global agenda
Latest
Hi-Rez prepping Global Agenda's largest expansion
Hi-Rez Studios has big plans for Global Agenda, and the autumn months will see the sci-fi shooter's largest expansion to date made available to everyone for free. The Recursive Colony patch (version 1.5 if you're counting at home) will include a new open zone with instanced missions, quest chains, social spaces, and mid- to high-level content. New enemies, daily repeatable quests, and further avatar customization options are also on the way. "Players seeking a quest-driven, narrative experience post level 20 can now level up in the new open zone as an alternative to, or in addition to, our instanced missions," said Hi Rez's Todd Harris. "We've also included a new set of instanced PvE and PvP content for players at all levels." Said PvP content takes the form of a new mercenary map (Push Dust) and a new acquisition map (Colony Caverns). Finally, if you're going to be at PAX Prime this weekend, stop by the Hi-Rez booth (number 252) and be the first to check out the new content.
Massively's guide to Gamescom 2011
If you've never been to Gamescom before, let's simply put it this way: It's big. Really, really big. Forget most any convention you've attended; this is likely to be even bigger. Billing itself as the world's largest games event, Gamescom sees well over a quarter-million fans, journalists and exhibitors crowd into the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany to check out hundreds of games and companies. Due to its size and worldwide prominence, Gamescom is a significant event for anyone following the MMO genre (and video games in general). There are plenty of MMO studios gearing up to share first looks, exclusive reveals, detailed Q&A sessions, and exciting hands-on demos for attendees. Naturally, Massively will be paying close attention to all of the news coming out of Gamescom this week. For those attending the convention or merely looking to keep abreast of all of the games, studios, and information forthcoming, we've compiled a guide to the hottest tickets at Gamescom as well as a comprehensive exhibitor list of MMO studios after the break.
New Global Agenda Recursive Colony content playable at PAX Prime
Citizens of Dome City, we have a special public service announcement. Hi-Rez Studios announced today that Global Agenda players will have a very special opportunity at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo. Attendees will have the opportunity to preview the new content that will be coming to Global Agenda. We don't have much in the way of details insofar as what this new content includes, however. What we do know is that it will be part of the game's upcoming patch 1.5 Recursive Colony update, which includes new Open Zone quest content as well as new instanced co-op missions. Keep an eye on Massively, and we'll be sure to keep you updated on all the Global Agenda news from PAX when it happens.
Choose My Adventure: No more lightsabers!
As most of readers of my column realize, I love the Star Wars franchise, and I will pretty much play any game if it has that label on it. However, I am not just a Star Wars fan, I am also a big MMO fan. Well, at least I like the idea of MMOs. Ultima Online blew my mind when it came out over a decade ago. I had been glued to my TV and Nintendo until I saw that I could play a game that simulated living in the Ultima universe. Since then I have tried out nearly every major MMO to hit the web since then -- which brings us to today. Choose My Adventure is a chance for Massively readers to guide one member of the writing staff on an adventure in a game of the readers' choosing. For the next six weeks, I want you to choose my adventure for me. As I mentioned, I have tried nearly every major title in the last decade, but I haven't necessarily spent a lot of time in all of them. After the break, I will describe some of the games that I believe will be great for this task, and you can choose one for me via poll. Then, as a special bonus, on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT I will introduce you to each of the games on Massively's Livestream channel.
MV Guide: August 1-7, 2011
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively's Livestream channel. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During livestream events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, livestream events are subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's scheduled for this week!
Global Agenda 1.5 video teaser hints at Sonoran Desert content
Global Agenda's 1.5 update is just around the corner, and Hi-Rez has released a teaser video to whet your appetite. The clip is pretty brief (under a minute's worth of footage to be precise) but it nonetheless sets an eerie stage for what looks to be some fun additions to the third-person shooter's Sonoran Desert PvE content. As the teaser web page states, "Robotics agents are using drones to stream video to the domes. Is it safe for agents to enter this area of the desert?" You'll have to wait for 1.5 to find out, but in the meantime, fly your jetpack past the cut to get a look at the surveillance footage (and listen in on its creepy audio track) before heading to the official Global Agenda website for more details.
Global Agenda's new F2P model a resounding success
The business model saga of Global Agenda is an interesting one, and PC Gamer recently sat down with Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris to chat about it. In a brief interview, Harris mentions his observations on free-to-play and the future of gaming as well as Global Agenda's resounding success since going to a full-featured F2P model. "We have many, many more people creating accounts every day, many more people playing concurrently, our revenues are higher than they ever have been before which means we can develop content and put it into the game faster than ever before," he explained. It wasn't always so, as Harris also admits to a bit of F2P bias in a previous life. With Global Agenda flying high under its new model, though, it's unlikely that Hi-Rez will be looking back. "I do think [F2P is] clearly the direction of gaming," Harris says.
Global Agenda patch 1.44 goes live tomorrow
Hi-Rez Studios has some goodies in store for Dome City-dwellers, as Global Agenda's patch 1.44 arrives tomorrow. It's a rather small patch, and it includes such details as the closing of Carter's Seasonal Accessories (with a new fashion store known as Burning Fashion opening up in its stead) and the grand-opening of Skyward Jetpacks for those who want to zip around in style. The largest new additions with the update come in the form of two new maps opening up for players. The PvP Control map Magmarock graduates from beta to live status, becoming accessible for Mercenary PvP players, while a new PvP Payload map known as Haulin' Acid is added to the Beta Maps queue. For the full notes and more information on the patch, head on over to Global Agenda's official site.
Choose My Adventure: Should have played it by now edition
I admit it: I stick with my games for a long time. When I step into an MMO, I make it home for a while, and it takes a lot of effort for me to move along. That's part of the reason the games I'm actively playing are generally on the older side -- I've already got a history there. Unfortunately, it also means that there are a lot of games, new and old, that I just haven't had the time to play just yet. So to kick off my tenure on Choose My Adventure, I'm going to kick that straight to the curb with a poll I'd like to call the Should Have Played It By Now Edition. But which game I'll spend the next several weeks playing isn't up to me; that task lies in your hands, folks. So what's it going to be? Should I stop being the only person in the world who hasn't played RIFT? Will I dive into the free-to-play domain of Runes of Magic? Should I break my usual conventions and take a shot at Global Agenda or get some solid aggression out of my system with Warhammer Online? All of these are games I've only had a little playtime with at best, and in most cases, I haven't even touched them. So click on past the break and let me know what I'll be playing, and I'll see you back here in a week to find out more about my next destination. (But make sure to vote by 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 19th!)
Steam now offering F2P MMOs
Digital downloads and free-to-play MMORPGs are a match made in heaven, and so it's only natural that the largest purveyor of the former is teaming up with several of the latter to embed both movements further into the collective gaming psyche. Steam is now offering F2P MMOs as part of its on-demand gaming service, and titles as diverse as Global Agenda, Forsaken World, and Spiral Knights are joining the party. So what, right? These games have always been free to download from their respective websites, haven't they? Well, yes, but Steam is offering exclusive in-game items (beginning tomorrow with Spiral Knights), and of course there's the ever-present achievement collection to consider. Boot up your Steam client and click the giant free-to-play banner, or head to the service's official website for more details.
MMObility: Just how mobile was E3?
E3 is a massive, loud conglomeration of lights, people, and stress. I spent most of my time there walking from one end to another, trying to find a certain booth or meeting room. Luckily for me, I am in pretty good shape and felt just fine the entire time, despite the fact that I had little to eat, and worse yet, little water. At home I drink water non-stop... no soda, no coffee. Still, it was a blast. Working like that really makes a tiny reporter like yours truly feel wonderful. Conversations with developers can be very, very interesting if games are what you love. And there were games. A ton of games. A bunch. A lot. Even then, I knew the feeling that was coming over me, the familiar feeling of stumbling into a toy store or comic shop to look for goodies. I was in hog heaven but needed to find my particular fix. I needed indie, tiny or strange games. Games that ran on a toaster but worked well, browser games that would impress me, or phone games that would continue to destroy the idea that immersive, fun gameplay cannot be done on a portable device. Did I find what I was looking for? Oh, hell yes I did. Click past the cut and I will tell you all about it.
You're free to play these free-to-play games through Steam
The Steam service just launched a slate of five free-to-play games, available from its client like any other Steam offering. Spiral Knights, Forsaken Worlds, Champions Online: Free for All, Global Agenda: Free Agent, and Alliance of Valliant Arms are now available for download through Valve's service. So why get these F2P clients from Steam instead of just downloading the versions that were previously released through their own websites? Well, for one thing, each game will offer exclusive in-game content to Steam players this week, starting tomorrow in Spiral Knights and ending Sunday in AVA. Furthermore, these games will all support Steam's existing microtransaction backend, making the purchase of in-game content as easy as the impulse-buy of TF2 items. Bye, money!
Global Agenda celebrates F2P success with jetpack use in Dome City
After a substantial wait and numerous requests from the community, Hi-Rez Studios has finally granted one of the most-wanted wishes of Global Agenda players: the ability to use their jetpacks in Dome City. The addition, the studio says, comes as a token of celebration for the recent success of Global Agenda's switch to a free-to-play model as well as a nod of appreciation for the players who have helped support the game with the purchase of booster packs (which grant double XP, credits, tokens, additional loot drops, and a daily allowance of 2000 tokens). What does this mean for the players who purchase the booster packs required to unlock jetpack use within the city? Well, honestly not much except for slightly more expeditious travel around Dome City, which operates as the game's social hub between bouts of players ruthlessly murdering one another. Hi-Rez Studios COO Todd Harris does note, however, that now that aerial travel is possible in Dome City, the studio plans to release "some penthouse level content in future updates." The upcoming patch 1.43 goes live tomorrow and also includes some general bug fixes and improvements. Full details on the new feature and complete patch notes for 1.43 can be found on the official site.
Global Agenda video highlights the game's new flair
If there's one thing Hi-Rez Studios loves to do -- aside from actually developing Global Agenda, anyway -- it's making humorous videos centered around the game. And while the latest one pulls out a couple of memes whose days may have come and gone, it does serve a practical purpose as well -- showing off the new pieces of flair and several dyes that players can expect from the game with today's patch. Even if you're not on-board for the humor, you can still appreciate the new flair pieces, ranging from the somewhat silly (dinosaur heads) to some rather robotic appearances. Or you can take a look at the comparative dye animations at the end, which show exactly how the coloration affects armors in a uniform pattern. Or you can just enjoy a bit of Global Agenda humor. The video gives you a variety of options in that regard.
Global Agenda braces for the impact of patch 1.42
Dome City agents, prepare for some exciting changes coming to the third-person shooter Global Agenda. Tomorrow, May 25th, servers will be taken offline from 11 a.m. EDT to 5 p.m. EDT so the team can load up a plethora of updates for Global Agenda with patch 1.42. The patch includes changes to gameplay, flair drops, and Dome City itself. Among the gameplay changes are updates to stealth and jetpacks. Spring stealth now includes an increase in height, but most importantly, the hands-free jetpacknow kicks in after 0.2 seconds rather than 0.3 seconds. This does not sound like much on paper, but many players will welcome the difference. Patch 1.42 also introduces new flair drops from Recursive Colony bots. Drops include The Juggernaut, Android Head, and Android Soldier flair in the Dome Defense and Sonoran Raids. Speaking of flair drops, we learned that starting yesterday, players began questing for the velociraptor flair for the weekly flair challenge. Check out the announcement on the official site. Lastly, Dome City's marketplace will grow with the addition of the Rare Goods vendor. When the servers come back online, be sure to shop at this new vendor for rare dyes and pets. Check the vendor daily; Hi-Rez developers have warned that available items will change. Be sure to follow the Global Agenda server status on Twitter to learn exactly when the game is back online, and in the meantime, check out the full patch notes!
MV Guide: May 23 - 29, 2011
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively's Livestream channel. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of games to take a look at. During Livestream events, you can participate in the live chat to learn about the game, ask questions, and spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, Livestream events are subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's scheduled for this week!
Global Agenda goes prehistoric with new in-game event
The newest Global Agenda live event proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the folks over at Hi-Rez are, in fact, certifiably insane. Or awesome. Insanely awesome? Well, that depends on how exciting the idea of wearing the severed head of an extinct creature is to you. Following on the heels of the anniversary tournament, which also rewarded players with dino-riffic headgear, the newest in-game event is rewarding players with headgear modeled after everyone's favorite winged dinosaur. That's right, you too can jaunt around the Dome with a pterodactyl head on your shoulders, presumably while hysterically flapping your arms and screeching at the top of your lungs. If this sounds appealing to you, then just stay where you are and some men in white coats will be there to take you away shortly. That, or you can log in to Global Agenda and participate in the Special Ops playlist for your shot at this prehistoric flair. Specifically, you need to win 30 missions in the Special Ops playlist to be eligible. So hoist your guns and get out there, Agents.
Global Agenda fires up patch 1.41
Poor minor patches -- they're the little brothers of the development world. They have to wear second-hand clothes, they never get the respect of their older siblings, and they develop a deep-rooted insecurity complex that requires years of therapy to resolve. And yet -- they're still important! So it is with Global Agenda's patch 1.41, which rolls out on the live servers today. According to the patch notes, the tutorial and introductory missions have received some additional work, and Steam users can use their Steam wallets to purchase in-game items from the Global Agenda store. A couple of the bug fixes pertain to the recent Dome Defense raid, which recently went online. You can read the full patch notes over at Global Agenda, which is now free-to-play for anyone interested in some fast and furious hi-tech battles.
Global Agenda trailer invites you to Defend the Dome
Global Agenda, which is still going strong following its free-to-play transition last month, has released a new video spotlighting an endgame raid. Dome Defense raids center around the main player fortress as the good guys repel wave after wave of determined attackers. So hit the jump, get pumped up, and go defend the dome -- for the sake of humanity, for the sake of love, and for the sake of Pete!
One Shots: Segue
Starting zone week is drawing to a close, and MagnetHead has provided the perfect transition into sci-fi week with his not-so-nostalgic look back at the starting area of Global Agenda. This is a pic of the starting zone located in the 'evil' Commonwealth. It's good to know you're a bit further along than these poor husks. Thanks for all the great images of those early-on areas of your favorite games. It's fun to see how many MMOs provide a good first impression, but now it's time to go a little more high-tech. Are you loving Perpetuum? Immersed in Battlestar Galactica Online? Beta testing Black Prophecy? Let your favorite sci-fi game strut its stuff this week by sending a great screenshot to us at oneshots@massively.com. Include your your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing, and we'll post it up and give you the thanks! %Gallery-112285%
