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Anthem - I'm actually feeling optimistic
- Thread starter LossAversion
- Start date
Part of me wants anthem to be a good game to play next year, the other part wants to see it fail so bad and hopes that EA goes bankrupt.
Yes, I'm slightly bipolar.
Yes, I'm slightly bipolar.
I really want this game to be great, but nearly every time I've allowed my hopes to climb with a multiplayer game this generation, I've been let down in some form or fashion. We'll see how this one pans out I suppose. I'm cautiously neutral at the moment. (Man that sounds cynical)
I'm not.
It's a GaaS game from EA. They'll be trying to milk the shit out of it one way or another. This is the same company that just tried to sell people randomized stat upgrades in Battlefront. I presume not even they are dumb enough to try that exact ploy again so soon, but anyone who thinks that the game's design will not be negatively impacted for players in some way for the sake of extracting extra money is either a cringing apologist, a whipped dog or a naive fool.
It's Bioware being relegated to a Destiny me-too. Bioware always had a pretty specific skill set. They made interesting if painfully cliche settings, populated with fun and interesting characters with which to engage in lively dialogue. Gameplay was never their forte, usually managing to be adequate at best. None of that is relevant to a co-op grindfest. Getting invested in a story does not jive with multiplayer. Meeting interesting characters does not jive with other players bunny hopping around and showing off their dance emotes. So either their skills are being squandered on something they are unsuited to, or they've changed to the point that they are no longer the developer that made those previous games, in which case why should I give a shit?
Plus, this is the developer who fucked up the ME3 ending, who squeezed out the dreary single player MMO turd that was Inquisition and handed off Andromeda to get thoroughly and hilariously botched by their D team.
All we've seen of Anthem so far is a heavily scripted demo featuring totally authentic gamerz banter, thoroughly unremarkable shooting of some equally unremarkable aliens and a legendary gun with numbers that you grind for with a 0.005% drop chance or purchase for just another $5.99.
In short, EA are utterly unworthy of trust and Bioware have screwed the pooch too many times to be worthy of anticipation.
Who knows, maybe they somehow knock it out of the park. If they do, then I'll happily show up. But as things stand my expectations are waaay in the fucking red.
It's a GaaS game from EA. They'll be trying to milk the shit out of it one way or another. This is the same company that just tried to sell people randomized stat upgrades in Battlefront. I presume not even they are dumb enough to try that exact ploy again so soon, but anyone who thinks that the game's design will not be negatively impacted for players in some way for the sake of extracting extra money is either a cringing apologist, a whipped dog or a naive fool.
It's Bioware being relegated to a Destiny me-too. Bioware always had a pretty specific skill set. They made interesting if painfully cliche settings, populated with fun and interesting characters with which to engage in lively dialogue. Gameplay was never their forte, usually managing to be adequate at best. None of that is relevant to a co-op grindfest. Getting invested in a story does not jive with multiplayer. Meeting interesting characters does not jive with other players bunny hopping around and showing off their dance emotes. So either their skills are being squandered on something they are unsuited to, or they've changed to the point that they are no longer the developer that made those previous games, in which case why should I give a shit?
Plus, this is the developer who fucked up the ME3 ending, who squeezed out the dreary single player MMO turd that was Inquisition and handed off Andromeda to get thoroughly and hilariously botched by their D team.
All we've seen of Anthem so far is a heavily scripted demo featuring totally authentic gamerz banter, thoroughly unremarkable shooting of some equally unremarkable aliens and a legendary gun with numbers that you grind for with a 0.005% drop chance or purchase for just another $5.99.
In short, EA are utterly unworthy of trust and Bioware have screwed the pooch too many times to be worthy of anticipation.
Who knows, maybe they somehow knock it out of the park. If they do, then I'll happily show up. But as things stand my expectations are waaay in the fucking red.
Yeh I do think just the term MMO is instantly off-putting to people who are SP focused, and it makes them write off a game without trying it. I did it myself at first with both games - I waited for ages to even try, as I expected to not like it and I didn't want to waste a load of money. I think for my part I was just wanting it to be KOTOR 3, and obviously it isn't. Same with ESO - I just really wanted a TES3 Morrowind Remaster, and it's not :( Mostly I'm gutted Morrowind was a one use code so I can't sell it!
If the gameplay is tight I will be there, but leave as soon as I reach the endgame grindfest.
Both Destiny and The Division were quite fun to play, even though I'm not a fan of these loot-based online coop games. I played solo and had a good time with the single player.
Both Destiny and The Division were quite fun to play, even though I'm not a fan of these loot-based online coop games. I played solo and had a good time with the single player.
I'm not either.
I do not trust EA and what we've seen from the game, the art style looks really generic, the GaaS model is a huge turn off for me as I have yet to see a game were you get consistent and good pricing. Warframe used to be a really good at this but even that moved too far away from it, in my opinion.
Also they already tried to turn C&C into an GaaS always online abomination which ended up killing it, trying to monetize that way and at the same time trying to keep fans happy. This is most likely the same course Bioware is on. Fans of Bioware want heavy SP and story focus, fans of Destiny want MP focus with loot and good gun play (maybe also PvP content and endgame grinding?) and EA wants them $. Then there are people that have a hate for anything Bioware, especially after Andromeda. EA managed to piss off a lot of people just recently because of BF2 as well...
Idk, Its certainly not going to be easy for Bioware to come out of this still intact.
I do not trust EA and what we've seen from the game, the art style looks really generic, the GaaS model is a huge turn off for me as I have yet to see a game were you get consistent and good pricing. Warframe used to be a really good at this but even that moved too far away from it, in my opinion.
Also they already tried to turn C&C into an GaaS always online abomination which ended up killing it, trying to monetize that way and at the same time trying to keep fans happy. This is most likely the same course Bioware is on. Fans of Bioware want heavy SP and story focus, fans of Destiny want MP focus with loot and good gun play (maybe also PvP content and endgame grinding?) and EA wants them $. Then there are people that have a hate for anything Bioware, especially after Andromeda. EA managed to piss off a lot of people just recently because of BF2 as well...
Idk, Its certainly not going to be easy for Bioware to come out of this still intact.
The gameplay showing was very impressive, though obviously immensely scripted and build on smoke & mirrors. Quite similar to The Division's initial e3 showing. A year has passed and we've gotten no concrete info other than the trailer. No interviews. No new screenshots. No new videos. Not even promotional material or press releases. The devs have been active on the sub-reddit at least, and so far they're not trying to overhype the game.
My guess is that this e3 we'll see a lot more concrete showings of the game and information sharing, which will also start the marketing ramp-up towards launch next year. Remains to be see how realistic the scripted demo from last year was. Overall people will remain skeptical due to past failures, both for similar games who had bad launches and hidden limitations (Destiny & Division) but also because of EA's bad track record particularly with MTX and DLC.
I do hope the game succeeds and ends up being a new fun experience. The concept of a big open world to explore with friends while in very mobile Mechsuits through Air, Land and Sea is quite enticing.
My guess is that this e3 we'll see a lot more concrete showings of the game and information sharing, which will also start the marketing ramp-up towards launch next year. Remains to be see how realistic the scripted demo from last year was. Overall people will remain skeptical due to past failures, both for similar games who had bad launches and hidden limitations (Destiny & Division) but also because of EA's bad track record particularly with MTX and DLC.
I do hope the game succeeds and ends up being a new fun experience. The concept of a big open world to explore with friends while in very mobile Mechsuits through Air, Land and Sea is quite enticing.
Pretty sure the game will be great if you like casual AAA shootbang coop gameplay. Even with MTX. But some people will hate as soon as there is the smallest trace of MTX and claim "see, I told you!" regardless of how good the game might be.
And yeah maybe don't expect this game being fun after 300hours of playing it. It will be Destiny 2 all over again.
And yeah maybe don't expect this game being fun after 300hours of playing it. It will be Destiny 2 all over again.
Titanfall 2 was pretty dang recent and I don't think it had any shady things going on.
You are aware what the budget and team size for Destiny was, I am sure? :p Seeing people randomly throw "not particularly hard to exceed what is likely one of the most expensive games to date" is... certainly interesting, as far as expectations management goes.
I probably should not say that since SWTOR paved my way into working in games, but I would have also loved a traditional KotOR 3. But, leaving aside that the gamepaly is not for everyone, I think SWTOR, Guild Wars 2 and TESO have all shown that you can also tell intersting stories in MP and online games.
Never say never, but I can't see any possible way this would be cancelled before release.
It would have to run into severe issues, or have someone accidentally delete all the work that's been done so far without any backup's in place.
If the beta is anything like Destiny's beta, we will know is a lemon or a future hit. Destiny beta to the actual game didn't change a thing. They better add an offline mode
Right, i forget that was EA. My favourite game that year, very good campaign gameplay and story.
To be fair this was back then when both Titanfall and Respawn weren't EA's properties, I'm pretty sure that TF3 will have microtransactions that can only be bought through lootboxes, cosmetic ones if we're lucky.
I generally try to feel optimistic about most games, but a lot of people like to take a cynical approach to things on here. They say it keeps them from being disappointed, but for me it's just video games so I can handle being disappointed by one every now and then. Anthem looks sick and I'm hyped for it.
Optimistic? After they said "fuck loot box regulation, we're doing it anyway"? Which had 100% games like Anthem in their mind.
Yeah. No.
Yeah. No.
See here's my thing.
I want to be optimistic I want to hope it's everything I've ever wanted in a "Shared world shooter" it has all the right backing Dev wise and the credentials are there.
But I CANNOT get past the horror story's I've seen Jason Scherier write about when it comes to EA amd developing larger scale games aside from BF on this frostbite engine. It's hard for me not to worry and that's before all the micro transaction BS that's gone on. I'll be hoping it's good but I gotta hear and see more before I even consider it.
I want to be optimistic I want to hope it's everything I've ever wanted in a "Shared world shooter" it has all the right backing Dev wise and the credentials are there.
But I CANNOT get past the horror story's I've seen Jason Scherier write about when it comes to EA amd developing larger scale games aside from BF on this frostbite engine. It's hard for me not to worry and that's before all the micro transaction BS that's gone on. I'll be hoping it's good but I gotta hear and see more before I even consider it.
Mass Effect 3 combat is pretty fun...and all you have to do is make tons of loot and end-game content to make the game a massive success.. i don't see how hard it is to get that right...and yet every new mmo loot driven game can't seem to get it right day 1 even with so many past games to copy, research, and build on... but they always try to to do whatever came before and simpler thinking it will bring in casuals and keep the game engaging long enough..... JUST MAKE LOOT FUN WITH DEPTH....don't dumb it down and think casuals can't handle a little rng and min maxing and multiple build variety. Don't make exotic/legendary drops so damn rare to see....Diablo 3, Division, Destiny had drop-rates abysmally poor day 1 and had to up it. Use all the data available and you will have a massive success! People act like ANDROMEDA sucked so bad but it's the original ME team working on this.
This.
But let's be realistic, we're talking about EA. Who knows.
I also wonder that. It won't look like that on consoles, it would immediately be the best looking game this gen.
EA basically announced they're doubling down on lootbox bullshit, what makes you think they'll let Anthem be?
The current word from EA seems to be is it won't be monetized at launch.
The success of Anthem seems to depend on how much EA decides to interfere. When I look at Anthem, I actually get some Monster Hunter Vibes, and feel like if MH was a Sci-Fi, Anthem could be it. That said though, the best thing Capcom did (or the MH team) was ensure people almost immeidately about the business plan of MHW which was mainly that "It wasn't going to change." Yeah, Events get rotated in and out every week rather than being permanent, but the fear that there were going to be random costs to get materials wasn't apart of the changes.
My hopes is that if Anthem goes down this route, they don't try and pull any stunts. If they can do what Capcom did where the "costs" of the game doesn't really do much to affect the in-game, then I say it stands a good chance of succeeding. My confidence with Anthem though sits at a 6 at the moment. I'm optimistic that EA will do the right thing, but if they are still defending loot boxes... Well let's just say that I fear for the future of BioWare as much as the next concerned user on ResetEra.
My hopes is that if Anthem goes down this route, they don't try and pull any stunts. If they can do what Capcom did where the "costs" of the game doesn't really do much to affect the in-game, then I say it stands a good chance of succeeding. My confidence with Anthem though sits at a 6 at the moment. I'm optimistic that EA will do the right thing, but if they are still defending loot boxes... Well let's just say that I fear for the future of BioWare as much as the next concerned user on ResetEra.
Yeah, I hate EA, but love the Frostbite engine. I'm always conflicted by those two variables.
Haha. That's fair, and I see the contradiction. Though in Destiny's case, I don't think the immense budget and team size was reflected in quality content - though bigger projects usually result in less efficient staff and resource use.
I still intend to judge this title relative to its contemporaries on the market. They've had several years to look at what works in this blossoming genre, and multiple forebearers to take cues from. And I firmly believe that Bioware are stacked with enough talent to capitalise on this advantage.
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Fair point! As a fan, I certainly hope that they learned from some of the stumbles and mistakes of their competitors. Especially when it comes to the tricky balance of pleasing both the casual majority of players, and the very vocal hardcore crowd that can't have enough grind. As you said, my point was more that saying "surpassing Destiny should be easy" sounded a bit funn :p
On the flipside, I commend your choice of avatar!
I'm optimistic for it because Bioware's A-team has literally been working on this since Mass Effect 3 and have forgone releasing a game this generation as they're going all in on Anthem. They can't afford to screw it up. That has also given them the ability to watch the mistakes of Destiny, The Division, etc and steer clear of them.
Not particularly excited for a multiplayer- and loot-driven experience but I'm curious how BioWare is going to make good on their promise of delivering a compelling story in this framework.
It's a game design challenge that no one has cracked so far and I have no idea how you can have narrative beats, investment, choices and consequences and personal relationships with NPCs on par with single player games. Looking at things like SWTOR, Guild Wars, Monster Hunter World etc. it just ends up as a weak facsimile of a story that would have been better served as a single player game. The new trend is hiding the narrative in the subtext and ancillary media with new events happening as content drops (Overwatch, Destiny et al.) but that's not really satisfying to me.
Then you have to account for the overwhelming and unrenlenting immersion-breaking interactions with other players.... voice chat alone means dealing with out-of-character discussion, background noises, music and soundboard trolls and spoiler talk. Nobody talks like they do in the reveal trailer. Are they going to turn that off during cut scenes?
Still... if BioWare can find a way around these issues, it could be revolutionary for games.
It's a game design challenge that no one has cracked so far and I have no idea how you can have narrative beats, investment, choices and consequences and personal relationships with NPCs on par with single player games. Looking at things like SWTOR, Guild Wars, Monster Hunter World etc. it just ends up as a weak facsimile of a story that would have been better served as a single player game. The new trend is hiding the narrative in the subtext and ancillary media with new events happening as content drops (Overwatch, Destiny et al.) but that's not really satisfying to me.
Then you have to account for the overwhelming and unrenlenting immersion-breaking interactions with other players.... voice chat alone means dealing with out-of-character discussion, background noises, music and soundboard trolls and spoiler talk. Nobody talks like they do in the reveal trailer. Are they going to turn that off during cut scenes?
Still... if BioWare can find a way around these issues, it could be revolutionary for games.
Part of me thinks this as well. Hopefully they see the need to no screw up and they are bringing their A game. Hopefully an E3 showing will start to flesh out their plans. Now is the time to hype and convince people!
I do appreciate how they got their actors to at least sound like real players.
User Warned: Threadwhining
Honest topic recap: I'll give EA the benefit of the doubt - against all real life evidence - because I'm bored and want to speculate. Pls speculate with me.
High quality thread.
High quality thread.
OP
OP
Haha, it was a small step above Ubisoft's "real voice chatter" whenever they attempt the same thing. It would probably be for the best if every marketing team would abandon that concept altogether though!
Thanks!
I'm actually giving Bioware the benefit of the doubt though. And the "real life" evidence is my "real life" experience with their past games.
High quality reply though!