As we reported, Global Agenda's built-in voice chat will be powered by Vivox. In celebration, Hi-Rez Studios hosted a live dev chat on Facebook using the Vivox Voice application yesterday. The chat featured a Q&A session between the Global Agenda community and members of the game's development staff, including Executive Producer Todd Harris.

If you missed the chat, you can listen to the audio on Hi-Rez Studios' PodBean site. The chat lasted about an hour, so you may want to download the m4a file to listen to it at your leisure. Do you plan on playing Global Agenda?

Hi-Rez Studios announced today that Global Agenda will include built-in voice chat powered by Vivox when it launches in the first quarter of 2010. Players will be able to use the feature to communicate with their teammates and listen to in-game news broadcasts. Users who choose to subscribe to the action MMO will also be able to use the chat system to talk with friends even when they're not playing Global Agenda.

To celebrate the addition of the built-in voice chat, Hi-Rez Studios will be hosting a live dev chat on Facebook using the Vivox Voice application on Nov. 18 at 10 p.m. EST. Details on how to connect to the chat can be found in the full announcement, which is posted after the jump.

Hi-Rez Studios announced today that it has unveiled Global Agenda's PvE content at the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds and London. According to the post on the official site, attendees are "participating in four-person co-op missions that pit teams of elite special agents against the Commonwealth, an oppressive one-world government of the 22nd Century."

"We are working hard to craft a PvE system that maintains the same high replayability and addictive gameplay as our player-vs-player gameplay," Executive Producer Todd Harris said. Global Agenda is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2010. As far as pricing is concerned, players will have the option to either purchase the game once and play it for free or pay a monthly subscription to gain access to additional content.

Hi-Rez Studios has announced the pricing details for Global Agenda, and players will have the option to either purchase the game once and play it for free or pay a monthly subscription to gain access to additional content. Executive Producer Todd Harris says the non-subscription model "will enable players to fully experience Global Agenda’s award-winning persistent shooter gameplay," while the Conquest subscription model "includes our persistent AvA world domination gameplay, and other features typically associated with MMOs."

According to the FAQ, the single-purchase option "offers gameplay and feedback comparable to other persistent, multiplayer shooters, including PvP, PvE, and character progression." You'll be able to hit the max level and play in the same world as subscribers. However, players who want access to Alliance vs. Alliance World Domination gameplay, the auction house, the mail system and other MMO staples will want to subscribe to Global Agenda for $12.99 per month, $11.49 per month for three months, or $9.99 per month for six months.

Details on both pricing options can be found after the jump. Be sure to check out the FAQ if you have any other questions. Global Agenda is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2010.

Members of the Global Agenda community were able to raise more than $2,000 for Child's Play by hosting a virtual charity auction last week. According to Stewart Chisam, the vice president of game operation for Hi-Rez Studios, the event "was primarily organized and run by one of our active Community members — Peebojam — who helped gain support from various fans and fan sites."

Items at the auction included a limited edition Global Agenda Poster signed by the Hi-Rez development team, a Microsoft Sidewinder Gaming Mouse, a Genius G-Pen 450 Computer Tablet, a Nintendo 64 and 10 Global Agenda beta keys.

Child's Play is a charity founded by Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins that is dedicated to improving the lives of children in hospitals worldwide with toys and games. More information can be found on the organization's Web site.

We tried out the Global Agenda demo at the Penny Arcade Expo and got the chance to sit down with Executive Producer Todd Harris to discuss various aspects of the game, including PvE and PvP combat. Harris even gave us some details on the 'Agency vs. Agency' system that's going to be part of the next beta phase this fall. It looks like high-level teams will get to fight over territories owned by a particular agency, which adds an extra layer of strategy to the game. Global Agenda is a nominee for "Best in Show" in our first PAX Awards.

ZAM: Hey Todd! We just finished our demo and that was pretty cool; it was like a battle instance within a larger game world…

Todd Harris: Yeah, there are really three types of combat instances, in addition to social spaces. One, we do just have social city spaces; they’re pretty small hub areas, but they’ve got vendors, an auction house and a virtual reality where you can go in and shoot your friends for practice—that sort of thing. For combat, there are really the three types, all of them are instance spaces but they’re linked together in different ways. One is PvE, so we have a lot of folks that come to us from Planetside…but we do have a rich PvE, experience unlike Planetside. It’s built around four-person teams, so you go co-op. It’s a little different experience than the objective-based PvP map, [where] you go through a progressive dungeon-crawl sort of experience. But for us, it’s a mission; fighting a mini-boss in each stage and a big boss at the end.

This year we decided to cover PAX more aggressively than we have in the past and one of the by-products of that choice is our first annual PAX Awards. Even though the convention focuses on tabletop, PC and console games, MMOs were featured extensively, demonstrating they continue to become more and more popular in the gaming world. As such, due to our MMO focus we had to be extremely selective about what kind of awards we gave out and who we gave them to; however, we’re happy with the end result and we hope that you, our readers and the recipients of these awards will be as well. So without further ado, the Nominees!

For those of you who made it to PAX this year, Global Agenda will be on the show floor featuring three of their newest maps, Ice-Flow, Seaside and Climate Control. In addition, each of these maps features a different game mode, so they're not just three games of capture the flag in various settings.

The first map, Ice-Flow, is an escort map that's set outside a Siberian facility with the Aurora Borealis shimmering in the background.

The second map is Seaside, which is a 3-point Ticket map that's set upon a massive drilling platform, suspended above a stormy North Atlantic Ocean.

Finally, the third map is Climate Control, which is an attack/defend map that's set within the East Asian mountains and covered with trees.

All of these maps are part of Global Agenda's Closed Beta Test 1, and later this year, developer Hi-Rez Studios is planning to introduce the Campaign functionality, which will kick off a massive persistent conflict between 'player created Agency groups,' for territory, technology and resources. Executive Producer Todd Harris notes that the crowds at PAX are really enjoying Global Agenda, and he says that the dev team is "thrilled to see players enjoying MMO game-play for its own sake rather than simply to level-up a character. Our booth is a grind-free zone."

You can check out a picture of each of the maps here at ZAM, or you can go apply for the Closed Beta Test 2 for Global Agenda at their website here.

The Penny Arcade Expo kicks off tomorrow to begin a weekend full of gaming, and members of the ZAM staff are currently on their way to Seattle to bring you exclusive coverage of the festival. In case you're unfamiliar with PAX, the event was created by Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik to focus on tabletop, console and PC games. The first PAX was held in 2004 and has exponentially grown in popularity. In fact, this year's convention has already sold out.

That's where we come in. If you're not able to attend PAX, then we want to bring PAX to you. You can check out all of our news from the floor on our PAX news page, which is also accessible via a banner on ZAM.com. To be honest, our schedule is packed. We'll provide you with news on Aion, EVE Online, Global Agenda, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited, Star Trek Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Warhammer Online, League of Legends and more. MMOs certainly have a strong presence at the festival, so keep an eye on our coverage for updates from our team in Seattle.

Our readers on the East Coast may be happy to hear that PAX East will be held in Boston from March 26-28, 2010, marking the first time the Penny Arcade Expo will be held outside of Washington. While it's exciting to have another PAX to look forward to, we're completely focused on this weekend.

If you plan on attending Dragon*Con in Atlanta, you'll have the opportunity to participate in a Global Agenda LAN party on Sept. 4 at 10 p.m. Hi-Rez Studios is inviting attendees to play Global Agenda all night and get a sneak peek at the game, including PvE missions and PvP death matches.

For more information on the futuristic action MMO, be sure to check out our recent interview with Executive Producer Todd Harris. If you're attending Dragon*Con, you can find more details about the LAN party, including where it will be held, after the jump.