26 Sep, 2010
It was bound to happen sooner or later. The course of online multiplayer never runs smooth and Halo: Reach is the latest of many struck down by the malevolent force that is the dreaded Server Fail™.
Online forums are ablaze with users experiencing varying issues while Matchmaking over the last 24 hours, such as an error in the display of connected users, dropping from around 700,000 to less than 1,000. The official word from Bungie is that the bug is purely cosmetic, though many players have also experienced difficulty in finding and connecting to opponents, suggesting the fault runs deeper.
Other problems, that have been experienced by myself along with my esteemed colleagues here at GGS include game-breaking lag, inciting Albert Wesker-style superhuman abilities in the common Spartan, random disconnections from games and parties and the intermittent loss of character customisation and career progress. Thankfully, Bungie have been working overtime to get the bugs ironed out A.S.A.P. and Matchmaking is now, touch wood, back to normal.
Other online shooters crippled by similar issues shortly after launch include Bungie’s own Halo 3 and Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2.
… And tonight isn’t faring a whole lot better. Whilst I was able to navigate a couple of matches without issue last night, the lag tonight has been reeeally bad.
Apparently only 405 people were online tonight!
Hmm, I haven’t had any troubles with Matchmaking, except for a game of Firefight with my friends. It was amazingly laggy!