Time for a Halo Nation Census…
No fair trying to eat my liver with some fava beans with a nice Chiante. I am armed. Try it…
How big is the Nation? Ever wondered? How many Spartans patrol the streets of Turf in search of Killtacular Medals? How many Elites rage in the Pit of the Rumble? How many Warthogs are lost to SPNKR fire over a fifteen minute duration? After more than two years of service in the trays of our Xboxes, what sort of numbers does Halo 2 lure into the fray of Xbox Live?
Questions such as these fascinate this blogger. ‘Tied the Leader’ was designed to profile the gamer. For the most part, we don’t break news or spoilers within the gaming industry. At TTL, the scoop is about you – The Gamer. We celebrate the Culture of Participation enabled by our chosen time killer. While other would-be sportsmen are fantasizing about football players, we are waging our own personal war in which WE are the Hero.
Thankfully, in their eternal quest for statistical analysis, Bungie Studios is quite forthcoming with information to satisfy the ravenous appetite of a stats hound. At www.bungie.net, attention to stats goes beyong tabulation of your Skirmish ranks. They also document how many of us pass our conscious battle decisions through a broadband connection on any given day. Take a look at the numbers…
At post-time, almost 30,000 gamers were exchanging gunfire in a match of Halo 2 via Xbox Live – during business/classroom hours, even. That number is larger than the population of most American towns. The University that granted this gamer a degree [fools!] was home to less students than the number of people who were playing Halo when this article went live.
In the past 24 hours, almost 250,000 Halophiles have set foot on the battlefields that we know like the backs of our hands. Each of them played at least two matches, resulting in a grand total of over 500,000 games – some good; some inevitably not. That’s a lot of lead to deal – and even more plasma.
While these numbers are impressive, they do represent an inevitable slowing of the traffic on the information superhighways that service the Halo Nation. Anyone else waiting endlessly for a Big Team Skirmish in the wee hours of the morning of late? Of course you are. It goes with the territory.
What we lose in quantity, however, we gain in quality. After two years, we have burned the fat from the soul of the Halo Nation. While fair weather fans are off revving their chainsaw bayonets, we are keeping the muzzle flash supressors of our Battle Rifles warm with the discharge of fresh gunpowder. The population of the Halo Nation at current represents the faithful. Griefers are in the minority. Now is the time when true lovers of the game rule the base.
Here’s to you for hanging in there, fair gamer. Tied the Leader would like to remind you that you can’t Finish the Fight if you stop fighting in the first place. Ya dig?
See you on the battlefields. Tomorrow, this blogger will be among the other 499,999 who storm the beaches of the Relic.
And the day after that.
You will find me dabbling in other games, but most nights will end the same way. “So want to go play Halo now?”
Part of me wants to be sad that Halo is not getting the numbers it used to.
With the release of great new games on all the new platforms its suprising it’s holding together this well.
In fact, one of the reasons it is still thriving is because of all the excellent communities that continue to steal flags and arm bombs.
My hat’s off to all of you who have put in the extra effort to keep us going strong.
ooh rah
Halo is the only thing driving me to get a 360.
I would disagree in the fact that what we lose in quantity we gain in quality. It seems that as time has progressed (especially the past two months or so) the quality of online experiences has decreased. It seems as if I get matched more and more often with immature, racist kids that do not play as a team and tend to just ruin the experience (be it through betraying, deleveling, cheating, or just using their anonymity in various ways). It might be that most of the TRUE Halo nation has moved away from the death trap that is matchmaking and are mostly playing just customs. It has gotten so bad that I have began to search for other games that have a more mature community to enjoy xbox live games. Hopefully with the imminent release of the Halo 3 beta (and then Halo 3) many of the mature gamers will return to matchmaking, and Bungie will have measures in place to ensure a pleasant experience for all.
Many who remain are the faithfull but so many good soldiers have fallen. So many good friends have moved on into the real world…
My experience coincides with Thurmanator’s more than I like. This unfortunate, and is one of the top reasons I play less Halo 2 now.
Of course, what games have ever been played for 2 years straight with this kind of popularity? I’d be interested to find such a list. Bungie has written a recipe for success that includes the months (and apparently years) ahead, instead of focusing on immediate gain and lack of “replayability.”
Customs and a good friends list gets rid of the griefers in the first place ;)
High Five to my fellow Halo freaks out there. It has been real tough for most Halo communities to stay strong lately. Halo 2 ’s gameplay is so on the money, that fans will always find their way back for a few rounds of mayhem.