Anthem: Bioware's next Mass Effect-like IP

[grexly75]

Constantly Hardcrashing can easily lead to Bricking.

Depending on how many times/long they encountered this playing Anthem, the game can easily be blamed for the cause.

Interesting that sort of thing would happen, but when it comes to electronics anything can happen and in a lot of cases usually does..

[SirCowdog]

https://www.reddit.com/r/anthemthegame/comments/axhh4t

I hope someone writes an article based on this reddit thread...

TLDR - No consoles are bricked... people just don't know how to handle recovery. They are not offering refunds.

You mean the community took an issue and assumed it was worse than it actually was? I'm shocked, sir. SHOCKED!

and why should people believe 1 random guy on reddit claiming he works on sony vs all other people?

Not to say that consoles crashing isn't a pretty big problem. I suspect that even if the linked post from reddit isn't actually by a real Sony employee, what he's saying about people not knowing how to reset their PS4 is probably fairly accurate. Thus creating a disproportionate amount of reports of "bricked" consoles that just need a proper reset.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. It's still not good for Anthem or Bioware, though. Even though I've been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, even I'm starting to wonder WTF is going on.

[szechuan]

You mean the community took an issue and assumed it was worse than it actually was? I'm shocked, sir. SHOCKED!

You mean people should be warned about a Glitchy Game called Anthem potentially bricking and damaging your console?

Thus creating a disproportionate amount of reports of "bricked" consoles that just need a proper reset.

It can still Damage your Console even if it doesn't "Brick"

[SirCowdog]

That's one of the biggest problem imo.
I mean, there are some 2-days-old critics on Metacritics who say this game is "riddled with microtransactions", you know people didn't even look it up or give it a try.

But that's how 2019 works. "Influencers" have way too much power over the masses. An Instagram supermodel could literally say "RDR2 is trash" with her ass in the background and her 2 million followers would instantly hate the game

Consequently, this is also why that guy who got banned for exploiting should have remained banned. He's got a decently large following, and if he's exploiting, you KNOW his followers are too. By reversing the ban, they've basically just told all his followers that it's ok to exploit. Just cry and whine about it on youtube/reddit, and if you get enough people to agree with you it's ok.

It's completely the wrong message to send: "Influencers are above the rules". Great move.

[szechuan]

Anthem isn't doing so hot again.

Anthem's Scary Console Crash Shutdown Happened To Me On Xbox, And Is Worse On PS4

I too have experienced this shut down issue, though on my Xbox One X, not PS4. This problem seems to be far more prevalent on PS4 than Xbox, yet I’ve talked to at least a couple other Xbox owners that have seen this too, and I only know what happened to me.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertc.../#652c7fd56151

EA admits Anthem is crashing PS4 consoles

After a weekend of user reports and complaints, EA admitted on Monday night that Anthem is crashing PS4 consoles.

https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/05/ea-...-ps4-consoles/

We’re aware of a crashing issue some of you have been reporting for #AnthemGame. We’re investigating and ask that you share your crash data reports when prompted. If you have, we’ll be reaching out to gather info; if not, please reply to this thread on AHQ:

https://twitter.com/EAHelp/status/11...s4-consoles%2F

[Ophenia]

Consequently, this is also why that guy who got banned for exploiting should have remained banned. He's got a decently large following, and if he's exploiting, you KNOW his followers are too. By reversing the ban, they've basically just told all his followers that it's ok to exploit. Just cry and whine about it on youtube/reddit, and if you get enough people to agree with you it's ok.

It's completely the wrong message to send: "Influencers are above the rules". Great move.

Clearly. Just have to read the comments to understand how retarded it was to unban this dude.

That's even more tragic as I don't see the point of cheating in this kind of game. Yay, you one-shot everything, thus you reduce your fun to 0, all this to get faster loot and reach the point you don't have anything to do anymore faster (and then you go cry on Reddit that there isn't anything to do once you reach 510 power level...). I fail to see how that's entertaining, but hey, the gaming community is probably one of the most retarded that exists so that's not surprising I guess.

[D3athsting]

I tend to agree. But in the specific case of anthem, I kept seeing a LOT of repeated and copied material. Lots of channels just repeating what other channels had said, and often covering issues in Anthem that had already been addressed. You could tell they didn't actually do their research and were just trying to crank out a video on a hot topic.

The only big channel that's actually been fully fair, that I've seen anyway, is Bellular. He talked about the flaws with the game, but also pointed out that many of them had been fixed. He outlined the problems Anthem faced, but also the good gameplay and the potential if those problems were addressed. He's one of the few channels I'm coming to respect for actually digging into the details and not jumping to conclusions.

He also pointed out as physical sales don't really matter that much because it's pretty obvious that dd is a huge part of market

[Charge me Doctor]

I tend to agree. But in the specific case of anthem, I kept seeing a LOT of repeated and copied material. Lots of channels just repeating what other channels had said, and often covering issues in Anthem that had already been addressed. You could tell they didn't actually do their research and were just trying to crank out a video on a hot topic.

The only big channel that's actually been fully fair, that I've seen anyway, is Bellular. He talked about the flaws with the game, but also pointed out that many of them had been fixed. He outlined the problems Anthem faced, but also the good gameplay and the potential if those problems were addressed. He's one of the few channels I'm coming to respect for actually digging into the details and not jumping to conclusions.

I tend to listen to unit lost when it comes to shooters, he isn't the best at reviewing games, his 20 minute glance on the game did a great job at, you know, "first impression" review. Don't find anything "copied" there, but there is simply not much to say about this game in sense of reviewing it, there are glaring problems that simply drag attention from everything else.

Two things are great about this game - level design and flying, but it utilizes none of this honestly (outside of one *clearly not a swarmhost* boss)

[Dhrizzle]

As a PC Gamer I'm feeling a little bit of schadenfreude that it isn't our system that got skimped out on QA this time.

Currently 50 hours in and still having an absolute blast, took me about 35 hours to finish the campaign and another 5 to get to the level cap. I tied up the Arcanist/Freelancer/Sentinal mini-campaigns to unlock legendary contracts not long after.

Performance wise I've had the audio-bug three times, one crash to desktop and one bluescreen. Fort Tarsis always seems a bit more jittery than the acutal game.

For story I'm just going to copy-paste what I wrote earlier - It might not have been as epic as the ME saga but it certainly had as much going on as one of the planetary campaigns. I liked most of the characters involved with it, it did a good job filling in the background of the setting and I liked the little mini-stories you get talking to people around the fort. Basically I found it engaging and it did a good job of providing context for the gameplay.

With gameplay I couldn't be happier. Only really played the Interceptor so far sticking with Spark Dash for getting around and Venom Spray as a decent AoE hit with a chance to prime ready for a melee detonate. Only Venom Spray is MW at the moment but I do have other MW options to replace Spark Dash if I didn't love the mobility so much. I'm loving being either a front line charger, sneaky flanker or supportive backup depending on the enemies, how I feel and what my team do. The only encounters I really don't like are the Titans who are just bullet sponges with spammy fire attacks that make victory feel more like a flukey mess than an act of skill or strategy.

Strongholds are alright, bit more intense than contracts which makes for a nice change of pace. Had an issue with the Temple of Scar where you zone in and nothing starts so you're in an empty cave - if that happens you need to quit and try again. Last boss in Heart of Rage is a bit of a slog and doesn't seem worth it for those just chasing loot, IMO each phase should give a chest and count as a checkpoint so dying at stage three doesn't send you back to the start.

They really do throw a lot of gear at you on GM difficulty. I already have 3 MW weapons (shotgun and 2 heavy pistols) plus a legendary machine-pistol, several options for MW gear attacks (with a few spares salvaged) and 3/6 components MW (again with some repeats salvaged.) I also have dozens of epic guns that I need to sort through for my other Javelins, but I suspect they're useless with the MW/Legendary weapons I have - even at non-optimal range I expect the high-end pistols will beat out any purple rifles.

[Ophenia]

I also have dozens of epic guns that I need to sort through for my other Javelins, but I suspect they're useless with the MW/Legendary weapons I have - even at non-optimal range I expect the high-end pistols will beat out any purple rifles.

That's the case as far as I tested (on Storm). I have two legendary guns (one insane, one meh) and a shitload of masterworks, none of the Epics are useful at all. I'm automatically dismantling all epic and lower weapons on the loot window.

[SirCowdog]

I tend to listen to unit lost when it comes to shooters, he isn't the best at reviewing games, his 20 minute glance on the game did a great job at, you know, "first impression" review. Don't find anything "copied" there, but there is simply not much to say about this game in sense of reviewing it, there are glaring problems that simply drag attention from everything else.

Two things are great about this game - level design and flying, but it utilizes none of this honestly (outside of one *clearly not a swarmhost* boss)

And his video is based off the VIP demo, which is out of date. This is EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm talking about. :/

[szechuan]

He also pointed out as physical sales don't really matter that much because it's pretty obvious that dd is a huge part of market

Physical Sales matter

Most console players prefer physical games over digital downloads

https://www.techspot.com/news/75220-...ames-over.html

The physical games market may be in decline, but it remains a hugely lucrative area that's worth billions of dollars worldwide.

Indeed, when it comes to AAA launches, an estimated 75% of an average game's sale still comes via physical goods sold via Amazon, GAME, GameStop and the rest.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...physical-games

[Ophenia]

Physical Sales matter

You should know we can find whatever the fuck we want on the internet right ?

[szechuan]

You should know we can find whatever the fuck we want on the internet right ?

They're Specifically talking about Console Market not MOBILE or PC, there's a huge difference.

Anthem is also a CONSOLE game not a MOBILE game.

Anthem is also a PC game however it still show's Physical Sales Matter ESPECIALLY on Console especially when it completely failed in the UK market and is substantially selling less then previous Bioware Games.

[kaelleria]

I'm confused... people shouldn't believe the guy that made a reddit post saying that his console bricked, but they should believe the guy that made a post saying he works for Sony? ._.;

Exactly. You shouldn't trust anything you read in a reddit thread. You definitely shouldn't write articles about it.

[Ophenia]

They're Specifically talking about Console Market not MOBILE, there's a huge difference.

Anthem is also a CONSOLE game not a MOBILE game.

Anthem IS a PC game however it still show's Physical Sales Matter ESPECIALLY on Console.

Pretty sure you're smart enough to take the same numbers and just cut the "Mobile" part to have a graph showing you just Boxed vs Digital. In the Global, it's like 3x more for the Digital sales than the Boxed sales.

But for sure, you only consider Console sales because the numbers are helping you in your argumentation, and you're ignoring PC Sales because they contradict your whole point.

I'm not even sure why I'm still clicking the "Show this post" button when it seems the entire point of your life is derivating this topic for whatever reason. Have fun arguing with yourself.

[kaelleria]

Pretty sure you're smart enough to take the same numbers and just cut the "Mobile" part to have a graph showing you just Boxed vs Digital. In the Global, it's like 3x more for the Digital sales than the Boxed sales.

But for sure, you only consider Console sales because the numbers are helping you in your argumentation, and you're ignoring PC Sales because they contradict your whole point.

I'm not even sure why I'm still clicking the "Show this post" button when it seems the entire point of your life is derivating this topic for whatever reason. Have fun arguing with yourself.

Because we're all masochists.

Considering some analysts think physical sales may basically disappear by 2022, I don't think physical means jack shit these days.

[szechuan]

Pretty sure you're smart enough to take the same numbers and just cut the "Mobile" part to have a graph showing you just Boxed vs Digital. In the Global, it's like 3x more for the Digital sales than the Boxed sales.

You're mixing in PC, Mobile and Console, it's not the same.

I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to understand Physical Sales matter especially on Consoles.

[kaelleria]

Weird, the reports I heard are that Sony is giving more refunds than usual with Anthem.

All based off the same reddit thread...

[szechuan]

Because we're all masochists.

Considering some analysts think physical sales may basically disappear by 2022, I don't think physical means jack shit these days.

Losing Tens to Hundreds Millions of Dollars don't mean Jack? they may be lowering, But it's Still Highly Lucrative. Anthem is not doing well.