My XBL issues have disappeared during the week, so I'm increasingly thinking it is MS itself, prepping for their Fall update. Lame. They likely won't be giving away free games this time.
Pre-emptively: Yeah, yeah: "Cool story, bro."
The other day I had decided to play "one last Free For All" before heading out to work. It turned out to be a Gold Rush at MacFarlane Ranch, which timed-out with me in a three-way tie; it went into overtime with one bag left on the map. There were probably 12 people in the match, three of whom were trying to win, and another four or five were camping and just shooting anyone who got near the bag. I've seen additional bags spawn, but I'm not sure if it's overtime compensation, or just for bags which get lost in water or outside the defined game area... it didn't happen this time. The 10 minute match had over 8 minutes of overtime. It didn't make me late for work, but I didn't arrive as early as I'd hoped. :^/ In the end I lost because I went after the campers, freeing up the bag area.
Freeing up the bag area sounds like a euphemism for wearing boxers.
Anyway: This morning I was in the same "just one more round" situation, Gold Rush in Chuparosa. The middle of the plaza always turns into a Pyrrhic mess with all the inward-facing camping spots, so I was pretty sure things would get ugly and go long. Sure enough, I was in another three-way tie at the end of the countdown, staring out from the hotel into the open plaza. But when the new bags appeared, the collection box was right there in the hotel foyer, and a bag on the upstairs balcony. I kept my head down, scooted up the stairs, briefly outside, grabbed the bag, and quietly back down the stairs for the W. Woooooooooooooooooooooot!
This is definitely my GOTY, probably my 2nd favorite game next to Saints Row/SR2. It's so compelling, and I haven't played this much multiplayer since Doom 2 and Hexen LAN parties.
