I was one of the Final 14 people to stay on Halo 2 after Microsoft ended its Xbox Live Service, AMA.

What was it like knowing you were defending the honor of hundreds of Halo 2 fans?

It was awesome being able to play for the people that couldn't anymore. We honestly didn't expect it to get as big as it did.

This the Detenn that I know? It's Sullan. If so didn't even know there was a final 14 on h2.

Purple Parrots<

Is it true that Microsoft gave you guys (the Noble 14) free 360's? I don't remember where but I read that somewhere at the time.

I wish this was true, but no they did not.

Did you feel like the spartan in the end scene of reach?

Haha never thought of it that was but in a way, yes.

I say we give the title Master Chief to Apache.

Agreed, although technically Master Chief made it off Reach. We can call Apache Noble 6 since that was the last of Noble team on Reach.

Did you know the other 13 players personally?

No and unfortunately I haven't talked to any of them in a while.

Im here Detenn, lets go super bounce <3

Let's do it <3

Is this a Halo 2 reference? Sorry I joined at Halo 3, I am very ashamed.

Yea and don't be, every halo has its own generation of hardcore fans. Halo 3 for you could be what Halo 2 is for me.

Halo 2 will always be the greatest online shooter I've ever played. I remember hearing about you guys sticking it to bungie and it made me shed a single manly tear. Thank you broseph.

[deleted]

Screen-watching at its worst.

I think you mean best.

Anytime man.

I salute your dedication to extending the lifespan of the greatest fps ever created

Thank you and I couldn't agree more.

Maybe I've missed something, but is there a reason it's the final 14?

Did you 14 stay on significantly longer than the others or what?

I bet numero 15 is pissed...

Yea I think there was a day or 2 difference between 15 and 14. Which was the longest time between dc's.

Halo 2 was well known for not only being a great online game but also for it's emergent gameplay; custom games that had rules that weren't entirely forced or represented in the game itself.

That being said, what was your favorite Halo 2 custom game? :)

Border Patrol.

On Zanzibar right?

Oh yea.

my favorite was tower of power on ascention, that's what started the whole zombies gamemode in halo 3

Always a solid choice, I also liked hide and seek and lava ctf on lockout.

SWORDS ON MIDSHIP.

Oh the H2 sword lunge.

Haha. How'd you feel when the servers finally got shut off?

How do you think the guy who pulled the plug felt?

I was upset but I didn't get overly worked up about it. I'm sure he didn't want to do it but for some reason it had to be done and he was the guy who drew the short straw.

Zombies on Foundation, back when you had to manually switch teams after being killed.

Yea it was rough when someone would die and not switch though. Also the room that you could get up top in was the best room.

Would you rather fight a dog made of bees or a sharktopus?

What type of weapons to I get?

You get the utility belt from the 1960's Batman.

Shaktopus.

Better remember that the Anti-Shark-Repellant-Bat-Spray is kept in the Batcopter then.

Of course. You can't forget about the automatic harpoon gun though.

Did Bungie ever contact you, or possibly throw some goddies your way?

Not personally, but there were a few people who got a Halo: Reach beta code from Bungie for doing specific things. T0 BE CONTINUED got a code for getting the last recorded kill in Halo 2, which was what I really wanted to do.

actually bungie gave beta codes to anyone who played like 3months before it shut down because i got one.

Sorry I meant early access Beta codes.

Bungie

I'm sorry, I had to.

Edited it, just for you. :)

Do you still play Halo 2 online on the PC?

Yes, under the same gamertag, Detenn.

I know its sad that the servers for Halo 2 were taken down on xbox but how do you feel about playing Halo 2 online on the PC? Is it just as fun?

I think the superbounces are not in H2V but its the same game and still fun. Unfortunately it doesn't have a big population right now.

Why?

Edit: To rephrase since I'm being downvoted, What made you desire to stay with it for so long? I assume as less and less people were on, matchmaking times increased drastically

Originally I was doing it just to play as much H2 as I can then the longer we stayed on the more we realized we were doing something bigger than just keeping it alive for ourselves, we were keeping the game alive for others as well.

Hey man, I have just 2 questions for you.

1) Did you have a personal like/dislike against any of the other 13 final players? I assume you all knew each other by that point...

2) What was the last thing you did in game before getting cut off?

Missed this question some how, I liked everyone else in the final 13. Although there were a few people in the final 50 that I didn't get along with. The last thing I did was play Team Snipers on Colossus.

Will you do the same for Halo 3? (if it ever happens).

No I don't have the same love for H3 that I do for H2. I genuinely had a blast playing H2 no matter what was going on in game. In H3 and Reach I feel like I get aggravated a little easier playing and it's harder to have fun.

That's interesting, I actually felt the exact opposite. Not that either of us are "right" or "wrong," it's cool how games in the same series can be loathed and loved by different fans.

I don't loathe any halo.

I still stand by my original observation that halo 3 should have just been an expansion for halo 2.

I feel the exact same way.

Just wanted to say I went to high school with you (I'm a year younger I think?) and had no idea you were in the Final 14. That's pretty cool. How high was your rank before it got shut down?

Really? That's crazy. Well my highest rank was a 40 but it was on a different gamertag, I had a few different tags during h2's prime.

I applaud you. Reading the story that Bungie posted (the picture) actually made me tear up. The quote at the end really hit me. So, I have a question: If there were only 14 players, how did the matchmaking work? You always played with the same 14 people? And as people dropped out, did the last 10, then 5, then 3, then 2 keep getting into matches? Lastly, did you guys see it as a really monumental thing or just a game? I imagine the people that kept playing until May (A month after!!) were eventually good friends.

When we had enough people we would search matchmaking but it got down to a point where we had to only play customs because we wouldn't have enough people on at a time to lock in to a MM game.

So how did you end up getting dropped, and when? The image doesn't say .

I went to bed one night, woke up the next morning and it said I had been disconnected. I wish I could have stayed longer but I guess it was my time.

Were you mad when that happened???? You seem to be calm about the whole thing!!!

I was upset at the time but there's no point in staying that way. It happened and there's nothing I could have done to prevent it.

I regret not jumping on H2 one last time before the servers shut down. Anyways, my question is: did all of you have each other added on your friends list? Did you have a certain time of day that mostly everyone would be on?

We didn't have each other added, but we were all in the same clan. Everyone got on whenever they could but would be AFK if they were busy. Once it got down to the final 20 or so we would normally have 6-8 people on at any given time. Huge fan btw, your h2 montage is my favorite of all time.

Thanks :)

Can we get a Walshy AMA soon?

What was your last match like?

My last match didn't feel like my last match because I didn't know it was. It was Team Snipers on Colossus and we won iirc.

What happened after?

I went to sleep, when I woke up the next morning it said I had been disconnected. I think someone may have hit me offline but I'm not sure. One of my friends was joking that he was going to so I'm not sure if he actually did or not.

Hit you offline how?

IP Flood, I'm pretty sure he didn't but I'm not sure.

Just a heads up that you are linked in /r/bestof earlier

Edit: I have linked this post there for more visibility. http://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/yyr2u/redditor_comments_on_the_last_fourteen_halo_2/

So if this post gains traction the people will gradually ask for proof.

Edit: Looks like the proof is posted. Thanks for providing proof!

Ok thanks for the heads up, I'll post some proof when I get a chance.

How did it feel to know that it was ending? Did you know in advance that you we going to be one of the last few?

It felt surreal knowing that it was going to end eventually. I didn't know I was going to be apart of the last few until we got down to the final 50, that's when I knew that I had to keep playing.

[deleted]

That's a tough one, I put ketchup on just about everything. So I guess I'm going to have to go with oranges.

Did you guys play custom games with eachother, or just stay logged in for the principle? If it was customs, were there Zombie games being played?

We played everything together,we played some zombies but mostly we played ffa's on random maps because we would normally have around 6-8 people online so it wasn't enough so anything else.

Ah, the Halo 2 memories. Those were the good 'ol days. Damn allergies be actin up in here.

<3

Did you verbally harass H2o Shoagie?

I don't think so but I did rage at someone, I forget exactly who it was.

How often did you guys play after the servers got shut down?

Any particularly memorable matches?

My most memorable moment was when T0 BE CONTINUED's xbox froze. We were below Gemini and I was just ahead of her when her box froze. I couldn't believe it happened.

oh man, i always wanted a modder to spawn a vehicle down there but we never got to it because everyone would be so exited about a modder being in the game

If you were on the modder's team it was fun but if you weren't, not so much lol.

I only hoped and dreamed of getting a chance to play H2 online. I envy you. Have you reconnected with any of the 14 players on another community? What was your favorite weapon in H2? Thanks.

Well I just found out H2O Shoagie is in here but other than that not really, hopefully we'll have a little reunion because of this. The BR hands down, BXR and the double/quad shot made that gun so much more fun than any other.

I'm irl friends with z0mbie stench or however she spelled it and totally recommended she get on Reddit to join this little reunion. Her response when I told her about all this was something along the lines of "lol I used to talk mad trash to that Detenn guy"

That's too bad, I don't remember that, but yea that would be awesome if she joined in.

As someone that never played Halo 2 Online (And I guess now never will) I feel like I missed out on something big. What made the game so amazing for you?

You can play it over XBC or on PC. For me the maps where a major part of it but also the BR being hitscan and I liked the glitches; Superbounce, BXR, Doubleshot, etc.

What's your opinion on Halo 4?

I'm optimistic, as a competitive player I'm still hoping for a spectator mode patch after the game is released. I think H4 has the potential to be a great game as long as there isn't an AA that just throws off the balance of the game cougharmor lockcough.

Armor Abilities are the reason I stopped playing Reach, they are so aggravating to me especially armor lock.

You should try out the MLG settings.

Were you guys named the Noble 14 after Reach's Noble team?

I assume so, we called ourselves the Final 14 and it wasn't until the r/gaming post that I found out we were dubbed "Noble 14"

You are described here, in a post about the last players online, as

Detenn <---- This retard needs to learn some manners

Care to comment?

I don't remember why that person was upset with me but I do remember there were a few people in the last 50 I didn't get a long with. That wasn't the issue once it got down to the last 25.

What games do you play now? Any Halo?

I play Reach, LoL, DayZ, and CS:GO right now. I'm an avid halo fan so I will always be playing and supporting Halo.

Ok, Im a HE. Why did you say she in the topic. We talked enough for you to know this!

I thought you were a guy but it's been a while so I went to your reddit history to double check and I saw a PMS Clan post and I assumed. I'm sorrrryyyy, forgive me?

H2o is the guys side. If i were female it would be PMS Shoagie.

Sorry, I'm ashamed. Crazy thing just happened, I just ran in to Hired n00b playing Reach. I told him about this so hopefully he makes a reddit account and joins in.

Who was the most skilled of the 14?

I would like to say me but I may be biased :P.

What game types did you play?

Mostly random FFAs or Team Slayers on different maps because when it got down to the final 14 there was never more than 6-8 people on at a time.

How did it feel to be one of the last persons ever to play Halo 2 online?

It was surreal, I played H2 for a long time and never really expected it to get taken offline. I play competitively so I was playing H3 when I heard about H2 being taken down, right then I knew I had to play as much H2 while I still could.

How did you manage to be one of the last 14?

I just kept my xbox on and played ever chance I got. It also made it easier to stay on when there was a good group of people to play with.

I like how you capitalized Final

Thanks, well that's what we called ourselves, someone else decide to name us the Noble 14. I like our name better though.

Did your xbox sound more like a lawnmower or a chainsaw by the time you finally logged off?

No, surprisingly my xbox handled it like a champ. Shoagie wasn't as lucky though.

Thanks for keeping it alive for the rest of us, great story :D

Thanks for the support.

Do you remember your first halo multiplayer match ever and when was it?

Yea and funny enough it was a rumble pit game on Colossus, which was the last map I played on H2 as well.

boxers or briefs?

Boxers.

If you could choose to save only 2 species(animal, plant, fungus, etc.) from an inevitable termination and get an ice cream, which would be the species and the ice cream?

Humans and cows, I love milk.

What was your favorite map to play? weapon?

Lockout, BR.

You're awesome man.

I remember that night. I got off around 10:30 on April 15. Was playing with some buddies of mine and sadly had to say my goodbyes. I still occasionally watch my montages I made. Did you make any?

No I didn't have a capture card. There are some amazing H2 montages though.

I remember the day Halo 2 came out me and one of my good friends skipped school to play all night. We couldn't get Xbox Live working correctly, so we ended up playing online using Xbox Connect and we had a blast.

My question: What do you think about services like Xbox Connect that allow Halo 2 fans to keep playing? Do you think you'd ever use it to play Halo 2 some more?

XBC and any other service that allows people to play without XBL is awesome. I have played H2 on XBC but I prefer H2 Vista over xbc.