Is ANTHEM ever going to catch a break at this point? Honestly, probably not, and this latest controversy has certainly had an impact on the game's hardcore community. You may recall that around the title's launch last month, there was a "bug" that increased the frequency of rare loot drops. Players were completing endgame activities like the co-op based stongholds and they were getting multiple masterwork items instead of just one or two here and there.
As you'd expect, a lot of people thought this was great -- maybe developer BioWare had increased the drop rate on purpose, based on feedback? But no, the studio quickly pinned this down as a "bug" and applied a hotfix that returned the drop rates to their intended level. The original grind was back on.
Now, many players didn't have a problem with this. They were simply enjoying the grind and they'd continue to do so. However, just recently, the drop rate "bug" came back. Once again, players were being frequently rewarded with powerful weapons and abilities, but of course, BioWare was quick to swoop in and "fix" the recurring issue.
For a number of users, this was something of a final straw. Over on Reddit in particular, players rallied to boycott ANTHEM, demanding answers from BioWare. People who had been grinding the game since launch and were beginning to grow weary of the title's often stingy loot system felt as though they'd been sucker punched. Suddenly, ANTHEM's loot system was fun... And then it wasn't. Again.
The boycott movement gained a huge wave of momentum in quite a short space of time, so BioWare had to respond in some way. The responsibility seemingly fell to head of live service Chad Robertson, who wrote on Twitter: "We appreciate all the feedback from the community on the game. We love the passion and share it. We’re not yet fully happy with the game’s loot behavior either."
Robertson continued: "One of the downsides of moving so fast to improve is that we’re making changes to complex loot systems in several areas and it’s then harder to know how it’s performing."
"In the next few months, we’re expecting to make significant changes, but we’re starting with some incremental ones so we can better navigate that evolution. Our goal is to ensure the best possible player experience."
In the next few months? Yes, Robertson really did write that as the community disaster unfolded, and as you can imagine, the reaction wasn't good. For ANTHEM, things just seem to keep going from bad to worse right now.
Look, we hope that one day, ANTHEM can be the game that it needs to be, but it feels like we're getting dangerously close to a point of no return.
[source reddit.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 22
Video games, everyone!
Just remake/remaster the Mass Effect Trilogy before you get the boot Bioware.
I so wanted to like this game. The demo seemed neat at first, and then the incessant loading screens turned me off quickly.
Seems like a decent Iron Man simulator, but when the original Destiny seems like a fairer and more interesting game than a game made by BIOWARE of all people...
Maybe if it drops to $29 or lower. And if I have iron-clad proof they fixed the PS4 crashing/near-bricking issues.
I have been playing this exclusively since launch and it is a fun game. Most of the technical glitches have been ironed out and the loot issues seem to effect only people who have ragged this game for 80+ hours. Yes, it should cater for them, but for balance, as a person with a full time job and other commitments - it is still very much entertaining. Perspective and presenting both sides may very well help this game. Can't help thinking that this constant reporting on meta issues on Reddit will actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy with regards to the game failing.
As Johnny Rotten once said,
"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night!"
@get2sammyb
Video games now. It seems so long ago that games were released and sold ready to play day one. No hot fixes or day one patches required. And Games as a Service...no thank you. Early adopters are funding future expansions, so it’s no surprise that the content is so limited at launch. Sea of Thieves, Fallout 76 and Anthem are just the latest examples of full price games that launched with bare bone offerings.
I’m not saying I won’t buy a GaaS, but it will probably be a year after launch...it it survives that long.
"We’re not yet fully happy with the game’s loot behavior either."
It's a looter-shooter, mate... it's a pretty key feature. If you weren't and aren't happy with it, WHY THE FECK DID YOU RELEASE IT? Are you idiots, or just incompetent?
I'm fed up with hearing about the game and their excuses, and I don't even own the damn thing.
There's no hope for anthem isn't it, EA is not patient like ubisoft with their games, I don't think there will be Rainbox Six or For Honor-like resurrection with anthem.
Meanwhile I'm sure loads of people are just playing the game and having fun.
Doing a legendary contract on grandmaster gives you a masterwork every time. I'm up to a 556 power level and have only did a few.
@lacerz Not really, games used to be released with game-breaking bugs, as we'd say nowadays, with no way to fix them. You can walk through walls in Super Mario Bros, if you use a certain two spells in sequence in Final Fantasy VI you one-shot nearly every boss in the game at any level, in Ocarina of Time you can warp to the final boss from the beginning of the game and then kill him in 3 seconds with a Deku Stick glitch.
Also bear in mind that the vast majority of games used to only take about 1-3 hours to complete. They sometimes padded their length with the difficulty making you redo the same content repeatedly as you died, but they had very little to them and were far easier to debug.
I can't believe I'm accidentally defending Anthem here, but my point is that games have always been like this, worse even, but now people make a bigger deal out of it because the internet snowball-effects every little issue. Anyway, here's someone completing the first Pokemon in under 5 minutes thanks to how glitchy it is:
https://youtu.be/LgXC85dwqdA?t=256
@kyleforrester87 They are just not being as loud as the angry mob. The game has loads of problems but there is fun to be had. I'm really looking forward to what the game looks like a few months from now. If EA doesn't pull the plug that is...
I've rather enjoyed watching this slow-motion train-wreck. The hilariously scathing reviews. Watching the subreddit dedicated to the game quickly grow to hate it (so many angry threads on there). The reaction makes the Fallout 76 debacle look tame in comparison.
Thankfully, despite quite liking some of Bioware's older games (Mass Effect 1 is still pretty great, despite its jankier aspects), I've never harbored any level of interest in Anthem, so I can comfortably indulge in this schadenfreude.
Its almost like Looty Shooty gameplay isn’t really Bioware’s shtick; maybe they’re better suited to character driven role-playin....Ah! Please EA stop holding your breath!
I wonder if Anthem ever can be truly fixed; of course regardless it should have been “fixed” on release not months down the line. Its like one big additional beta test except You have to pay EA to partake.
@Splat Yeah that's fair enough, it's like Destiny, I was well aware of its problems as I played it but while it was fun I just concentrated on enjoying it. I'm not about to join a revolution on a forum over a video game.. maybe I will if we don't get some FF7 remake news soon, mind you.
The last boycott I can remember was for "For Honor". Did that action wielded any results?
If you invested any time or money in this game knowing full well what it is, and I think they've been clear about what it is from the beginning, we'll you kind of lose your boycott mojo at this point.
The time to boycott "beta build games as service" is before you get them, not after. At least mM will be releasing Dreams as "early access" for $40. Anybody boycotting that after buying it b/c it's buggy is also too late.
@Splat Same. I consistently get 1-2 on every Stronghold run. Many of the people complaining already have all masterworks and are looking for better rolls on inscriptions. So complaining on the probability that (masterwork/legendary drops x weapon/item that they use x better inscription than current). With those odds, no wonder the grind seems insurmountable. Meanwhile, others are just enjoying the game.
it's still full of a massive number of gameplay/technical bugs.. how about fixing those first before tinkering about with 'systems'.
I'm confused, what actually made people think a game released by EA would have a good loot system?
God forbid a live service game be fun. We can't have that. Unacceptable!
@Shellcore you've said it all. I'm playing this game since day one, and with work and family stuff, I can only play a few hours per week, which is fine. I'm currently lvl 20, and I'm really enjoying it.
It's funny, cause all this negativity on the web really do not reflect my experience. For me, it's just a fun game. Sure it has some flaws (Fort Tarsis is difficult to defend, and yet I'm enjoying those long conversations), but for god sake you play as IRON MAN !
I think it's important to precise that all those so called scandals only concern very demanding players, who can achieve to become lvl 30 in three days, playing 18 hours a day, and then scream everywhere that there is no content.
For an average player like myself, it is a very good game. The campaign till lvl 30 is simply nicely done, in my opinion. And it takes a lot of hours to complete it.
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