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Saving Global Agenda
Aryas
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 337
First off, I personally love this game.
However, it's clear that the game is getting very mixed reviews - erring on the lower side - and as a benchmark, the XFire stats suggest the game is losing players. It's also clear that Hi-Rez aims to introduce content to the game to rectify this, as per their recent statements and player surveys.
The way I see it, they have to pick a direction (MMO or FPS) and pile on features appropriate to that genre. Given the presentation of games like MW2 and BBC2, I think the art direction will always leave them struggling to compete with prettier games in the FPS category, so working the MMO angle seems to make more sense.
So what could they add in some of the key areas?
PvP
- More maps/settings
- Larger maps
- More fluff in the maps e.g. trash, crashed ships, etc
- Introduce NPCs, robots, etc into maps
- More complex/multiple objectives
- Bonus abilities e.g. air stikes, etc
- 1-on-1 PvP scenarios
- Free-for-all scenarios
- Arena PvP settings
In this aspect, the foundations are in place and GA don't need to look much further than WoW and COD for inspirational ideas.
PvE
- Again, more maps/settings
- More varied maps
- Maps with a variety of pathways
- More varied mobs
- Again, more fluff in the maps e.g. trash, crashed ships, etc
- Some background lore to help immersion
- Soloable maps
This aspect of the game is very dull at present and could use a lot of work, but again tons of ideas out there to borrow.
AvA
- Different scales of AvA content - e.g. smaller zones with more rapid turnover
I think if they want to get people to pay for this, they're gonna to need to attract more than just big agencies/alliances.
General
- More appearance customisation options in terms of armour and weapons
- Better selection of melee weapons
- More activities to take part in between matches
- Some kind of open-world content
- More and varied cities/hubs
- Incorporate lore into the game more
- A friends list
- Player housing
Loads of little tweaks needed here and there, and some glaring omissions. The dome city is dire beyond compare!
I could add more, but I haven't tried AvA much. These are just my thoughts and I hope Hi-Rez work on this, because I like the game a lot. I think they'll need to really work some magic to win subs though, because even though the foundations are solid the game is very content-lite and does become tiresome. This worries me, as they may just decide to cut-and-run with the money they made from box sales (assuming it at least covers the orginal dev costs).
Content and play options are the two key elements that should set this game apart from the likes of COD, which are clearly superior in other aspects, so they really need to get this in... ASAP!
Aryas
Playing: Ableton Live 8
~ ragequitcancelsubdeletegamesmashcomputerkillself ~
Comments
Title is a bit dramatic. Last I checked, it was number two in the top sellers list for its category, and was recently number two in all category.
I think the stuff they have outlined, and the fact they have suspended the subscriptions charges is a good direction. You have basically repeated stuff thats already in the works.
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
I agree completely. I don't think we're at a point where this game needs "saving". It's outselling a lot of games right now, and if they manage to implement their proposed content, I would only expect it to grow in popularity.
Prax
Funny, because the number of players participating in random PvP is declining rapidly. After start is was something like 50+ concurrent matches in US and 30+ in Europe. Today is was 11 in US and 3 in EU.
Many players are leaving because the game gets boring very quickly. AvA is only for the hardcore gamer crowd and is driving out non-hardcore players. And the matchmaking system in random PvP has its own issues as well (like matching a bunch of level 30+ players against level 10 players).
For a shooter I think that both TF2 and ET:QW are still much better games imho. And for a MMORPG? No comment.
Guys,the Op has a lot of good points and i think the title is right on the money.Hi-Rez is doing well on sales thats for sure but thats because everyone MMo has pretty high sales at launch,its about retaining those people in the long run.With the current system of PvP ,PvE and AvA people will get burnt out quickly if there is not more content added and quickly ,Hi-Rez knows this and thats why they gave everyone and extra month of game time because they even know that there game is a little incomplete.Solid core with a lot of room to grow and i wouldn't says its failing as of now, but without some additions lik,e the OP is saying it will move that direction very quickly.
sounds like Fury over again
I hope GA does well. I keep meaning to try it.
I'm going to concede that my title was a bit tabloid and sensationalist, which although par for the course on this website, does come across a little cheap even though that wasn't my intention.
Thanks MrB and Prax for your input. I wasn't aware the game was still selling well and was mainly commenting on what I'd seen and felt - mainly based on XFire stats, match-made PvP queue times and number of active dome instances/population.
I think it's fair to say that GA doesn’t need saving… yet. But I'm concerned it's trending that way and even if sales are strong, it's not going to help if no-one actually plays it! As Hell said it may not need saving now, but by the time it does it'll be too late. I love the game and play every day, but my funs ruined if there's no-one else around to shoot at. A lot of people say XFire stats are a load of bollocks and I hope they are but the hours played have consistently dropped since launch and the game is now behind the likes of the dreaded AoC and WAR, much to my disappointment.
I'm really glad they are going to implement lots of changes and new content, I just hope they can churn out the goodies fast enough to satisfy the infinitely fickle MMO market. I mean really, the number of people who whine on the forums about spending 50 bucks on a game is a joke; not everyone on here can be unemployed, destitute or still in school!
/rant off
Aryas
Playing: Ableton Live 8
~ ragequitcancelsubdeletegamesmashcomputerkillself ~
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
You mean, that initial new game has worn off and the player base is starting to level out? SAY ITS NOT SO!
Last I looked, there were 60 "Domes" in the US, with 40-60 people each most times I am on, and that would be all the people NOT currently in a mission.
The rest is your subjective opinion, And clearly you are not paying attention to the development of the game, and seem to have not a clue what levels mean in this game. Why would they be adding two new zones for two new world territories and increasing hardware for the euro servers?
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Normally I do not have a problem with using Xfire for MMOs and stating a trend of use, not sub numbers but for trending.
However due to the free2play/common room nature of a lot of GA I do not think XFire says much for the game. Especially since it is not really a full on progression MMO for many people. I have not played it for a while but fully intend to play some more in a couple weeks.
I think a lot of people pop in and out and Xfire won't say much.
Games like GA and Guild Wars. They do not behave like normal pay to play sub games with heavy level progression.
AvA in GA has a bunch of problems. For one HiRez should put a hardcap on number of players in an agency/alliance. This would allow smaller agencies/alliances to participate again.
I wouldn't say that GA is doomed. But HiRez needs to act. And quickly. Because those players who left the game are hard to bring back. One good thing is that HiRez isn't NCSoft so chances aren't too bad that HiRez will sort out GA's issues.
This is what Alliances are for.
Have you seen the new content coming, and all the stuff that lets small agencies participate?
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
It does seem to be emptying out. Today there were around 700 people in the various Dome instances, about 60-70 pve missions and 25 pvp. Id estimate that as being around 1500 players online outside of ava, which is about half of that at release. pvp matches were in the region of 40 a few weeks ago, so thats quite a drop.
Whilst its still easy to get missions popping up and the population is still faily high, I worry about the situation in another 2-3 months if the new content isnt up to scratch. Thankfully the pvp queues are coming back and there may be some decent world pve and pvp, but if all of this is sub only I cant see it having a happy ending. The sub fee is simply too much to ask for so little.
I thought about getting this game, but then I realized it's basically WoW, plus twitch based combat, set only in Dome City(Orgrimmar) with the only thing to do being instanced missions(dungeons) and PvP matches(battlegrounds).
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
That's a pretty close minded view of a game you haven't played.
"IRL is a pretty upstanding MMO with thousands of classes, a lot of PvP and even some pretty unique emotes and titles you can acquire. Explore that world first, then we'll talk about this virtual one."
That's a pretty close minded view of a game you haven't played.
It's what everyone describes to me.
I'll take my entire clans word for it... plus several reviews.
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
That's a bit like saying a car is simply a smaller version of a lorry, when the two vehicles serve very different purposes.
Good luck with your comparison.
Aryas
Playing: Ableton Live 8
~ ragequitcancelsubdeletegamesmashcomputerkillself ~
Personally, I really like this game. It a lot of fun plain and simple. It's not a who has the bigger stick wins type game. It's a who uses their stick better type game, and whos team works better together. I've rolled every class, and they all play differently, and keep the game fun and refreshing. I've bested many high level players with a level 7 character. Level just means you have more gear to choose from and your stats will be different.
For the poster who obviously never played the game, but took it on the opinion of his guild, that it was WoW like...you really need to look into things for yourself.
Armor is purely cosmetic, there are bits you can craft for some modifiers, but unfortunately right now there is no way to repair them.
I break it down like this:
PVE: mats and xp, PVP: money and xp. AvA unfortunately this is one area that I haven't spent much time in due to being in some really, REALLY crappy Agencies.
They are trying to do things to make the game better to warrant the sub fee which is nice, release the game, keep it free until people find it worth subscribing to. For this to warrant a sub fee maybe they would have to turn it into a planetside type system, i just don't know if breaking the playerbase into factions is a good idea.
Right now AvA doesn't warrant a sub fee. I've been recruited by many Agencies and and promptly quit due to 2 reasons, either A) they aren't active in AvA, or
they tax the crap out of you and still aren't active in AvA. So as it stands I refuse to pay people money for nothing in game.
I don't approach Global Agenda as an MMORPG, to me the game feels more like the spiritual successor to Tribes more than anything else.
I think why I am so happy with this game right now is that I went into it with no expectations, I was expecting something more like Unreal Tournament, and walked away finding a rewarding, fun game I can play for a half hour, or a few hours on end.
Current Games:
as long as hirez is able to churn out new content quickly and improve AvA, the game is fine. yes, the numbers have decreased drastically from release day but have leveled off at about 1500-2500 online at any given time. on release, 5000+ were online. but thats possibly because many people were just trying the game out.
the two or three retarded reviews the game received arent really helping, because people tend to focus more on the negative.
for one guildwars is not a p2p and GA should not be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvA2KrN7F8o
irrelevant at this point. there is no sub required for the game, and its impossible to tell whether or not it will be worth the monthly fee until new content is released later this month.
I think some of the problems with the reviews, besides Gamespot who just screwed up royally, is that they have MMO style players reviewing it.
I mean it is labeled as an MMO
after all. But really, it's a FPS. 
And to put a MMO reviewer on FPS style game is like putting your Grandma on a snowboard and shoving her down the hill. She will most likely give the experince a low rating.
WoW is a semi-turn-based game, while GA is a FPS. How in the world do you come to such a conclusion?
That's a pretty close minded view of a game you haven't played.
It's what everyone describes to me.
I'll take my entire clans word for it... plus several reviews.
So, its good to know you will jump right into the "wrong" pool.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
They honestly need to work on armor, upgrades, crafting etc; at the moment its just absolutely dull and its just silly. It's sad really, the least they can do is give them seperate icons. This game has been very well done in many aspects but horribly done in others, they need to release more content of course; but also polish what is already incomplete within the game.
That's a pretty close minded view of a game you haven't played.
It's what everyone describes to me.
I'll take my entire clans word for it... plus several reviews.
The reviews at times can be pretty unfair, biased and just plain silly, and so can clan mates.
Sorry for the double post