Look, we don't want to necessarily kick ANTHEM while it's down (and let's face it, it's been down for a while), but we're now reaching a worrying point in the game's life. As reported across the title's official forums as well as boards like Reddit and throughout social media, the game's currently facing a bit of a matchmaking crisis. Why? Well, it sounds like it's simply a case of there not being enough people actually playing the game.
Players are having to tackle endgame activities without a full squad because they can't find allies. Meanwhile, those looking to complete lesser objectives seem to be sh*t out of luck, because anyone hardcore enough to still be playing ANTHEM is grinding out the most lucrative stronghold over and over again. In short, it's not a good look.
At this point we're not sure what the solution is. Even if BioWare was to somehow transform ANTHEM into a much better game, would players come back? What if it completely rebooted ANTHEM in a Final Fantasy XIV kind of way? Does it even have the resources to pull off something like that? We find ourselves doubting it. We can only hope that BioWare delivers with the title's future updates and additional content.
What would you do with ANTHEM right now? Give us your plan of action in the comments section below.
[source forbes.com, via reddit.com]
Comments 48
On the subject, did anyone see the rather good youtube video titled 'Games as a service are fraud'.
Essentially, it goes on to discuss that games where if support is removed will kill the ability to play the game and you payed for the game, you are being defrauded. Interesting perspective and this news reminded me of this.
Free to play?
This game has been my biggest gaming regret of my life. I have completely lost trust in BioWare and will probably never buy another game from them again.
It seems EA can't make games that don't include lootboxes anymore. Hopefully that will be a big enough kick in the nuts for them to wake up and get in line.
Also Bioware is most likely in big trouble with the big backlash on ME Andromeda followed by ANTHEM
The biggest problem with this kind of news is who would buy it now cos it doesn't seem like a good investment.
This is why solely online games will never replace a good narratively driven single player experience
Yikes, all I hear is bad news about this game. Can it get any worse?
I for one hope the best for the folks at BioWare, remember they have families to feed and it would be tough if the studio were to be closed because of the rough patch they're going through.
Only mass effect and dragon age can save bioware so hurry up and release new instalments
@get2sammyb honestly, that seems like the only solution at this point. And even then, it may not be enough. It didnt work for Evolve, and this seemingly is destined to go the same way.
Such a shame how far bioware have fallen! I really hope EA do right by them
@get2sammyb
I think that's really the only viable option at this point...if things are as dire as are being reported. A total reboot akin to FFXIV:ARR doesn't seem likely, and SquareEnix was able to offset the reboot costs with the monthly subscription revenue.
How is Apex doing as a F2P? And how would EA compensate early adopters? Or would they?
In my opinion, the only solution is to make the game free-to-play and hope they can make enough money through microtransactions so they can at least maintain the servers.
Having just written that, I realize in what a pathetic situation BioWare is in.
Bottom line, if there isn't enough players to even get 4-player matchmaking, then it is game over. Literally.
@Rudy_Manchego I totally agree With this concept, and every time I say something like that I always hear "but when this happens you already play enough", my point is that if you buy a game you should be allowed to play wherever you want, should this be today, tomorrow or in ten years from now.
There's 4 suit classes, right? Assuming one is a journeyman variety maybe just make the game free with that class. If it's cool enough I will buy the others but I am not throwing any cash behind an initial dip into this game now.
It would almost be funny if it wasn't so depressing.
I thought the game already had fallen apart?
Reuse the assets and create a single player game with some traditional mp modes; free update for current owners, sell as a new experience plus the standard GAS part for everyone else.
Maybe publishers will start to learn they need to release finished, polished games! Instead of cash grab, broken crap.
@Boxmonkey Absolutely. 100% agreed. And more importantly, consumers MUST stop pre-ordering and buying them.
This is what communities are for you post a comment and add people to play with its pretty simple.
This website publishes a story about the problems with match making. Yet you did not run a story about Save the World where match making was broken and multi-player was none existant for a week. Very selective about the stories that are published. I guess kicking a game when its down gets more clicks.
@JoeBlogs I've been trying really hard to remember the ending of Of Mice and Men, been 30 years since I read it, and I can't recall the details but am I correct in thinking the ending was similar to One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest? Seems suitable to this situation.
This turned out to be Evolve 2.0
@drdsnchs1 Yep and the video goes on to demonstrate that legally, software is a goods and therefore you have a perpetual license when you buy it. So if they turn servers off or the lack of success of a game means it cannot be played, the publisher should provide a means by which it can be played.
@arnoldlayne83 Do you not mean it EVOLVED into Evolve 2.0.
I'll show myself out.
@Rudy_Manchego lol
@get2sammyb free-to_start, but close enough
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/18/video-game-industry-is-booming-with-continued-revenue.html
Put it on PS Plus, see how it goes, what have they got to lose really?
@Rudy_Manchego Even though I hate the malpractices that come with many GaaS games, I cannot agree with that vid.
Legally, yes, games are goods. But from a non-legal, but instead an art perspective, I can only disagree with the argument. A piece of art isn't a good, well, it can be, but it's more than that too. Considering a game as a good limits its possibilities, and isn't fair on what the medium currently is either.
Consider music. Yes, we have our CD's, those are quite clearly goods. But we also have performances, recordings, live shows in all kinds of variety.
Buying a game is not either of those. A game has some aspects of a CD or vinyl records, but it's like a performance too, especially when it is played on live servers with timed events and such.
I think the person in the vid, even though his video is looooong, is being unfair on developers of games.
Also, I think the constant focus on legality, although an important aspect, also is hurtful for the medium of games. Because we're all so focused on the legal side of things, we're actually diminishing the artistic value of games and turning them into products. Games journalists and gamers are treating games more and more like products instead of works of art. And the more we do that, the more we'll get products instead of art from devs.
This has been a long comment, especially for me, but I still have cut some corners on my arguments. I tried to phrase it as short as possible, but being concise is... difficult.
Especially because I'm just used to shouting random things on here. :')
One of the biggest disappointments last few years. I've said it before, at this point they may as well cut bait and move on. Keep a small team for fixes/bugs (of which there are still many) and move onto the next project. Really don't think this one can be revived like Destiny or FF14. The game is so fundamentally flawed and with the negativity surrounding Anthem they may as well just take the L on this game.
@Kidfried Lol don't worry, thanks for taking the time to reply.
The video is long and can't say all of it holds water but it is well thought out. I would agree with some main points though. Art is art, I agree but when you sell art, it does become a good and you have consumer rights. When it comes to performances, for example, you are exchanging money for a good. You are going to see a live show, you often know roughly how long it will last, where it is, who is playing etc. Quality is a different matter, you can't gaurantee something like quality, sure.
If you bought tickets to see Madonna (don't know why I went there first, just did, I'll move on) and you got there and it was somoene else singing her songs, you'd probably ask for your money back.
Consumer laws are there to protect consumers and they are there to prevent fraud. Art can be art but when you sell art, you have are selling to consumers. Where I agree is that games as services are a good that you pay for ownership but you don't really own and there should be some part on the publisher/developer to ensure that people who like, Anthem, say, can continue to enjoy the product if the company decides to move away from allowing it to function.
By all means, if devs want to create an online world, fab. However, let it go open source or provide a means for the game to be enjoyed once support ends. I can think of no other artform where you pay for something and it's enjoyment can be removed with essentially no notice.
I couldn't even see the game in my local Tesco today heck last time I did see it was 2 weeks ago and it was £50 price tag. The game was a failure from the start and I didn't buy into it sure I got Stinged with Destiny 1 after buying the season pass only for Bungie to release a complete collection for the same price a year later. I didn't fall for that with Destiny 2 I waited till Forsaken went down but Anthem after getting into the demo or full game since it's the same piece of crap I knew it wasn't a purchase for me
@Rudy_Manchego No music concert I've ever been to had a set end time. I have had many situations in which I was very surprised, both positively (Paul McCartney) and negatively (Modest Mouse), at the show's length.
Show lengths vary enormously, even within tours themselves, and are not at all related to what you're paying.
That being said. I don't care too much about whether a comparison can be made with another artform, because that's not how art works.
Robert Ebert once famously said games can't be art, because you can't win or beat art. No other art forn you can beat or win, so games aren't art.
Obviously that's flawed logic. Because imagine music was only invented now. Then we could argue music isnt art, because no other art only lets you listen to it. I digress.
Point I am making is that I don't think it is fair to ever use the argument that "no other art form xxx..." Because that's why it's a different art form. Wouldn't be called something else if it was the same.
I agree that the video is well thought out. I think some points made are interesting too, but I would say it's way too reductive to be compelling as an argument. Maybe compelling in court, but outside of that I wouldn't agree.
I think it should be possible for a game to be an online timed thing. Which is eliminated one day to never return. I can think of many situations in which I as a person can feel I got "my money's worth", having enjoyed my time with the game, and then seeing the game being closed down for good.
@Kidfried Yeah you are probably right with my poor comparison.
I just find it a slight shame that pieces of art can be lost to time simply because a company can decide it can never be played again and it is lost forever. At least with a lot of other games the code is at least on something, be it an HDD or a disc or something. It is possible to get to it in some way. These games, however, just die and can never come back in any form. As for it being timed, the buyer has no control of the timing. Could be 3 months could be 10 years. Plus money's worth is subjective.
The fascinating thing I find about tech is just how quickly we all have to adapt to these situations. There is no right or wrong because we just don't know.
@hotukdeals I don't even know what Save the World is mate
@Rudy_Manchego I love playing both sides a bit on the matter, but truth is (like anyone on the internet) I find it way easier to critique someone else's view versus coming up with a viable solution.
Clearly consumers should be protected, but... I just don't know.
@Kidfried Well I guess if we knew the answer we would be the next Mark Czerny or something. Unless you are and if so, do you need an admin assistant? I make terrible coffee and am allergic to work but I make up for it with sheer brute laziness.
@Rudy_Manchego well, I was about to, but then you spelled my name wrong!
Not sure why these match-making concerns are happening now. Nobody on PC could get matchmaking to work when the game first came out, let alone now. It's always been broke.
@Kidfried Darn it...
How to stop worrying and love Early Access to EA Access in 6 months
EA have more resources than Square Enix so they could reboot it like FFXIV... But they won't. EA dont care about their brands outside of their profitability. If everyone suddenly went off football, they'd drop FIFA in a heartbeat. They'll let Bioware finish DA4, probably rushing them, then can them if it flops or even sells much less than expectations.
At this point I really wouldn’t be surprised if EA shutdown BioWare after the mess from ME Andromeda and now ANTHEM. It would be a shame but they must be losing money and faith right now.
I believe "What would you do with Anthem?" was the question. Where are those suggestions you bunch of whiners?
Never stop playing, is how you fix it. Remove fort tarsis altogether, recreate it in the map part of the game as a safe haven that you fly right into and walk around, then fly off whenever you want. The that would eliminate a ton of loading. Where is the mystery? Where is the fun? Loot, is part of that answer. Make it so you can craft your own legendaries using all elements. Let us craft different supers as well, let us combine two different guns together. Remove the ceiling when you fly. Use ice crystals on your javelin to warn you of height restrictions. Go too high and you'll crash. Put super strong bosses and enemies in all those caves at the very end. Make it so they drop excellent loot.
I started playing this last week after picking it up for £18 and I have to say that I'm enjoying it.
Not sure if the recent update fixed any of the issues it has had but the only issue I have had is one disconnection while playing.
Last night I played freeplay and a couple of missions and had a full party in most games apart from one mission where I had only 2 teammates join, so not really sure about the mass exodus.
I think they should certainly consider giving it away on Playstation Plus to coincide with a massive new update. Doing it too early looks desperate, sure, but if they wait until maybe this fall or early next year it could pay off massively.
Last year and having played Destiny 1 previously, only myself and 1 other friend were playing Destiny 2. As a result we'd never run raid as didn't want to join big clans etc and quietly chipped away at the endgame content. Once it became free on Plus and released Forsaken we now have 9 others i know IRL who I still play with almost every night. They're now further than me! Every single one has purchased DLC 1+2 & Forsaken and look forward to Destiny 3.
Massive difference, and should definitely be considered. This has surely been a game changer for Destiny.
They should go free to play and just charge for cosmetics and stuff. Otherwise I reckon the game will be a complete write off in a few months time.
Tap here to load 48 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...