Bungie Community Outraged Over Missing "XBL Public" Halo 3 Feature

Does the term "XBL Public" sound familiar to you? It might if you're a Halo fan who's been following Halo 3 since it was first announced. It certainly rings a bell to the millions of Bungie.net users, hundreds of which are now up in arms over a "promised" Halo 3 feature by Bungie, which is missing from the final game.

In November of 2006, 1UP interviewed Colm Nelson, a Halo 3 user interface designer, who talked about a Halo 3 online feature called "XBL Public." The feature would let players search for public custom games, via Xbox Live, which they could then join. Likewise, players would be able to make their own game party public, thus allowing other players searching XBL Public to join their game.

[dale1]

its all about the dollar pay up now, microsoft didn,t say it it was bungie that will be there line on it
its called false advertising but no one will do any think about it will you

[FordGTGuy]

because nothing in a game as definite until final. BTW Halo has always used the matchmaking system this way.

[TheSadTruth]

the matchmaking system is fine, but what they told us would be included is a custom games list, for everyone to host their custom games or join (for the public)

right now you can only play with people through your friends list or recent players, and for those without many friends that play halo its hard to find a fun custom game to join

this wouldn't impact matchmaking in any form

[The General]

First we found out the game runs natively at 640p, 80p below HD, and now it's missing features?

You know why? DVD9

I guarantee you that if they had Blu-ray, Bungie would have been able to have a lot more features and the game would have looked a whole lot better.

Now I'm wondering, although it has great gameplay, why did Halo3 get a perfect and some 9's?

Even with great graphics, Lair's only problem was controls and it got 6's and 5's? Even wii games with both last-gen graphics and terrible motion controls get higher scores.
Madden 08 (ps3) was high def and ran at 30fps but got crushed by reviewers.

That has to tell you something. Either Microsoft is paying of the reviewers to give Xbox 360 titles good scores or the reviewers are willingly biased.

In the end, PS3 will dominate and it's superiority will no longer be held back by the 360. Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 for the win.

[Taker_129]

Well, another flaw to add to a game full of flaws, but reviewers say it's perfect.

[JsonHenry]

What about Blu-Ray allows you to do more with visuals? It is just a storage medium...

[TheSadTruth]

I sort of agree with The General, something must be limiting Bungie from making a better quality game in terms of graphics.. either the Xbox 360 isn't powerful enough or it's the DVD file size. I almost wish they would make a game for a PC where they have no limits to see what they are capable of.

[power of Green]

The game gets reviews so high because of Halo being an better overall package and is more useful and fun to gamers than most games.

I think the way the game looks has more to do with its advanced features than anything else(Movie mode makes the graphics better than when you see them in the game playing Halo 3).

Sure processing being spread out has to do with Halo's looks too(reason WarHawk looks like sh*t large maps)

No ones paying reviewers to destroy Sony no ones biased. Sony conditioned the world with BULLSHIT when infact the games are less complex often can not match the 360 and are all show and no flow.

Lair scored what it did because they thought it was sh*t it looks like sh*t with ok to pretty good graphics.

Then he posts...

"In the end, PS3 will dominate and it's superiority will no longer be held back by the 360. Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 for the win"

The 360 is holding the PS3 back?, the 360 had nothing to do with Lair, Heavenly Sword, RFOM, MotorStorm. PS3- this supposed more powerful console is having trouble keeping up with the most average multi platform games...

To top it off he thinks lack of Bluray is the main problem when the PS3 hardware just couldn't display what Halo 3 has now! on screen at once.

Hell games like Dirt bland in comparison when it comes to AI's, Textures etc on screen; had many things taken from the PS3 version because it can not put as many things at once on screen at any given time.

Fool thinks Blu-ray would have made Halo 3 look like Call of Juarez, moronic. I doubt the PS3 would be able to display what halo 3 has now not with those features and lighting, lots of things going on at once PS3 would bottle neck.

LOL He thinks lack of Blu-ray has something to do with Halo. He talks sh)t about Halo when the PS3 can't beat the 360 version of "Dirt" Devs taking crowds of people out, taking grass out, taking tree's out of the PS3 version and this clown has the nerve_ ____.

Huxley is better than KillZone 2, MGS4 seems wacky so who cares about that Japanese freak show.

360 FTW...

[Blitzed]

You start your post with -

"I think he's a hating ass fanboy."

And end it with-

"Huxley is better than KillZone 2, MGS4 seems wacky so who cares about that Japanese freak show."

Who is the "hating ass fanboy"?! You are probably the biggest hypocrite on this site.

And when did you play Warhawk? For that matter when did you play Killzone 2?

Didn't you reply to my post just the other day spewing your bias crap saying that 360 fanboys are not "haters and people that like to destroy the industry due to foolish nit picking. people get sick od the evnyous rage and pregidous with malice"!

I really hope you are getting paid because you are by far one of the most blindly loyal fanboys on this site. I am not here to bash on Halo, I think its a fun game, but MS can do no wrong in you're eyes. I said it before and you keep proving me right; you are a joke.

[reaferfore20]

9 agrees, zero disagrees. POG=PWND.

[S1D3 EFFEC7]

Thats a load of BS right there and I will tell you why. The game only took 7GBs, they still had 1.5GBs of free space yet they dint use it, and I guarantee you that space has nothing to do with resolution since I have played a 96kb game online that runs 720p and I doubt a extra matchmaking list would take 1.5GBs.

[thewhoopimen]

POG, your words are just garbage. You obviously have never tried Warhawk, so don't even start critiquing titles you've never touched. I have played Halo3/GOW/and Bioshock, and I know for a fact that Halo3 has nothing on the other 2 xbox360 titles. I think it is a great disservice what Microsoft/Bungie pulled over the xbox community. Including the fact that CORE users will soon be screwed over big time (yes forced to buy $100 upgrade for 20gb).

@1.10 Sid3 Effec7 Wtf are you talking about? What are you playin? Furcadia? http://www.furcadia.com You can display anything in 1080p or 2500p if you want to as long as you have the monitor/display with the resolution. However, that doesn't mean the game was "designed" as a 720p or 1080p game. You're just blowing the image up, dimwit.

[Jack Bauer]

wow i never heard of this feature before now, but i wish they would have put it in the game...matchmaking is cool, but i like coming and going as i please into games... especially since i just play for fun.

[Snukadaman]

this is the first time im hearing this about xbl public...if only we had the option too pick what games we can play...i hate oddball and crazy king..i just want slayer.

[Lex Luthor]

What is XBL Public?

[Ignorant Fanboy]

Do you just read the headlines??

Look at the top of the page, its written right there, you dont even have to click "Read Full Story" Its just right there in the preview.

I guess the internet is too difficult for some people.

[wil4hire]

lol

[tomfoolery]

and people nit pick and b1tch endlessly about the small things.
Maybe they're going to have it eventually,in Halo 4.Relax.

[Close_Second]

Halo 3 is a fantastic game for one reason or another, however ever since it was released this site has been flooded with people trying to bring it down...mainly non-360 owners.

Seems like some people will go to any length to put a negative spin on something that is a true system seller.

I wish this site would make it so you could only post stories or comment on them if you register your gaming tag for a given console. That is, I can't post stories or comments on PS3 content until I register my PS3 gamertag. It would certainly eliminate most of the crap that goes on here.

[socomnick]

tom no disrespect but this is a huge feature they left out. Even the 5 dollar burger king games had this feature searching for public non ranked games is a huge feature I wish they would had included it. Problem is alot of the bungie fans are too busy polishing bungies shaft and don't demand for this very necessary feature.

[Fux4Bux]

Yeah without matchmaking for it the potential is kinda ruined for custom games.

[bumnut]

they give you the power to create custome maps and then only let you use them with friends!!!

wtf

also, i have never been in a game with more than 12 people

[Rhezin]

People need to quit being such lil b!tches. Awesome game who the f!ck cares about the system they use for matchmaking, Halo 2 had it that way, you don't like it, tough.

[PimpHandHappy]

I sat for 15min trying to find a game the other day on Halo3! Searching for players was a common thing!

6 on 6 is boring and this game is just a hyped up pile of SH!T!

Looks good thou

[Snukadaman]

so is it the usual..."i was playing it at a cousin/friends house" BS? So are you like...willing too put up a ps3 tag or your just too lazy too put up a 360 gamertag...im fascinated at the upcoming response...

[Nth RooCH]

Pimphand, I've read more of your comments than I'd care to count, and every last one was typical Sonysexual nonsense. You don't own a 360, you haven't played Halo 3, stfu.

[H-V-H]

Fanboys, i just don't understand them whether it be 360 fanboys, PS3 fanboys or Wii fanboys. Why even waste your time being a fanboy.

[Waffle-boy]

And he said something like this to me:
"Because UI, networking, security, etc. all would need to be changed. There are also game design implications relating back to why the feature was cut in the first place."

[JosefTor]

Wow... I can't believe some of you guys. This is a HUGE feature. As for Halo 2... I barely played it because its multiplayer system was broken too!!! Why should we play game modes that Bungie set up and are quite crappy in my opinion and the opinion of a lot of people. Single team capture the flag and bomb? What happened to the classic two team capture the flag and bomb? Then Bungie makes a great feature where we can download their great game bombs but... unless you have a group of friends on your friends list... you can't play any of them. This is a major feature and flaw. All that happens now when you create a custom game is you play by yourself... sounds fun huh? I wish more people didn't try and defend Bungie on this so the next game it will be fixed. I love the game and am playing it constantly. I don't think it is a Halo 2 HD. It is most definitely worthy of Halo 3 but this design flaw makes me sad yet again.

[Ignorant Fanboy]

That was the best part about it I thought.

And so did millions of other people.

Its in the running with the top multiplayer games of all time.

[gololo]

is it me or is just devs in general are getting lazy or bad ideas about how to browse for matchmaking. I mean I hate while playing Warhawk I try to join a ranked server with 12/32 and yet when it's connecting it says that the game is full, in Halo3, it takes me forever to matchmake (and I DO have my NAT open), and let alone how GeOW screwed up their online matchmaking options by removing the server's name...sigh...so again is it me, or i'm just complaining too much?

[ProjectX]

It's not a design flaw, it's more like hardware limitations. Plus, MS don't want another +2M dead consoles due to 1 game, so features and GFX have to be cut off due to RROD fear.

[Waffle-boy]

You have no idea what you are talking about. ..

[WilliamRLBaker]

I love all the cows in here talking about such crap, when their games are constantly scoring low, and missing features that we're promised.

Infact last I checked the whole ps3 is missing many things that we're first promised and later had to be taken out because they made no sense.

*dual hdmi, 3 ethernet ports*

[thewhoopimen]

Yeah I agree with you about the over promise on ports from Sony. However, at least both are feature present (albeit only 1 of each) in the final Game system. We're talking about a promised feature in Halo3 that never made it into the game, let alone a poorly implemented version of it.

Besides, if you're so keen on Sony's overpromises, why don't we talk about how Xbox360s lack an HDMI port and we are now seeing units with these ports? Don't you feel mad as a consumer? I would.

[ALMIGHTYPS3]

For the dumbots who said the ps3 will die on the 25th,we're still here and growing stronger!And what about your halo3?>LMFAO!!!

PLAY~B3YOND

[frank jaeger]

dud3 give it up the things gotten old now... those ps3 extremists were so last moth.... get a life....

[socomnick]

I hope they include a custom game finder that way I can play me some more rocket race and pirate ships.

[ace_one_ib]

halo 3/ more like 2.5 so what if the graphics got boosted a notch its not an improvement on the past ineration of the game. bungie did what they could with the limitations of the console and storage medium.

[DeZimatoR]

Resisatnce always had this feature...yet no one praised it?

lol, man hype can really blind ppl.

Pathetic.

(more and more I see that Resistance is truly one of the best FPS' that cmae out in the last few years)

[i Shank u]

lost planet and call of duty 2 have it also. COD 2 matchmaking owns halo 3's, and that sux

[TheSadTruth]

too bad neither of those games have any decent custom game variants.. while halo 3 has millions of different variants...

....

and CoD 2 matchmaking is a joke lmao

[i Shank u]

thats just it tho....halo has all these amazing variants and options that you cant use in public matchmaking and ranked games, only with people on your friends list....and getting the right amount of people in the mood to play the same thing is hard to do consistantly.....yea COD 2 doesnt have many options, but you can choose among the options, you can choose the level you play on, etc in matchmaking. halo does a very good job matching up similar skill levels, but it doesnt let you choose what game and level you want to play? itd be good to play some crazy gametypes on different levels and have some choice instead of the same levels and gametypes......alright, back to halo (i need steppin razor achievement arrrgh)

[Scrooge]

Yeah, all the halo fans are so outraged that there's only been 5.2 million individual multiplayer matches in the past 24 hours. Im done reading all Halo3 hating news, no game is good enough for you hating bastards. Learn to appreciate quality where it's given.

[i Shank u]

quit being such a scrooge, scrooge

[thewhoopimen]

Don't be a fool Scrooge, just because 5.2 million people played Halo in the last 72 hours, does not make it a great game. I could take the same argument and say 110 million people visit McDonald's stores a day. Does that make their food great? No. Yes, there is some respect that goes behind the amount of draw that each brings, but no it doesn't make the product "great".

[jaja1434]

They're angry I tell you ANGRY!!!!
So angry the even use CAPS!!!
RAR!!!!!!!

[Daxx]

I haven't heard anything about "XBL Public" until now. I don't even remember anyone ever talking about this at all.

[Daxx]

I'm dead serious when I say I didn't know anything about this until now.

[jackdoe]

I'm not so much outraged, as mildly disappointed. I would have liked the feature in the game, but it is not a make or break kind of thing. After all, I have friends that can play custom matches with me. Still, maybe Bungie will listen to complaints this time around and patch it instead of making a letter that calls everyone upset at the lack of XBL Public a whining baby.

[Crazyglues]

When i'm trying to just find a game and join in for some multiplayer fun, it is just too hard to just hope on and have fun.

And that sucks.. for example: when I'm on the call of duty 4 beta I just hit one button, find game.

That's it, and it just joins or finds a huge list of people for me to play with.

Why, why in the world would bungie not make halo just as nice and easy to just hop on and have fun. (that's really the only problem I have right now with the game and it's also the reason why I'm not playing it like I would have been.)

[Waffle-boy]

..seems to me like matchmaking is exactly what you want. I mean, it finds a huge list of people to play with for you, and you dont seem to have any wants other than that?

[waldopepper]

A feature listed months ago doesn't make it into the final game (this happens all the time by the way) and you assume it's because they didn't have enough room on a DVD9 disc? That's the most ridiculous assumption I've ever heard.

As mentioned above it's far more likely that it was either too difficult to code or was simply canned due to impending deadlines. But thanks for your imaginative story anyway.

If you can "guarantee" that what you say is true then why not post something to backup your argument? Otherwise it's in your head - plain and simple.

[Enigma_2099]

...expectations are too high, and much harder to meet.

[FirstknighT]

Halo 3 has definitely put the sony fanboys into overdrive with their hate. HAHA. XBL Public? 640p? About a hundred scratch discs???

Sounds like alot of jealousy in the air.

[Jdash24]

so bungie admitting that halo 3 ran at 640p, confirmed 33% disc scratch rates in the LE, and a promise not being delivered was due to sony fanboy jealousy?

[Guitarded]

The fanboy jealousy shows itself in the way the fanboys take minor issues and try to make them seem like something more. None of the issues mentioned have seriously affected most of the millions of people enjoying Halo3.

[Guitarded]

because Bungie wanted to have all games use the "true skill" player raking system to help assure that all games would be fair. I don't remember where, but I read something about this when people were complaining about the way Halo2 handled matchmaking.

[Unknown]

of SONY fans dogging HALO 3? I mean d@mn!!! I was looking at Uncharted(which looks good but hasn't shown anything revoluntionary IMHO) and I didn't see many if any fellow xbots on that thread bashing. And the few that did always bash the PS3 even if the thread about the ps3 having a blu ray player or not so they don't count. Now I come on to a thread based on a 360 game and you guys are all over it like flies on $hit. If you think you have the better system fine. If you think bungie was limited by DVD9 or the 360 hardware fine. Let that be OUR PROBLEM. You guys have your blu ray and cell. Therefore you will see(well we hope) games that SONY has lead the public to believe the ps3 is capable of. They are starting to do that with KZ2 I think. I just don't understand why people couldn't make simple inferences like post 26 and others. Give your opinion in a modest way and move the h3ll on. Bashing all the time really hurts the "social setting on this site."

[InMyOpinion]

This is a huge feature for PS3 fanboys it seems...

[calderra]

I didn't even remember this feature was once supposed to exist until this article brought it up. Bungie Community outraged? Yeah, sure.

[InMyOpinion]

Exactly! I guess we are gonna have to get used to seeing more silly news like this for a while. Their envy has no boundaries.

It's funny that some of you proclaim Drakes Fortune and Killzone 2 as being AAA titles. Isn't this what you said about Lair and Heavenly Sword as well? Both OK games, and I think Drakes and Killzone look nice as well, but maybe you should keep it a little more lo-key considering how recent PS3 titles have turned out.

[Spinitus]

i almost forgot about this. bungie better get this done quick and im not paying a damn cent for it. customs MLG gametypes here i come.

[Mr PS3]

Overhype the product to death
Get the sh1t product out
Get the money off the suckers who buy our product(xbox owners)
Deal with the problems later
Simply put Microsoft dont give a damm about there customers and you sick in the head 360 owners do nothig about it cause microsoft know they could put a turd in a case, box it up, hype it up and you lot would buy it and say its the best thing ever All xbox owners are the laughing stock of not only the world but bill gates is laughing his ass off at you too !!!!!!! you all suck

[zonetrooper5]

I also heard about this feature as well, its not that big of deal while it would be pretty cool to have in the game. The fact is, stuff does get cut and that is game development. If tihs said feature did not work with the game or is just plain sucking then it gets cut. Nothing to do with the 360 being too weak or DVD9 not having enough space.

[Ru]

the feature doesnt get added in...
The game will run dry quicker.
like in 2-5 years!
But still I want that search.

[sumfood4u]

Endless Bickering Amongst Gamers in General!

[TheExecutive]

Go warhawk? Lol seriously though, this is a major feature that needed to be added and wasn't.

[SolidSnake93]

microsoft is killing their own fanbase even casuals will notice this

[zonetrooper5]

Again someone disagreed with me, maybe they will disagree with this comment?

[tk]

Heck - did the reviewers even insert the disk before writing their reviews and awarding the 10/10 scores? Seems not. Well - so much for the integrity of the games media. Guess they could not fool all the people all the time....

[spartan112g]

to realize such a little thing. I have been stuck playing Halo 3 for the last week so this is the first time I've been back here and I find a lot of stuff that doesnt matter that people seem to be talking about. Yeah, i have resistance and I know that it has this feature, but that game didnt hold my short attention span. Halo 3 is awesome even without this feature.