Global Agenda

[Gizmo-5]

well its not just the wow experience. ive also been around in star wars galaxies back when that was playable and (base on observation) is my belief that as groups get bigger the leaders themselves begin to see members less as friends, then less as members to the level of expendable gap fillers.

As i say wow is a good example for avoiding big guild reliance as, apart from ganking and the really high level raids theres not so much of an advantage for a 200 man guild than a 50 man guild.

Although i often take criticism with gritted teeth, its a flaw, we all have them. It is when guildmembers are throwing personal insults at people. In my previous experience i was not the recipient of such personal attacks, but coming from people who are not only supposed to have respect for eachother (guild charter) but friends aswell really convinced me that i would not want to play in that kind of atmosphere.

Im just saying im incredibly sceptical (and as a student of games design) especially with the Corporation structure, and if i was designing it would build in many barriers to stop dedicated groups of players becoming to powerful to easily (monthly resets? Corp Caps? Tier servers? server population arranged by skill?)

 

[Nanor]

It is when guildmembers are throwing personal insults at people. In my previous experience i was not the recipient of such personal attacks, but coming from people who are not only supposed to have respect for eachother (guild charter) but friends aswell really convinced me that i would not want to play in that kind of atmosphere.

Was this in The Haven? I don't remember this?

Monthly resets seems a bit much, but perhaps bi-annual resets would be reasonable.

 

[Huung]

The problem with any form of reset is it kill the idea of a "persistent, evolving world" (quoted from the dev video) and thus hurts the idea of it being an MMO. It will be interesting to see how the problem of large, overpowering corps is dealt with - if at all.

What I'm most eager to see however, is just how skill based the combat actually is. If the game is a third person shooter, and (judging by the accuracy of the weapons in the teaser) the weapons are largely inaccurate, just how much FPS skill will be needed? Will it be more time based, i.e. those who play much more will beat those who are just plain skilled at FPS?

I just don't think there's a big enough market for MMOFPS either. In theory it sounds great, as it draws from the two biggest markets - MMO's and FPS. There is a reason these two are such separate markets however, and that is because the players from each generally don't match in gaming styles. I think the MMO players will grow frustrated with the game "not being WoW" as has happened with so many other games branded with the MMO label (be they RPG or FPS); the FPS players will grow frustrated with the lack of insta-gratification, which, from my experience, is generally why they will play FPS in the first place.

Still, I've signed up to the beta, looking forward to giving it a go

 

[PsiSoldier]

I just don't think there's a big enough market for MMOFPS either. In theory it sounds great, as it draws from the two biggest markets - MMO's and FPS.

Big market or not, there is still a market for it, however as this is one of the few MMOFPS games out there (All I can think of is Planetside and Welkin), it hasn't to worry about competition too much.

There is a reason these two are such separate markets however, and that is because the players from each generally don't match in gaming styles. I think the MMO players will grow frustrated with the game "not being WoW" as has happened with so many other games branded with the MMO label (be they RPG or FPS).

Why would one even assume any MMO is going to be like WoW? WoW is just one example of a MMO, not a representative of the whole MMO section of games.

the FPS players will grow frustrated with the lack of insta-gratification, which, from my experience, is generally why they will play FPS in the first place

I have to disagree, my main complaint about most FPS games is the lack of long term goals, it all seems so pointless to me when it just gets reset at the end of a 5-30 minute 'round', this being the reason I have gone back to Planetside so many times in my 5~ years of playing it, but not played any other FPS actively for more than 3 months after its initial release.

 

[Huung]

Big market or not, there is still a market for it, however as this is one of the few MMOFPS games out there (All I can think of is Planetside and Welkin), it hasn't to worry about competition too much.

Hmmm, true, but to be competitive in it's pricing and regularity of new content releases, it needs a decent amount of funding. The more players play, the more stuff gets added. Similarly, the more funding, the faster the initial bug fixes come, which is what usually scares away those who make it to a paid month of gametime.

Why would one even assume any MMO is going to be like WoW? WoW is just one example of a MMO, not a representative of the whole MMO section of games.

I totally agree with you, but anything labelled as an "MMO" of any form is jumped on by the WoW players, played for the free month, then abandoned as "it isn't WoW". Being the biggest game of it's genre, a large number of players compare any MMO to WoW, it's bound to happen. I don't agree that it should, as if anything, a game which is a breath of fresh air from the WoW clone is more likely to succeed. Still, it happens.

I have to disagree, my main complaint about most FPS games is the lack of long term goals, it all seems so pointless to me when it just gets reset at the end of a 5-30 minute 'round', this being the reason I have gone back to Planetside so many times in my 5~ years of playing it, but not played any other FPS actively for more than 3 months after its initial release.

You aren't the average FPS player though Psi - hence you're still playing Planetside
By "average FPS player" I generally mean the CSS nubs, and to an extent, some of the older COD series/BF2 dolphin diving players.

The more I see of this game the more impressed I get though, I just hope the media coverage doesn't do it's standard thing of hyping it up to "take over from WoW" as that only encourages idiots to join, and messes up the first month's experience for the rest of us.

Oh, and I also love what you did with my name in the quotes

 

[Ronin Storm]

to be competitive in it's pricing and regularity of new content releases, it needs a decent amount of funding.

Why does it need new content releases? (Indeed, one could ask that of any well formed FPS.) A good shooter remains good, even if its graphics become outmoded or its theme old hat. It's why people play Counter Strike years and years on from its release; it's well put together. Sure, the crowd stinks these days and it's full of cheats despite VAC and similar efforts but that diminishes the community of the game, not the game itself. Any game can suffer from a crap community and will be worse for it. It says something that people play a game despite the community around it.

I guess you could term new maps as being new content but, for example, in Counter Strike, a bunch of good maps were actually community provided and, in the beginning, Counter Strike was a free mod (remember that?) done by bedroom programmers. So, in a way, the whole game was provided for free (bar the underlying Half Life engine).

In that case, why can't the game be good enough, and the mod tools sufficient, that the community provides good content for itself?

The City of Heroes lead designer commented on their recent release of their Architect tool, which allows players to build missions for each other to sit alongside those that the developers provided. Within 24 hours of the release of the tool, their community had produced more mission arcs than the developers had done in the past five years (source @ Eurogamer). Now, I'm not going to claim that all of those were works of art but if even 0.1% of them were any good then that's still a worthwhile production rate.

So, community-lead design can work and does work both for shooters and MMOs. I'm not sure that an MMOFPS need work out any different.

... of course, it will, but I don't think it needs to.

 

[Angelic]

They've sent out email newsletter to all the people signed up for the beta and one of the links included was to another interview with game footage in it. Take a look, I like what I see.

http://www.globalagendagame.com/20090413Gametrailers.html

Also, I thought this quite a nice overview of how they want to structure the gameplay:

With Global Agenda our intent is to offer multiple 'tiers' of game-play such that players can engage and master each of those at their own pace. Particular players will progress at different speeds based on their prior gaming experience and player skill but the game would remain challenging and engaging for a very long time.

Specifically, the major tiers of gameplay within GA include:

1. Action/Shooter mechanics and reflexes
2. RPG/Build
3. Team Tactics and Cooperation - Per Mission Instance
4. Domination Strategy & Coordination - Per End-Game Campaign/Season

Each of these could actually be subdivided in more detail but the general point is that each tier builds upon the one before it.

1. Action/Shooter

When a player first starts out they will have a limited number of devices so he/she can become familiar with the basic WASD+mouse, jumping, crouching, grappling, (and later jetpacking) involved with player control in Global Agenda.

Players that come from FPS/action backgrounds will likely master this tier quickly; and those FPS players that have high situational awareness, lightning fast reflexes and an ability to lean the specific map layouts will likely progress even faster. But for those players coming from more traditional/fantasy MMOs that do not play FPS games there will be some new player skills to learn and master. And, even for FPS experts, players will find that, due to the gameplay style, positioning, weapon selection, offhands use, boosts, and jetpacks create a wide variety of possible attack styles that require time and practice to master.

2. RPG/Build

As players unlock equipment and accumulate devices of different types and ranks, they make a different set of decisions quite independent from their twitch skills or map-knowledge. Some of these decisions are made at equip time but there are also a set of decisions needed in the middle of fast-paced combat. We have the concept of different attack types (melee, aoe, range) and different damage types (physical, fire, poison, ...) per device. And we have various passive and active protections against those different attack types and damage types. So, this layer adds the 'stats' element to the core action element. My devices matter; but it also matters what devices my enemy has and which he is wielding at the moment. And, this is the layer of gameplay that is more familiar to traditional MMORPG players ("I designed the leet build... take a look"); but may be less familiar to some action/FPS players ("I have a biggest gun and I aimed it at you; WHY are you not dead?... oh wait what was that glowing shield-like effect around you").

Success in this tier will reward experimentation, practice and creativity -- as well as quick tactical thinking on the battlefield.


3. Team Tactics & Coordination

Our intent is for team-work to make a huge difference within mission. And that goal is consistently demonstrated within our playtest sessions where we see coordinated teams beating a collection of high-scoring individuals. The distinct roles of our classes, map layouts, and gameplay mechanics (such as the teleport beacon), are designed to reward teams that are coordinated.

4. Strategy

Finally, at the level of Agency v. Agency campaigns we seek to provide a 45-60 day campaign that is winnable in the way a sports season is winnable. A more strategic set of decisions will be introduced at this level in terms of which other organizations to ally with, which to target, how to allocate resources, and best build and defend your own facilities toward winning this meta-game or accomplishing other agency goals.

 

[thatbloke]

oooooooooh sounds shiny.

If they pull all of that off then this could well be (at least for me) the Next Big Thing(tm).

 

[Angelic]

Yes, that. It's certainly gonna be a lot of hard work to, as you correctly put it, "pull it off", but if that succeeds, I'll definitely enjoy it

Plus the graphics look shiny AND useful - I mean, some of the newer games are just too...minimalistic or "alternative".

 

[Nanor]

If anyone else wants to get into the beta may I suggest using this referral code?

HZDNANOR8743

 

[Angelic]

Or, alternatively, this one

HZDANGELIC8167

 

[Nanor]

I think the Nanor one is much better.

 

[Gizmo-5]

So it would appear the design is more Linked instances (like Endwar) than persistant world (like planetside). this makes everything look better

 

[PsiSoldier]

Instances? What!? If this is so it is not the MMOFPS to take over Planetside!

 

[Angelic]

Here is some info on how the larger-scale PvP will be conducted:

It's 60v60 split among a few teams, but it's not a simple 'here are a few matches'. For example:

- Each area being fought over effects the other areas in real time. For example, capturing and holding a point in one area will turn on defensive turrets in all the other areas.

- The team sizes can be changed, so you can send up to 12 players into one specific area to fight (but you will have less players on one of your other teams)

- Players can move between teams quickly

- The raid lead has full control of who enters the raid, team leaders, etc...

So it's a little like instancing, yes, but inter-linked instancing. I'm not quite sure what to make out of it, but it doesn't sound too bad to me. I'd just like to SEE what's happening at the other locations (that are adjacent to mine) - see the rockets fly, lasers go pew pew and the like. It would really add some credibility to the idea

 

[Angelic]

All of you guys, we should unify on what guild name we have put in in our Manage Profile pages. I personally wrote "The Haven Net" but that might be a little off - shall we all just type "THN"?

 

[Nanor]

I wrote The Haven Net too.

 

[Angelic]

Awright.

Anyho, who else is signed up?

 

[Angelic]

Some more interesting stuff! For those who like to heal shit, here's how it'll work:

In Global Agenda the medic can heal the following ways:

- Channel healing (lock on to a friendly target with continues healing beam)
- Gun (shoot a friendly player to heal them)
- Wave (AoE around the healer to heal near by teammates)
- Healing Grenade (toss towards friendly players)

All the targeting is basically 'normal' targeting like most fps games.

 

[Huung]

Hehe, that reminds me alot of how healing in Hogs of War used to work, what with the medic rifle and grenades. Have there been other games which have used grenades for healing? I personally can't think of any...