What went wrong with Anthem

[Slashman]

Seems like a combination of not knowing what game they wanted to make, no one making decisons, departures and counting on that 'Bioware Magic' to pull them through.

[Mecron]

And gamers creating a game in their heads that never existed.

[Slashman]

And gamers creating a game in their heads that never existed.

I don't know if I can say that this is the gamers fault. I mean all AAA games are subject to some hype. I haven't been in the trenches with most of the rabid fans who were clamoring for whatever...but most of the folks who were on the forums where I frequent were either:

1) Not interested

2) Thought the game had some potential but launched too early

3) Were just complaining that things didn't work right. Like loot drops, damage to enemies, missions not interesting etc.

4) Then we had the tantrum throwers

[zanzibar196]

In my opinion, forced multiplayer will never work. Multiplayer should be an OPTION, but you should also be able to play it single player. Hopefully the industry learned from the flops of Fallout 76 and Anthem.

[Mecron]

not saying its the whole thing but I bought the game and its almost exactly what last years footage promised, It's sin is lot a helluva lot more than last year but this thing where people freak out over gdc or e3 footage and just wind themselves up for a year is getting problematical. Remember when we took in early footage with a grain of salt?

[Slashman]

Apparently people have not learned from No Man's Sky or Watchdogs or Mass Effect Andromeda.

But I do also blame the publishers and their marketing for whipping people into a frenzy.

Wonder what this means for Bioware as a studio?

[Azrael Ultima]

not saying its the whole thing but I bought the game and its almost exactly what last years footage promised, It's sin is lot a helluva lot more than last year but this thing where people freak out over gdc or e3 footage and just wind themselves up for a year is getting problematical. Remember when we took in early footage with a grain of salt?

I think it's a combination of armchair devs with no true clue about the constraints of both having to work in a group and making a game for more than just one player, marketing overdoing things and just to much time, on top of people today seemingly taking every announcement as a guarantee that said feature will be added exactly as they envision it. Even if there is no way in hell it could even work. Especially then.

[Mecron]

the problem from the studio side is that the response of any rep when being interviewed by a fanboy is...

"Will this game cure my cancer?!"

"...sure! Why not?!"

[Slashman]

The problem from the studio side seems to be overwork from crunch and they are not the only studio to have problems.

Marketing is always going to over-promise if someone from corporate doesn't put a stop to it.

Gamers don't help with their huge expectations and no grounding in reality.

Here is a follow-up to the article with reply from Bioware manager Casey Hudson.

[Mecron]

"the problem from the studio side seems to be overwork from crunch"

Ok...abusive crunch is abusive but y'all need to grow up a bit and realize that consumers either start paying 150 bucks for games or there is going to be crunch. Time literally is money, folks. So either you get more realistic about what your paying or the size of game you are paying for or you stop pointing fingers about crunch time. Making games is crazy because we have a fan base, bless y'all, that expects miracles...at a premium...and on time. Under those parameters, somethings has to give. And please, try to tell me that last time you saw a glowing review that had the phrase "This game has a sensible amount of content at a functional level of graphic quality that fits into the game's price point."

[Slashman]

OK I will admit that I am not wholly realistic in my expectations either but I think I'm a bit more reasonable than the average gamer.

At least I don't preface my every thread title with some version of: "Threatening to refund if you don't fix this piece of shit game devs!"

[Mecron]

the "y'all" was very broadly meant, slash

[Slashman]

Yeah I know I was just apologizing for my fellow gamers'...enthusiasm.

[Azrael Ultima]

OK I will admit that I am not wholly realistic in my expectations either but I think I'm a bit more reasonable than the average gamer.

At least I don't preface my every thread title with some version of: "Threatening to refund if you don't fix this piece of shit game devs!"

I think the most important part to keep in mind is that plans can change, and what sounds like a good idea on paper may not work out in practice.

Also, watch your expectation creep. As things get better, everybodies acceptable standards go up, frequently faster than the creators can keep up.


And IMO marketing is a bunch of idiots to focused on selling at any cost.

[Slashman]

I think the most important part to keep in mind is that plans can change, and what sounds like a good idea on paper may not work out in practice.

Also, watch your expectation creep. As things get better, everybodies acceptable standards go up, frequently faster than the creators can keep up.


And IMO marketing is a bunch of idiots to focused on selling at any cost.

Indeed. Which is why I said that marketing has to to be reined in at the upper corporate level. Not the developer level.