Global Agenda

[Morreion]

Global Agenda offering free trials (Massively)

...We're sending you along to the link to sign up for a free trial to the game that lets you experience how the game runs for... well... as long as you'd like. Once you have the trial, you have it forever. You can see why Hi-Rez Studios is encouraging people to tell their friends not yet in the game to take a look.

Of course, their are limitations -- specifically, there are a limited number of trials available, meaning that if you're interested you need to sign up by April 1st.

Global Agenda free trial page

[Morreion]

Global Agenda: Sandstorm Interview
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy recently spoke with Global Agenda Executive Producer Todd Harris about the upcoming Sandstorm expansion that will make some significant changes to the game.

MMORPG.com:

Version 1.3, Sandstorm, is the next big update and is being called the biggest milestone in the game's short existence. What is Sandstorm and for those who aren't up to speed, why is it such a big deal?

Todd Harris:

Well, we're often categorized as a hybrid between a third-person action game and an MMO. But with our next release we continue to grow in the MMO direction. Sandstorm takes our existing class-based action gameplay and extends many of the MMO aspects. We're increasing the character level cap, adding new player devices associated with that progression, adding device variation and more loot, enhancing the AvA territory gameplay, and introducing a few new areas called Open Zones that will each support a larger number of players and host mission content.

It is a very big expansion for us that involves new game features, new content development, and new server code to support a larger player count.

MMORPG.com:

The decision to move the game a little closer to an Open World experience with 1.3 couldn't have been an easy one. What were the driving factors to take the game in this direction?

Todd Harris:

One main driving factor - feedback from our customers!

What we've heard is: the combat is fun and generally balanced and a nice alternative to the typical tab-targeting MMO, but more content is needed and there's a desire for some of that content to be in larger, open areas. Sandstorm is our response to that feedback.

It is great to be in a position where the core classes and combat are solid and we can incrementally add more content on top of that foundation.

[Oatik]

Global Agenda going subscription free

To lazy to discuss, just links.

www.massively.com/2010/06/24/global-agenda-going-subscription-free/

[Morreion]

Like some of the commenters said, I'm not surprised by this move. The game is a persistent third-person shooter, its essentially a lobby / instance game but they're adding open zones too to make it more persistent which is nice:

Global Agenda: Hands On With Open Zones
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy met with the Hi-Rez Studios CEO to get some hands on time with Global Agenda's new open zones coming in the next phase of the Sandstorm update.

The artwork and design of the zone is gorgeous and sprawling, and while it seemed a little sparsely populated by both mobs and NPCs, Erez told me that's the part they're still fleshing out: how to make it feel living without being too crowded with baddies and static NPCs. I suspect he's hoping the presence of players will add a lot of the life to the area. But speaking of life, players of GA are currently used to facing off against robots and droids in PvE. With the introduction of Phase 2, players will start pitting themselves against human bandit enemies (both in the open zones and in missions).

The quests in the area are of the standard fare: Kill this, collect that, talk to this person. There's nothing new here, and yet it's not exactly an unproven way of handling questing. And considering the shooter nature of the gameplay, I find that killing ten robots while dodging behind cover and using my jetpack to get high ground on rocks is a bit more intense than your usual MMO combat. The action helps make up for the lack of originality in this case. I watched as Erez made his way about the terrain with his Recon, taking out enemies with stealth, and others from afar. As he demonstrated some of the quests for me, he mentioned that this first zone is going to be for players up to level 15, while there will be probably two more for players levels 15-30, and several more from there on for 30 and above.

E3 2010: Erez Goren talks to Massively about Global Agenda's future (Massively)

Game mechanics

Erez immediately went on to discuss new innovations in Global Agenda's game mechanics that have him excited for the future of the game. In addition to reworking the user interface, a completely new crafting system is on the way. "There's crafting for AVA," he said, "and there's new consumable crafting that's coming in." Consumables are a new addition to the game that will be mostly used to borrow an ability from another class that you wouldn't normally have access to. To support consumable crafting, materials can be gathered from items you don't need using a new salvage option.

Since players always get loot items they can use, they're likely to end up with more than one of the same item or to get an item they already have as loot from PvP or PvE. Having a salvage option is a handy way to make use of any unwanted duplicate items. In addition to some nice new customisation options, including new haircuts and more colour options, Sandstorm Phase 2 brings with it a brand-new achievements system. This allows you to "gain achievements and specialise as a player," and to show off those achievements to other players. Your achievements list can be sorted by rarity to show off the fact that you did something rare that few other players in the world have done.

[Morreion]

Global Agenda can still be more than a flash in the pan (Keen & Graev)

Good decision to abandon the subscription model. Now totally disown any attempt at convincing people that this is a MMO, stick with what you’ve clearly done well (shooter elements with some quick battles and team play), take a few more steps towards providing bigger maps and some good vehicles and a Starsiege Tribes feel and even I will buy the game. It’s definitely not too late to recover and make a game that people will talk about.

Rise and Shiny recap: Global Agenda (Massively)

Global Agenda is not trying to punish you as a player. It is not asking you to watch out for inconvenience. It's simple and to the point: log in, shoot stuff, respawn, shoot more stuff. Tucked discreetly into that request are many gameplay details like skill trees, stealth, giant robots, and jetpacks. If you played Tribes back in the day like I did, Global Agenda will feel very familiar. Not stale, nor a copy, but familiar.

Global Agenda: Creating the Perfect Storm (IGN)
Six months on, what's changed in Hi-Rez's ambitious online shooter? )

Hi-Rez: I think that the potential burden or obligation of a subscription was, particularly for shooter players, an obstacle for jumping in and trying the game. It's a little bit hard to know how much, but certainly we received a lot of positive attention and feedback when that was removed entirely. It's one less obstacle for folks to consider when they're making a purchase - it's a very crowded market and we think we've got a great offering but we want to remove any obstacle that's in the way of people trying it.

Global Agenda: Q&A with Todd Harris
Recently, MMORPG.com columnist Bill Murphy had the opportunity to sit down with Global Agenda Executive Producer Todd Harris to chat about the game's transition to a F2P model, downloadable content, achievements, badges and more. It's a revealing and interesting look at Global Agenda and one you won't want to miss. As always, let us know your thoughts on the forums.

Boosters have been very popular and they are currently our only form of micro-transaction. All items within Global Agenda can be earned thru game play. But Boosters do allow you to level faster and acquire items faster and many players have opted for that - particularly when leveling up alternate classes.

Lore Hound Exclusive: A Chat About Global Agenda With Executive Producer Todd Harris

The next expansion will continue to focus on what GA does best – squad oriented content that emphasizes teamwork – combining twitch/action gaming skills with coordination between distinct classes.