On Wed., November 18th, Hi-Rez Studios held a developer chat using Vivox Voice on Facebook. The chat featured Q&A between the Global Agenda Community and members of the Global Agenda Developer staff, including:

• Todd Harris, Executive Producer
• Chris Larson, Product Developer
• Michal Adam, PR & Marketing
• Chad Heath, Community Management
• Stewart Chisam, Operations

The developer chat features Q&A on a wide range of Global Agenda-related topics and lasts about one hour.

To listen to the chat visit: http://hirezstudios.podbean.com/#

By Susan Arendt, The Escapist Magazine

Global Agenda is kind of hard to describe. Part Call of Duty, part Eve Online, its creators promise that it will deliver a satisfying experience not just for shooter aficionados, but also for MMOG junkies. You can buy it once, or you can choose to subscribe. You can hop online for a quick match with strangers, or your can put the time and effort to creating an Agency with your friends. Trying to mesh two distinctly different types of gameplay seems like a herculean undertaking, but according to the game’s executive producer, Todd Harris, it just makes sense.

"We wanted to remove subscription as a barrier for people to try the game," he explains. Players who might find Global Agenda’s shooter-style gameplay appealing might not want to dive headfirst into an MMOG experience, especially if they’re more used to deathmatches than raids. But Hi-Rez is confident in what their game has to offer. "We thought that we could carve out enough from the Global Agenda gameplay that it would stack up very well as a multiplayer shooter," Harris continues.

He’s quick to stress that Global Agenda isn’t some sort of MMOG-ized shooter, where you click on an enemy and wait for the fight to sort itself out. "You freely aim your reticule, in our case when you do a melee attack, you actually have to land it on your opponent. [There's] a lot of player skill involved. It plays like a multiplayer shooter would, whether that’sTF2 or Battlefield." Or maybe even a little bit like Tribes - each player has a jetpack, but you can’t fire while jetting around, so it’s more for transport than aerial combat. (Still…jetpack.)

Playing the game in its non-subscription form gets you access to "match-made PVP, or also PVE content so you can level up your character that way." You’ll also get loot drops, there’s a social area, you can visit vendors, customize character with new suits and dyes, and make use of the built-in voice chat. And if that’s all you ever do, you’ll have a very satisfying shooter experience comparable to other online shooters, but as Harris puts it "We also say come for the action gameplay, then stay for the game of territory control."

Can a single game please both Shooter and MMOG fans?

Weigh in on the comment thread!

Read the entire article http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/interviews/6763-Global-Agenda-You-Got-Shooter-in-my-MMO

ATLANTA, GA, November 10, 2009 — Hi-Rez Studios, currently developing the action MMO Global Agenda, announced today that the game includes built-in voice chat and a number of other voice features powered by Vivox. 

The feature set upon release will include:

• In-Game Player Voice Chat - push to talk voice chat enables team communication within co-op player-vs-environment missions as well as competitive player-vs-player missions.
• In-Game News Broadcasts -  delivery of voice broadcasts within the game that describe key victories and events associated with Global Agenda’s persistent territory control gameplay.
• Out Of Game Player Voice Chat (Subscriber Only):  Subscribers gain the ability to talk with Agency members and other Global Agenda players while playing other games or simply browsing the web.  Players can use a variety of access methods including the Vivox Web Voice within the toolbar controls, Vivox Voice on Facebook, or calling into a specified chat channel from their phone.

"Global Agenda’s combat is very team oriented, requiring close and real-time coordination between teammates in a mission," said Todd Harris, Executive Producer at Hi-Rez Studios. "Voice provided by Vivox allows our players to easily communicate with each another without requiring a separate, non-integrated solution.  Our beta community has rated the voice quality to be superb and we are excited to work with Vivox to bring this capability to our player base."

Global Agenda is a fast-paced massively multiplayer action game set in Earth’s near future, a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. Players determine which factions to aid and which to oppose.

“Global Agenda re-defines  fast-paced MMO gameplay,” said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. “With Vivox voice built into the world, players will be able to link up, strategize and coordinate their battles in real-time.  It is a pleasure to work with Hi-Rez Studios to craft a distinctive universe where player experience ultimately rules the world.”

Upon release in Q1 2010, players can experience Global Agenda’s award-winning multi-player PvP and PvE content after a one-time purchase of the game at retail or digital distribution outlets without a monthly fee, supporting character progression to max level and unlocks of full device inventories.

For those that subscribe to the optional "Global Agenda: Conquest" package, additional elite-level missions will be available that benefit your agency in the Alliance vs Alliance campaign for persistent territory control and scarce resources.

Hi-Rez Studios will be hosting a dev chat in their Vivox Voice on Facebook room on Wednesday, November 18^th – 10:00pmEST/7:00pmPST. RSVP to the event at http://www.facebook.com/globalagenda.

To participate, download the Vivox Voice app at http://apps.facebook.com/vivoxvoice/ then join us at http://bit.ly/TC4Hy

Not near a computer, call-in with your phone! +1 646-727-4472 x365884

About Hi-Rez Studios

Hi-Rez Studios, Inc. was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment and is located just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.   For more information, visit www.hirezstudios.com.

Follow Hi-Rez news and updates:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hirezstudios

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/globalagenda

About Vivox, Inc.

Vivox is the leading provider of community-building voice services for online games,virtual worlds and the social web. Supporting over 15 million users in more than 180 countries, and over 2 billion minutes of voice chat per month, the Vivox Network is the world’s largest voice network for gamers. Vivox customers include game and virtual world developers and publishers such as CCP Games (EVE Online), EA, Gaia Online, Icarus Studios, Linden Lab (Second Life), NCsoft, Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. For more information on Vivox and the power of voice, visit www.vivox.com.

Follow Vivox news and updates:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Vivox_Inc

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vivox 

Lead Environment Artist Eric Hartz on using film based production principals and visual effects when creating environment sets for Global Agenda

How did you get into the gaming industry? How did you get to Hi-Rez Studios?

I have been working in the gaming/real time simulation industry for 5 and a half years and have worked various CG artist positions since 1999.

Describe your video game experience; when did you start playing/making games?

I started playing games back in the early 80s with my Atari and who could forget the late nights trying to win Rygar on the NES.

What is your favorite class/character to play in Global Agenda?

Assault

What are you most excited for in Global Agenda?

PvE

What experiences do you draw from when creating content for the game?

I continually draw from my education in  visual effects.  All of the film based production principals apply. You just have to be even more efficient in how you solve a visual problem for games. For instance, tackling building a massive cityscape for an introduction movie, my first thoughts would be - if I was making a miniature set like you’d see on film, how could I stage it so I build the least number of assets to yield a massive shot?  Thats when you get into “tricking” the viewer/player by using greeble pieces and matte paintings for set extensions, atmospherics to separate foreground, mids, and backgrounds,  thrifty choices of set scaling to yield appropriate parallax. The list could go on and on, but in the end all of these approaches are rooted in the old non-digital visual effects techniques used all the back in the 1930s.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to break into gaming?

Get a solid background in art history and theory.  Master your toolset, if it’s Max, Maya, Photoshop, you should know how to troubleshoot. Network and be open to all potential projects when starting off.

Favorite game(s)?

Rygar - Nostalgia

Legendary Wings - Nostalgia

UT99 - Visuals for the time and frantic play

Half Life 2 - Great story

What do you do in your free time?

Sadly, I work.  I try to fill my time with contracts that range from character rigging for commercials to particle simulations for medical animation, I find that contracting in totally un-related fields keeps my mind limber and skills up to date.   When I am not working though, I spend a lot of time walking my dog Blue, he is a big old Husky that needs many miles.

What is on your iPod/MP3player?

James McMurtry - Live, Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mid, Garcia & Grisman, Old & In The Way

As part of their continuing series on the Global Agenda Character Classes, TenTonHammer has published a Q&A with Executive Producer Todd Harris on the Assault class. Read the full article here. Excerpts below.

Ten Ton Hammer: It seems like the assault class fills the gaps between the classes - assaults can anchor an attack, they can draw fire away from more fragile teammates,and  they have the ammo capacity, firepower, and durability to pin down enemies and hold objectives on defense. Is that an accurate assessment?

Todd Harris, Executive Producer: I would say it’s accurate that he’s flexible and can cover the gaps. But I’d also categorize the assault class as being all about damage - whether dishing it out or soaking it up. Recon really excels at concentrated offense (against a single target or location, typically using surprise). But the assault class is typically the class that is doing the most damage overall, and over a broad area using a lot of area of effect weapons. They’re all about damage.

Ten Ton Hammer: We’ve seen assaults carrying rocket launchers, grenade launchers, miniguns, and various melee weapons as well. In other games, this class packs a punch but burns through ammo quickly. What kind of ammo considerations does an assault class have in Global Agenda?

Todd: All the weapons in Global Agenda draw off of the common power pool mechanic rather than using ammunition. Being that assaults are all about damage, they really do have to carefully manage their power pool to make sure they’re not caught in the wrong spot at the wrong time with low power. That’s something that players can spec (using the talent trees) to have either higher maximum power or faster recharge or have particular weapons draw less power. All of those are popular  choices for assault players.

Ten Ton Hammer: What options does an assault class have at melee?

They wield basically a futuristic battle axe that also has the ability to set opponents on fire. So as compared to Recon, which has the more precision instrument of the katana, Assaults are definitely more brute force.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there chaining with the fire damage in melee?

Todd:  No, not at this time, it’s strictly single damage. There’s no contagion or chaining of the fire right now. But in general, as far as characterizing the class, Assault is always very much in the middle of the action. Not many characters can survive long under direct fire, but the Assault players typically thrive on being in the middle of everything.

Ten Ton Hammer: Another popular motif with big guys wielding big weapons is the ability to catch several enemies with one swing. Is that something that’s a part of the class as well?

Todd: Not as much with melee, but with the primary and off-hand weapons they’re able to deal out damage to more than one player at a time, moreso than any other class.

Global Agenda’s Assault class in action.

Ten Ton Hammer: At first look, the Assault class seems pretty straightforward. How were you able to mix up the talent tree options of this class?

Todd: At the highest level, you’re basically going for a tank build to soak up the damage versus an explosive build to deal out damage. Those are the two names of the class-specific trees, and then there’s a balanced tree as well. You can go extreme down either of those trees or go more hybrid. The talents combined with devices really do let you spec a number of different ways. For those familiar with Team Fortress 2, you could basically spec our assault class similar to a demoman (using grenades and sticky grenades), or a soldier (using a rocket launcher), or a Heavy (using a minigun). But you could even go more exaggerated - our tank would be much more of a tank than a heavy, and you could also come up with hybrid builds.

Finish the article on TenTonHammer.

Phill Cameron at RockPaperShotgun spent time playing Global Agenda PvE while at the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds, UK, last week.

Read the full article from his experience here. Below are some excerpts.

Global Agenda is a game straddling two worlds. It has two different payment schemes, and two different games within itself, almost. It’s a multiplayer third person shooter, with a class based system and jetpacks. But it’s also a huge sprawling PvE/PvP MMO, with the PvP driven by player Agencies that can form and break alliances on the fly in a bitter battle for territorial zones that grant bonuses and benefits.

By providing a far more engrossing experience in the persistent side of the game, Global Agenda seems to be moving well on the way to becoming the first truly hybrid MMO. It’s a big show of confidence that they consider the actual mechanics of their game solid enough to support a multiplayer shooter, especially considering the competition they face on the PC, most of whom they cite as influences. The impression of having such a thriving world just a subscription away could sway people to taking the plunge, and having them interact with the subscribers is a similarly clever move.

The writers at Massively.com were busy during Global Agenda’s recent visit to GameX in Philadelphia. They published a video interview with Hi-Rez’s Michal Adam, as well as a two-part look at the game – one focusing on PvP in Global Agenda and one focusing on the game’s PvE system.

See the full write-up on the PvE and PvP gameplay here.

For the video interview with Michal, visit this link.

Below are some key quotes and messages pulled from the article.

Global Agenda was easily the game of the show at GameX, hands down. Its polished gameplay (even in beta) combined with a great sense of fast-paced fun kept a constant stream of people sitting down and learning the ropes. Some people even came back for second or third matches, eager to try out a new class or just play the game more.

I spy a fun game. This deeper look into Global Agenda makes me more excited to see exactly what the game has to offer at launch. Both PvP and PvE are lots of fun, easy to get into, and simultaneously connected and unique experiences. If you’re a Guild Wars junkie, a TF2 trooper, aBorderlands resident, a Tribes soldier, or a PlanetSide refugee, you’re going to find things to love.

The transition from PvP to PvE is close to seamless. PvE encounters teach you the fundamentals of your class while still being loads of fun and a great team building exercise. The PvE’s focus on team play is a great counterpart and learning experience to the focus on teams in PvP situations, letting new players learn the ropes without being humiliated by more experienced troops and still gaining bouses for their characters.

These modes play very much like Team Fortress 2 crossed with Tribes. Jetpacks are very, very useful, as well as setting ambushes, traps, and other sorts of insanity. Robotics players and recon players can set the stage for ambushes using the Robotics turret and the Recon’s mines, as well as the Recon’s decoy ability to distract enemies.

The gameplay is also very fast paced. Don’t expect downtime or waiting around for something to happen — something is always happening. The matches are very tight, very chaotic, and very fun. I wasn’t expecting the game to be so easy to pick up, with its toolbar of imposing, nameless abilities, but after playing around with the items for a minute or two you get the hang of them.

Here is the interview with Michal Adam.

LONDON, Oct. 30, 2009 - Attendees at the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds and London this week were among the first to experience Global Agenda’s  player-vs-environment (PvE) content, participating in four-person co-op missions that pit teams of elite special agents against the Commonwealth, an oppressive one-world government of the 22nd Century.

"After showing off our award-winning player-vs-player content during the Global Agenda Tour at venues across North America, we are excited to unveil player-vs-environment content in the UK at the Eurogamer Expo," said Todd Harris, Executive Producer of Global Agenda. "We are working hard to craft a PvE system that maintains the same high replayability and addictive gameplay as our player-vs-player gameplay. And our beta testers and early Eurogamer participants have reinforced that this will be a fun and important part of the game."

Gamers that play Global Agenda may earn experience points, in-game credits, achievements, upgrades and loot through either player-vs-player (PvP) or player-vs-environment (PvE) missions.  Reinforcing the game’s team-based gameplay, PvE missions feature teams of four player agents infiltrating Commonwealth facilities and working cooperatively to defeat an end boss.

Upon release in Q1 2010, players can experience Global Agenda’s award-winning multi-player PvP and PvE content after a one-time purchase of the game at retail or digital distribution outlets without a monthly fee, supporting character progression to max level and unlocks of full device inventories. 

For those that also subscribe to the optional "Global Agenda: Conquest" package, additional elite-level PvE missions will be available that benefit your agency in the Alliance vs Alliance campaign for persistent territory control and scarce resources.

The Eurogamer Expo continues through Oct.31 at Old Billingsgate in London. This is the final stop on the Global Agenda pre-launch tour. For more information, please visit www.globalagendagame.com

About Hi-Rez Studios, Inc.

Hi-Rez Studios, Inc. was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment. It is located just outside of Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit http://www.hirezstudios.com.

Global Agenda, the debut title from Hi-Rez Studios, is a fast-paced, action-oriented, massive multi-player online game set in the Earth’s near future — a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. To learn more visit:http://www.globalagendagame.com.

Media Contact:

Michal Adam

madam@hirezstudios.com

+1 (404) 550-4756

Following up on last week’s Global Agenda pricing announcement, the editors at TenTonHammer have published an in-depth Q&A with Executive Producer Todd Harris that provides in-depth information on the new pricing model, as well as more information on the Global Agenda: Conquest gameplay.

Read the full article at: http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75772

Here are excerpts:

Ten Ton Hammer: The pricing options really seem like an interesting way to offer subscription-phobic gamers more than just a window into the game, but a complete standalone game that works hand-in-hand with the MMO portion of the game. Do you view the pricing options as a way to layer in or introduce the game to an unfamiliar audience? What makes the non-Conquest experience of Global Agenda different from what some gamers might be used to with a typical lobby-and-instance online shooter?

Todd Harris: Whether or not you view it as layering in the MMO experience - we’ve always thought of the game as an MMO from the beginning, and always thought of the AvA [Alliance vs. Alliance campaign game] as a big draw- I think about it more as carving out the really fun multiplayer gameplay and making that available in the core single-purchase package. 

Ultimately we wanted to give people an experience on-par or better than online shooters or even multiplayer shooters that are adding a little bit of persistence. We get a lot of comments that ‘Wow, this game really is different… the gameplay is super fun… I’m not sure if it’s an MMO, but I really like it.’  With that core game, we wanted to remove any obstacle that people might have about a subscription or hangups about what an MMO is or isn’t, because it’s instanced.

And again, just really capitalize on the strengths people have recognized: really fun multiplayer gameplay. We looked at the feature sets of multiplayer games that are single-purchase - Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty, Battlefield - and we wanted to make sure that core single-purchase package stacked up really well against them. You can level up your character to max level by doing PvE or match-made PvP or mixing them as you choose. Obviously we do have a city that we think compares well to just a menu-based lobby, we have currency, vendors, and allow those players to not create their own agencies but join other agencies and members of a persistent group, we’ve got built-in voice chat. A lot of the features that are listed there measure up well against other games in that category.  So if people just want that experience of fun online mulitplayer combat, they can buy the game once and try it.
Of course, we’ve always thought that the real stickiness of the game comes from not only ongoing content, but competing in the conquest gameplay. That’s where the MMO aspects come in, plus other features common to MMOs like auctionhouse, crafting, and some of the other features.

In their round up of activity at GameX 2009 in Philadelphia, Oct. 22 – 25, PixalatedGeek.com gave Global Agenda “Game of the Show” honors, commenting:

The addiction of the convention and clear winner of Game of the Show in my mind was not from the industry juggernauts of Ubisoft, EA or Sega.  No, the winner was Global Agenda from Hi-Rez Studios.  Global Agenda is addicting, promising, fun, pulse-pounding and seems to being crafted by people with a passion for the game they are making.  I’m going to give a detailed write-up on it very soon, so I’ll leave it at that for now.  Watch this game, it is going to be epic, mark my words.

For more photos from GameX, check out the Global Agenda Facebook page.