Despite the "death" of the original Xbox Live, a small band of fanatics are keeping the dream alive by leaving their Halo 2 accounts logged in. You'd think Microsoft would be pissed, but surprisingly, no.
"We're not shutting them off", Xbox Live's Larry Hryb has said on his weekly podcast. "Were going to let them go."
"If you're one of the 'Halo 2 twelve' still playing, know that we're rooting for you, we think what you're doing is great, and [we] are not going to pull the rug out from under you".
That's not to say that Microsoft will leave the servers open forever. These consoles are going to overheat, or malfunction, or most likely lose their internet connections sooner or later. Most likely sooner.
But until they do shuffle off that digital coil? They're free to knock themselves out.