True that.

I had the privilege and hellacious good time of being Bungie's Microsoft lawyer during the later development and release of Halo 2. While "lawyer" and "fun" aren't usually linked together except as antonyms, the experience working with the brilliant people at Bungie during that time ranks as my top professional experience. We certainly had enough rocky and really stressed out times, such as reviewing the script and finding some potentially serious geopolitical issues that were a bear to wrestle with. Other things were easier to resolve, like just letting those guys at Roosterteeth go ahead with that Red vs. Blue thing and screw the trademark and copyright issues. We also started the initial licensing and merchandizing that led to the wave of stuff that Halo is today (so you decided to do the Halloween costumes finally, eh?). Through it all, I was living a professional fantasy - a lawyer who's a gamer working on games. And working with Bungie too boot. The Bungie team invited me to the EMP launch party, and that, combined with launch night itself, will probably be the closest I come to feeling like a rock star. I had people asking me for autographs on the release poster at EMP, even after I explained I was only the lawyer. And the coolest experience was driving the XBOX Escalade into the middle of Redmond Town Center on launch night, the hundreds of cheering people lined up along the balconies above waiting for the doors to open, as team Bungie arrived to enthusiastic roars. Thanks to Pete and Frank and Brian and Marty and The Princess and the rest of the gang from those days who let me come in and work, learn, play and gawk. It was such a great time. And finally, thanks for putting me in the end credits. Now I'm immortal too, like the legacy that is your work. Congratulations and best wishes. Hubert

Ah, remembering when I picked up my copy of Halo 2. I had so many expectations for this game and it excelled on so many of them. From playing as the Arbiter to drop-podding into Delta Halo to the glorious level Gravemind, I'm left with nothing but awe, excluding the multiplayer. <3

First of all, thank you Bungie for making such a great game. This game was truely the best game ever. What I liked about this game was the end scene of the last level and the scene after the credits. That was the best.

R.I.P. old friend... We will miss you so.

What saddens me the most is how every game I played on the 14th I heard "Why have I never played this before? This is awesome!" or "This is way better the Halo 3." At least they got a taste of it before it was gone. Thanks for the memories and the nearly 8000 games I got to play over live.

I love it when Bungie talks about stuff that gets omitted from their games.

When I heard that Halo 2 Online was coming to an end, there was only 2 people I could think of contacting; Marcus and Paul. Some backstory is required to fully understand what this means. For many people, Halo 2 was a place to just jump into matches with their buddies, to shoot other people playing with their buddies, or solo. For me though, Halo 2 was a place that I met two buddies. I remember vividly playing Team Slayer on Zanzibar, when through proximity chat (thank you for that feature Bungie) I heard these two guys going back and forth with family guy quotes, and it was just cracking me up. So I started talking to the two guys. So after the match, we joined up into our new team, and so it began. Obviously before logging off that day, we were on each other's friends list, and so after that, we would continue meeting up online and playing some halo 2 to relax and enjoy ourselves. For months this continued, and so we started talking more and more, and then all of a sudden, we have each other's screen names on AIM, and Facebook accounts, and I am talking to these guys on a daily basis outside of Halo 2, all the way to this very day. This all happened back in May 2005, and to this day I am still close friends with these guys, who by the way, live in Illinois, and I live in New York. Halo 2 became not only a place where I fragged countless enemies, but where I met two guys who I essentially hang out all the time with. Because of things like proximity chat, partying up on the "virtual couch" as it's been called, and just the unpredictability of Matchmaking, I now have two buddies who I've killed other people with...in Halo 2, 3, and ODST, and soon, Reach. What I am trying to say is, thanks for the memories Bungie, you did and still do know how to make a great online experience, one that cultivates social interaction and fun -blam!- times. Can't wait to call up Marc and Paul for some Reach action in the beta

i almost wanted to cry when i read this, closing the door on such an epic chapter of an on going saga i must've spent a sizable percentage of my middle and high school careers playing halo 2, didn't get XBL til 360 came out though so that just made halo 2 that much better for me spending hours matchmaking, playing zombies, perfecting super jumps and glitches (never to be used in ranked games mind you) i think my two best memories were both playing with my friend murphy. the first one was when we were in his basement playing and it was midnight and i had a curfew to be home so i said one more game then i had to peace. one final epic zombies game on turf (greatest map ever). so it was me and murphy vs his two brothers, one older one younger and they were human still, while i was one the zombie team with and they got in the warthog turret (cheating i kno but the game continued) so for hours we used our swords to slowly inch crates towards the warthog and finally, 3am victory, then we continued to play some silly slayer games, just messin around, but as much time as i wasted in that single night, i'll always remember it as one of my best halo experiences my other best memory was one day last summer or two summers ago, it was after halo 3 came out but me and my friends wanted some classic halo, so once again i called upon my good friend murphy to supply an xbox 360 and bring it over my house. i conveniently had a 25ft lan cable and two tvs in two separate rooms that were a little under 25 ft apart. so we rallied up a dozen friends or so, set up the systems, and spent the rest of the afternoon doing team slayer, ctf, assault, and then just more screwin around but those are just the prime choices of a whole selection of memories, i dont hav enough time or patience to write them all and i'm sure you dont have enough to read them all hope its still on tmo night when i get back to college so that i can have one final dance with halo 2 online

Well, an age of the Xbox Live passed, taking with it gods and temples, hopes and dreams; but when we turn our head we see the new era comming, ready to be build. Halo 2 was my first Xbox Live game, it was the game that tunned me into the Xbox Live world. I will miss the times when I died and when I killed someone; the rockets in pursuit of it's target. The cheats (well, not much that part). However, Halo 2 was agreat game, the campaing and the online game; we'll all miss online gaming. Team of Halo 2 thanks for giving us a window to the future; and the key to open that window. JORGE 58236

what a great game. after halo 1, this was my gateway drug to all that is online gaming and trash talking. thank you, bungie. each and every one of you. fav halo 2 memory? definitely a CTF game on waterworks. i grab a wraith, head over to the red base to try and distract and destroy so my team can grab their flag. i start firing, start getting kills. soon enough, ive got a 26 kill streak and we win the game. im sure the other team was reaaaaaaally pissed at me lol. i was laughing so hard tho. whenever me and my friend would play online, it would always start at lockout, swords to 25. and we would play it every single time. it was awesome. thanks bungie. much love

<3 Halo 2. My favorite moment ever: 2 flag CTF on Containment. Got matched up against a modder, and when the game started everyone had been dropped/booted save me and one of the modder's teammates. The modder started flying a tank like it was a banshee and raining down hell, and I still managed to beat them. :)

I miss Halo 2 already :( There are those who said this day would never come...what are they to say now?

my fondest memory after playing for years of Halo 2 on lans to later find out that there was such a thing as an online community that would also play from around the world against. Thank you halo 2 for helping me "Jump In" to Xbox Live.

Halo 2 was my first online gaming experience. One of my first games was slayer on Beaver Creek, and I distinctly remember taking a severe beating. Indeed, it was here that I learned the dynamics of playing against other people - online, NOT in splitscreen! Thank you, Bungie! RIP Halo 2.

Halo 2 I loved it hope that Halo 2 will have matchmaking again sometime Halo2 goobye specail thanks to bungie for one of the best games from Halo1 to halo waypoint thanks for the best games ever,lomow

Halo 2 is Ofiicially dead!!!!!!!!! We are going to miss you!! Around 9:00am to 9:09 am 6 remained giving the last hurrah. Now, Halo 2 on Xbox Live is no more. Great times indeed! Thanx Bungie for Master Chief, Cortana and everyone!!!

Oh wait!!! 7 are backck?????????????????????? 7? 7? 7? 7? 7? 7? 7? SEVEN...

It's sad this day had to come... We will all miss H2. Thanks 4 the memories Bungie<3

I remember playing Ghost busters after I saw it mentioned in a Bungie weekly update. Juggernaut was invisible, with a brute shot I believe and everyone else had Sentinel Beams, it was on Backwash (one of the unfortunately lesser used maps) and it was a blast. I actually played Halo 2 before I got my hands on Halo CE and it has been my favourite Halo game ever since. I think that a big chunk of your registered campaign play time would have come straight from my Xbox, as I played through the Halo 2 campaign probably over 20 or 30 times. I adored it, the indepth narrative for the Covenant was amazing and so refreshing from the usual boring nemises you fight in other games. I loved playing as the Arbiter, the empathy you felt for the Elites when the brutes began the genocide and how much you wanted to take out Truth. That friggin cliff hanger ending though! Argh! I worked my arse off to kill Tartarus the first time round and was so excited for the epic finale, but it only made me more excited for Halo 3. Matchmaking was a blast and I still miss Custom games like Star Wars and Tower of Power on Ascension (my favourite), Hide and Seek on Turf and of course, Zombies on Foundation and Zombie survival on Headlong (the map I most wanted remade for Halo 3). Halo 3 never had the same Custom game pull that Halo 2 did, that's all me and my friends did, play Customs and have a fricken blast! There was never any anger about it (unless someone refused the honour rules and started shooting as a Zombie or changed teams without warning grrrr). Super bouncing. Oh my god, super bouncing. That was amazing, the glitches were so entertaining. Me and that same group of friends used to go to Turf, superbounce out of the map and then we would butterfly jump onto the top of buildings. We'd then sword lunge at each other and fly off the buildings, across the entire map. We must have spend upwards of several days just doing that, just chilling, smoking cigs, talking about nothing and have the greatest time in the world. Simpler times. I hope Reach takes a lot from Halo 2, I hope the emphasis on Customs is greater, I hope that old maps will make a return as an homage to the most amazing game I ever played. It will forever be my favourite Halo game, with it's amazingly in-depth campaign and astoundingly fun multiplayer, which created frienships for me that have lasted 5 years. I loved Halo 2, I still love it and I'm sure Reach will do Bungie proud. But Bungie has already done itself proud by showing such great emotion over the loss of Halo 2, it makes me endlessly happy to see a gaming company that isn't just out for the money, but loves the games they make and the fans that love them back. Peace out Halo 2, don't worry, your future is in good hands and I'll still play through your campaign for endless eons to come. <3 Nirvana985, the same gamertag from Zombies, that couldn't get passed level 21 on Halo 2. <3 <3 <3 [Edited on 04.18.2010 9:34 AM PDT]

It refuses to die...

That made me laugh and cry. It's like an ex-girlfriend you could never get over. Farewell old girl. We will all miss you. -K-

Read the whole thing, I loved how Staten took the shot [i]before[/i] pulling his pants up. Thank you, Bungie. Too many memories to make a single post about Halo 2. So many games played. :)

I made sure that my last game was on my favorite map (not by modding): Coagulation. Good bye Halo 2. I wish I knew you better (online wise).

greetings bungie.net. my halo 2 story is a rather unique one, i first played it when i was about 8, played it the second day it was out. a friend of mine had it, and i'd be wanting to go to his house all the time to play it. my parents began to worry about me (lol). after a few years, my brother got his original xbox, this was just a few months before the 360 came out, anyway, halo 2 was the first game we got. another few years, halo 3 came out. i was set on getting it. though i couldnt for about two years, s i was stuck with halo 2. i didnt have LIVE so i was just playing campaign over and over again for a year and a half. then i got my 360, it was on election day 2008. i got halo 3 and beat it in two days, and was finally on live so i played the multiplayer tons as well. then i decided to try halo 2's multiplayer. ill never forget the first time i BXR'd a guy. then, a few months ago when i heard that micro$oft was going to cut off live for xbox originals, i literally cried. i played halo 2 like an addict, only fr it to be ended a few days ago. halo 2, you will remain in my heart forever, R.I.P.. *salutes* EDIT: i also wanted to share my favorite campaign experience. me and a buddy were playing the level where you kill regret (i cant believe i cant remember what its called). he was killing the guard while i jumped on his chair beat the living -blam!- out of him. in fact, i think i'll go do that right now! [Edited on 04.18.2010 5:34 PM PDT]

Dave Dunn part 2 is the greatest story about halo I have ever heard, ever, especially with Joe and that the story culminated in the punch. Dave's writing the campain for Reach, right. Right?