Penny Arcade's post and comic today (10-18-04) are Halo related.

[LowOnCreativity]

www.penny-arcade.com (http://www.penny-arcade.com)

They mention there being to server browsing for the multiplayer and how nice it is. And to hear them describe it, it does sound very nice.

[MetalSiren]

Sounds good in Theory, but I wonder how it actually does in "Real Play"....

lets face it...... Halo 2 is going to be the most on-line used game in xbox live history

[LowOnCreativity]

Sounds good in Theory, but I wonder how it actually does in "Real Play"....

lets face it...... Halo 2 is going to be the most on-line used game in xbox live history



I actually think that will help the system (assuming Live doesn't crash). With so many people on at one time there should be no shortage of available games to play. Finding one you like should be easy as pie.

I compare it to trying to find a game in SCPT and what a pain in the ass that was. This sounds much nicer.

[Anonymous]

...assuming Live doesn't crash...That is what I am expecting. :smt009

[Anonymous]

I dunno. Unless I'm reading this wrong it sounds similar to Battlefront in that there's no lobby. Also it doesn't say whether or not you can set-up private games or not. I imagine you can but the current set-up that they describe, having the server find players to join your game once other players leave, sounds like it could leave an open door for GP.

[tanner]

...assuming Live doesn't crash...That is what I am expecting. :smt009




There has been some crazy stuff going on with Live lately, and they
have been doing maintence in some areas, so *fingers crossed* that they
have been beefing up the service for the anticpated Nov. 9th release of
H2.

[LowOnCreativity]

I dunno. Unless I'm reading this wrong it sounds similar to Battlefront in that there's no lobby. Also it doesn't say whether or not you can set-up private games or not. I imagine you can but the current set-up that they describe, having the server find players to join your game once other players leave, sounds like it could leave an open door for GP.

I don't know that I've found anywhere that has talked about what it's like once you actually GET IN a game, whether there's a lobby or not, but I would imagine that the folks at Bungie are going to be smart enough to put one in. What these guys are saying (and what I've read in other places) is that there is no looking for a server to play on. So you'll do your Optimatch thing, say you want to play a game of CTF on a specific board, and rather than spitting back a list of servers meeting those parameters, its just going to put you into a game that matches your requests.

As for private games, again, I would assume Bungie will be smart enough to put the option in. However, those games will definitely be unranked. We all know that lots of douchebags create dummy accounts and play against them to help their ranking.To combat this, in Halo 2 you will not be able to choose your opponent in ranked games. You'll be able to play WITH people you know, i.e., one you've got your 'Party' together you can go out and find a ranked game.

At least, this is how I'm understanding things. I guess we'll all see in a few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Here's the bottom line for me. If we can set up private games for AGE members to play in- much as we can in BA - all will be well. If not - we are forced to play with the GP - the experience will fall somewhere between lessened and completely fucked!

I sincerely hope LowOnCreativity is right and Bungie is smart. But I'll believe it when I see it. I don't give a rat's ass about "ranked" or "unranked" games. I want the kind of fun we have togetherin BA or the game's a bust!