I, too, miss the days where I could log on to Kali and it would present me with a 10,000 server list for Jedi Knight or Counter-Strike.

I've run into similar problems with Halo 2 and what it really comes down to is "playing through it." Aggravation outside of the game is just as important as playing the game. I think the whole thing is over simplified for the benefit of instant gratification of the mass audience.

The provided friends list isn't nearly as useful as seeing a massive server list, either.