BioWare Elaborates on How It’ll Fix Anthem’s Irritating Loot System

[Tsing]

Images: BioWare



Hey, remember Anthem? Hello? Anyone? The silence may be deafening, but we’ve got good news for those of you who are still invested in BioWare’s online multiplayer exo-suit game. In a new blog post, the developer revealed some of the changes that would be coming to Anthem’s loot system – one of the title’s arguably worst aspects.



“A good player experience depends on the loot system being extensible and robust, and a lot can go wrong. A lot did go wrong,” admitted BioWare. “We fell short here and we realized that building something new from the ground up was going to be required – starting with taking a long look and understanding the best in class of the many great games that inspire us. Based on this research, along with your thoughts and feedback, we planned some high-level goals and...

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[Brian_B]

The loot system was mildly irritating, but I don't know that what they are suggesting here actually fixes it, opr that loot was the major issue that dogged the game.

I never felt like I needed more loot. Actually I kinda felt like I was constantly digging through it and trying to figure out how to deal with it all, so much of it being trash. Sounds like now there will be more of it, and they are just raising the bar on what is trash. The game should be about flying around, not inventory management.

I always felt like I needed something more to do after I finished out the storyline. Game just kinda stalls out at that point, and it didn't take long to get that far either.

 

[LeRoy_Blanchard]

I remember when I first played Skyrim. I took everything I could find only to realize most of the stuff was completely useless to me. Haha

 

[Grimlakin]

Honestly I think what we need is more distinct and bigger environments to play in. Give me an underwater laberinth. A active volcano. A frozen wasteland, give me somewhere new and interesting to do battle. Give me a dungeon based in a rain forest where everything is alive and some of it wants to kill me that isn't just a different colored dominion mob.

Mechs are awesome but when we equip mods it should make our mech (javalin) look different. Beyond just the guns strapped across our backs. Yea I can paint my suite however I want.. ok I can do blocks of colors with specific overlayed Designs.

But if I equip some other special melee weapon in my suite it should make it look different. If I switch my big mech to a flamethrower as opposed to a morter it should look different. And I'd love to be able to change out the ultimate weapons to some degree.

But really over all I want better story and a bigger variety of game play. Flying around in a mech and doing stuff should be part and parcel to the game.

Where are my arial battles where the Ranger mech can win out thanks to swarm missile attacks. Where are the as mentioned dense jungles where you want your mechs specialized in melee. Where's your infiltration missions where getting caught and slugging it out is A way to do it but not the ONLY way.

They have a chance to really make the game feel special. The first bits where you're flying around in your suite and being a badass are fun... but it does get old soon enough.

 

[Armenius]

I remember when I first played Skyrim. I took everything I could find only to realize most of the stuff was completely useless to me. Haha

The problem with Anthem is your loot piled up as you explored the outside world and once you got back to the hub you had to sort through it all at once before being able to move on. So if you were out there for an hour or more you could come back with two dozen weapons with the majority of them having similar affixes and meaningless stats that you have to figure out which is "better." The part in their notes about being able to do that in real time is actually a huge quality of life improvement if you've ever played the game before.

 

[Dan_D]

The problem with Anthem is your loot piled up as you explored the outside world and once you got back to the hub you had to sort through it all at once before being able to move on. So if you were out there for an hour or more you could come back with two dozen weapons with the majority of them having similar affixes and meaningless stats that you have to figure out which is "better." The part in their notes about being able to do that in real time is actually a huge quality of life improvement if you've ever played the game before.

That's a design change that should have been made long before the game hit release. Being able to manage inventory at real time is necessary for any looter shooter.

 

[Burticus]

That's a design change that should have been made long before the game hit release. Being able to manage inventory at real time is necessary for any looter shooter.

No joke. Imagine if BL3 was like that, you couldn't try out new guns unless you were at a vending machine or store.... oh wait that is exactly how I play BL3. I never change weps during gameplay, I just stockpile until my inventory is full. When it's time to sell, then I play around to see what I like.

I have a total of 60 minutes (or less) of Anthem gameplay (PC) and I think the best cure for it would be to put a bullet in the back of it's head and move on to the next project. It was beautiful looking but I just could not get into it. Automobile analogy.... too much time spent on making the car look cool and have a sweet paint job, and not enough time making it enjoyable to drive.

 

[Armenius]

No joke. Imagine if BL3 was like that, you couldn't try out new guns unless you were at a vending machine or store.... oh wait that is exactly how I play BL3. I never change weps during gameplay, I just stockpile until my inventory is full. When it's time to sell, then I play around to see what I like.

I have a total of 60 minutes (or less) of Anthem gameplay (PC) and I think the best cure for it would be to put a bullet in the back of it's head and move on to the next project. It was beautiful looking but I just could not get into it. Automobile analogy.... too much time spent on making the car look cool and have a sweet paint job, and not enough time making it enjoyable to drive.

I honestly don't know why Bioware is bothering trying to fix it. Even if they try to do marketing for a relaunch I imagine not many people are going to come back and few new people are going to be interested. They should just take this as a lesson for trying to develop an online looter-shooter in the future. Maybe actually try listening to player feedback on gameplay systems during your beta for once.

 

[raz-0]

The elder scrolls, hoarding simulator.

 

[Grimlakin]

I honestly don't know why Bioware is bothering trying to fix it. Even if they try to do marketing for a relaunch I imagine not many people are going to come back and few new people are going to be interested. They should just take this as a lesson for trying to develop an online looter-shooter in the future. Maybe actually try listening to player feedback on gameplay systems during your beta for once.

Actually if I was a developer and given a chance to revitalize an under delivered product like this it could be a huge win. I could go back and improve and learn what the market liked and didn't like.

The actual gameplay in the game was fine, the store and interactivity outside of the suites sucked. And it really could have done with some missions where you have to fight outside of the suite or with a partial suite available. EVERY fight was a slug fest in power armor. It doesn't need to be that.