Ten Ton Hammer met up with style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda
Executive Producer Todd Harris at Game Developers Conference, and while
he and the Hi Rez team have big things planned for their other IP
style="font-style: italic;">Tribes Universe
– at PAX East this coming weekend, Todd was willing to share
a bit of what he and the team have planned for style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda.
And if fans had any concern that style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda
was fading in the limelight shone on the style="font-style: italic;">Tribes
license, new updates in 2011 should help put these fears to rest.



First, I asked Todd if his Carolina-based studio is shut down while the
NCAA tournament is in effect. No such luck.  Instead, style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda
has its own nod to March Madness – a collaboration between a
sponsored site and Hi-Rez whereby 48 teams will blast it out in an
esports tourney. Watch the action unfold at href="http://www.agendastats.com/">agendastats.com.


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alt="global agenda"
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1.4 is the big topic on most players’ minds, and Todd
commented that development on style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda’s
first major update since the style="font-style: italic;">Sandstorm
rollout late last year. 1.4 will include a new style="font-weight: bold;">Dome Defense
format
– a 10 player PvE instance where players will fight alongside
game notables such as John Bancroft to protect the home dome from waves
of Commonwealth bots and bosses.



Second, the not-as-popular Demolition format – the team based
robot vs. robot race to the enemy’s base – is
becoming style="font-weight: bold;">Acquisition.
Robots are still are a part of the format and
Todd noted that the maps are mostly the same, but the match will play
out more like a traditional CTF map. But instead of capturing a flag,
players will attempt to capture a robot, making for a faster paced,
back and forth match. Todd also noted that the robots themselves are
getting beefed up with better ranged weaponry.



Another core component – and one that will continue long
after 1.4 goes live, are Hi-Rez’s style="font-weight: bold;">class-by-class reviews.
For now, Todd explained, the focus is on the new medic skill tree.
“We noticed that players were going after the general tree
more than we wanted them to,” Todd explained, noting that the
specialization trees (poison and pure healing) were underused. Making
these specializations more attractive to players is just the start of
Hi Rez’s class-by-class skill revamp efforts.


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alt="global agenda"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/28767">

1.4 is slated to hit the test server for a select group of players
before the end of March, with the update going live in the Spring. Todd
also made mention of 1.5, which will continue the class revamps in
addition to providing a new open zone, an offernsive raid, and new
devices. Further out, Todd continues to hint at a Recursive
Colony-themed expansion – referring to the nation of robots
and drones that currently inhabit the Sonoran Desert south of Dome City.



Thanks to Hi Rez’s Todd Harris for his development brief at
GDC 2011, and we look forward to even more exciting news regarding style="font-style: italic;">Tribes Universe
coming out of PAX East 2011 this weekend.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Global Agenda Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game he could since.

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