Anthem

[Lexx]

 

Funny, I never liked any BoyoWare games outside of Mass Effect. And I only liked Mass Effect, because it was some sort of space opera. Tried to replay it again last year, but quit after 5 mins, because apparently PC version doesn't support gamepad or whatever... I don't remember. Wouldn't want to play the games with keyboard and mouse anymore, honestly.

 

Why would you not play a shooter on KB+M, peasant?

 

Because it was made with gamepad in mind in the first place. I started playing games like this a while ago. Played MGS5 with gamepad as well, etc.

It also comes with the added bonus of me sitting on couch and playing on a big screen in great resolution... something you can't do with the PS3. It'll always be a blurry mess unlike any game running on my PC to my TV monitor.

 

 

/Edit: About the console crashing... Red Dead Online crashed my console at least once per day and I think even the singleplayer crashed my console at least once while playing.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Lexx

[kirottu]

Newest Anthem drama: Level 1 weapon is better than anything else you can get in the game.

 

This sounds to me like the worst one yet. A loot and shooter where gearing up your gun is meaningless.

[GhostofAnakin]

Newest Anthem drama: Level 1 weapon is better than anything else you can get in the game.

 

This sounds to me like the worst one yet. A loot and shooter where gearing up your gun is meaningless.

 

Did BioWare even doing any testing at all before releasing the game?  It seems like a lot of the issues are things that would easily have been caught early on in the testing phase.

[Raithe]

I have to admit, I saw "online only, co-op game" and was all.. Meh. I'm unlikely to bother because that means the story is likely to be non-existant, and I want games that let my single player fill up hours. Personal tastes and all that.

 

Now I'm sitting back and going "Wow, this is what they pulled resources away from Andromeda for as I see the news."

 

Ah well. Maybe there's a learning experience in there and the Bioware people might recover. Before EA shoots them.

[GhostofAnakin]

I have to admit, I saw "online only, co-op game" and was all.. Meh. I'm unlikely to bother because that means the story is likely to be non-existant, and I want games that let my single player fill up hours. Personal tastes and all that.

 

Now I'm sitting back and going "Wow, this is what they pulled resources away from Andromeda for as I see the news."

 

Ah well. Maybe there's a learning experience in there and the Bioware people might recover. Before EA shoots them.

 

I'd guess it's an EA decision, so I doubt whether BioWare learns anything will be irrelevant.

[marelooke]

 

Newest Anthem drama: Level 1 weapon is better than anything else you can get in the game.

 

This sounds to me like the worst one yet. A loot and shooter where gearing up your gun is meaningless.

 

Did BioWare even doing any testing at all before releasing the game?  It seems like a lot of the issues are things that would easily have been caught early on in the testing phase.

 

 

Doesn't look like it.

 

Besides supposedly starting development before Destiny 1's release they seemingly managed to ignore every looter shooter for the past 6 years and learn nothing of the mistakes made by those others in that timespan.

 

Honestly the game looks like it did an Andromeda, meander in development hell for years and then rush something out in the last year or so before release.

 

It's mind boggling.

 

Truly hope they can turn this ship around, but between the engine limitations, EA's reputation for shooting anything that smells remotely like it failed, and the negative press I'm not getting my hopes up.

[HoonDing]

EA is only indulging BioWare out of some sense of morbid humour. Like a drunk uncle at a wedding feast.

[IndiraLightfoot]

A D3 dev posted feedback on the Anthem itemization, and after a while Bioware responded positively, promising that they would heed his advice. Amazing to think that they hadn't hired an itemization pro when making a looter shooter. With that budget, it's just mind-boggling:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGame/comments/aucj0d/a_lesson_i_think_anthembioware_could_learn_from/

[213374U]

A D3 dev posted feedback on the Anthem itemization, and after a while Bioware responded positively, promising that they would heed his advice.

Was it Ben Irving who said that? Anyone familiar with his tenure in SWTOR can tell you to take any such assurances with a grain of salt.

[ShadySands]

Ben "Thrill of the Hunt" Irving is still around? Learned something new today, totally useless, but still new.

[kirottu]

From Reddit:

Removing your support items massively increases melee/combo/proc/ult damage.​

 

Reason: since patch game scales damage of combos/ults/procs and melee based on average item level you have equipped, but if you don't have item equipped at all it does not take that slot into account in calculation at all, meaning by removing the low level support item boosts your average item level for purpose of the calculation.

 

To remove your support item you can create a new fresh loadout - it starts without support item equipped.​

 

Edit: and yes as one poster figured it out - this means if you equip ONLY legendary items you will basically do most damage with ult/combos/melee/procs. Technically - you can like equip only one legendary item and nothing else and wreck, but of course that's not very feasible due to HP and some components being good as is.​

 

Also, my personal thoughts on this matter: lol, Bioware pls... y u do these things? C'mon man...

[GhostofAnakin]

It seems as though Anthem's looking worse than Mass Effect Andromeda.  Amazing that it somehow took them 6 years to develop this game and this is the end result.

[majestic]

Lessons learned: Just don't scale stats. It's annoying anyway and it really is okay if a level 3 player with super low level weapons can't compete in high level dungeons. Really. Le sigh.

[GhostofAnakin]

Lessons learned: Just don't scale stats. It's annoying anyway and it really is okay if a level 3 player with super low level weapons can't compete in high level dungeons. Really. Le sigh.

 

I don't understand why that's not the case in some of these games.  Someone who has spent enough time on the game to get to level 30 (or whatever) *should* be more powerful by a large amount than someone who has only put a half hour into it to reach level 2 or 3.

[E.RedMark]

My friend Xbox console stopped working . So she went to trade it off . She said that they told her , the new console come with a free game and she cant give it back . Turn out the 'forced game' was Fallout 67 . Then they told her she can choose from 5 games and take one for free . Turn out in those 5 selection , Anthem was one . 

 

wonder if its a karmik joke that both fallout and Anthem are being handed free , after they pretty much bailed on what they usually do..for moar mouney 

 

well I won't lie but I for one , I want them to burn and crash hard . I have a Half assed , Half done Mass effect Andromeda game that i paid full price for . And they bailed on it to make Anthem ! You betcha..I'm waiting for the corpse to show up . 

[GhostofAnakin]

That kotaku article is pretty damning on the lack of leadership at BioWare.  Forget the exact dates, but it was something like Anthem was in pre-production way up until like 2017-2018, and the finished produce they released was basically cobbled together over a 12-16 month period.

 

BioWare of old is truly dead.  RIP.

[Hurlshort]

Eh, we will see if Dragon Age 4 can turn it around. That should be their wheelhouse.

[Zoraptor]

That kotaku article is pretty damning on the lack of leadership at BioWare.  Forget the exact dates, but it was something like Anthem was in pre-production way up until like 2017-2018, and the finished produce they released was basically cobbled together over a 12-16 month period.

 

BioWare of old is truly dead.  RIP.

 

Guess it depends on what is considered the Bioware of old. Dragon Age Origins took a similar amount of time in (announced) production as Anthem and was also rebooted multiple times* and it turned out OK as a game and did very well financially- and post DAO the problem became the exact opposite, rushing the sequel too much.

 

*'enslave nations with necromancy!' etc

Edited April 3, 2019 by Zoraptor

[Gorth]

BioWare of old is truly dead.  RIP.

Actually, according to the article, the problem is exactly that they thought they could do like Bioware of old and get away with it (it = a good game). With larger and larger projects, it just ended up not working, as the consequences became more and more severe.

 

Edit: E.g. DA:I was just about salvageable as a project, ME:A didn't succeed particularly well. Swtor.... has an issues list that is longer than a Russian War and Peace novel and Anthem has it's own share of issues to deal with

[LittleArmadillo0]

I hope that whoever the leadership at Bioware either get a hell of a wake-up call or get fired.

The amount of incompetency and ignorance they had just boggles my mind. Not look taking points from Destiny, and ignoring advice for the Austin division. The stress that they subjected  their employees is just sickening. That whole article just made me mad.

[Mamoulian War]

Bioware already fired their leadership years and years ago (the day, when both docs "retired"). That was the point where it all started to go downhill for them IMO.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Mamoulian War

[Manveru123]

I hope that whoever the leadership at Bioware either get a hell of a wake-up call or get fired.

The amount of incompetency and ignorance they had just boggles my mind. Not look taking points from Destiny, and ignoring advice for the Austin division. The stress that they subjected  their employees is just sickening. That whole article just made me mad.

 

I wouldn't take advice from a group who killed the only good Star Wars MMO and is mostly now releasing Cartel Market packs as new content.

[GhostofAnakin]

 

That kotaku article is pretty damning on the lack of leadership at BioWare.  Forget the exact dates, but it was something like Anthem was in pre-production way up until like 2017-2018, and the finished produce they released was basically cobbled together over a 12-16 month period.

 

BioWare of old is truly dead.  RIP.

 

Guess it depends on what is considered the Bioware of old. Dragon Age Origins took a similar amount of time in (announced) production as Anthem and was also rebooted multiple times* and it turned out OK as a game and did very well financially- and post DAO the problem became the exact opposite, rushing the sequel too much.

 

*'enslave nations with necromancy!' etc

 

 

That's kind of my point though.  It's not necessarily the length of the production cycle, per se, but a game taking that long AND being such a dumpster fire as a finished product.  At least DAO was a good game when it finally came out.  From the bits I played of Anthem, and from reading reviews/commentary from various online reviewers, Anthem's finished product looks like a game that literally took a year to make.

[marelooke]

Honestly, the initial vision for the game sounded pretty neat. Closer to Monster Hunter World than the Destiny clone we got now. Bit of a shame that one of the major reasons it didn't get made was because the engine foisted onto BioWare just couldn't handle it (that and keeping it engaging over longer periods of time).

 

Unless they somehow manage to modularize that engine so they can basically have multiple engines with the same underlying technology Frostbite is just going to stay the Achilles heel of EA, and probably ends up costing them way more than just licensing an engine that's actually fit for the task ever would.

But it looks like a saving, on paper at least, just like outsourcing everything...

Edited April 5, 2019 by marelooke

[injurai]

It looked like a Destiny clone with iron man suits instead of hover bikes from literally the first time it was shown. It was always dull with content all through out its labored reveal and marketing. All they had to sell was a vaguely Pandora-esque world that was supposed to have a mystery of the unknown to it. They sold a game on the premise that it's value was in having not had it's value yet revealed.