"...the game’s most exciting year yet." [Casey Hudson]

[annabethchase]

How could the most exciting year not be launch year? Just saying.

[cyrusramsey]

How could the most exciting year not be launch year? Just saying.

 

In PR-speak, both the thing you're doing now and the next thing you will be doing are always the most exciting thing ever.

 

I shall go get the most exciting glass of water ever right now. I'm sure you'll all be thrilled.

[FlameYOL]

In PR-speak, both the thing you're doing now and the next thing you will be doing are always the most exciting thing ever.

 

I shall go get the most exciting glass of water ever right now. I'm sure you'll all be thrilled.

 

Truly a thrilling experience, 10/10 would sub again.

[Valin_Marr]

It wouldn't surprise if it is done. I remember reading on the forums that the ziost deal wasn't supposed to be for both sides, that republic was supposed to go to bouthawi(i'm sure i butchered the spelling), and empire was supposed to go to ziost. It was datamined but they made the decision to go to one signle storyline after SOR.

 

So it wouldn't surprise me if 6.0 is basically complete and the are sitting on it.

[RafaelPeretz]

Truly legit.

Then 2019 comes and they pull the plug of this sad game.

[FlameYOL]

It wouldn't surprise if it is done. I remember reading on the forums that the ziost deal wasn't supposed to be for both sides, that republic was supposed to go to bouthawi(i'm sure i butchered the spelling), and empire was supposed to go to ziost. It was datamined but they made the decision to go to one signle storyline after SOR.

 

So it wouldn't surprise me if 6.0 is basically complete and the are sitting on it.

 

Was that about the cancelled class stories though? I remember reading something about how The JK or would have to go to Ziost, and possibly even meet Gnost-Dural. I wouldn't put 100% trust in rumors, or even in datamined content. Sometimes they get released, other times they get cut. A lot of games I play have a lot of that cut content, a pity SWTOR isn't more open about it though.

[Atalantia]

And with Casey in charge of BioWare the new SWTOR FP will been ending with you having to choose between RED, GREEN or BLUE

[Valin_Marr]

I always choose the red pill. lol

[Suzsi]

How do you have a firm negative opinion about an unleased game?

 

Personally, I'm into FPS games (unless it's Half Life 3), but that doesn't mean I think Anthem will be a POS.

 

As a firm Bioware fan its easy to be negative about a game that has nothing in it that I love Bioware for.

Companions, Single play rpg stories(anthem has minimal single play), conversation wheels, romances, friendships and so on.

 

I didn't play Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Kotor and SWTOR for thier 'combat'. I played them for their unique story telling adventures.

 

As a Bioware fan, anthem is not going to deliver the goods, they already stated it won't.

 

If I want to play an fps theres already a billion out there its a saturated market but Biowares RPGs are unique to Bioware, no one does it the same. Couldn't care less about anthem.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Suzsi

[AshenK]

I always choose the red pill. lol

Everyone should. Once they do things will be better for everyone lol.

[ZionHalcyon]

To be frank, I could see EA hoping Anthem tanks, which would allow them to fold BioWare as a studio, assume all of BioWare's IP, and then they would keep SWTOR going because to date, their Star Wars portfolio is VERY thin, and if they don't keep SWTOR open, which at least is doing better than breaking even, it could mean the license gets pulled. There was talk in the spring of Disney investigating legal action against EA for breach of contract, given the only games they have actually put out are 2 battlefronts and a mobile game. The platform was supposed to be broader, and if Respawn fails after they folded Amy Hennig's team, SWTOR will be the only major game other than the Battlefronts (which were met with a luke-warm response ) that EA has to justify keeping the license.

 

As such, I think we may be in store for a major SWTOR push, even if BioWare goes under. EA desperately needs a win, and SWTOR is the closest they have to it right now, even in its current condition.

[Tahana]

Yikes!!!

Anthem releases on Feb 22nd, 2019.. We won't see anything significant until well after then is my bet. My personal guess is 6.0 will be ready by Thanksgiving of next year at the very earliest.

[AshenK]

To be frank, I could see EA hoping Anthem tanks, which would allow them to fold BioWare as a studio, assume all of BioWare's IP, and then they would keep SWTOR going because to date, their Star Wars portfolio is VERY thin, and if they don't keep SWTOR open, which at least is doing better than breaking even, it could mean the license gets pulled. There was talk in the spring of Disney investigating legal action against EA for breach of contract, given the only games they have actually put out are 2 battlefronts and a mobile game. The platform was supposed to be broader, and if Respawn fails after they folded Amy Hennig's team, SWTOR will be the only major game other than the Battlefronts (which were met with a luke-warm response ) that EA has to justify keeping the license.

 

As such, I think we may be in store for a major SWTOR push, even if BioWare goes under. EA desperately needs a win, and SWTOR is the closest they have to it right now, even in its current condition.

More likely EA is going to go under.

 

Battlefront 2 was one of the worst selling games in history.

 

Battlefield V has some of the lowest pre-order numbers, but that's going to happen when you insult a whole fanbase.

 

The Respawn game won't happen.

 

EA Sports titles are selling less every year.

 

It's not just EA, Microsoft is doing very poorly on the video game front. Bethesda only has one game that looks good the new Doom, but have killed the fanbase with Failout. Ubisoft are losing sales. People are starting to wake up and see we need to get out of this Triple A nightmare. Don't believe me? Just go over to Reddit's r/games and read what folks are saying.

[Valin_Marr]

I thought Battlefront 2 sold 8 million copies give or take a few hundred thousand. But I also hear that EA abandon the game, and now it's dying. I don't know for sure I haven't played Battlefront 2 in like 3 months. I know this I didn't like it. I honestly hope Disney does take EA to task over this. Frankly it's ridiculous. EA seemed to scuttle more SW games than they have released. Somebody needs to be held responsible. EA thought they would get the SW IP a basic license to print money produce crap throw a SW name on it and watch the money roll in. Never did they think they would have to work to make good games. All of their other games iMO are trash. I wouldn't play them. Swtor I think has the potential to be a good game but EA doesn't want to put anything into it. It's just sad. I honestly hope they turn this game around, or Disney forces them by doing what you said which is take them to court or sue for breach of contract.

[Holocron]

I thought Battlefront 2 sold 8 million copies give or take a few hundred thousand. But I also hear that EA abandon the game, and now it's dying. I don't know for sure I haven't played Battlefront 2 in like 3 months. I know this I didn't like it. I honestly hope Disney does take EA to task over this. Frankly it's ridiculous. EA seemed to scuttle more SW games than they have released. Somebody needs to be held responsible. EA thought they would get the SW IP a basic license to print money produce crap throw a SW name on it and watch the money roll in. Never did they think they would have to work to make good games. All of their other games iMO are trash. I wouldn't play them. Swtor I think has the potential to be a good game but EA doesn't want to put anything into it. It's just sad. I honestly hope they turn this game around, or Disney forces them by doing what you said which is take them to court or sue for breach of contract.

 

EA would rather put out a new Star Wars game than throw money at a product they have already deemed a failure (SWTOR). They'll let it run though with minimal staffing until the end of their SW license agreement, just so they can milk every last dollar. They're truly betting on the success of the upcoming Star Wars pseudo mmo (think destiny, titan fall, division, etc) to be the saving grace for their retention of the SW IP.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Holocron

[AshenK]

I thought Battlefront 2 sold 8 million copies give or take a few hundred thousand. But I also hear that EA abandon the game, and now it's dying. I don't know for sure I haven't played Battlefront 2 in like 3 months. I know this I didn't like it. I honestly hope Disney does take EA to task over this. Frankly it's ridiculous. EA seemed to scuttle more SW games than they have released. Somebody needs to be held responsible. EA thought they would get the SW IP a basic license to print money produce crap throw a SW name on it and watch the money roll in. Never did they think they would have to work to make good games. All of their other games iMO are trash. I wouldn't play them. Swtor I think has the potential to be a good game but EA doesn't want to put anything into it. It's just sad. I honestly hope they turn this game around, or Disney forces them by doing what you said which is take them to court or sue for breach of contract.

EA says it sold that much, and I'd believe EA about as much as I believe the News now a days. And yeah the game is dead, I had one friend who got it as a gift from his Ex-GF and it takes 15 minutes to find a single game.

 

And EA should have known better. More and more gamers are waking up to the garbage that is being pushed on them every day.

[Suzsi]

EA says it sold that much, and I'd believe EA about as much as I believe the News now a days. And yeah the game is dead, I had one friend who got it as a gift from his Ex-GF and it takes 15 minutes to find a single game.

 

And EA should have known better. More and more gamers are waking up to the garbage that is being pushed on them every day.

 

Funny how different people see things differently.

 

I see it as many gamers becoming entitled and expecting too much from games tbh.

Every single game people expect it to be better then the last one they played, if it's not instead of seeing a decent solid game, they complain and say it failed.

 

The problem is there has to reach a point where games stagnate and cant become better for the price paid verus effort and funding to make.

It already costs millions of production $$ to make a decent game these days and we are starting to see games and programming hit the limits of what can be done. New innovative ideas surface and fail because they cant live up to the over hype not only created by general media but by gamers on social media and so on.

 

Then again these days a game making a profit is still considered a fail, even if its really not. A profit isn't a fail, people enjoying it isn't a fail, but millions of $$ of profits and players are what is expected from gamers and compainies alike to be considered a success.

 

Has to give eventually.

[AshenK]

Funny how different people see things differently.

 

I see it as many gamers becoming entitled and expecting too much from games tbh.

Every single game people expect it to be better then the last one they played, if it's not instead of seeing a decent solid game, they complain and say it failed.

 

The problem is there has to reach a point where games stagnate and cant become better for the price paid verus effort and funding to make.

It already costs millions of production $$ to make a decent game these days and we are starting to see games and programming hit the limits of what can be done. New innovative ideas surface and fail because they cant live up to the over hype not only created by general media but by gamers on social media and so on.

 

Then again these days a game making a profit is still considered a fail, even if its really not. A profit isn't a fail, people enjoying it isn't a fail, but millions of $$ of profits and players are what is expected from gamers and compainies alike to be considered a success.

 

Has to give eventually.

Oh yes the "Gamers are entitled" spin yet again.

 

Let me ask you something, if I spend $60 dollars of my money on a title shouldn't that title be what me and the fans want? Shouldn't it come working with all it's content, not barely working and if I want those quests I have to spend $15 to $25 dollars on the DLC? Yes it should as I am paying full price for something and I should get my moneys worth. So should you, so should ever one on here.

 

Did any of us want Anthem? No. Did any of us want Battlefield V being what it is? No. Did anyone ask for a multiplayer online only Fallout? No. Do we want yearly releases of CoD? No. Are we tired of the same rehashed Halo or Gears of War? Yes.

 

Maybe if EA and others would start hearing out what the fanbase wants rather then doing whatever they think is best we wouldn't be in this mess but here we are. And more and more people ever day are waking up to how bad things have gotten.

[Suzsi]

Oh yes the "Gamers are entitled" spin yet again.

 

Let me ask you something, if I spend $60 dollars of my money on a title shouldn't that title be what me and the fans want? Shouldn't it come working with all it's content, not barely working and if I want those quests I have to spend $15 to $25 dollars on the DLC? Yes it should as I am paying full price for something and I should get my moneys worth. So should you, so should ever one on here.

 

Did any of us want Anthem? No. Did any of us want Battlefield V being what it is? No. Did anyone ask for a multiplayer online only Fallout? No. Do we want yearly releases of CoD? No. Are we tired of the same rehashed Halo or Gears of War? Yes.

 

Maybe if EA and others would start hearing out what the fanbase wants rather then doing whatever they think is best we wouldn't be in this mess but here we are. And more and more people ever day are waking up to how bad things have gotten.

 

I think it's an age thing.

 

What's gotten bad is the expectations of gamers pushing for games to live upto those expectations and companies not being able to keep up, thus games are released with bugs for trying to do more then they are able to -- because gamers want more, trying to live upto those gamers hypes and then finding out they couldn't do it in the time frame required.

 

I sit back and remember the days where spending hours playing pacman on the atari 360 was considered entertaining and see how amazing games are now by comparison and im still blown away. Theres so many people now who have no idea how amazing these games truly are and how fast they moved forward in tech. So many who where born into times where games had already taken that massive leap into the first mmo's and rpgs like kotor etc that dont even know the times before them.

 

No it really is the fact that gamers expect more and more and more, companies try to deliver then gamers complain when they can't.

 

Games need a reboot, back to say 10 years ago and then *slowly* try to move forward and improve from there rather then in the massive leaps and bounds they cant possibly keep up with.

 

Times when production times for games went from 1 to 2 years to 7+ years which is a long time for any company to wait and see no profit for their projects, while forking over millions to produce it. We as gamers expect them to keep up with this but how many really could without a) releasing games early and fixing bugs later or b) going under.

Its a big ask. I dont think most get how big.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Suzsi

[Valin_Marr]

I think it's an age thing.

 

What's gotten bad is the expectations of gamers pushing for games to live upto those expectations and companies not being able to keep up, thus games are released with bugs for trying to do more then they are able to -- because gamers want more, trying to live upto those gamers hypes and then finding out they couldn't do it in the time frame required.

 

I sit back and remember the days where spending hours playing pacman on the atari 360 was considered entertaining and see how amazing games are now by comparison and im still blown away. Theres so many people now who have no idea how amazing these games truly are and how fast they moved forward in tech. So many who where born into times where games had already taken that massive leap into the first mmo's and rpgs like kotor etc that dont even know the times before them.

 

No it really is the fact that gamers expect more and more and more, companies try to deliver then gamers complain when they can't.

 

Games need a reboot, back to say 10 years ago and then *slowly* try to move forward and improve from there rather then in the massive leaps and bounds they cant possibly keep up with.

 

Times when production times for games went from 1 to 2 years to 7+ years which is a long time for any company to wait and see no profit for their projects, while forking over millions to produce it. We as gamers expect them to keep up with this but how many really could without a) releasing games early and fixing bugs later or b) going under.

Its a big ask. I dont think most get how big.

 

ok so now we're actually getting somewhere. lol EA's sport platform you can honestly say doesn't cost them to much to produce. Each year they don't change that mush maybe a few names and add a few faetures and they push the game out for 60 to 70 dollars a pop. Its called economies of scale.

 

But what about swtor? They probably have invested 450 million in the game in it's entirety. They aren't going to come out with swtor 2 where they could incorporate this game use the assest from this game they are just going to shut it down? If it cost 7 years to make a new star war gaems, let say it takes 5 years and you're putting 150 to 200 million into it with no expectation of return why bother and just invest it in this game? You have a fantasatic platform albiet the server issues and engine are probsbly the limitation here. Maybe they can't expand this game anymore due to the engine constraints. If EA was smart they would take this game, fix it and come out with swtor 2 and this game being the backstory and swtor 2 takes place maybe 20 years after swtor. I know I am completely dreaming here but don't destroy my dream. Night everybody.

[Suzsi]

ok so now we're actually getting somewhere. lol EA's sport platform you can honestly say doesn't cost them to much to produce. Each year they don't change that mush maybe a few names and add a few faetures and they push the game out for 60 to 70 dollars a pop. Its called economies of scale.

 

But what about swtor? They probably have invested 450 million in the game in it's entirety. They aren't going to come out with swtor 2 where they could incorporate this game use the assest from this game they are just going to shut it down? If it cost 7 years to make a new star war gaems, let say it takes 5 years and you're putting 150 to 200 million into it with no expectation of return why bother and just invest it in this game? You have a fantasatic platform albiet the server issues and engine are probsbly the limitation here. Maybe they can't expand this game anymore due to the engine constraints. If EA was smart they would take this game, fix it and come out with swtor 2 and this game being the backstory and swtor 2 takes place maybe 20 years after swtor. I know I am completely dreaming here but don't destroy my dream. Night everybody.

 

SWTORs engine is considered dated by most now.

I personally still love it but it's not without it's flaws and limitations

Its a number crunching game. While they could invest that into this game and make this game much better, there is no garentee they would get that back again. There is no garentee player's would return or new players would join a game on a dated engine. So instead they move forwards onto a new game with a new engine and hope for the best.

 

At worst anthem is likely to make some profit, maybe not as much as they hope for but it will make some. SWTOR with the same funding sunk into it at this late stage may not make that back. In that, they would probably be better off shooting for an swtor 2 or another Star Wars MMO with updated engines sadly.

 

Most use WoW as an example for MMOs but its an exception to the rule, not the norm. It came at the exact right time with new shinies and picked up a massive player base from day 1. Blizzard also already had a huge warcraft following, Bioware only had Kotor for a Star Wars RPG following. So it kinda relied on 1) players being star wars fans. 2) those star wars fans also being rpg fans. 3) those star wars rpg fans also being bioware rpg fans or willing to try it out.

WoW was simply general fantasy with a warcraft base.

 

Most MMOs, with the exception of WoW have a shelf life of about 10 years give or take of general bleeding out players over the years who move onto new shiny things that catch their attention. WoW is no exception of bleeding players over time it just started with over tripple of what most mmos start with so the bleed out takes longer to be impactful to the viability of the game.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Suzsi

[SourOrange]

Funny how different people see things differently.

 

I see it as many gamers becoming entitled and expecting too much from games tbh.

Every single game people expect it to be better then the last one they played, if it's not instead of seeing a decent solid game, they complain and say it failed.

 

The problem is there has to reach a point where games stagnate and cant become better for the price paid verus effort and funding to make.

It already costs millions of production $$ to make a decent game these days and we are starting to see games and programming hit the limits of what can be done. New innovative ideas surface and fail because they cant live up to the over hype not only created by general media but by gamers on social media and so on.

 

Then again these days a game making a profit is still considered a fail, even if its really not. A profit isn't a fail, people enjoying it isn't a fail, but millions of $$ of profits and players are what is expected from gamers and compainies alike to be considered a success.

 

Has to give eventually.

 

I don't think gamers are being entitled, I think it has more to do with how much they're willing to be charged for increasingly inferior products. Pretty graphics does not a good game make- and while games as a whole are definitely getting prettier to look at, I wouldn't say there's been a net increase in actual gameplay and story quality.

 

Excessive microtransactions and loot crates in particular are doing a huge number on the gaming industry, especially when they interfere with one's enjoyment of the base game itself, like restricting playable classes/characters/etc unless one is willing to pay.. Even if they have already purchased the game itself. Games are beginning to be treated as more of a business than an art you exchange money to interact with, and I think that's a huge mistake.

 

To add to that, this may just be my opinion but honestly, a lot of new IP from AAA developers is just.. Really boring- a lot of it just isn't imaginative, it tries too hard to relate to current societal issues rather than relating its morals and message to its own internal narrative, it doesn't push any boundaries or ask any questions.

More and more games are being made so safely (as in "this is what has sold in the past, so it should sell now") in terms of story and design that things are just starting to look way too uniform. Stylistic choices for AAA games are limited to "moderately realistic" to "trying to imitate reality", rather than actually trying to do something unique with the art and style direction like, say, Journey, Cuphead or Team Fortress 2.

 

Good games with the potential to become wildly popular don't have to cost millions of dollars to make- all they require is the right tools, the right developers, and a good idea. You'll notice that some of the biggest and most popular game companies and IPs today had their roots in little indie games made by tiny studios, or even just a handful of people. Warcraft, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Minecraft, Undertale-- even Star Wars itself was considered a huge gamble when it was made. It wasn't expected to succeed.

 

Because profit has interfered so deeply with the creative process of actually creating a game, games often end up getting warped by shareholders who care way more about their bottom line than about creating a unique piece of art to be enjoyed.. When both of these things should be equally considered. Money shouldn't be making all of the absolute decisions when it comes to developing a game. Without freedom of creativity, games are being made with less passion, they're being made to appease a bank account, they're being made at the behest of people who are not the creative director. And gamers, on average, seem to be picking up on this. This is why so many AAA games that were "made to succeed" have been ultimately destined to fail.

 

That said, I'm not going to assume Anthem is doomed to failure, nor am I saying any other upcoming game from a popular publisher is automatically terrible by proxy of being produced this way. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised, and I always hope to be. And sometimes older fans overreact to temporary changes in their favourite franchises, and when they do, I openly admit and absolutely agree they can unfairly colour the reception of a game, even if said game wasn't bad at all. But with the track record of less-than-impressive performances across the board, I think it's not unreasonable to have a healthy sense of doubt, and be willing to account for the internal issues here as well.

Edited August 24, 2018 by SourOrange

[TUXs]

I don't think gamers are being entitled, I think it has more to do with how much they're willing to be charged for increasingly inferior products.

I agree completely!!!

[kodrac]

he're truly betting on the success of the upcoming Star Wars pseudo mmo (think destiny, titan fall, division, etc) to be the saving grace for their retention of the SW IP.

 

The upcoming what now?

[Andryah]

EA says it sold that much, and I'd believe EA about as much as I believe the News now a days.

 

^^ 100% spin by a disgruntled player.

 

A publicly traded company (which EA is) cannot present false sales numbers in any public analysis, investor calls, or even press releases. If they do.. they run face first into Sarbanes Oxley legislation that can and will put executives in jail for fraud. Period... full stop. Further.... the companies auditors go to jail too.. and this has the result that auditors won't accept false claims and in fact are the most likely to turn the company executives in to the feds for misrepresentation.

 

Now.. you personally can have any viewpoint you choose... but that does not make it true. In this case you are role playing an old episode of Fantasy Island.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Andryah