Are you considering buying Anthem? (Mass Effect thread version)

Still unsure, want some more info, particularly on the SP elements & will defo play the beta to completely make up my mind.

It is not possible to want to buy something we barely have context for. Like yeah it's third person, has loot and is big, but thats like 80% of games these days. Need more info

Anecdotal evidence does seem to suggest that personnel resources were regularly diverted to Anthem at the expense of MEA. Still, despite my disappointment and regret, this doesn't affect my likelihood to support Anthem. Anthem isn't the type of game I generally play, since I prefer SP games. If Anthem were to have robust SP, I'd definitely give it a serious look. It seems likely to have beautiful production values and gameplay.

I get that people are legitimately upset with how Andromeda turned out, and Bioware deserves the criticism they received for the game launch condition. What I don't get is why people keep blaming them for the lack of support and no DLC. EA downsized Montreal within a few months after the games release, and the studio got absorbed into EA Motive. How exactly do you expect them [Montreal] to keep supporting the game with significant content after that, let alone DLC? It's EA who's primarily responsible for whether or not DLC gets made, as they control the flow of money, marketing, and distribution. This is why I always scratch my head when Bioware posts a quick twitter message about a very small Multiplayer update and people flood in to respond with, "#SaveTheQuarians," as if Montreal didn't want to. That MP content, btw, was already stuff they added to the last patch for Mass Effect. It isn't being patched in, just having a switched turned on to have the new content activated over a period of time.

I'll judge Anthem based on its own merits, not based on pre-conceived notions that stem from my opinion of another game in a different franchise; and made by another studio. If you lack interest in Anthem because it's not your genre, or because you simply don't have faith in Bioware anymore, then that's just what it is. If you're going to pre-judge Anthem off of what happened with ME:A, it just comes off as narrow-minded to me. If you WANT Anthem to fail, then you're just being petty.

I watched the development cycle for MEA pretty closely. Admittedly, there was very little solid info available. Still, we were able to track personnel reassignments and departures. Seemingly, many of the positions vacated were never filled with new staff. After release, anonymous sources said that this was indeed a major hurdle for the staff working on MEA.

While anonymous sources and BSN detective work is certainly not conclusive, I think you give it too little credit. There will certainly be some of what you describe; but the ever-thinning personnel was a concern for some of us long before MEA's release, Anthem's announcement, etc... We watched this stuff pretty closely during the lean years of little info. Post-release info seems to at least somewhat substantiate those concerns.

People move on all the time, it might have been higher with Andromeda and at the same time Andromeda had a longer development cycle then any recent BioWare game I think it probably is on par with Dragon Age: Origins.  I won't disagree with people moving around, but when people around here outright disregard what the person is saying is a problem as well for BioWare doesn't need to issue a press release to us anytime they hire a new person or promote another person either.  Back during Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins there was a post talking about how they would move people between the games because they needed more people on one area and less on another, the problem is in the modern age of panic gaming news people would be screaming about how both games are doomed.

Yeah, "the sky is falling" is always the BSN reaction to any and every BioWare personnel change. The noteworthy thing with Andromeda was the extremely high-placed positions that were repeatedly vacated, resulting in Mac having to assume extra responsibilities. Also, the fact that many generally important positions were vacated and never filled by new workers. Only BioWare employees know the full truth of what happened, and it will likely remain that way.

Anyway, I hope Anthem is both good and successful. I'd be an ass to wish failure upon guys and gals who've made most of my favorite games. I hope Anthem's profits fuel many future SP RPGs.

OK... I see your point.

From what we saw in the mini demo, the hub interactions are first person but the exploring and fighting parts are third person.

I agree and I hope you're right, but if Anthem is successful, wouldn't EA just see this as a perfect excuse to get BioWare to make more multiplayer games? 

We're in this difficult position now where if Anthem succeeds, EA tells BioWare to focus more on this type of game because $$$. If Anthem fails, then EA begins to see BioWare as a liability, especially coming off of the Andromeda debacle, which brings BioWare's continued existence into question. It's not like EA isn't shockingly comfortable with killing off the studios it acquires. 

As disappointed as I am with Andromeda, I don't want BioWare to hang for it. I also hope Anthem succeeds and provides BioWare the chance to make more SP RPGs. But knowing EA... 

Yes. Can't remember if I ever saw another BW gameplay concept that on it's own made want to try it out.