How Frostbite Ruined BioWare

Of all the things to criticize anthem on, graphics is not really high on my list. It looks pretty spiffy. Even the characters. to me anyway.

Frostbite seems to have a tendency for glossyness. I noticed it very pronounced in DAI. Some call it 'plastic' look. To me it often appeared as if characters were sweating.

I'm just sayin Frostbite exhausted Bioware because it was time/resource consuming and too much work... therefore actual mission/area design (and more stories to put into these areas), a more complex loot & weapons/armors systems, and an actual cataclysm was neglected.

Anthem is basically just graphics and repetitive gameplay (claimed to be good and fun). In other aspects it has nothing to offer... easily beaten by similar games or sub-par by old Bioware standards.

The gameplay was never the main selling point for Bioware games. Regardless of most of the faults of their games or the niche of their gameplay genre, Bioware games stood out among the crowd thanks to their immersive and seemless world building, story and characters. It's what set them apart and elevated them in the eyes of the gaming community, compared to other game studios. If they didn't get those things right, personally, I'd have never jumped on board with, say, Jade Empire, or Dragon Age, or whatever. And I'd most certainly not jump on ME3 "best place to start" in the trilogy. If the ride isn't worth it, I'd rather jump into Dynasty Warriors or some shit.

Very true, I'm running a new Mass Effect playthrough, loving it and the gameplay is frankly total pants (and I don't care).

Anthem is more of an 'offspring of Mass Effect 3 multiplayer' so the gameplay has to be excellent as it's that kind of thing.

I also think the Anthem story and characters need to be first-rate and I think they are / potentially are, I just wish there was a good deal more of it.

I have to say that I care for none of these characters, they are not visually interesting to me and, since Bioware never bothered to introduce them to me in an exciting new fashion, I have also no interest in getting to know them. Some people praise Owen's character, as being well written, by I especially dislike Owen's look, VA and character, as I've seen him in previews and was further disenchanted by the fact I couldn't tell him to fuck off. So clearly Anthem wasn't a game made for me and I get that not every game needs to pander to me, but it is becoming increasingly clear that these games aren't pandering even to the people they are made for, at least not in a satisfying enough way. And I also get that it is disheartening for the devs and the dedicated fans to hear Bioware's good name getting slandered left and right, but ... oof! Bioware, unfortunately, does not exist in a vacuum. Their works actively compete in the field with those of other developers and are going to get actively compared to them. When other studios do more with the Bioware formula and arguably better than Bioware does, these days at least, why wouldn't you invest your time and money in those, than Bioware's latest 5/10 title?

The bugs being fixed post launch is not, in my opinion, a metric by which I can fairly judge a game that has been sold openly for a price tag of up to $100, often times even more, with the expectation it will one day become good, or even just playable, depending on each title's release state. At least not while demanding a full price tag and touting special editions with bells and whistles. And in the case of an experimental title, especially in that case, don't come knocking on my door for money with the vague promise of "it's new, we'll get it down right, eventually" when you've a track record of dropping support for games shortly after release, with no reassurances about my purchase of and investment in the game. If I am not entitled to the service I was promised, as advertised, the company is also not entitled to my money, it's the cost of transperency.

Sure. It's not 'at launch' but that 'as advertised' service has now arrived with the Cataclysm.

I trust the GAAS and launch state will be polished for DA4, so that'll get a pre-order from me, but if that stuffs up, I'm going to start having doubts.

You think?

The follow up to the GOTY DAI would be highly anticipated I would have thought.

The suggestions that it will be gaas and live service may cause a number of people to shy away from it too, at least until they see the state of the game at release.

Just dont preorder and the fucks you need to give are nil. Wait a week after release and you'll have good idea if you want to invest any fucks to give.