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Mass Effect 1 and 2 lead writer Drew Karpyshyn is working on Anthem

R

Rodney McKay

Member
Great news!

Have they said if Anthem will be lighter on story/dialog stuff that we usually get in Bioware games?
I know they showed off that first person market area where you get a mission from a guy, but I don't remember if there were any dialog options.

Even if it is less story than usual, I'm glad they've got this guy working on it. More isn't always better, as ME:A proved pretty well.
 
The Lamonster

The Lamonster

Member
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
 
L

Lime

Member
Finally Dark energy will save the human race this time around and not red/green/blue space magic
 
C

Crazy Diamond

Member
Those are the two I love so that's an exciting addition. Nowhere near sold on Anthem because of recent history but what was shown looked good.
 
L

LKSmash

Member
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...

Why not show faith in one of your big studios to design something brand new with mass appeal and give it all the resources needed to succeed? Seems pretty easy to me.
 
K

KissVibes

Banned
Mass Effect 3 really poisoned the well and was probably why EA didn't give really rally behind Mass Effect: Andromeda, which I still like but doesn't come ANYWHERE close to the first two on a story level.
 
The Lamonster

The Lamonster

Member
Durrzerker said:
The obvious answer is that they assume Anthem will be far more successful than a new Mass Effect game.
Click to expand...
LKSmash said:
Why not show faith in one of your big studios to design something brand new with mass appeal and give it all the resources needed to succeed? Seems pretty easy to me.
Click to expand...
But Mass Effect already has the brand recognition.

That said, I am always excited about new IPs in video games. Too many sequels in this industry.
 
A

a916

Member
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...

I imagine it's because the devs that worked on ME wanted to do something new... but a combination of "a bunch of people that applied to Bioware also wanted to do ME" and EA wanting another Mass Effect led to Andromeda happening too.

We kinda just had a thread about letting 343 do something new... with that many Bioware studios, they have the luxury of doing such a thing
 
S

Steve.1981

Unconfirmed Member
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?
Click to expand...

There were probably a lot of people on the Mass Effect team who considered the story finished after the trilogy and wanted to do something different.
 
L

LKSmash

Member
The Lamonster said:
But Mass Effect already has the brand recognition.

That said, I am always excited about new IPs in video games. Too many sequels in this industry.
Click to expand...

But it's last entry was extremely controversial and there was push back from their other marquee title. At the juncture they were at, it made sense to try and devise something new and see if there was a new brand to be made.
 
T

Turin Turambar

Member
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...

Because they were tired of doing 3 Mass Effects in a row? Because they aren't interested in doing Mass Effects until the heat death of the universe?
 
W

watership

Member
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...

I think it was smart. They're the lead team at Bioware Edmonton and they had just made 3 Mass Effect games. You want to have people leave and get burnt out? Have them make the same game over and over again.
 
J

jmood88

Member
I had no idea that the original Mass Effect team was working on this until the EA press conference, so this has become my most anticipated game.
 
J

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
This increases my interest ~15% from 35% to 50%. I am keeping a live updates interest gauge of Anthem and I look forward to sharing further updates through the year and well into 2018.

Honestly, though, I'm still cautious. I just don't know what to think about this game right now. Catch me on any other conversation and you'll see I am a diehard BioWare fan. I love most of their output. I hopped on the train with Mass Effect 1 in 2009, and while I've been disappointed with both Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect Andromeda, the developer has still given me four of my top 15 games.

But that's the thing. I love them because they give me stories and characterization, and they try to do so on the AAA gaming scale. The results are mixed, and I usually find at least something I wish were more catered to my tastes, but the lore and worldbuilding in Dragon Age and the character development and coolness in Mass Effect both blow me away.

The shared world aim of Anthem has me questioning whether or not we'll see squadmates/companions that aren't real people telling me they got a new gun. And first looks seem to suggest a lack of dialogue options. (We'll see.)

I can foresee a world in which these issues don't stop BioWare from telling a story worth playing. I'm just not sure yet whether Anthem will accomplish that.
 
S

Sulik2

Member
Its awesome Drew is back, love his previous writing.

The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...

They created a fully staffed team and gave them five years. Andromeda was not a small undertaking, the team just wasn't up to the task.
 
P

Pinko Marx

Banned
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...
Service games are the new hotness. Better to throw your best people at a project that is more likely to be a constant source of revenue rather than a large SP game that is very front loaded as far as sales.
 
T

Tagavaka

Neo Member
I'm almost certain David Gaider was also working on Anthem for a few months after leaving the Dragon Age franchise before he left Bioware. It was an unannounced game he went to work on for a bit and i'm fairly certain it was at Edmonton and not Dragon Age 4 so it had to be Anthem.

Great writing roster with the both of them there if true, even if Gaider only lent his experience and feedback.

I have high hopes for the writing in Anthem and the game play looks great.

Also I agree that putting Edmonton to work on Mass Effect: Andromeda might have had a detrimental effect. I'm sure I read that part of the reason Gaider left Dragon Age was that he was tired of making games in that franchise.
 
J

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
I'll probably just continue chiming in with tiny factoids here and there, since I follow these folks fairly closely. I can confirm that Gaider was probably working on Anthem briefly, not DA4, yeah. He left the Dragon Age franchise first, and talked up his high hopes and expectations for Patrick Weekes going forward.

That said, I'd be surprised if he didn't have some level of direct impact on early DA4 discussions, of course.
 
M

MikeDown

Banned
Color me skeptical, last few Bioware games have been trash. And figuring the open world aspect of Anthem would limit the narrative.
 
SEGAvangelist

SEGAvangelist

Member
MEGATON!!!

giphy.gif
 
S

Steve.1981

Unconfirmed Member
As cool as Anthem looks, there's a part of me that worries it will go the same way as Destiny and be all about mindlessly grinding the same content over and over again after finishing a short, disappointing main story.

We don't know how much focus will be on "just shoot shit with your mates", but I really hope Bioware are aiming higher than to simply clear that low bar.

I still remember how excited I was when booting up Destiny for the first time, how much hope I had for an enjoyable future in that huge universe of adventure that Bungie had supposedly been crafting.

I feel that hope again, watching the Anthem gameplay trailer. I crave something as special as it promises to be, as Destiny promised before it. I'll take the news that Drew K is one of the writers as a good omen, and keep my fingers crossed as I wait for more news.
 
J

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
Steve.1981 said:
As cool as Anthem looks, there's a part of me that worries it will go the same way as Destiny and be all about mindlessly grinding the same content over and over again after finishing a short, disappointing main story.

We don't know how much focus will be on "just shoot shit with your mates", but I really hope Bioware are aiming higher than to simply clear that low bar.

I still remember how excited I was when booting up Destiny for the first time, how much hope I had for an enjoyable future in that huge universe of adventure that Bungie had supposedly been crafting.

I feel that hope again, watching the Anthem gameplay trailer. I crave something as special as it promises to be, as Destiny promised before it. I'll take the news that Drew K is one of the writers as a good omen, and keep my fingers crossed as I wait for more news.
Click to expand...

This is a good post. I like this post.
 
M

monome

Member
Steve.1981 said:
As cool as Anthem looks, there's a part of me that worries it will go the same way as Destiny and be all about mindlessly grinding the same content over and over again after finishing a short, disappointing main story.

We don't know how much focus will be on "just shoot shit with your mates", but I really hope Bioware are aiming higher than to simply clear that low bar.

I still remember how excited I was when booting up Destiny for the first time, how much hope I had for an enjoyable future in that huge universe of adventure that Bungie had supposedly been crafting.

I feel that hope again, watching the Anthem gameplay trailer. I crave something as special as it promises to be, as Destiny promised before it. I'll take the news that Drew K is one of the writers as a good omen, and keep my fingers crossed as I wait for more news.
Click to expand...

Unless this GaaS is treated as a venue for episodic storytelling trhough regular updates then you' d better hope Bioware has discovered the secret sauce to awesome gunplay...
Traversal looked hype but i doubt it's much satisfactory in the long run.
Andromeda' open ended approach has me veryyyyyyy cautious about satisfactory 3rd person exploration/shooter with loafty goals
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
The Lamonster said:
Why didn't Bioware throw these resources at Andromeda instead of a new IP?

Either way though, I am excited. I am a fan of Karpyshyn's work.
Click to expand...

You can't confine talent to one IP. You need to let people move on if you want them to thrive rather than stagnate. You also need to foster new talent.
 
Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Member
KissVibes said:
Mass Effect 3 really poisoned the well and was probably why EA didn't give really rally behind Mass Effect: Andromeda, which I still like but doesn't come ANYWHERE close to the first two on a story level.
Click to expand...

You mean it poisoned the well in that it made a lot of money, and only magically retroactively soured the experience of those outspoken few after the game was already over? In terms of Andromeda, I couldn't even make it past the first ten hours. It's simply boring.

jmood88 said:
I had no idea that the original Mass Effect team was working on this until the EA press conference, so this has become my most anticipated game.
Click to expand...

Other than it being another scifi game, I don't actually see how the fact that it's the Mass Effect team matters. Anthem itself doesn't appear so far that it will be much more than their attempt at Destiny money. It certainly looks nice, but that should be the last qualifier on whether a game is actually good or not.
 
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