MAG Beta: Fail?
What is it with first party Sony online game betas?Published 18/09/2009 at 8:30 by nofi
Team 17 Ask for Testers [17]
Is There A Beta Game Than ModNation? [76]
European MAG Beta Signup [61]
If you were lucky enough to get into the MAG beta this week hopefully you’re a patient gamer with a massive bandwidth allowance from your friendly ISP and plenty of free hard drive space because we’re getting reports in this morning that even after sitting through the hefty initial download there are more updates heading your way, some reaching over 2 GB themselves pushing the overall download close to 6GB or more. And then chances are you won’t be able to connect anyway. Shijima, the European SOCOM & MAG Franchise Producer issued a statement last night confirming that “not even the existing users are having much luck getting into a game due to some critical download issues that the team are working to fix” and then reporting that the servers will be offline over the weekend.
Anyone without a beta code yet will then be thankful that they’ve not wasted their time, and can look forward to a much smoother attempt next week. “Hopefully by then all the problems will be fixed and the service will be running smoothly again,” said Shijima. On the subject of the rather massive (pun intended) download, it’s because the beta is essentially the full game. “The team are basically giving away the whole game as part of this trial because they need to test all scenarios and circumstances to ensure that the complex back-end server systems are all functioning correctly. If you can be patient enough with the downloads then you should be richly rewarded.”
Hopefully next week’s update will see resumable downloads, too. “If you hear stories about people disconnecting during download after X hours and then starting from 0% again, hopefully this won’t apply to you next week. These are two of the biggest problems that the team are working to resolve right now. Sorry if you feel let down over all of this,” continues Shijima, “but this is the reality of Beta trials and something you should come to expect and accept if you ever want to break into the Beta Trial Community. It is because we are having these problems at this stage that we can work to address them, in the hope that when you all purchase the final game you will have the best possible online experience for what will hopefully be one of the best online console shooters.”
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
stokenash | 18/09/2009 08:42
Member
24 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
I supose the whole point of a BETA is to detect problems such as this and fix them. Can’t wait for the full, working release.
BigD-UK- | 18/09/2009 09:02
Member
176 TSA Points | Member since: Nov 2008
Defo, I’m a UA Tester (essentially a beta tester) and delays, temp fixes and repetition is the nature of the beast!
GamerRiley | 18/09/2009 09:15
Member
327 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
Exactly right, we are testing a product that isn’t in distribution yet and the reason for this is to iron out any the niggles that may be there. You can’t moan that the beta is no good, wait until the release and if the problems are still evident then take the relevant action. (cry & weep)
Doddsy | 18/09/2009 08:59
Totally Oscar Mike
731 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
It’s a beta, but this seems overkill
ShovellyJoe | 18/09/2009 16:29
Member
1203 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
To be fair i don’t reckon they could kill enough. I don’t care how long it’s delayed by, if it’s released in an absolutely flawless state then its definitely worth it in my eyes.
Kevling | 18/09/2009 09:11
Member
2032 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Out of interest, ‘MojoSwift’ from the EU Community Team has posted a thread in the Beta forums called “MAG – What happens now”. One interesting snippet:
“Now – NDA, nope we can ignore that one from herein. The MAG Beta has already seen a large amount of publicity (unfortunately) and we’re gonna be up to our eyeballs in it from now on. What I will say is this – Please don’t release any previous beta footage, images or info that relates to the game when we were testing it as a closed beta. That stuff should really be kept within these walls. ”
So from now on, with the beta going publc, no more NDA.
cc_star | 18/09/2009 09:17
Team TSA: Writer
7878 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Fair enough, did you get it, I saw you were downloading yesterday.
Kevling | 18/09/2009 09:25
Member
2032 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Unfortunately not. I had the original close beta software, and last night got the 30Mb 1.20 update, and left the 2.5Gb downloading overnight. Got up this morning to see a lovely “Unable to connect to server”. Looks like I’m a victim of the problems in this post… Checked my game data and it has ballooned from 3.5Gb to 5.5Gb, but when I opened it up it started the 2.5Gb download again from scratch, so it probably lost connection at around 80% or something.
To be honest, I don;t know why I’m updating, as I struggle to meet the crazy US time-based server slots!
kingfox | 18/09/2009 12:25
Member
230 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
your not ment to copy stuff out of there its a private forum for a reason
ii3illy | 18/09/2009 09:17
Member
599 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
“MAG Beta: Fail?” Can a beta fail? If they release the final product with the errors then it becomes a fail surely?
nofi | 18/09/2009 09:19
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Can a Beta fail? Seems like it already has.
I’ll take a look again after the weekend.
jimmy-google | 18/09/2009 09:44
Member
1727 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Surely a beta can only fail if the final product that is release is full of bugs and others problems that the beta didn’t pick up or solve being that the purpose of a beta is to locate and fix all these problems.
Sounds like its doing what its meant to to me.
Uhyve | 18/09/2009 14:27
Member
421 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
If you take it further, you could say that betas are made to find problems. In that case, you could say that this beta was a success
RadioactiveMouse | 18/09/2009 09:20
Member
552 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
To be honest, beta’s are supposed to be for ironing out the wrinkles in games and not glorified demos like Sony have been making them recently. A Beta is a pre-release version of a game for testing purposes by people outside the dev team and therefore cannot be expected to be fully working and slick from the off.
At least they know the issue and can sort it before the proper release
cc_star | 18/09/2009 09:25
Team TSA: Writer
7878 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
You’d of expected a few flaws like falling through the ground or walking through walls, still at least they’ve realised this flaw before I attempt to dowload it.
This highlights the flaws of giving keys away, rather than everyone hitting the relevant MAG beta forum, the hit their website or social network of choice immediately breaking the NDA they agreed to when they entered their key in
BadBoyBoogie | 18/09/2009 09:36
Let There Be Rock
2689 TSA Points | Member since: Mar 2009
Looks I was lucky to miss out on this beta!!
Hopefully they’ll sort out all the issues before the game’s release, as I’m looking forward to this title.
everybodysinging | 18/09/2009 10:04
Member
547 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
yeah i missed out too, a bit gutted though as i wanted a go before release
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 10:13
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
What an ill-informed article, these issues are the EXACT reason betas exist, to get all the major hiccups out of the way so that at release the game is known to run adequately. this has annoyed me even more than the article about the second Uncharted beta, in which the author slated the fitst beta simply because he wasn’t very good at it.
If TSA is to be taken seriously, these sorts of article really need to be vetoed by the site editor. The subject matter itself is relevant, but the tone of the article and especially the headline are completely uncalled for.
MalcolmHB | 18/09/2009 10:18
Member
44 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
Agreed
Kevling | 18/09/2009 10:21
Member
2032 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
Not quite. The main point of this article is that people can’t even GET the beta. The beta is not here to test the process for downloading the game – you’ll be buying it on a disc. Otherwise part of the beta would be giving you a voucher to go and pick it up from Gamestation, you know, to see if that part of the process works properly.
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 10:33
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
But if there is to be patches to the game for additional content, then these issues are still relevant to beta testing, as they can iron our the server end problems to deliver updates reliably in future.
It’s all part of the testing.
Kevling | 18/09/2009 10:39
Member
2032 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
True, but we’re not just receiving patches. It has been stated in the Beta forum that we are essentiall getting the entire game drip fed out to us, so that all the different maps and modes can be tested effectively. When you boot up MAG, you get the standard patch notification download and install. Then when you enter the game itself, you get the prompts to download new updated content (the 2.5Gb), so it’s not the same thing, and would not be present at retail.
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 11:05
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
But they might be considering the p2p method of delivering future updates, in which case getting these problems fixed now is preferable to after release, when they’ll get mauled for releasing a poorly tested product.
Lyts1985 | 18/09/2009 11:11
Member
61 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
Agreed. This site seems very anti-PS3\Sony lately which is a shame as it used to be a damn good site
Whats most shocking, for me at least, is that the author of this particular article is none other than the site owner\admin or whatever his title is these days. Speaks volumes…
nofi | 18/09/2009 11:15
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
PR, thanksverymuch. By the way, your glasses are over here.
Gastos84 | 18/09/2009 11:22
Team TSA: Writer
3888 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Anti PS3/Sony? How you can you say that? What they are giving is news from both sides of the fence so that we can get a fuller picture of the console that this site supports first and foremost.
The site editor has just published an extremely good letter in support of Sony and PS3 over what was a very biased piece by the BBC. That to me shows commitment to the brand, and I hasten to add that the aforementioned letter was written in the early hours of the morning showing even more passion.
And furthermore, CB, Nofi and CC_Star among the rest of the staff put a lot of effort into everything that goes up on this site. If there were a hatred for the PS3 they wouldn’t bother at all.
Lyts1985 | 18/09/2009 15:01
Member
61 TSA Points | Member since: Jan 2009
I remarked on your title as until recently it was either owner or admin, i forget which
and i thank you for your concern but they cant be my glasses, mine are on my face as i can barely see without them. Ok perhaps anti-ps3\sony was a little harsh, but certain writers for this site certainly have a negative attitude towards the brand of late. Over the past few weeks several have commented on this websites change in direction and the negative effect its had on the quality of the articles and writing. The fact the sites PR guy doesnt even understand the purpose of a beta is shocking but to then imply sony are inept in the subtitle beggars belief. Im not the first and certainly wont be the last. Anyway thats all im saying on the comments board, you know how to reach me 
MalcolmHB | 18/09/2009 10:17
Member
44 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2009
The original download was about 300MB and that was pretty fast but it was the 2.5ish GB update that downloaded way slower than it should have been and you couldnt even use the XMB while it was doing it. Once it was completed though I really enjoyed the game, didnt see a single problem.
cc_star | 18/09/2009 10:25
Team TSA: Writer
7878 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Once the 300mb is out of the way, I believe the rest of it is delivered using p2p technology – Most ISPs throttle/shape p2p traffic during peak hours which can be anything from 3pm-1am depending on your ISP.
With this traffic throttled/shaped it would make it extremely hard to download even if it was working properly.
nofi | 18/09/2009 11:23
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Apparently people in these comments are implying that my post was ‘anti-sony’. I don’t normally do this, but I’ll qualify:
The title has a question mark, inferring a question.
“hopefully you’re a patient gamer with a massive bandwidth allowance from your friendly ISP and plenty of free hard drive space” – this is fact based writing.
“because we’re getting reports in this morning that even after sitting through the hefty initial download there are more updates heading your way, some reaching over 2 GB themselves pushing the overall download close to 6GB or more” – again, fact.
And then chances are you won’t be able to connect anyway. Shijima, the European SOCOM & MAG Franchise Producer issued a statement last night confirming that “not even the existing users are having much luck getting into a game due to some critical download issues that the team are working to fix” and then reporting that the servers will be offline over the weekend. – again, this is the situation, I’m not making this up.
“Anyone without a beta code yet will then be thankful that they’ve not wasted their time, and can look forward to a much smoother attempt next week.” – indeed, at this point the servers will be off soon for the weekend anyway.
“Hopefully by then all the problems will be fixed and the service will be running smoothly again,” said Shijima. On the subject of the rather massive (pun intended) download, it’s because the beta is essentially the full game. “The team are basically giving away the whole game as part of this trial because they need to test all scenarios and circumstances to ensure that the complex back-end server systems are all functioning correctly. If you can be patient enough with the downloads then you should be richly rewarded.” – Shijima’s words, and ones I agree with – stick it out until next week and all will be well.
“Hopefully next week’s update will see resumable downloads, too.” – fact.
“If you hear stories about people disconnecting during download after X hours and then starting from 0% again, hopefully this won’t apply to you next week. These are two of the biggest problems that the team are working to resolve right now. Sorry if you feel let down over all of this,” continues Shijima. – again Shijima’s words.
“but this is the reality of Beta trials and something you should come to expect and accept if you ever want to break into the Beta Trial Community.” – I don’t agree with this, I’m under the impression the devs are making considerable changes live with regards to the P2P downloads, something that could have been testing internally and with a much less public facing outcome.
“It is because we are having these problems at this stage that we can work to address them, in the hope that when you all purchase the final game you will have the best possible online experience for what will hopefully be one of the best online console shooters.” – indeed. MAG will be awesome, but it’s not right now.
Claims that we’re ‘anti-sony’ is ridiculous given our coverage of the Watchdog thing. Still, blinkers are blinkers, and you’re entitled to your opinions…
Crazy_Del | 18/09/2009 12:13
Member
478 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Hey nofi don’t worry about what they say just ignore them or kick them out lol (Yes I know it was a bit harsh) but I’m giving a huge credit to you nofi for doing all the work and helping us what is happening but not just the PS3 but the whole games on all different levels and outside of games i.e E3, GamesCon developers and of course bloody politics boo lol. So keep up the good work guys. And yes we are entitled to our own opinions
Again Thanks nofi
nofi | 18/09/2009 12:36
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Thanks. Some people don’t react well when their console’s first party games don’t work out perfectly. See our inFamous review for proof.
cc_star | 18/09/2009 12:48
Team TSA: Writer
7878 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
You didn’t just go there did you… oh, you did
Hicko | 18/09/2009 13:03
Member
143 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Nofi you really don’t have to explain yourself. You wrote an article for a gamers website. People don’t need to read it or even visit the site if they don’t enjoy it! As far as I’m concerned, I find most article thought provoking and at the very least, interesting. It seems your head must be pretty hard with all the times you’re banging it on the TSA towers wall! Fact!!
mynameisblair | 18/09/2009 13:50
Member
3877 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Yeah don’t worry man, I got your back.
With my shotgun.
Timesh1993 | 18/09/2009 15:18
Member
1180 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
Well I have got your back with an RPG.
matty | 18/09/2009 23:47
Member
1331 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
i don’t have anyones back should see me on killzone bang -3 points arrh lol
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 14:08
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I’d just like to clarify my post was not suggesting any anti-anything behaviour, just disagreeing with the tone of the article.
nofi | 18/09/2009 14:12
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
You said, and I quote “What an ill-informed article” and then proceeded. It’s not ill-informed at all, it’s all fact. Believe me, I know what a beta is…
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 14:57
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
A beta is for identifying issues and bugs via large scale distribution, any article criticising when something goes wrong is pointless, because that’s what it’s there for. You’re giving it stick for doing what it’s supposed to do.
Whether you know what a beta is or not, your article make it look like you didn’t by it’s tone. That’s damaging to the site, which you are trying to elevate to a professional level.
nofi | 18/09/2009 15:20
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Damaging to the site, or to your agenda?
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 15:36
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Exactly what ‘agenda’ are you implying I have?
Could it not be that I simply thought the article was lacking in credibility due to it’s tone?
You’re not the first author I’ve pulled up on their articles and you won’t be the last, if nobody criticises your work when it’s not up to standard, then you’ll never improve as a writer. If you can’t take criticism of your work, then I suggest journalism really isn’t for you.
nofi | 18/09/2009 15:39
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
An article based on fact can’t lack credibility. If it’s your will to go around ‘pulling up authors’ then I’d suggest you do it elsewhere, because I’ll tire of your attitude pretty quickly.
Just so you know, you know.
Thanks.
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 16:01
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Headline: “MAG Beta: Fail?”
A beta is to identify issues and bugs, which is exactly what happened, so suggesting it failed is pretty much the exact opposite of the truth.
It was in fact quite successful in highlighting a big problem.
The headline was undoubtedly inflammatory, not to mention innacurate. How can that not damage the credibility of the site?
I’m still curious about this agenda you’re suggesting I have btw?
nofi | 18/09/2009 16:14
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
You’re still misunderstanding. These issues have been around since the ‘closed’ beta, apparently. They should have been fixed, but they weren’t. Imagine what would have happened if more people had gotten codes?
As it stands, today, this beta test has failed because the gamers can’t get into the game to beta test it. What do you think the beta test is for, Sony’s PSN download speeds? Seriously?
mcwildcard | 18/09/2009 16:33
Member
79 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
The delivery of data is important in itself, if the servers are falling down for whatever reason, then it needs to be sorted out.
After release there will be inevitable patches for fixing and additional content, now if these huge problems occur after release, it’s a big deal, people have paid mnoney and it’s gone horribly wrong. If it’s identified at beta stage, it gets fixed, which means one less thing to go wrong after release.
Beta testing isn’t just about the game itself being tested, it’s about all the systems surrounding it as well.
And the agenda?
Anthony72 | 18/09/2009 16:19
Member
267 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
It seems sad that a genuine fact based article written by someonne who cares about the console is trashed because they dont agree with it. Theres been a lot of people digging at TSA latley on this and other issues. I have a solution if you dont like what you read guess what dont read it. I only use this site because others were influxed with negativity all the time and it appears others are trying to do the same here. Guys at TSA keep up the great work
nofi | 18/09/2009 16:21
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
Thanks.
Tuffcub | 18/09/2009 12:11
Team TSA: Writer
4070 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
I told you about the stupid downloads and connection issues on the forum when I got my ‘offiical beta tester’ aaaaaaageees ago
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/forum/general-chat/mag-beta/#p89794
nofi | 18/09/2009 12:35
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
I know, but it was NDA’d then, sadly.
nofi | 18/09/2009 13:04
Wants a custom tag.
4307 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
test
Tuffcub | 18/09/2009 14:58
Team TSA: Writer
4070 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
SHH!
Ryosuke | 18/09/2009 13:02
Member
145 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2009
I signed up for beta, i hope i get in, i’ll happily leave the MAHOOSIVE download going while i work if need be, i’ve been looking forward to this game for what seems like forever! ><
mynameisblair | 18/09/2009 13:50
Member
3877 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
6GB!? Ouch.
matty | 18/09/2009 14:22
Member
1331 TSA Points | Member since: Dec 2008
yep but also in his post further down someone asks if you have all ready installed the 3GB will i need to download again had he said “Er, I don’t expect so. They’re not changing the data sets, just trying to fix the download server.” so im hoping he is right im installing it now
maximiliano | 18/09/2009 15:09
Member
200 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
Okey, I haven’t tried this time. But I was in the Beta in the past weeks and it was just flawless. The only problems was when I was downloading it (wich seems to be a bigger problem now with the 6gb volume).
But you put the question mark and I will answer, with a big NO, it isn’t a Fail. Just let them fix those problems of download, the gameplay is awesome, no glitches and bugs that I have seen, and no lag whatsoever, with is incredible for a beta, and for my internet speed of just 1mb (pretty low for “1st world” stardards). It was a really fun and smooth experience, just because you’re seeing those problems now doesn’t mean that is a Fail as a whole. I understand that you’re stating facts, but sometimes you’re just being picky.