a half a grand to take a trip down memory lane…because that’s what was marketed to us.
Starting with Halo CE we would have lan parties, drinking Dr. Pepper and ignoring women. 3 shots with the pistol, and screaming over who go sniper. Halo 2, man that was a big one, slugging my dad’s cheap vodka and playing with friends in the comfort of our own homes! Wow that was special. But then came the big one. I went off to the military, and the one thing that kept me in touch with everyone. Halo 3. It was beautiful. Not only could I stay in touch with the boys back home, but I could play by myself, meet random people in games, and hit one button…ONE BUTTON, to join them. It was really special. Eventually we moved on, became more adult like, women got involved and we stopped playing.
I remember one day I was sitting around and one of my friends texted me. He said Halo 2 servers shut down RIP. I thought Wow! I will literally never play that again! That’s depressing. And that’s when it kind of hit me a bit. Gaming wise, for me, the good ol days are gone, they’re not coming back, and oh man, I would do anything to go back. Years later here we are, with a beacon of opportunity. We don’t go out to bars anymore to hit on women, instead we get screamed at by our girls, so we look for any means to escape. Xbox One Halo: MCC it was perfect timing…or so we thought…3 months later I’m back to square one. 2 of my friends gave up and sold their Xboxes. The other has swore to never touch it again. All after spending hours, on the game, without playing a single match. Think about that. Spending one hour on a game joining and re joining and hard resetting, and doing whatever it takes. No matches, or if we get into one, everyone quits or it lags out or it drops, or were on separate teams. Man what a disappointment.

So here I am right back to where I started, playing by myself…I’m sure I’m going to get slaughtered for this post. Sour grapes or what not. But I don’t think younger guys understand how much of a disappointment this really is. You get to a point in life where your hair starts thinning, a couple greys here and there, stressing about work and bills and you think…Man I would love to go back and relive the good ol days. That’s what 343 marketed toward me, something truly unique. A trip back in time, to go revisit my youth, my Dr. Pepper drinking youth. Well they failed…Microsoft should take notice of this and hold 343 accountable for their terrible job. The only reason I got the XBox over PS4 was for Halo. And they mailed in a defective game. My friends? Ha, they’ll never touch a console again after this.

I’ve never posted on this before, and this will most likely be my only post. But I needed to get that off my chest thanks for reading…except you 343.

P.S. I just reread this, and should reiterate. Yes I’ve logged in some hours. All of it solo. 343 concentrated on making beeping noises when map voting ticks down instead of fixing partying up. And in my opinion, that is indicative of 343 not knowing what made halo special. The community. Meeting friends online, meeting NEW friends online. Party play should be the number one priority. But hey thanks for giving me the beeping noises!..Oh by the way the beeping noises don’t work either.

2

I share thy sentiments, this collection was meant to be the same thing for both of us and it’s far from it.

3

I’m 28. I hear you, bro.
I don’t play anything other than Halo, and since I think Halo 4 and 5 are terrible, this is my only hope… the last piece of gaming in my life… and that’s saying a lot, considering how much I loved gaming all my life.
Without MCC, I’ve basically got nothing I care about in gaming anymore.
Maybe I’ll switch to Nintendo and play games like Mario. Those games are fun and they actually work… but I’ll probably just stop after Xbox One.

MCC is broken, Xbox One is clunky and annoyingly slow, and Xbox Live is constantly down.
Why I’m still here, I do not know.

4

I’m 31, married with a baby on the way and I’ve been playing Halo since 2001. All I play now is Halo due to lack of time and I only play weekends because weekdays are too busy. I understand all of your sentiments, but I’m still going to keep playing Halo regardless. I’ve only had time for campaigns, which is what I care about more and they’ve been fine for me.

5

> 2533274880249415;1:
> Let me start by saying, when this game has worked for me I love it. I have a broken foot and have been on disability for 3 months. Lucky me right? Anyways, I’ve logged in some hours on solo.
>
> “Dude, it’ll be just like old times.” I said to my 3 of my friends at an engagement party. I’m nearing 30, as are my buddies. You get to a point where priorities change for everyone, hanging out isn’t as easy as it used to be. Whether it be significant others, or work schedules. It’s depressing not seeing the guys you grew up with. So I pitched the idea. Xbox ones for all, Halo. Now I’m really the only one who plays games outside of halo, and FIFA. And I’m tired of playing by myself! I thought lets bring it back to the good ol days, when it was the 4 of us together. With the new Xbox it gives us an opportunity to stay in touch without being in the same room. It took some needling but it worked! Everyone invested close to a half a grand to take a trip down memory lane…because that’s what was marketed to us.
> Starting with Halo CE we would have lan parties, drinking Dr. Pepper and ignoring women. 3 shots with the pistol, and screaming over who go sniper. Halo 2, man that was a big one, slugging my dad’s cheap vodka and playing with friends in the comfort of our own homes! Wow that was special. But then came the big one. I went off to the military, and the one thing that kept me in touch with everyone. Halo 3. It was beautiful. Not only could I stay in touch with the boys back home, but I could play by myself, meet random people in games, and hit one button…ONE BUTTON, and join them. It was really special. Eventually we moved on, became more adult like, women got involved and we stopped playing.
> I remember one day I was sitting around and one of my friends texted me. He said Halo 2 servers shut down RIP. I thought Wow! I will literally never play that again! That’s depressing. And that’s when it kind of hit me a bit. Gaming wise, for me, the good ol days are gone, they’re not coming back, and oh man, I would do anything to go back. Years later here we are, with a beacon of opportunity. We don’t go out to bars anymore to hit on women, instead we get screamed at by our girls, so we look for any means to escape. Xbox One Halo: MCC it was perfect timing…or so we thought…3 months later I’m back to square one. 2 of my friends gave up and sold their Xboxes. The other has swore to never touch it again. All after spending hours, on the game, without playing a single match. Think about that. Spending one hour on a game joining and re joining and hard resetting, and doing whatever it takes. No matches, or if we get int one everyone quits or it lags out or it drops, or were on separate teams. Man what a disappointment.
>
> So here I am right back to where I started, playing by myself…I’m sure I’m going to get slaughtered for this post. Sour grapes or what not. But I don’t think younger guys understand how much of a disappointment this really is. You get to a point in life where your hair starts thinning, a couple greys here and there, stressing about work and bills and you think…Man I would love to go back and relive the good ol days. That’s what 343 marketed toward me, something truly unique. A trip back in time, to go revisit my youth, my Dr. Pepper drinking youth. Well they failed…Microsoft should take notice of this and hold 343 accountable for their terrible job. The only reason I got the XBox over PS4 was for Halo. And they mailed in a defective game. My friends? Ha, they’ll never touch a console again after this.
>
> I’ve never posted on this before, and this will most likely be my only post. But I needed to get that off my chest thanks for reading…except you 343.
>
> P.S. I just reread this, and should reiterate. Yes I’ve logged in some hours. All of it solo. 343 concentrated on making beeping noises when map voting ticks down instead of fixing partying up. And in my opinion, that is indicative of 343 not knowing what made halo special. The community. Meeting friends online, meeting NEW friends online. Party play should be the number one priority. But hey thanks for giving me the beeping noises!..Oh by the way the beeping noises don’t work either.

I am 37 and understand 100% what you are going through. H2 and H3 consumed a massive majority of my life with family and friends. The trueskill matchmaking was simply incredible and worked dang near flawless. It truly was one of the peak moments of my gaming history in terms of fun. Especially with Halo 3. ALL of my friends and family were playing H3 and loving it for a good solid 3 years. Especially the 4 player co-op campaign. Only seemed to go downhill from that point forward in terms of Halo gaming.

ODST came out and was very disappointing. Friends and family started to move away from Halo because of this game. Then Reach came out and that was pretty much the fall of my friends and family playing Halo. Luckily H4 was able to bring some of them back and most of us truly love Halo 4. But many friends family have moved on.

So when I heard about TMCC I though oh wow this is really the last chance to get everyone back. Talked a vast majority of my friends and family into getting this. Most of us are very patient but as you have said and as many others know, it can be a very painstaking experience trying to get into a game and even worse with friends. So at this point almost all of my friends and family have given up on the multiplayer. Most nights I hop into BTB by myself. We still play co-op from time to time but yes TMCC will go down as one of the largest disappointments in history. At this point I have no plans at all of supporting Halo 5 unless TMCC has MASSIVE improvements. The mp is nowhere near the experience it should have been.

6

I feel the same way. I am getting older and loved the LAN games I used to have with my friends. They live all over the country now and the Xbox one was the way to bring everyone back together for some original Halo and this is what we get. I got the xbox one for halo just like y’all and now feel stupid for spending my saving on this. The bummer is there is no going back… its wreaked for my friends and I a like. I just want to say your not alone in your disappointment and I totally feel for y’all. Maybe someday things will be different but for now we have been dooped by a money hungry corporation that clearly does not care about what made halo so wonderful for us in our childhood and early adulthood.

7

Amazing post. I agree with you completely. The party problems have been my number one concern since launch. FPS games are meant to play in teams for -Yoink-'s sake.

You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.

8

They KNEW Halo would be a console mover. They PROMISED it would be just as you remember it. They created a new console that kills the social aspect while serving you up on a plate. When they promised dedicated servers and seamless matchmaking that is still not patched properly, how can we hope and trust for them to ever fix:

<> See who is speaking in matchmaking
<> Stay briefly in a lobby to talk after a match (you could in the beta!)
<> Party up and play together without multiple disconnect & reboot issues
<> Missing game items and modes for Halo 3’s Forge-no customs for you!
<> Missing ability to join friends existing custom games
<> No file browser either online or in game.

How many people had friendships actually take a hit because of the hair ripping frustration this botched game has caused?

9

t

10

> 2717573882290994;3:
> I’m 28. I hear you, bro.
> I don’t play anything other than Halo, and since I think Halo 4 and 5 are terrible, this is my only hope… the last piece of gaming in my life… and that’s saying a lot, considering how much I loved gaming all my life.
> Without MCC, I’ve basically got nothing I care about in gaming anymore.
> Maybe I’ll switch to Nintendo and play games like Mario. Those games are fun and they actually work… but I’ll probably just stop after Xbox One.
>
> MCC is broken, Xbox One is clunky and annoyingly slow, and Xbox Live is constantly down.
> Why I’m still here, I do not know.

I’m 28 also but the MCC has been working great for me. I’ve been around since 2001 with CE and am not about to jump ship now. Sure there were some problems initially but I’ve truly enjoyed the MCC.

11

> 2625759425619671;10:
> > 2717573882290994;3:
> > I’m 28. I hear you, bro.
> > I don’t play anything other than Halo, and since I think Halo 4 and 5 are terrible, this is my only hope… the last piece of gaming in my life… and that’s saying a lot, considering how much I loved gaming all my life.
> > Without MCC, I’ve basically got nothing I care about in gaming anymore.
> > Maybe I’ll switch to Nintendo and play games like Mario. Those games are fun and they actually work… but I’ll probably just stop after Xbox One.
> >
> > MCC is broken, Xbox One is clunky and annoyingly slow, and Xbox Live is constantly down.
> > Why I’m still here, I do not know.
>
>
> I’m 28 also but the MCC has been working great for me. I’ve been around since 2001 with CE and am not about to jump ship now. Sure there were some problems initially but I’ve truly enjoyed the MCC.

Anyone who says it is working great for them never references searching in a party, not getting split up, etc.

12

I’m alittle younger, 26, but my situation is damn near identical. System Link on the weekends, Co-op with my best friend during the week, ignoring girls. We played CE like that until 360 came out… Our days in summer were: Go to football practice, come home, eat, play halo, go back for second practice.

I have so many memories attached to Halo it truly is astonishing. I’m sorry for all of you too. I just bought my first house about 7 months ago and like you all said, the bills, the woman, the overall responsibilities… it all gets stressful with the responsibility. And MCC was gonna give us a throw back… Something we should have known was too good to be true… Its like a 50 year old quarterback coming out of retirement and winning a superbowl.
13 years have passed… I was a KID when CE came out… I just wanted to feel that one last time

In the same boat fellas… I feel your pain.

13

> 2625759425619671;10:
> > 2717573882290994;3:
> > I’m 28. I hear you, bro.
> > I don’t play anything other than Halo, and since I think Halo 4 and 5 are terrible, this is my only hope… the last piece of gaming in my life… and that’s saying a lot, considering how much I loved gaming all my life.
> > Without MCC, I’ve basically got nothing I care about in gaming anymore.
> > Maybe I’ll switch to Nintendo and play games like Mario. Those games are fun and they actually work… but I’ll probably just stop after Xbox One.
> >
> > MCC is broken, Xbox One is clunky and annoyingly slow, and Xbox Live is constantly down.
> > Why I’m still here, I do not know.
>
>
> I’m 28 also but the MCC has been working great for me. I’ve been around since 2001 with CE and am not about to jump ship now. Sure there were some problems initially but I’ve truly enjoyed the MCC
>
> > 2625759425619671;10:
> > > 2717573882290994;3:
> > > I’m 28. I hear you, bro.
> > > I don’t play anything other than Halo, and since I think Halo 4 and 5 are terrible, this is my only hope… the last piece of gaming in my life… and that’s saying a lot, considering how much I loved gaming all my life.
> > > Without MCC, I’ve basically got nothing I care about in gaming anymore.
> > > Maybe I’ll switch to Nintendo and play games like Mario. Those games are fun and they actually work… but I’ll probably just stop after Xbox One.
> > >
> > > MCC is broken, Xbox One is clunky and annoyingly slow, and Xbox Live is constantly down.
> > > Why I’m still here, I do not know.
> >
> >
> > I’m 28 also but the MCC has been working great for me. I’ve been around since 2001 with CE and am not about to jump ship now. Sure there were some problems initially but I’ve truly enjoyed the MCC.
>
>
> Great for you, when you see the mass majority here having problems. Go play then this post is not neccesary.
>
> > 2533274796136423;11:
> > > 2625759425619671;10:
> > > > 2717573882290994;3:
> > > > I’m 28. I hear you, bro.
> > > > I don’t play anything other than Halo, and since I think Halo 4 and 5 are terrible, this is my only hope… the last piece of gaming in my life… and that’s saying a lot, considering how much I loved gaming all my life.
> > > > Without MCC, I’ve basically got nothing I care about in gaming anymore.
> > > > Maybe I’ll switch to Nintendo and play games like Mario. Those games are fun and they actually work… but I’ll probably just stop after Xbox One.
> > > >
> > > > MCC is broken, Xbox One is clunky and annoyingly slow, and Xbox Live is constantly down.
> > > > Why I’m still here, I do not know.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I’m 28 also but the MCC has been working great for me. I’ve been around since 2001 with CE and am not about to jump ship now. Sure there were some problems initially but I’ve truly enjoyed the MCC.
> >
> >
> > Anyone who says it is working great for them never references searching in a party, not getting split up, etc.
>
> Yes, such a non needed post. Always works great for him. Guess it is the 1 of maybe 20 working copies out there.

14

The same story goes for me also. The excitement to bring back a community during those times is gone. There was really a great chance to have the old times back again, and now it seems those times may be gone forever. I do play some other games, but Halo has always been #1 for me. Sad sad sad times. It seems as every new week passes and updates install, the opportunity gets further and further away.

Friends would give me a hard time for what I mostly played was Halo, even during the dark times of Reach and 4. I have been one of the biggest supporters in the franchise that you could be in playing the game. But it is now looking like it is at an end.

I am 100% not be pre-ordering Halo 5 (or any other title) ever again.

It will take a lot to get me to purchase Halo 5 at this point. All faith is lost in the silence of 343 through all of this. Including what is wrong. All the different areas that have been talked about on the forums with no response from the developer. But I guess they are making their voice known through the BETA the direction they feel we should be going…

I know a lot of people talk about Bungie and there games had issues. Yes they did, but they updated their community and kept talking with them about the good and bad of what was happening.
I know I will get a few goodbyes from the people I have given a hard time and called fanboys, and that is ok. Only hope I think now for the community is that MP numbers drop after the first month like HALO 4 did and that opens some eyes. But even that could be too late.

-Sigh

15

> 2567453894731895;14:
> The same story goes for me also. The excitement to bring back a community during those times is gone. There was really a great chance to have the old times back again, and now it seems those times may be gone forever. I do play some other games, but Halo has always been #1 for me. Sad sad sad times. It seems as every new week passes and updates install, the opportunity gets further and further away.
>
> Friends would give me a hard time for what I mostly played was Halo, even during the dark times of Reach and 4. I have been one of the biggest supporters in the franchise that you could be in playing the game. But it is now looking like it is at an end.
>
> I am 100% not be pre-ordering Halo 5 (or any other title) ever again.
>
> It will take a lot to get me to purchase Halo 5 at this point. All faith is lost in the silence of 343 through all of this. Including what is wrong. All the different areas that have been talked about on the forums with no response from the developer. But I guess they are making their voice known through the BETA the direction they feel we should be going…
>
> I know a lot of people talk about Bungie and there games had issues. Yes they did, but they updated their community and kept talking with them about the good and bad of what was happening.
> I know I will get a few goodbyes from the people I have given a hard time and called fanboys, and that is ok. Only hope I think now for the community is that MP numbers drop after the first month like HALO 4 did and that opens some eyes. But even that could be too late.
>
> -Sigh

Great post Sector

16

Spot on. I’m 36 and tacked on about 2 years to college because of Halo 2…unfortunately the 2 extra years didn’t add MD or PhD to the end of my name!!! LOL

But I agree 100% with what the OP said. This game was a promise of a return to “the glory days” of Halo. Revisit our youth. Reconnect with FRIENDS AND PLAY AS A -Yoink!- TEAM!!!

The only reason I purchased a Xbox One was because of MCC. The idea of playing H2 and H3 again, IN RANKED MULTIPLAYER like the good old days, was all I needed to hear to spend the cash on the system and game.

This game is a disappointment. A greater offense is the way the botched roll out was/is handled. 343 should be ashamed of themselves and developers/game companies should not be allowed to release complete garbage. Last time I checked, I paid to play a finished product and not be a MCC beta-tester.

The handful of times I have played and it has worked, the game is pretty good. If it gets fixed (I have already suffocated from holding my breath so long), this game has potential. I hope it gets fixed ASAP and the player population isn’t completely decimated.

This game isn’t meant to be played alone. It’s meant to be played with a team who can communicate…not have to restart and break party that can’t hear one another because the game is broken.

Fix the damn thing already 343 with the hundreds of millions of dollars you’ve already collected in revenue from the game.

17

Great responses thank you! Gives me great peace of mind. Misery loves company! It seems like the overarching theme is 343 doesn’t seem like they’re aware of the fact the most important aspect of halo is playing with your pals.

The other big theme being the lack of communicado from 343. They have said sorry, but haven’t given us any time tables on when it will be fixed. I’m looking for an explanation. It’s my inquisitive nature to know why and how this thing is so broken. Reason tells me the fact they’re so silent on how it’s broken points to it being unfixable I think what we have now is really the best were gonna get. Them Updating the beeping noises is them filling their patch quota for the month. Now they can tell us they are supporting the game still. Most likely the game cannot be fixed or it won’t be in their best interest to pull resources from Halo 5. So they want to sweep it under the rug by juking the stats with minuscule updates. My thanks to The Wire for the term Juking the Stats.

18

I wish we could have recaptured those good ol days in MCC man,.I really wish,…just hang onto hope, the day will come,…the day will come,…

19

This post is beautiful. I’m 33 year of age and completely understand where you are coming from.

20

I understand how you feel but I don’t agree with you at all. Yes online has sucked… That goes without saying. I turn 30 this June and Halo consumed many years of my life growing up. However I feel that the games have lived up to expectations. halo: CE and Halo 2 were amazing to play though again. I just got to Halo 3 and have yet to start it. But I must say, online is working well for m now. At first I couldn’t hardly find a game. I walked away from the game for a week at a time and came back to check on progress. I didn’t stress over it because I knew it would get fixed. Everyone needs to remember that it isn’t 343’s sloe error. Microsoft has a lot to do with it as well. Microsoft is the publisher and puts up the deadline for the game. 343 has to abide by said dead line. They are only the developer not the publisher.

That being said, I am upset at how the game has gone, it is very frustrating. I agree with your statements for the most part. Just gotta understand how everything goes. Keep in mind that tere are 4 different game engines running in one game at the same time. Each engine has to load independently of each other engine so the games play properly. None of these games were designed for the Xbox One, they were ported over and that in itself is an issue. Just try your best to enjoy the game. The online is working again for the most part so take advantage of it.