I realized today that I’ve commented on Global Agenda abandoning the subscription fee on forums and news sites but I haven’t written about it on the blog. Time to correct this oversight.  I called it back in 2009 and in January of this year when I wrote about Global Agenda. Having played back in Alpha and during their beta events it was always clear to me that GA’s biggest problem was that it fell in the middle of two identities and was never able to truly establish itself as a MMO or Action shooter.
Global Agenda always felt like it was closer to Team Fortress 2, Diablo, or Modern Warfare than any MMO. That’s not a bad thing and not something to get defensive over, unless you’re banking on your game being marketed successfully as a MMO to attract the constant subscriber-base that a game like WoW sees. What I’ve been advocating from the time GA released was for the developers to realize that their game would be far more successful if it were marketed and a few slight design changes were made so that it established a clear identity on the action/shooter side of the line.
Now that there is no more subscription fee or attempt to market the game with benefits for subscribers or any of that silliness I’m hoping that the devs will turn it towards being more of a shooter with progression elements. I still think the persistent elements like talent trees and upgrades are a good idea. Just look at the shooter market these days and it’s clear that whether or not they’re good for the game that they’re popular as ever. It’s been talked about a lot in my gaming circle that GA should be a Tribes meets Planetside meets TF2 style game. The Planetside angle is probably a lost cause and would require way more changes to the game’s design than possible at this point, but I think accomplishing Tribes with persistent elements is totally an doable.
Good decision to abandon the subscription model. Now totally disown any attempt at convincing people that this is a MMO, stick with what you’ve clearly done well (shooter elements with some quick battles and team play), take a few more steps towards providing bigger maps and some good vehicles and a Starsiege Tribes feel and even I will buy the game. It’s definitely not too late to recover and make a game that people will talk about.
Global Agenda has a forever free trial with levelling restrictions. If you liked the game play, there’s really no reason for you not to have it on your hard drive.
As an active GA player, I’m happy with this move. Though I really wish they were going to have a Oceanic server closer to Oz than Singapore.
It is $26 on steam as part of the specials going, might as well get it 🙂 Very little reason to complain about any of the costs of this game. It’s the perfect game to play for quick short casual play sessions and feel you’ve done something. That’s how i like my games, especially if you’re getting lost in the grind in a bigger MMO, hopping into this to “clear your head” has a surprising effect when you return to said MMO [less complaining about stupid stuff].
Eh…still meh to me. Then again I’m not a huge shooter fan. I’ve actually headed back to WAR and having a blast.
I can’t help but think this is anything more than a last ditch effort to sell more boxes. I mean sure, Global Agenda might be a decent shooter like you said, but is it really good enough to replace things like Team Fortress 2, Bad Company 2, or Modern Warefare 2 from the top of peoples “go to shooter” list.
Unfortunately, all this is likely to do is discourage action/shooter MMOGs, leaving those of us who still want something like that to play Planetside or WW2O.
The concept reminds me of Combat Arms, a free to play FPS game that is pretty extensive. Problem is they have a cash shop option and you hvae to constantly rebuy guns as they are leased on limited time frames.
Still it’s probably not something I’d play.
Very good idea to abandon the subscription model. Now if they would just distribute through someone other than Steam I would be a very happy man 🙂
Bought this on sale awhile back on Steam and am also very happy about the recent announcements.
Calling it an MMO has always been silly, but regardless of how they market it, it’s a great game for PvP and is currently where I satisfy that itch.
Mala says:
“I can’t help but think this is anything more than a last ditch effort to sell more boxes.”
Actually you’re right! According to HiRez information, games stores are hesitant to sell subscription games (apart from AAA titles) because subscription games feed money away from the game store over the longer term.
Since taking on the no-subscription model, games stores have become interested to stock boxes of Global Agenda, which should lead to a stronger player base.
As of the time of writing HiRez has enough cash in the coffers to run for another 12 months without a single new sale. This is before their new marketing push, in-store box sales, micro-transactions for speed levelling, paid expansion pack ect.
Financially HiRez is ok for now.