MAG

[russo121]

I simply doesn't like the game. It's frustrating I can't see enemies, being spoted just by their callsign.
At the spawn point - if you by mistake enter the spawn menu (to choose a new spaw point) the timer will go to the max even if you choose the same spawn point.
I totally agree with N_B - "After the massive download (mine was only 1.8GB, is 2.8GB for US only?) i found that the menus were very cluttered and confusing. I wanted to play a training mission before I went into match, but I have no idea how to start it. Text seems oddly small even in 720p."

 

[Billy Idol]

I simply doesn't like the game. It's frustrating I can't see enemies, being spoted just by their callsign.
At the spawn point - if you by mistake enter the spawn menu (to choose a new spaw point) the timer will go to the max even if you choose the same spawn point.
I totally agree with N_B - "After the massive download (mine was only 1.8GB, is 2.8GB for US only?) i found that the menus were very cluttered and confusing. I wanted to play a training mission before I went into match, but I have no idea how to start it. Text seems oddly small even in 720p."

if I understand it right, training mission is not available in the beta, that is why you cannot start it.

I think the menu is ok and rather straight forward!?

But it is definitely a very difficult start, as I am constantly dying...although it is rather clear were you get shot at (there is this danger indicator, which gives you the direction of danger and the amount of danger (I think white is there happens something in this direction, yellow means someone shoots at you from this direction and read means someone has hit you from this direction).

I wonder why they don't enable the training mission and unlock (for the beta) all mission types so that you can try the 256 player mission, because leveling up is very difficult and takes a long time: if you kill someone you get 5 XP, so if I am lucky I kill 10 people in one round which results in about 50 XP + some XP for other stuff, so I get 30 - 80 points each round (the best players reach 400 XP in such games!).

Can someone tell me when you unlock the medic class??

What I really like is the ultra fast match searching...only a few seconds and I am in, as long I can connect to the univers.

Btw, it seems to me that RAVEN is weak, beause our RAVEN team looses every time

 

[Cornsnake]

Can someone tell me when you unlock the medic class?

MAG doesn't work with specific classes. Instead you get 1 skillpoint per level that you can spend on the skill tree in the barracks. There you can buy upgrades for your medkit. Healing others and reviving others are separate upgrades. After that you still need to go to the armoury to change your loadout to carry the medkit. It's generally a good idea to always carry a medkit in your loadouts.

Frago's are important for XP because it doubles the XP you get for anything you do near them. Frago means Fragmentation Order, basically it's the target that's highlighted on your map as the primary objective. In Sabotage it's always the A, B, or C objective. In Domination the squadleaders can set the Frago on any primary or secondary targets.

For more kills simply buy a better gun, because the default one's are rather weak. My personal favourite is the ATAC assault rifle with 4X zoom scope. It's accurate enough to kill snipers over a huge distance.

 

[nightshade]

Btw, it seems to me that RAVEN is weak, beause our RAVEN team looses every time

Thats because the team you play against must be SVER.
9/10 times when you play against SVER your team will lose simply cause you get no chance to attack, the objective points are right in the middle of the open battlefield. While in cases of attacking Raven or Valor you atleast get the objectives in places that arent as open as the ones found in the SVER's maps.

Also most of the time the map layout is un-favoring to Raven.

 

[Cornsnake]

Thats because the team you play against must be SVER.
9/10 times when you play against SVER your team will lose simply cause you get no chance to attack, the objective points are right in the middle of the open battlefield. While in cases of attacking Raven or Valor you atleast get the objectives in places that arent as open as the ones found in the SVER's maps.

Also most of the time the map layout is un-favoring to Raven.

That. And the game currently isn't playing the way it's supposed to because most players haven't figured out how it works. Which is understandable. Once everyone knows what to do teamwork becomes a lot more natural. That's when actual strategy comes in to play, making the game far more interesting.

 

[patsu]

It's frustrating I can't see enemies, being spoted just by their callsign.

Why can't you see the enemies ?

At the spawn point - if you by mistake enter the spawn menu (to choose a new spaw point) the timer will go to the max even if you choose the same spawn point.

Agreed ! They should add a "Cancel" button to the respawn menu.

I totally agree with N_B - "After the massive download (mine was only 1.8GB, is 2.8GB for US only?) i found that the menus were very cluttered and confusing. I wanted to play a training mission before I went into match, but I have no idea how to start it. Text seems oddly small even in 720p."

Agree too. The training menu needs much more work (e.g. add video instructions in the Blu-ray game). It's a step up from the private beta, but not good enough.


EDIT:

That. And the game currently isn't playing the way it's supposed to because most players haven't figured out how it works. Which is understandable. Once everyone knows what to do teamwork becomes a lot more natural. That's when actual strategy comes in to play, making the game far more interesting.

What is the typical model ? The buddy/pairing system seems to work well (Easy to set up and also effective). I see group of 3s a few times. I can't conceive a bigger group size. Must be difficult to coordinate. I have not seen the FRAGO system in action. Wouldn't it be lost among the noises on the screen ?

 

[Cornsnake]

What is the typical model ? The buddy/pairing system seems to work well (Easy to set up and also effective). I see group of 3s a few times. I can't conceive a bigger group size. Must be difficult to coordinate. I have not seen the FRAGO system in action. Wouldn't it be lost among the noises on the screen ?

Well the game is basically chaos right now. Everyone bleeds out, and nobody works together.

Whole squads need to move together, slowly clearing a way towards the target. Backing each other up, and reviving when necessary. You'll get a small bonus from staying near you squadleader, like slightly faster reloading. Squadleaders also need to communicate with each other. One squad can draw the attention of the enemies, while the other flanks them.

In Acquisition and Domination things get even more complimented. There many primary and secondary targets on the map. All with their own icons, with the Frago being highlighted with a square around it, and will always be visible on the map, even remaining on the edge of it if your not close enough. Here full platoons need to work together, and with so many targets there are even more strategies possible, with each squad being directed by a platoon leader to take on key objectives in an overall strategy.

Right now everyone just walks straight to the primary targets, plants bombs on whatever comes up along the way, and doesn't even bother to wait until it explodes to keep someone else from disarming it. It's horribly inefficient and boring. MAG probably needs a dedicated fanbase to truly shine.

 

[patsu]

If the squad play works, then I suggest they allow spectating... or at least collect a handful of real videos showing how it should be done. I don't see people snapping out of the current mode.

 

[JPT]

Cornsnake, I'd be interested in playing a couple of rounds this weekend, and I do like teamplay and not lone wolf stuff.

I can probably get a couple other guys to join to and we can see if we can get a decent teamplay game going. I expect you to be our glorious leader and be the brains

 

[patsu]

Hmm... this is very tempting. Too bad I won't be around until 18th.

What factions are you guys in in the public beta ? I am in the default one (Valor ?). I remember Cornsnake was in the accuracy camp (Raven ?) in the private beta.

 

[Cornsnake]

Cornsnake, I'd be interested in playing a couple of rounds this weekend, and I do like teamplay and not lone wolf stuff.

I can probably get a couple other guys to join to and we can see if we can get a decent teamplay game going. I expect you to be our glorious leader and be the brains

That would be nice. But I think it's time I shared a little secret with you all: in all of the beta I've never actually played as a squadleader. I've always been more of a follower than a leader.

But I do have a headset, and maybe I'll play as a squadleader before then. That, or I'll try to revive anyone I lead to a glorious death.

I'm in Raven.

 

[JPT]

You dont have to be the official squadleader to actually lead Most of us probably logged less than an hour if any minutes at all. Hmmm your Raven, I think most of the other guys are SVER..... Can we fix that someway?

Ohh if anybody else wants to join, they are of course welcome, Saturday in the B3D chatroom, any preference to time?

 

[Billy Idol]

Why can't you see the enemies ?

My problem is, that some of the environments are very dark and I often feel that somehow the lightning is off because everything is so dark, although we are fighting in 'daylight'.
Now you have dark colored enemies and a dark background...the only help is the red triangle on top of the enemie, which is often rather small...what helped: I switched to the beamer setup with the huge screen, and now I could spot enemies a little bit better.

Unfortunately I had yesterday the idea to start all over again and deleted my character to buy better upgrades...fighting now to get the better weapon...but the game is really tough, especially as a lot of people already work together...run and gun lone wolf is not the right choice for my skills, but I don't like to sit around sniping from some far away secure points either.

 

[Cornsnake]

You dont have to be the official squadleader to actually lead Most of us probably logged less than an hour if any minutes at all. Hmmm your Raven, I think most of the other guys are SVER..... Can we fix that someway?

Ohh if anybody else wants to join, they are of course welcome, Saturday in the B3D chatroom, any preference to time?

The easiest way to solve that, while keeping your character, is to use a different account on PS3 and create a new character on it.

I should have the whole Saturday evening free to play.

 

[obonicus]

I do wish they'd offer a little more 'carrot', though maybe it's coming in the full game. Either make awards easier to get, a la BF:BC/BC2 or just level folks up faster. If you're in a particularly bad match-up you'll get a pittance of xp which will make all the cool stuff look further away.

Especially since this uses Killzone 2's (imho stupid) model of starting everyone off as a grunt and only allowing you to begin specializing when you get enough xp.

At least I'd like respecs to work differently -- instead of tying them to xp, tie them to completed missions. Get 'x' missions done, either won or lost and earn a respec. When you're selecting skills to unlock the game doesn't even have the grace to give you the actual % of improvement for each, which makes informed decisions difficult.

 

[Cornsnake]

I actually like the way medals and ribbons are hard to earn. It goes against the current trend of rewarding you for every silly thing you do, and makes you feel like you've really accomplish something when you get one. It's much like the way MAG rewards you with the most XP for things that actually matter, the objectives rather then killing people. All of it is there to make people play a certain way.

I prefer online game to give all the players everything right from the start to create an even playing field. All that RPG style unlocking is another bad trend IMO. Levelling up in MAG is pretty fast though, and with the change to buying one thing unlocks the next tier, you can get to any piece of equipment quickly. I think the problem is more about players not being well enough informed on how to get XP fast, and the best ways to use the skill tree. The full game better have some great training missions to explain all that.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

well they talked about the publisher pushing people to the monthly payment instead of having to pay for all the dlc they would release.

its 1up 4guys dec 25th eps if you want to check it out. IT may not be mag btw , they don't name it. mag is jsut one thing fans have thrown out.

Sounds EXACTLY like Free Realms on PC. Except you only get certain DLC items included in the sub. Others you still have to buy, like pets for example.

Regards,
SB

 

[obonicus]

I actually like the way medals and ribbons are hard to earn. It goes against the current trend of rewarding you for every silly thing you do, and makes you feel like you've really accomplish something when you get one. It's much like the way MAG rewards you with the most XP for things that actually matter, the objectives rather then killing people. All of it is there to make people play a certain way.

It's different, but I think there's definitely merit to the Mario Party style of 'you're in last place? have a star!'-type gameplay, especially for a game like MAG in which most of the real game is locked away behind levels. I think at least a fast track for the first few levels, like give people a minimum of 50 xp per match. I see plenty of people sucking it up real bad, and after 15 minutes of doing nothing useful, they probably don't come back.

I prefer online game to give all the players everything right from the start to create an even playing field. All that RPG style unlocking is another bad trend IMO. Levelling up in MAG is pretty fast though, and with the change to buying one thing unlocks the next tier, you can get to any piece of equipment quickly. I think the problem is more about players not being well enough informed on how to get XP fast, and the best ways to use the skill tree. The full game better have some great training missions to explain all that.

I think easier respecs would be enough. Right now, to get a respec you need to earn 3000 xp, which puts you well above level 10. That's a significant commitment to the game, most people will just quit and reroll. And that means having a bunch of people without even crucial skills, like medic. I think a bunch of people would, for instance, take the medic kit if they realized how much more XP it nets you over, say, the gun.

 

[Cornsnake]

Completing the training mission gives a one time XP bonus. It seems to cover the most basic thing about MAG, except healing on reviving. They should push player towards the medic skills, and show the difference in XP between reviving and killing.

Faster respec might be good too. Even with all the reseting of the stats in every phase of the beta, this is the first time I've bought the medic upgrade's. Before I always went straight for a bigger gun, simply because its usually the way to do better in games.

 

[obonicus]

I wish I knew what sort of xp bonus that is, I can't get it.

Also, finally got to level 10 on Valor, but is Domination even in the game? I try to enter a game, and it tells me I've been disconned from server (nice job, btw, since it logs me out of my profile).

Edit: looking at the tree, I get why respecs are expensive, since you can use them to reoptimize (for instance, I got the reflex sight, the foregrip, the 2nd AR, improved stability at a cost of 8 points. Getting the 3rd AR and the scope would push it up to 15 points, which I'd only get by level 18. But if I respec, I can get the foregrip, improved stability, scope and 3rd AR for 10 points, I'd have them by level 13 -- it doesn't seem like I'd want to keep both the 2nd and 3rd ARs around). Maybe for low level characters give them a discount on respecs, so they can experiment.