Since its release, MAG has been a subject of debate on whether the 256 online only, multiplayer game was actually a successful release or an utter failure. For me, as you can see by my review here, the game was an experience that FPS fans should experience. Zipper Interactive Designer, Ben Jones, took some time to answer some questions for those that still have questions about MAG.

How did the idea of creating such an immense game begin?

We learned so much about teamwork from the SOCOM franchise that we felt comfortable taking a risk and attempting to drive player cooperation to new heights with our next IP. When we discovered what we could accomplish with our successes in the networking field the course became clear: Create a squad-based tactical shooter on a massive scale that allows players to work together in a completely new way.

Why the sudden jump to 256 players from the common 16 or 32 players battles?

When we looked at the existing FPS market it seemed that many titles were creating the illusion of large battles with a lot of smoke and mirrors. MAG gave us the opportunity to create the first large scale, player-driven battlefield on a console by upping the player count to an unprecedented level.

What were some of the challenges of developing a game that works on such a grand scale?

One of our greatest challenges during development was creating order out of the chaos that 256 players inherently bring to an online battlefield. After sampling a few different approaches, we determined that creating focused objectives for each squad and breeding familiarity with level templates was the best route towards this goal. That said, we knew that in such an environment players could succumb to their natural instinct to wander, so we set out to incentivize them to stick with their squads. This was eventually accomplished by giving them double experience for any actions taken in the vicinity of their objectives and adding leadership aura bonuses when close to your leaders.

The networking hurdle was obviously huge to overcome, but I think balancing out the power that the different levels of leadership provide with their implicit responsibility was an equally daunting task. To solve this we determined that it was best to rank players with leadership points earned by their actions in the field to ensure that only successful commanders moved up the ranks.

Was there any story mode planned originally, or was it online only from the beginning?

We determined from the outset to focus all of our effort towards multiplayer. Building a game around such large player counts and massive environments took a great deal of effort and we didn’t want to sacrifice our core experience by shoe-horning in a halfhearted single player campaign.

Will there be any planned events in the future such as double xp weekends or any special events of that sort?

We're all about supporting our community and special events are just one of many ways we can do that, so hopefully you'll see some of those soon!

Are there any plans for special DLC or expansion packs?

We think we’ve built an amazing content platform for MAG and, though I can’t speak to our plans just yet, we intend to strongly support the title.

With the rampant cheating occurring in Modern Warfare 2, what does Zipper Interactive have in place to ensure a great gaming experience for the players?

Our dedicated servers and cheat protection efforts should help us to avoid much of the griefing players see in other titles, but they also let you avoid painful issues like host migration. However, if something crops up we’ll quickly look to address it like we did this week with our 1.01a patch this week!

O.G.'s MAG Review