Anthem: Bioware's next Mass Effect-like IP

[Edge-]

ATT is the only fiber provider in Austin - https://istheservicedown.com/problem...-united-states

Its probably more along the lines of they need to reschedule the people they were planning on having on the stream. Considering these issues arose this morning and they were trying to get it running on backup, they probably decided it was better to just delay it until after the holiday weekend.

Should they put out a post saying hey this is what we want to show? Absolutely.

I mean...they don't even need to do a massive, produced livestream. They can literally hotspot a phone and use that, or just stream from one of their phones at a lower resolution.

Save the big reveals and the more produced elements like live gameplay or trailer reveals for the "official" livestream. But do something today to deliver on the livestream plans. Talk and engage with the community.

Because god damn is there zero community management going on, their CM's seem purely reactive and like they don't have any desire to actively try to engage with the community. And they god-damn need to be given the state of things.

The fact that people legitimately don't trust BW on a fundamental level like this is a huge issue. It doesn't matter whether the internet is actually down or not, that's beside the point. The point is that a lot of the community don't believe what BW says anymore. That's a bigger problem than just the ongoing problems with Anthem proper, and one that will follow them beyond Anthem.

[kaid]

Honestly, they could knock up some form of blog post to communicate the particulars some time tomorrow and that would be absolutely fine, imo. Then you expand on everything when you can do the stream you wanted to do in the first place.

I think it would really really behove them to make a blog or forum post today with at least some information update. If it spoils some stuff from the live stream thats still pretty minor and right now they don't have a ton of goodwill left to go radio silence for almost a week.

[kaelleria]

I mean...they don't even need to do a massive, produced livestream. They can literally hotspot a phone and use that, or just stream from one of their phones at a lower resolution.

Save the big reveals and the more produced elements like live gameplay or trailer reveals for the "official" livestream. But do something today to deliver on the livestream plans. Talk and engage with the community.

Because god damn is there zero community management going on, their CM's seem purely reactive and like they don't have any desire to actively try to engage with the community. And they god-damn need to be given the state of things.

The fact that people legitimately don't trust BW on a fundamental level like this is a huge issue. It doesn't matter whether the internet is actually down or not, that's beside the point. The point is that a lot of the community don't believe what BW says anymore. That's a bigger problem than just the ongoing problems with Anthem proper, and one that will follow them beyond Anthem.

They were trying... it was laggy. I agree its an issue and they're going to need to do a ton of work to get past the trust deficit.

Here's what I'd imagine happened - They went heads own to work on the new patch and decided, lets let it speak for itself. Then internet issues happened. They probably thought their backup would be sufficient so they tried to get that working. By the time they realized it wasn't going to work, someone made an executive decision to delay it.

Is it a great decision? No. Is it an understandable decision going into the Easter weekend? Yes.

[rhorle]

Continued total silence in lieu of this livestream is a bloody joke.

I think the joke is that people are crucifying them over something like this. Okay internet is down. Relax. If they don't do it at the rescheduled time then get the pitchforks out. It isn't total silence either if they told people they moved the live stream. (https://twitter.com/anthemgame/statu...93848236593153)

https://twitter.com/Darokaz/status/1118594978505216016

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGa...m_medium=web2x

I think that comment sums up how extreme people get. Calling companies in the area to ask about interment just to figure out if Bioware is lying.

[Faldric]

They can simply upload a video of it over the backup line. It's not like they are actually answering questions from chat.

[Gaidax]

Anthem is a gift that keeps giving, I see.

[Baconeggcheese]

Le sigh....

[Vineri]

In fairness, no company is the same company it was a decade ago.

This is true. But it is the rare case where a company sold 10 years ago has a 100% changeover to today.

All BioWare management left. The CEO "Doctors" left when their contractual time with EA expired. The employees were gutted. Some quit. Some got laid off. Some got fired. They are all gone.

BioWare is not the same BioWare. Only by name, which EA purchased.

It's not so much the case of a company being different than it was 10 years ago. It's a new company, essentially. A new company looking for $$$, instead of longlasting charm.

I'd argue that the original BioWare was looking for longlasting charm, and hoping some money would follow.

[Edge-]

The CEO "Doctors" left when their contractual time with EA expired.

Citation needed*

[Vineri]

Citation needed*

They both left at the same time.

I suppose I inferred this to mean something.

But I don't think they were very happy, all the same.

I can dig up dates when they left ... uncanny they both left at the same time. Years after the sale, but around the caldendar day of their sale, weird, eh?

Their stepping down coincided with dates post sale.

[Edge-]

They both left at the same time.

I suppose I inferred this to mean something.

So this is an assumption from you, not anything that's ever been confirmed.

They both left at the same time, you're right. And IIRC, they said it was because they had long since decided they were done with the industry and were largely staying around to make sure the studio was in "good hands" and see through the launch of SWTOR. There was never any indication their departures had anything to do with contracts or anything else.

Sometimes, folks are just finished with a career path. Sometimes when that happens overlaps.

Let's not delve into conspiracy theories though, eh?

[Vineri]

So this is an assumption from you, not anything that's ever been confirmed.

They both left at the same time, you're right. And IIRC, they said it was because they had long since decided they were done with the industry and were largely staying around to make sure the studio was in "good hands" and see through the launch of SWTOR. There was never any indication their departures had anything to do with contracts or anything else.

Sometimes, folks are just finished with a career path. Sometimes when that happens overlaps.

Let's not delve into conspiracy theories though, eh?

They left the same month the company was sold, yet years later. Still same month / day date.

This brings tinfoil hat theories into play right there.

It was almost like they were waiting for that date to shove a finger of choice and say Goodbye.

[Edge-]

They left the same month the company was sold, yet years later. Still same month / day date.

BW Acquired by EA: October 11, 2007 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioWar...and_Dragon_Age

BW Doctors retire: September 18, 2012 - https://www.engadget.com/2012/09/18/...unders-retire/

Not sure where you got the "same month" or even "Same day/date" from, because neither is accurate.

It was almost like they were waiting for that date to shove a finger of choice and say Goodbye.

Dude...they're the ones that chose to sell their company to EA.

[Video Games]

x3 people kept asking me why I come to this thread anymore and its for the comedy

[Vineri]

BW Acquired by EA: October 11, 2007 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioWar...and_Dragon_Age

BW Doctors retire: September 18, 2012 - https://www.engadget.com/2012/09/18/...unders-retire/

Not sure where you got the "same month" or even "Same day/date" from, because neither is accurate.

5 years was their obligation after selling the company, to stay with the company (and direct new projects). HR takes a while to process "I QUIT" notices. Plus alot of paperwork.

You could ask for the source, but any former management is going to be given a finite timeline before they need to leave. They are contractually ordered to stay to train the new team. Given the Doctors mindset, I feel they chose to leave ASAP.

The Doctors quit around the same time. There is no mistaking that.

Dude...they're the ones that chose to sell their company to EA.

Indeed. It's sad, but yes, they did. /RIP BioWare

[rhorle]

You could ask for the source[/U], but any former management is going to be given a finite timeline before they need to leave. They are contractually ordered to stay to train the new team. Given the Doctors mindset, I feel they chose to leave ASAP. Indeed. It's sad, but yes, they did. /RIP BioWare

They were given positions with EA and not just as Bioware Management. There is no legal rule that says you have to stay for 5 years. That you have to stay and train new management. We know they weren't training replacements because there are references to other Bioware leads going to them to tell things. Flynn has recounted how he had to tell Ray that ME3 was going to be delayed. Nothing indicates they were forced out, forced to stay X amount of years, or anything else.

It all points to two people, who were called a hive mind sometimes, wanting to move on to other projects. These are people that continued to practice medicine despite having a gaming company. It would also one of the greatest cover ups in history if what you say is true. It would have come out at some point given how troubled the studio has been the last few years.

[Vineri]

They were given positions with EA and not just as Bioware Management. There is no legal rule that says you have to stay for 5 years. That you have to stay and train new management. We know they weren't training replacements because there are references to other Bioware leads going to them to tell things. Flynn has recounted how he had to tell Ray that ME3 was going to be delayed. Nothing indicates they were forced out, forced to stay X amount of years, or anything else.

It all points to two people, who were called a hive mind sometimes, wanting to move on to other projects. These are people that continued to practice medicine despite having a gaming company. It would also one of the greatest cover ups in history if what you say is true. It would have come out at some point given how troubled the studio has been the last few years.

Original BioWare staff is gone.

The people with doctorate degrees were behind one of the greatest companies for Adventure / RPG fans.

The gaming industry is currently troubled already. (cheers to them for leaving.)

[rhorle]

Original BioWare staff is gone. The people with doctorate degrees were behind one of the greatest companies for Adventure / RPG fans. The gaming industry is currently troubled already. (cheers to them for leaving.)

Okay. None of that has anything to do with contracts or anything you were talking about.

[kaid]

So this is an assumption from you, not anything that's ever been confirmed.

They both left at the same time, you're right. And IIRC, they said it was because they had long since decided they were done with the industry and were largely staying around to make sure the studio was in "good hands" and see through the launch of SWTOR. There was never any indication their departures had anything to do with contracts or anything else.

Sometimes, folks are just finished with a career path. Sometimes when that happens overlaps.

Let's not delve into conspiracy theories though, eh?

Sometimes people decide their money hats are full enough and decide I don't need to work anymore so I am going to go on a beach and enjoy myself.

[Eleccybubb]

So let me get this straight.

They flat out lied about the product.
They launched it in a terrible, messy state.
They are having to hire new people to fix issues that shouldn't have been in such as the loot ones.
Majority (yes it's a majority) have already left the game even before the first "big" content update.
Their "roadmap" is going to shit in some places.

Want me to go on? And there are people still defending this here, on Reddit and forums?! I have no problem at all with people enjoying a game that's what gaming is about but if you can sit there and say "yes it's fine" to a game in the state such as this then you are actively admitting you are happy with an unfinished, messy product over one that could have passion, dedication and effort put into it.

This game has lost a majority of it's players and consumers have lost whatever little faith they had left in Bioware. There is absolutely very little chance they can salvage this. If it's taking them months to fix a basic damn loot issue then there is most certainly problems within that development team.

How is it we are ok with a game like this in todays market? Seriously someone tell me. How can consumers sit there and say "we are ok being lied to and having dismal quality products pushed on us"?