Really, really long load time before match. Why?

I just got this game and started playing multiplayer (after I finished the campaign) and I'm having this problem where it takes several minutes from the time the lobby countdown finishes till the time the match loads and I'm allowed to pick my loadout. Wayyyy
longer than any other COD game takes (I still play the older ones). It's taking so long to load that I miss the starting countdown and I can see everyone else has already started and been playing for a while. I was in the same lobby for several matches in
a row and it kept doing it every single time. Then I got kicked during the last one due to inactivity because the thing took so long to load. Never had this problem before, but this is the first COD game I ever downloaded from XBL rather than buying on disc.
Is it related to that?

It also takes really long like that when I do private offline games, so I don't think it's a server issue or my connection...

I'm playing on a 6 month old 250gb 360 slim, FWIW.

:)

 

completely unplayable crashes my xbox one during loading screen

Just to throw this out there but you guys know this game takes a long time to load right? Like a really long time to load. And you have to do the prologue before you can get online.

 

Really long loading times

Anyone else getting long loading times? I am to the point where it doesnt load at all and the only way out is to dashboard :| Havent played this since november and didnt get them this long back then

 

Nevermind, apparently this is a problem on Microsoft's side cause I gave up and went play another game and it wouldn't even launch.... just saw this service notice when I was doing the online troubleshooting guide. Wish I'd seen this earlier. They should
post this stuff on the dashboard.

"7/31/2014 12:57:06 AM CST:

If your Xbox 360 Console is getting stuck on a black screen when trying to launch games or apps, hold tight! We are working toward a fix for the issue right now. Thanks your patience during this time. Check back in half an hour for an update on our progress."

 

There may be an issue, but ghosts has a shorter lobby and longer countdown than previous releases.

Also .... I've been told that if you get a countdown longer than 15 you are on a dedicated server, under 15 you are on a listen server. Dont know how true that is though.