Wasn’t there a patch 3 weeks ago? I haven’t followed this closely but I skimmed up and did see someone mention patch notes.
KevinC
2827
There was an update at the start of the month that removed content (the cosmetic chests in strongholds). Probably not what the community was wanting!
I don’t think the patch removed those - that was always a timed event.
So I was out of town all last week and when I got back I played a bit over the weekend and … yeah, I can feel the boredom starting to creep in. I think I’m going to set Anthem down for a while, see if any new content gets added that I can check out in the future. Move on, find a new game to get lost in. It’s been pretty good for the most part, just don’t want to totally burn out.
rei
2830
The Fallout Twitter account tweets nearly daily. Anthem nothing for 3 weeks.
rei
2831
New feature: you can now play Freeplay mode in solo because there aren’t any other players left for the system to matchmake you with.
rei
2833
No progression of any kind in last three months and radio silence.
I like the new raid, or I guess I should say stronghold, it’s certainly fun enough. But yeah, new content is definitely a bit thin on the ground as it were.
I don’t really pay attention to dev updates or twitter accounts because, if you’ll pardon my saying so, you’ve tended to do that for me. I do toast your efforts.
Overall, I’m not dissatisfied, as such. I hoped for more but I accept what I got. I do hope this game doesn’t totally die on the vine the way Andromeda did, but my fears for BioWare as a going concern are mainly related to the future of Mass Effect, to be honest. Everything else I can take or leave.
rei
2835
The best thing the Anthem debacle has done for me is to appreciate the Titanfall 2 campaign.
This is what they posted 27 days ago:
“We know you have been waiting for these updates, and that you might not be pleased with where we are today. We understand and respect these perspectives.”
Perspectives, my arse. Game is objectively unfinished and half-assed.
New content is double-edged at this stage (without further revamps that bring back population). More instances spreads the remaining players thinner, and yes I was hot join only for strongholds unless I felt like solo. I play odd hours, one mission hot join was two players from Japan who waved a lot at the end.
I did take a break this weekend. Life is busy, child w/spouse and grandchild about to move in (temporarily) and I had re-playing Surviving Mars to do. Unsure on if I will stick the break, or drop back in.
The core game play is still fun. And it is doable (as in you can play it) with the gear that exists. There is no in game reason to do any of the content after you have levelled beyond, it is fun. It becomes a study in intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards in gaming to watch how this goes over. The extrinsic reward systems are just not there. The, very few, remaining players seem fine with intrinsic only rewards. Makes me ponder the games are addicting loop, which to be fair has been with us and commented on as such since at least what, Civ II? What part of the fun is intrinsic, what part of the fun is the “need one more turn/drop/point/cheevo”?
I don’t know, and I’m glad its not my job to fix Anthem. =P
It’s clear that you can’t fix this game. If you want a game with a long tail, you need to support it with many, many timely updates. But everything we know of BioWare is that they really struggle with Frostbite and its tools, which is why Anthem launched with so little content to begin with.
It’s a lost cause. They just won’t admit it yet.
I’m sure the game can be fixed. But it can’t be done in a economic fashion, the RoI over the effort isn’t there, so I agree with you :).
There’s a reason it’s more important to get a game right the first time, rather than trying to “save it” after release. You never get a second chance to make that first impression and hook people, and it’s easier to retain players than it is to try and entice them back after they’ve left.
So you just enter a death cycle where the amount of work necessary to “fix” the game, just isn’t worth it based on the number of people still playing it in it’s “broken” state.
Anthem is clearly circling this drain, even if Bioware themselves are still actively working on the game right now. Eventually the call will come down from EA (if it has to), that it’s no longer worth the investment. And I can’t imagine general public perception of Anthem as a brand, could be much worse.
Honestly, people should lose their jobs over this game. Not rank and file artists and coders, but absolutely anyone responsible for the managerial shambles behind it.
rei
2840
My contributions to the above thread:
- Shite (lack of) communication from BioWare EA
- Fundamentally flawed design of bolting on an aborted RPG to looter shooter while denying it is a looter shooter. Ill-conceived and poorly-implemented Fort Tarsis mechanic rendered unnecessary by “QOL fixes” that make it all menu-based
KevinC
2841
It’s too bad that in the corporate world it tends to be the opposite. Many of the artists and developers on Anthem will be let go while the people responsible for mismanaging this mess are leading the DA4 project.
rei
2842
BioWare management shuffling from Anthem to DA4:
That confusing mess of a pyramid Alliance coin system (on top of the “early access/launch day” purchase permutations matrix) were totally half-baked. Of course, the time of having active friends/players has long passed. For a game whose lore beats into the player “stronger alone, stronger together” there’s some irony (?) in his whole mess.
I would have said this is true 100% of the time if not for No Man’s Sky’s rebirth and resurgence.
Oghier
2845
No Man’s Sky, Diablo III, The Division… some of my favorite games released in bad shape. I suppose there is hope for Anthem, too, if only because they were hiring someone for loot design back in April. The complete lack of communication is not encouraging, but Bioware just seems to suck at that. I think they’ve decided gamers are toxic, and it’s just not worth engaging with them.
