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343 Industries Removes Halo Playlists To Speed Matchmaking
In an effort to fix Halo: The Master Chief Collection's online problems, 343 has removed some playlists from the game.
Here's the statement posted on Halo Waypoint:
We are aware that while some users are reporting improved Matchmaking experiences, many users have not seen an improvement. As a result, we are temporarily moving to a limited playlist layout that will allow for players to find games faster.We'll temporarily be removing the following playlists:
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Team Hardcore
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Rumble Pit
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Halo 4
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SWAT (rotational)
The updated playlist layout will be:
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Team Halo 2: Anniversary
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Halo Championship Series
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Team Slayer
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Big Team Battle
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Halo 2 Classic
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Halo 3
The team says that "This concentrated playlist layout will allow players to get into matches faster, and improve overall match times." However, the statement cautions that this may not be a cure-all, "While we anticipate that concentrating our players into fewer playlists will have an effect on match times, it will not solve all Matchmaking issues. We are currentl investigating CUs and server side tweaks over the next week to address matchmaking issues."
Halo: The Master Chief Collection executive producer Daniel Ayoub also issued a personal apology to fans, writing, "Players have expressed frustration at poor matchmaking times, or bad experiences in general. This is something we are working 24/7 to isolate and fix....I'd like to personally apologize to you all for the current situation. I can assure you we're attacking this from all directions from 343 Industries to the Xbox platform, and we won't rest until it's what it should be."
[Source: Halo Waypoint]
Our Take
Hopefully these are the first steps towards resolving what's been a very rough launch for The Master Chief Collection. At the very least, 343 is keeping the lines of communications with its audience open, and working towards a solution. Still, it's understandable that people who bought the game – many primarily on the promise of getting to play Halo 2 multiplayer again – are upset.
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