Global Agenda - Now Subscription less, GW model.

[Mrbloodworth]

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

Global Agenda features coming soon

[Malakili]

Um, don't get me wrong, open world is a good move in princple, but is open PVE really what the game needed?  I know the PvP is hexed based and open world PvP would drastically change the game probably more than they wanted to, but having some PvE quests out in an open world type zone strikes me as kind of boring, I mean, do people really play this game for PvE at all?

[Mrbloodworth]

I enjoy the PvE. However, they seem to be fighting back VS. those that look at MMO it its listing, and think "Everquest". All of it, as they said, is based on user feedback. More options in play is always a good line to take.

[DLRiley]

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.

[caladein]

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

The base Medic beam healer "feels" as good as the TF2 Medigun (although the UI feedback isn't as good) and Payload is still awesome.  Since the Medic class and Payload are two of the things I love about TF2, I think the comparison is appropriate.

[Draegan]

I'm close to buying this.  Can someone talk me out of it in the next 30 minutes?

[Pennilenko]

You won't respect yourself in the morning. Its just another dirty fake mmo.

[Draegan]

I really don't care about the "MMO" part really.  I don't need another MMO.  Is this fun and entertaining?

[tar]

Just got this last night, found the PvP missions quite addictive :) The non-MMOness of it doesn't bother me. Not sure yet if it was worth the full price but so far it's been fun. PvE missions are... alright, nothing more. The GvG stuff is fast and fun, got bitten by the 'just one more mission' bug and played it for a couple of hours more than intended, which is a good sign.

It's hard to give it a full recommendation at it's current price as it is clearly unfinished, they need a free trial/demo of some kind. Not too buggy I found, only one crash and I think I know what caused it so can be worked around. Oh and it doesn't like alt+tab. Graphics/sounds are mostly serviceable rather than impressive but more importantly it runs well. I suspect it's long-term appeal will hinge on getting into a decent alliance and getting involved in the world-map stuff.

Biggest risk I can see is if the devs make boneheaded balance decisions. They're clearly going to be changing things as they go along and while currently the power curve doesn't seem that steep (as a lvl 5 in matches with plenty of 20+'s I didn't feel hopelessly outclassed) if they bollox that up by adding in more RPG-trappings making established characters notably more powerful, it won't end well.

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh and it doesn't like alt+tab.

Use the border-less window.

"/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.

[Draegan]

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.

[tar]

"/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?

[Mrbloodworth]

"/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?

Yeah you can put in whatever. The border-less window is all the goodness of window mode with out the border, and, the use of alt-tab does not minimize the game, so no crashy crashy. I don't think alt-tab is unsupported, I just think that when you minimize the window, things are unloaded and whatnot from the engine, some just do it more eloquently than others.

[Morfiend]

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 think you might want to try using the number keys (1-4) to change equipment, and also the "Q" key, which by default is last item. In this game often times you win or lose depending on how fast you can equip the correct item.

[Draegan]

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

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 have a few choise ones mapped to extra buttons on my mouse.

[Morfiend]

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.

Yeah, forgot to mention I have the 5, 6, and 7 slots bound to my mouse keys. Since most of those are "activate on key press", not "item select" slots.

[Draegan]

Anyone going to be playing late EST tonight?  I'm going to give this game a serious whirl tonight, but I won't be getting home until late (10 pm or so).  

I also might be without sound since my headphone got caught on my armrest and I yanked them pretty good and might of messed up my headphone port on my PC.

[caladein]

I've had my main off-hands bound to Q/E and previous weapon bound to a side mouse button and I found it a lot better than having important things off way down the keyboard.

That said, I have my hotbars in WoW all bound to `-5,C,T,G,F + Modifiers so that's not really a game-specific quirk I have.

[Draegan]

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

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.

Depending on map type, and quality of the competition, games can last much longer, I think the max XP I have gotten was about 4k in one setting, and I think that was a loss if that puts a perspective on things, Kills are potentially the lowest awarding of XP in this game, its all about objective points and win/loss Also, they track everyone's stats, even down to the mission, all available though feeds and also on the website.

Something I also never noticed before, but is quite awesome, is things like boxes and crates, or really any cover that is not directly part of the level/map file, changes mission to mission, even in PvP. It does amaze me just how dynamic they have made the system to be.

I plan on playing tonight if anyone wishes to tag along.

[Draegan]

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?

[Morfiend]

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?

The classes seem to change a bit as you level them up and get access to more powers. Having said that, My highest is Recon at level 14 and Medic at 13.

The Recon is fast and has some fun off hand skills, like mines and bombs and even a decoy that will run around attacking people. I have found a lot of bad players seem to gravitate to Recon, or maybe its just the bad players stand out more when playing a Recon. They are pretty much a rogue. They have invisibility, and like to backstab with their sword. In a way they are a support character. Take out turrets and healers and stuff. You can also spec/gear them to be snipers. Usually if a game has more than 3 Recons on a team, its going to be a hard win. I have been in games where 60%+ of my team are bad recons. They dont take points, and they spend a lot of time being "Roguey", and not advancing the team goals.

The Medic is a lot like the TF2 medic to start, but their healing is not as strong. Learn to use your HoTs, like the Healing Grenade. They also have some offensive DoT/Diseases with a healing debuff, but those seem to come a bit later. Medics seem to do very well in 1v1 type of situations. As in TF2, having a good medic or two can really effect the outcome of a match. You can get different "healing guns" as you get higher level. You can replace your standard "beam heal" with a "heal gun" that will shoot out a instant heal with a large HoT attached to it. I use this when I spec a bit more offensively, so I can shoot someone and have the HoT ticking while I go back to offense.

The Assault (heavy) classes seems to get really nasty at around level 15+. Before that I was having a decent time attacking one, but then recently I have started running in to ones that just destroy me very very quickly. These guys are the core of your team in a lot of game types.

Robo turrets are fucking nasty. Fuck those things.

[Mrbloodworth]

I am no expert and I am also not quite sure what you are looking for.

I do have one of each class with varying levels and abilities. If i were to describe the classes in MMORPG terms.

Each class is, baseline, a good solider, you are not gimped because you are a healer, and your basic gun and knife is just as effective as any other (maybe slightly less), recon being the king of melee however. So, dont think all a healer can do is heal, or all a robo can do is make nets.

The assault can be damage taker or dealer or any mix in between, the chain gun can also be a CC tool if used right do to its knock back like pushing. The chain gun also have two modes, one allows you to move and fire, but uses tons of power, the other makes you stationary, uses less power, and gets a bonus to damage VS. anything robotic (Turrets, droids ETC..) They have ability like ranged immunity, AOE immunity, or the full immunity that forces all turrets to focus on him ("Perfect target") but disallows any skill/device use. They have traits that you can use to tweak damage, or mitigation or the like. They have a number of weapons that do different things as well, such as the rocket launcher thingy, or the cannon that also has a DOT. Also they have EMP grenades that can stall out mechanical things.

Medics can heal, or harm, or anything in between, they can also negate the assaults immunity with a AOE. You can go heal spec, or poison spec, they have the healing beams, or the pistol like heal with a HOT, or a poison with a DOT, they cure disease and other stasis like burning. They have lots buffs, and are a support class, in ether healing ways or assault ways. They have ranged and AOE ability's in poison or heals, or buffing and de-buffing. They can even buff damage output of other players, or hinder it.

The robo, at early levels are quite stationary, but I am sure you have seen the value of what they do. Shields, turrets, repair robotics of any kind, lasher type gun, shot gun, debuffs. They later get things like mobile turrets, or remote controlled drones (think predator) so they can easily be customized to be defense men, or attack men. They have a ton of utility in devices. Good ones can hold a choke point alone, unless a recon finds them, or an assault happens to have brought his anti-robo toys. They can also repair all AvA equipment, including exo-suits and such. They also have things like "The eye" that can light up cloaked things, and deploy-able scaners that will put foes on everyone mini-map. Repair stations, healing stations, power stations...traps...

The Recon is nasty, and underhanded. Most times you will see them as infiltration or sniping, or any mix in-between. They can make copies of themselves that do no damage but will activity look like they are attacking, they can stealth (there are lots of counters...), and have increased movement speed in a number of ways, including the ability to jump very high, or long distances. The sword the use is I think the highest damage of all melee, and it gets a bonus to robotics things, top that off with if you get a back stab, you also get a slow. They have little in the way of damage mitigation as you may expect. They have many mines, satchel charge (a few flavors), and can even see other recons if they have the right devices. They are great scouts in PvE, and most times are finding the enemies beacon, or messing with robos.


Keep in mind, you can't bring everything to a fight (you can switch anytime you are in a spawn area though, not traits Though), think guild wars.

I am sure I have missed things, and this is only my understanding of things that I have played with.

[Draegan]

That was exactly what I was looking for, thanks guys.  I just wanted a generic run down.

[Mrbloodworth]

That was just the stuff off the top of my head, I know I missed things, and I'm a little fuzzy on the traits you can have and I didn't even touch the upgrades.

Oh, and the recon hate is because they mostly ignore the objective, sniping or stealthing around.. while thats more fringe support of the objective, you will rarely see a recon directly supporting an objective goal. That, and a lot of them seem to think kills are all that matter... you know, the regular sniper FPS mentality of "Hide where no one can reach, and rack up kills" 

There is a fine line as to how many recons are to many, a few can really fuck things up, to many though, and it will be a cake walk to the other side to claim the objective, the recons won't do it. However the matchmaking system is very good about such things most times.

[Draegan]

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

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.

At first they are, but then you start getting options. My highest is a level 20 something medic. A friend of mine has a level 25 or so medic, full poison spec.

Oh, and good stuff here:

Five tips on being a better agent in Global Agenda

[Morfiend]

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

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.

Yep yep.  Some of the best things a Recon can do is protect a robo, or ghost a medic.

Did you happen to catch all the anti-turret Robo stuff I posted? I kinda did that for you as I know you have a hard time with them.

[Morfiend]

Yeap, although, I havent really got any of that anti turret stuff yet, except for the decoy, which is awesome. My main problem with turrets is that they just do a little to much damage IMO. My average life expectancy if I walk in to LOS of a turret is about 1.5 seconds.

[01101010]

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

[Slayerik]

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

[Draegan]

I had a good time with my medic last night.  Only level 7 and got to play a handful of PVP and 2 PVE missions.  I can't seem to do much at this level other than follow people around, and often those people are retarded.

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".

I can't wait until I can create a more offensive Medic.  The poison tree looks cool.

Can I join someone's Agency?

Edit to add:
I worked out my keybinds. 
Stardard WASD for movement
Q for my specialty gun (old keybind 3)
E for my first off hand item
Mouse Thumb Button 1 for 2nd offhand
Mouse Thumb Button 2 for 3rd offhand
Middle Mouse Button for my Jetpack

Seems to work well.

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