For better or worse, most MMOs these days live and die by combat. That goes doubly so for the MMOFPS field, since it's difficult to have a game with "shooter" right in the genre descriptor without some form of lethal ordnance being unloaded. MAG, the massive squad-based shooter on the PS3, has made a major overhaul to its combat system with patch 1.03, designed to address several community concerns and elements that the designers felt were unfair and unfun. A large-scale weapon overhaul has taken place as the centerpiece of the patch, with the effectiveness of several weapons and strategies being re-tuned.
The short version: shorter-range weapons have been toned down in terms of their accuracy at range, sights have been toned down for a similar reason, and both battle rifles and rocket launchers have received notable buffs. There's also greater consistency in firing through thin materials such as tents. With changes to the warnings for charges, faster gear switching, and decreased respec costs, the patch also brings improvements not solely linked to weapon balance. MAG players have the patch available now, and we're hoping that the shifts are keeping players more entertained and less frustrated at someone sniping them from half a map away with a shotgun.
Reader Comments (13)
Posted: Feb 27th 2010 10:27PM (Unverified) said
It's more of an MMO than Champions Online is.
Posted: Feb 28th 2010 1:52AM Jeremy G said
So, how exactly is it not an MMO? It's Massive, It's Multiplayer, and it's played Online...M...M...O....lost me...
Posted: Feb 28th 2010 2:45AM Aquaryon said
Considering the average FPS is only 32 players (PC) and 24 players (consoles). 256 players its quite massive as Jmo said.
Posted: Feb 28th 2010 5:22AM Psychotic Storm said
Considering that in most MMO's your party is around 6 people and in most shooters is way more than that, what exactly is an MMO?
Is the MMO defined by how many users are in the game? sorry most "traditional" MMO are instanced in a way or another you will never see a few thousand players in the same place around 200 is usually the most a player may ever see.
Is MMO defined by how many players can interact together? again in traditional MMOs teams tend to be around 6 members in most shooters the average team is way way above that.
So what is an MMO, the big wilderness that one can travel freely? one could say that since most of the big things are in instanced dungeons were a relatively small team many enter that the big outdoors is just a huge lobby with gimmicks to do.
the MMO gender is getting quite hazy in my opinion and screams like "this in not an MMO" should stop.
Is the MMO defined by how many users are in the game? sorry most "traditional" MMO are instanced in a way or another you will never see a few thousand players in the same place around 200 is usually the most a player may ever see.
Is MMO defined by how many players can interact together? again in traditional MMOs teams tend to be around 6 members in most shooters the average team is way way above that.
So what is an MMO, the big wilderness that one can travel freely? one could say that since most of the big things are in instanced dungeons were a relatively small team many enter that the big outdoors is just a huge lobby with gimmicks to do.
the MMO gender is getting quite hazy in my opinion and screams like "this in not an MMO" should stop.
Posted: Feb 28th 2010 7:59AM (Unverified) said
Welcome to last weeks news....
Posted: Feb 28th 2010 11:58AM (Unverified) said
MAG is *ALMOST* a MMO, but not quite. It is a Shooter that wants to be a MMO.
Easily the closest thing to Planetside that there is.
but it is still "Match" based. Rather than traveling around a Massive persistent world and fighting wars(like Planetside), you still queue up for "Matches". The difference is that the "Matches" are much, much bigger than your average Shooter. That makes it not quite a MMO.
MAG is right at the midpoint between Shooter(COD, Halo, every other console Shooter in existence) and War Game(Planetside). Its the closest thing to a MMOFPS that Consoles have ever seen. Which makes it worth covering here.
Easily the closest thing to Planetside that there is.
but it is still "Match" based. Rather than traveling around a Massive persistent world and fighting wars(like Planetside), you still queue up for "Matches". The difference is that the "Matches" are much, much bigger than your average Shooter. That makes it not quite a MMO.
MAG is right at the midpoint between Shooter(COD, Halo, every other console Shooter in existence) and War Game(Planetside). Its the closest thing to a MMOFPS that Consoles have ever seen. Which makes it worth covering here.
Posted: Feb 28th 2010 5:12PM (Unverified) said
A MMO is not based on anything except how many people are playing on the field at the same time. Technically it is a MMOFPS by all means of the term.
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Posted: Feb 28th 2010 5:20PM (Unverified) said
I disagree.
a game is not a MMO unless it has a persistent, traversable game world that does not go away when one stops playing.
"Match" based games where you queue up in a 'Lobby" and then load a "map" that goes away once the "match" ends, is not a MMO.
a game is not a MMO unless it has a persistent, traversable game world that does not go away when one stops playing.
"Match" based games where you queue up in a 'Lobby" and then load a "map" that goes away once the "match" ends, is not a MMO.
Posted: Mar 1st 2010 8:55AM oddshrub said
MAG features relative lag free battles with a lot more players than most (if not all) MMOs can handle. But if you definition of a MMO is something with a persistent world then MAG isn't a MMO. MAG is however far from the only match based online game Massively reports on.
I suspect that you'll see more and more match making in regular themepark MMOs as well though. You can already see some of it in Blizzard's World of Warcraft with the random dungeon thing they're evolving to include battlegrounds and raids. Eventually you'll have themepark games where the persistent world basically functions as a 3d chat channel.
Which is all still relevant to massively, or at least it is if massively wants to keep readers like me.
I suspect that you'll see more and more match making in regular themepark MMOs as well though. You can already see some of it in Blizzard's World of Warcraft with the random dungeon thing they're evolving to include battlegrounds and raids. Eventually you'll have themepark games where the persistent world basically functions as a 3d chat channel.
Which is all still relevant to massively, or at least it is if massively wants to keep readers like me.
Posted: Mar 1st 2010 5:23PM Nottom said
256 players at once is not MASSIVE
NOT AN MMO
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Posted: Mar 1st 2010 9:38PM madbassman39 said
256 players per instance is more than what Champions Online has per instance. 156 more to be exact.
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