BioWare's Anthem Catch-All

One of my main problems with The Division is that it created a very real-feeling Manhattan that was utterly amazing to explore the first time, and then never gave you any reason to navigate the environment again, and, particularly, never gave you any real kind of mobility to where I'd want to bother. One of the brilliant little touches of Destiny was getting your Sparrow on command and being able to just zoom around everywhere, and, had The Division had that sort of thing (which obviously wouldn't have worked in that setting, but still), it would have added a lot.

So, basically, if I'm getting bits of The Division plus easy mobility and a Destiny-ish class system where I can just change my power armor to switch between Warlock/Titan/Hunter?

IMAGE(http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s149/MilkmanDanimal/Mobile%20Uploads/1qtjp1.jpg)

The Division was a fun co-op game in a boring universe. Now that I think about it so was Destiny.

Wow, that gameplay reveal looks pretty great. Unfortunately I'm unlikely to be able to group up much, so it's not going on my wish list.

It occurred to me that this game could be on a ruined planet in the Mass Effect universe after the events of ME3. Obviously it isn't that but I wonder if that is where the idea started.

JeremyK wrote:

The Division was a fun co-op game in a boring universe. Now that I think about it so was Destiny. :D

I feel the same way about Destiny, but Bungie is partially to blame for putting all of the good lore in the phone app instead of in the game and made people dig through it. At least Bioware is known for their story telling, so if they can take the hints from those two games and have a strong release with supported content it will be an amazing game.

Tagging .... I'm pretty stoked for this. I used to love MMOs but got really tired of the grind. I played all the end-game content before Pandaria in WoW, I just hope this is less grindy somehow.

I hope there's significant things one can do solo, but I don't share the wish that it be entirely solo-able. What's the point of playing an MMO if you want to solo everything?

f*cking Hell.

Where's the "dislike" button when you need it

gewy wrote:

Ugh. Huge new sci-fi IP from Bioware. I'd be all over this but the multiplayer focus has me feeling wary and ambivalent.

I fear I'll have the same problems with it as I do with MMO's:

1. Feel like I have to get in at the beginning or the game has already left me behind
2. Initial excitement slowly gives way to boredom with the inevitable grind, but I still feel compelled to play nonetheless
3. Frustrated by my inability to experience high end content (raids, especially) due to not having enough time or in-game friends
4. No clear ending to the plot, so my playtime will slowly taper down due to burnout rather than getting that feeling of satisfaction from a completed game
5. Much later, reading about future expansions and thinking about the game wistfully, but not jumping back in due to my previously developed aversion to it and lack of free time

All of this^^^. I had all of these feelings for both Destiny and The Division, and was left felling a little burned by both.

Completely off-topic, MilkmanDanimal. What's that sign/logo at the bottom of your post? The one with "Please update your account" on it?

detroit20 wrote:
gewy wrote:

Ugh. Huge new sci-fi IP from Bioware. I'd be all over this but the multiplayer focus has me feeling wary and ambivalent.

I fear I'll have the same problems with it as I do with MMO's:

1. Feel like I have to get in at the beginning or the game has already left me behind
2. Initial excitement slowly gives way to boredom with the inevitable grind, but I still feel compelled to play nonetheless
3. Frustrated by my inability to experience high end content (raids, especially) due to not having enough time or in-game friends
4. No clear ending to the plot, so my playtime will slowly taper down due to burnout rather than getting that feeling of satisfaction from a completed game
5. Much later, reading about future expansions and thinking about the game wistfully, but not jumping back in due to my previously developed aversion to it and lack of free time

All of this^^^. I had all of these feelings for both Destiny and The Division, and was left felling a little burned by both.

Completely off-topic, MilkmanDanimal. What's that sign/logo at the bottom of your post? The one with "Please update your account" on it?

That's Photobucket being a bunch of dickwads; they recently and without warning started requiring a $500/year subscription in order to do image linking. Completely without warning. So, all the old images everyone linked to now show that $*#@!! thing.

Phuck Photobucket.

In a surprise to no one, Anthem is delayed.

Minotaar wrote:

In a surprise to no one, Anthem is delayed.

Maybe partially because EA is rethinking how over the top they want to be with the planned micro transactions after Battlefront 2’s poor sales. Probably not though.

I'll take a delay over pushed out before it's ready like Andromeda.

JeremyK wrote:

I'll take a delay over pushed out before it's ready like Andromeda.

Hopefully the delay is enough because it's getting released next year in March no matter what state it is in.

JeremyK wrote:

I'll take a delay over pushed out before it's ready like Andromeda.

Or Mass Effect 3. Man, eff that ending.

Minotaar wrote:
JeremyK wrote:

I'll take a delay over pushed out before it's ready like Andromeda.

Or Mass Effect 3. Man, eff that ending.

IMAGE(https://media.giphy.com/media/26ufnIjSoK2uEpvxe/giphy.gif)

The beauty of these on-line focused games is they don't have to have an ending. They can just have a big boss battle and if fans find it lacking say "oh well an even bigger one it coming in the expansion!"

That is what makes these types of games appealing to developers I assume.

They’re appealing because they keep the player base around long term providing constant opportunities to generate revenue (DLC, expansions, micro transactions, clothing, and trinkets).

Given how little we know about Anthem (we honestly don’t know a damn thing since I’m definitely not going to trust any videos they put out until it’s closer to launch), I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried a very different content structure.

All kinds of stuff at EA Play today.

Release date: Feb 22, 2019

 

There's a live stream, too, but they're currently playing FIFA. As of this post, it's already been going for a few hours, so they probably have already played Anthem. Hopefully there'll be an archive somewhere.

Vector wrote:

They’re appealing because they keep the player base around long term providing constant opportunities to generate revenue (DLC, expansions, micro transactions, clothing, and trinkets).

Given how little we know about Anthem (we honestly don’t know a damn thing since I’m definitely not going to trust any videos they put out until it’s closer to launch), I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried a very different content structure.

If they don't do something radically different, I find very little interest in this title right now. It's just a Destiny clone. I find it ironic that there were KOTOR and Jade Empire posters behind these guys. This is not the Bioware it once was.

I doubt it's going to be radically different. I think it's going to be an evolution of Destiny-style gameplay. Not a clone, necessarily, but not revolutionary either. Also, it's EA, so it's going to be packed with opportunities to spend cash. Depending on how intrusive the monetization is, it might be worth it to me for the single-player experience, but given EA's recent history, I am not optimistic.

PaladinTom wrote:

This is not the Bioware it once was.

Literally true, to be honest. Pretty much all of the original Bioware staff have peeled off to do their own thing over the years.

Also, they just confirmed that there are no romances in the game, which is fine - they don't need to add them to ALL their games if it doesn't fit - but it makes me think that this means that character interaction in general is going to take a major back seat to the action stuff.

Unfortunately, from a few of the comments I've seen this has emboldened the pond scum (who think that all the "SJW" 'interference' in Andromeda is the reason that game was a failure) into thinking that Bioware themselves have realised that all those 'real gamers' were right and have excised all the "gay" from the game because of that. Which is...infuriating

Combine that with the fact that I suspect there's no character creation beyond maybe a gender choice (all the 'solo city' stuff looks like it's first person only and they only mentioned armour customisation when it was brought up) there's REALLY not much here that's resembling a traditional Bioware game at all.

So this looks like the fun parts of Andromeda (yes there were fun parts of Andromeda it wasn't that bad), specifically the 3D nature of the combat. Hell I'm just happy to hear there's an endgame. If I want romance I'll play the Sims 4 and go woohoo someone.

With that said, I'm holding off on a day 1 purchase.

I'm actually ok with a heavy action game if they can build on Andromeda's combat which was fantastic. I'm also ok with light story elements as long as they are rather compelling and well-written. The art and world building also looks way more compelling to me than Destiny.

Then again, I realize I have such a plethora of pile RPGs (Pillars 2, Witcher 3, Dragon Age Inquisition) that I've never finished that I'm not hurting for a deep RPG. Those of you who have already finished everything probably feel differently.

With the city hub reveal during the presentation this really reminded me of the open world part of Warframe.

If this is a high fidelity version of that... i'd be happy.

It's pretty simplistic, but I've decided what will determine whether I buy this game or not.

If the plot, however light, has a definite, satisfying ending, I'm in. If there's no real ending, I'm out, no matter how good the reviews are.

Right now, I'm betting on the latter. They'll probably save the "real" ending for DLC content which will be all strung out and not materialize in a timely manner, making the plot feel completely broken up. Also, by then, they'll be focusing their resources on the sequel rather than ending the thing on a high note (or they'll have given up altogether if it doesn't sell well enough).

It seems there was some interesting news in the Anthem presentation. There will be no loot boxes - anything you buy, you will know what you're buying before you get it. There will be no items for sale that affect your character's power, only personalization items. You will also be able to obtain any personalization item by playing the game.

Given all that, I suspect the path to profitability for this game will be many content packs.

From what I’ve seen this really doesn’t look or feel like Destiny at all. Looks more like a mix of Mass Effect and Warframe.

PaladinTom wrote:

If they don't do something radically different, I find very little interest in this title right now. It's just a Destiny clone. I find it ironic that there were KOTOR and Jade Empire posters behind these guys. This is not the Bioware it once was.

The company we loved is gone, long since digested by EA. All companies that disappear into that maw are eaten, and Bioware was no exception.