Thanksgiving, for those of us in the US, is still a couple of weeks away. But beta testers of Global Agenda will have something to be thankful about earlier than that, as this weekend promises to host another beta event for the game. The testing will be running between 11 AM to midnight PST, and the event spans both Saturday and Sunday, each one testing another aspect of the game's growing combat systems.

Saturday will be focused on PvE content, including a new mission type that promises to offer some interesting new dynamics to the gameplay. The "Double Agent" mission type, which is limited to regular subscribers at launch, puts one player amidst of a horde of NPC allies and pits them against a four-person squad of players, thereby mixing PvE and PvP combat into a single arena. Sunday's testing, by contrast, is a pure PvP slugfest. 10v10 matches will be run, allowing people to queue up in groups of up to four to help establish allies for coming events. The developers are also teasing at new maps being dropped into the mix during this testing.

The bad news is that only a small number of new testers will be added for the event -- this party will mostly be confined to existing beta testers. Watch your mail closely, either in hopes that they let you in or for the preparation mails Hi-Rez Studios is forewarning testers about, and keep an eye open for a chance at some early testing starting on Friday.

Massively has been following the growing prevalence of MMOFPS games poised to enter the market in the coming months and years, with the most notable of these being Global Agenda. The game's developer Hi-Rez Studios got in touch with us today to let us know about their partnership with Vivox, who will provide voice features for Global Agenda. Vivox will enable push-to-talk voice chat and in-game news broadcasts "that describe key victories and events associated with Global Agenda's persistent territory control gameplay," states Hi-Rez Studios. An additional (subscriber-only) feature will be out-of-game voice chat that will keep agency members in touch when they're not fragging their rivals. According to Hi-Rez, "Players can use a variety of access methods including the Vivox Web Voice within the toolbar controls, Vivox Voice on Facebook, or calling into a specified chat channel from their phone."

Hi-Rez also announced they will hold a dev chat via Facebook on Wednesday, November 18th, from 10-11pm (Eastern), which will require participants to download the Vivox Voice app for Facebook. A Facebook group announcement from Hi-Rez today states that the dev chat will be limited to 75 people who will pose questions to the Global Agenda devs.

In an interview with Hi-Rez Studio's executive producer Todd Harris, Ten Ton Hammer discusses Global Agenda's Assault class at considerable length. For those looking for a simple analog, the Assault is like a meaty tank class wielding huge weaponry such as mini-guns. The interview covers such topics as ammo concerns -- as the aforementioned mini-guns chew up ammo like a man on a desert island drinks fresh water -- and several other matters that dig deep into the earth center of the class. Then again, if blowing stuff up is your preference, that's offered as well.

Much of what we've seen of the Assault class tells us that it's going to be a favorite with players who generally enjoy inflicting damage in the most terrible of ways. And really, that's a whole lot of people; those who drool at rocket launchers and chain-fed ballistics weaponry.

GameX, the Northeastern video game industry summit and expo, is starting tomorrow! As we said earlier this week, we'll be there, getting face time with guests, visiting Mythic Entertainment and Hi-Rez Studios, and getting you information on some of your favorite titles.

In addition to our coverage here on the site, we'll be updating our Twitter account with things we see at the expo and pictures! Now instead of running to us every five minutes for your Massively fix, you can get updates, pictures, and more from us in the form of tweets! If you're not currently following @massively, or if you're not on Twitter, now is the time to both sign up and add us to your follow list!

Good news for you Global Agenda fans out there, as Hi-Rez Studios announced their pricing structure today for the upcoming spy-fi MMO. In a phone call this morning to Executive Producer Todd Harris, we learned that the game will have a few options, depending on your playing style. If you'd like to play Global Agenda as a multi-player, hub-based shooter, all you need to do is buy the box. There will be no subscription fees at all.

If you'd like to take part in large-scale Alliance vs. Alliance battles throughout a persistent world, then the subscription model would be for you. This sub model also opens up other features, like the Auction House, mail system and more. This is what any MMO player would want, while the subscription-free option would cater more towards your average Call of Duty fan. Keep reading after the jump for complete details on Global Agenda's payment model, feature comparison and details and their newest projected launch window.

This weekend is GameX in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Massively.com is going to be on hand to grab some interviews with the members of the MMO community and perhaps a few more interviews from some notable non-MMO individuals as well.

Over the weekend, we'll be catching up with the two MMO companies in attendance -- Hi-Rez Studios and Mythic Entertainment. Hi-Rez will be showing off Global Agenda, continuing their convention tour around the US, and we'll be there to get our excited hands on the game for another round of futuristic shooting.

Mythic Entertainment will be bringing the WAR and the WAAGGGGH, showing off Warhammer Online to the unwashed masses. We'll be there as well, taking a look at all of the new changes that have come in Patch 1.3.2 and getting some talk time with the team.

So stay tuned for this weekend's coverage of the expo, including interviews, game coverage, photos, and more!

At Dragon*Con this year, we had the chance to grab a quick video interview with Stew Chisam, VP of Game Operations at Hi-Rez Studios. Following two successful closed beta weekends, and some wonderful demos at Dragon*Con and PAX, Stew was happy to tell us how things are going in the progression of Global Agenda.

As promised on our last tour of the Hi-Rez Studios HQ, we're following the studio -- and the game -- as they progress through to launch. Follow along after the jump to see what Stew has to say about player feedback, projected launch and the overwhelming following they've seen at Dragon*Con.

A game we've had our eyes on from Hi-Rez Studios is Global Agenda, a cross between a class-based shooter and an MMO. Given its first person shooter roots, the game is heavily PvP-oriented. This match-based combat is the focus of an interview by Jon Wood at MMORPG.com with Global Agenda Executive Producer Todd Harris.

Harris relates that PvP in Global Agenda happens both in small squads and "AvA" (agency vs. agency), where players will participate in a "massive meta-game to control land and resources involving hundreds of territory locations and tens of thousands of player agents."

Are you interested in checking out the sci-fi MMOFPS Global Agenda, but didn't get accepted into beta? The team at Hi-Rez Studios has good news for anyone who's going to be in Atlanta during Dragon*Con 2009. They're going to have an all-night LAN party for Global Agenda which anyone can crash, even if you don't have a Dragon*Con pass. Hi-Rez Studios bills this as an "all-you-can play, hands-on experience with the upcoming game, Global Agenda. There will be PvE missions, PvP death matches, and your chance to get an inside look" at the game.

Interested? You can check out the details on the Global Agenda site, but the gist of their announcement is that the LAN party will be held on Friday September 4th in the Digital Gaming Area of the Hilton. The Hi-Rez event will be on the 3rd floor, conference rooms 309-312. There's no cost of admission, food and drinks will be provided so gluttony is encouraged, and again you won't even need a Dragon*Con pass to get in. This sounds like a great chance to play the game well in advance of launch.

UPDATE: LAN party attendees will, in fact, need a Dragon*Con pass to enter the Digital Gaming Area.

One of the upcoming games Massively is watching closely is Global Agenda, an amalgam of a sci-fi MMO and a shooter. Global Agenda's creators, Hi-Rez Studios, launched the first phase of closed beta testing roughly a month ago, with new players hammering their servers over the course of four days. The next round of closed beta testing begins today, August 21st, at 3pm EST (12pm PDT, 8pm GMT) and will last through 6am EST (3am PDT, 11am GMT) on Sunday, August 23rd.

Where the first test was focused on the early levels of gameplay, Hi-Rez Studios will now focus on higher level gameplay. While we couldn't say exactly what that entails, it's a safe bet that gamers will have access to a wider array of devices and skills. On the topic of skills, our understanding is that this next round of beta testing will throw the alpha and beta testers in the same room for the first time... which should be brutal.

The team at Hi-Rez Studios announced they're taking Global Agenda on the road for a North American tour. It'll be a chance for fans, or anyone curious about the shooter-MMO hybrid, to get some hands-on time with Global Agenda and meet the developers from Hi-Rez Studios. The Global Agenda tour kicks off this week at QuakeCon in Dallas and will hit the major gaming events through January. The tour dates announced thus far are:

• August 13-15 -- Dallas, QuakeCon

• September 4 -- Atlanta, DragonCon

• September 4-6 -- Seattle, Penny Arcade Expo

• October 22-24 -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Games and Media Expo

• January 7-10 -- Las Vegas, Consumer Electronics Show

Massively has been keeping an eye on Global Agenda, a title on the way from Hi-Rez Studios that's one of the new breed of shooter MMOs. Our own Shawn Schuster recently visited their Atlanta studio for a video tour as the Hi-Rez team prepped for closed beta. We see that BarnGamerz also got an early look at Global Agenda and scored some face time with the developers, who explained a bit about their respective roles in creating the game. They put it all into a video, with Lead Technical Artist Mick Larkins discussing a bit about his work, and an interview with Executive Producer Todd Harris.

If you haven't been following the coverage of Global Agenda across the various MMO sites, this might serve as a good primer on the game. Harris sits down with Jaimie from BarnGamerz to discuss the basic concepts behind the title, including Global Agenda's classes and how they'll be employed, illustrated with some in-game footage. You can see the Global Agenda Studio Tour at BarnGamerz or check out the video embed after the jump.

With Global Agenda's current closed beta being all the buzz these days, getting in is no easy feat. Hi-Rez Studios is treating their testing phases as actual controlled testing -- with only around 1,000 people to start and mandatory feedback from the testers. If you're just looking for a free game to play for a few months, you might want to look elsewhere.

Going hand in hand with that, many Global Agenda fansites are being offered a very small amount of beta keys to distribute to their readers. You may remember earlier in the month when we gave away 10 keys for AgendaSource.com, and now we're here to help another fansite give away their keys. Keep reading below for more information.