ANTHEM - 8 Things That Will Make Or Break The Game
Gamers are anxiously awaiting the next move from BioWare's first IP in awhile and it supposedly has the developers on edge.
Kotaku's Jason Schreier, in a recent article on Anthem was full of tibits from both EA and BioWare. The article "BioWare Doubles Down On Anthem As Pressure Mounts" is filled with sources who seem frazzled, but aren't buckling under pressure. Lets get a few things straight when it comes to the game before we continue.
First, there are a plethora of things that we do not know about Anthem and it is extremely unfair to judge the game harshly or positively before we get our hands on the beta. Second, it's perfectly okay criticize mistakes that have already been made. With that being said. . . lets dive in and hope for the stars we get an amazing game!
End Game Content
There are a lot of Destiny comparisions, so be ready. The latest end game content fail comes from Destiny 2. When the game launched, there was one end game activity. After that, there was grinding, grinding and more grinding. Destiny 2 turned out to be Destiny 1.2 with a ton of recycled content.
Can BioWare bridge the gap between Anthem's release and the release of any DLC content? This is a lot easier said then done. BioWare's challenge isn't the end game itself, its keeping players engaged with meaningful activities after they've completed the game. Bioware is fully equiped to rise to the challenge.
First: BioWare needs content that is on par with the games End Game content and is equally challenging. For instance, add mysterious spawns that requires teamwork to kill and reward players hansomely for killing it. Don't spoon feed the content to players either, half the fun is finding them. That is just an example, but BioWare is better in the creativity department. It adds depth to the game and requires players to fully explore the map. In Destiny 2, Public Events, Lost Sectors, Nightfall Strikes, Strikes and Other Events are easy and get boring very quickly. Not to mention your map tells you all the locations.
Second: Side quests should be meaningful and not far off the main story. Destiny's story line is choppy and side quests aren't impactful to players. Not to mention that by the time you get to them your "power level" tremendously exceeds the recommended power level and they aren't a challenge. Its a good thing BioWare's developers are kings when it comes to meaningful side quests and story line.
Third: Love or hate World of Warcraft, you can't deny there are lot of activities to dive into after the end game has been completed. Allow players to hone in and level skills and mod their characters with all sorts of gidgets gadgets.Whether or not BioWare can accomplish it without making it a full blown MMORPG is questionable, but they're much better at creating extra activities then Bungie is.
Replayability
Some of the best memories Gamefragger had with Destiny was the one chase for the Gjallarhorn. The best chance to get The G-horn (as it would later be called) came from the raid or the nightfall. The G-horn helped tremendously in the Crota's End raid, but it wasn't a necessary piece. That combined with raid specific loot allowed players to enjoy the game over and over. This isn't the case for all players as some got the G-horn early on, but it was really fun ride for us at Gamefragger. It wasn't replicated in the Taken King or Destiny 2.
The chase for specific items or even set items within Anthem would add a help the lul of grinding in the game. Set items with bonus stats would help a lot in those tough boss battles. If that happens. . . take our money now! Add that with the classic "choices have an effect" model that BioWare loves and you have a home run. Imagine if the area was effected by the choices a player makes.
Personally speaking, in World of Warcraft, The chase for Sylvanas Windrunner's bow was one of the most rewarding moments upon picking it up. The drop rate wasn't too bad, but it was enough to get all sorts of players to chase it over and over again.
Microtransactions
The Microtransaction horse has been beaten to a bloody pulp since the whole "Battlefront 2" debacle, but until BioWare and EA can prove otherwise with their microtransaction plan for Anthem, there will be fan backlash. Here is a message to every developer out there. Every gamer puts up with microtransactions because they've been beaten down to a nub by developers. Everyone realizes this is now part any game, but there one type microtransaction that royally pisses everyone off.
The microtransaction that hides meaningful game content in a vault that can only be opened if cash is thrown at it. If players can get an edge by spending extra cash, the game is already doomed. The microtransaction "loot chest" shtick is old and boring, but if Anthem has purchasable loot boxes, at least allow players to earn the same loot chest through playing the game. Something Destiny 2 has done fairly well in their eververse shop. The eververse shop has items that can be earned through paying or playing. The best part? The loot are cosmetic items.
If EA and BioWare wants to ease the tension between gamers and their studio, they'd come out with their plan quick so gamers don't fill in the blanks with false info. EA is already pissed at YouTuber's for supposedly spreading false rumors about the game and its microtransactions, but they've done nothing convince YouTubers and those that follow them otherwise.
Learning From Destiny's Mistakes
The Gamefragger team put a lot of gametime into Destiny. There have been high highs and low lows, but lately it seems like there are more lows then highs. For those that like and even love the game, we are with you, but we've fallen off the wagon.
The original Destiny suffered from a restructure a year before its debut back in 2014. The end result was an incomplete game with two DLC's that should have come with the base game. Additionally, if guardians wanted to experience the games story, they'd have to download the Destiny app. It took awhile, but the game slowly got better and reached its peak with The Taken King. Bungie later took away many things that worked so well in Destiny and didn't add them to Destiny 2.
BioWare is fully aware of what people don't like about Destiny 1 and 2. BioWare and EA wouldn't announce a 10 year plan unless they knew they could make a better game than Destiny. They obviously have a plan for the franchise and the heights that it can acheive, but executing those is another story. Anthem cannot afford to be incomplete, but asking that from a developer that answers to EA and its investors is sadly unrealistic. However, if any studio could pull it off, it would be BioWare. its all hands on deck to finish the game before its early 2019 launch.
Corporate Greed
Jason Schreier's report about the game being delayed shouldn't be surprising, however, the deadline EA put on BioWare to launch the game before their fiscal year ends in March 2019 is maddening. According to Shreier's report, the reason behind the March 2019 deadline is to satisfy investors. The key word being investors. Maybe its a little old fashioned, but shouldn't it be to satisfy gamers, the ones who will be buying the product?
Jason also mentions the toxicity problem between YouTubers and EA due to 'misinformation' and 'inflamitory rheotoric' spread about EA. While YouTubers should most definitely not pull facts from their rear ends, they shouldn't refrain from calling out EA's corporate policies. Especially the policies that are first and foremost geared to appease investors ahead of gamers.
Here are the facts, Jason mentions that sources within BioWare felt the fall 2018 deadline was "never realistic." How can a game go from not being realistic to being on store shelves in four to six months? Especially since the game has gone from "this game is screwed," to "game developement is really hard" over the past year. It makes absolutely no sense at all and it points to the corporate greed of EA and their investors.
It screams that they're more concerned with releasing the game before its finished and cashing in. BioWare with a strong showing during the beta can overshadow the 'corporate greed' of EA and win over potential customers. Forget everything about Mass Effect Andromeda, BioWare developers are fully capable of making Anthem the game of the year. They're masters of their craft and they can tell one hell of a story as well.
What we've seen from Anthem so far has been down right bad ass and it shows the work they've put in! The games graphics are absolutely stunning. If there is a studio out there capable of meeting such a ridiculous deadline, it would be BioWare.
Transparancy
Up to this point, Anthem may seem to be in trouble, but there are signs that BioWare is preparing way more than Bungie ever did. Bungie has been better over the past year, but its a little to late for a lot of guardians. BioWare's Brenon Holmes is on the reddit front lines informing gamers and even asking them what they'd like to see within the game. While it is still too early to tell what may or may not make it into the game, at least they're reaching out to fans and putting feelers out there. Gamefragger also reached out for a Q & A, but they're not quite ready for interviews.
Brenon Holmes as recently talked with the systems team about an idea that someone had on reddit in regards to achievements and titles that go along with them. Even if Brenon doesn't comment on every post, know that there are teams looking over the threads and mulling things over. They're getting a great head start on community relations. Tip of the hat to BioWare.
BioWare On Edge
The pressure is on BioWare and there is no doubt. EA has had bad publicity with Battlefront II and BioWare wet the bed on Mass Effect Andromeda, but that was due to them pulling more developers onto the Anthem project. It also doesn't help that a few BioWare studios have been shut down. While everything previously mentioned might seem like bad news for Anthem, it is in fact great news for the game.
Of course no one knows what is going on behind BioWare's doors, but its a sure bet that everyone working on the game are putting their heart and soul into the game. Most gamers are hesitant, however, Its hard not to believe they would pass on Anthem, especially after what they've seen so far. That doesn't mean BioWare can slack off and mail it in either. Hopefully they're putting in the work to make Anthem the best damn games we've seen from them.
BioWare has a lot riding on Anthem and don't bet against them.
Story Line
BioWare has had its short comings when it comes to story lines, but what developer hasn't? BioWare hasn't revealed any of Anthem's story, but E3 is around the corner and hopefully more insight will be revealed. Overall, BioWare has done a great job in the past at keeping gamers engaged with a story line so they don't just "blow" through it to get to the end game. They're in a new territory with Anthem, but with their experiences with Dragon Age and Mass Effect, it shouldn't effect them too much.
Hopefully BioWare can provide the deep story Destiny fans have been craving. Sometimes it feels as if Destiny's story ends before it has even begun. While the story has improved since 2014, everyone blows through it just to get to the end game content/grind. Anthem shoudn't mimic Destiny, but rather take what works and make it into something different and better.
Gamers are tired of the "you are the only one that can save us" shtick. The game is a multiplayer game, let the story reflect that.