The final few: Their Story

Games Other Halo
1

After going through the search function, I couldn’t find this, and I feel this forum needs it.

All credit goes to the user joe campbell on the Bungie.net forums.

> As all of you know, the Xbox Live servers were shut down for all Xbox original games on April 15, 2010. A small, dedicated group of Halo 2 players didn’t agree with this, and would not let the game die. As long as we didn’t shut off our Xboxes, or lose connection in any way, we would still be able to play Halo 2. At first there were over 500 people that had kept their Xboxes on after the servers were shut down, but that quickly decreased to less than 100. Many players lagged out, and some players Xboxes actually overheated. We were able to keep Halo 2 alive for nearly 1 month longer than it should have been.
>
> You may ask why we did this. Everyone has their own reason, but mostly it was for the love, and memory of Halo 2. For some, it was to show the disapproval to Microsoft, for shutting off Halo 2 so we could have more friends on our friends list. (Which is apparently why they shut down the servers, and that update still hasn’t happened!)
>
> A lot of us became really good friends.
> For a while, we had ‘T0 Be Continued’ live streaming all of our games, until her xbox regrettably froze while playing custom games. Then, ‘Mr7ankjump’ did a live stream, but he lagged out only 4 hours later. ‘Z0mbie Stench’ was doing a live stream every day after those 2 lagged out, but sadly she was kicked off because of connection trouble. XXBooker DXX was the final live streamer.
>
> I would like to thank everyone who followed our story, all of your support really inspired us to stay on as long as possible. Also, I would like to thank all of the Final Few, you guys are awesome and it was an honor playing with you. Also, I would like to thank GamesRadar.com for giving out F&F beta codes for the final 12.
>
> There are no longer any Halo 2 players online. Here are the names of the Final 20, in order of not being kicked off.
> 1.APACHE N4SIR
> 2.Agent Windex
> 3.Lord Odysseus11
> 4.xxMAKDADYxx
> 5.DirtyCajun
> 6.Aforeignobject
> 7.XXBooker DXX
> 8.HiredN00bs
> 9.Rob2D
> 10.Z0mbie Stench
> 11.H20 Shoagie
> 12.Sherlok 1
> 13.SieferSword
> 14.Detenn
> 15.WGL Gonzo
> 16.MangledRex
> 17.XYOX
> 18.Anelf3
> 19.DeadlyChippy
> 20.Bond WM
> 21.Lockepyker
> 22.BillFromChicago
> 23.Mr7ankJump
> 24.NoName Nomad
> 25.T0 Be Continued
> 26.Family Fry
> 27.Hal0 HuLk
> 28.slater ohm
> 29.Dustyn1001
> 30.Milhouse06
> 31.Se7enUpMustang
> 32.TS Smokz
> 33.HummpaDummp
> 34.Crazy Kai
> 35.Wopsle
> 36.RomeoDude
> 37.xxxPuNiiSheRxxx
> 38.A Snoopkat
> 39.Keneken
> 40.xzzy
> 41.Nedge
> 42.TubbyKarma304
> 43.Lucky v1
> 44.Dragonslayer91
> 45.vxv frosty vxv
> 46.coppertop101
> 47.Osgray
> 48.MazeltovKoktail
> 49.Envoyyy JG
> 50.ssr14
> 51.Trent4now 05
>
> 27-50 are complete guesses, I just wanted to make sure their names were listed. Feel free to correct anything on this list.
>
> Our message was heard throughout all of the internet. There were many articles written about what we did, on almost every gaming website. Here are some of the articles:
> Slash Gear’s Article
> Game Stooge’s Article
> Network World’s Article
> Escapist Magazine’s Article
> Game Pro’s Article
> Games Inet’s Article
> Cnet’s Article
> Eurogamer’s Article
> Max Console’s Article
> Kotaku’s Article
> The Gaming Liberty’s Article
> Slashdot’s Article
> VideoGamer.com’s Article
> G4 TV’s Article
> 1up’s Article
> Gizmodo’s Article
> Tweaker’s Article (Dutch)
> Switched’s Article
> Free Xbox Cheats’ Article
> One News Page’s Article
> Gamespot’s Article
> Game Reactor’s Article (German)
> Joystiq’s Article
> XNews’ Article (Japenese)
> Seattlepi’s Article
> IGN’s Article
> [Yahoo’s Article](http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/stay-in-the-fig ht-halo-2-superfans-keep-game-alive/1397830)
> GamesRadar Interview
>
>
> Halo 2: Final Few Montages: (Thanks to Slater Ohm) Amazing videos, one of the last Halo 2 montages ever made.
> Episode 1
> Episode 2 (no audio)
> Episode 3
> Episode 4

2

I remember the final days. I was in the final ~250, but my console froze. Good times… :frowning:

3

I really hope if they do a Halo 2 anniversary with online play we can get a final fee reunion going. Had some great games over those weeks. Changed my tag now but used to be Family Fry.
Nice to read the stories.

4

The majority of the final few didn’t really play Halo 2 in the last two years of it’s existence like me and so many others did. I only recognize one of the names.

Trent4now 05

Was a very good and active player that played BTB and rumble pit and I saw playing the last 2 years of Halo 2 existence.

The others listed I saw a bit of the days leading up to the end but were not actually playing Halo 2 actively until the end I think. I think most just wanted to be part of gaming history more than just play Halo 2(as most weren’t playing Halo 2 up till the end in my estimation).

It’s possible that they changed accounts near the end or that they played doubles or TS or customs or other playlists I rarely played but I still think most were not actively playing Halo 2 the last two years of it’s existence.

5

The extension past the deadline just happened. Most of the players I saw and kept track of played H2 for long periods during the early days until about 2007 or 2008. People did move on to other stuff but that doesn’t mean they did not somehow deserve to keep playing after the shutdown. It just happened that way, unfortunately the guy who lasted the longest had never really played H2 much, he was a game tester and had the equipment to keep going indefinitely. I remember when joe campbell finally quit because his one xbox could not match the equipment of the other dude, we all understood.

To my friend joe campbell, I salute you…<3 Grumpy

6

Oh hey, that’s me :P.

7

I remember the final day of Halo 2. I was very young during its prime time and had the honor of playing it online for its last run.

8

Yes and we should also pay hommage to the husbands, wives, and significant others that never returned to these brave souls who refused to quit playing the game… The jobs that were no longer waiting for these brave players, the pets that were not attended to during those tragic times. I’ll sum up those players’ combined bravery with this quote from the great Admiral Lord Hood: “Let us never forget those who traveled into the howling dark… And did not return” - Halo 3