Number One Thing Hi-Rez Should Add To Global Agenda

Posted on Monday, February 8, 2010
Filed under Friends, Game Development, Global Agenda, Steam

A Friend's List. Because right now there isn't one.

UPDATE: Executive Producer Todd Harris stopped by in the comments to let us know that they'll are developing a friends list currently and to keep posted to the game's forums for an announcement soon. We, of course, will let you know as soon as we see it!

Just looking at the searches that have lead folks to this here blog, five of the top ten searches were about a friends list for Global Agenda. There's interest in this feature, and I think many players would love to see it implemented.

I think the idea is since Global Agenda uses Steam as a platform, players can just use their Steam friends list as their in-game list. And honestly, that's not a bad idea but I think Hi-Rez needs to add a few things to make this a viable alternative to an in-game list.

If we are to use our Steam Friends list, I'd like to see a way to add someone to my Steam friends list while in-game. Since my account is tied to my Steam ID, ideally when someone types /friend RainbowD, my Steam ID (which is not RainbowD, btw) would be automatically added to their Steam Friend's list. I'm sure that would take some coordination from both Steam and Hi-Rez, but it would be beneficial to both companies as well. Hi-Rez would benefit from their players becoming more social, thus more attached to the game, and Steam would benefit from users growing their friend's list and using the service more and more.

Of course, Hi-Rez could add a simple Friend's List in game as well like most other social/MMO games. Either way, I think it's a feature that should really be evaluated and added to the game. Joining missions with random players is fun, but there are times when I would rather just play with some people I know. As it is, even if I saw that a friend was playing Global Agenda, I wouldn't be able to see what shard they were in so I could join them or if they were in a mission at the moment. Further, I'd have to remember their character name in GA versus their Steam ID, which is confusing and a lot to ask of your players.

I feel pretty confident in saying that a more simple, direct way to find and connect with our friends while playing is top of mind for Global Agenda players. Here's hoping we get some information soon on what's the dev team is working on in this regard as so far I haven't even seen mention from the studio of a friends list feature.

-Dickie