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Halo 2 Online Preservation Effort Ends
A couple weeks ago, we discussed news that some dedicated Halo 2 fans were keeping the game's multiplayer alive after support for online play was dropped. Now, a few days shy of a month after support ended, the last users have been knocked off the server.
"[A user named] Apache N4SIR outlasted everyone. 'May 11th @ 0158hrs I was FORCEFULLY REMOVED!!' he wrote on the forums at Bungie.net. 'I thought I'd be the one turning off the lights but that was done for me. Good night everyone, my Elite needs a rest.' His last comrade in arms, Agent Windex, was still signed on, as spotted by Kotaku at 4 p.m. US Pacific Time on May 10, but their adventure, which began on April 15, ended after Windex announced 21 minutes later that he had been removed from play and Apache N4SIR suffered a similar fate hours later, as he described in his post."
Counterstrike. I seriously doubt it will decommision in my lifetime
XBConnect is pretty sweet.
Allowed playing of the Original Halo online before Xboxlive existed.
Also allowed for playing of Halo 2 online well before the official release date
Not to mention all the modded Halo versions that can only be played online via a VPN
VPN allowed for much more freedom with regards to game choices and banning of cheating players.
Once again the community compiled something more useful than the locked down mainstream service.