The Anthem Thread

Others don't do my thinking for me. They give me various points of view as a foundation, I add water and sunshine and it grows into a mighty tree of original thought.

Let's be honest. You're pretty much bored of it already? You enjoyed it but won't be grinding any further and you're interested to see some new content?

I have no interest in helping you think SirJames. I'm sure there's a YT celebrity somewhere that can give you the correct answer

EDIT: wrong thread.

@silly old dart

You avoid answering the question because the answer would oppose the opinion you're trying to defend.

Actions speak louder than words. At this moment you are not playing Anthem and instead offering your opinion and ideas so that you might think for other people.

It's not that you don't want to help me think. It's that you don't believe you can force me to think your way.

Cool story SirJames

You need a very, very long line of YT celebrities to help you - if you want to learn how to bait me.

It's not impossible, but it's pretty hard.

I'll give you a hint:

Lesson one: stop being deceitful and manipulative. That will give you a position from which I can be baited.

I should probably warn you, though. Successfully baiting me is much less fun than it might sound.

I don't even mind being baited and I will concede defeat immediately if that should happen.

Why? Because I'm not ego-driven like you are.

When have you ever conceded defeat?

Now, I am assuming you watched the whole review.

While you may not have been aware of it until now, your claim that this was a bad review and that he doesn't know what he's talking about, two separate points, lowers the value of everything else you've said.

What you should have said in order to appear somewhat objective is "It's a great review, but…"

Instead you agree that while the story is weak that it's also "entirely subjective" if someone else will think it's good. You argue that all looter shooters have weak story so having a weak story is acceptable, even from Bioware. "story was never EVER the point", you exclaim.

You say you love the "moment-to-moment" gameplay without addressing any of the reviewers issues. Maybe you just like having overpowered, spammable abilities. The "I win" button that Monster Hunter World lacks. You fail to see how anyone could deny how good Anthem is even when the reviewer speaks of brain-dead AI that remains still or walks at you in a straight line and gets stun-locked by melee attacks.

Then, what do you do? Talk about how great the graphics are! Something obvious to anyone. You talk about how they must not like it because they were "set up to dislike the game before it launched." which goes against what I've been saying about being hyped since announcement then put off by the live gameplay footage.

Speculate no longer, Dart. The answers are all in the review which you think is terrible.

Now, let's hear you concede defeat because your line about me listening to people while you, yourself, post opinions for people to listen to is hypocritical, at best.

@SirJames;

Long posts won't help Smart posts might, though.

Do you need more time to reply? I'll go make a cuppa.

Maybe, for your next attempt, you could find that YT celebrity who told you how Hitler was actually a nice guy and that Germany winning the war wouldn't be so bad.

That was pretty good. You sure know how to find the guys to help you think, I must say

Getting desperate, huh? You argue like an angry woman. Concede!

A hot angry woman?

Concede!!

Darth Tagnan said:

That's because that inscription isn't suit-wide - but specific to that weapon

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Yep, I just found out about this today. Apparently, the javelin icon represents a suit-wide ability, whereas the cog icon represents an ability specific to a particular weapon, or whenever said weapon is what you're currently holding, so to speak.

Darth Tagnan said:

Well, as soon as I discovered that loot drops were better in Hard mode, I switched. It was a little rough for the first mission or two - but you adapt.

I also think combat is much more intense when it's challenging, but that's probably more down to personal preference.

Fights involving multiple Ash Titans, for instance, can be incredibly frustrating - but I think it's about adapting, and it's a very new game.

Usually, it's just a matter of practicing

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Absolutely agree. I'm enjoying the challenge presented here, and I'm actually finding it to be remarkably engaging. There's a constant need to adapt and possess a fair bit of situational awareness, both of which I greatly appreciate. Multiple Ash Titans can be a pain for sure, but practice and positioning are certainly key.

I've logged a few hours into GM1, having acquired quite a few Masterwork items already, two of which are tremendously powerful components that I'm extremely thrilled about. They're definite game changers, too. The Colossus specific components are such a massive jump that an Epic rarity component will have 3000 armor/2000 shield, and a Masterwork will have 10000 armor/8000 shield with an added condition effect. They're incredible.

No legendaries yet, but I don't expect them anytime soon anyway.

The grind itself doesn't seem as repetitious as I feared it would be. Granted, I have an extreme tolerance for the aspect of grind, but I'm fairly apt at being able to discern when it's starting to wear on me, and it hasn't yet. I'm planning to try the Scar Stronghold sometime this evening, as I've only truly tackled Tyrant Mine so far.

Ragnaris said:

Yep, I just found out about this today. Apparently, the javelin icon represents a suit-wide ability, whereas the cog icon represents an ability specific to a particular weapon, or whenever said weapon is what you're currently holding, so to speak.

Click to expand...

Yup, that's my understanding as well. They didn't exactly do a great job of explaining all of that stuff.

I'm crossing my fingers for the Gear +20% speed to actually work on Friday

I loooove speed-based builds, and the Interceptor is just the perfect class for that.

Absolutely agree. I'm enjoying the challenge presented here, and I'm actually finding it to be remarkably engaging. There's a constant need to adapt and possess a fair bit of situational awareness, both of which I greatly appreciate. Multiple Ash Titans can be a pain for sure, but practice and positioning are certainly key.

Click to expand...

Definitely. Considering we're still in Early Access - I think the fights are remarkably well tuned in terms of challenge and diversity.

Not perfect, but pretty damned fun.

I've logged a few hours into GM1, having acquired quite a few Masterwork items already, two of which are tremendously powerful components that I'm extremely thrilled about. They're definite game changers, too. The Colossus specific components are such a massive jump that an Epic rarity component will have 3000 armor/2000 shield, and a Masterwork will have 10000 armor/8000 shield with an added condition effect. They're incredible.

No legendaries yet, but I don't expect them anytime soon anyway.

The grind itself doesn't seem as repetitious as I feared it would be. Granted, I have an extreme tolerance for the aspect of grind, but I'm fairly apt at being able to discern when it's starting to wear on me, and it hasn't yet. I'm planning to try the Scar Stronghold sometime this evening, as I've only truly tackled Tyrant Mine so far.

Click to expand...

I've only found a couple of MW items so far, and that's very appropriate.

I would hate to be decked out after a few hours - and I'm hoping it will take me a very long time to optimize my build.

I hope they don't cave entirely like Blizzard did with Diablo 3 - where legendaries rain from the sky all day long.

I want it to be something special - and I want to stay something special.

We'll see. I'm still really worried about the sales, though. I hope they can keep adding to it.

I don't mean to stir the pot more, as I don't like to see fighting around the game, but I did hear something which kind of makes me think it might not all be EA hate, as far as the general negativity around Anthem.

Basically, the theory that most people hate Anthem because they have a gripe against EA/Bioware is kind of sapped when you consider that Apex Legends also released recently and also published by EA, and that's getting universally positive feedback.

You could argue that since Apex Legends did not have any marketing campaign it did not have time to build a critical audience, but I'm not sure if that's all that it is. Or maybe Bioware, being added to the mix, is also stirring the pot. I don't know.

Anyways, the game will likely get better with time, as long as it sells well enough and people do stick around.

From what I understand, Respawn was a generally beloved company under the EA banner. When they became defunct, people saw them as sort of legends, sort of like the hero that stood against the tyrant and died, but the hero's spirit lives on.

But Respawn also kept Apex Legends under wraps. They were smart about keeping a tight lid on the game in terms of news, given how people often negatively react to EA branded games.

Bioware hasn't been axed yet, and Anthem is in everyone's sights right now. It's an easy target for Youtubers, redditors, and the like. Andromeda didn't score too well, so in the eyes of the community, people have convinced themselves that Bioware aren't capable of anything great anymore.

As a side note, EA have published the list of fixes for Anthem's day one patch, and it's massive (descriptive, too).

The patch is now live.

Ragnaris said:

Bioware hasn't been axed yet, and Anthem is in everyone's sights right now. It's an easy target for Youtubers, redditors, and the like. Andromeda didn't score too well, so in the eyes of the community, people have convinced themselves that Bioware aren't capable of anything great anymore.

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Anthem reviews are appearing on Metacritic now and every one of them so far has a score of 70, which is just slightly lower than their last game:

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/anthem

The big question is will EA keep BioWare around after they released two poorly-received games in a row?

@danutz_plusplus;

People online are claiming that EA forced Respawn to make a Battle Royal game (not true by the way). It's all one EA so far because Respawn joined recently (in 2017). Give it a few years, Respawn will be Eavilspawn, just like BioWare was still liked until around 2012 despite joining EA in 2007.

There is also a lots of "anti-inclusion" people hating on BioWare (and now DICE) for having a "social agenda" that Respawn probably doesn't have yet.

danutz_plusplus said:

I don't mean to stir the pot more, as I don't like to see fighting around the game, but I did hear something which kind of makes me think it might not all be EA hate, as far as the general negativity around Anthem.

Basically, the theory that most people hate Anthem because they have a gripe against EA/Bioware is kind of sapped when you consider that Apex Legends also released recently and also published by EA, and that's getting universally positive feedback.

You could argue that since Apex Legends did not have any marketing campaign it did not have time to build a critical audience, but I'm not sure if that's all that it is. Or maybe Bioware, being added to the mix, is also stirring the pot. I don't know.

Anyways, the game will likely get better with time, as long as it sells well enough and people do stick around.

Click to expand...

I'm sure it's just the evil hivemind conspiring to bring the game down.

danutz_plusplus said:

I don't mean to stir the pot more, as I don't like to see fighting around the game, but I did hear something which kind of makes me think it might not all be EA hate, as far as the general negativity around Anthem.

Basically, the theory that most people hate Anthem because they have a gripe against EA/Bioware is kind of sapped when you consider that Apex Legends also released recently and also published by EA, and that's getting universally positive feedback.

You could argue that since Apex Legends did not have any marketing campaign it did not have time to build a critical audience, but I'm not sure if that's all that it is. Or maybe Bioware, being added to the mix, is also stirring the pot. I don't know.

Anyways, the game will likely get better with time, as long as it sells well enough and people do stick around.

Click to expand...

You're not stirring the pot, don't worry

SirJames is just trying to get back at me for all those times I "won" what he thinks are competitions. He doesn't know that he can't win - so he'll keep trying, and I find that most entertaining.

As for your point:

EA + Bioware is a target for multiple reasons. It's the combination that makes the community particularly toxic, as you could see with Andromeda.

Something happened there after Dragon Age 2. Bioware fans felt betrayed - and they were too stupid to understand that EA wasn't the reason, because Bioware changed long, long before DA2. The reason Dragon Age was so much better and more traditional, is that it was started many years before - by the "old" Bioware.

Still, I understand the response - because Dragon Age 2 was mostly shit - and fans just haven't found it in their hearts to forgive them, and they're mostly blaming EA - but Bioware is definitely the core and at the heart of this.

I mean, I know some people are in complete denial about this and believe that Bioware is being treated fairly by the YT trendsetters - but I consider it so obvious that you'd have to be blind to not see that issues are exaggerated.

It's not about the games being perfect.

I mean, Andromeda had plenty of issues and Anthem has plenty of issues.

It's about only focusing on those issues and all but completely ignoring or downplaying the great parts of those games, and I don't care who you are or what you like - there ARE great parts to both games.

Thankfully, Andromeda still had a reasonable reception from critics. They pointed out flaws and it wasn't the usual 9/10 affair.

But you need only look at the user score to see how skewed it is - and how unreasonable they are.

Critics have slowly started to be affected by the toxic community - and EA/Bioware is FAR from the only ones taking hits.

Anthem is the perfect target for this, unfortunately. It's a huge new AAA title hyped to the max, it's EA + Bioware and it's NOT what Bioware fans would have wanted.

It's the combination of those three that makes the community especially toxic.

Fallout 76 had the same response for similar reasons. It was ZeniMax, it was NOT a traditional Bethsoft game and it was hyped up.

Fallout 76 has even more problems than Anthem, that's true - but it's far, far better than the majority of the whiners would have you believe. You can tell from countless posts from people actually playing it - that there's a gem there if you can get past the unfortunate issues.

It's the binary Love/Hate response from simpletons that I think is so unfortunate.