Support NeoGAF

[KarishBHR]

I really dont like the Bungi Matchmaking service, well I do... I just wish that and party werent the only way. I should be able to optimatch all the way down to ctf, not just roll the dice and see what im gonna play. What was Bungies reasons for this, will it be changed/

 

[tigerfan12345]

i understand their approach to the party system and match making, I have no problem with that, but why not let the "a host" choose the map, and other specifics after the room is arranged. they can keep all the optimatch stuff. just let people choose if they'd like to be a host or just a player before the optimatch. And then set all that stuff up in the background. And before anyoone says anything, I know about just using a friends list, thats all i do now, but its not cause i choose to, its cause i have to just to get a map other than the same 2 maps i seem to play when choosing optimatch. And when using a friends list, i lose all the benifits of the system bungie put into effect to match players with similar skill, and geographical proximity and connections. the wayy they have it now is fine for ranked games, just give us users who could give a shit about rankings a choice.

 

[MrparisSM]

I really dont like the Bungi Matchmaking service, well I do... I just wish that and party werent the only way. I should be able to optimatch all the way down to ctf, not just roll the dice and see what im gonna play. What was Bungies reasons for this, will it be changed/

Because most people just choose the exact same match and level. Bungie didn't spend all these months balancing and perfecting the multiplayer maps for nothing.

 

[speedpop]

They actually did this?


What a rip!

*incentive to buy Halo 2 has dropped to an all-time low*

 

[MrparisSM]

They actually did this?


What a rip!

*incentive to buy Halo 2 has dropped to an all-time low*

*sigh, you can STILL choose any level or game type you want! You only have to party up with: A. People on your friends list. B. People on your Clan list. or C. People that are on your "recently played against" list.

It's not a problem at all. A lot of people don't know that you can use your "recently played against" list when making your own games!

 

[Prine]

sooooooooo minor.

 

[Sinatar]

Its to ensure that all gametypes get some play, all too often developers design a bunch of cool multiplayer modes that nobody ever plays, just hundreds of CTF servers.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

They really do need to add an optional non-ranked matchmaking mode, though, IMO...one that allows you to only search for a specific map/gametype/player cap...

 

[shpankey]

They actually did this?


What a rip!

*incentive to buy Halo 2 has dropped to an all-time low*

like you were ever gonna in the first place.

 

[demon]

O Bungie match maker make me a match!
Find me a find!
Catch me a catch!

ok time for med

-edit-
make that time for bed. Or maybe i should try both.

 

[DjangoReinhardt]

Its to ensure that all gametypes get some play, all too often developers design a bunch of cool multiplayer modes that nobody ever plays, just hundreds of CTF servers.

I love being told how I'm supposed to play games.

 

[Sinatar]

I love being told how I'm supposed to play games.

That happens every time you turn on the power. Ever single aspect of the game is the developer telling you how to play. Move the analog sticks to move, OH NOES THE DEVELOPER IS DICTATING ME!!! AHHHH!

 

[TheDuce22]

Its growing on me for that reason. Playing the same mode over and over again would get boring. I have no doubt we would just end up with a bunch of team slayer and ctf rooms if not for this system.

 

[Teddman]

One cool thing that's perhaps a side effect of this somewhat restrictive system is that Halo 2 has had the least lag of any Xbox Live or PS2 online game I've played so far (though I've not played all that many). I can't remember the last time I noticed lag that really affected gameplay.

 

[Spider_Jerusalem]

i understand their approach to the party system and match making, I have no problem with that, but why not let the "a host" choose the map, and other specifics after the room is arranged.

Because, they want to provide a fully balanced playgorund, and to do this they don't want to allow someone to choose parameters with which he is more comfortable. For example, I coul be a super-winner in a given map combined with certain options, and to go up in the ranking I coul decide to play only with such configuration. To avoid this, they chose to use this model of completely random chosen match parameters.

The thing they could do to help the more classical-oriented players, is to provide a ranking-less matchmaking feature, where you can choose everything but it doesn't count for the charts. This is already present but you can only play with your friends or clan mambers, while they could add the feature to play with unknown people too...

 

[MrAngryFace]

matchmaking rocks, ive never felt outclassed. Cept in team games where ranking matters little.

 

[Mike Works]

That happens every time you turn on the power. Ever single aspect of the game is the developer telling you how to play. Move the analog sticks to move, OH NOES THE DEVELOPER IS DICTATING ME!!! AHHHH!

There's a difference between not offering multiple control schemes and not being able to choose what mode you want to play as. What if you couldn't select the difficulty or level whenever you turn the game on. You might want to play the first level on Legendary, and be forced to play the 3rd last level on Easy. But I'm sure you wouldn't complain, because the developer should tell us what to play!

Oh, and Halo 2 offers multiple control schemes.

 

[Timedog]

I don't mind it for RANKED games, but why the hell can't you pick options for an UNRANKED game unless you're in a party, or why can't you search for parties?????

Keep the ranked shit the same, give people what they want for unranked? How fucking hard is it? How could they have honestly not thought about having options for finding people for unranked games?????

 

[Ghost]

They do need to fix some of the variation, all too often i end up on the same map 2 or 3 times in a row just with different objectives, it'd help if they tracked the last game you played and tried to make sure the matched game is something different.

Hopefully the playlists will get changed often.



Having said that I think the system is a great idea, not many devs would have had the balls to say "look customers, sorry but we know whats best so stfu and play". I never would have played stuff like oddball and shotgun slayer and juggernaut if matchmaking wasnt there, it keeps the experience fresh, even ignoring how it balances things out for the rankings im still glad it's there.

As with most things in Halo 2, its easy to undersell it but it could have been so GOD awful if every gametype in the playlist wasnt so well balanced on every map its chosen for, or if it didnt match you up with equally ranked players, etc etc Bungie really thought this through.

 

[The Faceless Master]

i still am baffled at the exclusiuon of searching for custom games...

not that i ever have a problem getting a custom game going when i want to, but it just seems like a glaring omission...

 

[Particle Physicist]

*sigh, you can STILL choose any level or game type you want! You only have to party up with: A. People on your friends list. B. People on your Clan list. or C. People that are on your "recently played against" list.

It's not a problem at all. A lot of people don't know that you can use your "recently played against" list when making your own games!

how do you choose the level ? i only see gametype..

also.. once you finish a game.. is there a way to restart with the same people? the only option i seem to get is to return to the optimatch screen... its really annoying.. id like to keep playing with the same people sometimes..

is there a way to choose a game without a time limit? or a way to extend the time limit?
or is that only reserved for party matches ? i dont have very many people on my friends list.. so......

 

[Kseutron]

I love being told how I'm supposed to play games.

+1

this just sucks, let's face it

 

[Alf-Life]

http://bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=1028055

:lol

 

[StoOgE]

I think half the problem is people dont know what they are doing when they are making a match.

If you have a group of friends/clanmates and want a specific gametype/match simply select custom game then you can pick whatever the hell you want.. mtach, gametype, modify the gametype etc.

the machmaking service only is used when you are playing in a party. As for why it is the way it is, the rankings make sure your not overmatched, the game stays fresh, and you dont have some douche running some wierd ass mode on one map all day long just because he found some uber trick and is exploiting it to improve his rank.

 

[StoOgE]

http://bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=1028055

:lol

I love analogies.. they generally wind up blowing the situation horribly out of proportion and actually have very little validity.

you COULD sit with your friends.
prepaying 50 bucks to get into a resteraunt would be wierd, but paying for a game is not.

 

[TeTr1C]

It's not that bad. It doesn't bother me hardly at all, except when I find another game and I'm playing the same map again after a 45 minute battle. Also, that update fixed the LONG wait times to find a game, so atleast that was fixed.

 

[evilromero]

*sigh, you can STILL choose any level or game type you want! You only have to party up with: A. People on your friends list. B. People on your Clan list. or C. People that are on your "recently played against" list.

It's not a problem at all. A lot of people don't know that you can use your "recently played against" list when making your own games!

Actually that's really lame. Games like MechAssault, and pretty much any other Live game do online gaming MUCH better than Halo 2. I don't understand what Bungie was trying to achieve but I think they failed miserably with this "party" approach.

 

[PhatSaqs]

 

[Sysgen]

Actually that's really lame. Games like MechAssault, and pretty much any other Live game do online gaming MUCH better than Halo 2. I don't understand what Bungie was trying to achieve but I think they failed miserably with this "party" approach.

The party shit rocks. You make your own games. Your party can play against other parties and you can bring your party with you as host to any custom game on your friends or clan list.

 

[Prine]

The party thing is fucking great, you bitches whine about everything and anything

No XBL game comes even close to Halo 2. Net code is like a gift from the gods. 16 player match last night with no lag, a first for me

 

[MetatronM]

how do you choose the level ? i only see gametype..

also.. once you finish a game.. is there a way to restart with the same people? the only option i seem to get is to return to the optimatch screen... its really annoying.. id like to keep playing with the same people sometimes..

is there a way to choose a game without a time limit? or a way to extend the time limit?
or is that only reserved for party matches ? i dont have very many people on my friends list.. so......

Yeah. Create a party. And as was said before, you can also invite people from your "recently played" list, so you don't need a lot of friends.

 

[tigerfan12345]

i just wished the unranked side of matchmaking was more fleshed out. I agree about having varying game types, but most of the time i get stuck playing on the same maps and same gametype anyway. And i know you can use your recently played list to play someone again, but why should we have to do that? Why not leave us in the lobby together and let the people that want to leave, leave. These are just my problems with the unranked games. The ranked side of matchingmaking is perfect. Party system is perfect.

 

[raYne]

The only real problem I have with it is the lack of proper map cycling. Unless someone hosts you're stuck playing the same 4 maps all day.

*edit*
Oh.. and Rumble Pit Oddball/Crazy King is garbage! To make matters worse you can't even quit cause it'll show up as a worse loss than if you played the crappy thing. :lol :'(

 

[kaching]

Ya hit the nail on the head, Phat. There really are a number of Halo 2 fans overreacting to someone basically saying, "I love Halo 2 and I like its online matchmaking, I just wish this one aspect was better"

 

[KarishBHR]

They do need to fix some of the variation, all too often i end up on the same map 2 or 3 times in a row just with different objectives, it'd help if they tracked the last game you played and tried to make sure the matched game is something different.

Hopefully the playlists will get changed often.



Having said that I think the system is a great idea, not many devs would have had the balls to say "look customers, sorry but we know whats best so stfu and play". I never would have played stuff like oddball and shotgun slayer and juggernaut if matchmaking wasnt there, it keeps the experience fresh, even ignoring how it balances things out for the rankings im still glad it's there.

As with most things in Halo 2, its easy to undersell it but it could have been so GOD awful if every gametype in the playlist wasnt so well balanced on every map its chosen for, or if it didnt match you up with equally ranked players, etc etc Bungie really thought this through.

Decent take on it, but dude... they cant tell the customer how to enjoy it... like I said, there should be a 3rd option!

 

[KarishBHR]

Yeah. Create a party. And as was said before, you can also invite people from your "recently played" list, so you don't need a lot of friends.

but the only way to get recent players is to play, therefor you use the matchmaker




Ill wait for you to say touche

 

[Mr. Lemming]

The ONLY thing Bungie missed was a listing of open parties for custom games. As it is now there is no way to play an arranged game (Where you can change all the options to your choosing) with people you don't know.

The matchmaking for ranked play is brilliant, and I'm worried that they are going to add a Team Slayer playlist as I think it will drastically drop off the number of players in the current Team Skirmish list. Adding a more proportionate number of Team Slayer games to the playlist I can see... as it is now only 1/8th of all Team Skirmish games are Team Slayer, and 0 in Big Team Battle.

 

[Mr. Lemming]

Yeah. Create a party. And as was said before, you can also invite people from your "recently played" list, so you don't need a lot of friends.

You can also add people to your party from the Postgame Carnage Report.

 

[ChrisReid]

I love being told how I'm supposed to play games.

If you want to do it your own way, start your own party and do it. Doesn't sound like you even have the game.

 

[Mr. Lemming]

Bungie has a decent series of articles explaining the whole online matchmaking/stat process.

http://bungie.net/Stats/page.aspx?section=FAQInfo&subsection=FAQs&page=1

Q
How come I can't choose what map or gametype I want to play?

A
To play Optimatch or Quickmatch games, your only option is to enter into an existing Matchmaking Playlist which is setup and configured by Bungie. However, if you want to play a specific game on a specific map, all you need to do is invite some friends and fire up your own custom game.

Q
What if I don't have any friends?

A
Well, sorry, we can't help you there... Seriously though, if you're looking for people to play with, you should visit the Bungie.net forums where plenty of people will be looking for good games. Also, if you come across a good teammate or another cool player through the course of playing the game, be sure to send them a friend request (and you can include a voice message so they know who you are).

http://bungie.net/Stats/page.aspx?section=FAQInfo&subsection=playlists&page=1
Current Playlists

http://bungie.net/Games/Halo2/page.aspx?section=FAQInfo&subsection=matchmaking&page=1

This inability to control exactly what you play and which map you play it on can be a little frustrating at times, but there's reason behind it. The choice of map and game is not random, they are chosen based on criteria provided by Bungie, designed to be fun for the size and composition of the group of players in the game.

[...]

At this point you might be wondering why, since we allow you to specify certain criteria like size of game, we don't just allow all other sorts of other criteria, or make a billion different playlists to cater to every whim. This is simply an issue of scale. Despite Halo 2's popularity there's actually a pretty small set of quality matches for any given player. Remember, we're filtering and sorting the list based on a large number of restrictive factors, not the least of which are skill level and connection quality. To be blunt, we give you as much choice as we feel comfortably able to give without over-fragmenting the players using matchmaking. No one wants to have to wait all evening to find a match, and keeping the number of playlists to a minimum ensures that matches are made quickly. Again, keep in mind that, although the current set of playlists is admittedly small, we have the ability to add new playlists and we almost certainly will once the dust settles after launch.

http://bungie.net/Games/Halo2/page.aspx?section=FAQInfo&subsection=stats&page=statoverview
Stats + Math

 

[3rdman]

I have yet to be able to play a game without joining an existing friends game. Everytime I do the matchmaking service, I get to "2" and then it tells me that it can't connect to Xbox live (which I know that I am because I play with others from my friends list). Any ideas? Is it because I'm behind a router (on the DMZ already)?

 

[Flynn]

I always assumed that the matchmaking in the ranked games was to prevent people from only picking game modes that they dominate in -- thereby approving their ranking.