I'm sure this isn't new news to everyone, but apparently you can get stuck in a backup server (or hoppers) in Halo 4. While in these servers you cannot connect to anyone in the regular servers, even if you are trying to play customs and your rank is shown as SR1. I have tried everything to get out of the backup hoppers to no avail (reset modem, logged in and out of live/Halo 4, turned off and on Xbox). I'd like to play some customs with my buds but I cannot connect to them in Halo 4. Does anybody have any idea how to get out of these backup servers? Why are my other friends able to play on the regular servers and I am not?
GrenadeGorilla8 was stuck on the backup server all night tonight, same deal as you. And another friend of mine was showing up this way (rank SR1, unjoinable) for hours the other day. It is a really shitty thing for them to let this go on like it has. I'm not usually one for the wailing and gnashing of teeth act, but 343 has done a pretty awful quality assurance job on this release - it's got to be the buggiest Halo by a mile.
Agreed, they really dropped the ball regarding the multiplayer servers and file share servers. I don't recall ever having any issues like this with Halo Reach. I can kinda understand why matchmaking would be unavailable when they have heavy loads but I cannot understand why trying to connect to my friends to play some custom games is impossible. I can be in a chat party with them, yet I cannot play with them?! It's absurd! We ended up going back to Reach and had a great time with no issues. It's also annoying how they no longer allow guest accounts to use voice chat anymore which has been a feature of every Halo game since Halo 2. I just hope these issues are being addressed, but I fear that 343 may not be as concerned with the community's wishes. Bungie has spoiled us over the years and set a high bar for their successors to live up to. EDIT: I just found this Easter egg video and what the terminal says seems oddly appropriate for this thread lol... Halo 4 - War Games Announcer (Jeff Steitzer) Easter Egg on Shutdown - YouTube