Global Agenda - Now Subscription less, GW model.

[Draegan]

I think you were trying to spell "balloons".  But you took my question seriously.

[Brennik]

Sandstorm phase 1 patch notes are out and it's getting deployed today. Some new shiny stuff for everyone and a lot of "epic stuff" for subscribers-to-be.

I don't know if I really like the subscription "incentives"... I bought the game a month or so ago and play occasionally, so all the subscriber-specific stuff probably won't really matter or affect my gameplay in any way. Somehow the whole subscription based model feels off, I actually wouldn't mind microtransactions to unlock some of those things. It just starts to feel like I'll be forced to subscribe to have a somewhat level playing field (and shiny epic rocket turrets) when I want to have a quick session.

So basically nothing new under the sun, just interesting to see how/if this works out in this particular setting.

[Falconeer]

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.

 

[01101010]

Sadly I think they are banking on this set of patch work to gain them subs. I get this feeling they are doing this work and releasing this stuff to a lost audience.

[Modern Angel]

Ahaha, what?

"Falconeer, we're going to need you this next battle"

"Okay, Modern Angel, smart and wonderful person who is way radder than I am. What do you need me to do?"

"Listen carefully. I need you to flank them on th- GILLETTE! THE BEST A MAN CAN GEEEETTTTT!-"

"Fuck"

[Mrbloodworth]

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

Thats a bunch of cool changes:

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]).

Wow, thats a fuck ton of changes.

Check out the video.

[Kageru]

Being able to use voice chat is still considered an upgrade. I believe at the moment free players can use the chat but un-amplified so no one can actually hear them. Not that it matters because I leave voice off in PUG's and use ventrilo rather than in-game voice with the guild.

They're pulling 700-1000 people online at the moment I believe. Even if this content doubles those numbers it's still un-sustainable in terms of funding the content development they'd need. Having a steam special, when they think things are working well, would probably get them some box sales... but I can't imagine it being a huge amount.

[Morfiend]

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

Thats a bunch of cool changes:

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]).

Wow, thats a fuck ton of changes.

Check out the video.

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

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

Thats a bunch of cool changes:

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]).

Wow, thats a fuck ton of changes.

Check out the video.

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.

[Morfiend]

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

Thats a bunch of cool changes:

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]).

Wow, thats a fuck ton of changes.

Check out the video.

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.

Here is what it shows for new class items on that page.

Recon Handsfree Jetpack (Level 1)
Recon Combat Jetpack (Level 40)

Each class gets those two new jetpacks. If the combat one allows shooting while flying, I wonder what the Handsfree one allows.

Also, if you can only fly and shoot after level 40, they really better not match people under 40 with players over 40, cause thats a pretty major change.

[Mrbloodworth]

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

[kildorn]

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.

New inventory/equipment system is.. interesting.

PVE now has some absolutely bullshit encounters with new enemy types.

PVP is relatively unchanged. Fun new airship level.

[Kageru]

I'm a free-loader, but 3 game crashes in about 20 minutes of trying to put things back the way they were is quite impressive. I couldn't actually tell if there was anything new I'd be remotely tempted to purchase / subscribe for.

[Morfiend]

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?

[kildorn]

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?

Yes. Space to jump, hold to fly. It's a little wonky compared to how it used to feel, but far more usable in pvp. Jumping wasn't really all that useful anyways. :P

[Amarr HM]

That jetpack thing is great, works quite well too. They also opened up the keyboard remapping which is for us left handed shooters. Last month I started a couple of threads in their dev forum about it, might have helped.

[Amarr HM]

Oops wrong button.

[Mrbloodworth]

I may have to boot this up again. Was always good fun when I played. Its the AvA I had a hard time getting going, there now seems to be so much more to do than that though.

The unified map seemed and odd change.

[Kageru]

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.

[Morfiend]

Just FYI, the patch is 7gb. 

[Mrbloodworth]

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.

If i recall, you didnt like it in the first place 

However, no new content? That's crazy, and the patch notes seem to disagree with you. There is an expanded PvE system, new gear, new crafting system, at least 5 new maps (not just this update)...

What were you looking for?

[kildorn]

They also added solo pve missions, which are decidedly easier than the team missions, which went all "what the shit?" difficulty wise.

It plays like an entirely new game this patch. I haven't noticed the new gear seeing much use, though. And while the new airship map is fun, scramble seems to break people's brains.

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

[Mrbloodworth]

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

Internets.

[Kageru]

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.

[kildorn]

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.

More annoyingly, "hero" style mobs now have far more abilities. The Techro, to be specific, needs tuning. We had two just sitting there spam healing a boss robot while random other robots chain spawned in and wound up timing out the mission.

But the weapons appear to be the old level 4 versions of weapons, damage wise. What they DID do that is screwing up people's ideas of the damage done is remove the damage boost from zooming. Zooming now increases RANGE, not damage. Which winds up being about a 30% damage nerf across the board for anyone beyond assaults who use weapons that didn't get the bonus anyways.

It's also why assaults seem very very strong right now.

[Amarr HM]

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

You can get these items in the PvP (mercenary) matches aswell, I got a rare firebomb earlier.

[Malakili]

You know, every RPG element they add to this game, the less likely I am to ever bother trying it.

[Amarr HM]

Yeh when I received that firebomb I felt a bit weird. Though the fact that it gave a 2% increase to AOE made me feel warm inside 

[01101010]

Ok I was not aware they fucking moved a ton of shit around. No more weapon slot skill points? Half my shit missing? Have to buy my stuff now (though very cheap)? Solo missions?

A tad disoriented when I loaded it up. Asked a few questions on city chat, immediately smacked myself for even considering city chat. Found my inventory with a new layout, no more putting 1-4 points in a slot. Very nice... buying gears now is meh. All the basic shit is 1k credits so nothing really lost. The sounds are vastly improved, esp the robotics deployments. Guns sound correct now. Solo missions are silly, but they sorta work. New wrapping paper on an old game... made me load it up and play a bit. Dunno how long it will hold me for though.

[Mrbloodworth]

New patch.

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.

[Draegan]

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

[Mrbloodworth]

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

I have had good times after this recent revamp, I like the loot system, the new maps are good fun, and i enjoy the diversity of the new content. Solo missions kick my ass though, those things are hardcore. Really thankful the balanced team option is back too, helps a good deal on some PvE mission.

[Morfiend]

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.

[Mrbloodworth]

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.

We are at a slight disadvantage I think. having had toons from before the change. Most likely, by the time we hit 30, we would have enough. That, and that stuff, is just basic gear it seems, as drops and the like are where its at.

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.

[Morfiend]

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.

Granted 5,600 is to completely max all your mercenary token gear.

Mercenary tokens, the silver ones. Each ability you have, has an upgrade starting at level 30. I estimated about 20 abilities per class, plus there is a piece of epic armor available for each slot, I believe there are 8 slots. Each piece is 200 Mercenary tokens, so 28 x 200 = 5,600 tokens. Granted, you dont need every ability and armor upgrade. Say you only upgraded one loadout. Thats 4 skills, plus 1 weapon and 2 class abilities. So to upgrade you one loadout, and not getting any of the armor upgrades you are still looking at 1,400 Mercenary tokens.

You get 3 tokens for a win, and 1 for a loss. Best possible case you win every game you play, 467 wins. Average match lasts 10 minutes. Thats 77 hours just upgrade one single loadout, on one character. IF you win every single game you play. Realistically, you are looking at more like about 900 wins, which is about 150 hours, to max that one loadout.

I guess we can break it down to per upgrade. Lets say 75 matches to get your 200 tokens. Thats still around 12 hours of straight play time, per upgrade. That seems a bit excessive to me.