lopper

Well they at least succeeded with this regard, that's for sure.

Hearing about what a nightmare Frostbite is, I'm very curious to see if Respawn can make it work with their SW title, assuming EA has mandated it's use once again. It sounds like it's been a major issue on all non-FPS games so far. For all the shit EA gets, I personally think this is the single biggest blunder.

Very good read. I'm sure the Anthem subreddit is on fire right now, and I can't wait to go check it out.

mattysemo247

That was a great read, along with most of his work. It goes to show that even with ample development time and a studio like Bioware, if the foundation isn't laid out early and people aren't clear on the vision for the game, the end product might be very disappointing.

Decker

I returned my copy last week unopened to Best Buy. I was looking forward to this game but no point in buying an online game that is essentially DOA. I can wait until it hits the EA Access Vault in another 7-8 months.

K&AJones

Great read...which left me having mixed feelings throughout. After reading it, I'm frankly almost stunned Anthem actually plays as good as in it's current state. From what I got out of the story....

Basically there was a "Revolving Door"...at all levels from top down with people leaving and coming. First Casey Hudson left and was the Creative Director for Anthem, who as some said, was The Captain Jean-Luc Picard of The Enterprise Team of Mass Effect....was replaced by John Warner, a new hire from Disney. Veteran Dragon Age writer David Gaider moved to Anthem and his ideas clashed with the original vision of the game. He then left Bioware in early 2016 and a whole new set of writers and new ideas came too. A number of veteran Bioware Devs began leaving in 2018 and the untimely death of Corey Gaspur, one of the lead designers left a huge hole

Frostbite....apparently THE DIRTY WORD at Bioware that caused countless pain, grief and lost sleep with unimaginable stress. A lot of the ideas and vision they had could not be done with Frostbite...or just take way too long and be way to complex to do and try.

No Vision Till Last Minute.....from all accounts of those who spoke, the Leadership really didn't take a hold and make choices along brushing off any concerns. As they say in the article...it be weeks or months till a decision was made. As another put it, it felt like the entire game was actually made the last 6-9 months when Casey Hudson came back and basically said finish what you started...and cut what you can't.

Butting Heads & Family Feud.....with several Teams working at different location, it appears there wasn't this..."Can we all get along and work together" mentality......

EA and other games.....I saw several times in the article where EA just had to meddle and pull people like to finish and help on FIFA

Despite all the troubles and all...I still think Anthem can come back and make it but it might be like with The Division....everything done right and better with The Division 2. Anthem still has a solid map, enviroment, can expand it's territory and even to other continents. The four Javelins..are still fun in themselves to play especially with Matchmaking all over which is a huge plus. But we now know what happened to a lot of the stuff we saw early on and now not in the game. Where will Anthem actually be in 3,6 12 months...we don't know and not sure if Bioware knows...but I hope they continue to work on it....

OldBoy

i swear since i uninstalled this game, my XBOX hasn't turned on by itself since. i think it was this curse...

K&AJones

Interesting article that not just follows up on the Jason Schreier's Kotaku article...which by the way apparently he has a good book out about the behind the scenes Game Development....Blood, Sweat and Pixels.....but this one mentions that this is not just Anthem and Bioware by any means. Not as long but the Anthem article might have started to peel back the curtain on what goes on with game development....

https://www.playstationlifestyle.net...ment-problems/

mattysemo247

Damn, down to $20 on New Egg with code EMCTYUB67

Anyone still playing this? I finally picked up my library copy but haven't installed it yet. I was able to renew it for a month, so at least I have plenty of time.

Noonan

Even $20 is too much unless you REALLY enjoy the flying mechanics and don't mind pointless grinding added in to inflate the length of a game.

Adam Tyner

It's been a few weeks, but I might come back to it for a bit. The more time I'm away from the game, the less interested I am, but the new stronghold this month may be an excuse to fire it up again. Flying around is fun. It's still a good time if you have a friend or two to play with. There just isn't much to do once you finish the campaign besides redo things you've already done or cycle through copy/paste contracts, and the rewards you get along the way aren't all that astonishing.

Bioware is trying to fill some Anthem-specific positions, including one focusing on loot. That's heartening to see, although it does suggest that any systemic improvements are a looooong way off.

K&AJones

I have a couple still in it...I haven't played in a week with us trying to get up in the Tier Ranking in Division 2 with Tidal Basin released and all the side stuff opened up...and really liking Path of Exile. I think there was a new patch/update recently that was suppose to help in areas. The action and game is still fun everytime I jump in; just don't have time enough for all the games until the weekend.

Adam Tyner

New patch is up.

Along with the new stronghold ("The Sunken Cell"), they've also made it to where you can just keep playing without having to walk around Fort Tarsis: select contracts without going to the boards, launch a new mission from the 'end of expedition' screen, and access the Forge at any time (even within a mission!). I would imagine that you still can't equip newly-dropped loot until the 'end of expedition' screen, though I can't confirm since I'm at work right now.

Doesn't look like drop rates have improved (though that'd be server side and maybe wouldn't require a patch?), and I don't see anything about a visual indicator on the map about events in freeplay. But they have addressed a couple of my big complaints, and maybe we'll hear more on the rest in today's livestream.

Noonan

LOL the fort was one of the biggest show off parts at E3. Ended up being nothing close to what they showed and now you don't even have to go there.

Adam Tyner

Also, an update on the 90 day calendar.

Short version: nearly everything's delayed. No tentative date yet. Nothing on the Cataclysm, aside from the fact that we'll hear more next month (presumably meaning that it won't release in May as originally scheduled). They say they're working on loot/progression but have nothing to report right now.

K&AJones

A friend here still plays a lot...doing the GM3 runs....and he has said the loot drop is an issue but still has fun with the game though with the GM3 runs you need to set aside some time. I look at it this way, after reading the Jason Schreier's article, I'm amazed Anthem is even in it's current state and pretty much anything that comes out is a bonus; even if it doesn't patch and fix everything. It's like with Fallout 76....someone told me I need to check it out with the latest patches saying it's actually got better...and how old is that game, nearly 6 months. I think Bioware is trying to right itself and Anthem....just might take awhile longer.

mattysemo247

And just like that, Anthem fell out of the top 10 NPD's for March. It came in at #11.

Has that ever happened before? Where a game is #1 one month and out of the top 10 the following month?

OldBoy

Yes

K&AJones

Right now, several of my friends all over the place with games so no surprised....I even know some who have been on The Division 2 day one now playing other stuff to mix it up. Between some good deals and recent releases...Apex Legends, Fortnite, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Days Gone, Mortal Kombat and some games getting new DLC and Updates....plus I think with the last update, it didn't address some other issues and some thought to come have been pushed back. Who knows...might end up taking awhile like with Fallout 76 which I've had a couple tell me I should give it a go because it's far better now.....

gerrythedon

Started today; looks, sounds and controls great. Hated that I was missing/being rushed on cause 4 other people were part of my mission.

gerrythedon

Oh took me 2 more missions to see that I can change it to private solo misiions.

K&AJones

So how is the game overall now? I haven't played once in the last two months.....I think the game had and has the right concept and ideas...just a shame that it seemed rushed along with a steady flow of personnel coming & going. I'd like to jump in and give it a go again.

Adam Tyner

You haven't missed anything. The last content update was way back on April 21st.

mattysemo247

I'm still holding out hope that they patch out the forced multiplayer. I would rather take my time and not automatically be dragged from one area to the other from people replaying the story missions.

Adam Tyner

mattysemo247

Ah didn't know that. That isn't how it was at launch, was it?

OldBoy

how do you do solo gamestory all the way through?