MAG is only a month away from release, and based on reactions from closed beta players it appears that the massive multiplayer shooter will make a big splash when it hits in January. We recently got a chance to talk to Zipper lead designer Ben Jones about how his team managed to handle the tribulations of such a huge shooter experience.
GamePro: Why is 256 the magic number? Did the team decide on this number based on what was feasible on the PS3, or was it more based around what Zipper wanted to do with the armies in the game?
Ben Jones: Once we discovered that networking an unprecedented amount of players was possible on the PS3 we were determined to organize them in a practical manner. Forming eight player squads was always our goal, but we arrived at 256 by using traditional military structure to form players into platoons or 32 and companies of 128.
GP: What were some of the design challenges of creating a persistent shooter with so many players? Are there things Zipper is doing on the back-end to compensate for such a heavy load of game matches and players?
BJ 
utting the networking hurdles aside for a moment, which is difficult to do because overcoming them determined the course of the game, I think creating templates for our missions that allowed players to feel the impact of 255 others without overwhelming them was a remarkable feat. However, the way we quickly match players into games, populate and beautify our massive levels and test the whole package at scale cannot be discounted.
GP: Can you explain how the persistent nature of MAG will work?
BJ:There are two forms of persistence in MAG: The player’s character and the Shadow War. We’ve given players a lot of freedom to customize their characters from selecting their face, voice and equipment to the free-form Skill Tree and unlock system which will empower them to stand out from the crowd. The persistence of the world they play in is built around the Shadow War, which is essentially a series of rolling tournaments for private contracts. Each gametype has three contracts and at any given time a single PMC will either have two, one or none. The owner of the most contracts in that gametype will defend their bases until stakeholders become unhappy and award a contract to another PMC.
GP: How will the “Shadow War” impact the player’s experience in the game?
BJ:Each contract gives the owner powerful perks like XP bonuses, reduced cool-down times for Tactical Strikes and increased Leadership Auras. These have a dramatic impact on both character progression and the way each game plays out, so players are inclined to check the status of the Shadow War and apply themselves wherever contracts are on the line!
GP: When players rank-up within the game world, how does the game (or the community) manage promotions/leadership roles? Do players “vote” for captains, etc? Or does the game automatically select based on experience?
BJ romotions are handled automatically when the player acquires the required rank and leadership points, but their placement into leadership roles is voluntary. Before the game begins we look those who have opted in to lead and determine the best fit for the position based on a number of factors including the amount of games they’ve been waiting to take that position.
GP:How much detail does the player-matching system go into? Does it have more in common with existing systems where it relies on a fundamental overall experience level? Or does it factor in specific battlefield skills and group players together based on complimentary “real” talents? (Guys good at headshots matched with guys accurate with grenades, etc.)
BJ:Initially we match players by language but go on to look at character level and specialty to get a good mix in each squad. Finally we take note of what platoon you last played in so things don’t become repetitive. With the amount of diversity that MAG has to offer we’ve found that this is the best method for creating balanced teams.