CyberPanda
Banned
BioWare is saved
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Anthem reportedly set for major overhaul as BioWare looks to reboot its troubled game
- Thread starter Grand Theft Scratchy
- Start date
- Rumor
stickkidsam
Member
Pay us money to fix the broken mess we sold you
Mista
Banned
Just let it go already. If you made it F2P you’ll get smashed by the people that bought it, if you added not enough content the same will happen and if you think of promising the players things that won’t exist then you’ll get eaten alive. Just let it go, most people lost everything they had for you and I am included.
Unfortunately yes. The gameplay was solid but everything else is straight up garbage
junguler
Banned
i've heard their character customization is the best in the buiss, but looks only get you so far, the gameplay should be compelling and the loot should be plenty and worth it. also the loading screens and the time it took for people to actually start playing a mission was abysmal. not sure if this game is worth the effort they might be putting into it. bioware magic ran it with this game it seems, what a mess.
Stilton Disco
Member
Like I said at its announcement, having Bioware make this kind of game is a square peg in a round hole.
Even if we were back when they were a good studio, this game just doesn't play to their strengths, and it's a waste of time, momey and talent to expect them to make anything other than an at best mediocre attempt at a genre they have no interest, expertise or experience with. Add to that the fact it's Bioware in name only these days, and has heamoraghed talent for years, replacing it with angry, gaming hating activists, and just seriously what's the point?
Scrap the whole thing, close the studio, and stop tarnishing Bioware's reputation more than it already has been.
Even if we were back when they were a good studio, this game just doesn't play to their strengths, and it's a waste of time, momey and talent to expect them to make anything other than an at best mediocre attempt at a genre they have no interest, expertise or experience with. Add to that the fact it's Bioware in name only these days, and has heamoraghed talent for years, replacing it with angry, gaming hating activists, and just seriously what's the point?
Scrap the whole thing, close the studio, and stop tarnishing Bioware's reputation more than it already has been.
Shrap
Member
This reminds of that cliched movie scene where they try and resuscitate a patient and one of the nurses says to the main doctor "doctor, he's dead". But the doctor pounds his fist and shouts "he's not gone until I say he's gone dammit! Amp it up to 2.5 million gigawatts! I'm not giving up yet." They then try 500 more times to resuscitate the patient until another nurse puts a hand on the doctors shoulder and gently says "He's gone, doctor... I'm sorry".
Bioware is currently halfway through that scene.
Bioware is currently halfway through that scene.
Last edited:
Hudo
Member
This. While Square Enix managed to turn around Final Fantasy XIV, it was fucking Final Fantasy, the most important IP Square Enix have and it was (and is) a proper MMO. And they basically remade the game from the ground up, which took quite a lot of money and time. I am not so sure if BioWare are willing and able to do something like this. I don't think a "The Taken King"-style expansion will cut it. They either need to redo the whole game or it will just end up being mediocre. And there are already mediocre looter-shooter games out there. BioWare need to decide what their fucking core of expertise is and what their core audience is. I still perceive BioWare as an AAA-RPG studio and you can still make quite a lot of money with those games. BioWare should finally learn from the mistakes made and concentrate on developing their core strengths again, IMHO, as Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda were mediocre at best.
ZehDon
Gold Member
With games like Destiny, Diablo III, No Man’s Sky, and of course FFXIV, with their very high profile re-developments after their respective failed launches, there was a sense of the developer looking to make things right. That they’d done more than launched a bad game - they’d let down themselves and their fans, and that that was what drove their teams to really dig deep and basically re-make their games the way they should’ve been. Ultimately, they cared, and it showed.
With Anthem, I never really got the sense anyone who worked on it really gave a fuck about the game. There was and has been basically zero passion on display from anyone in an offical capacity. Anthem exists because EA wanted their own “looter shooter”, not because BioWare believe in it. I didn’t buy in, because no one ever really presented much of a reason to. Simply put: BioWare never seemed to care, so why should I?
All the redevelopment in the business isn’t going to fix that core problem. This move feels more like BioWare trying to save face, or marching to Papa EA’s directive to sell more micro transactions, than it does the development team digging deep to deliver on the premise and promise of both the game, and their own passions.
With Anthem, I never really got the sense anyone who worked on it really gave a fuck about the game. There was and has been basically zero passion on display from anyone in an offical capacity. Anthem exists because EA wanted their own “looter shooter”, not because BioWare believe in it. I didn’t buy in, because no one ever really presented much of a reason to. Simply put: BioWare never seemed to care, so why should I?
All the redevelopment in the business isn’t going to fix that core problem. This move feels more like BioWare trying to save face, or marching to Papa EA’s directive to sell more micro transactions, than it does the development team digging deep to deliver on the premise and promise of both the game, and their own passions.
drganon
Member
I'd say bioware is at the end of the scene, but is gonna keep trying and hope the corpse turns into a zombie.
Just make it free to play, skim what you can off it and then kill it.
They will waste more time and energy and money trying to rebuild the game than they would creating a new one. No amount of fixing can salvage it at this point because the brand is damaged.
Bioware as a whole though is what needs rebuilding. It started a rapid decline when the founders left, and it went right off the fucking cliff in a ball of fire once they joined with ea. I do not believe bioware as a company is salvageable at this point and has rotted beyond a simple repair.
They will waste more time and energy and money trying to rebuild the game than they would creating a new one. No amount of fixing can salvage it at this point because the brand is damaged.
Bioware as a whole though is what needs rebuilding. It started a rapid decline when the founders left, and it went right off the fucking cliff in a ball of fire once they joined with ea. I do not believe bioware as a company is salvageable at this point and has rotted beyond a simple repair.
Tenaciousmo
Member
I'm enthusiastic about that announcement, will be waiting for reviews for it tho.
TeamGhobad
Banned
just let it die already
Fbh
Member
There's always a chance I guess. FFXIV did it with a realm reborn and even games like No Mans Sky are vastly different now than what they were at launch. The core concept of a fun coop shooter with Ironman style power armours is still appealing.
But as long as it's a GaaS loot game I'll probably never be interested.
But as long as it's a GaaS loot game I'll probably never be interested.
bilderberg
Member
core gameplay was fun as hell; but the writing, story, characters, and content made it near insufferable to play through.
manfestival
Member
the core gameplay experience is actually very solid. Unfortunately the rest of the game is trash. I played it recently with that free month of Origin Access that EA has gifted everyone. 6 missions in and the game has lost any luster it had. There are some really strange decisions. The game just... feels like it was designed around bad decisions.
TheSadRanger
Banned
The lead designer died midway through development. He was a 10 year plus veteran too that started working at Bioware with Sonic Dark Brotherhood. Supposedly he was a big part in Anthem's core combat being actually good but who knows how much changed overall when he died.
Last edited:
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
It was fun for a while. I uninstalled it and never looked back. Too many crashes and fearing that you were going to brick your console made the game less appealing. The missions kinda sucked. They felt like generic MMO quests with no real weight to them.
Trimesh
Banned
So it was said - but the pattern of a highly regarded developer being bought by EA and then producing shit is sufficiently consistent that it has to be suspected there is some sort of systematic issue with EA's management style.
SlashBringingHasher
Banned
the overhaul is F2P with more mtx
VertigoOA
Banned
Core shooting and flying mechanics are indeed solid.
That was never the issue. Game launched with no content and itS entire player base died instantly.
however... I’d like to see soft relaunch next year if it can be done. It can... it’s just a monstrous effort... arguably needing to be bigger than the vanilla launch.
the problem was BioWare itself... if ea flexed its muscle they could pull it off. So much of BioWare has been leaving. It’s a new team and needs to be handled as such.
question is... is it worth it for ea? How will they make money? Mtx for cosmetics is not sufficient for the amount of content needed to satisfy the game’s needs.
That was never the issue. Game launched with no content and itS entire player base died instantly.
however... I’d like to see soft relaunch next year if it can be done. It can... it’s just a monstrous effort... arguably needing to be bigger than the vanilla launch.
the problem was BioWare itself... if ea flexed its muscle they could pull it off. So much of BioWare has been leaving. It’s a new team and needs to be handled as such.
question is... is it worth it for ea? How will they make money? Mtx for cosmetics is not sufficient for the amount of content needed to satisfy the game’s needs.
Last edited:
Belmonte
Member
My impressions playing the beta:
The gunplay feels right, enemy AI is fun to mess with, flying is great, the sci fi Iron Man idea is awesome. There are enough good points in Anthem to give it another chance. It is not Vanquish level of tight third person action, a pure shooter, but really good for an action RPG hybrid.
Judging by reviews and impressions, what the game lacks is level variety, loot variety and proper action RPG mechanics -the loot isn't even important!- and this is why I didn't buy the game. Too pricey for not enough content. But there are a lot of space and a solid action aspect for the game to grow.
And I agree it would be even cooler if Bioware start to focus on single player RPGs like the good old days. If it was my choice, they would be working on Dragon Age Origins 2 or Mass Effect 4. But Anthem can be a great game with the proper effort.
The gunplay feels right, enemy AI is fun to mess with, flying is great, the sci fi Iron Man idea is awesome. There are enough good points in Anthem to give it another chance. It is not Vanquish level of tight third person action, a pure shooter, but really good for an action RPG hybrid.
Judging by reviews and impressions, what the game lacks is level variety, loot variety and proper action RPG mechanics -the loot isn't even important!- and this is why I didn't buy the game. Too pricey for not enough content. But there are a lot of space and a solid action aspect for the game to grow.
And I agree it would be even cooler if Bioware start to focus on single player RPGs like the good old days. If it was my choice, they would be working on Dragon Age Origins 2 or Mass Effect 4. But Anthem can be a great game with the proper effort.
Last edited:
VertigoOA
Banned
Mission structure is also extremely boring.
but yea the weapons feel great, the movement is pretty solid, they mostly nailed the flying aside from the cool downs...
And for some reason... enemies blend too easily into environments. Not sure if it was some kind of post processing visual effects, or just the use of colors for enemy units... but its unnecessarily difficult to see anything.
And just to pour salt on the wound...
Fallout 76 has a healthier player base than both Anthem and Division.
but yea the weapons feel great, the movement is pretty solid, they mostly nailed the flying aside from the cool downs...
And for some reason... enemies blend too easily into environments. Not sure if it was some kind of post processing visual effects, or just the use of colors for enemy units... but its unnecessarily difficult to see anything.
And just to pour salt on the wound...
Fallout 76 has a healthier player base than both Anthem and Division.
TylersProphecy4.0
Banned
I wouldnt personally mind if it went f2p and I paid 60 for it in feb.
I'm just not paying ANY more past that initial fee. Bioware is a fucking idiot if this shit isnt free for AT LEAST the people who bought the unfinished game at launch.
Seriously...I usually dont hold grudges against game developers, especially ones that have made games I genuinely love in the past, but try and charge me again for a product I already bought and i might.
...
I just fucking MIGHT. Goddamnit, bioware.
I just shake my head back and forth thinking of those peeps...fuuuuck.
I'm on the opposed side, I think they should if they can really fix it, No Man Sky sold less than Anthem (to think that it was a best seller for months) and it was damn overrated, for most people it was a 4-5 rather than a 7, and developers kept insisting until finally fixing it with NEXT.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I've never played Destiny or Anthem, but in videos they look kind of similar.
For you gamers who have played both, let's say Anthem was better produced, less bugs, more content etc..... (a lot more polished).
Would Anthem still be worth playing? Or a grinding sci-fi shooter gamers don't really need anyway?
For you gamers who have played both, let's say Anthem was better produced, less bugs, more content etc..... (a lot more polished).
Would Anthem still be worth playing? Or a grinding sci-fi shooter gamers don't really need anyway?
Last edited:
Stuart360
Member
The flying around in Anthem is so fun, gunplay is decent as well. Main problem with Anthem for me is the lack of content, and the map. I mean the map is amazing looking, but its all the same accross the whole map, needs more variety.
I had quite a lot of criticisms of Anthem, but i still put 28 hours into it before i gave up. I'd give the game another chance.
bilderberg
Member
The game needed different biomes. An ice area so you can fly around longer, or a desert location so you would have to monitor your heat more. An underwater, Atlantis, type city where you can fly around for ever would have been cool. Maybe have an oxygen supply to replace your heat meter, but it would last much longer. Instead you have one map which pretty much looks and plays the same regardless of where you are on it.
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Former Bioware GM opens up about difficulties of Frostbite engine
Former Bioware general manager Aaryn Flynn has elaborated on some of the issues presented by the Frostbite engine, comp…
www.gamesindustry.biz
Mass Shift
Member
Nope. Defiance was a hot mess but I still enjoyed it. But that was mostly because my friends played it with me.
diffusionx
Gold Member
I played the beta and was really blown away by how terrible it was. Like if I was reviewing it, it felt like a 3/10 type of game. It was just awful on every level and I doubt the same bureaucracy that created this game and deemed it ready for release is also capable of fixing it.
LucidFlux
Member
Anthem's core combat loop was very satisfying and the world building has potential, but the game systems (bugs aside) really dragged it into the dirt. Not surprising after the curtain was raised on the development woes. Progression, lack of player agency, itemization and the missing endgame are still big issues which killed player retention. Also how is there still not a stats screen!! This overhaul seems to be aiming to tackle all those things and I'll certainly hop back in whenever this comes out, but that's assuming it's a free update. I'm absolutely not giving them another cent.
off duty ninja
Member
I agree, let's see if they can pull off a "No Man's Sky" now and turn this ship around!
SleepDoctor
Banned
Stop giving cpr to dead situations.
Move the fuck on and learn from what you did wrong for the next game.
Move the fuck on and learn from what you did wrong for the next game.
SweetShark
Member
I am a real sucker for very nice looking space armors. I had plans to play the game at some point, but I never knew it would reach this kind of shit show.
I hope the reworked version miles better.
I hope the reworked version miles better.
Gavin Stevens
Formerly 'o'dium'
I don’t know what I expected. I got bought this when it hit cheap, and thought it can’t be that bad.
But I played for a few hours and instantly felt like it was pointless to carry on. No real sense of exploration, the loot was all boring, the designs all the same... it just didn’t click.
Which is odd because destiny 2 was shit on for essentially being more of the exact same thing, only with less choice, and I found that to be another brilliant game...
So this overhaul, it would have to change the very fabric of the game, all of it. At which point you might as well be better of releasing a new unrelated game.
But I played for a few hours and instantly felt like it was pointless to carry on. No real sense of exploration, the loot was all boring, the designs all the same... it just didn’t click.
Which is odd because destiny 2 was shit on for essentially being more of the exact same thing, only with less choice, and I found that to be another brilliant game...
So this overhaul, it would have to change the very fabric of the game, all of it. At which point you might as well be better of releasing a new unrelated game.
Former Bioware GM opens up about difficulties of Frostbite engine
Former Bioware general manager Aaryn Flynn has elaborated on some of the issues presented by the Frostbite engine, comp…
I was recalling some game with a troubled development, not sure if it was Anthem indeed or another one, I think it was actually The Walking Dead, it was told that the previous engine before the UE4 was basically a renderer, it lacked a whole suite to help developers without coding or dealing around with what they had.
Last edited:
STARSBarry
Gold Member
J
JeremyEtcetera
Unconfirmed Member
Odd thread necro, but timely since allegedly EA is deciding the game's fate right now:
www.bloomberg.com
Electronic Arts to Decide Fate of Anthem Game This Week
Electronic Arts Inc. will hold a meeting this week to determine whether it will continue trying to create a new version of the failed online game Anthem, according to three people familiar with the matter.
www.bloomberg.com
ultrazilla
Member
I'm actually pulling for Bioware and EA to keep working on the game. There's something to it, they just executed it wrong IMO. It
needs a new graphics engine to handle the vision of game.
needs a new graphics engine to handle the vision of game.