f13.net

GLOBAL AGENDA is a fast-paced action MMO using Unreal® Engine 3 set in Earth's near future, a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict.

In the wake of severe global disaster, the political face of 22nd century earth has changed and player-created factions scheme against each other for power. Traditional full-scale wars a thing of the past, factions must rely on covert agencies, teams of elite special operatives able to seize and defend key facilities. The future of humanity is their battleground, where knowledge is power, technology is a race, and everyone has an agenda.

The players control the world of Global Agenda, forging alliances with their peers and executing lightning strikes against their enemies. They determine which factions to aid and which to oppose, while the only thing that stands in their way is other agencies.

    * Develop your agent - Create, extensively customize, and improve your agent character over the course of your career, complimenting your FPS skills with RPG-style progression and high-tech gear.
    * Advance your agency - Join a player-created agency, compete in technology races for advanced equipment, and capture critical locations to increase your influence in the world.
    * Compete in fast-paced PvP combat - Work with your allies to gather reconnaissance data, then raid or capture enemy-controlled facilities during objective-based missions. Equip yourself from a powerful array of weapons, armor, and strategic devices like triggered explosives, deployable turrets, stealth suits, holographic decoys, and remote control robots.
    * Experience a dynamic, player-driven world - Agency leaders navigate through a global conflict of other player-run groups, striving to reach their goals first. Territory, resources, technology, and influence are all valuable commodities, with agencies engaging in politics, intrigue, and outright deception to control them.

* Advance your agency - Join a player-created agency, compete in technology races for advanced equipment, and capture critical locations to increase your influence in the world.

wat

I don't even know what that means.

Wasn't there some sort of secret F13 guild beta invite group in WAR or AoC?

I'll try to get more info. on this thing, but bear in mind it'll be VERY general stuff... just to give a "feel" for the game.  /nda

For those of you who are hoping this is a new planetside: It's not.

Think of it as more of world of warcraft arena FPS. Or maybe guild wars. It's basically going to be arena matches with a loose clan system bolted on. Don't expect more than a dozen people on a side; I suspect it will end up being half that.

Screw this then.

For those of you who are hoping this is a new planetside: It's not.

Think of it as more of world of warcraft arena FPS. Or maybe guild wars. It's basically going to be arena matches with a loose clan system bolted on. Don't expect more than a dozen people on a side; I suspect it will end up being half that.

    ATLANTA, Georgia – January 8, 2009 – Hi-Rez Studios™ announced today that players can now apply to participate in closed beta for Global Agenda™, an action massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) scheduled for release in late 2009. The closed beta is anticipated to begin in the second quarter of '09 and players can apply by visiting http://www.globalagendagame.com/

    Global Agenda, built using Unreal® Engine 3, is set in a near future world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. It features fast-paced ranged and close combat, RPG-style character progression, solo or cooperative team missions, and epic, competitive campaigns between player-created agencies.

    "Our alpha testing has gone very well - in terms of game stability and, most importantly, very positive feedback from an active alpha community", said Todd Harris, Executive Producer of Hi-Rez Studios. "Based on these results we are excited about aggressively growing the Global Agenda player community in Beta"

    Features Intended for Closed Beta Include:

    Develop your agent – Create, extensively customize, and improve your agent character over the course of your career, complimenting your FPS skills with RPG-style progression and high-tech gear.
    Join with other agents – Engage in cooperative PvE missions to develop and refine your individual and team tactics
    Advance your agency – Join a player-created agency, compete in technology races for advanced equipment, and capture critical locations to increase your influence in the world.
    Compete in fast-paced PvP combat – Work with your allies to raid or capture enemy controlled facilities during objective-based missions. Equip yourself from a powerful array of weapons, armor, and strategic devices like triggered explosives, deployable turrets, stealth suits, holographic decoys, and remote control robots.
    Experience a dynamic, player-driven world – Agency leaders navigate through a global conflict of other player-run groups, striving to reach their goals first. Territory, resources, technology, and influence are all valuable commodities, with agencies engaging in politics, intrigue, and outright deception to control them.

What the hell did I apply for before?

Fury 2.0?

For those of you who are hoping this is a new planetside: It's not.

Think of it as more of world of warcraft arena FPS. Or maybe guild wars. It's basically going to be arena matches with a loose clan system bolted on. Don't expect more than a dozen people on a side; I suspect it will end up being half that.

Yar. Planetside this is not. Cmon guys, the Unreal Engine.

Question #1: Is Global Agenda an MMOFPS, MMORPG, or MMORTS?

Well… yes. Global Agenda is an Action MMO that incorporates elements from each of these game-types, but also some important differences.

Global Agenda has elements of an FPS because our in-mission game play is very action-oriented and as fluid as a multiplayer online shooter.

    * Global Agenda is technically a third person shooter. Your character jetpacks to rooftops, grapples onto ledges, engages in melee combat, and darts behind cover to evade rocket fire and we've implemented a third-person camera to provide players the best view of their surroundings.
    * We've taken inspiration from many modern shooters, but at the same time we intend combat to be more than just a twitchy shooter death-match. Due to our very distinct player classes and other game mechanics, our combat is not decided simply by who has the fastest reflexes. It is more about positioning, team cooperation, and using the appropriate device and counter at the appropriate time.
    * Tactics are more important than twitch.

Global Agenda has elements of an RPG because your character does progress and unlock new skills and gear over time.

    * We offer four very distinct but broad player classes and a large set of usable device types including ranged weapons, close-combat weapons, stealth & deception devices, remote controlled robotic pets, turrets, force fields, and many, many more.

    * Your character earns credit with NPC factions by doing missions and acquires a more powerful and diverse collection of gear over time.

    * However, we are definitely not an exploration-focused game, nor heavy on quest dialog, nor a game where grinding content will allow you to easily defeat those of a lower character level. To us 'playing a role' pertains to the role you carve out for yourself on your mission strike team and your player-created Agency. We do not expect the player to simply act out a role via scripted story missions.

    * provide the context but players drive the story.

Finally, Global Agenda has some elements of an RTS/strategy game based upon our episodic Campaigns.

    * Our Campaigns give agencies the opportunity to actually gain territory, construct facilities, produce or steal resources, and compete in an approximately 45 day competition to construct a protected complex for your allies before your rivals do.
    * Within Global Agenda some groups, the best groups, will make history by winning Campaigns.

In this way, your character actions and contributions affect the outcome of a single mission (like an FPS), your character career (like an RPG), and your agency's long-term Campaign goals (like a strategy game).



Question #2 – Is Global Agenda a persistent world?

Yes. Global Agenda is very much a persistent world:

    * GA has persistent characters, skills, stats, gear, achievements, and more.
    * GA has territories that agencies and alliances own, build and fight over
    * GA has PvE content that is linked with our overall game play
    * GA has long term Win conditions
    * GA has vendors and equipment of varying qualities that players can acquire
    * GA has character customization, progression, and levelling
    * GA has an immersive, integrated environment, with multiple NPC factions and exotic cities
    * GA has player-driven politics, wars, betrayals, and diplomacy
    * GA has a single world within which players interact and progress



Question #3 – Is Global Agenda instanced or an open world?

This is a bit of a trick question because all MMOs are instanced to some extent.

    * From a technical standpoint if too many players are in the same area, in any MMO, the performance will be unacceptable and game play will suffer. Period. So, every game with characters segments the population to prevent or minimize this condition from occurring. The real question is the specific number of characters each game allows within an area, how big those areas are, and how the player population is segmented.

    * With most MMOs the player is forced to choose a named server (essentially one really big instance) when creating a character. One consequence of this is that it can be difficult (sometimes impossible) to play with your friends who created characters on different servers. From a status standpoint it also segments the population so you can never be best in the world, just best on your server. We take a different approach because in Global Agenda we plan to have one single server per geographic market (i.e. North America, or Europe, etc.) but beyond that we do not artificially divide the player population by forcing players to choose server.

    * In addition to choosing a named server, many MMOs use instances when they want to limit the number of players for balance and gameplay reasons aside from any technical constraints. For example – dungeon raid PvE instances or PvP battlegrounds typically have limits on the player count per side.

    * So, when people ask about "instances", they are usually really interested in to what extent there are large areas that simulate an open world with many players around. These players may enjoy the combat feel of giant maps and large teams, or enjoy exploring a large, seamless outdoor area. In Global Agenda we do offer large city spaces and other social areas where you interact with other many players and NPCs.

    * For combat however, we do not intent to support giant, seamless maps with hundreds of players. There are both technical and game play issues in trying to support that type of game play. Our goal was to provide a more intimate, mission-based, strike-team experience and all our game fiction, weapon distances & strengths, and travel powers are designed to support that goal. Wars are no longer fought with massive armies, tanks and fighter planes. In our future, elite teams of special agents are outfitted with advanced technology and shuttled around the world on sub-orbital dropships. Our agents do not walk to work across an open world nor travel across fields on horseback. Some other games have focused on large maps and the logistics of transporting large teams from place to place and there is an audience for such a game. But that is not Global Agenda.

    * Our player agents operate primarily within mission instances, working tightly with one another and using a variety of devices and tactics; in the same way television agents within Mission Impossible or 24 operate within mission instances. And, in the same way a TV or film director uses tight camera angles to maximize impact on the viewer, we use instances to maximize impact and contribution of each Global Agenda player.

    * We do support conflict and coordination across very large groups of players and toward a prominent end goal. Global Agenda Base Raids involves larger groups of about 60 players per side, but with each side divided into multiple strike teams. These strike teams fight in separate map locations, but played simultaneously and linked to one another in real-time. For example, if my strike team is able to "Disable the Generator" (Objective 1), that can benefit another strike team attempting to "Breach Base Defenses" (Objective 2), even if we are in different maps. Thus, organized teams formulate cross-mission strategy to complement their in-mission tactics.

    * We have found Campaigns to be a great way to deliver epic conflicts that involve many, many player agents, over a multiple month timeframe, but at the same time not letting battles devolve into a zerg-fest or, at the opposite extreme, have some player sitting around bored out of his mind defending an objective on a large map with no enemies in sight. Each of our maps is designed around specific objectives, with map size tuned to the player population, so you'll rarely be very far from the action.

In conclusion, within Global Agenda, the battles are instanced, but the War is persistent and massive.[/qipte]

so basically its going to be your typical FPS but with character progression and NPCs in certain hubs. sound exciting.

Sure, if in a typical FPS what you do on one maps affects another in real time while others are on another map all culminating in and over all goal for your player made faction of your buddies including building and taking another factions base or interfering in their goals.


Totally.


I also have not read anything about NPC's. Please to be reading the first post, thanks.


Seems there are some (NPC's), and it also seems that you and your faction can hop (drop pod) in if someone is doing a "PvE" goal, making it PvP.

Judging by the sound of it, this game is not going to be anything at all like Planetside.

It sounds to me like an FPS version of Guildwars, but with the regular monthly fee

Holy shit, that video could not have made me want to play it any less. Reminds me of City of Heroes mixed with Guild Wars small-scale action stuff.

Very very disappointed.

Holy shit, that video could not have made me want to play it any less. Reminds me of City of Heroes mixed with Guild Wars small-scale action stuff.

Very very disappointed.

Looked cool to me.

Also. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPZkgK-TkY)

So NECRO. Sorry if there is a fresher thread than this.

E3 game play footage for this:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-global-agenda/51115

Is anyone else dissapointed that this is NOT Planetside 2? Between 'stealth class that can backstab' and the small scale battles occurring between pockets of players 'coordinating' across the interwebs, I can't decide if I'm dissapointed that this is just fantasy gaming dressed up as futuristic gaming or that this is Counter Strike pretending to be an MMO.

there will never be another Planetside...unless Blizzard decides it worthy.

Planetside was not a failure unless the definition of failure is based on comparison to...what?

It may be that the entire wierd subgenre of MMOFPS isn't a sustainable business venture, since what happens again and again with people that play Planetside is that they played for 3 months, then abandoned it for a year or two, then went back for 3 months, then returned after a year or two, etc.

And yet Sony keeps it afloat. Unless you have documentation showing a net loss over time or some such..

I played planetside for 4 years. No updates and repetitive game play made me unsub. If those things were different, i would still be playing.

Planetside was not a failure unless the definition of failure is based on comparison to...what? An MMORPG? Well, Planetside isn't an MMORPG. Its an MMOFPS. Of which, aside from Planetside, there has hereto been none worthy of mention.

A game set in 'future earth' should never ever have melee as a viable combat choice.  That's pretty much enough to kill my interest right there.  Some of the other shit sounds vaguely interesting, but melee should pretty much be eliminated from futuristic games.

Star Wars is about the only sci-fi that melee combat makes any sense in, and there only for Jedi or Sith, no one else.

A game set in 'future earth' should never ever have melee as a viable combat choice.  That's pretty much enough to kill my interest right there.  Some of the other shit sounds vaguely interesting, but melee should pretty much be eliminated from futuristic games.

Star Wars is about the only sci-fi that melee combat makes any sense in, and there only for Jedi or Sith, no one else.

It looks okay to me. Nothing spectacular. I really wish I could shoot in the head the people who call these games MMOs though.

How could you charge fees if you didn't call it an MMO?

I said this in a different thread, but it bears repeating:  I really, really want to understand the current development fad of calling FPSes MMOs and then charging a monthly fee for what is essentially a variation on Team Fortress 2. 

Short of MxO Sony keeps anything afloat. We aren't seriously arguing a game kept on life support for years with little to no active development, and now slated for final merger of last two remaining servers (except no one can be arsed to actually do the merger despite announcement made a few months ago, because one of these servers is pretty much graveyard) ... is anywhere near truly sustainable as standalone product or a succesful one, are we? :uhrr:

Star Wars is about the only sci-fi that melee combat makes any sense in, and there only for Jedi or Sith, no one else.

But  8v8 deathmatching charging fees?  I predict Epic Phail(tm) for that business model.

mostly co-op PVE

I'll try to pop back in and give a non-NDA breaking impression.

That's the impression the linked video gave me.

Player-Driven World: MMOGs are typically categorized as primarily either player vs. environment (PvE) or player vs. player (PvP). PvE games typically offer a more scripted and controlled campaign experience as players engage computer controlled obstacles. PvP games typically offer a more dynamic experience because the game conflict emerges from player initiated activity and politics. Global Agenda is very much a player-driven, PvP experience with PvE playing a supporting role.

Somebody needs to tell the executive producer that, because that ain't what his fucking video says.

A game set in 'future earth' should never ever have melee as a viable combat choice.  That's pretty much enough to kill my interest right there.  Some of the other shit sounds vaguely interesting, but melee should pretty much be eliminated from futuristic games.

Star Wars is about the only sci-fi that melee combat makes any sense in, and there only for Jedi or Sith, no one else.

I was personally put off that they still used human combatants when obvious a representation of "future earth" would have parties that simply made use of semi-autonomous machines to engage in warfare with. But then I remembered that it was just a game. I'd be hard pressed to find a sci-fi gaming world that didn't make use of melee weapons.

NECRO'd

They've announced their pricing plan, which is remarkable only for its rationality. Want to play it as a round-based shooter? Buy a box. Want to play it like Planetside? Buy a box and a subscription.

http://www.massively.com/2009/10/20/hi-rez-announces-pricing-structure-for-global-agenda/

Attack and Defend Territories in zones that match your agency's schedule

Only difference seems to be that this is map/match based instead of the more fluid anytime/anywhere semi-persistence of PS ("semi" because of continent locking). So you could have PS-style battles with 60 vs 60, but the staging comes somewhat automatically rather than starting in Sanct.

Big thing for me is a lack of vehicles. What is it with this blindspot? Is it that devs are scared for the size of the maps they need to create? Or do players just not like it? Halo and PS guys, come on! I accept CoD/MW doesn't have them and may never well. But if your game doesn't have that same sort of super-snappy feel, it better be offset with some tanks and flying or it will just feel like Huxley.

Well, to me anyway :-)

NON-DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS LIFTED
Hi-Rez Studios is thrilled to announce that the non-disclosure requirements around the Global Agenda beta have been lifted.

Beta testers are now permitted to share information regarding the game with their friends and on public forums, etc.

A large part of our marketing strategy is to grow through positive word of mouth. So, please get the word out and bring folks into the game!

 

hmm but my tribes had wide open 32 and 64-player servers

Well yes, and my happy memories want to say the graphics were cleaner in tribes, and the interface to actually use jump packs was far better.

but it feels like a poor remake of tribes with smaller player counts and uninspired maps.

Yeah that doesn't sound half bad, what is the pricing model?  They expect box + sub?

I picked this up with 3 other friends on steam.

Annnnnnnd?  Seriously though, I've heard wildly conflicting things about this game, please do a little write up after you get to play a bit.

Im pretty interested in this also. I also would like a mini review.

Ok...


So, as I wait for the game to launch here are my impressions. The world (AvA) portion of the game was not available to me, so I can't speak to that, but I can speak to the feel of the game as a shooter, and the gameplay RPG elements. This was 40 some dollars not wasted. If you enjoy FPS, this game is worth a look, unless you are already saturated.

If I were to try to describe this game using other titles. I would say: The game has heavy flavoring of TF2 game play, with decent inspiration of tribes, but does have some features that make it feel like a distant cousin of Quake and a nod to planetside in its over world game play and utility of items and RPG progression of power (sideways) and options within each class, and a peppering of Ratchet and Clank.

The combat style is solid, mobility is good, and there is just of an arcade feel to add in the fun, instead of the dolphin diving of such games as battlefield series. Cover matters (Not to the point of gears of war though...), mobility matters, TEAMWORK matters. Like plantside there is quite a lot that those who are not twitch happy freaks to do, so much so, that my girlfriend wants a copy and to play with us (she likes the healer and Engi) so I got her one. She doesn't play FPS's. But she is attracted tot he PvE, the RPG elements, the Team work, and the fact she can be useful with having little to no FPS skills. When we logged off due to the server being down, she said, and I quote "This game is fun!".

The classes are fun, and they seem expansive, no real paper/rock/scissors here, more of different ways of approaching things really. every class is an effective solider first from what I can tell, no gimping because you are a healer, and from all the tings I have seen you can adjust, it seems like a level 1 can still kill a 30 (Yay planetside!). Progression is done using a points system, you can't equip more than your point pool will allow (I think everyone has the same amount, always, think Cert system), and just about every item in game has 4 levels of effectiveness, so load out is a balancing act. There is an ASSTON of equipment to choose from, all have utility.

Appearance (as in what you look like) is not tied to stats, however there are craft-able increases that can go on various "Spots" on your armor. But things like, helms, chest and shoulder pads seem to be purely cosmetic, as well as every items can be dies, and not just with one color, two at the least, even your "Glow" on yourself and weapons can be changed.

The PvE was well done, the AI, surprising at times. I read someone mentioned the maps, I think your issue is, the maps are supposed to represent a location in the real world, instead of a highly tunes death match map. The maps even have built in obstacles, like meat grinders, trip wires, and alarm drones that can cause unending waves of robots to beam in.Most of the PvE maps are well done, and can be very challenging. The PvP maps are more tuned tot he game play they support. PvE can require some real teamwork, and more tactical slower pace at points, there is also a bit of randomization to every map, so sub-bosses are not allays in the same place, or the same kind (God help you meet a hellion in a tight hall).

PvP, ah yes, they have many modes for this, some I haven't really seen before, some I have. They all look like a lot of fun, we tried a few while we could, the main one we did was the robot/mech "capture the flag" type game (I don't recall the game mode title). It was good times.

It may not have the epic persistent seamless world of plantside.... But this is a dam fine game for what it is, and I look forward to seeing what they add to it. Over all, if you are X-PS, or looking for a FUN FPS, even if you do not consider yourself "Awesomely skilled", this game is worth the price of entry, and to me.. Who somewhat ignored this title until my friend insisted on the four pack, this game is a VERY surprising title, I didn't know it would be this polished, this fun, and this addictive.

Feel free to apply to the agency "SaftyTech".  :grin:

EDIT: Another awesome thing, you can make one of each class, and still use the same player name, meaning the annoying aspect of planetside of "Trying to fill a role" but waiting on the cert timer, is not present here. Just choose your other class...Bam.

Thank you kind sir.

Now for the real question: Surgile + Jackahmmer equiv?   :why_so_serious:

Looks like I am going to have to do my god damn taxes early.

Well it officially went live this morning and I finally caved in and tried it out.   Pretty interested in the combat so far.   It does remind me of TF2 a lot but speaking as someone who HATEDTF2 combat it's not bothering me for some reason.   Maybe because the basic guns are far more solid and a lot less gimicky than TF2.   The customization means I'm not stuck trying to use some whack ass sticky grenade launcher as my main weapon if I happen to want to build some turrets.

As long as it is not massive/epic like Planetside, I am not looking forward to this game.

It has been mentioned in several other threads, but wait times and fair matches were the top concerns for the majority of players. We will open up more queues as population allows. Map type filters are not a magic fix as they still fragment the population.

Just to give you some rough numbers:

- If we want a new match to launch every 30 seconds and the average match is 15 minutes, we need at least 30 active missions for a single queue.

- If we want to let the match maker actually be able to tier matches by player level and skill, and also try to balance pre-made teams, multiply the previous number (30) by AT LEAST 3 to 5.

Once we are in the range of 90 to 150 active missions (currently in pre-live we are 45 - 60), we can open up another queue and re-introduce bonus credits, filters, etc. For now please be patient and give everyone a fair chance to play.

A video of two guys playing the game (pretty badly) but it still looks a lot like crimecraft to me. A relatively un-inspired and dated looking shooter with some trappings of persistence to make people keep playing. I just don't think the AVA will actually change the game enough to make it interesting. Sort of sad that planet-side was more ambitious?

At least their billing model of free play then subscription for the persistent portion of the game is more realistic. But I can see an organized clan capturing a lot of hexes and then growing bored.

Giant bomb (http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-global-agenda/17-1964/)

Sadly, my refund is chump change, but just enough to quel the gf on V-day and some left for this.

Yea, blame their ability to play, that'll make it a good game! You all sound like commenters on a goddamn blogger site.

Yea, blame their ability to play, that'll make it a good game! You all sound like commenters on a goddamn blogger site.

This isn't Demon's Souls or any number of "hard" games guys.


Save it, it's the height of mediocrity. I'd actually say it's on the bad side of mediocrity at best.

Their doing dumb things and not liking the game does not mean that if they played well they would like it.  I don't know if anyone has made that argumentative leap except you.

Making an argument about gun-feel when you're running-and-gunning with your secondary weapon though does mean that your conclusions should be taken with a grain of salt.

edit: I just realized what this game's been reminding me of... Syndicate [and Syndicate Wars]! If it had some sort of (even paper-thin) storyline missions, it'd be even more awesome.

That has got to be the worst playing I have seen, they are incredibly confused by most of the basic FPS things, and totally lost when it comes this this titles specifics...

Better yet, play the game, then come back and comment. Because watching a video only gets you so far. I have no want to repeat myself.

Do they have a free trial?

More conquest info.


Source (http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/151)

Ummm... the fuck did I just read? That is an assload of conditions that must be met for anything to happen... I could say its a tad convoluted but I will refrain for now. Its interesting, but a tad overwhelming to the point of paralyzing a player. Not really sure what else to make of it without rereading this tower of text again tonight.

At the end of the day though it's still a pretty thin layer over a bunch of 10x10 battlegrounds.

In a moment of weakwillidness I bought it. Anyone have a clan for me to join? Going to be playing mostly Medic and/or Recon.

As long as someone is not yelling in my ear to take my wraith to rehack Bomazi - I'll be ok.

The one thing I appreciate is that they released it as a shooter, but claim they are planning on supporting it like an MMO. If they can do that, I'll throw them my monthly fee.

I think they need to do a bit of balance tweaking on the core gameplay. Turrets seem a bit to powerful for how quickly and easily they are set up.

Also, I have noticed that a teams win loss ratio seems to be directly related to how many Recons are you your team in relation to ether Assault or Robos.

AvA

I mean, a lot of that sounds quite neat, but it also sounds like a game of numbers. If they have 20 people on and you have 10, then they can just pick off hexes left and right that you can't get to, and furthermore, the agency that has 20 gets the "reward" of having 10 of their people play a game with no opponents? Or is the CPU defense interesting enough to actually make that fun the times you took their hexes without opposition?

add: Also, how long do you have to hold stuff for it to be useful/win? It seems like you'd need even more bodies to really hold a zone day to day.

I mean, a lot of that sounds quite neat, but it also sounds like a game of numbers. If they have 20 people on and you have 10, then they can just pick off hexes left and right that you can't get to, and furthermore, the agency that has 20 gets the "reward" of having 10 of their people play a game with no opponents? Or is the CPU defense interesting enough to actually make that fun the times you took their hexes without opposition?

add: Also, how long do you have to hold stuff for it to be useful/win? It seems like you'd need even more bodies to really hold a zone day to day.

The biggest flaw of this game seems to be that the core FPS combat is kind of stale.

The MMO elements are mostly a shallow shell that are inferior depthwise to Darkfall which has fluid cities and territories to fight over, with massive sized fights, not just 10v10 instances.

That and the game doesn't like my computer so I'll probably right up a different review once I get above 20 frames and try a few AvA matches...

Unfortunately the weapons themselves especially in the beginning are uninspiring to say the least. And due to the nature of certain objects I often felt like I was spamming in a particular direction rather than taking carefully aimed shots. 

The advancement of weapons are sorta lateral but they can due to make more options available in the beginning.

Instead it features repeatable randomized dungeons that has you blow through various pve monsters.

Personally I see it as a way to grind levels since if your not to hot at pvp (most people aren't) the alternative to gaining levels and money quickly and painlessly as possible is to grind these missions.

But it really comes down to running one dungeon (you don't have choices in difficulty) repeatedly. I actually yawned a few times while playing.

You get new options as you level, however the when you get these options is not made clear at all in game.

Can you describe, or link me something that does, the equipment in this game and how it makes you appear?  Is there a stat system?  Is there cool loot to go after or build?  I like getting shinys.  How often does that happen?

Mrbloodworth do you mind telling me where can i turn off the post processing stuff, yes i know this isn't tech support.

Yes, its under settings, its not labeled as such, but bloom, ambient occlusion as the rest on the right hand column are mostly post. Other than that, I personally run at everything max, and they have yet to add DX10 back in, I run at over 60 most times.

Also, I was not debating you, I was simply informing you of things you may not have realized in your short play time.

I guess my next question is there any sort of rarity when it comes to armor or stuff that you can get that is "different"?  Or is everyone just customizing their own stuff kind of like CoH?

Recons are great at sneaking behind turrets and taking them out, and picking off people on a spawn point from a distance with sniper rifles. Too often, I see recons just get into these heated Recon Vs. Recon battles out in the middle of fuck-all-ville, nowhere near the objective point.

Turrets do a LOT of fucking damage. The real problem with them is that nobody picks them off when they're setup, or make no effort to take them out. Doing an EMP grenade/nade launcher combo on my Assault, I can usually take them out before they're built, but any decent Robotic can put a turret in the most obnoxious position possible on capture points.

To prove it to you, we are going to extend the free-play period for Global Agenda Conquest while continuing to deliver features and content enhancements.

We feel this is the best way to prove to you the value of a Global Agenda Conquest subscription, while also ensuring that as many people as possible are exposed to our unique and innovative Conquest gameplay.

All players will continue to be able to play the Conquest features for the rest of February and March without a monthly subscription fee.

However, the old school Planetside cloaker maneuver of running through a group of people and placing a timed mine is used heavily.

I mean, a lot of that sounds quite neat, but it also sounds like a game of numbers. If they have 20 people on and you have 10, then they can just pick off hexes left and right that you can't get to, and furthermore, the agency that has 20 gets the "reward" of having 10 of their people play a game with no opponents? Or is the CPU defense interesting enough to actually make that fun the times you took their hexes without opposition?

add: Also, how long do you have to hold stuff for it to be useful/win? It seems like you'd need even more bodies to really hold a zone day to day.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm struggling to see how this differs from Huxley.

Game play combat type. Huxley is more Quake/unreal, this is more tribes/Planetside, and its no where near the "Realism" of your BF/MW/Halo style (Thank god, love those games, but I  always prefer more fun over realism). When I say this I refer to speed, accuracy, weapon feel and basic mobility.

Game play combat type. Huxley is more Quake/unreal, this is more tribes/Planetside, and its no where near the "Realism" of your BF/MW/Halo style (Thank god, love those games, but I  always prefer more fun over realism). When I say this I refer to speed, accuracy, weapon feel and basic mobility.

Sounds like i should have waited for Huxley.

After that shit I mucked around with they called a beta, no thank you.

Should [be] waiting for Huxley :-)


Ok, that part I can see. Looking forward to hoping it'll be at PAX. I could go for a persistent TF2.

Although tbh, I finally got around to installing Red Faction: Guerilla and would love to see that engine used in an MMO more than anything else. Like what AA should have been.

The part I loath about it is that it plays nothing like tf2 but sounds like it on paper. Maybe its just me, but I cry foul when a game labels itself as one thing and baits and switches on you (or I hate when people do it and you buy the game due to their advice). I nearly dropped league of legends because it labeled itself as a RTS.

"They" don't claim to play like TF2, players do.

Yeah I know that, but it irks me when ever players attempting to speak positive about the game says it plays like tf2.

Oh and it doesn't like alt+tab.

"/setres 1920x1200 b"

Where you set the resolution you ant, and enter "b" for border-less. You can do this right into the chat. Persists through log out.

tbh I can live without alt+tab, not a big deal. More of a 'apps which don't support alt+tab are broken/buggy' kinda point.

Thanks for the tip on resolution, wonder if it works with res's not available in the in-game drop down list. My display is 1360x768 which isn't available, gonna try setting it to that with the command line, unless you know if that'll break it?

I broke down and bought it.  I only played through a few boards in the tutorial as a medic (I'm going to play a different class I think).  It was late and I was falling asleep at my keyboard due to 3 hours of sleep the night before.  I'll get to it a bit more tonight.

What I did see seemed fun and easy.  I just have to get used to scrolling with my mousewheel again for weapons/jumppack.

I tried the numbers and they were fine, except trying to use the "5" key.  I had to take my fingers off the movement keys.  You can use the mouse to move forward in this game so it makes it tough to transition your finger from W to 1-2-3 since you have to stop moving.

Maybe binding Q and E to cycle through items will do the trick.

I tried the numbers and they were fine, except trying to use the "5" key.  I had to take my fingers off the movement keys.  You can use the mouse to move forward in this game so it makes it tough to transition your finger from W to 1-2-3 since you have to stop moving.

Maybe binding Q and E to cycle through items will do the trick.

I played for a little bit last night.  Did the tutorial and played 2 games on a Heavy character (or whatever they are) a Robotic and a medic.  Every game I played was over inside 5-10 minutes.  It seemed rushed but the game was fun.  I just need to find a class I like.

If I don't raid in WOW tonight I'm going to give this game some more time. 

I just don't know how the classes will work out, can someone expand on them a bit?

The idea of playing a medic and following people around and healing them seems lame.  How do they actually play?
I don't like the damage/tank guy.  Just front line brute force character seems boring to me.  Too slow.
The Robotic character seems kinda cool, but the hassle of supporting your turrets seems annoying, but I might be wrong.
I havn't tried the Recon class yet.  People say they suck or don't want them.  Whats the story?

I might have to give the medic a shot then if they have decent offensive capabilities and arn't all about follow someone around with a green pew pew stick.

Re: Recon.

I have found that on a competent team, 2 or 3 well played Recons can really make a difference when they concentrate on advancing the team goal and not just trying to rack up kills. But on the flipside, a few bad recons, and it can really hinder your team, as they are almost an empty spot.

I am blocking this thread from now on. The more I read it, the more tempted I am to grab it.  :awesome_for_real:

Few questions.
1.  Is there a way to select the type of PVP mission or is all random?
2.  Do I really need to go to the screen in the center of Dome and press U every time I want to queue?
3.  Is there a way to see what kind of game I'm in?  I get confused when I enter a game (though it becomes obvious soon after).  I guess I have to watch all of those "briefings".

For those playing a Medic.  How useful is the "heal grenade"?  It's the item I use the least.  Seems a waste.

Ok I put in an application.  I love how you can do that online.  That's pretty neat and about time it's done by the game dev.

--

My medic needs some sort of pistol, but I can see how those options are good.  I just need levels so I can start getting some more interesting toys.

Holy shit, looks like they updated it. There is agency chat, and even VOIP from outside the game...... Not to mention all the Zone/hex stuff.


Also, some random video reviews. NSFW Spoken words.

Part 1
http://www.zam.com/bffreport.html?bffreport=17

Part 2
http://www.zam.com/bffreport.html?bffreport=18

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I don't have the money or the time to play this, I really don't.  Thank god these fuckwads decided to go for a sub model which is keeping me safe from this game so far.

Ok I put in an application.  I love how you can do that online.  That's pretty neat and about time it's done by the game dev.

Good chunk of the game requires no subscription. The subscription part is also free until after march, and they have already said this my be extended depending on delays of new content.

I fail. Downloading from Steam currently, 7%. I guess it does actually pay to help neighbors shovel off their roofs - made $60 in 4 hours today. Blood this better be good.  :grin:

(yes roofs... People in Pittsburgh are freaking out about their shit collapsing under 10" of packed, melting snows)

I had successfully resisted the urge to pick this up until watching the video review BW posted.   Blarg.

I would highly recommend all of you join the agency. Medic does seem to be the best introductory class, its good to stick on an assault and learn the maps that way.

Here's why:
Assault is basically point and shoot and pop shields and grenades.  Can't be more simple than that.  There really isn't any situational awareness other than making sure you pop your shields when your health is low or you're wading into a nasty group of bad guys.

Medic is pretty easy to get into but as more options unfold to you, you have more things to do and the more awareness you have.  To play a good medic you have to be aware of where of your own health and your teams.  So there is a bit more situational awareness to keep track of.  Also you can switch between your healing gun and your two offensive tools if you want too.

Recon are very easy to play but if you're not competent you're useless to your team.  Brellium said it best.  If you're not out there searching for spawn points and other Robotic stations then you're doing it wrong.  Most recons you see run around taking out guys in the middle of no where or sniping people from a secluded spot.  This isn't helping at all.

(In case you didn't realize you can place your teams spawn point where ever you want allowing your team to spawn near a hotspot.  If you destroy the beacon then the team has to run to wherever the contested point is.)

Robotics are tough because they start off weak.  All your damage and abilities take time to spawn and you have to set everything up and keep it up with your Robo gun.  A well set up Robo with a nest of toys is extremely tough to take down and a huge asset to your team.  A stupidly or hastily placed gun station is a waste where a well placed one turns the tides of battle.

--

Heh that was long winded but just another perspective.

Any scrubs having fun with this game?

That is pretty close to my opinion - though I would say robos are much better geared for longer fights in PvE and way more useful overall in PvP then PvE for now (pre-15 as I am). Setting up a point, defending an area/chokepoint... robos shine. I would say they are much stronger on the PvP side of the box. I have fun on my robo - once you get the med crate, you can set up a nice little shop - too bad in PvE, the fight is already down the hall by the time you get shit set.

Assault is my spray and pray character. Power hungry goliaths. With a medic in tow, can really hold and advance pretty well. When I play my medic I tend to stick with one assault (the one that seems to know wtf he/she is doing) and heal whoever comes in range.

Medic is more focus on the group and if everything is ok, plink some shit. I go full heals so I normally am riding the smart person on my team. Its fun to be the reason you win or lose.

Recon... hate to say it - but this is my shittiest class. Feels very weak out of the box and stealth seems useless when you get somewhere and don't have the firepower to end things. That said, I am probably going to play this class outright. My self-loathing has no bounds and I love the challenge.

I'd say its a good purchase for what it is. This coming from someone who did off and on PvE all weekend. I will get into PvP more once I get some me time (read: sleeping pills to slip to the gf).

Any scrubs having fun with this game?

The combat style is solid, mobility is good, and there is just of an arcade feel to add in the fun, instead of the dolphin diving of such games as battlefield series. Cover matters (Not to the point of gears of war though...), mobility matters, TEAMWORK matters. Like plantside there is quite a lot that those who are not twitch happy freaks to do, so much so, that my girlfriend wants a copy and to play with us (she likes the healer and Engi) so I got her one. She doesn't play FPS's. But she is attracted tot he PvE, the RPG elements, the Team work, and the fact she can be useful with having little to no FPS skills. When we logged off due to the server being down, she said, and I quote "This game is fun!".

I really like being able to respec at any time without having to worry about paying ever increasing costs to do so. 

As for scubs having fun, I am by no means an FPS person.  I can play them to the extent that anyone with a pulse and two working brain cells can, and I'm up to my eyeballs in fun.  Though, pvping with random groups, particularly with VOIP on, makes for a somewhat less fun experience.  But that's the downside to MMOs.  Other people.

The respec thing is very nice in that you can change it up every match and see what works best. Likewise, all your characters are tied to one name, one account - so you can play many roles if you choose. Its a different take on alts and makes for a very nice transition to each character (in that you don't have to rejoin your agency or repopulate a friend's list).

As for fun, I started a new recon yesterday and ran some PvP with Blood. FPS + no map knowledge = wtflolhalp! Funny and frustrating which just makes me want to play more. I am by no means even up to speed on this game, but it can be a riot at times and at other times it makes me want to club baby seals. Of course that is my own personal motivation and what I consider fun.

Last night was your first taste of PvP yeah? It probably did not help much that mandible is level 30 something, so the matches we were in had matching levels on the other side. Next time we PvP, ill roll with one of my lower level guys.

I am actually a little concerned about the matchmaking. I was playing a little bit on my lowbie Assault character (level 6), and it was putting me in matches with levels 20-45. Needless to say I had an all time high death count. What is also odd is that it put me in the same map/game type 4 times in a row.

On another note, the agency is growing, and if we can continue to get more bodies, we can start taking hexes again, I am not sure what is up with our current alliance, but it seems they are inactive, so i'm going to be looking for a larger one. This way we can support them in AvA and get a piece of that action (and lootz) as well.

How's the agency on euro timezones? I'd be interested in joining but if it's primarily US-based it's probably not worth it?

I am in. How do I join the agency? (May I?)

Thank you Mr. Bloodworth, I applied.
This thing is addictive.

What happened to Huxley?ì, by the way?

What happened to Huxley?ì, by the way?

I really wish there was a breakdown when the screen is loading of what the game rules are that you can click on.  I think that leads a lot of new players to just deathmatch. 

Well anyway just wanted to get my immediate thoughts out on this game.   Got any space for a newer poster around the f13 neighborhood in your agency MrBloodworth?  I know some of the invites around here tend to be open to more established f13 posters so I figured I should bring that up.

Complaints: the queue for low PvE mission is already too long. I much prefer PvP but it's more committing so if I am cooking or I could be interrupted I look for a PvE one, and I have been waiting between 5 to 20 minutes. Is anybody playing this game?
Nifty that there are no servers, and I can even switch to North American queue, but still no game.
Not to mention that I seem to leave the queue for no reason and without a warning. Why is that?

Complaints: the queue for low PvE mission is already too long. I much prefer PvP but it's more committing so if I am cooking or I could be interrupted I look for a PvE one, and I have been waiting between 5 to 20 minutes. Is anybody playing this game?
Nifty that there are no servers, and I can even switch to North American queue, but still no game.
Not to mention that I seem to leave the queue for no reason and without a warning. Why is that?

I wish they would put out a free trial already. I have a bunch of friends interested, but they dont want to plunk down $40 sight unseen for this.

Thank you Mr. Bloodworth, I applied.

This.

I also wonder if the Tribalwar people are playing this or not, in my weaker moments I sure do miss that community.

So, I have found my major grip with the game. The matchmaking seems to be fucked today. It was constantly messing up on the levels. Having a team of all low teens players with maybe one level 30+ facing a team where the average level is high 30s is just not fun, and it was that was all evening.

Yeah, I was curious to try this game, but I'm not plunking down $40, and I'm probably not going to dump a $10/mo-ish fee for what amounts to TF2 with jetpacks anyway.

Yeah, I was curious to try this game, but I'm not plunking down $40, and I'm probably not going to dump a $10/mo-ish fee for what amounts to TF2 with jetpacks anyway.

Also, upgrades, I dont think many of us have any. There is a bunch of changes to crafting soon that may make it more viable/accessible for us to do. Meanwhile some may be catassing full sets of this stuff, I don't know.

So, I have found my major grip with the game. The matchmaking seems to be fucked today. It was constantly messing up on the levels. Having a team of all low teens players with maybe one level 30+ facing a team where the average level is high 30s is just not fun, and it was that was all evening.

I like the robot maps :(

But it will open up the possibility to custom build your toon for a game type. Everyone does have 8 slots to work with.

The game tends to make matching based on the star rating and not the level of the player.  Alot of the time you will see the 30s, but they will have a lower rating then the teens who are probably on there third or 4th char, and have a much higher rating even if there lower.  The game also likes to balance the high rating players with pretty awful low rating ones, so even if you end up against the high ranked ones.. your pretty much guaranteed to stomp the rest of the team.  

The matchmaking system works the following way:

- It will try to match up players of similar skill level
- It will try to match up players of similar levels
- It will distribute the classes as close as possible (no match starts with more then +1 of a class)
- It will account for the fact that teams entering a match have a higher rating

These along with a bunch of other condition are all in, but:
If it starts taking too long to get a match going then it will extend the matchmaking criteria (like expending the level range, skill levels difference, etc)

Clearly Morfiend is just more skilled at this game than he thinks he is then, as the "Machine" is tossing 30's at him. lol.

While I would like to think that, the "stars" dont seem to carry over between character. I dont know if its only a display bug or if it really doesnt carry over. But no matter what a level 6 Robo vs a level 45 Assault is not fun.

While I would like to think that, the "stars" dont seem to carry over between character. I dont know if its only a display bug or if it really doesnt carry over. But no matter what a level 6 Robo vs a level 45 Assault is not fun.

Also I am starting to hate playing a medic, it would seem I have the ability to pick the worst assualt to follow around (the ones with the worst cases of tunnel vision).

Seems surveys are the new black...considering I just got one from HiRez. Still not convinced this is not a diversionary tactic to prompt theorycrafting on the forums. For once, I really hope I am wrong.

They send them out quite often.

Also, Test is up, with new goodness. New patch is shooting for early next week. then Test receives the new content.

I'm still loving the game.  Been playing it a lot over the last week or so.  Havn't see you on in a while Bloodworth other than Friday. 

I got my Robo up to 20 last night.  I need 10 more levels!

I need to get involved with crafting.  Apparently all the upgrades you can wear really add up later on.

I also want to get involved with AvA a little bit.

I'm still loving the game.  Been playing it a lot over the last week or so.  Havn't see you on in a while Bloodworth other than Friday. 

I bought it and am totally regretting it. Crimecraft is a better FPS than this.

*  Mission Screen: When joining the Mercenary PvP queue, players have checkboxes to select the Map Types to queue for (Control, Breach, Demolition, Payload, Scramble).
* Mission Screen: When joining a PvE queue, players have the ability to "Only join a balanced team." If this option is chosen, it may take longer to get a match, but you will be ensured of having one player from each class on your team.
* Loot drops: Plates now drop at 2x the previous rate in PvE missions.
*There are now separate armor and weapon blueprint vendors in the crafting area. Each vendor sells 42 blueprints that craft a specific item (rather than the random chance at a stat as prior).
* Upgrades: Upgrades can now be repaired using Repair Kits that can be crafted using blueprints purchased in the Prototyping Center in Dome City.
* Settings: An option has been added under Video Settings for a "borderless" window. This is most useful for fast alt-tabbing while running at your monitor's native resolution.
* Auction House: Several improvements to searching, filtering and sorting.
* PVP: No more than 4 players of the same class will be match-made into a mission on the same side.
* PVP: Overtime is now limited to a maximum of 3 minutes. If the attackers do not capture the objective during this time, the Defenders win.
* PVP: The game-type (Breach, Control, etc) is now visible on the loading screen for each PvP map.
* Equip Screen: Improved tooltips for level/skill/seasonal requirements.
* Human Resources: Dye Vendor #3 has gone off strike and is now back at work.
* Venom Bomb II no longer injures teammates (bug fix)

We need to join another Agency or something because I want to get into some AvA.  My Robo hit level 23 last night and holy shit is he a monster.

Oh so that's where he's been. 

If my frame rates would improve some, I might actually have a better time methinks. The slideshow that is the point, as it is now, is not fun at all. Nothing like trying to melee someone who is suddenly there and then not there to make me nutty.

Join hex.

What are you running? Where are you located?

My set up is close to yours however I think my CPU is a bit faster, and I am running vista and not win7, I do run at 1400 x 900 (border less, native for my monitor).

So, I got nothing. I run at a rather steady 60+ FPS, with most things max. Have you got things like ambient occlusion, or a high anisotropic settings? I dunno, I'm at a loss.  :oh_i_see:

EDIT: Ah, thats a dual core isn't it? I'm running quad.

Um, more data please.

Hedron's alliance. Of KAAOS.

Pittsburgh, PA

e8400 @3.2GHz
4g PC8500 DDR2
8800GT nVidia 512m
23" samsung
WIN7-64bit
Verizon FiOS 5/2

I do borderless @ 1680×1050. Nothing really running in the background aside from bitdefender and the mouse/keyboard software. In fact, nothing changes if I do have a window open in the background...music or web. Playing around with the settings doesn't seem to factor either up or down in frame rates. I crawl when I am around the point no matter what I have flagged.

I am running full screen with around the same stats, but way worse processor, and the game runs fantastic in 1920x1200 resolution. Something is messed up.

nVidia drivers updated when I got home then I patched the game and rebooted my machine. Turned off all the useless processes - iTunehelper, adobe reader, etc. Manually set my GPU fan around 70% for kicks. Loaded up the game and turned everything off, dropped the resolution to 1600x900 windowed: in the dome with 10-15 people on the screen I get around 16-25fps, 35-55fps staring at a wall. Latencies are 40-70ms.

Oddly, I kept the resolution and turned everything on, all ticks checked and all settings on high, max anisotropy x16 and I get 13-26fps in the same spot, 35-45fps kissing the wall. I am going to attempt to swap in my old audigy2 soundcard and see if that helps. Though I doubt it since GA was only pressing my CPU @ about 60%.

I played a bit of PvE and the fps was running 12-24fps.

BitDefender Realtime protection enabled was chewing up everything inbound. I turned that part of BD off and my fps shot up to 100s in calm waters and 40-60 in high traffic areas. Amazing it was one simple tickbox causing all my problems.

where is bitdefender realtime protection?

I believe when you pull up the main security center, click the antivirus tab and the sidebar. Once it opens, its a tick box at the top (first box I think). Uncheck it and close out of security center then load GA and see. I am not at home at the moment so I can't step through what I did, but I think that's the trail.

Uninstalling Norton and burning the hard disk it was on is the better solution...

Uninstalling Norton and burning the hard disk it was on is the better solution...

I don't think that would completely remove Norton from the drive.

  * 4v4 premade queue - For those wanting a more intimate, tactical PvP experience... We are introducing 4v4 gameplay with these 2 new maps. Pre-made PvP teams can enjoy something different while continuing to earn xp and credits. In the future we will look into a ranked Arena system for this content but this patch allows pre-made teams to try out the new 4v4 maps and level-up doing so.

What's the difference between the limited edition and others?

Can't people still steal to deactivate your shield or nuke it and then attack all three hexes.

Can't people still steal to deactivate your shield or nuke it and then attack all three hexes.

I am wrong, but there is a catch: "unless tactical missiles are used to break through the shield (from a Missile Complex in range)." Also, i think nukes are, very high end AvA gear, and takes up a production hex, and produces only missiles, nothing else.

Do you even log in anymore?

The promotion code should say "GAFRIEND".  Enter your desired name, and submit.

Trial / Demo is, pardon my french, retarded. You are not allowed to PVP. Only do PVE missions.

Ability to choose your PvP match type.

AvA and Crafting is what you subscribe for.

Are fodder able to join?  I'm not sure of our restrictions other than a limit of level 15.

You can join my agency. (http://account.globalagendagame.com/GAregister/stats/agencyprofile.aspx?a=9120)   (Click thing that says "(Request to join this agency)" )

Tried the trial, ended up buying and so far it's still fun.   Submitted an app as well assuming this isn't entirely dead.

Got you all in, and alliance does have hexes and such, seems mostly our collective zones in overlord.

EDIT: Giant change of plans, go ahead and leave the agency and apply to KAAOS, put SafetyTech in your message.

I have some of the agency coin if anyone feels they want some, after a while ill just dump it in to fuel AvA stuff for the new agency.

So, I hope anyone that was active in our agency, no matter what time frame or frequency you play at, joins up using the in game application system so we can stick together.

All three of us.  :awesome_for_real:

I've only seen Vaunt on in the past week or two - evenings East Coast time.

Medics are dangerous, not sure why people don't play more of them.

Starting, Sunday, March 28, a new Zone Schedule goes into effect. The Overlord zone will take the place of Citadel. Obelisk, Echelon, Sovereign, Overlord and Warlord will be played on Mondays through Thursdays. And Anvil and Dauntless will be played on Saturdays and Sundays. These changes were requested by the Global Agenda player community.

ATLANTA, April 9, 2010 — Today, Hi-Rez Studios launched additional server capacity for Global Agenda, based in Singapore, to provide the Pacific Rim market optimal game performance while still competing inside a single game world.

Players from the Pacific Rim region, and around the world, are encouraged to try Global Agenda’s FREE TRIAL today. The generous free trial currently allows unlimited play, although players are capped at Level 15 and have some restrictions on game features.

Global Agenda’s unique single-shard design allows all players worldwide to compete inside the same game universe, able to interact with and compete against all other players inside the game regardless of geography. When joining a mission, however, players can choose a region to compete in, allowing them to choose between optimizing their game performance or competing against those in other geographies.

“We are excited to launch servers in the Pacific Rim market and to make Global Agenda truly global, as one of the first games to bring players from throughout the world together while still offering the performance expected from a fast-action, multi-player shooter,” said Stewart Chisam, Vice President of Game Operations. “We look forward to continued expansion and growth in the game, and continue to invest heavily in improving and expanding the game as well, as evidenced by our Sandstorm release (Version 1.3), which is coming later this spring and adds significant new content and character progression inside the game.”

Currently, Global Agenda offers regions for North America (servers in Atlanta), Europe (servers in London) and the Pacific Rim (servers in Singapore).  Any player anywhere can join missions in any of the regions simply using an option on the Mission select screen.

In addition, the Tradewind Territory Zone inside the game’s Alliance vs Alliance framework for persistent territory control will now run from the Pacific Rim servers, operating Monday through Thursday from 10:30 to 12:30 GMT (18:30 to 20:30 in Singapore). Other zones run from the North American and European regional servers and can also be competed for by players from the Pacific Rim region.

Behind the scenes, the release of the Pacific Rim servers marks the launch of a new cloud-based computing architecture for Global Agenda, which will allow additional servers to be added more seamlessly and easily to the game universe in the future whenever and whereever as needed.

 

Recons are a dime a dozen, but only a few play them the way they're supposed to be played.
Medics are great, and can bust some ass too.
Assaults are awesome if you find one not using a rocket launcher.
Robos are amazing too, but again you have to play them right and be smart.  Drone Robo's can wreck some havoc.  But I'm not sure how they change in AvA.

Problem with Robo's in AvA is the Assault ability to go invuln and wreck their stuff.

Recon seems to work for me for right now, good way to get to know the maps.

This game is like Unreal tournament with classes and strategy taken from TF2. Favourite thing so far is the lack of instakill and the (somewhat) ability to escape midfight, which makes it a lot like my other favourite fps QuakeWars. Also there's little or no lag even on the American servers despite my ping being 190 odd, quite impressed.

Yeah, the game is very solid from start to finish, I hope they can keep it up. I assume the world still doesn't have the tech for a server side massive FPS game, so this is a good compromise, I look forward to the open world stuff.

like so (http://forum.globalagendagame.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=139&t=6297&sid=f3356efd20446f4c78d24b4663e9b8a3). That way you only have to click the button of your choice to instantly take off and the fire button to stop and return to your previous selection. It's great.

MMORPG.com:   

Global Agenda is going into its 3rd month of official release, and already you've put out two sizeable updates to the game. How about we start by talking a bit about the changes that have been made to the game since Open Beta, for those who haven't been following Global Agenda since launch?

Todd Harris:   

Sure. I think we've been as busy post-launch as we were pre-launch. Some studios ramp down post-release. But strong sales have allowed us to keep our entire studio focused on enhancing Global Agenda, and we're actually continuing to add new developers.

With that team in place, we've been able to introduce 2 major updates in 2 months. Those updates introduced new PvP and AvA (Agency vs. Agency) game-types, seven new playable maps, runtime performance enhancements as well as a bunch of features. Just last week we introduced a Trial version of the game for those who want to sample it to level 15 for free.

And next on our plate is our first real major expansion called Sandstorm.


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.


MMORPG.com:   

Are the open zones a harbinger of the end to the more match-made content in Global Agenda, or are they more of a supplemental feature to help entice players to keep playing?

Todd Harris:   

We'll continue to develop match-made content and Sandstorm does include some new match-made content. Players do enjoy the convenience, and we take pride in the fact that GA launched with the ability for a player to easily join instances that are match-made across server boundaries; Certain other large fantasy MMOs have recently evolved in that same direction.

So open zones do not replace match-made instanced content. Rather it is an alternate type of content - designed to establish a greater sense of place, host some solo missions, and support more ad-hock encounters between players.

MMORPG.com:   

These new zones that are coming with Sandstorm are more along the lines of what players of traditional MMORPGs might be used to correct? As such, are they only going to be available to subscribers and will the subscriptions finally begin with the launch of Sandstorm?

Todd Harris:   

At Hi-Rez we really do intend to earn any subscription. To date we've felt that charging a subscription would be premature based upon the features and content we've delivered. But given the current scope of this first expansion we plan to implement subscriber options associated with the launch of Sandstorm. Sandstorm is a big investment for us and is also an enabler for lots of future expansion content that will continue to be free to subscribers.

MMORPG.com:   

As I understand, there's a lot of new items and gear coming to the game with Sandstorm as well. Could you tell us a bit about the Token System that is used to earn these new weapons and items?

Todd Harris:   

Tokens are simply a secondary currency type within the game that players earn by playing and succeeding across different parts of the game. There are a maximum number of tokens that can be earned each day but these Tokens can be saved and eventually spent at a vendor for access to the new weapons and items we introduce.

MMORPG.com:   

How is the team making sure that the new additions don't sway the game too much into the realm of "gear means more than skill"? In a competitive shooter (or any game really), it's always such a hot topic.

Todd Harris:   

Because our combat is based on shooter mechanics, experienced GA players will attest to the fact that success definitely depends upon player skill. With Sandstorm we add success based rewards that continue to expand the player's options. Our character advancement is still fundamentally more about variety and prestige rather than overwhelming power discrepancy.


MMORPG.com:   

What changes are coming to Conquest with 1.3, if any? Will the Open Zones factor in somehow?

Todd Harris:   

AvA continues to be our main offering for pre-made groups who want to compete against other groups with persistent consequences. But in 1.3 we will be improving two key areas:

   1. 1. Better short-term goals and rewards associated with AvA.
   2. More flexibility for each individual player and agency group about how many hours and days they dedicate to AvA.

MMORPG.com:   

In general the community seems extremely excited about the changes coming with Sandstorm. If it is indeed received as well as you hope, can we expect more open zones in the future to go right along with the game's original match-made content?

Todd Harris:
   Definitely. With Sandstorm players will be able to choose between open zone PvE, our raid style co-op PvE, matchmade PvP, arena style PvP, battlegound style PvP with larger number of players, and territory-based AvA. Once these game types are established players can expect additional content across all these areas in future expansions.

Is there somewhere you can look at the time schedules for the AvA worlds?

Voice

Trial users may now use in-game voice but may occasionally hear 5- to 15-second audio ads. Players that buy the gamewill not have advertisements.

Weapons that drop as loot will have randomly-generated stats based on their quality level, creating thousands of possible unique weapons, each designated by up to 3 characters after the name (for instance: Vulture Vision [TTC]).

haha.  :awesome_for_real:  I am quite sure its only going to be in the dome though. Planetside did this.

Thats a bunch of cool changes:


Wow, thats a fuck ton of changes.

Check out the video. (http://www.globalagendagame.com/TheGame_Sandstorm.html)

Did you see every class gets a "hands free" jetpack at level 1. If that means what it sounds like it means, thats a huge change in the core gameplay.

Its not, according to the video (minute mark), that assaultCOMBAT jet pack is the one that allows tribes like fly-firing (level 40). Unless I am mistaken. Known to happen.

I think its just the name for the old/current one, but i'm just speculating.

New jetpack is used with Space, you don't pull it out and use it with a mouse anymore.

Cant' fire while airborne without the high level one, but you don't have to play weapon switching games.

Can you still jump?

They haven't so much added new content as added a lot of new grind into the content that was there. And the game balance / fun seems even worse than it was before this patch.

Deleted it, the games not worth the frustration of messing around with even with a free trial offer.

Also: LOL voice chat. Spent an assault mission with someone just rampantly, loudly cursing into his mic.

They haven't really added new gear so much as made you have to grind for rare versions of the gear you had before. I did a couple of PvE missions and got gifted with some gear I already had access to before the patch. Meanwhile group PvE is a lot slower as the mobs have a lot more hit points (or you have to re-earn high damage guns) and it spawns a lot more mobs. For example "hero" mobs are now semi-common and the boss mobs spawn quite a few mobs to accompany them.

And yes, I still regard Global Agenda as being a UT mod with pretensions way above its actual level.

They haven't really added new gear so much as made you have to grind for rare versions of the gear you had before.

Updates to Global Agenda have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

General
The amount of XP required to reach each level has been modified. Players will now progress through the earlier levels significantly faster. Based on this change, players may automatically advance by several levels upon their first login following this change
Moving from Level 5 to 6 now requires 1,000 XP instead of 2,000
Levels 6 through10 now require 2,000 XP per level instead of 4,000
Levels 11 to 15 now require 4,000 XP per level instead of 8,000
Levels 16 to 20 now require 8,000 XP per level instead of 12,000

PvE
Re-added option to "Wait for a Balanced Team" when joining the Team Special Ops queues. This option is available only if you are joining the queue alone (not in a pre-made team). If chosen, this option will match you only with groups that have one player of each class.
Increased XP award for killing Minion_Android_B in PvE missions
Loot tables for Low and Medium Special Ops PvE mission were modified to award loot more appropriate to the level ranges playing these missions.
Solo Rookie Special Ops queue now requires Level 10, Solo Advanced Requires Level 20, Solo Expert requires Level 30

PvP
Mercenary PvP queue now requires Level 10 to play (previously Level 8). Note that, in the new XP system, players will reach Level 10 in less time than it previously took to reach Level 8.
Mercenary PvP queue now accepts teams of up to 4 players. Solo players may choose the checkbox "Only join matches without teams" to ensure they only join matches with other solo players

AvA
Variety of bug fixes to Agency-vs-Agency gameplay

Other
Oathbreaker Boost (Medic) now does damage to bots, turrets and other mechanicals (bug fix).
New medics now receive poison grenade in starter equipment.
Some modifications were made to optimize login and character select, as well as some other in-game functions, on higher latency network connections.
A bug was fixed in which some armor was not being bound to your player immediately upon acquisition.

Logged in tonight briefly to see the new shiny.  I don't remember having a level 30 robo.  Sweet.

I have been playing a lot since the revamp also. So far I am undecided. I think I like it. One thing thats bothering me is the amount of Mercenary tokens that level 30+ gear costs. It seems pretty much everything costs 200 tokens. I have been leveling two characters (Tokens are account wide, if you didnt know), and so far I dont even have half the tokens for one item. In probably 6 hours of play, I have earned around 50 tokens. I personally feel they need to drastically reduce the cost of the Mercenary token items. Especially considering, to max out a character you are looking to spend around 5,600 tokens.

EDIT: Waite, what? 5,600? I need to look into this system more I guess, felt like to me I needed about 400 or so to buy all the basic stuff for that tier.

#

    * Weapons of all quality levels can be obtained as loot for winning a Mercenary PvP mission, or killing a boss in a PvE mission.  Low and Medium PvE missions drop only Common and Uncommon weapons. Higher level PvE will drop higher-quality loot (based on a dice roll). Mercenary PvP drops all quality levels of weapons (based on a dice roll).

# Weapons that drop as loot will have randomly-generated stats based on their quality level, creating thousands of possible unique weapons, each designated by up to 3 characters after the name (for instance: Vulture Vision [TTC]).

Interesting thing just happened, I was level 27 before the last  patch and now I'm level 31  :awesome_for_real:

Global Agenda: Hands On With Open Zones (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/339/feature/4337/page/1)

So, when people said they wanted more MMO in this MMO, we didn't mean more WoW, we meant more Planetside.

I think the directions have been mostly based on the two polls a month month sent out to the player base.

I think I'm one of the only people here who still plays this. I find it great for hopping in game for 30 minute at a time, and getting a little shooter fix. But with the new advancement stuff, it also somewhat hits that mmo advancement itch also. I'm looking forward to Sandstorm part 2.

Global agenda is now subscription free:

http://forum.globalagendagame.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=21113

Single-Game Purchase Grants Access To All Current Content And Features Within Award-winning Shooter MMO

ATLANTA – June 25, 2010 – Hi-Rez Studios announced today that Global Agenda is now 100% subscription free. Purchasers of Global Agenda can enjoy the game's full current content, including all current Player-vs-Player combat, Player-vs-Environment solo and co-op content, and Agency-vs- Agency seasons, without a monthly subscription payment now or in the future. Future content updates will be delivered via optional paid expansions. The first major expansion, Sandstorm, will be included for free to the entire Global Agenda community.

To celebrate this change, the game is being offered for 33% off on Steam from now through July 5, as part of Steam's Summer Sale. To purchase, visit http://store.steampowered.com/app/17020/

“Hi-Rez Studios is committed to delivering the best value in PC gaming", said Todd Harris, Global Agenda Executive Producer. "In addition to all of the game's initial launch content, we are bundling nearly 6 months worth of post-release content and features and including that within the single-purchase game. One purchase of Global Agenda let's you experience this content forever with no subscription."

Global Agenda allows players to create and customize multiple agent characters, complementing FPS skills with accessable RPG-style progression. Players can co-op with friends online, compete in fast-paced multiplayer matches, and conquer persistent territory with player-formed groups called agencies. The large summer expansion, titled Sandstorm, adds weapon variation and loot, new epic weapons across every class and a brand new Open Zone area complete with quests and new missions. The first phase of Sandstorm was released in early June 2010, with the remaining phase to be released later this summer.

Try For Free – Players can download Global Agenda and play until level 15 with no payment or credit card required.
Buy Once - A single purchase enables you to play forever. Progress thru 50 character levels, access hundreds of weapons, and experience all current content and gametypes on our worldwide, hosted servers with no subscription required.
Play What Suits You - Global Agenda offers a wide range of content including solo and co-op PvE, Mercenary PvP, Agency-vs-Agency, Arena PvP and more.

Since a PvP game lives or dies on the number of other people to fill teams free to play makes a lot of sense. Especially for Global Agenda which was unlikely to be able to generate enough content to make a subscription fee look like a good deal. It sounds like a good move but the amount of time they've spent to reach this point, and no doubt the population they've bled in the meantime, are going to hurt. Announcing this while being on sale on steam is another good move.

Global agenda is now subscription free:

http://forum.globalagendagame.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=21113

If you find current RPG combat/dungeons/group experiences stale, check out the PvE in this game, its more engaging than anything in the RPG space I have played in a while. However they do need to fix that scaling, high/max/ultra get to be a bit WTFPAWN there...

How has PvE changed since they started the Free trial up to level 15 program?

That's good, though I'm still hard pressed to imagine how it could have improved so much that it's more engaging than anything out there.

That's good, though I'm still hard pressed to imagine how it could have improved so much that it's more engaging than anything out there.

balance issues like 60% of each PvP encounter being melee rogues (the recon class).

I downloaded the free version and played an assault for a while.  I actually enjoy it for what it is.  I haven't tried anything beyond soloing but it's a nice diversion.  I don't know that I'd bother paying for a subscription though but  I'll have to put more time into it and explore the other aspects to the game before I make any concrete decision. 

I was. I won two in row actually :awesome_for_real:

No tokens won in either match, though.

I just logged back in to check and still 0. Apparently they are redoing the whole tokens things (there will be just one type). Dunno if that has anything to do with it or if it's cause being a Medic just sucks at fulfilling whatever conditions need to be satisfied to earn them.

The only condition should be playing. 1 Merc Token for a loss, and 3 Merc Tokens and 1 Conquest token for a win. I'm glad they are redoing it. I like the idea, but the execution is kind of flawed.

Link to Token revamp?

1. Just play a Recon, you have no repsonsibilities other than shooting stuff and not getting your fool self killed[/li][/list]
2. If you really want to play Assault, just play PvP
3. If you are going to play PvP, the talent that lets you get more out of your rocket pack is really good

As a recon, ballista only. SMG is shit in PvE and melee is pointless for 90% of the fights. If you get a mini-boss close (not the Helot - fuck those OP shits) melee the miniboss since they glitch out and do not melee back. Ballista, decoy, range stim, visual scanner are all you need.

I don't agree with this ether. Yeah, snipercons are very useful, but Bombercons and Meleecons have their place, especially if the meleecon has the Duel wield. They can absolutely rip through a robo nest.

Okay PvE is seriously fucked up beyond the n00b levels. Any tips on playing a medic in team PvE?


Edit: medic

EDIT: oh, and recons using the decoy on the boss = love.

The key seems to be a solid trio of Assault, Medic and Robotics.

Major Highlights

    * SONORAN DESERT ZONE: Players may step outside Dome City into the Sonoran Desert open PvE zone. Designed primarily for those between Levels 5 and 15, players within the Zone may accept missions from NPC’s in order to progress a story-arc, learn more about the neighboring Desert Dweller and Recursive Colony factions, and earn loot and experience.

    * 10-PERSON DEFENSE RAIDS: Facilities around Dome city are key targets of the Recursive Colony faction. When the Recursive Colony attacks, alarms sound within Dome City and the RAIDS mission type will become activated on your MISSION screen. Join the Raid queue solo, or as a pre-made team of up to 10 players, to be matched into a ten-person defense team and transported to an area that needs to be defended. Note that these missions are designed to be difficult and are available only to players Level 30+.

    * CONSUMABLES: Players may now craft Consumable items that can be used once while in a combat mission to give a short-term boost. Once used, that item is consumed. In order to equip a consumable, you must have a Consumable in your inventory, and fill the Consumable slot on your Equip screen. Only one consumable may be equipped at a time.

    * SALVAGE: Weapons and Armor that you do not desire to keep may be salvaged by clicking the Salvage button while the item is selected on your Inventory menu. When a weapon or armor piece is salvaged, you will receive a component loot drop put into your inventory (many of the components gained through salvage are useful when crafting consumables).

Additional Sandstorm features, such as PvP Tournaments and significant improvements to the token system, among others, will be in upcoming updates to the Public Test Server.

Version 1.35 represents the second phase of major new features and content being added to Global Agenda as part of the "Sandstorm" expansion. The release introduces the Sonoran Desert Open Zone, 10-person Defense Raids, Consumable Weapons, and much more. Sandstorm is free to all players that have purchased Global Agenda. All players are reminded that Global Agenda now requires NO MONTHLY FEES and the full content of the game is available without a subscription.
Major Highlights

    * SONORAN DESERT ZONE: Players may step outside Dome City into the Sonoran Desert Open PvE zone. Designed primarily for those between Levels 5 and 15, players within the Zone may accept missions from NPC's in order to progress a story-arc, learn more about the neighboring Desert Dweller and Recursive Colony factions, and earn loot and experience. Note that players must visit Dalton Bancroft inside Dome City (and run the Bancroft missions) before they can enter the Sonoran Desert Zone.

    * 10-PERSON DEFENSE RAIDS: Facilities around Dome City are key targets of the Recursive Colony faction. When the Recursive Colony attacks, alarms sound within Dome City and the RAIDS mission type will become activated on your MISSION screen. Join the Raid queue solo, or as a pre-made team of up to 10 players, to be matched into a ten-person defense team and transported to an area that needs to be defended. Note that these missions are designed to be difficult and are available only to players Level 30+.

    * NEW SONORAN DESERT SPECIAL-OPS MISSIONS:  New co-op PvE instances have been introduced for characters between Levels 5 and 19.  These missions are accessed thru the MISSION screen (Hotkey = "M") under Team/Medium Difficulty.

    * CONSUMABLES: Players may now craft Consumable items that can be used once while in a combat mission to give a short-term boost. Once used, that item is consumed. In order to equip a consumable, you must have a Consumable in your inventory, and fill the Consumable slot on your Equip screen. Only one consumable may be equipped at a time.

    * SALVAGE: Weapons and Armor that you do not desire to keep may be salvaged by clicking the Salvage button while the item is selected on your Inventory menu. When a weapon or armor piece is salvaged, you will receive a component loot drop put into your inventory (many of the components gained through salvage are useful when crafting consumables).

    * TOKENS: Major changes to the token system have been implemented. See TOKENS section below for more information.

    * CREDITS: Credits are now at the player level instead of the character level. Existing credits have been rolled up to the player level based on the total credits owned by all of your characters.

Server and Feature Availability

    * The Global Agenda Servers are expected to be down on THURSDAY, JULY 22 2010 from approximately 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM US Eastern (14:30 to 21:00 GMT) while the patch is deployed. Follow GAServerStatus on Twitter for up-to-date server availability information.
    * The European and North American Agency-vs-Agency Zones will be closed on THURSDAY, JULY 22. The Zones will open as normal on FRIDAY, JULY 23.

Mission-Giving System and the Sonoran Desert Zone

The Mission Giving system guides players through specific assignments that advance a story arc within Dome City and the Sonoran Desert Zone and progress the player’s character level.

Players will note that some low-level Special Ops PvE missions have been removed (on the "M" screen), as they are replaced by missions inside the Sonoran Desert Zone.

Players MUST visit Dalton Bancroft before they can exit Dome City and enter the Sonoran Desert Zone.

Please note the following useful keyboard shortcuts while in the Sonoran Desert Zone:

    "L" = Mission Log.

    "N" = Navigational Map.

    "M" = Global Missions (access instanced PvP and PvE missions).

     

Token System

The Token System has been modified significantly. There is now only one token type (Mercenary and Conquest Tokens have been collapsed into just "Tokens"). The Daily and Account limits have also undergone significant change and the pricing for items and rewards for individual missions have changed significantly.

    CONVERSION:

        * 1 Mercenary Token = 30 of our new tokens
        * 1 Conquest Token = 150 of our new tokens

    LIMITS:

        * Daily limit: 2,000
        * Account limit: 20,000

Consumables and Crafting

There are two new crafting career paths in this release: Consumables and Strike Force. The crafting of AvA items has been moved to the Strike Force path.

At present, there are only four Consumables available for crafting, all of the same quality level, so career progression along this path is limited.

The Consumables available for crafting are:

    * Insta-Heal: instantly provides a full heal when activated..
    * SuperShell: Pops a shell similar to the Perfect Target device.
    * Mini-Force Wall: Pops a small force-field (similar to the Robotics Force Field)
    * Excessive Damage: Provides a damage boost for a given time period.

All consumables can be equipped by players of any class and are use-once items.

Crafted consumables may be placed on the Auction House. Blueprints for consumables are found at a vendor in Dome City.
Level requirements for Mission Rewards

Level Requirements for Special Ops missions have changed.

    TEAM:

        * Medium Security - No Level Req, stops giving rewards past 19.
        * High Security - Requires 18, stops giving rewards past 29.
        * Max Security - Requires 25, never stops rewards.
        * Ultra-Max Security - Requires 30, never stops giving rewards.

    SOLO:

        * "Rookie" and has been renamed "Adept" and now requires level 20, stops giving rewards past 29.
        * Solo "Advanced" Requires Level 30. Never stops with rewards
        * Solo "Expert" Requires Level 40. Never stops with rewards.

Other Noteworthy Changes

    * Generally improved bot AI
    * Recharge time on bionics changed from 45s to 60s
    * Improved help text and general usability.
    * Durability shows in red when it is low
    * Small chance of Rainbow Dye to be dropped from Ultra-Max PvE missions.
    * Fixed mini-map player colors.
    * Confirmation messages pop up when the player lacks sufficient credits, tokens, skills, etc. to complete an operation.
    * Performance enhancements for intense PvE encounters
    * Improved response times of firing weapons and off-hands
    * Fixed  problem where boss encounters could have several waves of responder bots at the same time
    * Level is now displayed next to the XP bar in upper left
    * More alarm lights and sounds for Raid missions including notification within VR arena
    * Cybercuts now requires tokens instead of credits
    * Genolab Facial Reconstruction now requires tokens instead of credits
    * Improvements to backfilling PvP instances so that outcomes are as fair as possible
    * Fixed taskforce problem that would sometimes place player on the wrong team
    * When you exit the game, you will return to the open zone or the city depending on where you exited.
    * Added Bot Kills to Scoreboard
    * A number of other bug fixes with mail, repair functions, animation, graphics, chat and other areas

The Consumables available for crafting are:

    * Insta-Heal: instantly provides a full heal when activated..
    * SuperShell: Pops a shell similar to the Perfect Target device.
    * Mini-Force Wall: Pops a small force-field (similar to the Robotics Force Field)
    * Excessive Damage: Provides a damage boost for a given time period.