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Halo 2 Online Preservation Effort Ends

Posted by Soulskill on from the good-show dept.

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."

40 of 201 comments (clear)

  1. and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And nothing of value was lost.

    1. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Really hoping that's sarcasm... I would MUCH rather see updates and innovations added to XBL than having to be backwards compatible. Microsoft is actually moving in the RIGHT direction this time.
      BTW, you can still play Halo 2:

      Using XLink or XBConnect. Both of which are basically just VPNs that trick your xbox into thinking your buddy across the pond (or down the road) is on your LAN.

      On Windows Vista (Halo 2 PC)

      Local Splitscreen.

      Better yet, why not try something new?!

    2. Re:and... by Kitkoan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Halo 2 was released in 2004, its now 2010. Thats almost 6 years. Don't know of many (if any) console games that have had that much online support made for them. I don't feel thats really screwing over your loyal customers as have some of the longest online multiplayer support. And there is a time for a business to have to cut legacy support.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    3. Re:and... by billsayswow · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oh, I know you from somewhere... You were the guy who said he'd move to Canada after every election that didn't go your way. You're the guy who said you were switching to satellite after your cable provider raised the prices again. You were going to switch to Verizon after AT&T charged you a lousy service fee, take the City to court after they didn't plow your street well, never use UPS again because your package was damaged, never eat at McDonalds again since your burger had pickles on it, never go into a Walmart because you couldn't return your opened copy of Madden '96, switch to ATI because you got a DOA NVidia card, and always buy Durex because you had a trojan rip on you once, and now you have a kid that you're inflicting your empty-threated wisdom upon. Nice to see you again. Though you said you'd never speak to me for as long as you'd live.

    4. Re:and... by trawg · · Score: 4, Informative

      They don't need to provide legacy support for old games though - if their games are created in such a way that users can run their own game servers, someone else can do it as long as there's someone that still wants to play the game.

      As others have pointed out in this discussion, PC games from as far back as Quake (1996) are still perfectly playable because it uses an 'open', dedicated server based framework for its multiplayer services.

      Sadly, the PC world is catching up to the console world in this respect - because developers are less interested in having you play their game for more than ten years. They don't see the advantages in having a game that lives that long and instead want you to continue buying the next version every year or so. Unfortunately for people that care about having good games that will last for a really long time (like me), this model is proving super-successful.

    5. Re:and... by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anyone else feel it sad when people reference a whole six years as an eternity, after which a product should surely be dropped?

      Stuff used to be made to last a lifetime. I have an old double-barreled shotgun my granddad passed down to me. My mother has dresses, dolls, and other heirlooms passed down to her by her mother. Most of this stuff is 50-75 years old, and I envision it to be around a lot longer. Even in content - I've got movies and such that are as old as I am (original release Star Wars VHS for example). Yet with this type of thing, well, it's SIX years old. It's obvious that you shouldn't expect to keep using it.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    6. Re:and... by DirtyCanuck · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

    7. Re:and... by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Halo 2 was released in 2004, its now 2010. Thats almost 6 years. Don't know of many (if any) console games that have had that much online support made for them. I don't feel thats really screwing over your loyal customers as have some of the longest online multiplayer support. And there is a time for a business to have to cut legacy support.

      I'm still playing Halo's online multiplayer on my PC and that's a Microsoft/Bungie game.
      What makes consoles so special?

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    8. Re:and... by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What makes consoles so special?

      It's easier to screw owners over.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    9. Re:and... by iamhassi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      First they take multiplayer away after 6 yrs, next it will be DRM disabling of single player after 6 yrs... then 5... 4.... 3.... or whenever the sequal comes out. Slippery slope, and I'm sure some kid will say "Come on that game is 2 yrs old and they have a sequal they have to stop support someday!". No, they didn't, they designed the game so multiplayer support could be shut-off and use that as an excuse.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    10. Re:and... by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Monopoly, Risk, Axis & Allies, Diplomacy (50 years old).

      Yea-- hard to believe ANYONE would want to play a game 7 years after it was published.

      Games Workshop is getting bad about this (as is Magic the Gathering).

      Sure- you can play on your own, but convention play requires the current figures and rules. Which are arbitrarily changed about every 24-36 months.

      Business wants you to RENT everything- no ownership.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    11. Re:and... by Kitkoan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Anyone else feel it sad when people reference a whole six years as an eternity, after which a product should surely be dropped?

      Stuff used to be made to last a lifetime. I have an old double-barreled shotgun my granddad passed down to me. My mother has dresses, dolls, and other heirlooms passed down to her by her mother. Most of this stuff is 50-75 years old, and I envision it to be around a lot longer. Even in content - I've got movies and such that are as old as I am (original release Star Wars VHS for example). Yet with this type of thing, well, it's SIX years old. It's obvious that you shouldn't expect to keep using it.

      And how much of it is still supported by the manufacturer? Most items you can buy and have been able to buy for decades normally are supported by the manufacturer for 30 to 90 days after purchase. Most products you can buy are only made to have usage for a year then its dropped by the maker in favor of the next years model and most won't help you with a product thats 2+ years old since it's no long for sale.

      As for the Halo 2, while some support for the product has been dropped on what is technically something made obsolete (the XBox), the product still works, it hasn't been made non-functioning. It can still be used for multi-player games through options like system link. If people want it enough then the homebrew community will figure out a way.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    12. Re:and... by DirtyCanuck · · Score: 2, Informative

      Unfortunately the future of PC gaming through traditional (dedicated server) means is in jeopardy as far as mainstream titles are concerned.

      PC games used to have an online edge because even if a game was created across many platforms the PC game would have Modding capabilities as well as dedicated servers. This edge would continue as games would become timeless and online play would only be limited by community support rather than some douche behind a desk crunching numbers.

      Unfortunately this differentiation has been eroded by the idea that simplification sells.

      SOURCE: http://modernwarfare2.infinityward.com/

    13. Re:and... by Kitkoan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      First they take multiplayer away after 6 yrs, next it will be DRM disabling of single player after 6 yrs... then 5... 4.... 3.... or whenever the sequal comes out. Slippery slope, and I'm sure some kid will say "Come on that game is 2 yrs old and they have a sequal they have to stop support someday!". No, they didn't, they designed the game so multiplayer support could be shut-off and use that as an excuse.

      Here's an idea then if thats how you look at these things. Don't buy consoles. Buy PC only games. Sure they can remove these functions as well, but as with hacks and cracks and whatever else you can think of, people can and will find a way to get around these problems when they are on a computer. That way you'll never had to really worry about these issues as they only become minor setbacks and never total problems.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    14. Re:and... by sjames · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's all part of the rentification. At one time when you bought something you owned it. You could expect to pass it on to your children one day. Your wealth would tend to increase over time.

      Now, it's all essentially a multi-year rental. Even major appliances may be expected to conk out in a decade or so and become landfill (yeah, that's really green!). You may rest assured that replacement parts will not be available should you decide to try to fix it or they will only be available to the brand X authorized repair shop that will (because of the costs to become authorized) charge you nearly as much as the cost of a new unit to replace the $20 part (that cost $2 to make and $8 to ship from China). Yeah, perhaps you were thinking one of those fancy new ones would be nice anyway, but it might have been nice to sell the old one to someone who needed a good deal on a basic appliance.

    15. Re:and... by trawg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Its not that it's proving successful, its more of a lack of options

      Right, but the reason there's a lack of options (for, say, dedicated server-based multiplayer PC games) is because we're seeing less of a focus on creating dedicated server based games. There is more focus on /controlling/ the multiplayer infrastructure now - and one reason is probably so they can simply turn it off when they want you to upgrade to the latest version.

      Hardware fails and that will render all these old tech and games obsolete no matter how much you don't want to lose these games. Systems like NES, SNES, Genesis, they are mostly gone aside from a rare special-built system but then the games are going away to, as time really does kill all things material.

      Those are all examples of closed systems though. Nintendo don't want people thinking SNES or NES - they want them thinking Wii and Wii games and DS!

      Now we have game roms and emulators, programs like DosBox. These show that the games will remain playable, granted not in their original form, but they are still there and still playable

      The problem with this analogy though is that multiplayer games have the game server component - and reverse engineering that doesn't seem like something people do very often.

      It's the server component that I'm talking about in my above post. If that is released as a free download, game developers can simply forget about supporting their games online and let "the community" do it for them for free.

    16. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      There is a difference between peer to peer lan play, and an online system with pickup games.

        I run a battlenet server for local diablo2 and warcraft3 players that has about 15 people online at any given time. this is great considering that the local isp offers 5mb links between local users but only has about 10mb shared for all of us to use.

      We also have a few quake servers and are running a jedi outcast server that gets some frequent use.

      Try that without a full-blown dedicated server.

    17. Re:and... by RoboRay · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's why no serious PC gamer seriously considers MW2 for purchase.

      The sky is not falling. The beauty of PCs is you don't need anyone's permission to do what you want with your hardware. Multiplayer gaming where the customers are in control is not going away.

    18. Re:and... by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Informative

      And let us say, just for the sake of argument, that all the major game companies decided to be pricks and got together and quit making new PC games tomorrow. How many of you actually have ALL the good PC games, hmmm? Hell I'm still finding great new mods for Freelancer and that game came out 7 years ago!

      If the game company acts like a prick, don't buy from them. Instead vote with your dollars and buy from somebody that treats you decent like good old games that don't fill your PC with DRM or make you phone home just to play. This is one of the reasons I refuse to give up PC gaming and mess with consoles. If MSFT, or Ubisoft, or any other game company acts like a total douche I can take my business elsewhere, and there is plenty of products to choose from, but if for example I'd have went with PS3 and wanted to keep my OtherOS and still game? Tough shit, buy another console.

      With consoles ONE company owns the keys to the kingdom, and it is their way or nothing. With the PC I can buy big games or indy, new or classics, and have a wealth of places to shop at. EA killing online multiplayer on the consoles when the sequel comes out is just a glimpse of the console's future. It will be pay and pay and pay some more if you actually want to get the full on and off line gameplay. Finally with DLC I'm predicting the PHBs at the major game companies will pretty much destroy new games on both consoles and PC, by chopping them into pieces and nickel and diming the player to death to "maximize profit potential" so a new game will end up costing you $100+ just to get to play the whole thing.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    19. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You forgot about the various online TCP/IP multiplayer Doom mods. A game from 1993 that has been updated through the years and still has good mods coming out for out. You can't say that for today's games.

    20. Re:and... by SCPRedMage · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Your argument is invalid because my hat is a duck.

      Wait, that's not right...

      Your argument is invalid because they didn't specifically shut down Halo 2 multiplayer, they shut down the original XBox Live servers. They did this for a legitimate reason too; the legacy system was holding back the modern Live service, applying specific limitations that couldn't be overcome without shutting it down like this. Hell, a minority of users have been constantly complaining about the 100 person limit on Live friends list, which was, surprise, caused by the legacy Live system. People complained about it time and again, and every time, Microsoft responded with "we can't do that without shutting down the original Live!"

      As much as you'd like to believe "the man" is out to get you, this wasn't done for "forced obsolescence".

      --
      My sig can beat up your sig.
    21. Re:and... by DarkOx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are operating under the assumption that you did not put more energy and resources into the manufacture of the new equipment or that it was going to be done anyway. Now if you really needed a new computer to do something you could not do before that holds up. You should always use the newer more energy efficent model. On the otherhand if that P4 was doing everything you needed it to do the truely green thing would probably have been to never create a market for that new computer and therefore avoid its constuction in the first place.

      There is more to greeness than just carbon emmissions; people seem to have forgotten this! Losts of really awful chemicals get used to manufacture chips; computers are full plastics that don't biodegrade and are made from limited petrol resources. Oh and on the carbon front manufacture of the thing probably consumed quite a lot of engergy all told; possibly years worth of the delta between the efficencies of the two units; and released lots of carbon.

      People whine and cry about efficent this but really most of it is feel good nonsense so people can create an excuse to make and have new toys. The disposability of our society is doing more harm to our enviornment than anything else. Which is not to say that when we do make new things we should not make them as efficent as can be. Its also true that old things which can be retrofited to improve them possibly should not be. Adding more insulation to an existing house probably makes all kinds of sense. Replacing something like an old boiler where almost everything can be recycled might be good too. Retering a perfectly servicable computer or automobile probably not so much.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    22. Re:and... by d3ac0n · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And what if 3,500,000 people take their $50 elsewhere? What then?

      This is why I don't own a console, and probably never will. A console doesn't give me enough control, and is nothing but a money pit. Far more so than a PC.

      Control is what it comes down to. I insist on controlling the equipment I own. Excepting my Cable box (which I'm basically renting) I have ultimate authority over all electronics in my house. Nobody else can tell me how to use it., and nobody can remotely disable any of it's capabilities.

      Think about it: What good are those old X-boxes now? You can't play online with them, and Single player was NEVER very impressive on them. They don't have HD capabilities, so even XBMC isn't useful anymore. They are junk. Not even useful for nostalgia's sake like an old Atari, NES, or SNES. And the old games? Money down the drain. Hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars per person just gone.

      With PC games, even if my PC dies and I have to build a new one, I can still play my old games. Even if I change OSes I can still play most of them because community groups are porting them over. So even though I've changed PC's multiple times since MW4 came out, I can still bust it out and play it, any time I want. (and I do. MW4 was and is a great game.)

      Long live PC gaming.

      --
      Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
    23. Re:and... by NoSleepDemon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      here here! Mod parent up! This is why I own a PC, heck, I even have Duke Nukem 3D on mine. I owned and still own a PC for the exact reasons that the parent listed. In fact, I grew up around making games and mods and levels for Doom all the way to Half-Life and ended up getting a degree in programming games, moving to Canada and soon with a few more portfolio pieces I'll be starting my own company. What hasn't changed through all this? The fact that I will always be a PC gamer. It is such a shame that younger generations will be introduced to 'gaming' in its current, pathetic watered down state. They will learn nothing from hacking the game's config files, nothing from building new levels, nothing from collaborating with mod projects and nothing from programming their own game or exercising their imagination. All they will learn is how to put a disc into a drive and to press the big green X button.

      Long live PC gaming indeed.

    24. Re:and... by CGordy · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hasselblad recently brought out a digital camera back for their old film cameras, which is compatible with all their V-system cameras, which they made from 1957. They include software which corrects for lens errors for every lens they've ever made.

    25. Re:and... by Provocateur · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't see an issue with MS retiring

      Well, they could have had the decency to post a warning in-game:

      This will be your Last Game. No respawn, no requests for
      immediate evac, just shoot to kill, and the last medikits
      (whatever they're called) are up for grabs. So long, and
      Microsoft would like to honor your loyalty by engraving your
      frags on a monument that sadly no one will see. Don't worry, it
      will be an easter egg in our next edition of Excel: The
      Spreadsheet. When that gets ported to Xbox, that is.

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    26. Re:and... by Kielistic · · Score: 2, Informative

      If I buy a game for my console, I know it will play properly.

      Unless it's a couple years old of course. Which is, you know, what the article is talking about.

  2. Meanwhile on the PC by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 5, Informative

    People are still playing everything from Quake's Team Fortress to Tribes 2, with their own dedicated servers and authentication systems.

    --
    A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    1. Re:Meanwhile on the PC by ani23 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Counterstrike. I seriously doubt it will decommision in my lifetime

    2. Re:Meanwhile on the PC by OrwellianLurker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Counterstrike. I seriously doubt it will decommision in my lifetime

      It's the Pacman of FPS.

      --
      'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.' - Mao Tse-tung
    3. Re:Meanwhile on the PC by Sowelu · · Score: 2, Informative

      For some reason I thought Halo 2 still had online multiplayer--just not through the actual old hub servers anymore. You have to set it up yourself. Just like Quake.

    4. Re:Meanwhile on the PC by Rewind · · Score: 2, Informative

      That is somewhat misleading. Isn't the original Tribes down? WON went down along with all the original games that were on it (though you can migrate to Steam). Heck EA shuts down PC things left and right. You are making this sound console specific when in reality it is just more obvious on consoles.

      --
      ?
    5. Re:Meanwhile on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is because of the way Valve thinks about CS. It started out as a third-party mod, and Valve was all "wow, the fans are having way more fun with this mod than they are with the main game - we should find a way to get in on this action!" So they adopted it, and the rest is history. At one point it actually accounted for more internet traffic than the nation of Italy (admittedly, before broadband penetration was quite so high, and in no small part because of sloppy network algorithms). Given the thinking behind why Valve picked up Counterstrike as an official product, I would be absolutely dumbstruck if they don't keep milking it for as long as the fans are interested in it.

      In related news: the lack of LAN play in Starcraft II means that it is going to horizon eventually, while Starcraft will always be around. Go figure.

      But seriously, game producers - an established fan base is extremely valuable even if they've already paid for the game. If you can't figure out how to sell them something else on the basis of their existing fandom, you need a new job. If you can't figure out that it's good marketing to find a way to continue supporting a game that still has fans and would rather spend the money on another television commercial, you need a new job.

    6. Re:Meanwhile on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      That is somewhat misleading. Isn't the original Tribes down?

      Yes, but you can host your own masterserver, and the game lets you switch between them; even without masterservers, you can connect directly to known server IP addresses. Neither of these is possible with console games.

  3. Re:hmmmm by Amarantine · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, i know that EA's games carry such a warning on the back (altough in very small print). Especially on their sports games. It reads something along the lines of "EA may retire online features after 30 days notice posted on www.ea.com or 30 days after the last day of the 2008-2009 NFL season."

  4. What I really expected to read by masterwit · · Score: 4, Funny

    What I really expected was:

    "Halo 2 preservation ends", six die in a fire believed to be caused by their game consoles.

    --
    We should start a new Slashdot and return control to the geeks. It actually wouldn't be that hard to get some users to
  5. Re:And I thought... by SheeEttin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The difference here is that you can still use FORTRAN if you want to.
    One of the main selling points of games like these is their multiplayer. You'd want it to go on forever--and well you should, you certainly paid for it!
    You can still compile and run FORTRAN programs--in fact, if you run Linux, you might have a FORTRAN compiler installed and not know it (I'm in Windows, so I can't see if I do right now). Hell, when you install mingw, the compilers offered are C, C++, and FORTRAN. (Probably Java too, but I don't remember. Wikipedia says there is also Pascal and Ada support.)
    The problem with Microsoft's treatment of their fanbase is "This product has reached end-of-life, we're killing it. Tough. What, you want more? No. And don't think about setting up your own master servers, etc., or we'll sue you." (Or something to that effect.)

  6. Re:And I thought... by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...the Windows XP hangers-on were annoying. Sheesh...let it go guys. Like that one wizened old-timer in the back warehouse blathering on how FORTRAN is still relevant...

    Ehmm, it works. It supports all the hardware in my gaming machine. It has been rock stable for the past few years.

    Why *would* I change to a different OS? I already paid for this one...

    --

    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  7. Ok, so we now all agree that Ms is unreliable ? by unity100 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i mean, for all its faults, you can still play diablo 1 online without any issues with blizzard. yet, halo, itself a very popular game today, got its multiplayer support dropped.

    --
    Read radical news here
  8. Sad to hear.... by __aamkky7574 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not a Halo fan myself at all, but it does seem rather sad that someone's favourite online game can be suddenly taken away like this. When you're almost 40, 6 years really isn't such a long time, and currently I'm replaying Deus Ex which is, gasp, 10 years old. And you have even more extreme versions; for example, Mercenaries 2's multiplayer being turned off after only 1.5 years. Whether it's for reasons of costs, or do force players to purchase the latest games, is open for debate.

    One of the benefits of PC gaming is that old games are readily available and indeed are revamped (either by unofficial graphical enhancement mods or by companies such as GOG.com re-released old games but compatible with modern GUIs).

    P.