Post by SofaJockey on Jun 9, 2018 20:59:35 GMT
From the Game Informer Article:
www.gameinformer.com/feature/anthem/flying-to-a-new-frontier
"CO-OP CONVENIENCES
One reason people like single-player games is the lack of external obligation. You alone control how, when, and for how long you play. Cooperative experiences add new layers of coordination to deal with, from scheduling to matchmaking to social interaction. These certainly aren’t difficult barriers (especially for people who enjoy multiplayer), but they can be a hassle for those who just want to enjoy a virtual world.
“We’ve played a lot of different multiplayer games, and sometimes it can be a little bit awkward,” Warner says. “You have a slot open, somebody jumps in, and you’re like, ‘Ooh, I didn’t really want to play with you. But you’re my friend, so I’ll play with you for a little while, and then I’ll make an excuse, and then I’ll log out and log back in with my status set to offline.’ There’s always a little bit of social friction involved in multiplayer matchmaking, at least in my experience.”
The team wants every aspect of Anthem’s co-op to be as seamless as possible, and the game has several features built to alleviate common multiplayer hassles. If you’re in Fort Tarsis and want to team up for a mission, you just open your map. That shows you the world and the available activities, along with who is currently undertaking them (weighted toward people on your friends list). If there’s an open slot, you just jump right into action.
“Our map system is kind of a LFG [looking for group] lobby and the world map from an RPG blended together,” Darrah says. “You see these opportunities on the map, blended in with your own experience. That is very much what we’re trying for – something that is a little bit less rigid and gamey and more fluid.”
Alternately, you can start your own mission, and that will show up on their maps as an available activity to join. You can also invite people specifically, or rely on the in-game notification system to alert your friends that you’ve started a task. You can tweak the settings to dictate whether your game is public or private – and if it’s public, you can rest assured that plenty of missions are clear and intuitive enough that you can complete them without voice chat.
Because Anthem has a shared world and private hub, the structure of the game naturally splits groups apart. “I jump in and I’m able to do a mission with somebody, and that’s an experience that lasts maybe 20 minutes,” Warner says. “And then the system breaks us apart; I don’t have to say ‘I don’t want to play with you anymore.’ It just does. It breaks us apart and we each go back to our own Fort Tarsis.” Of course, if you and your friends just want to stick together and play for hours on end, you can do that without constantly disbanding and reforming the group.
Another issue with co-op gaming is how to address a power disparity between players. When low-level and high-level players team up, sometimes that means the weaker one is staying back just trying to not take damage, while the stronger one does all of the heavy lifting. That isn’t how Anthem works; regardless of power level, any players can team up and start fighting. “It’ll feel like it’s the same amount of damage,” Irving says. “The difference will be, if I have a greater variety of gear at my disposal, I’m going to be more efficient because I have more things to use than you. But the idea is that it will feel good – it will feel like we’re both contributing.” Even if high-level players are doing a mission that takes place late in the critical path, low-level players still have the option to join – if they confirm that they don’t mind spoilers.
These features all feed into a clear purpose for Anthem’s multiplayer: Players should be able to find companions with minimal hassle, embark on adventures, and transition easily from the private space of Fort Tarsis to the wider shared world. “The edges of your experience should be fuzzier,” Darrah says. “You are experiencing the multiplayer opportunities from your story and other people’s stories much more seamlessly, much more integrated together.”
www.gameinformer.com/feature/anthem/flying-to-a-new-frontier
"CO-OP CONVENIENCES
One reason people like single-player games is the lack of external obligation. You alone control how, when, and for how long you play. Cooperative experiences add new layers of coordination to deal with, from scheduling to matchmaking to social interaction. These certainly aren’t difficult barriers (especially for people who enjoy multiplayer), but they can be a hassle for those who just want to enjoy a virtual world.
“We’ve played a lot of different multiplayer games, and sometimes it can be a little bit awkward,” Warner says. “You have a slot open, somebody jumps in, and you’re like, ‘Ooh, I didn’t really want to play with you. But you’re my friend, so I’ll play with you for a little while, and then I’ll make an excuse, and then I’ll log out and log back in with my status set to offline.’ There’s always a little bit of social friction involved in multiplayer matchmaking, at least in my experience.”
The team wants every aspect of Anthem’s co-op to be as seamless as possible, and the game has several features built to alleviate common multiplayer hassles. If you’re in Fort Tarsis and want to team up for a mission, you just open your map. That shows you the world and the available activities, along with who is currently undertaking them (weighted toward people on your friends list). If there’s an open slot, you just jump right into action.
“Our map system is kind of a LFG [looking for group] lobby and the world map from an RPG blended together,” Darrah says. “You see these opportunities on the map, blended in with your own experience. That is very much what we’re trying for – something that is a little bit less rigid and gamey and more fluid.”
Alternately, you can start your own mission, and that will show up on their maps as an available activity to join. You can also invite people specifically, or rely on the in-game notification system to alert your friends that you’ve started a task. You can tweak the settings to dictate whether your game is public or private – and if it’s public, you can rest assured that plenty of missions are clear and intuitive enough that you can complete them without voice chat.
Because Anthem has a shared world and private hub, the structure of the game naturally splits groups apart. “I jump in and I’m able to do a mission with somebody, and that’s an experience that lasts maybe 20 minutes,” Warner says. “And then the system breaks us apart; I don’t have to say ‘I don’t want to play with you anymore.’ It just does. It breaks us apart and we each go back to our own Fort Tarsis.” Of course, if you and your friends just want to stick together and play for hours on end, you can do that without constantly disbanding and reforming the group.
Another issue with co-op gaming is how to address a power disparity between players. When low-level and high-level players team up, sometimes that means the weaker one is staying back just trying to not take damage, while the stronger one does all of the heavy lifting. That isn’t how Anthem works; regardless of power level, any players can team up and start fighting. “It’ll feel like it’s the same amount of damage,” Irving says. “The difference will be, if I have a greater variety of gear at my disposal, I’m going to be more efficient because I have more things to use than you. But the idea is that it will feel good – it will feel like we’re both contributing.” Even if high-level players are doing a mission that takes place late in the critical path, low-level players still have the option to join – if they confirm that they don’t mind spoilers.
These features all feed into a clear purpose for Anthem’s multiplayer: Players should be able to find companions with minimal hassle, embark on adventures, and transition easily from the private space of Fort Tarsis to the wider shared world. “The edges of your experience should be fuzzier,” Darrah says. “You are experiencing the multiplayer opportunities from your story and other people’s stories much more seamlessly, much more integrated together.”