Anthem: Bioware's next Mass Effect-like IP

[szechuan]

Some of the things present in Anthems gameplay were either in ME2 already YEARS ago or are somewhat copied from other games like destiny. Most things that were in ME2 evolved through ME3 and Andromeda and you can see a lot of it in Anthem, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Except in Anthem shooting doesn't feel as good as it does in Mass Effect Games.

Bioware knows to make interesting and different weaponry little to none of it made it over to the uninspired Anthem.



Anthem should of played more ME: Andromeda IMO and instead of the making a clobbered together confusing world design made for an over glorified Flying Traversal areas.

[Darleth]

Except in Anthem shooting doesn't feel as good as it does in Mass Effect Games.

Bioware knows to make interesting and different weaponry none of it found in Anthem.

Yeah, not disagreeing with you here. Every weapon is basically the same, even their models are SLIGHTLY different colors; the base is ALWAYS the same. Mass Effect had weapons which were similar in design, but were still different enough. The only thing that I have to give anthem is it's sound design of some of the weapons; some of them sound VERY good, but this alone won't make a weapon "great".

[Gaidax]

Except in Anthem shooting doesn't feel as good as it does in Mass Effect Games.

Bioware knows to make interesting and different weaponry little to none of it made it over to the uninspired Anthem.



Anthem should of played more ME: Andromeda IMO and instead of the making a clobbered together confusing world design made for an over glorified Flying Traversal areas.

That's the shit I'm talking about. Where have custom weapon mods, ammo and frikkin' melee weapons gone? I just don't understand.

The more I think about it, the more I consider that them taking ME:A multiplayer as base and making some sort of side ME game centered around that with stronger multiplayer coop missions would be better.

[Yriel]

It's fatal flaw appears to be you can't update any info once a map is loaded. It's essentially a blackbox. This is why nobody can join a mission once its been started and why nobody can backfill a freeroam session once someone leaves.

Isn't that quickplay?

ME3 had the same playstyle with a LOT of improvements, but the story etc. was it weakest point for the series...

I disagree. I think the story of ME3 was great right until the end, up to marauder shields. IMO the ME2 story was very weak, the collectors and a human reaper... all that screamed filler content.

[Dhrizzle]

I think I might have played a different Mass Effect series. I remember what was basically a cover based shooter that you could pause to use your own or your squads RPG abilities. It wasn't bad but it was pretty basic and felt like a bit of a slog on the longer sequences. ME1 could be pretty clunky, ME2 felt too stripped back and ME3 found a sweet spot. Admittedly I never played Andromeda but the first 3 definitely didn't compare to the dynamic play style of Anthem.

- - - Updated - - -

I disagree. I think the story of ME3 was great right until the end, up to marauder shields. IMO the ME2 story was very weak, the collectors and a human reaper... all that screamed filler content.

ME2's plot was weak but it worked as a vehicle for some fantastic character development. ME3 did a brilliant job letting you right the wrongs in the galaxy like the Geth/Quarian conflict and the genophage but the cosmic-horror they set it against meant you needed a (quite literal) deus ex machina to cap it off, though I did appreciate the parallels with the ending to the Foundation series.

[Dextroden]

I highly recommend you checking my posts before making such obvious bullshit up to defend your own hypocrisy.

Also, hey, it's the least I could do for someone who insists on going to other threads just to talk about me

I'm sorry. Why did you get mad that I stated the real fact you posted Yong videos and then complained about people posting Yong videos on this game?

And that's adorable. I guess I shouldn't be talking about your hypocrisy. Dats mean.

[Dextroden]

Really? That’s what you got from it? That I’m mad because you said that I posted a YouTube video? Rofl, no dude, don’t be silly, I have no problem admitting it, and not just from Yong Yea, I’ve also posted plenty of videos from others such as Angry Joe & Jim Sterling.

What I find absolutely hilarious, is that you were talking crap about people for posting that sort of video over the Fallout 76 thread, just to come here, to a video game thread that you’ve deemed a “shit game by a shit developer” to do the very same thing, I mean, what happened to the “I'd go do something else if I didn't like the game”? … and why would you just “play it randomly if someone gifted it” if you “wouldn't even take a game I think is shit. I actually have tastes.”?

I’m I “mad” about it? Lol, no, but I understand the reason why you want to paint it that way, but I can assure you that I’m having a lot of fun watching you tripping on your own bullshit with every post you make, either way, please, go ahead, talk about whatever you wish mate, just make sure you back up your accusations this time, otherwise you’ll just further prove my point.

Edited: Add the amount of times you've mentioned my nickname to your signature as well mate

Mmmm. All this jumble when I'm mocking you holding up metacritic and clickbait as king. It's great.

[Dextroden]

You are mocking me by making a joke out of yourself? Okay…

Anyway, if you are unable to address the point as usual, I’ll just leave it at that, no point on further dragging this off-topic, thanks for the giggles friend.

Aww, that's precious. I'll let you get back to being mad I posted an actual review of a game instead of complaints about cash shops.

[rhorle]

It's fatal flaw appears to be you can't update any info once a map is loaded.

But that isn't an issue of the engine. Mass Effect Andromeda allowed you to join a multiplayer match mid game and it used the frostbite engine.

[kaelleria]

But that isn't an issue of the engine. Mass Effect Andromeda allowed you to join a multiplayer match mid game and it used the frostbite engine.

It's also false? People can join in and out if there's space in the server.

[Baconeggcheese]

But that isn't an issue of the engine. Mass Effect Andromeda allowed you to join a multiplayer match mid game and it used the frostbite engine.

Anthem does as well

[Big Thanks]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGa.../?context=1000

Big reddit reply from Bioware.
Let me try to edit it here:

First, I want to thank you for writing this up. I appreciate the honesty of how you (and others) feel about the current state of things. I also want to say that I can’t talk about everything, simply because it is not my area of expertise, or because I don’t have the information you’re looking for. I stand by our statement of being transparent though and will continue to do so here and on other channels.

Now, I want to address some of your points that I can:



Communication -
Pre-game release vs Post game release –

To start, things used to be a lot friendlier here for dev team members who normally don’t talk on social channels or forums. They could answer questions, give information and know that they aren’t going to have people getting upset at them. Why would a dev team member take time away from working on the next update to post when they know it’s likely to be met with hostile replies, or they get flamed because can’t answer other questions that players are asking? I don’t mind posting here when things aren’t so nice, but that’s because it’s my job. For the devs it isn’t their job, and I’d like to ask that people remember that when replying to them. When some people say “be nice or the devs will stop posting” it’s 100% true. Be respectful and constructive with your feedback and more team members will likely reply.



Aggravating the community by acknowledging trivial things over major issues –

I have been acknowledging issues that aren’t the major ones you mentioned, but that’s because I can quickly check in on those and work with the team to see how fast we can get them fixed. I also report major issues, but until I get word back on them there is nothing else I can say. Issues like the Masterwork Embers not dropping I can quickly bring to the attention of the team and we can get fixed. I think it’s better that I address the things I can as quickly as I can instead of nothing at all. Also, I try to avoid saying “thanks for the feedback, I’ll share with the team” too many times in reply to posts ������

Loot though? All I can do is point out what studio leadership shares on channels. They are very aware of all the conversation going on around loot and when they have more details to share, they will.

Now for the EA Help Tweet about Quickplay. The reason we asked for this information is to help us track down the remaining issues players are experiencing in Quickplay in one location, and to get more specifics on what they were doing when they encountered the issue. Having all of that information helps the team track down the bugs faster, which means they’re more likely to be fixed in the next update, which means they can move on to other parts of the patch sooner (other bugs, content, etc.).



Being confidential about the patch notes –

I said this before, but nothing was hidden on purpose in the patch notes. The truth is patch notes come together late in the update process and I do everything I can to ensure they are accurate, but sometimes things slip by with all the moving pieces. I’d much rather put together patch notes even if they are missing a few things instead of doing generic ones that just say “various bug fixes and improvements”. I’ll work with the team to get this process better, but we still may miss something from time to time, especially if it is something that gets added to an update late in the process. We will never hide a nerf or change in the patch notes on purpose, even if it’s something we know the community won’t like. And if we do put in something that the community doesn’t like we’ll do our best to explain why that particular change was made.


Not Learning from previous mistakes –
I’m not going to comment on the first two points because I didn’t work on Andromeda and I know how some players feel about EA, but I do want to talk about you addressing how we’re handling feedback.

For feedback, we’ve made a large number of changes based on what players have told us. Not wanting to run to the Forge every time to launch an expedition? We added the ability to launch anywhere in Fort Tarsis, that was because of player feedback. Wanted to visually see loot drop from bosses in Strongholds? Added because of player feedback. If you are talking about feedback on loot in general (and I’m pretty sure you are) I’ve already said that the team is discussing and that more will be likely be shared in the coming days. I know everyone wants to know when, but I don’t have that answer. We do not ignore any feedback from players, sometimes it just takes a bit longer as things need to be discussed for a longer time. We don’t want to say something we can’t do or give incorrect information. Like Chad Robertson said in a Tweet, we aren’t happy with where loot is either, so know that it’s high on our priority list.



Discarding Feedback –
Honestly, reading this stings a bit because I never discard feedback. I love this community and am very thankful for everything that has been brought up such as feedback, bug reports, funny posts (༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ Summon the loot update ༼ つ ◕◕ ༽つ) and everything in between. I’m open to feedback on what you’d like to see the community team do to make you feel welcomed and appreciated. We do our livestreams, blog posts (like the inscriptions write up), patch notes, helping out with issues when we have the info and more. I am always listening and willing to make changes so please, let us know.

Lack of Content –
I’m not going to go into this too much as it’s areas that I don’t have control over, or I don’t have the exact info on how the team is addressing. Know that I relay the feedback from the community to the team on ALL of these issues. The team is aware, and they are doing a lot of work to address these concerns.

Turning a good game bad –
All I’ll say on this is that Anthem is here to stay. Do we have a lot of work to do to fix parts of the game? Yes, and the team is committed to making improvements and releasing new content.

Conclusion –
Again, I want to thank this community for everything. The team is listening to all of your feedback for Anthem on how you’d like to see the game improve, or how you’d like to see us engage with the community differently. I know that players want to see updates faster, but these things can take time to make sure they are done right. We’re very appreciative of this community and look forward to the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Strong Alone, Stronger Together.

[Makabreska]

Denuvo doesn't stop hackers, it stops pirates

Hardly. More like, stops honest buyers from fully enjoying their games.

[Faldric]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGa.../?context=1000

Big reddit reply from Bioware.
Let me try to edit it here:

Its really impressive how you can write walls of text saying absolutely nothing. He essentially wrote the worlds longest "I won't comment on that".

[Eleccybubb]

Its really impressive how you can write walls of text saying absolutely nothing. He essentially wrote the worlds longest "I won't comment on that".

I mean what can they comment on?

This game is flat out done for. In the time it'll take them to fix the mess they've made it'll be too late.

It's sad because the game did have potential.

[Faldric]

I mean what can they comment on?

This game is flat out done for. In the time it'll take them to fix the mess they've made it'll be too late.

It's sad because the game did have potential.

My favourite part is the Pre-game release vs Post game release part. He is essentially complaining that people were nicer to them while they fed them lies. And after people realized they became a lot less friendly. Well, no shit.

[Edge-]

My favourite part is the Pre-game release vs Post game release part. He is essentially complaining that people were nicer to them while they fed them lies. And after people realized they became a lot less friendly. Well, no shit.

To a point, yes. But folks have also been very shitty to devs (which is sadly common), which isn't right. Voicing complaints is fine, being a dick isn't.

[Eleccybubb]

To a point, yes. But folks have also been very shitty to devs (which is sadly common), which isn't right. Voicing complaints is fine, being a dick isn't.

Right let me say this. Calling the devs vile shit or wishing ill on them yes it's flat out wrong. And those people doing so are idiots.

But the criticism that has been presented outside of that is fair game. The game launched in a state it wasn't ready to, the devs lied about said game and so on.

People thankfully imo are finally waking up and realising that sloppy dev work is a no go anymore. And not just with Anthem of course.

[The Oblivion]

so i tried the game for about a week playing every night. its meh. its a shittier destiny or division with more bugs then either of those ever had and less convenience. this plays like a looter shooter that should have come out 8 years ago, not after all the data from destiny, division, borderlands, etc.

not a bad game, but compared to others in the genre, it falls massively short.

[Darleth]

I disagree. I think the story of ME3 was great right until the end, up to marauder shields. IMO the ME2 story was very weak, the collectors and a human reaper... all that screamed filler content.

I didn't like the characters as much in ME3. A lot of weird shit going on all around which made no sense for me a lot of times. It had some good points like the homeplanet of the Krogans which was pretty well done (besides that bossfight) and, obviously the worst of all things was Marauder Shields. Also I liked the collectors story, gave some more information on how the reapers operate with their cycle etc.

Still I'd say ME2 was better than ME3 for me at least. Gameplay wise they are on par, ME3 even better in some points.

To be fair: I also only played through ME3 3 times; 2 times on normal difficulty and then once on Insane just to get it over with, compared to 6 or 7 different playthroughs in ME2 and about 12 or 13 in 1.

Edit: Honestly, that Reddit reply is just dodging most of the concerns. Only now people realize how bad the game really is, after it has been pointed out by many different people.

Bioware is basically done with Anthem. Doesn't matter how much they'll improve in the next few months. Considering how much lies and other things there are surrounding Anthem, I wouldn't be surprised to see them abandoning the project AFTER the initial stuff they wanted to release came out.