ANTHEM - failed Destiny clone from BioWare

[EverlastingLove]

I recall Hudson had asked perhaps even earlier more time from higher ups in EA, but answer had been no.

Interesting. But EA postponed the premiere of ME 3 https://www.fudzilla.com/news/gaming/22634-mass-effect-3-delayed-till-q1-2012
So did Hudson ask again for more time?

 

[Freddie]

I recall Hudson had asked perhaps even earlier more time from higher ups in EA, but answer had been no.

Interesting. But EA postponed the premiere of ME 3 https://www.fudzilla.com/news/gaming/22634-mass-effect-3-delayed-till-q1-2012
So did Hudson ask again for more time?

Yes! That was mixed up my mind. He asked more time twice. I may not recall this correctly but I have faint recollection that second extension he asked was three to six months. Anyway, he knew production was fucked.

 

[EverlastingLove]

I recall Hudson had asked perhaps even earlier more time from higher ups in EA, but answer had been no.

Interesting. But EA postponed the premiere of ME 3 https://www.fudzilla.com/news/gaming/22634-mass-effect-3-delayed-till-q1-2012
So did Hudson ask again for more time?

Yes! That was mixed up my mind. He asked more time twice. I may not recall this correctly but I have faint recollection that second extension he asked was three to six months. Anyway, he knew production was fucked.

Thanks!

 

[Turjan]

Didn't watch the video, just posting for the headline:

 

[Black]

Shitting on anyone posting fat cuck sterling.

 

[what am i doing]

You call him fat but when I look at him I see a skinnier Brian Fagioli.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

console users deserve it for being the reason every cross platform game is downgraded

 

[Infinitron]

In Defense of Anthem: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/2019/03/05/in-defense-of-anthem/

In Defense of Anthem

Last week I said that Anthem doesn’t care about its own story. That isn’t the most obvious problem with the game or even the most serious, but I thought it was the most interesting. Anthem’s developer BioWare is primarily known for strong narratives, but the one in this particular game is weak.

I’ve spent a lot of time criticizing this game over the last few weeks, and there’s a lot to criticize: The baleful loading screens, the obtuse mechanics, the shallow endgame, and the bland loot. On top of those are a laundry list of technical problems to annoy the player.

On the other hand, I see that — as of this writing — Anthem has a score of 60 on Metacritic. That puts it way behind the misbegotten Mass Effect: Andromeda. Our own Riley Constantine savaged it with a 4 out of 10. That’s understandable, particularly if you’re a BioWare fan and you go in expecting the game to live up to that legacy. While I agree that this game has many problems and is a huge disappointment to anyone hoping for a BioWare-style roleplaying experience, I want to make the case that it’s not that bad when judged as a looter-shooter. I think Anthem is better at being a looter-shooter than Andromeda was at being a game about roleplaying and exploration.

EA has never been anyone’s favorite publisher, but in the last couple of years it’s reached new heights in generating customer distrust, animosity, and outrage. I’m worried that Anthem isn’t really being punished for its own sins so much as the sins of its publisher. This is a competent shooter that’s short on content, not a horrible train wreck full of bad ideas.

In the interest of trying to be positive for a change, I’ve listed some things that Anthemgets right:

Spoiler

1. This Is a Pretty Game
Even taking into account the flagrant and egregious graphical downgrade since the E3 2017 debut, this game still looks fantastic. It’s really aggravating that EA’s marketing felt the need to make the E3 demo look so implausibly good and pretend it was going to be representative of the final product. Consumers know better by this point. When the game finally reached us on release day, people focused on how poorly it looked compared to what was promised instead of how good it looked on its own merits. Publishers need to stop doing this to themselves.

It’s true that lots of other industries over-promise in terms of appearance. Fast food is a notorious example. But the video game industry takes this technique to a ridiculous extreme. McDonald’s might promise me a nicer burger than they plan to deliver, but EA’s marketing promised me nicer graphics than are physically possible on the target hardware. That crosses the line from exaggeration to lying, and I don’t think it does either party any good in the long run.

It looks like BioWare finally got a handle on using the Frostbite engine. Despite using the same engine as Dragon Age: Inquisition four years ago, Anthem looks to be an entire graphics generation ahead. I’m using the same hardware, yet Anthem runs more smoothly on higher settings, and does so with more stability.

The beauty of Anthem goes beyond its ability to push triangles. The game is also beautiful artistically. There are a lot of games out there about shooting things, and it gets very hard to tell them apart after a while. But Anthem is distinct enough that a single screenshot can immediately reveal you’re not looking at one of those other games. The environments, the clothing, the architecture, and the technology are all visually unique.

2. The Shooting Mechanics are Solid
This is the one thing that the developers really needed to get right, and it’s an easy thing to get wrong. It’s not that hard to make some basic shooting mechanics and AI foes that can keep the player engaged for a few hours in the context of a single-player game, but it takes a lot of skill and dedication to make a system that can keep people engaged for days, weeks, or even months. I know Bungie makes it look easy, but this is a tough genre, and BioWare had no experience with it.

For one example, look at what happens when a player kills a common mook with a headshot in Destiny 2:

1. There are two unique particle effects. First there’s a burst of sparks and fire to make it visceral, followed by a sudden rush of blue vapor, perhaps to simulate the mook’s helmet decompressing.
2. There are at least three distinct sounds. The first is an explosion to go with the sparks, the second is a grunt from the enemy, and the third is a wooshing sound to go with the decompression.
3. The reticule changes both shape and color for a split second.
4. The floating damage numbers change from white to yellow.
5. The mook does an animation to drive home what brutal damage the player inflicted. This is distinct from the animations you see when the mook just falls over as a result of running out of hit points.

A single headshot will create two particle effects, three sounds, two different interface reactions, and an animation. The timing and presentation of everything is carefully balanced so that the event is visible enough to be viscerally satisfying without becoming repetitive or distracting. This headshot feedback is just one detail out of dozens, but it illustrates why so many other games have shooting that feels monotonous. A lot of work and testing went into these little details.

I won’t say that Anthem has matched the gameplay of Destiny 2, but it’s done really well. Anthem’s headshots are pretty underwhelming, but the developers put some time into making a lot the the various melee hits feel pretty good.

As a matter of personal taste, I’d prefer if the enemies had a bit less health and there were a few more of them, but the fact remains that BioWare has delivered a better experience than I would have expected from a bunch of storytellers.

3. The Server Infrastructure is Stable Now
During the demo, Anthem was plagued by disconnects, stalled matchmaking, and other server problems. Those were serious issues, but since the first big patch everything has been fine. I’ve never run into a single case of rubber banding in my dozens of hours with the game.

The matchmaking is quick and painless. You pick what mission you want to do, and a few seconds later the game finds three other people doing the same thing at about the same level. If it wasn’t for the horrendous loading screens, the experience would be completely seamless.

4. Flight and Movement Feel Really Good
The game features four different javelins, and each one feels completely unique. The Interceptor is a ninja that leaps around the battlefield slicing and dicing enemies. The Storm hovers over the fray, calling down area lightning like a robotic wizard. The Colossus is a big stompy wrecking ball that can charge through enemies, knocking them over like bowling pins. The Ranger also exists and if anyone ever plays it past the tutorial, feel free to let the rest of us know if it’s any fun.

Loot drops are tied to your pilot level, but the game will match you against foes appropriate for your gear. If you’ve hit the level cap and are looking to try one of the other javelins, you don’t need to grind through those first 30 levels again. You can just jump into the fray and begin looking for gear.

Moving around the battlefield feels really good. Flying around the world is liberating. Going back to Destiny 2, I get frustrated by being glued to the floor. The vertical mobility makes Anthem an exhilarating game to play.

5. The Microtransactions Are Reasonable
The developers promised that the microtransaction store would only sell cosmetic items, and furthermore that everything could be earned through gameplay. The ability to buy items was just for people who didn’t want to wait to earn their desired costume. So far, that promise has been kept.

The prices are reasonable so it doesn’t take very long to earn the items you want. While Fallout 76 is selling costumes for a laughable $20 or $30, the prices in Anthem seem to top out around $8. Many items cost just a dollar or two, which is what I think the price of microtransactions should be.

If anything, the cosmetics store is too conservative. I’ve already bought all the stuff that interests me and I’ve still got a lot of in-game money left over. I wouldn’t mind having more stuff to buy or earn.

A lot of people take the position that since this is a full-price AAA release, it shouldn’t have any microtransactions at all. I understand if the presence of a cash shop is a deal breaker for you. But if you’re OK with the idea of a cash shop in a full price release, then this is one of the tamest examples I’ve encountered.

Before You Spend that $60…
While I think that Anthem‘s reputation as a terrible game is largely undeserved, I’m not claiming it’s a masterpiece. This is still a game that’s short on content.

The important thing is that there’s still hope for Anthem. BioWare’s previous title, Mass Effect: Andromeda, wasn’t just janky and full of hilarious animation glitches. It also featured a dull setting with barely any aliens to meet and a ridiculous bore of a main villain. Time could have fixed the technical problems with Andromeda, but it had serious design flaws that went right to the core. No amount of polish was going to fix that.

For contrast, Anthem is just a couple of balance and content patches from being a solid entry in the genre. The developers need to make the loot a little more interesting, make the mechanics a little clearer, and add more strongholds for people grinding in the endgame.

I can’t recommend Anthem just yet, but after a price drop or some content patches it will definitely be worth a look. Just don’t go in expecting BioWare to tell you a story. They’ve apparently forgotten how to do that.

Actually, forget about it: https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=46128

In Defense of Anthem

It just figures. Every once in a long while I try to be nice. Sometimes it’s good to set aside the negativity and criticism and deliberately acknowledge the good parts of a game. So that’s what I did in my column this week when I made the case that Anthem has some really good qualities.

Right after I turned that column in, three things happened:

1. Friday: I suddenly lost all interest in the game. I was there on Friday night, ready to settle in for some weekend gaming. Suddenly I realized I no longer cared. Yeah, the robot suits are cool and getting around is fun, but I can’t bear the thought of sitting through all those loading screens so I can slowly chip away at those massive health bars[1] for an hour. Just the thought of it is wearying.
2. Saturday: I read the news that Anthem can crash your console. I’m on PC so it doesn’t apply to me, but it’s still mortifying to have THAT news story sitting right next to my praise for Anthem.
3. Sunday: I saw the story about the streamer who got banned from Anthem, for life, for basically opening too many treasure chests. Keep in mind that this is an online-only game. They’ve got this guy’s sixty bucks, and they took away the product they “sold” him. Even if he was “exploiting” the game (he totally wasn’t) that’s still crazy. Exploiting drop rates in a pretend world is nothing compared to, you know, stealing from people in real life. This game doesn’t even have any sort of trading with other players! Even if he had been outright hacking, nothing he did impacted anyone else. The idea of banning someone for this without warning is ludicrous.

So basically, screw this game. When I finished the article I was really hoping Anthem would be allowed to live long enough to reach its full potential. At this point, I’m happy to watch the whole thing burn down and sink into the swamp. The whole “Is EA going to kill BioWare?” question is irrelevant. BioWare has been dead for a couple of years now. At this point we’re just waiting for EA to stop using the corpse to market their shitty Destiny knockoff.

By a strange coincidence, yesterday’s Mass Effect: Andromeda article had the same theme. I went in with the intention of being positive, and was then forced back into negativity by BioWare’s relentless self-sabotage.

EDIT: Apparently, the player was banned for using a glitch that let him use his ultimate ability too often? That’s slightly more understandable than banning him for opening chests, but it’s still pretty outrageous. He didn’t take anything from other players or hurt their progression in any way. At worst, he was ending fights too quickly and denying players the enjoyment of slow-grinding all those enemy health bars away. If there’s an exploit in the game, a better solution is to issue a warning to this player while waiting for the patch that will fix this exploit. Anyway, the perma-ban was changed to to a two-week suspension, which is… better. Sort of. Technically.

 

[EverlastingLove]

So basically, screw this game.

Yeah, fuck Anthem

At this point, I’m happy to watch the whole thing burn down and sink into the swamp.

Me too, Shamus, me too

 

[Gerrard]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheG...he_level_1_defender_rifle_is_the_best_weapon/

-With my Level 1 common Defender rifle, one bullet does 286 damage against a normal scar trooper.

-With my Level 45 masterwork Ralner's Blaze rifle, one bullet does 1184 damage against a normal scar trooper.

Given these numbers, you might (reasonably) assume that the MW weapon will kill enemies faster, since it does more damage.

This is NOT the case!

Going back to the scar troopers, the MW rifle takes 6 bullets to kill our scar friend. Given the damage numbers, our level 1 rifle should take around 5x more bullets to do the job. Guess how many it actually takes?

4

That's right. 4 bullets!!! Not 4x as many. Literally 4 rounds. Our level 1 rifle is somehow more effective than our level 45 masterwork, despite what our damage pop-ups are telling us.

I have tested this with various weapons and enemies, and while the numbers vary, the results are always the same: the level 1 defender rifle is by far the most effective weapon in my inventory. It melts literally fucking everything!

So, from this we can draw two conclusions:

1 - There is some buggy fuckery going on with the default level 1 rifle

2 - Damage numbers are meaningless and do not reflect the actual damage done to a target

I knew something was fucked up when you could play with players that had vastly different level from you and fight the same enemies.

 

[EverlastingLove]

In Mass Effect: Andromeda level 20 Ryder was more effective than level 55 Ryder, but that was SP game so some kind of level scaling was involved. I wonder what's the case here, maybe those numers are indeed meaningles.

 

[Heretic]

The only grind-loot game where you get the best gear at the very beginning and it only goes downhill from there. :D

 

[Gerrard]

The only loot-grind game where you get the best gear at the very beginning and it only goes downhill from there. :D

Well no, actually, if you get really super lucky you might get a legendary weapon with 300% increased damage that will do just as much damage as that level 1.

In Mass Effect: Andromeda level 20 Ryder was more effective than level 55 Ryder, but that was SP game so some kind of level scaling was involved. I wonder what's the case here, maybe those numers are indeed meaningles.

It's definitely something with scaling that allows different level people to play together.

 

[Hobo Elf]

That's kind of how it works in Destiny as well. I noticed it when I hit level cap and got legendary weapons but was killing the level 1 enemies at the same speed as before. All the stats on the items were simply an illusion and the only thing that actually mattered was the Light (Item) Level. You could never out scale an enemy like in a real RPG, but enemies could out scale you if your Item Level was too low. This was done to create a gear treadmill where you have to grind loot in order to do higher level content otherwise you'd just get OHKO'd. Basically they were artificially gating you from content, because otherwise you'd blaze through everything within a couple of hours. I'd be very surprised if Anthem didn't have a similar system, however, it seems that Bioware engineers weren't able to execute it in the intended way.

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

lmao I can't find the anthem thread

 

[Angthoron]

Eh, this is just Bio going back to their roots. The system is like THAC0 but for weapon damage. The lower, the better.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheG...he_level_1_defender_rifle_is_the_best_weapon/

-With my Level 1 common Defender rifle, one bullet does 286 damage against a normal scar trooper.

-With my Level 45 masterwork Ralner's Blaze rifle, one bullet does 1184 damage against a normal scar trooper.

Given these numbers, you might (reasonably) assume that the MW weapon will kill enemies faster, since it does more damage.

This is NOT the case!

Going back to the scar troopers, the MW rifle takes 6 bullets to kill our scar friend. Given the damage numbers, our level 1 rifle should take around 5x more bullets to do the job. Guess how many it actually takes?

4

That's right. 4 bullets!!! Not 4x as many. Literally 4 rounds. Our level 1 rifle is somehow more effective than our level 45 masterwork, despite what our damage pop-ups are telling us.

I have tested this with various weapons and enemies, and while the numbers vary, the results are always the same: the level 1 defender rifle is by far the most effective weapon in my inventory. It melts literally fucking everything!

So, from this we can draw two conclusions:

1 - There is some buggy fuckery going on with the default level 1 rifle

2 - Damage numbers are meaningless and do not reflect the actual damage done to a target

I knew something was fucked up when you could play with players that had vastly different level from you and fight the same enemies.

More from that Reddit:

•
3h
We'll need to investigate this, scaling systems are supposed to allow low level players to play with high level players to be effective against high level enemies.

This is not intended, something ain't right there...

•
2h
Hey everyone – Thanks for the feedback on this. I have confirmed with the team that this is in fact a bug related specifically to the default items on a loadout in combination with higher level gear you have equipped. It’s not functioning as intended and the team is working on it for an upcoming fix.

This game is such a fucking mess.

 

[Agame]

That's kind of how it works in Destiny as well. I noticed it when I hit level cap and got legendary weapons but was killing the level 1 enemies at the same speed as before. All the stats on the items were simply an illusion and the only thing that actually mattered was the Light (Item) Level. You could never out scale an enemy like in a real RPG, but enemies could out scale you if your Item Level was too low. This was done to create a gear treadmill where you have to grind loot in order to do higher level content otherwise you'd just get OHKO'd. Basically they were artificially gating you from content, because otherwise you'd blaze through everything within a couple of hours. I'd be very surprised if Anthem didn't have a similar system, however, it seems that Bioware engineers weren't able to execute it in the intended way.

Hamster wheels within hamster wheels...

BEHOLD it are the future of gnoming!!

 

[rusty_shackleford]

That's kind of how it works in Destiny as well. I noticed it when I hit level cap and got legendary weapons but was killing the level 1 enemies at the same speed as before. All the stats on the items were simply an illusion and the only thing that actually mattered was the Light (Item) Level. You could never out scale an enemy like in a real RPG, but enemies could out scale you if your Item Level was too low. This was done to create a gear treadmill where you have to grind loot in order to do higher level content otherwise you'd just get OHKO'd. Basically they were artificially gating you from content, because otherwise you'd blaze through everything within a couple of hours. I'd be very surprised if Anthem didn't have a similar system, however, it seems that Bioware engineers weren't able to execute it in the intended way.

I wrote about this in the destiny 2 thread.
The entire game is basically just grinding to increase a single stat — your light level. Sure, the gear has "stats" on it but they do fuck all(seriously, they do nearly nothing and essentially can be ignored.) All you do is grind to increase a single number which makes you better. That's the entire game.
The actual gameplay of Destiny 2 was fucking bullshit because a lot of the game was actually really good. The writers, artists, (non-gameplay) designers, etc., did a top-notch job and it's bullshit that it was attached to such a shit game.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

I wouldn't call one of the most bland and generic game in visuals and design "really good" and "top-notch".

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Unique and weird doesn't necessarily mean it's good either.

The entire game is basically just grinding to increase a single stat — your light level. Sure, the gear has "stats" on it but they do fuck all(seriously, they do nearly nothing and essentially can be ignored.)

They have a noticeable effect in pvp. For pve you really only care about the perks. (also it doesn't help that they inexplicably introduced a mechanic to reroll stats on armor in one year 1 DLC and abandoned it for Forsaken)

Hopefully the ongoing Drifter storyline hinting at guardians weaponizing the dark might be the excuse to drop light level in D3 (in before never coming out) and adopt a more meaningful mechanic.

 

[RepHope]

Odds on this still selling well? It crazy to me that brain dead retards still bought Ubisoft’s shitty GaaS Wildlands game but apparently that sold rather well. I could see the same group picking up Anthem because “dude Iron Man lmao”.

 

[thesheeep]

Odds on this still selling well? It crazy to me that brain dead retards still bought Ubisoft’s shitty GaaS Wildlands game but apparently that sold rather well. I could see the same group picking up Anthem because “dude Iron Man lmao”.

<insert something about Einstein and infinity here>

 

[True Ukrainian]

Bioware has three additional acts worth of content planned for Anthem. The Act 1 content will be fully unveiled by the end of March. The money men at EA are certainly not giving up on having a destiny clone in their stable yet.

 

[fantadomat]

LoL this thread is dead as the game.