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Anthem Update

Typhares

Member
https://blog.bioware.com/2020/02/10/anthem-update-february-10/

Hey everyone!

One year ago, we were preparing to launch Anthem – a game that represented a big leap into new territory for us as a studio. It was an exhilarating and terrifying experience to go out to the world with something new and different, and we are grateful to all the players who have come along with us on the journey. It has been a thrill for us to see the creativity of our players in designing customized Javelins, and watching them master Anthem’s flying and fighting gameplay. I am so proud of the work the team has put into this game, and at the same time there’s so much more that we – and you – would have wanted from it.

Over the last year, the team has worked hard to improve stability, performance and general quality of life while delivering three seasons of new content and features. We have also heard your feedback that Anthem needs a more satisfying loot experience, better long-term progression and a more fulfilling end game. So we recognize that there’s still more fundamental work to be done to bring out the full potential of the experience, and it will require a more substantial reinvention than an update or expansion. Over the coming months we will be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards – while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting. And to do that properly we’ll be doing something we’d like to have done more of the first time around – giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.

In the meantime, we will continue to run the current version of Anthem, but move away from full seasons as the team works towards the future of Anthem. We’ll keep the game going with events, store refreshes, and revisiting past seasonal and cataclysm content – starting with our anniversary towards the end of the month.

Creating new worlds is central to our studio mission, but it’s not easy. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we miss. What keeps us going is the support from players like you. Your feedback gives us guidance on how we can improve, and your passion inspires us with the courage to create. I look forward to working together with your involvement and feedback towards the best possible future for Anthem.

Casey
 
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Kamina

Golden Boy
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Moogle11

Banned
Even with it's numerous issues. I had a fair amount of fun playing it with friends through the campaign and probably 100ish hours total of some of the end game stuff. I didn't do much of the cataclysm stuff as my friends had moved on and it's not nearly as much fun solo/with randoms.

I like the core gameplay--flying around the Mass Effect-ish guns plus powers combat with primers and detonators etc.--way better than that in any of the other co-op looter shooters I play here and there with friends. So I'd love to see them fix the issues with the endgame, loot etc. and make it compelling to play. It's likely too little, too late though as so many have moved on. Probably better to just release as sequel next gen that gets more right from day one. Put out a long beta that's very polished and gets people interested, have the release very polished from the Beta being a true beta with time to fix things and have it review well. That's the only hope of the franchise/a GaaS game from Bioware succeeding IMO. And EA clearly wants to see it succeed as they're all about service games and want their own loot game that keeps people playing and buying expansions and MTs.

And even being flawed and getting pretty bad reviews, it still came in at #15 in NPDs top selling games in 2020 list. So it's clear a well received sequel/relaunch could potential do better. There's a lot they have to get right to get another chance from people who hated it though. People like me who and my friends who liked the core game play and just wanted a better loot system and endgame will be easier sales--but that's not enough for a game with this kind of budget.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
We want to announce the shutdown of Anthem's server on March 31, 2020.

Ohhh wait... they didn't know what to do yet lol
 

chozen

Member
I never played it due to the bad press overall. But I'm not going to mock and dance on it's "grave".

I await a Taken King tier comeback like Destiny.

With the game lacking PvP I'd like to see it lean more towards a diablo esque future.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Did it ever have a story? I think when it first launched it really didnt and was just another boring co-op shooter. This is not what I expect from the Mass Effect/Dragon Age developers.
 

iconmaster

Banned
we’ll be doing something we’d like to have done more of the first time around – giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.

That sounds long, and expensive. EA is giving BioWare a lot of leash here. Or rope.
 

Moogle11

Banned
It was FAR from boring

Well, I think the end game got boring pretty quickly as there just weren't enough different types of content to chase loot in, and the loot system just sucked in terms of quality of loot and drop rates for legendaries.

Otherwise I agree, the story was nothing special, but was ok for a looter shooter and I find the gameplay way more satisfying that any other game in the genre. I got bored with games like Destiny way more. I guess I like Borderlands more than Anthem, but I've never gotten deep into the end game loot chase in those games. I just do the campaign on normal and true vault hunter mode and mostly step away until story expansion DLC comes out.
 

Moogle11

Banned
That sounds long, and expensive. EA is giving BioWare a lot of leash here. Or rope.

Well, it was the 15th best selling game in the NPD despite all it's flaws. So it severely failed to meet their expectations, but it wasn't a complete bomb. Probably still not profitable though given the long, tortured development cycle.

But it's clear that EA really wants a monetized looter shooter to rival Destiny, The Division etc. It's probably cheaper to fund them to reboot this than to build one from the ground up. Especially when people were mostly happy with the gameplay and they just need to work on the end game loop, loot system and story/lore. That's cheaper than having to redo all the gameplay mechanics, art design (was also quite good IMO--just needs more variety in areas) and so on.
 

Mista

Banned
Well, I think the end game got boring pretty quickly as there just weren't enough different types of content to chase loot in, and the loot system just sucked in terms of quality of loot and drop rates for legendaries.

Otherwise I agree, the story was nothing special, but was ok for a looter shooter and I find the gameplay way more satisfying that any other game in the genre. I got bored with games like Destiny way more. I guess I like Borderlands more than Anthem, but I've never gotten deep into the end game loot chase in those games. I just do the campaign on normal and true vault hunter mode and mostly step away until story expansion DLC comes out.
I just meant the gameplay mate
To each his own. I'm not into those types of games. More of a single player campaign person unless its an MMO.
Sure.
 

Flintty

Member
I'm probably in the minority on GAF but I found the gunplay, flying and general feel of the game to be superb and put quite a few hours into it. The problem was that the end game just didn't keep me playing, which could be down to a number of things, chiefly progression.

I haven't given up on it though, I hope they make some good changes to pull me back in. The world was fucking beautiful and the flying aspect was almost perfect. Do away with limited flying time in my opinion though - I don't want those arbitrary restrictions.
 

Mista

Banned
I'm probably in the minority on GAF but I found the gunplay, flying and general feel of the game to be superb and put quite a few hours into it. The problem was that the end game just didn't keep me playing, which could be down to a number of things, chiefly progression.

I haven't given up on it though, I hope they make some good changes to pull me back in. The world was fucking beautiful and the flying aspect was almost perfect. Do away with limited flying time in my opinion though - I don't want those arbitrary restrictions.
This is why the game had such a great potential but fuck BioWare and EA
 

Moogle11

Banned
I just meant the gameplay mate

Ah. Fair enough. Different strokes for different folks and all that. I liked the gameplay more than anything else I played last year. The story was just a bit dull and disjointed and the end game loot wasn't good enough to grind for with the drop rates and lack of a reason to get more powerful once you could do the highest difficulty for the content.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Eh...I say give em a chance. I always wanted Anthem to be fantastic. Rainbow 6 Seige was terrible at the beginning. It made a 180. Final Fantasy XIV....same thing. It's possible. Being cynical about this is a waste of energy. Let's just see what happens.
 

Moogle11

Banned
Eh...I say give em a chance. I always wanted Anthem to be fantastic. Rainbow 6 Seige was terrible at the beginning. It made a 180. Final Fantasy XIV....same thing. It's possible. Being cynical about this is a waste of energy. Let's just see what happens.

Agreed. I'm not optimistic given that I haven't really enjoyed a Bioware games since Mass Effect 3, which was a step down from ME2 for me. Well, I guess Dragon Age Inquisition was ok for me, I did put a lot of time in that. Just had a lot of boring open world stuff I should have skipped.

But I also think they can turn it around from a quality standpoint, though getting people back in and making it profitable will be hard even if they do make it into a quality game that reviews well etc. I already love the traversal, flying around and the combat system and liked the graphics and art design. That's a lot of the battle there. Improving the lore/story and the loot system and the endgame gameplay loop isn't easy, but it's easier than if the above was terrible IMO.
 

manfestival

Member
I played it during a free month of Origin. The game definitely still felt half baked.... However, I am currently playing FF14 and I would like if they could pull off an ARR with Anthem. Then I would be all in. I loved how Anthem looks, the gameplay is solid, and the feel is nice. It however needs an entire reboot. Fort Tarsis sucks, they have this weird lobby system that makes no sense and literally is worse than the lobby system in MHW(forgot the name but you have to go to the top floor for any social interactions with people in your lobby), loading screens for DAYS, item drops that dont make sense, and well I can make a list of all of the things that need to be overhauled.

They really do have a solid basis for combat and they know what works by now. The foundation is trash but you take down and build back up again but not need be from scratch.
 

Gargus

Banned
The game was rotten to the core from a design standpoint. You can't patch it enough to fix its problems. Anthem was garbage from its planning stages. At this point anything they do is just putting perfume on a pig.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I bought this during Black Friday last year for $5 (physical copy). I figured they might try to pull something like this given the game's pretty big backlash. Here's hoping something actually comes of this.

But I'm also still waiting on Fallout 76 to turn around later this year, so...
 

Moogle11

Banned
...and we don't care.

Oh I think they do. Maybe not for player concerns, but that's what they have to get right to satisfy EA who desperately wants their own Destiny/Division type game that keeps a lot of people buying expansions and some whales buying cosmetic MTs.

If they don't get a compelling/addictive loot system in place all their other improvements--that EA is apparently funding--will be for naught. I'm not super optimistic they'l get it right, but I'm sure their main current focuses are the loot system and the end game content/gameplay loop in which to chase loot.
 
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Moogle11

Banned
just play warframe and get the grind which you wanted. for free

Gave it a shot, didn't enjoy the gameplay there unfortunately. Didn't like the combat much and it was just too complicated with too many systems to figure out and to make good builds.

Honestly, I'm pretty much good with Borderlands 3 with friends for my loot fix for a while--at least until all the DLC is out. If Anthem gets a full reboot, maybe we'll check it out, or we'll just wait until Diablo 4 and/or Borderlands 4 for our next co-op loot fix.
 

Siri

Banned
If they want to make the game better then great. I don’t see anything wrong with this. CDPR basically did the same thing when they released their first Witcher game, essentially publishing a broken unfinished game, then finishing it a year later and calling it ‘the enhanced edition’ - lol.

Anthem: The Enhanced Edition!
 

Mista

Banned
Ah. Fair enough. Different strokes for different folks and all that. I liked the gameplay more than anything else I played last year. The story was just a bit dull and disjointed and the end game loot wasn't good enough to grind for with the drop rates and lack of a reason to get more powerful once you could do the highest difficulty for the content.
Yes the gameplay was solid and super fun
 
If I had faith in the team I would be excited about this full revamp they claim to be working on but I doubt it’s ever coming. Game is dead.

FF14 pulled off a relaunch and it was beautiful but I don’t think everything is equal between the two scenarios

it would be awesome if they could build a great game around the core gameplay, which is pretty fun in bursts
 
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I don't see much outside of a full story rework helping this game. I can see an attempt at pushing hard for the new consoles coming out this year but at the tend of the day and the track record Bioware has at righting a ship I have little hope.
 

Coconutt

Member
I really hope they get things back on track, the gameplay is really fun, using each javelins abilities and setting up combos is very satisfying. The story and gameplay loop is definitely this games biggest weakness so hoping they put a focus on that.
 

Ivory Blood

Member
Lol, no. It's fucking dead, as it should be - this travesty should never have seen the light of day.

When their GAAS Dragon Age fails, the shitheads and diversity hires who stole bioware's name will finally put the once fabled developer into the grave. Sad.
 
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VertigoOA

Banned
Never saw a game fall off a cliff like Anthem. Cool flight mechanics and okay-ish shooting elements but the endgame loop was shit and it launched with like a 3rd the content of vanilla Destiny 1. It has lots of weaknesses in its gameplay too that really showed itself at higher difficulties as well. I enjoyed the first 20 or so hours tho. After that... I was just sad. There’s no point in getting loot and power when there’s not anything like raid content, which is the whole purpose of gearing up and making builds to begin with. Where’s the incentive? Where’s the pay-off?

It’s gonna be free so I’ll give it a shot anyway. It’s been deleted from my PS4 for a long time now however

Post-release content also seemed non-existent. I imagine most of the games’ sales were digital however so it’s possible that a heavily revised relaunch of the game for free could coerce some players to take another look. Still the best Iron Man game regardless.

To think that Division 2, Anthem and Fallout 76 all launched within weeks of each other and Fallout was the only one to see any kind of long term success and have a playerbase will always be hilarious.
 
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Trogdor1123

Member
The game had such a cool concept. I was really hoping it would be good but it just wasn't. GaaS works if you have fundamentals in place and then can build on them. Anthem was missing way too many.

It needed another year with a full dev team Plain and simple. Shame.
 
I don't see much outside of a full story rework helping this game. I can see an attempt at pushing hard for the new consoles coming out this year but at the tend of the day and the track record Bioware has at righting a ship I have little hope.

I agree with you but I would add that it needs more than a story rework, it’s a loot game with terrible loot and really lackluster rewards/progression. That whole aspect needs a revamp as well.

I honestly can’t see how a skeleton crew is gonna fix all this
 
I agree with you but I would add that it needs more than a story rework, it’s a loot game with terrible loot and really lackluster rewards/progression. That whole aspect needs a revamp as well.

I honestly can’t see how a skeleton crew is gonna fix all this

I would love to see Anthem come back. Honestly I am one of the few that maxed out the achievements on Xbox. I own it for PC as it was $5 over the holidays. It would be great to bounce my save from Xbox to PC. It would be great to see more people play it I just don't know outside of what we both suggest that is is salvageable.
 

Moogle11

Banned
I agree with you but I would add that it needs more than a story rework, it’s a loot game with terrible loot and really lackluster rewards/progression. That whole aspect needs a revamp as well.

I honestly can’t see how a skeleton crew is gonna fix all this

Yeah, they definitely need more than a skeleton crew to fix everything. If EA is set on having their own Destiny/Division type service game they should throw some more money at this though. As much as it needs done, it's still less than starting from scratch as the graphics assets, world design, combat and traversal and general setting/lore are pretty good in my and a lot of people's opinions. Better to keep all that and just work on the narrative, loot system and end game activities.

The loot I think is easier to fix as they just need more variety in build times and loot stat bonuses as then there can be more permutations and they can up drop rates for legendaries. The bigger challenge is creating meaningful endgame activities to give a reason to grind for better loot and ideal builds. To be fair, that's a challenge for me in any game as I just never get that end to the end game grind as I get bored of doing things over and over to just do harder versions of the same content or new activities that require more powerful gear to do etc. As I said, I'm more into the Borderlands model where that type of content is there, but there's a lot of hours of gameplay to be had just doing the campaign and campaign expansion DLCs.

That's just me though and many people love that shit in Destiny and other games, so I'm sure they can figure something out with all the lessens learned from bad decisions in loot games over the year. But EA has to invest the money and resources to make it happen. Will they? Depends on how the financial stand for this game currently and how badly they want their own Destiny type game.
 

Dthomp

Member
Good for them, honestly. I keep meaning to go back and play some more and earn more trophies just hasn't happened. Wish more companies would take this approach. Destiny 2 needed this approach verses what they do now. Nothing wrong with stepping back not putting out content while you fix the core, which is Anthems biggest issue that would require major work.

Don't see any reason to shit on them, it's their jobs and livelihoods that they believe they can fix...good for them. If at the end of the day we see a better engine/build for this along with the things it did really well then we have a hit. Nothing else Bioware has done in years could even be considered something that a little polish could be turned into a hit so go to town guys.
 
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