First Anniversary Interview

MMORPG.com:

We at MMORPG.com can hardly believe it's been a year already since Global Agenda launched. First and foremost, congratulations on that milestone. Looking back at all that's happened since that day (from the conversion to F2P, to the release of new content) what's been your favorite part of the live experience with your baby?

Todd Harris:

Thanks very much! In no particular order, favorite Global Agenda live experiences would include: watching the season one AvA hex-map light-up with the first territory fights - it was chaotic and political and actually unsustainable in terms of how many play-hours were put in by agencies and players that first season but it was an epic conflict and satisfying to see in action; Seeing our game review scores and general player reactions jump up so favorably after the free Sandstorm expansion; and Watching members of our dev team, me included, get destroyed in the pre-season PvP tournament by the best pre-made teams - because it demonstrated the high level of competitive play within GA.

But I think my top favorite experience will come in a few weeks when our dev team plays the new Dome Defense mission on the Public Test Server alongside community members. It is a very intense mission and we're interested in seeing first hand what tactics players develop to beat it.

MMORPG.com:

Obviously the Hi-Rez Studios folks are busy with the development of Tribes Universe, but what's the Global Agenda up to these days? What's the road-map for the game's second year of service?

Todd Harris:

This month we kick-off official PvP tournament play within Global Agenda. Team management, stat tracking, and tournament coordination will be provided by the website AgendaStats which harvests and reports information real-time out of the game. Then we will be recognizing and rewarding players with items within the game itself.

Beyond that we look forward to a free version 1.4 update soon followed by a paid 1.5 Recursive Colony expansion.

MMORPG.com:

What's the live service like these days? How have players responded to the many changes you've put in place, and what have you learned in this first year to use going forward?

Todd Harris:

Adding content and features has only reinforced that Global Agenda's strength remains our intense, squad-based combat. We entertained raising the player-cap within GA missions but felt it would change the core gameplay too much; and not for the better. So, going forward we're continuing to focus on intense PvE & PvP combat with player max of 10 per side - just more interesting ways for players to experience that fun gameplay be it within OpenZones or instanced - and we plan on a mix of both going forward.

MMORPG.com:

Are there any special plans for players who might check in on the game during its one-year anniversary? Any special events you guys have in mind?

Todd Harris:

Yes. Today we kickoff a month long challenge to Make Your Mark on Global Agenda. The 500 players who win the most qualifying missions of Merc PvP and/or Defensive Raids will have their names permanently inscribed on the wall of our Virtual Reality Arena. The top 25 winning players will have their names featured within the environment of Dome City itself. And for everyone who wins at least 50 of those qualifying missions we will give the Limited Edition Matrix Dye. Of course our GMs will also be spawning bots in inappropriate places throughout the day!

Also, for any potential new players on the fence we are celebrating our anniversary with a midweek madness sale on Steam today!

MMORPG.com:

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these few questions, Todd. Congratulations once again on Global Agenda's first birthday. Here's to many, many more and we're looking forward to seeing how the game grows in year two!

Todd Harris:

Thanks to MMORPG.com for the coverage of our anniversary. And to the GA player base for your continued support. We're very excited to begin year #2 with the community and the game still growing!