Welcome to clan SNAP HQ

OK, I saw the MOTD and I have some green blueprints so I deposited them in the agency inventory. I reckon we should all keep blueprints in there, just pull them out when crafting then put them back. It’s easy, go to the crafting area and press ‘O’ for the agency menu, go to Inventory and withdraw a blueprint, press ‘U’ to craft, then ‘O’ to go to agency again and deposit it back! I think they can be reused ad naseum, so we don’t need to individually buy every blueprint either!

I also have a purple blueprint, it needs lots of quality stuff so I haven’t made it. But it will protect your head from something. So it says.

Btw, it seems the difference between “bound” items (dyes/upgrades that you use) is that you can’t mail/deposit/sell them (I dunno about auction). But you can equip them on and off plenty! I think if you never equip it, you would be able to deposit/send an item. Maybe sell. I dunno.

I confess I have been grinding. It’s growing on me. Level 16 robotics. Almost respectable. “Turret FTW!” I say to the Helot, while I jig.

Haven’t tried high security PvE yet though, how’s that?

The bad news though is my assault is screwed. If I select assault at character select and continue, the whole game crashes. I emailed support. Wish me luck! (I’m gonna lose my elf/skull hats otherwise, noooo!!)

I think I’m finally getting the hang of GA PvP. Or maybe I’m just a giving in to the OP recon-bomb-spam build.

At any rate, team work is the key! With three bomb-spamming recons working together, Ali, Shmitee and I — and a whole team of others — managed to pull off a flawless CP victory.

Screeny taken just before win below, click for full size…

On the eve of the release of Global Agenda, I’d like to share my thoughts on the beta in the form of an imaginary interview with an imaginary executive from GA’s developers: Hi-Rez Studios…

irama: Hi Hi-Rez exec Dirk Megabucks, welcome to clan SNAP. Let me just start by saying you’ve done a wonderful job with the Global Agenda beta and I can’t wait for the launch of the full game tomorrow.

Dirk: Thanks for having me and I’m glad to hear you’re excited about the launch. We’re excited too.

irama: Yeah, I’m especially looking forward to grinding my way past the arbitrary incompetence of levels 6-20 and the gruelling slog of mediocrity from 20 to 30. After that I imagine I’ll probably just get bored and go back to playing Team Fortress 2.

Dirk: That’s essentially the value proposition we provide, once you’ve earned your place at level 30 or above, you should look to AvA gameplay to spice up your online play. But you won’t feel bored, by that stage you’ll have invested so many hours into your agents that cognitive dissonance will compel you to play AvA so as not to feel that the grinding had been in vain.

irama: Are there any gameplay mechanics in Global Agenda that haven’t been ripped straight from the Team Fortress 2 playbook?

Dirk: Yes. The ones we stole from Tribes.

irama: Tell us, have the truly dreadful game interfaces we saw in the beta been addressed in the live game?

Dirk: Heck no! In fact, in many instances, we have sought to make interfaces less intuitive. Which interfaces in particular most concern you?

irama: Well, for example, most interfaces don’t allow you to use common keyboard commands like pressing enter to submit a form, they force you to click click click click. Other interfaces force you to switch from mouse to keyboard then back to mouse again.

Dirk: Ah yes, but mastery of various input devices and the ability to switch between them rapidly are skills that our target demographic (male, 15-30 years old) possess in abundance, so this is not a problem. Our demographic have honed these skills over time by swiftly changing between entering web address and clicking links one-handed.

irama: What about the lack of in-game information and general poor documentation of how to get into AvA mode?

Dirk: Again, this is intentional. Obfuscation is titillation, that’s our motto! You’ve got to remember that our target audience are FPS geeks with no social skills or really anything going for them at all. They take most joy in life from knowing obscure — even arcane — information about complex systems. This knowledge affords them a shallow sense of superiority and allows them to refer to those who have not unraveled our cryptic codices as “n00bs” or “teh sux0rz”.

irama: Ah yes. Good times! Thank you Dirk for speaking with us.

Dirk: Yeah whatever.

PS I’d just like to clarify that the above post is intended as satire. On the whole I am actually really excited about the Global Agenda launch, and am looking forward to getting in there and leveling some toons. Playing with the gratis high level toons at the end of the beta was pretty dang cool, so will attempt to get to at least level 30 ASAP.

We’ve been talking about Global Agenda for a while now. On Friday, we were finally granted access to the beta! Sure, it’s the fully open public beta, only weeks away from the game’s advertised shipping date, but beggars can’t be choosers. Now that we’ve had a weekend to play with it, I thought I’d write up some thoughts.

In short, it’s a bit like TF2 + Borderlands + Sci Fi (Unreal Tournament perhaps?). I still think I would find FPS perspective more immersive, but TPS perspective is workable and begrudgingly I can admit it might make melee combat a little easier (through virtue of increased visibility of your immediate surroundings).

I can see this game becoming something of an obsession for those brave enough — foolhardy enough? — to step forward and join the ranks of Agency SNAP.

At least one snapper has requested some Fraps footage (spiii, I’m looking at you), so here it is, enjoy!

PS If you haven’t purchased Global Agenda yet and you’re interested, leave a comment, we can try to organise four packs (for a healthy cost saving).