[quote]***************************2019 edit***************************
[url=http://halo.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?postID=43235214]C̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶i̶g̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶m̶a̶t̶[/url] This link no longer works because, unfortunately, the b.net web team decided to delete the archived forums on halo.bungie.net in 2018.
[url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623111755/http://halo.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=43235214&postRepeater1-p=1]Click here to view this thread in its original format on archive.org.[/url] Thank you to shadowkiller168 for archiving this thread. Every page in this thread is archived. By reading the comments in order, you can see how this story unfolded on a day-by-day basis.
This thread is completely dead now. But for historical purposes, I wanted to give one last update in order to post the archive. Thank you.[/quote]
[b]12/24/2014-Final Update:[/b] Wow, I can't believe it's been nearly 5 years since the original Halo 2 servers were shut down (and over 10 years since Halo 2 came out!). It's amazing how much has changed since then. With the release of Destiny, bungie.net is a completely different entity than it was when this thread was created. We are in a whole new generation of gaming, so it's not surprising to see how different the community is here now. I know some of you have stuck around since before the darkness; this thread is mostly for you guys. This thread was originally meant to be sort of a protest to the discontinuation of Halo 2 XBL matchmaking, but now this is no longer necessary. The Master Chief Collection has given Halo fans what we have been wanting since the servers were shut down. Halo 2 really set the standard for what competitive online gaming should be like, and I'm so glad that the current generation of gamers will be able experience what made the previous generations so great. I wanted to personally thank all of the people who have kept this thread somewhat alive over the years. You guys have proven that Halo is more than just a game. Not many things in this world can create such a deeply shared passion by so many people across the globe, but Halo proved to be one of those things. So many unlikely friendships were formed, so many memories were made, and so much fun was had. Refusing to let Halo 2 die was my way of thanking the community and thanking Bungie for the good times you have given me. The nostalgia I have of the early Halo days will never go away, but the MCC will allow us to relive those memories once again. So, once again, I wanted to thank Bungie and 343 Industries for making this possible. And I wanted to thank the Halo and Bungie community for sharing this passion with me.
(If you guys ever want to play some swords and snipes on lockout, add me on XBL: Agent Windex. Hopefully, I'll have an Xbox One sometime next year)
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[quote][b]The original thread is posted below. I hope it brings back some good memories and lots of nostalgia. Thanks guys![/b][/quote]
As all of you know, the Xbox Live servers were shut down for all Xbox original games on April 14, 2010. A small, dedicated group of Halo 2 players didn't agree with this, and did everything they could to not let the game die. As long as we didn't shut off our Xboxes, or lose connection in any way, we would still be able to play Halo 2 online. At first there were over 500 people that had kept their Xboxes on after the servers were shut down, but that quickly decreased to less than 100. Many players had lagged out, and some players Xboxes actually overheated. In the end, were able to keep Halo 2 alive for nearly 1 month longer than it should have been.
You may ask why we did this. Everyone has their own reason, but mostly it was for the love, and memory, of Halo 2. For some, it was to show their disapproval to Microsoft for shutting off Halo 2 so we could have more friends on our friends list. (Which is apparently why they shut down the servers, and that update still hasn't happened!)
A lot of us became really good friends.
For a while, we had 'T0 Be Continued' live streaming all of our games, until her xbox regrettably froze while playing custom games. Then, 'Mr7ankjump' did a live stream, but he lagged out only 4 hours later. 'Z0mbie Stench' was doing a live stream every day after those 2 lagged out, but sadly she was kicked off because of connection trouble. XXBooker DXX was the final live streamer.
I would like to thank everyone who followed our story, all of your support really inspired us to stay on as long as possible. Also, I would like to thank all of the Final Few, you guys are awesome and it was an honor playing with you. Also, I would like to thank [url=http://www.GamesRadar.com/]GamesRadar.com[/url] for giving out F&F beta codes for the final 12.
There are no longer any Halo 2 players online. Here are the names of the Final 52, in order of not being kicked offline.
1.APACHE N4SIR
2.Agent Windex
3.Lord Odysseus11
4.xxMAKDADYxx
5.DirtyCajun
6.Aforeignobject
7.XXBooker DXX
8.HiredN00bs
9.Rob2D
10.Z0mbie Stench
11.H20 Shoagie
12.Sherlok 1
13.SieferSword
14.Detenn
15.WGL Gonzo
16.MangledRex
17.XYOX
18.Anelf3
19.DeadlyChippy
20.Bond WM
21.Lockepyker
22.BillFromChicago
23.Mr7ankJump
24.NoName Nomad
25.T0 Be Continued
26.Family Fry
27.Hal0 HuLk
28.slater ohm
29.Dustyn1001
30.Milhouse06
31.Se7enUpMustang
32.TS Smokz
33.HummpaDummp
34.Crazy Kai
35.Wopsle
36.RomeoDude
37.xxxPuNiiSheRxxx
38.A Snoopkat
39.Keneken
40.xzzy
41.Nedge
42.TubbyKarma304
43.Lucky v1
44.Dragonslayer91
45.vxv frosty vxv
46.coppertop101
47.Osgray
48.MazeltovKoktail
49.Envoyyy JG
50.ssr14
51.Trent4now 05
52.One Eyed Monky
53. bLiGhTy (bligh7y)
27-53 are complete guesses, I just wanted to make sure their names were listed. Feel free to correct anything on this list.
Our message was heard throughout all of the internet. There were many articles written about what we did, on almost every gaming website. Here are some of the articles:
[url=http://www.slashgear.com/dedicated-halo-2-players-keep-online-gaming-going-2783371/]Slash Gear's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.gamestooge.com/2010/04/26/never-say-die-halo-2-fans/]Game Stooge's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/042310-halo-2-players-keep-original.html]Network World's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100219-Halo-2-Players-Refuse-to-Leave-Xbox-Live]Escapist Magazine's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/214933/dozens-of-halo-2-players-keep-original-xbox-online-gaming-alive/]Game Pro's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.games-inet.com/news-dozens-of-halo-2-players-keep-original-xbox-online-gaming-alive_369.html]Games Inet's Article[/url]
[url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20003533-17.html]Cnet's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/people-still-playing-halo-2-somehow]Eurogamer's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.maxconsole.net/content.php?39820-LOL-Halo-2-players-refuse-to-quit-Xbox-LIVE-keep-playing-until-consoles-freeze]Max Console's Article[/url]
[url=http://kotaku.com/5525837/fourteen-halo-2-fans-refuse-to-let-it-die]Kotaku's Article[/url]
[url=http://thegamingliberty.com/index.php/2010/04/28/halo-2-fans-refuse-to-let-halo-die/]The Gaming Liberty's Article[/url]
[url=http://slashdot.org/story/10/04/28/0754207/Dedicated-emHalo-2em-Fans-Keep-Multiplayer-Alive]Slashdot's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.videogamer.com/news/halo_2_players_keep_game_alive.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter]VideoGamer.com's Article[/url]
[url=http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/704188/halo-2-refuses-to-die-gamers-still-playing-over-xbox-live.html]G4 TV's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179031]1up's Article[/url]
[url=http://gizmodo.com/5526334/halo-2-superfans-refuse-to-let-the-dream-die]Gizmodo's Article[/url]
[url=http://tweakers.net/nieuws/67039/fans-houden-xbox-game-halo-2-online-in-leven.html]Tweaker's Article (Dutch)[/url]
[url=http://www.switched.com/2010/04/27/gamers-refuse-to-turn-off-xboxes-keep-playing-halo-2-online/]Switched's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.freexboxcheats.com/halo-2-lives-on-with-the-help-of-14-gamers]Free Xbox Cheats' Article[/url]
[url=http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Technology/20100427/10444016/Gamers-Refuse-to-Turn-Off-Xboxes-Keep-Playing.htm]One News Page's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6260513.html]Gamespot's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.gamereactor.de/Blogs/christian+gaca/279]Game Reactor's Article (German)[/url]
[url=http://www.joystiq.com/2010/04/29/halo-2-still-kinda-alive-thanks-to-some-fans/]Joystiq's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.xbox-news.com/e9490.html]XNews' Article (Japenese)[/url]
[url=http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/204921.asp]Seattlepi's Article[/url]
[url=http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/108/1086645p1.html]IGN's Article[/url]
[url=http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/stay-in-the-fight-halo-2-superfans-keep-game-alive/1397830]Yahoo's Article[/url]
[url=http://www.gamesradar.com/f/exclusive-interview-halo-2s-final-players-share-their-stories/a-2010051415103021070]GamesRadar Interview[/url]
Halo 2: Final Few Montages: (Thanks to Slater Ohm) Amazing videos, some of the last Halo 2 montages ever made.
[url=http://youtu.be/BYthxCUE7dw]Episode 1[/url]
[url=http://youtu.be/Zb6Q6ZbB5HE]Episode 2 (no audio)[/url]
[url=http://youtu.be/2Hegzh2gS5s]Episode 3[/url]
[url=http://youtu.be/gp9qOMTfAMU]Episode 4[/url]
[Edited on 02.04.2012 11:25 PM PST] [b][/b] [b][/b] [url=http://www.bungie.net]link[/url] [url=http://www.bungie.net]link[/url]
Edit: This thread was moved to the OffTopic forum because #Gaming was removed from Bungie.net.
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I loved Halo 2. We always played split screen because I didn't know how Xbox live worked at the time. Kinda wish we would have set it up though. I hear alot of my friends who did play online talk about how Halo 2 on live was the best Halo multiplayer to date. Kudos to the final players. That's pretty epic to keep the game running past its death sentence. Very Spartan like indeed. Yall sent it out with a bang.
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Im lost for words really, really wish i coulda been apart of it. I rarely turn my xbox off anyway lol.
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Spartan till the end. Amen.
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yeah I didnt know anyone from there besides xyox and tanker. Maybe matchmaking had some weird magic that kept us apart. I only had a few one months so this GT should show continued play through to 2010. I played 1v1 cutoms mostly tho, because at european hours matchmaking was more dead in 09 than after server shutdown with just 30 people left. Only late night people would come online (like afternoon time US) and I could play rumble pit. [Edited on 05.30.2011 2:59 AM PDT]
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... Well I played rumble pit about one game a day and 2 or 3 BTB games a day late night times usually (in the last two years). But I did play alot on the weekends and never detected or recall your GT. it is entirely possible I wouldn't have seen you if you played customs, double team, TS, or other games types. It is strange that I don't recall seeing one person from that list though...
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[quote][b]Posted by [/b]: Rob2D So is there any video of our final days online anywhere, maybe from the streams or something? It'd be nice to see it again! [/quote] I made a bunch of videos from those days you can find them [url=http://www.halo3forum.com/halo-2-videos/299957-slater-ohm-presents-post-fin-series.html]HERE[/url] Also @ totallymassive from last page. I took a 3 month break from h2 when h3 came out. other than that I've played it since I've had xbl. 2008-2010 were no exception. just because you havent seen us doesnt mean we werent there, timezone differences etc also come into play. (I'm in Europe) XYOX also played the entire time, I can vouch for that. [Edited on 05.30.2011 2:19 AM PDT]
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This is amazing. I wish I had heard of this. Strangely enough, my Xbox has superpowers and never ever ever overheats and my connection has a backup battery that is supposed to last about 10 hours. I wish I had heard of this.
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Think about it. You guys played the last online games Halo 2 ever hosted. I wish I could have been in the same room as the last man when he disconnected. I would have cried. [Edited on 05.28.2011 3:04 AM PDT]
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This topic actually made me cry, Halo 2 was a wonderful game and while I never had the chance to play olive I imagine it would of been awesome.
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So is there any video of our final days online anywhere, maybe from the streams or something? It'd be nice to see it again!
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] DV Legend It makes it even more epic if you consider that out of probably 8.5 million + gamers and several billion games played you were the last one standing.[/quote]Like a goddamned Spartan. Make a mini-documentary.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Kaynoc I never did like Halo 2. I thought it was completely inferior to Halo CE. It was a disappointment to me. But I do respect the fact that it revolutionized online gaming, especially for consoles. It brought millions together and that's something I won't deny. As for the people that stuck around even after the end, I won't say good job. I won't say congratulations. I know you guys didn't do this because you wanted to be the last ones, you wanted to play the game that defined a generation for as long as you could. Congratulating you for playing a game that ended is quite bittersweet in a way. So I'll just say I hope you had a good ride with a few friends along the way. Because in the end that's what the game is revolved around. And I bet you had a great time sticking it out with some buddies. Much respect.[/quote] Same here. Kinda...
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I never did like Halo 2. I thought it was completely inferior to Halo CE. It was a disappointment to me. But I do respect the fact that it revolutionized online gaming, especially for consoles. It brought millions together and that's something I won't deny. As for the people that stuck around even after the end, I won't say good job. I won't say congratulations. I know you guys didn't do this because you wanted to be the last ones, you wanted to play the game that defined a generation for as long as you could. Congratulating you for playing a game that ended is quite bittersweet in a way. So I'll just say I hope you had a good ride with a few friends along the way. Because in the end that's what the game is revolved around. And I bet you had a great time sticking it out with some buddies. Much respect.
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While I was not part of the final few when Microsoft shut down the original Xbox games, I sure as hell will be when they shut down this generation.
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To the Final Few: I salute you.
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It really doesn't make sense why people turned off their xboxes on that day, if it were me I would have kept playing till it said I was disconnected. The same thing still happens now, I had this 48 trial and played for 6 hours after ti expired because I didn't leave the party on Halo: Reach.
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There seems to be quite a connection to live streaming. But if I had Gold back then, my trusty ol' xbox would have kept going till her laser went out...
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Just ran across this today...Thats awesome! I never knew they were closing down the original servers until months afterwards when I got back into gaming...I really regretted not playing as much Halo 2 as I could.
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Awesome.
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It makes it even more epic if you consider that out of probably 8.5 million + gamers and several billion games played you were the last one standing.
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-blam!- Microsoft.
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yea a lot of sites down a story on the last few. or at least a mention of what was going on
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] joe campbell I've randomly received a lot of friend requests because in the past week, they said they read about me in a magazine. This story must have been punished in another magazine, cool. :p[/quote]Find out which one, I want to read it.
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I've randomly received a lot of friend requests because in the past week, they said they read about me in a magazine. This story must have been punished in another magazine, cool. :p
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Good job keeping it alive as long as you did.
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[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] UHwarrior70 a commenter on Kotaku did say it best though... "a Halo 2 player never dies, they are just missing in action"[/quote] -Beadybuttkiss (xbox 1 gamertag) Is MIA then 15.7k halo 2 games, and over 115 kills. (1.2 k/d btw) If only i had known! there would have been 501 players doing this!