MAG

[patsu]

Been playing Acquisition. I know what to do when defending now. What's the best way to attack SVER base ?

Is it better to start from left side or right or center ?

I tried to sneak in or assault the far left or right bunker. They can be impossible to take. I have seen one case where driving the APC up to the bunker worked. Usually the APC was destroyed before reaching the target bunker.

 

[Cornsnake]

Been playing Acquisition. I know what to do when defending now. What's the best way to attack SVER base ?

Is it better to start from left side or right or center ?

I tried to sneak in or assault the far left or right bunker. They can be impossible to take. I have seen one case where driving the APC up to the bunker worked. Usually the APC was destroyed before reaching the target bunker.

Definitively either the left or right side. You'll want as many squads as possible to attack the same bunker.

I always like to bring an RPG in Acquisition. It's good for taking down any bunkerturrets and APCs. And if your squad is unwilling to attack the bunkers, you can still get plenty of XP without having to rely on any of your teammates by blowing up the bunkerturrets over and over again.

Lost game after game defending our Raven base today. We were practically giving away transport vehicle's at the gate. Raven randoms have no clue on how to play this game. I had a look at the leaderboards the other day. Starting from the top, every page of 20 players only had about 2 or 3 Raven players in it. Yet going by server numbers, there is about an equal number of players in each PMC. Seems were stuck with the noobs for now. A double XP weekend might change that up a bit. Luckily the devs said were getting a double XP weekend after E3.

 

[patsu]

That's why I am waiting anxiously for 1.06 to touch down. Need to respec my character for Acquisition mode. The new weapon costs should allow me to carry more gadgets.

Your RPG is upgraded with heat sensor right ? Does it cause more damage or carry more ammo ?

 

[JPT]

Lost game after game defending our Raven base today. We were practically giving away transport vehicle's at the gate. Raven randoms have no clue on how to play this game.

I feel missed

 

[Cornsnake]

That's why I am waiting anxiously for 1.06 to touch down. Need to respec my character for Acquisition mode. The new weapon costs should allow me to carry more gadgets.

Your RPG is upgraded with heat sensor right ? Does it cause more damage or carry more ammo ?

Not yet, I haven't got the necessary skillspoints to spare. It doesn't do more damage or extra ammo. But it does make every shot count, and since you carry 3 rockets, and need all 3 to destroy a bunkerturret, APC or helicopter, it makes difference. Although with some practice using the horizontal lines for aiming at the required distance, you can get some good use out of the default one.

I feel missed

Yeah. You, me, and Ygg_Barasil made a good team. I haven't seen him online much lately though. I think he's still in SVER.

 

[JPT]

Yeah. You, me, and Ygg_Barasil made a good team. I haven't seen him online much lately though. I think he's still in SVER.

Well he bought an apartment and is renovating it, but "bad" planning ended up with moving the internet connection to the new apartment a bit to early. Or the renovation is going slower than expected So he does not have any internet in his old home now....

Ohhh, I think I'll be a bit online this weekend, been moving office and working a bit, so not any extra time/energy to play

 

[patsu]

Thanks to the weekend, I finally had another chance to play with JPT and Cornsnake. Played until 4:30am. ^_^

It was a disaster for me since it's the first night I played against Valor on that side of the Acquisition map.
Did we have a full turn-out ? I think we were understaffed right ? The enemies were able to route our attack and surround us every time. @_@

The APC was practically useless when under attacked by RPGs and turrets from multiple directions (It's like a moving coffin !). Now I can appreciate these changes in 1.06:

* Added three gun ports to APCs of all factions.
* Slowed down the rate of fire for the APC’s primary gun, but increased bullet damage.
* Primary APC gun can now damage enemy APCs.

The freaking vehicle turret turns too slowly. So more gun ports will definitely help.


Since I don't have a RPG loadout, I switched to sniper halfway to try to take down the turrets but failed. Hopefully, they tune the following change up, instead of down. The turrets were able to cover many different angles. There're very few places to hide up the hills:

* Adjusted damage for the AM50, Rollins LRRS, and AGVK sniper rifles vs. vehicles and emplaced turrets.

I also think we should have focused on the mountain trail at the far left.

 

[Cornsnake]

Usually Valor Acquisition is an easy win. In fact Valor has never had an Acquisition contract until yesterday. The reason they were able to win 2 contracts yesterday, and by quite a large margin no less, is because they organised this on the official MAG forums. Getting all the top Valor clans to play at the same time.

It's interesting to see what teamwork can do towards achieving victory. Now we finally have something to fight over.

I did notice a few odd things. The game starting with one side about 10 players short. I've seen that happen more and more lately, and I don't think it's because they all decide to quit the game early.

Playing the same map over and over again, often from the same starting point. We got to attack the same 2 bunkers about 4 times, which became somewhat boring near the end.

 

[patsu]

Impressive effort. I thought they were pretty tight and agile in the battlefield. They know the blindspots and obscure attack angles in the map (theirs and ours) too.

I now know what it feels like to get raped. >_<

 

[Cornsnake]

That's advantage of veteran mode, knowing the maps from both the attackers and defenders POV.

I seems Raven and SVER are getting organised as well. Yesterday Raven took 2 Domination contracts, knowing that Valor was focusing on Acquisition. And players numbers higher than usual. The shadow just became a lot more personal.

At this rate I think they are going to allow for larger parties to join games. There is a glitch being exploited to make this happen right now. As long as you don't have a full squad of 8, you can send out party invites. If everyone waits with accepting it you can keep inviting. When your done just let everyone know to start accepting over text chat. This way whole platoons can be filled with the same party.

 

[JPT]

At this rate I think they are going to allow for larger parties to join games. There is a glitch being exploited to make this happen right now. As long as you don't have a full squad of 8, you can send out party invites. If everyone waits with accepting it you can keep inviting. When your done just let everyone know to start accepting over text chat. This way whole platoons can be filled with the same party.

Nice "glitch", one which I dont mind actually, now I wish I had enough friends to fill up a platoon ;D

Yeah, we got wupped yesterday, but the problem was that we did not even try to coordinate, we just stormed on down a path and got moved down.
We most likely should have focused two squads on one bunker with different paths, but hey, I had hard enough time to figure out which paths people came towards us on

 

[Cornsnake]

Nice "glitch", one which I dont mind actually, now I wish I had enough friends to fill up a platoon ;D

Yeah, we got wupped yesterday, but the problem was that we did not even try to coordinate, we just stormed on down a path and got moved down.
We most likely should have focused two squads on one bunker with different paths, but hey, I had hard enough time to figure out which paths people came towards us on

It's hard to get that kind of co-ordination going outside of a clan. And this was early in the morning. We had a lot of japanese players who won't understand us even if we gave specific orders. I remember telling a guy not to move APC because there were AT mines up ahead, but he still went for it.

There aren't that many routes you can take on the side of the map we were constantly facing. You can either go all the way left to the left bunker, or all the way right to the right bunker. The middle ground is simply too open, leaving you exposed.

In the end we simply lost because we were facing better players, and not enough of our own. I recognised the V-C and VE clans, which are some of the best clans in Valor. And if both sides end the game together, and enter the queue immediately after, there is a good chance they'll be put in the same game again. I saw quite few names return the next match.

 

[JPT]

Yes, we lost because they where better than us, I have no problem with that.

But if you look at one of the places we started,not with the gas tank trailer etc, the other one, where there is this big boulder on the far right which hold up behind and they run behind us to vipe us out.

What we should have was put 2 guys a bit more to the left, yes I know they are in the line of fire from the bunker. But if lying your on the ground you can stop them from flanking the guys behind the boulder. Then the boulder guys could have moved forward etc.
But it took me most of the round to figure that out, but if I had you and Ygg there, I could have told you guys, and then tried to push the rest of the guys the right way.
But yes, without a clan its harder to command in such way

Then again, that is part of the challenge I like about this game or its the excuse I use for not racking up this big XP scores....

 

[Cornsnake]

Yeah, that probably would have been a good strategy. Having to adapt to the situation does indeed make the game a lot of fun, and keeps the gameplay nicely varied.

 

[patsu]

I seems Raven and SVER are getting organised as well. Yesterday Raven took 2 Domination contracts, knowing that Valor was focusing on Acquisition. And players numbers higher than usual. The shadow just became a lot more personal.

Someone forgot to send us the memo. T_T

Yeah, we got wupped yesterday, but the problem was that we did not even try to coordinate, we just stormed on down a path and got moved down.

We most likely should have focused two squads on one bunker with different paths, but hey, I had hard enough time to figure out which paths people came towards us on

Oh so true. I hate getting capped from behind, and those guys were so nimble and annoying. If I retreat too far, their turrets and guys from the extreme left get to snipe me too.

What we should have was put 2 guys a bit more to the left, yes I know they are in the line of fire from the bunker. But if lying your on the ground you can stop them from flanking the guys behind the boulder. Then the boulder guys could have moved forward etc.

But it took me most of the round to figure that out, but if I had you and Ygg there, I could have told you guys, and then tried to push the rest of the guys the right way.
But yes, without a clan its harder to command in such way

Need more people. I tried doing that alone, but they moved 1-2 guys from the far left to take any proning guy down. [Reach both hands at sky and scream like that Platoon dude]

When I had the sniper loadout, I also tried sniping them from the far right before they reach the boulders. Earlier in the game, we held that part of the map pretty well, so I had a clear view of everyone trying to sneak up the hills, plus people at the front side of the right turret. They soon locked down that area for good.

There was a small group of our soldiers (3-4 men) at the far left, over the hills. I joined them in 2-3 fights. We managed to get to one turret, but someone spawned there and wiped us out at the last minute.

Then again, that is part of the challenge I like about this game or its the excuse I use for not racking up this big XP scores....

The whole game I was thinking, "What else can I do ? What else can I try ?". ^_^
I stayed up late even though I was dead tired because I didn't want to leave comrades high and dry in this situation.
I did get a "died too many times" badge in the end.


EDIT:
We may need to build our defense around the APC. The 3 new gun ports, plus an engineer should help establish a worthy mobile base.

 

[Cornsnake]

Or put a platoonleader in it, that will automatically repair an APC. I was in an APC once as the gunner, with the platoonleader driving it. We took rocket after rocket without being destroyed. And meanwhile I could easily gun them all down.

Apparently the reason some games start with a lot of players missing, is because Zipper changed it on the server side. In the queue the brightly coloured dots represent the numbers of players in the queue. The darker coloured dots are the numbers it needs before the game starts. On Acquisition a game can start with one side with as many as 13 players short. Which is crazy if you ask me. Hopefully they'll change that back soon.

 

[patsu]

Or put a platoonleader in it, that will automatically repair an APC. I was in an APC once as the gunner, with the platoonleader driving it. We took rocket after rocket without being destroyed. And meanwhile I could easily gun them all down.

That makes sense. The turret provides an elevated view of the battlefield.

Apparently the reason some games start with a lot of players missing, is because Zipper changed it on the server side. In the queue the brightly coloured dots represent the numbers of players in the queue. The darker coloured dots are the numbers it needs before the game starts. On Acquisition a game can start with one side with as many as 13 players short. Which is crazy if you ask me. Hopefully they'll change that back soon.

We may be able to wink it through with 1 or 2 MIAs. 10 or more will burn us out. They must revert the change.

[size=-2]They should send the extra Valor players to Playstation Home to have a cup of Cappuccino or something.[/size] ... or give us better firepower.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Sometimes I found teams heavily outnumbered (count the names at the end in the scores) but, at least in Sabotage, often when when side was 3 or 4 men down, so was the other. If it's 3 or 4 men from one squad versus 3 or 4 spred around the whole platoon, that'll make more of a difference, but I did find when trying to find excuses that, "we were outnumbered," wasn't as legitimate an excuse as I would have like.

 

[patsu]

Full 1.06 release note (due tomorrow):
http://blog.mag.com/blog/2010/06/patch-alert-mag-v1-06/

Gameplay

Player knife attacks no longer deal damage to members of own PMC

Headshot damage bonuses no longer apply to friendly fire

Changed rewards for the resuscitation of an incapacitated ally to 5XP for partial health revive, and 10XP for full heath revive

Added functionality to Medical Kit so that players can now heal themselves with L1 in addition to using R1 to heal or revive a teammate

Added three gun ports to APCs of all factions

All vehicle handling has been improved and been given more realistic physics

Slowed down the rate of fire for the APC’s primary gun, but increased bullet damage

Primary APC gun can now damage enemy APCs

Shadow War contract turnover rate shortened by 75%

Weapons

Adjusted damage for the AM50, Rollins LRRS, and AGVK sniper rifles vs. vehicles and emplaced turrets

Increased rate of fire for all pistols (Raven’s F57, SVER’s IZ-443, and Valor’s M9)

Improved close-range effectiveness and decreased long-range effectiveness for all Pistols, Machine Pistols, SMGs and Shotguns

Made all LMG foregrips less effective at stabilizing fire

Made improved stability skills less effective at stabilizing fire for machine guns

Added “Hit” indicator to rocket launcher reticules

Credit cost for Pistols has been changed from 100c to 0c

Credit cost for Machine Pistols has been changed from 300c to 200c

Credit cost for SMGs has been changed from 400c to 300c

Credit cost for Shotguns has been changed from 600c to 400c

Credit cost for Improved Rocket Launchers has been changed from 1000c to 800c

Credit cost for Smoke Grenades has been changed from 300c to 200c

Credit cost for Poison Gas Grenades has been changed from 600c to 500c

Credit cost for Explosives Detector has been changed from 600c to 300c

Interface

Lowered requirements for most Medal Awards

Added progress bars to all Medal Awards

Added messaging to main menu and all sub-menu screens that notify users of the following unlocked items: Apparel, Skill Points, Weapons/ Gear, Medals, Ribbons, new Leadership levels and new Ranks

Added new comparison text to Stats menu for every category that allows users to compare their own stat to all other MAG players instantly

Clan list functionality now works properly and displays online friends alphabetically first, followed by offline friends also listed alphabetically

Clan and in-game Friends lists now leave highlighted selection on a player’s name if they change status as they move between “online” and “offline”

Changed vehicle icon visibility on the map to reflect its current status of visibility instead of its previous map state of “always seen”

Repaired display problem in the “Community” tab’s “Player Search” screen that improperly presented names that contained multiple non-alphabet characters

Statistics for “Enemy Vehicles Destroyed Assists” and “Enemy Turrets Destroyed Assists” are now correctly listed in proper category “Objectives”

Group panel now display icons to illustrate who is currently speaking

Fixed infrequent bug that would incorrectly change sidebar and queue panel status indicator to 1 when the queue size exceeded its maximum

Patched display problem in post-game stats screen that would incorrectly sort the “Assists” statistic

Eliminated problem that allowed FRAGO’d objectives to continue flashing red and blue after they are destroyed in Acquisition for defenders

Graphics

Fixed display problem with player’s left hand placement when using foregrip and bipod on the Raven Apex 100 light machine gun

Fixed issue that prevented repaired roadblocks from “shining” to indicate that they can be interacted with

Lowered instances “Death Twitch” jitter that sometimes occurred in dead characters that were close to/ or interacting with geometry

Repaired problem that allowed flashbang effects to penetrate through solid objects and geometry

Fixed occasional problem with second and third tier Sniper rifles that would sometimes result in the reticule not appear correctly when scoped

Technical

Previously-released downloadable content (Fast Attack Gear Pack, Trooper Gear Pack, Raven’s Spyder Body Apparel, SVER’s Hazard Body Apparel, and Valor’s Bulldog Body Apparel) is now accessible to all users without PlayStation Store access

Drastically lowered instances by which players could be resuscitated inside objectives, walls, and other geometry.

Patched problem that prevented users from saving a loadout with DLC weapons following a “Respec” action

Repaired issue that caused renamed PSN IDs to be incorrectly identified as its previous name when logging in

Fixed bug that prevented Valor players from selecting all unlocked uniforms when wearing “Augmented Fiber Mesh” light armor

Fixed rare bug that would result in thrown grenades bouncing off of dead bodies

Repaired an occasional “undefined” message that sometimes occurred when a vehicle was FRAGO’d
Fixed issue that sometimes prevented leaders from setting FRAGOs when riding in vehicles

Patched occasional glitch that prevented the progress bar from appearing when activating an objective out of a sprint

Various text localization updates

Server

Updated patching system to allow for faster download speeds when retrieving in-game updates

 

[Cornsnake]

I downloaded the patch, but I haven't played yet.

It seems confirm a new gamemode on new maps. The deploy screen shows one extra dot for each PMC that represent the maps. And pressing square to show the contracts, has one extra gamemode, called Interdiction. There are also new ribbons for this gamemode. One of them is "designated driver" for earning 1st, 2nd or 3rd place MVP in Interdiction. Along which the changes made to the APCs that suggests that Interdiction is a more vehicle orientated gamemode.

The requirements for medals and ribbons has also been significantly reduced. I have mixed feelings about that. One side it's nice because it will lead to less team killing for something like the destroy 3 AAA ribbon, which is now destroy 1 AAA. But I also had a number of hard earned ribbons that are now quite easy to get.

EDIT:

Played a few games now. I was immediately given 5 medals after the first one.

I like the new gunports on the APCs. You can't look around much with it though.

Zipper also changed back the number of players needed to start a game. Acquisition can now start with just 2 players missing on one side.