Anthem: Bioware's next Mass Effect-like IP

[dope_danny]

Seems like last patch they pushed through has broken loot drop chances on top of all the issue. So you don't even get any sort of decent loot at decent rate now.

I just don't understand Bioware, are they like trying to make this game die?

i always wondered if the games industry had some 'make it bomb hard enough for massive tax breaks' stuff like the film industry pulls.

[Gorsameth]

Seems like last patch they pushed through has broken loot drop chances on top of all the issue. So you don't even get any sort of decent loot at decent rate now.

I just don't understand Bioware, are they like trying to make this game die?

Scrambling to try and save it, resulting in rushed patches to fix things that end up breaking more things.
The dreaded "We need to release it now, we don't have time for a full QA check".

[SoundOfGuns]

I personally find it a bit harsh that it has worse rating than Andromeda for example because Andromeda was really... really bad? But i can clearly see Anthems flaws... Its a shame too, because in some of the missions i had genuine fun and curiosity for how the story would develop and pan out. I also really like how the Colossus plays... however, i also start to feel like the Colossus is the only one that is in any form unique compared to the other Javelinns because its more diverse and its combat role is more adjustable...

[Lahis]

Corporate bullshit trying to toe the line and get the best of both worlds. How about just try and make a good game instead of treating game design like shareholders are the only people that matter

For big gaming corporations, the shareholders ARE the only people who matter.

[dope_danny]

You don't have to defend anything. Certainly not with "hyper" vigilance. The game, nor the companies involved, need you to defend anything. No matter what someone posts about the game. This applies to all games/products. This is the mindset of the irrational.

^wisdom. Parasocial relationship syndrome was the biggest marketing bonanza publishers started enforcing after the whole 'get hype' streamer triggerword. You either enjoy the entertainment you purchased on a disc or you dont. Thats the sum of investment there. Any more leads to anything from blind shillvalry to becoming one of those bitter douchebags that was angry at the world that no mans sky was a let down and as they stewed in their juices convinced themselves it was not a bad product but a dark cabal of malicious internet trolls out to specifically spit them.

"Its just a game" should be repeated often and clearly now more than ever.

[Magicpot]

Seems like last patch they pushed through has broken loot drop chances on top of all the issue. So you don't even get any sort of decent loot at decent rate now.

I just don't understand Bioware, are they like trying to make this game die?

It's going to be months until there is new gear sets to collect, and people are already maxing out on masterworks through chain farming strongholds. They need to slow it down enough that dedicated players do not max out.

What this is is boring, low effort trash that bioware somehow tries to convince people they spent 6 years working on.

And its published by EA so you can expect to be fucked somehow, be it through post launch lootboxes, p2w patches, extra paid dlc or what have you. Probably all of that and then some.

I personally find it a bit harsh that it has worse rating than Andromeda for example because Andromeda was really... really bad? But i can clearly see Anthems flaws... Its a shame too, because in some of the missions i had genuine fun and curiosity for how the story would develop and pan out. I also really like how the Colossus plays... however, i also start to feel like the Colossus is the only one that is in any form unique compared to the other Javelinns because its more diverse and its combat role is more adjustable...

It's not offensively bad but much worse then people were expecting, while Andromeda didn't have that much hype.

[Gaidax]

It's going to be months until there is new gear sets to collect, and people are already maxing out on masterworks through chain farming strongholds. They need to slow it down enough that dedicated players do not max out.

Trust me, they slowed it down plenty with 90% of MW items you get being pure nonsense.

[dope_danny]

Trust me, they slowed it down plenty with 90% of MW items you get being pure nonsense.

Seeing people regularly get upgrades with secondary stats for weapons their javeline can't use the more i think the whole 'lifestyle game' looter shooter aspect was tacted on a year or two ago at best during a rework and the game was originally another dragon age or mass effect style single player rpg.

Or worse this is the quarian expansion to andromeda after some heavy rebranding. I could honestly see 'anthem' turn out to originally be a code name for a Dragon Age Awakening style large scale dlc showing the quarians using special combat versions of their environmental suits running into another unrelated big bad to the main andromeda game to set up a sequel that never happened. Andromeda crashed and burned on release so now the quarian dlc gets the dragon age 2 treatment and goes from dlc/expansion to full retail game with new systems that seem to barely work right.

[Gaidax]

Well just for funnies, my Blast Ranger build with 2 Legendary Contracts in GM1



Build in the end if interested.


7:25 is pure bullshit... yet another "this game..." moment.

[yasiru]

Hey champ, why won't you show us some stellar Anthem review?

Look, at this point you either need to outright state that there is some sort of mass mind control or huge conspiracy going on forcing reviewers to give this game ±5/10.

The thing is real, the issues are real, what they all say is more or less true. Bioware needs a good half a year to do something they should have put out on launch. This is mind-boggling that they pulled this out now when there are so many core issues that simply make people scratch their heads.

Bioware is aware of them and will work on these, but fuck me, did it not like hit ANYONE there over 6 years that MAYBE just MAYBE items need to have rolls that make sense? Or maybe there should be more than firkin' 2-3 bloody javelin appearance per javelin on launch? These are like CORE things - you play looter shooter to increase your power and look awesome while at it and current game is simply broken in this regard.

Hey there champ, not once have I ever said this game didn't have issues. It does, there's no denying that. It just gets old seeing everyone who wants to crap on the game and/or EA simply posting these youtube morons to back up their claims like what these guys have to say is gospel. They probably do it too because they can't scrape together an original thought for themselves other than “this game sucks.” Sigh

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I knew the writing was on the wall when they wanted uncharted 4 graphics with Diablo/PoE gameplay

The studio despite its big name is not capable of pulling off that kinda feat and if they did they would riddle it with MTX anyway.

So they didnt achieve what they could of and they riddled the game with MTX anyway and made the focus cosmetics and loot chase with a short lived campaign so it can claim the "Single player we"re pro gamer" tag.

Corporate bullshit trying to toe the line and get the best of both worlds. How about just try and make a good game instead of treating game design like shareholders are the only people that matter

Riddled the game with MTX? You obviously don't know what you are talking about. There's hardly any in the game...

[Dextroden]

Hey there champ, not once have I ever said this game didn't have issues. It does, there's no denying that. It just gets old seeing everyone who wants to crap on the game and/or EA simply posting these youtube morons to back up their claims like what these guys have to say is gospel. They probably do it too because they can't scrape together an original thought for themselves other than “this game sucks.” Sigh

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Riddled the game with MTX? You obviously don't know what you are talking about. There's hardly any in the game...

Counterpoint. You can't counter people that aren't praising the game other than calling them mindless.

[Magicpot]

Trust me, they slowed it down plenty with 90% of MW items you get being pure nonsense.

Have you seen the flamethrower ability that after a kill increases your flamethrower damage by 0% for 0 seconds stacking 0 times?

[Gaidax]

Hey there champ, not once have I ever said this game didn't have issues. It does, there's no denying that. It just gets old seeing everyone who wants to crap on the game and/or EA simply posting these youtube morons to back up their claims like what these guys have to say is gospel. They probably do it too because they can't scrape together an original thought for themselves other than “this game sucks.” Sigh

What reviewers are saying is legit. I am not sure how you expect reviewers to sing praises to this trainwreck.

"Oh no, reviewers gave bad scores to game that deserves is, how cruel - they are all hatemongers!"

Game has ton of well documented and legit technical and mechanical issues, its endgame is a shell of what is supposed to be, itemisation is broken, story is meh at best and you can't even collect bloody flair items. Bioware will sure fix it in time, but this in time should have been launch, then maybe people would not slaughter this game like that.

Don't blame reviewers for Bioware's fuckups.


What do you expect reviewers to give there? 8/10? 7.5/10? These are scores given to actual decent games that do not bloody need to be restarted several times a day to function and don't need a damned loading screen to access your inventory and loadout.

[yasiru]

What reviewers are saying is legit. I am not sure how you expect reviewers to sing praises to this trainwreck.

"Oh no, reviewers gave bad scores to game that deserves is, how cruel - they are all hatemongers!"

Game has ton of well documented and legit technical and mechanical issues, its endgame is a shell of what is supposed to be, itemisation is broken, story is meh at best and you can't even collect bloody flair items.

What do you expect reviewers to give there? 8/10?

Wow, way to miss the point. Again, I have not said this game is a masterpiece or said it doesn't have problems. I even just said it DOES have issues. But seeing people post idiot clickbait, money grubbing guys like Quartering, Yongyea, etc is annoying and pointless. You yourself have stated good and bad things about the game in your own words, which I have never criticized or disagreed with. You are obviously playing the game and giving us your observations. Guys like Quartering probably don't even know what a combo is...

[apelsinjuice]

People on the anthem subredit literally saying the game gets bad reviews only because of the "EA hate train" and how amazing the game is, meanwhile Apex Legend also published by EA became an enormous success with so much praise, people are really delusional

[RuneDK]

People on the anthem subredit literally saying the game gets bad reviews only because of the "EA hate train" and how amazing the game is, meanwhile Apex Legend also published by EA became an enormous success with so much praise, people are really delusional

Not really, I get the point you're making but most of the negative stuff that's being said about Anthem is being over-exaggerated. There is some negativity about it, but what's here is really fun and a really good base going forward. At the end of the day we play games to have fun right? What we have is fun and Bastion(the world) is stunning.

[Gaidax]

Wow, way to miss the point. Again, I have not said this game is a masterpiece or said it doesn't have problems. I even just said it DOES have issues. But seeing people post idiot clickbait, money grubbing guys like Quartering, Yongyea, etc is annoying and pointless. You yourself have stated good and bad things about the game in your own words, which I have never criticized or disagreed with. You are obviously playing the game and giving us your observations. Guys like Quartering probably don't even know what a combo is...

What you do is called strawman. Not ALL reviewers are Yongyea. Toss that one aside and you have plenty respectable reviewers who are more than capable of praising games when they deserve still ending up giving it shit scores.

It's the same thing as Metacritic reviewers score - which does nothing but give you an average given to the game by MANY reviewers. 60% is telling there.

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People on the anthem subredit literally saying the game gets bad reviews only because of the "EA hate train" and how amazing the game is, meanwhile Apex Legend also published by EA became an enormous success with so much praise, people are really delusional

Pretty much, this is a great example.

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Not really, I get the point you're making but most of the negative stuff that's being said about Anthem is being over-exaggerated. There is some negativity about it, but what's here is really fun and a really good base going forward. At the end of the day we play games to have fun right? What we have is fun and Bastion(the world) is stunning.

Over-exaggerated? I don't think so. Like for example Angry Joe review? He praised the shit out visuals, flying and various combat aspects, but it all came crashing down purely on legit technical, mechanical and content issues.

Whelp, spot on there. It's like nothing to add there and I say this as a guy who played Anthem a good deal so far.

This is why people are so agitated including me, because this game could be AMAZEBALLS, but it simply is being dragged to shit by basic flaws that are unforgivable in a 2019 AAA title. It's not even bloody "OMG is this Bioware? You mean that Bioware that created ME? What the f happened??" thing.

[RuneDK]

What reviewers are saying is legit. I am not sure how you expect reviewers to sing praises to this trainwreck.

"Oh no, reviewers gave bad scores to game that deserves is, how cruel - they are all hatemongers!"

Game has ton of well documented and legit technical and mechanical issues, its endgame is a shell of what is supposed to be, itemisation is broken, story is meh at best and you can't even collect bloody flair items. Bioware will sure fix it in time, but this in time should have been launch, then maybe people would not slaughter this game like that.

Don't blame reviewers for Bioware's fuckups.


What do you expect reviewers to give there? 8/10? 7.5/10? These are scores given to actual decent games that do not bloody need to be restarted several times a day to function and don't need a damned loading screen to access your inventory and loadout.

endgame is a shell of what it's supposed to be? Did you miss that they told us specifically what endgame would be for launch? It's exactly what they said it was...People need to stop with the it's not what I expected so it's not where it should be shit. They told you EXACTLY what endgame would be at launch. The unfortunate thing of games like these, it seems, is that you have to expect the game to get better over time. Every single looter/shooter has started this way. I know we want them to do more...but at this point I think it's an unrealistic expectation to have a game like this release with as much content as games that have been out for years. This totally sounds like im excusing them from a lot...but at the end of the day i play games to have fun...I'm having fun.

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What you do is called strawman. Not ALL reviewers are Yongyea. Toss that one aside and you have plenty respectable reviewers who are more than capable of praising games when they deserve still ending up giving it shit scores.

It's the same thing as Metacritic reviewers score - which does nothing but give you an average given to the game by MANY reviewers. 60% is telling there.

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Pretty much, this is a great example.

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Over-exaggerated? I don't think so. Like for example Angry Joe review? He praised the shit out visuals, flying and various combat aspects, but it all came crashing down purely on legit technical, mechanical and content issues.

Whelp, spot on there. It's like nothing to add there and I say this as a guy who played Anthem a good deal so far.

I dont think I've ever watched an angry joe review ive personally agreed with. I think he's a clown personally.

[Ungeir]

For big gaming corporations, the shareholders ARE the only people who matter.

Incorrect, meeting the conditions to get stock awards is the only thing that matters to the executives. Simplified, if stock price + dividends performs better than the rest of NASDAQ they gain a shitton of "free stock", many times more than their actual salary.

In the current financial climate, share price is driven by expectations and surpassing past expectations - with actual performance metrics taking a lesser role. So executives want to hype up future growth potential and want annuals/quarterlies that have some neat surprises and an optimistic outlook.

The way the executive compensation packages are structured vary from company to company and are based on some pretty complicated metrics, but the EA compensation packages are heavily weighted towards stock awards, and with some rather forgiving thresholds.

Analysts are looking for keywords like "recurring cash flows", "mobile", "china", "multi-player", "yearly releases" - and if they are happy about those, they'll be happy about actual financial performance. And the reverse is true: single-player, story-driven, no recurring monetization - all are bad words, making analysts consider a company risky and missing out on possible revenue.

This is a vicious circle where some executives will highlight these concepts as key drivers for good performance and future growth, making analysts focus on these in the future, creating pressure on all big gaming corporations to go this route, further reinforcing the myopia. EA did poorly on mobile in the previous year, but the market still prefers a failing mobile strategy to not having one at all.

All this comes down to a flawed market where problematic liquidity mechanisms are causing a focus on asset valuation expectations rather than actual dividends based on profits and solid business.

TL;DR - beating market expectations and creating positive hype is what matters.

If the market reacts positively to Anthem and believe it can become a healthy "recurring cashflow" it will live. If the analysts have a grim outlook, it will die.

[Eleccybubb]

Welp all I can say is this. Least the £60 I was gonna throw away on this went into stuff of actual value.

Genuinely curious what's going on at Bioware these days because ever since Mass Effect 3 their games have been mediocre at best.