- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: xXfactor
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsHalo2.aspx?gameid=740631 349&player=Matt%20Hero%20ii
That game began last night (technically this morning) around 12:50 AM. The game ended at around 3:00AM. Why? Cheaters.
When Bungie released this game back in 2004, I believed they created the single best online gaming experience that world had ever seen. I still believe that statement is true to this day. Did I expect cheaters to eventually come along and put a damper on the fun? Yes, yes I did. Did I expect the cheating to reach the levels it has? No.
I'm not naive. Halo 2 far from my first online game. I've gone through so many of the most popular shooters (Rainbow Six, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, Unreal, etc...), and I’ve been cheated in every single one of them. People make their aim bots and what not. Companies release patches and fix these cheats, or cheaters just got permanently banned. With Halo 2 however, it’s been quite different. It all started off what’s been called "Stand-By". That later evolved into "Secondary Stand-By", and later on "Bridging". All of which can be summed into a single category, network manipulation. These people tamper with either their internet connection or the connection of other players in the game in order to give themselves the advantage; a CLEAR example of a violation of the Xbox live terms of service. Next to this type of cheater, there is the "Modder". These players use modified files to again gain an advantage over other players, which is again a CLEAR example of a violation of the terms of service. How are these people treated? Temporary bans. 3 Days, a week maybe. When the "ban" expires, they cheat more. Eventually Bungie hits them with an actual ban. At that point they grab "a 2 month", and cheat some more.
We also have cheaters who don't even get chastised. Do you "Super Jump", or "BXR"? Guess what, you are a cheater. Yes, Bungie did say "Super Jumps" are not cheating, I'm aware of that, and I agree with them, to an extent. If you want to "bounce" 100 feet into the air and come back down somewhere within the bounds of the map, be my guest. If you however, use these "bounces" to land anywhere which is out of the bounds of the map, AKA an area you cannot get to without glitching, then at that point you are cheating. I don't know how many people I've explained that to; the mass majority of them simply don't understand and the rest attempt to insult me because they know I'm right and have nothing better to say. As for BXR, BXB, LLR, GGP, 7HW, they are glitches, and there for cheating. Some people will say "We all have access to these glitches, therefore it’s not cheating". Well kids, life is all about choices. I’ve made the choice not to exploit glitches. If you made the choice to glitch, you are a cheater.
The game that I linked to above had a mix of both types of cheating. Myself (Matt Hero II) and my buddies Josh and Dr. Dennis Labamba Ewid plus a random versus a party of four. In the first round, we scored the flag. We did not say anything rude towards the opposing team, nor teabag them or anything like that. In the second round, they rushed the flag, pings drop, our whole team dies. It’s not bad enough they “Bridged”, but they then super bounced the flag out of the map. Two of them managed to get out of the map, the other two failed to perform the super jump, and our random team mate promptly quits. For the first hour of the game we just slaughtered them in kills, in hopes that they’d either quit or just score the flag. They didn’t do either. After about 300 tries, Mr. Host (OXTAGON) FINALLY successfully super jumped out of the map with the sniper. At this point, the game was going nowhere, sure we were slaughtering the one guy on their team that was still in the map, but that was not enough. I had to resort to Super bouncing myself, something I’ve never done in match making before. After teaching myself how to do the jump, I successfully got out of the map, and began looking for the flag guy... what happens? They bridge and kill me. For the last hour I kept trying to get out of the map to find the flag guy. Every time I managed to pull off the jump properly, Hosty would try and out BR me, fail every time, and right before he was about to die he would again bridge and kill me. After nearly 2 and a half hours of this, we quit. They “won”.
Why do it? Was there some sort of twisted sense of accomplishment at the end? Do they now believe they are better at the game then us? I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around why these types of people do what they do for so long. I honestly cannot understand. Why do I play Halo? Simple, to have fun and win. If we lose a legitimate game, that’s fine, we move and play again. But why do cheaters do it. How can you find it fun? There is no skill involved. Do they do it for the rank? Do they do it because they know they are not good at the game, and simply have no other way of winning? And even better than why do they do it... why do they deny it? I cannot say how many times I’ve been the victim of some sort of network manipulation. After the game I’d congratulate the other team on their cheating skills... and they say they don’t cheat. Why deny it? I don’t think I’ll ever understand it.
Bottom line: I’ve played this game since the day of its release, and I’ll play it until Halo 3’s release. I’ve gone through 5 different gamer tags and thousands upon thousands of games. I’m not the best, and far from the worth. I don’t have the best K/D ratio, nor the most wins. However, there is one stat that I believe I do own. I firmly believe that I’ve been cheated more times than any single other person that’s played this game.
Without the Halo franchise the Xbox probably would have flopped. Without Halo 2 Xbox Live would never have taken off as well as it did. I know Microsoft is all about making money, but have a little respect for the fans that helped your company succeed in the video game industry. Stop with these garbage temporary bans. Stop giving them chances. On the first cheating offence, ban the Xbox from accessing Live ever again. We know it’s possible... do it. I know you guys are busy working on Halo 3, but it’s not too late to save Halo 2.
This post was not made to gain your sympathy, or pity. I am aware no actual Bungie employee cares. This is just a rant that’s been nearly 3 years in the making, and I just decided to vent.
WALL OF TEXT’D
Why stay in a game for 3 hours then quit? At least hold up till they quit or stand your ground.
If people cheat, they cheat. It's their choice. Stop complaining.
And wtf? Superbouncing is NOT cheating. Bungie even said this themsleves. It's a glitch in the game, it isnt a manipulated file or network connection. Same goes with Button combos. Many consider it cheating but like superbounce its a glitch in the game. Everyone can do it, its just you lazy asses that dont take the time to do it and rather waste time writing these complaints.