Global Agenda launches

The action shooter online game has officially launched after what I would consider a less than enjoyable head start which I got nothing out of.

People complained about Star Trek Online this weekend but let me tell you I had a MUCH harder time getting in to play GA over the past two days and now my head start opportunity is wasted. I don't care too much because this game was never going to be a main focus however I was not even able to reach the level 10 cap imposed on head starters. Part of this was my fault yes. I was out of action all of Saturday and did not really get around to playing too much Friday when it went up after our podcast (episode 6 available here).

The servers were down A LOT. I mean many many times. When they were up I was either away from keyboard or sleeping for the most part. This coupled with Star Trek Online and my Global Agenda look see failed miserably. As such I cannot offer too much insight into the game at this point other than what Darryl and I discussed in the last two podcasts here at the Banstick. The game is live now so all bets are off for being nice if the servers keep going down.

As a primarily PVP game with some PVE elements thrown in for slow times, Global Agenda depends a lot upon your teammates and working together much like Team Fortress 2. This being the case I had some absolutely miserable matches on Friday, sometimes losing 800 to 60 or so. Darryl and I did have one match where our team came back from being down about 600 to 200 and we won in the last few seconds. Moments like that are few and far between. I find games that rely on this element too frustrating and annoying. People are generally idiots in this game, especially once you get the more immature players in there and it just gets on my last nerve. Hopefully the persistent feature gets worked on and people do not mind paying the subscription fee to use it. This should lead to a more mature crew in the conquest areas to team up with.

Overall I do like the idea of the game and I have fun in the universe and the PVE missions, but when I get into the PVP I had the most absolute pure stream of bad luck I have witnessed. Not even in Planetside did I suffer through such a mass of people unwilling to work together to achieve a common goal.

Conquer persistent territory - Player formed agencies compete for scarce territory, resources, and technology on a persistent world map. Create and upgrade facilities, attack and defend territories, and engage in Base Raids, production, politics and deception on your way toward world domination. Learn more about Conquest.

The development team has released a message to celebrate the event:

Our vision for Global Agenda was to combine elements from our favorite genres:  the combat of a team-based shooter, accessible character progression of an RPG, and emergent conflict, production, and politics between player-formed groups competing for limited territory and resources like a giant strategy game.  Plus jetpacks, because who doesn’t like jetpacks?!

Like our game, our pricing model is a hybrid, designed to offer players maximum flexibility:

- With a one-time purchase players can enjoy the game casually with features comparable to other multiplayer online shooters.

- And players that opt for the monthly subscription have access to ongoing content updates and premium features including ‘Conquest’ - the strategy meta-game that enables groups to compete over specific, persistent territory locations on the world map.

As an independent studio, we’ve had the luxury of developing a title that can be hard to categorize, but aims for ‘fun and engaging’ above all else.  We hope you enjoy the game.

If your results have varied, let me know. I still have not decided on a final class but like I mentioned in the podcast I may go poison medic and just see how many people I can take out with AOE while still focusing on my team and keeping them healthy. Poison medic skills include things like acid grenades and poison injections and the like as well as the ability to AOE slow the enemy team. I have a feeling I will like the conquest mode a lot more as it involves vehicles and a purpose to strive for.