Anthem
 

BioWare's entry into the Destiny/Division market. Haven't seen anything since the short scripted demo video at last year's e3, until, finally, a long promo/q&a segment ending today's ea play event, and now the release date is official: 2/22/19

Should be a lot more info this week, it's clearly their focus this year. Will post more as I find it.

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I'm glad you're happy of its release.

I've heard a lot of chatter that it's going to be shit.

Any chatter at this point probably comes from people who made up their mind that it would be shit right after it was announced last year.

Kind of hard to form an opinion either way when we've seen less than ten minutes of it over the course of a year. It's playable this week, though, so it'll be interesting to see what people say after they get their hands on the demo.

I did see a few interesting things earlier:

No PvP at launch (maybe never? couldn't get a read on that)
PvE endgame is a priority
You aren't locked to a single type of javelin (although you can't change mid mission)
There will be additional javelins after launch (meaning new roles, not just cosmetic)

I may be alone on this, but I like no PvP. Focus on PvE co-op and do it really well, and you also don't fall into the trap of trying to balance multiple, different game modes.

It won't be for everyone, though. I still think story is a hard sell to the wide gamer market.

Much more info here than in the ea play demo:

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Articles:

https://www.gameinformer.com/feature...a-new-frontier
https://www.vg247.com/2018/06/10/ant...t-comparisons/
https://www.rpgsite.net/preview/7289...m-ea-play-2018
http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/...hole-new-world

Looks like Mass Effect with jet packs.

If it gets decent reviews and can be effectively played in single player mode, I'll give it a look. Don't give a **** about MMOs or co-ops. Gaming is me time, not us time.

Gonna need that new GTX for this.

Shoot Shoot Shoot

Bang Bang Bang

Shooter mans Shooter mans bang bang bang!

I can't find a new game to play that I like.

Have you tried the Nintendo Switch, my friend?

That was asked several times yesterday, and the answer given was that the main quest line could be soloed and they are still balancing the rest as far as soloability. There will no doubt be activities that will be impossible to do alone. But without knowing the duration of the main storyline it's difficult to say whether it would be worth it.

I will say this: games like Destiny can be played alone. I know because I've done it. I just acknowledge that it will sometimes be a longer, more difficult path for me, and that there are some activities that I'll never do. But I've never joined a clan, nor so much as put on headphones to talk to another player for well over a year.

And that's Destiny. Which is not really designed at all for solo players. Anthem may have more solo content, and it may have easier avenues for finding help if you want it (Destiny basically has none,).

That's just speculation, though. It could also only have a few hours of story followed by endless token grinding, like Destiny 2 right now.

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I will wait for gamer reviews. The EA version of Bioware has pretty much spent its credit with me. Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda were bad and Inquisition was good but didn't have the morally grey grit that previous Dragon Age games had.

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Outside of the Sony exclusives...my most anticipated game, well this and The Division 2.

Looks amazing...

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Nothing really new at either GamesCon or PAX west. Other than the demo announcement for February 1st (pre-orders only I think).

New promo vid focused on story:

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Yesterday's panel:

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<iframe src="https://player.twitch.tv/?autoplay=false&video=v330283342" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"></iframe><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/330283342?tt_content=text_link&tt_medium=vod_embed" style="padding:2px 0px 4px; display:block; width:345px; font-weight:normal; font-size:10px; text-decoration:underline;">Watch Anthem Developer Livestream featuring Lead Producers, Ben Irving and Mike Gamble. - #AnthemGame from anthemgame on www.twitch.tv</a>

There's a closed alpha stress test tomorrow and Sunday, so the public is about to get their hands on it for the first time. Very tight NDA though so not sure what we may hear. It's entirely possible someone here might play it this weekend, even.

almost everyone i know and myself got into the alpha. I dont know if im going to download it though. i might just wait to see what my buddies say.

I'm in as well, just can't sleep. This is my most anticipated game for a long time. I really hope it's not as shitty as Destiny and more like Mass Effect.


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I don't feel im breaking NDA saying i've been at the title screen for 16 minutes with the Icon connecting to online services. Yup, definitely an alpha.

I haven't been able to play it at all, anyone else in on the alpha thats actually playing? or server down problems? Even the closed alpha forums take 30 minutes to load. Someone dropped the ball here.

Let's just say I 'know a guy' that had been playing the last hour and a half, until the game crashed at the end of the multiplayer expedition (the last arcanist, same one they've demo'd). He's done everything available in the alpha except for the free roam.

As far as dropping the ball, they've said from the get-go it's a stress and tech test. Anybody thinking this was a demo and would go smooth hasn't done one of these before. That kind of preview 'test' is coming in late January/early February.

Curious to see how much video leaks. Your gamertag literally flashes all over the screen the whole time you play. So I hear. Won't be hard to figure out who's breaking the NDA.

Not expecting a demo but holy shit how about a Queue so i don't have to keep hitting 10 buttons over and over.

Managed to get back in. What's worked for 'him' was to completely close and restart the app, rather than hitting x over and over to retry. In Freeplay now.

Ah ok gonna try again thanks.

I keep getting the server you were on just unexpectedly shutdown when I do actually manage to join one. Seems futile to keep doing the same shit over and getting nowhere.

Some are saying that if you had the 9am playtime removed you will get nothing but errors. Seems my 9am playtime is no longer available so something glitched. Gonna try at 2pm because i'm still in on that one, if I get the same crap for 30 minutes i'm done trying. They appearantly have a lot of work to do and a short time to get it done.

Afternoon session I got right in no waiting, so they fixed whatever the problem was. Playing the game is a TON different than watching someone else play it. Definitely feels more like Mass Effect than it does Destiny. ;)

Not breaking the NDA when I say WOW it's super fun and the mission I played was off the chain.

Definitely not Destiny. I can't even come up with a similar game.

It's hard to tell without knowing how much deeper the final game is than the alpha build, but if the first couple of missions are any indication, meaning if there's a lot more than that and the sum total is not just a handful of missions (again, like Destiny...) it could be great. Freeplay is a little dead right now, I think, but there's nothing really to aim for, since there's no access to crafting or blueprints or inventory in this build. Although it's still kind of fun to explore and fight random outlaws and scars.

Ya this game will absolutely kill boring Destiny, Feels like Andromeda multiplayer with open world and flying to me. Really has that Bioware feel and the narrator makes it even better. The Mission quests were incredibly fun and interesting, something needed to come out that was interesting in the looter/shooter genre it's been kinda dead since Borderlands.

Hopefully the combat is better than Andromeda.

Is Anthem running on Frostbite 3.0?

I believe it does run Frostbite 3.0 and the combat is somewhat similiar to Andromeda multiplayer but better cuz u can fly and smack the ground. It's really fun the flying is kinda like Flightsim flying. The controls honestly take a little bit to get used to, you will start by crashing into stuff and grounding yourself quite a bit BUT as you get better at it you will gain MORE control over what you're doing and do some really killer combos. It's like your piloting an IRONMAN suit, I would almost call it Ironman simulator instead of Anthem. :)

If Ironman and Avatar had a baby it would be called the Anthem.

Hope i'm not breaking the NDA, i'm not familiar with doing alpha builds.

That sounds SIIIIIIICK. I have the Origin Access Premier so I'll be hitting that shit HARD.

My friend (cough) did some more freeplay today and discovered that there's a lot more to do if you up the difficulty to Freelancer. It's not easy, since apparently you can't change your gear but he saw Ash Titans to fight and had world events spawn, which wasn't happening at the lowest difficulty.

Might still be live. I was up pretty late EST playing last night. I only played Destiny for about a month, didn't hate it as much as most. I played Mass Effect 1-3 and loved them, never played the latest one. To me, the controls and combat felt really good on my XB1 elite controller. Time will tell. I have premiere as well, so we get a special invite beta in january I believe, or is it just open like 2 weeks early?

Ya i fired it up yesterday and could only do freeplay but didn't up the difficulty. I think they removed parts of the open world because I couldn't find anything to fight and everywhere I went I got a not in the alpha version turn back screen. That loading screen needs some fixing it takes a good 2 plus minutes to get back to where you were a second ago.

Some new info about the game here:

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Really hope the loot game is good in this...one of the biggest disappointments for Destiny for me, probably the biggest draw for me when it comes to games like this.

Seeing as this has no PvP component, I'm hoping there's a ton of weapons/armor/etc...I'm sure there is and I'm confident they'll be constantly adding to the game.

Absolutely the biggest problem with Destiny is the feeling of just about all loot being the same as well as power levels. Power Level only seems to restrict you from doing some activities but you never really feel overpowered or like you're a superhero or doing anything great. More like a cog in the machine, Destiny is fine as a shooter but beyond that it seems they don't understand the looter part of it.

Agreed 100%...that and you get the same stuff over and over and over again and maybe the DPS is tweaked or it does something just a little different.

Can't tell you how many times I'd get the same armor piece throughout. ROFL

That and never understood the concept of allowing 1 Exotic weapon or armor piece...I mean if you earn the gear, you should be able to use it...at least that's my thought.

Hoping Anthem fixes a lot of this.

Anthem seems to be nothing like Destiny, it does look similar in the videos if you see it without playing it. Once you start playing it you realize it's more like Mass Effect in an Ironman suit.

I've heard some say Anthems loot will be more like a Diablo 3 style system. If it's half of that It will be the best thing out in the last several years. Throw in the same guy that wrote the story for Mass Effect 1 and 2 and we could have something truly remarkable.

Livestream tomorrow on loot and progression. This is a big one, since so little is known.

Should be fun, don't screw this up Bioware!

i didnt get to play it, never downloaded it, but from what my buddies say, this is solid as **** so far, but they are all skeptical because well EA.

ROFL

EA is ass and will ruin it with shitty micro transactions, which, have no ****ing place in a full retail price, AAA game.

Bioware has already stated microtransactions will be cosmetic only. Fingers crossed.

Livestream coming up here in a couple of minutes...

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primer/detonators like Mass Effect

5 different gun/component slots

6 Different rarity types

common, uncommon, rare, epic, masterwork and legendary

uncommon and up get 1-4 inscription rolls which pick from a pool of over 100 different stats

inscriptions stack infinitely and support roles can matter

Masterworks and up get an extra powerful stat ie killing an enemy causes an electric explosion etc

Very Large item carry limit/storage limit

Salvaging gives crafting tools

Find blueprints to craft items up to legendary and bp's will drop at your overall power lvl

Can't reroll properties on items

Legendary items will all reroll with different stats other than its prmary stat for that weapon.

Bosses will drop from much higher loot tables, seems you can find anything anywhere with better chances at higher difficulties. :)

Challenges like take out x boss 10 times will grant you a high level reward ie leg blueprint etc

Loot is instanced for each person but no trading.

Loadouts matter you can gear towards taking out trash mobs or more towards boss damage.

Looked like a pretty robust system watching the stream. Def looks closer to Diablo style loot than Destiny style loot.

They've said that for literally months. Cosmetic only and anything you can buy can also be earned in-game.

True but they haven't ruled out putting out new Javelins as paid, which is ok by me in order for them to have new content they will need some form of revenue.

Absolutely! The system will kill Destiny as it should, consider me giddy as can be. :D

They haven't said anything at all to my knowledge about paying for any content, javelins or otherwise. They've outright said that any future story content will come as free dlc.

Live stream looked really good. Should be interesting stacking/creating optimal builds.

They did actually say they might charge for new Javelins, again I have no problem with this. Look at games like WOW if you want new content you have to pay in some way and I won't be spending any money on cosmetics because I really dont care for cosmetics. Substance over style everyday for me.

Man I cannot wait for this game...they're saying all the right things.

Same, this is the game i've been most anticipating forever.

What are you gonna be playing on?

PC, I don't own or play console games just don't have time for it as well as my love for PC. :D

Finally watched that stream, had read bits and pieces about it...yeah love what they're doing with loot, gear, etc.

Inscriptions are awesome and love that primer/detonator is in.

Gonna get super nerdy with min/max builds lol.

Right, just hope it lives up to the hype. Seems rather late from what i've seen of the game, seems like it's unfinished but perhaps what i've seen is from an earlier build.

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I've never understood how anybody could read anything, watch anything, much less play anything (I saw people on Reddit supposedly in the alpha (they weren't...) say it was a Destiny clone...) that anything to do with Anthem and think it has any relationship of any kind to Destiny.

Another stream on Thursday it looks like...

Seeing as there is no PVP and its in 3rd person that comparison is way off. Yeah, it's a space opera like Destiny but saying that makes it a clone to Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost in Space, etc.

I'm gonna give it a pass until the reviews come in just because EA.

Should be a good one. It's going to be a stronghold we've never seen shown from an Interceptor point of view.

As in another boring loot grind that really doesn't have lasting appeal and is uninspired. I've listed the problems with Destiny on here. If you just watched gameplay and didn't play Anthem you might think it was similar and could get boring quickly. We shall see but Anthem looks far different right now.

Ya happy the Devs are really out there and doing everything possible PR wise to sell the game. Haven't really seen this from a AAA dev, like ever.

They say they're going to continue doing it after launch, too.

Thats good news. From the little amount I got to play during closed alpha, i really enjoyed it. Without PvP, they can focus all efforts on content & balance.

Fun stream. Stonghold seemed significantly different from the first one.

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