18 replies to this topic

[Mendon]

Just curious if anyone here is playing MAG?

I was in the Beta and had some fun playing and decided to buy the game when it was released. So far, the game is working very well online as I've played logged about 6 hours so far and have experienced no lag whatsoever nor have I been booted at all.

I'm an employee of Raven and have specialized in the Support field and am currently a Lvl 12 Medic and Repair Specialist. I chose this specialty because while I truly, truly SUCK at just about every FPS game released, being a medic and repair person I can still enjoy many aspects of the game and feel like I'm a valuable member of a team. While my Kill vs. Death ration is very, very low... partly because I can't hit the broad side of a barn and partly because I'm concentrating on healing and resuscitating my teamates..... I'm climbing the experience ranks because healing and resuscitating yields more exp's than just shooting enemies. And the more exp's you acquire, the better the weapons, equipment, and skills you open up.

I haven't played much of any Halo or Call of Duty title (mainly because I'm not good at all and get tired of dying), but in the few hours I have played those games, it seems that the "lone wolf" player dominates. But in MAG, especially in the higher level maps, teamwork is a MUST and the game was designed with this in mind. I can't begin to describe how fun this game is when you have good Platoon and Squad leaders barking out commands and strategies while players are yelling out positions, enemy strengths and locations, and you are contributing to the TEAM. Yeah, there are a lot of "lone wolves" who don't seem to use a headset and just do "their own thing", but the game is at its best when you are part of a TEAM.

MAG is far from perfect as Zipper still has to fix several things, balance some groups, and release more maps. And more players need to actually use their mic's. But once you get into a round of Domination with 256 players moving all about a map... shots whizzing from everywhere... Leaders barking out commands.... players reporting enemy locations and movement.... yells for MEDIC screaming in your ear.... trying to quickly repair a turret or vehicle with bullets and grenades landing all about you.... seeing an enemy satellite installation fall because of a well executed and well planned attack.....the adrenaline starts flowing and you really begin to feel the excitement of MAG.

Even if you don't do very well playing FPS games, maybe you should give MAG a chance because you don't have to have a 10 - 1 Kill vs. Death ration to contribute and have fun playing the game.


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Wed Feb 3, 2010 7:30 AM.

[xg4bx]

i am and i'm loving it. i'm a level 20 direct action with medic and repair abilities.

even though we've suffered many losses (i'm valor) i have yet to get mad at the game because it's fair. i'd get infuriated at games like modern warfare because of how utterly "cheap" they are. in this game though a well coordinated team could absolutely own you using nothing but pistols.

in this game i genuinely want to help my team even if i get killed 100 times. modern warfare is all about lone wolf players nursing their k/d ratio and grinding xp to unlock the next overpowered weapon.

mag is surely the best online game i've ever played and the only one i'll ever need.

[udisi]

been looking for a review like this. I've been wanting to try this, but hadn't heard anything.

[moycon]

This game looks and sounds great. I will be getting it eventually for sure.

[Mendon]

Since I made my original post giving MAG nothing but a total thumbs up, I thought I better also post that I've run into a problem that has driven me (and others who are posting about it on the MAG Community Forums) to write to Zipper and ask for some sort of a fix.

If you do not play online with friends (who have to be in the same faction as you) or are a member of a Clan (egads, I hate that term), then you are dumped into a random squad. The problem arises because the game doesn't seem to have servers set up for specific regions of the world, but instead has one central server and everyone plays on that. Recently, I have run into several games where my squad mates and leaders are speaking French or German or Spanish and the minute I speak English, I'm "kicked" from the game.

This is not.... I repeat NOT.... because of any country animosities but simply because if you cannot communicate with each other, then the teamwork part of the game doesn't work. Since quite a few English speaking Squad and Platoon leaders are taking the game very seriously and demanding that if you don't use a mic, then you will be kicked from the squad, I'm sure that this is the reason that I've been booted from several games recently: not speaking the same language is the same as not using a mic.

Maybe this problem has recently raised its head because the game is now in release in more countries. But for me, its becoming frustrating to begin a game of Sabotage or Domination, play several minutes and having fun, only to suddenly see the Squad Leader ordering a "vote" to kick you from the squad because you don't speak the their language and finding yourself back in the lobby.

Zipper needs to address this language issue.


Mendon

[xg4bx]

i agree, there should be region specific servers like the most recent socom had.

as for being kicked for not having a head set, those people can eat a dick. you paid your $60 just like they did and you have a right to play the game. its a PUBLIC server. they've got alot of nerve. if youre not running around teamkilling or whatever it doesn't blanking matter. headset=/=valuable team member. personally i think the communication aspect of the game is overrated. if you have common sense, situational awareness and follow your orders youll be fine. i dont use a headset but i stay very aware of my surroundings and my objective.

i dont know what it is but this game is amazingly addictive, it just becomes a part of you and makes you feel like youre genuinely contributing to the shadow war.

[Mendon]

I agree with ya, totally, the game is addictive as hell. I've had streaks of missions where I can't seem to do anything right and find myself constantly dying soon after spawning due to snipers and grenades, but I keep coming back for more because the game is just plain fun! There are times I feel like I'm nothing but an EXP target for everyone in the game, but I keep coming back for more because the game is just plain fun. And there have been a few games where I'm MVP and I can't believe how well I played and can't wait to jump into the next match.

As for mic's, I use one because I like to communicate in the game. It heightens the fun and excitement for me. But they aren't a total necessity because I've been on squads where no one has talked at all and we have wiped the floor with the competition. And I've been on squads where there is constant chatter and we still have gotten our butts handed to us. In the end, victory comes down to teamwork, not whether you have a mic or not.

MAG isn't perfect.... but then I've never played a perfect game. There are a few issues that I feel Zipper needs to address (such as this kicking people from a squad option), but despite the few issues I have, I'll keep playing and playing because the game is a BLAST to play.

BTW, what's your favorite game type? I really like Sabotage and Acquisition and I seem to do my best at both. Submission is fun but is really just a team Death Match game and I don't play it very much. Domination is great but can really get wild, frantic, and confusing at times with shots and explosions happening everywhere.


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:18 AM.

[Mendon]

Thought I'd post a picture of what part of a 256 player Domination map (using the in-game CIN display) looks like for those who haven't seen many pictures of the game. Blue is defending, Red is attacking.

(Ignore the yellow numbers and orange circle as they were put in for explanation purposes during a strategy session)


Mendon

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by Mendon, Sat Feb 13, 2010 7:03 AM.

[xg4bx]

i usually play domination. as valor, going against sver on their sabotage and aquisition maps is a royal pain in the ass. on aquisition their bunkers are way too close together and its pretty much a slaughter.

[Mendon]

xg4bx, on Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:54 PM, said:

i usually play domination. as valor, going against sver on their sabotage and aquisition maps is a royal pain in the ass. on aquisition their bunkers are way too close together and its pretty much a slaughter.

Its sort of funny...... if you go to the MAG community forum boards, its post after post about how unbalanced and unfair SVER is. Yet in the last week, both of my characters.... a Lvl 17 Valor & Lvl 22 Raven.... have been on teams that have kicked SVER butts on a pretty regular basis. Either Valor and Raven are getting better or SVER is getting dumber or maybe a combo of both, but SVER no longer seems quite the unbeatable powerhouse they once were.


Mendon

[Mendon]

Also, I ran into a new tactic the last couple days that is being employed by quite a few players: planting claymores near bodies so that when a medic comes up to give a res.....BOOM!! Going to have to work on the skill that allows me to detect and disarm mines.


Mendon

[Tr3vor]

for about 2 weeks, so far im saving up for a ps3(15$ so far). the first game im gonna get is MAG. ive seen lots of videos about it. it looks really fun.

[Jms5118]

i've put about 30 hours into MAG so far, i actually find it way more fun than MW2.

[Reaperman]

I know I'm late to the party on this one, but I picked up the game for ~$10 shipped at the gamefly sale a couple weeks ago and I've been playing it like mad. I've just hit lvl61 (on Raven), so I guess it's time for me to stop considering myself new and clan up if I plan on continuing much longer. I might even try myself out on the leadership path.

MAG multiplayer is still going strong, it doesn't take too much to get into a match these days, as long as you don't care what kind of map it is. Lots of xp bonuses for getting new players up to a level where they can compete with others too. This game must have been miserable before multi-queue and all those layers of xp bonus.

I'm even debating picking up a (used) move controller to give this a try. anybody tried out move on it?
One other question still bothers me that I'm really afraid to bring up other places--when there's a vote to kick somebody, and they *really* need gone, how do I participate in this vote? it's not in that useless manual anywhere. my guess is something to do with the d-pad.

Edited by Reaperman, Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:26 AM.

[Tr3vor]

How about an atariage clan?

[xenomorpher]

Sorry to dig this up, but how many people currently play this? I've been thinking about picking this up sometime, but I don't want to if there isn't a decent amount of people playing.

[Tr3vor]

I play it. I bought it about a month ago. I takes around 1-5 minutes to get in a game. I have never been not able to join a game.

[durkada]

I always feared that the game would be too crowded for a person to make a difference. But there is a demo out now, so I'll give it a shot this weekend.

Cheers,
J

[xenomorpher]

I think the demo is more of a trial version with a level cap. I downloaded it and joined Raven but haven't been able to play due to a broken controller. If I like the game and a lot of people are playing, I'd buy it. Amazon.com has it for under $20.