- JumpNinja
- |
- Exalted Member
One among millions; just the nearest visible right now.
This isn't just specifically Halo related, and it IS relevant to Bungie, so I'm posting it here.
I am going to try to be as civil as possible- In all honesty I am beyond upset with today's circumstances with Halo2 and this forum, and I want you to see a view that is not just mine- but rather shared by many of the competent fans that still follow you loyally.
Today, Halo2 is not the experience that we were advertised it would be. It is not a massive multiplayer experience free of cheating and hateful offenses, and it is not a place that the common videogame player can play and become part of the Halo universe.
Today, I describe Halo2 as 'an acquired taste' -one that is becoming more and more difficult to swallow. The host system is spawn of a million issues that we never, I reiterate never should have been exposed to, and further complications such as in-game glitches and the inability to actually be held responsible for bannable offenses is making Halo2 an experience of habit, and not entertainment.
Halo3 offers bright hopes for the future- the possibility of servers, better Xbox Live coordination and upgraded and more streamlined gameplay appeals to everyone.
However there are two glaring issues that I would call to your attention.
One: Halo two is backwards compatible for Xbox 360. A game that has been available for play for TWO YEARS without any acceptable resolution to the plague that is modders, bridgers, standby-users, glitchers, and people that break the terms of condition in general.
At this thought, I would like to point out that Bungie diverts responsibility for cheaters and rule-breakers to Xbox Live, and Xbox Live diverts the responsibility to Bungie. No true solution is found, and the problems go unsolved. The end to this point is that for TWO YEARS Halo2 has been an immature game of "let's pretend" that the game is fine and that things are still fun. Now here's the quicken- After two years of this treatment, what about people that still want to play Halo2 on Xbox Live after Halo3? Is this game suddenly going to become "Not Xbox Live Compatible" at the release of Halo3 and we can only play it online, or will we still have to play under the same conditions as today- with three years of "let's pretend" under our belts instead of two?
Glaring issue number Two:
Bungie Studious is one of the friendliest and most community-driven game companies to ever exist, and so they graciously created the Bungie.net forums for people to make suggestions and comment on their favorite games. The problem? Well, first of all let's hope that you don't offer criticism- that just isn't looked highly upon. Now, I can understand this because when one person makes an actual criticism that makes sense, then 100,000 people just jump in behind them with their own personalized innuendo- but in the case of Halo2's useless host system and failure to ban players, MOST PEOPLE ARE ON THE SAME PAGE.
Beyond this, Bungie.net suffers from a strange irony. The company wishes to receive input about their games and what should happen next, but the actual likelihood of putting a good idea out amidst the THOUSANDS of other people that have their own opinions is very difficult amidst an old forum template that is already difficult to navigate through with the pages being a large blur of thousands of random posters and generic cluttered misspelled text. Now, I can clearly see that you guys want to update, upgrade and grow- But it will not change the sheer number of posts to wade through when discussing such topics as the future of Halo three.
Now, I realize that you guys deserve praise and not so much criticism, but the current status of Halo2 and in some regards, the difficult nature of the current Bungie.net forum is aggravating to experience- and is something you guys should see through the eyes of people that view you as being immaculate. This post is meant to be a direct-fire reminder of what you have accomplished versus the failures that you have seen alongside them.
Lock the post, delete it, ban me, be angry, hide from it, deny it, whatever-
But make sure you read the damn thing, because it's the truth.
Please remember the past to grow from its mistakes.
Please make us proud. Not just in the future, but also now.
He that gives swiftly gives twice.
Peace, and thank you for all the good work.
Forum members-
Please honor the honest attempt to give criticism without aggression- If you are not a moderator or admin, then do not post until one does.
[Edited on 9/22/2006]