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[Anthem] Early Access is live. Please mark spoilers. God speed, Freelancers.

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Posts

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited September 2018
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    So if you were annoyed by the lack of narrative agency at the end of Mass Effect 3, prepare to hate this game.

    Well, they aren't pitching this game as a piece of a multi-part franchise alongside promises of player choices having major effects in the overall story, then throwing away all of those choices for some incredibly terribad options with virtually no subtlety or player influence outside some very broad, very bad choices.

    As long as they're just up-front with what they're actually putting in the game instead of blowing mountains of smoke, there shouldn't be any issues. It's obviously not meant to be like Mass Effect originally claimed to be, so who cares if it doesn't have much in the way of character choices? Clearly just isn't a priority of the game design, and it's not like they're trying to trick anyone into buying the game.

    I'm fine if they're upfront with it being shooty first and narrative a relatively distant second, but “a reinvention of personal narrative in a multiplayer game” is edging into Molyneux-level expectation-building.

    cloudeagle on
    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    Eh, they're owned by EA, they're just about contractually required to lay on the hype speak pretty thick. Bioware has been pretty clearly been veering increasingly away from story towards action for many years now. At best, I'd expect a serviceable story, with the bulk of the attention obviously given to the gameplay.

    But they can't just come out and say something like that as an EA property, they have to always talk about the game like it will be the most mind-blowing thing every on every front.

  • XeddicusXeddicus Registered User regular
    To be fair, NO ONE is going to come out and say their game is just OK or lacking in parts, EA or not.

    EA and BioWare's history just isn't helping.

  • SeGaTaiSeGaTai Registered User regular
    The game is 100% going to be as much story as destiny but they continue to be asked if there characters and stories that only work in rpgs

    PSN SeGaTai
  • Jeep-EepJeep-Eep Registered User regular
    This is before the constant hemorrhage of experienced personnel, some going back to the very beginning that Anthem has been happening alongside. There are many signs that bioware and this project are both deathly ill.

    I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • Jeep-EepJeep-Eep Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    It's been shedding folks for years in a very telling way, and the resource drain was a significant factor in the failure of ME:A - and it shares another major factor, namely a temperamental, under-tested, ill-understood engine that is simply unready for anything technically adventurous, let alone this! You remember that foboff at E3?

    I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
  • HexDexHexDex Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    Giving away the base Destiny 2 game, without any of the expansions or the upcoming Forsaken expansion is pretty meaningless. Consider it an extended beta to see if the formula is up your alley. You still need to buy the expansions to actually have "The Game."

    It being "free" with PS+ is as close to an empty gesture as you can possibly get by both Sony and Activsion.

    If you are reading this add me.
    D3: HexDex#1281, PSN: DireOtter, Live: DireOtter

  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    I just hope that if there are challenges and snags and rushed elements, that they have the sense to add a quarter or two to the release date.

    After the fiasco that was ME:A's launch (simply noting it happened, and I'm aware of the caveats and elements that were blown out of proportion), I do hope they can openly and transparently note 'hey, we know delays suck, but this needs another half year to bake to perfection, etc, etc' if necessary.

    It shouldn't need saying, really, but they should release a quality product they are happy with, not something rushed out to meet an arbitrary release schedule (and I'm also aware it might not just be arbitrary, that contracts and arrangements to put out a major release aren't something one just half asses over a weekend).

    As before, I remain cautiously optimistic, with a healthy sense of skepticism and slightly wary unease.

    Like, my friends will definitely be getting this, and I likely will as well, but my native land is on the PC, they're on the PS4, and thus far the word is that there won't be crossplay compatibility, at least at launch. So going in for a PS4 edition and potentially finding myself alone with it a few months later makes it a tougher call. It'd help if the account info allows us to play on either platform, even if PC users can't play with PS4 users in game, or something, though I probably shouldn't expect much out of that either.

    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    HexDex wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    Giving away the base Destiny 2 game, without any of the expansions or the upcoming Forsaken expansion is pretty meaningless. Consider it an extended beta to see if the formula is up your alley. You still need to buy the expansions to actually have "The Game."

    It being "free" with PS+ is as close to an empty gesture as you can possibly get by both Sony and Activsion.

    Although somehow Destiny 1 never went free.

    And apparently 85 percent of Destiny's player base bailed by February. Unless things have somehow significantly turned around by then, something's up.

    Whether that's good news or bad news for Anthem, we'll just have to see.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • GMaster7GMaster7 Goggles Paesano Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    HexDex wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    Giving away the base Destiny 2 game, without any of the expansions or the upcoming Forsaken expansion is pretty meaningless. Consider it an extended beta to see if the formula is up your alley. You still need to buy the expansions to actually have "The Game."

    It being "free" with PS+ is as close to an empty gesture as you can possibly get by both Sony and Activsion.

    Although somehow Destiny 1 never went free.

    And apparently 85 percent of Destiny's player base bailed by February. Unless things have somehow significantly turned around by then, something's up.

    Whether that's good news or bad news for Anthem, we'll just have to see.

    I think (and hope, more than think) that a lot of these games-as-a-service devs have learned a ton from the way Bungie bungled D1 and D2, and from the way they've made improvements at times, and from the way they've been horrible with their messaging, etc. Lessons abound.

    Massive/Ubi were certainly better than Bungie with how they improved the Division's undercooked base game and communicated that to players. It was too little too late for some. I'm sure Bioware/EA have seen what kinds of things have resulted in praise for Bungie and upticks in playerbase numbers, and what things have had the opposite effect.

    Worth noting that D2 has had a free trial mode (missions on two planets, MP quickplay, and progression up to level 7) since Nov. 2017 (two months after release) and that D1 had a similar free trial mode introduced in Nov. 2014 (two months after release). No question that D2 has had a huge population dropoff that has occurred much faster than D1. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Forsaken. You can only jerk people around so much before they move on permanently.

    PSN: SKI2000G | Steam: GMaster7 | Battle.net: GMaster7#1842 | Twitch: twitch.tv/SKI2000G
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    The My name if byf interview touched on that a bit, the dev said that you want to have truth to your vision so you don't necessarily want to be playing follow or avoid the leader, but he also said they'd be pretty bad if they didn't at least see what worked/what didn't, and where their competitors misstepped.

    I mean story dlc being free and no loot boxes just what you see is what you get paid cosmetics is pretty much avoiding destiny 2's opening debacle.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • SeGaTaiSeGaTai Registered User regular
    Not having a PvP mode as well slots over a good amount of extra dev time and not needing to worry about tuning weapons for both modes I think will help a lot in making the progression more enjoyable.

    D1 PvP was a blast but if I get 20% more things to blow up while pretending I'm Iron man I don't think I'll notice

    PSN SeGaTai
  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    They're giving away Destiny 2 in order to sell Forsaken. Other companies do very similar things, giving away the old Forza just as the new comes out, that kind of thing.

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    And that's gameplay, story I play once, gameplay keeps me coming back, that's the gold. Like I enjoy the ME story, but what has had them be replayable even the first one is the gameplay.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    And that's gameplay, story I play once, gameplay keeps me coming back, that's the gold. Like I enjoy the ME story, but what has had them be replayable even the first one is the gameplay.

    Yup I didn't play through ME 1-3 a half dozen times because of the story, I did it because they're fun to play.

    The story helped but once I'd seen once it I'd pretty much seen it all.

  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    I think Anthem will probably have a very fun campaign but be completely dead in the water as a "service," when it comes out, like The Division 1. I don't think Bioware is ready for the demands of this at all. No PvP is a large hint, because it's a lot of work to make, but then infinitely churning content to keep players attached to the game after that. Not having it is... what's a term that means short sighted but with extreme emphasis?

  • AspectVoidAspectVoid Registered User regular
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    I think Anthem will probably have a very fun campaign but be completely dead in the water as a "service," when it comes out, like The Division 1. I don't think Bioware is ready for the demands of this at all. No PvP is a large hint, because it's a lot of work to make, but then infinitely churning content to keep players attached to the game after that. Not having it is... what's a term that means short sighted but with extreme emphasis?

    I gotta disagree with you. This isn't Bioware's first dip into the service field. The have The Old Republic, after all. I think they know exactly what they are getting into with this. Of course there will be people who rush, rush, rush, and complain about there being nothing when they put 40 or 50 hours into the game in the first three days. There's no way to escape that. But I think Bioware's experience with TOR means they have the first few months of content already planned out so that they are introducing something new to do every couple of weeks.

    PSN|AspectVoid
  • Jeep-EepJeep-Eep Registered User regular
    Forar wrote: »
    I just hope that if there are challenges and snags and rushed elements, that they have the sense to add a quarter or two to the release date.
    This has already happened once openly, not counting the ones behind the scenes. I don't know if EA will give them another if they need it, and [url="https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/24/16929154/bioware-anthem-delay-ea-electronic-arts[/url] bioware has basically stated that the future of the studio is staked on it.


    I would rather be accused of intransigence than tolerating genocide for the sake of everyone getting along. - @Metzger Meister
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    No pvp is a choice, not every game needs it, not every game lives and dies on it. They are already talking about post release content, again lets see where the game goes, lets see how people are before we assume its a failure.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    I think Anthem will probably have a very fun campaign but be completely dead in the water as a "service," when it comes out, like The Division 1. I don't think Bioware is ready for the demands of this at all. No PvP is a large hint, because it's a lot of work to make, but then infinitely churning content to keep players attached to the game after that. Not having it is... what's a term that means short sighted but with extreme emphasis?

    I gotta disagree with you. This isn't Bioware's first dip into the service field. The have The Old Republic, after all. I think they know exactly what they are getting into with this. Of course there will be people who rush, rush, rush, and complain about there being nothing when they put 40 or 50 hours into the game in the first three days. There's no way to escape that. But I think Bioware's experience with TOR means they have the first few months of content already planned out so that they are introducing something new to do every couple of weeks.

    Yes, the Old Republic, which famously crashed and burned from a full price subscription game to a free-to-play game, largely because of its incompetent end game once players finished the by-all-accounts above average campaign section. I... didn't base my assessment on nothing you know?

  • AspectVoidAspectVoid Registered User regular
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    I think Anthem will probably have a very fun campaign but be completely dead in the water as a "service," when it comes out, like The Division 1. I don't think Bioware is ready for the demands of this at all. No PvP is a large hint, because it's a lot of work to make, but then infinitely churning content to keep players attached to the game after that. Not having it is... what's a term that means short sighted but with extreme emphasis?

    I gotta disagree with you. This isn't Bioware's first dip into the service field. The have The Old Republic, after all. I think they know exactly what they are getting into with this. Of course there will be people who rush, rush, rush, and complain about there being nothing when they put 40 or 50 hours into the game in the first three days. There's no way to escape that. But I think Bioware's experience with TOR means they have the first few months of content already planned out so that they are introducing something new to do every couple of weeks.

    Yes, the Old Republic, which famously crashed and burned from a full price subscription game to a free-to-play game, largely because of its incompetent end game once players finished the by-all-accounts above average campaign section. I... didn't base my assessment on nothing you know?

    Well, if you consider being profitable for 7 years crashing and burning...I don't know what to tell you. Because The Old Republic is still there, still profitable, and still getting patches and expansions. 7 years seems like a solid length of time for a service game to me.

    PSN|AspectVoid
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    They're giving away Destiny 2 in order to sell Forsaken. Other companies do very similar things, giving away the old Forza just as the new comes out, that kind of thing.

    The problem with that theory is there's a LOT of Destiny 2 to play before you have to buy an expansion. Granted the hope is that they eventually buy, but this really smacks of a bit of a desperation move, especially as popular as Destiny 1 was.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • Trajan45Trajan45 Registered User regular
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    I think Anthem will probably have a very fun campaign but be completely dead in the water as a "service," when it comes out, like The Division 1. I don't think Bioware is ready for the demands of this at all. No PvP is a large hint, because it's a lot of work to make, but then infinitely churning content to keep players attached to the game after that. Not having it is... what's a term that means short sighted but with extreme emphasis?

    I gotta disagree with you. This isn't Bioware's first dip into the service field. The have The Old Republic, after all. I think they know exactly what they are getting into with this. Of course there will be people who rush, rush, rush, and complain about there being nothing when they put 40 or 50 hours into the game in the first three days. There's no way to escape that. But I think Bioware's experience with TOR means they have the first few months of content already planned out so that they are introducing something new to do every couple of weeks.

    Yes, the Old Republic, which famously crashed and burned from a full price subscription game to a free-to-play game, largely because of its incompetent end game once players finished the by-all-accounts above average campaign section. I... didn't base my assessment on nothing you know?

    Well, if you consider being profitable for 7 years crashing and burning...I don't know what to tell you. Because The Old Republic is still there, still profitable, and still getting patches and expansions. 7 years seems like a solid length of time for a service game to me.

    Also we are talking lessons learned. It doesn't matter if it crashed and burned, if they learned from the issues that format had.

    As others have mentioned, the game just looks fun. Maybe it's not something I'll stick with, but outside of some major launch issues, I'll be giving it a shot when it launches.

    Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
  • shoeboxjeddyshoeboxjeddy Registered User regular
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    AspectVoid wrote: »
    Fencingsax wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    People have been decrying anthem is dead before they have touched it at all. Every impression of gameplay by people who have played it is pretty universally positive, there'll be a demo or something in february before release right? So calm down and actually play it before deciding the game like totally sucks.

    Yeah, the thing that gets me is that everyone who touched it as far as I have seen have had really positive things to say about it.

    I think Anthem will probably have a very fun campaign but be completely dead in the water as a "service," when it comes out, like The Division 1. I don't think Bioware is ready for the demands of this at all. No PvP is a large hint, because it's a lot of work to make, but then infinitely churning content to keep players attached to the game after that. Not having it is... what's a term that means short sighted but with extreme emphasis?

    I gotta disagree with you. This isn't Bioware's first dip into the service field. The have The Old Republic, after all. I think they know exactly what they are getting into with this. Of course there will be people who rush, rush, rush, and complain about there being nothing when they put 40 or 50 hours into the game in the first three days. There's no way to escape that. But I think Bioware's experience with TOR means they have the first few months of content already planned out so that they are introducing something new to do every couple of weeks.

    Yes, the Old Republic, which famously crashed and burned from a full price subscription game to a free-to-play game, largely because of its incompetent end game once players finished the by-all-accounts above average campaign section. I... didn't base my assessment on nothing you know?

    Well, if you consider being profitable for 7 years crashing and burning...I don't know what to tell you. Because The Old Republic is still there, still profitable, and still getting patches and expansions. 7 years seems like a solid length of time for a service game to me.

    The assumption was that the Star Wars IP would make this an MMO akin to a WoW killer. Instead, it turned out to be not even Bioware's most notable game. I don't know how long it took them to get out of the red from development costs alone. Maybe that will come up in the sequel to Jason Schreirer's game dev book, who knows. Certainly there have been bigger MMO failures and Old Republic turned out to be a marketable game. But calling it a success story is a bit much.

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    edited September 2018
    I avtually don't want multiplayer, because balancing the crazy shit it looks like you can do tends to make that stuff less meaningful

    Fencingsax on
  • AegisAegis Fear My Dance Overshot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered User regular
    I'm happy that the short gameplay video last page decided to feature quite a bit of flying action shots. Makes me hopeful that it's going to more involved in terms of the combat gameplay than a short burst of flight every so often.

    We'll see how long this blog lasts
    Currently DMing: None :(
    Characters
    [5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Aegis wrote: »
    I'm happy that the short gameplay video last page decided to feature quite a bit of flying action shots. Makes me hopeful that it's going to more involved in terms of the combat gameplay than a short burst of flight every so often.

    I think some frames use it more than others. Like there's for lack of a better phrase wizard style ranged dps frame that they've shown doing more aerial attacks, where as the tanky frame seems to have limited jet usage. We do know you can fly through water to reset the cooldown on your jets overheating, or they did that in the E3 demo dunno if that'll remain in the game.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2018
    I've got over 1,000 hours clocked into Warframe, approximately 1 of those was spent in the PVP. I've end-game raided, collected every frame and almost every weapon (up until a few recent releases), I'd never declare it a game mastered, but one I've become quite proficient in. So count me among those who don't really care if PVP is implemented. I wouldn't begrudge anyone for wanting it, or for Bioware to commit to it being in the game (at release or later), but it's not a driving factor for me.

    I know that PVP is the hot shit thing that brings *some* people into the fold, the CoD/BF/BR/PUBG/whatever crowd that are looking for the hot new thing. The next Evolve or whatever, and hopefully it won't be a flash in the pan that loses like 90% of its playerbase within a quarter or two once the next hot shit thing comes out.

    Granted, there's nothing wrong with a game having a satisfying duration in the 5-20 hour range that tells the story it means to, but at the same time, some games like Diablo or Warframe or X-Com can keep me back for orders of magnitude longer.

    I think that's actually kind of the crux of the matter. I look at a game like Horizon Zero Dawn; I've beaten it twice, and am working on my third clear of it. That's dozens of hours of enjoyment, and I think the account is somewhere around 160-200 hours now total (including faffing about, exploring, pondering over upgrades, trying challenges a dozen times to get them, etc), but not every game needs to become a lifestyle choice. Even games that just want me to tap in for 2-20 minutes to get my 'dailies' done are starting to grate a little. Just between a handful of games, ones 'gaming chores' can add up to an hour or more easily each day, and more companies seem hellbent on giving us direct or indirect incentives that edge upon completionist tendencies, fear of missing out, whatever.

    What I think I'm trying to get at is that I loved ME 1-3 (and even enjoyed elements of Andromeda) for being tight, contained, complete games. Sure, ME3 MP got hundreds of hours of extra attention, and had the little weekly events and whatnot, but more and more developers and games seem to be trying to become pervasive beyond weeks and even months, into the years, which can become massive 'value' when one compares dollars spent to hours played, but also can lead to obnoxious intentionally extended mechanics, in ways that strive to take over our free time in a mutually exclusive fashion.

    Apologies if I'm getting a little far afield here, just a couple of thoughts that have been percolating for a while, possibly a thread or two that I should just create and see where they go. I am optimistic, I can't wait to see more about the game, but at the same time, even if they're learning from others successes and mistakes, at the same time, they were looking at Lootboxes, and then stopped when the internet shat itself over Battlefront 2's bullshit. I'm glad they learned, but I distinctly recall they were at least leaning in that direction. They learned from the outrage over ME3's ending and I found Andromeda's to avoid many (if not all) of those pitfalls, and yet as an 'open world game' I found it lacking at times, which makes Anthem being "open world" not exactly a selling feature. I trust the impressions of others over my imagined fears and concerns, but in this era of marketing, I'm also not willing to take everything said fully at face value either (having a beta in February (if then) certainly helps with that).

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • FremFrem Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    They're giving away Destiny 2 in order to sell Forsaken. Other companies do very similar things, giving away the old Forza just as the new comes out, that kind of thing.

    The problem with that theory is there's a LOT of Destiny 2 to play before you have to buy an expansion. Granted the hope is that they eventually buy, but this really smacks of a bit of a desperation move, especially as popular as Destiny 1 was.

    I mean, you can play base Destiny 2 for quite a while, especially if you really get into the PvP. But you can be done with the main story in a dozen hours and just about everything is kinda pushing you towards The Next Thing You Can Buy, from the final cut-scene in the base campaign, to some of Xur's wares being inaccessible if you don't own the right DLC/expansion, to gated weekly missions, to slowed progress towards the base game's (low) level cap, to literal upsell advertisements on the solar system map.

  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    And it was the Storm frame I was thinking of, the wizard elemental frame that uses flight more. Like when they sprint they just hover over the ground. I think that'll be my starting main frame, just because being able to drop lightning on things is always my jam.

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    They're giving away Destiny 2 in order to sell Forsaken. Other companies do very similar things, giving away the old Forza just as the new comes out, that kind of thing.

    The problem with that theory is there's a LOT of Destiny 2 to play before you have to buy an expansion. Granted the hope is that they eventually buy, but this really smacks of a bit of a desperation move, especially as popular as Destiny 1 was.

    It's an MMO with DLC as the subscription. That's basically the model. And lo, a new expansion is coming out as we speak.

    They are giving it away for free now, actually like almost a week early since it's a September free game that dropped in late August, because they just dropped a big pre-patch for the next expansion and they are trying to get people to log on, get hooked on the new changes and then buy the new expansion. It's just a marketing exercise.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited September 2018
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    Kotaku has more details on story stuff. The big takeaways:

    Conversational stuff generally only has two choices (not yes/no, but generally opposite) that affect how your relationships form
    No decisions that affect story during missions
    Decisions you make with NPCs won't create or lock off content
    "Limited character creation options" with some backstory
    Vendors will give you their story ("I have a very tragic reason I'm selling you guns")
    “A reinvention of personal narrative in a multiplayer game,” whatever the hell that means

    So if you were annoyed by the lack of narrative agency at the end of Mass Effect 3, prepare to hate this game.

    This is interesting. A little disappointing but also kind of expected. They are straining at the limits of what you can do with a persistent multiplayer world experience in regards to storytelling, which is territory MMOs have done a fairly good job at this point of mapping the extents of.

    I was hoping for a bit more interactivity back home but it does end up feeling kind of artificial to, like, permanently get rid of a cetain NPC who also gives missions and then have a replacement giving the exact same missions just pop up in their place.* I'm generally kind of suspicious at this point how narrative driven this whole thing is gonna end up being.



    *Although thinking about it, it would be hilarious to have like a faceless larger entity send some generic NPC to hand you missions that you can kill and they just keep getting replaced each time you return with a different NPC with a different name that does the exact same thing.

    shryke on
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    Preacher wrote: »
    And it was the Storm frame I was thinking of, the wizard elemental frame that uses flight more. Like when they sprint they just hover over the ground. I think that'll be my starting main frame, just because being able to drop lightning on things is always my jam.

    Obviously with a large enough group, there'll be overlap. I think there's at least 6-8 of us who are likely to get the game, so a lot of doubling up on 'main' frames is likely to occur (at least in terms of focus of time and resources), but knowing my crew, I'm striving to keep my mind open and likely try to fill whatever gap we might end up with. Likely support of some sort, if by frame or focus on other elements of the game (I'm assuming it'll even be possible, that is).

    Edit: interesting, I didn't know this. From the wiki: "By default, the Ranger is the first javelin obtained by The Freelancer. The others can be earned in non-sequential order within the first quarter of the main story."

    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    Forar wrote: »
    Preacher wrote: »
    And it was the Storm frame I was thinking of, the wizard elemental frame that uses flight more. Like when they sprint they just hover over the ground. I think that'll be my starting main frame, just because being able to drop lightning on things is always my jam.

    Obviously with a large enough group, there'll be overlap. I think there's at least 6-8 of us who are likely to get the game, so a lot of doubling up on 'main' frames is likely to occur (at least in terms of focus of time and resources), but knowing my crew, I'm striving to keep my mind open and likely try to fill whatever gap we might end up with. Likely support of some sort, if by frame or focus on other elements of the game (I'm assuming it'll even be possible, that is).

    Edit: interesting, I didn't know this. From the wiki: "By default, the Ranger is the first javelin obtained by The Freelancer. The others can be earned in non-sequential order within the first quarter of the main story."

    Yeah makes sense I believe the ranger is the jack of all frames, so as far as a default tutorial that synchs up. I mean you'll have all frames and much like destiny it'll probably be smart to level and use them all just to fill gaps. And really I shouldn't commit till I actually play a frame and go "oh yeah this is my jam."

    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • PreacherPreacher Registered User regular
    edited September 2018
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5la1q1G2hzk

    Video going over recent tweets, blueprints for crafting aren't drops, there are set pieces that will grant you bonus's to stuff, and you can get a perk to have a larger pick up radius for loot.

    Limited face options but we get to choose a specific voice, that's an interesting detail.

    Preacher on
    I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.

    pleasepaypreacher.net
  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    They're giving away Destiny 2 in order to sell Forsaken. Other companies do very similar things, giving away the old Forza just as the new comes out, that kind of thing.

    The problem with that theory is there's a LOT of Destiny 2 to play before you have to buy an expansion. Granted the hope is that they eventually buy, but this really smacks of a bit of a desperation move, especially as popular as Destiny 1 was.

    It's an MMO with DLC as the subscription. That's basically the model. And lo, a new expansion is coming out as we speak.

    They are giving it away for free now, actually like almost a week early since it's a September free game that dropped in late August, because they just dropped a big pre-patch for the next expansion and they are trying to get people to log on, get hooked on the new changes and then buy the new expansion. It's just a marketing exercise.

    That somehow never got done with the better-performing Destiny 1.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    I wouldn't count the game out yet... Destiny 2 appears to be faltering, if its inclusion as a free game for PS+ members this month is anything to go on. (the free games tend to be MUCH older than Destiny 2 is now.) That could make room for Anthem to pick up an audience.

    ...or maybe all the Destiny 2 people are playing Fortnite now and will ignore Anthem. Whichever.

    They're giving away Destiny 2 in order to sell Forsaken. Other companies do very similar things, giving away the old Forza just as the new comes out, that kind of thing.

    The problem with that theory is there's a LOT of Destiny 2 to play before you have to buy an expansion. Granted the hope is that they eventually buy, but this really smacks of a bit of a desperation move, especially as popular as Destiny 1 was.

    It's an MMO with DLC as the subscription. That's basically the model. And lo, a new expansion is coming out as we speak.

    They are giving it away for free now, actually like almost a week early since it's a September free game that dropped in late August, because they just dropped a big pre-patch for the next expansion and they are trying to get people to log on, get hooked on the new changes and then buy the new expansion. It's just a marketing exercise.

    That somehow never got done with the better-performing Destiny 1.

    They are learning. The point of an MMO-style game is always to sell the latest content. It's why a lot of games even let you skip past all the previous stuff.

This discussion has been closed.