: While I fully agree with this attitude in Campaign, I am flabbergasted that
: ANYONE feels this way about Multiplayer. I can't think of a single
: rational reason why people should be allowed to get to places in the map
: where they can grief from in a game where you're paired up against
: strangers. Not one.

If you want to have variants of the maps that have these barriers that are only for use in matchmaking, then fine. But I would prefer it if [insert game developer here] would stop trying to take all the fun out of tricking. Halo 2 was great with the ability to get on top of the maps in multiplayer. Sure, it made for some less-than-pleasant experiences in matchmaking, but for what it's worth, some of my most memorable games involved situations where my team still outwitted the other team, even after they had taken the bomb or whatever outside of the map. Those sorts of moments are part of the reason why I, personally, have so many fond, epic memories of Halo 2.

And, speaking personally, I would rather that not be changed. Dedicated servers will fix the standbying and bridging host issues that plagued high-level play in Halo 2. Everything else I was able to tolerate and even compete against (without using it myself, I might add). Let's not screw up what was a great game, save for the connection-related cheating (and modding... oh God, the modding), in the name of "improving gameplay" or some crap like that. When you're fixing things like this, where do you stop? Do you plug the various carney holes? Do you block off the attic on Terminal because players could toss the oddball to a buddy up there? Do you block off the top of the middle structure in Sanctuary because it didn't seem as though the level designers had intended for players to get up there? Do you go so far as to put invisible barriers in areas like this as FyreWulff suggests in an attempt to stop superbouncing? I mean, this is the kind of thing I worry about. FyreWulff's caption suggests that putting an invisible barrier here will not impact gameplay. Um, perhaps not in most games, but there are certainly situations where it will. And that's the thing - I'm not super thrilled about people deciding that they know how to improve a classic game and going ahead and changing history.

Thankfully, 343i seems to have made the decision that they aren't going to change the game in these ways. This means that the great memories that people have with Halo 2 and all of the great explorations of those days will be moments that people can relive once more.

(For the record, I wouldn't mind if they fixed certain issues, such as places where you could throw the oddball/flag out of the map that really did screw things up. But as far as "fixing" level geometry, I think that's taking it a step too far, especially if they "fixed" things across the board, including in custom games. That would kill the spirit of Halo 2, as far as I'm concerned. Anniversary should be a celebration of these things, at least in custom games. But I'm not confident that if 343i decided to change this that they wouldn't also throw up invisible walls in custom games. No thank you.)