PvP Interview

MMORPG.com:

What is the primary focus of Global Agenda, PvE interactions or those based in PvP?

Todd Harris:

Global Agenda really offers three tracks of combat interaction: PvE, PvP, and AvA.

In PvE your team is infiltrating facilities belonging to an oppressive NPC faction called the Commonwealth.

In PvP you are joining a queue based on desired mission-style. You are then matched with and against other player agents so there are balanced teams of 10 mercenary agents per side.

In AvA you are fighting on behalf of a specific player-created group called an agency. And you are participating in a massive meta-game to control land and resources involving hundreds of territory locations and tens of thousands of player agents. There are very real consequences to AvA because agencies gain or lose territory and other valuable resources based on match outcomes. At the same time our AvA Campaign is much more than a sequence of PvP battles. The Campaign does involve combat between pre-made teams but also resource allocation decisions, crafting and placement of high-tech security packages, politics, and occasionally betrayal.

MMORPG.com:

Will Global Agenda PvP be limited to arena and / or battlegrounds, or will there be an element of open world PvP as well?

Todd Harris:

Global Agenda offers PERSISTENT World PvP rather than Open World PvP and we see those as being very different.

Global Agenda does not offer Open world PvP because in our experience that devolves into either zerging (overwhelming the other side simply by having more people online) or ganking (attacking players, and usually weaker players, without their consent). There are certainly players who want open world PvP but they will not find that sort of experience within Global Agenda.

Instead, with our AvA campaigns, we offer players a Persistent world where player actions have real consequences. My victory in one hex location within the world can affect a neighbouring hex location. If I install a defensive security turret within an agency owned facility, a counter agency has to deal with that turret when they raid my location two days later. So, we considered Open World but chose balanced instances and a Persistent World instead.

MMORPG.com:

How is PvP beneficial to players? What rewards are available?

Todd Harris:

Global Agenda PvP does earn your character experience and credits, so players can choose to level entirely thru PvP or entirely thru PvE or a mixture of both. We offer many additional rewards via an achievement system and there are a set of optional achievement-based rewards for PvP contribution in addition to PvE contribution.

AvA Campaign activity yields player rewards and/or agency rewards but the specifics are really up to each agency around what they want to maximize.

MMORPG.com:

Will PvP be voluntary, or will all players have to engage in it at some point?

Todd Harris:

Global Agenda PvP is voluntary. Most of our current beta population is very engaged in PvP, but there are also a number of beta players who are strictly PvE.

MMORPG.com:

Will players of all levels be in combat together, or is the game designed to allow only players of similar level to do battle?

Todd Harris:

In our mercenary, queued PvP, players are grouped with and against players of similar level. Behind the scenes we have a matchmaking system that balances teams based on classes and player skill in addition to similar character level.

However in AvA Campaigns, the current implementation allows all players to participate together regardless of character level.

MMORPG.com:

How does the integration of jet-packs change the PvP dynamic?

Todd Harris:

First off, it is important to clarify that our combat is based upon shooter mechanics and not tab-targeting mechanics. For example, players need to aim their reticules for ranged weapons vs. assisted or lock-on aiming. The player (collision cylinder) needs to be entirely behind cover to avoid enemy projectiles vs. a statistics-based cover system. This alone makes the PvP play very intense because you need to concern yourself with all the elements important to an FPS/TPS game (positioning, map knowledge, aiming and hitting your target, etc) AND all the elements important to an RPG game (maximizing your build per mission type, managing your cool-downs in heat of battle, working with complementary classes, etc).

So, on top of all that we add jetpacks and make liberal use of vertical space in our combat areas to add a new dimension, literally, to combat. Fighting from rooftop to rooftop is tremendous fun!

MMORPG.com:

Will Global Agenda PvP be based primarily on 1 v 1 encounters, or is it more of a group v group scenario?

Todd Harris:

Global Agenda is a team-based game and so our PvP is based primarily on group vs. group in objective-based missions, rather than 1 v 1 death matches.

MMORPG.com:

How does Global Agenda plan to interest more traditionally PvE style players in the game's PvP?

Todd Harris:

Well, many traditional PvE players really enjoy the Global Agenda PvE because of the setting variety - sci-fi instead of fantasy; and because of the more action oriented combat - true player aiming and projectile avoidance instead of tab-targeting. So, a set of Global Agenda players will be content to play only PvE and will have a great time with that content.

Beyond that we do offer "safe PvP" areas such as the Virtual Reality Arena where players can taste and practice PvP with less risk of hearing 'learn 2 play n00b!'

But fundamentally our intent is not to convert PvE players to PvP but rather to give everyone the experience of being part of a dynamic, player-driven world. Even PvE players will have visibility into the massive conflict between player-groups on the world Campaign map. And they will have ways to influence that conflict even if it is behind the scenes and never directly facing another player in battle.