TJ Ramini @tjramini #Bored? How about some #FREE @anthemgame CODES! Until April 4th, I’ll be giving away #PS4 #XBOX & #PC codes at random to #followers who #like, #comment & #tag a friend. Tell me where you are in the world & what system you use. Stay safe, have fun 😊❤️🎮 #stayandplay #competition
Freelancer Codex @freelancercodex We had an awesome time talking with deedlite for episode 121. Melissa worked on @anthemgame and helped bring to life the enemies we face. YouTube will be uploaded later today.
Electronic Arts #stayandplay @ea EA Play Live goes digital in 2020! See you on June 11th at 4pm PST... World premieres, news and more! www.ea.com/eaplay
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Though not specific towards Anthem, I thought it might be worth leaving this information regarding EA and their push to allow some of their titles to upgrade to next-gen consoles; at no cost. There's a possibility that Anthem could come to next-gen consoles, and so I found it pertinent to include the Gamespot link and CFO quotes regarding this development.
EA CFO Blake Jorgensen said during EA's earnings briefing that at least some of the company's titles will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X through upgrades that won't cost extra. Jorgensen shared this information in remarks about the revenue that EA is expecting during the fiscal year.
"Note that this year the phasing includes the effect of revenue recognition from the games we are launching for the current generation of consoles that can also be upgraded for free for the next generation," he said (emphasis added). "We've made a preliminary estimate of that impact in the phasing. But it should be noted that this will not affect net bookings for the full year, nor cash flow, just the timing of recognition."
Anthem @anthemgame Freelancers. Tomorrow at 8AM ET, Anthem will undergo a short period of scheduled server maintenance for up to a few hours. We appreciate your patience during this time.
My name is Christian, and I am the Studio Director for the BioWare Austin office that is leading the production of what we are exploring NEXT for Anthem. NICE TO MEET YOU!
Prior to this role I was the Franchise Development Director for the Anthem Live Service helping guide the development of our post-launch updates which focused on stabilizing and improving performance of the service, our first Cataclysm, Season of Skulls, Icetide and into the most recent update with 1.7. And in addition, I have been silently stalking you over the past year on Reddit, EA Forums, Twitter, etc. taking in all the feedback you have been graciously providing and adding it to the giant cookbook of things we are experimenting with in Anthem.
As you can see from my photo and like most of you, I am all set up from home, ready to be juggling multiple things – children, pets, family. Some days are better than others, but I can tell you that regardless of where I am working or where the team is working – we’re committed to this project. With that, I wanted to start with a quick update on what is going on with Anthem since we last discussed it in February.
Incubation- AKA prototyping
The Anthem incubation team has kicked off and we are starting to validate our design hypotheses. Incubation is a term we use internally – it essentially means we are going back and experimenting/prototyping to improve on the areas where we believe we fell short and to leverage everything that you love currently about Anthem. We are a small team – about 30-ish, earning our way forward as we set out to hit our first major milestone goals. Spoiler – this is going to be a longer process. And yes, the team is small but the whole point of this is to take our time and go back to the drawing board. And a small team gives us the agility a larger one can’t afford.
We really want this experience to be different for the team and our players, but we know we have some tough challenges to tackle. We want to include you as we go and be open and honest with where we are at and what the expectations are with where we are going. The reality is you will see things that look awesome but end up on the cutting room floor or things that you might think suck that you feel we are spending too much time on – but in the spirit of experimentation this is all OK. We really want to provide you all the transparency we can because of your passion and interest in Anthem. But, with that comes seeing how the sausage is made – which is not always pretty by the way.
Start the conversation
We also want to start putting together some regular comms out to everyone to show/talk about these changes and our progress. This blog is one example, but we also want to include you in more of the day to day and hopefully get you some real interactions with the team. These updates could come in the form of an ad-hoc live stream, or some cool concept art posted on social media, or the occasional feed of me curled up in a ball crying in the corner…
We will get back to everyone on what our update cadence will look like soon, as we start looping you into our progress.
We hope this finds you well
We have a great studio here in Austin working on Anthem and other cool projects (shout out to the SWTOR team). I am proud of the folks I spend time with – and in this physical distancing new world, the folks I spend time on Zoom with. I am not here to over hype anything, but we do believe the changes we are making are the right ones and we hope you think so as well…but you might not and that is cool too. It is the constructive criticism and feedback we need – in either direction.
I hope everyone is staying safe and focusing on the things that matter most to you. As game developers we are all very lucky for the job we get to do but there is some real stuff going on out there and some real heroes looking out for our safety and well-being. Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay tuned as we kick this off and we hope to see/hear from you as we go on this journey (stronger) together.
Jay Watamaniuk @jaywatamaniuk Received an official work document that contained the phrase “hoity-toity.” I’m fairly certain I’ve never seen it actually written out before.
Your Anthem @anthemyour There are a few armor sets that were never used or never released in #Anthem 2019. A few of those models were datamined by @javano_ & @ginsorkr , but some never made it into the files.
One such is the bitpack for the Outlaw Ranger set by Jaemus Wurzbach.
Personally? I dig it!
Christian Dailey @christiandailey We almost had a Scar Strider too
BioWare @bioware 25 years of adventure, conflict, and companionship. Share with us your favorite moments from the worlds you have helped us build. #BioWare25
Henry Chan @henry_chan91 @christiandailey any update that you can share regarding the incubation of anthem?
Christian Dailey @christiandailey It is going well. Hopefully we can spotlight some of the focus areas soon - player autonomy, proper progression (loot/javelin), endgame...and Pirates.... What topics would you like to see?
Your Anthem @anthemyour Pirates? Ok. Color me surprised and impressed! Similar to the Outlaws or a new faction entirely?
You can never fail with a peek on Javelins and loot, but I’m soooohohohoo down for a lore injection at anytime!
Christian Dailey @christiandailey New faction - Wyvern taming, drunk Ursix wrangling good times.
Freelancer Damisa-SarkiYin yang8✊🏽 @damisa_sarki Hmm new factions??? How about the regions well explore?
Christian Dailey @christiandailey More on regions soon!
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Lots of great questions coming in! I won't be able to respond to everyone but it's great to see themes forming around areas of interest. Our next blog will focus on some of the changes around loot and gear. Have a great weekend all and stay safe.
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Lots of good discussion around our Pirate friends and new factions. We want to share more on factions and the part they play in the future. One common question though is "where do the Pirates live?" Here of course .... Happy Friday all.
Christian Dailey @christiandailey The Unfathomed in the Sunken Cell almost had a very different look, but we ran out of time. Always loved Ken's concept. Maybe this version will make a visit one day....
BioWare @bioware Breaking news: The BioWare Gear store is back! The long elevator ride is over. Come visit the one stop shop for all your @masseffect, @anthemgame, and @dragonage collectibles!
Jesse Schultz @jts76 Great game, sorry if this has already been asked. Will there be an improvement to the navigation/map system? It's quite easy to get lost I feel, unless that's just me. Thank you again for all the hard work on an awesome game!
Christian Dailey @christiandailey No worries, and yes we plan on doing a refresh to the map and radar.
James Eadmer Dela Cruz @delaeadme Is there a possibility that Anthem will have pvp for players who want to challenge each other like who has better armor and guns especially kills. Because i've dealt so many AI enemy Javelins, wanting to challenge myself.
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Ya know...we do game jams internally and try out fun and interesting different takes on some of our games. True story - we have a BR and Battlefield Anthem floating around internally. I always thought a Tribes style of PvP would be a fun take. Not the priority right now though.
Max Rowe @maxrowe63663696 Will the new game have a first person option? I’ve always wanted to fly in first person
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Probably not. We did talk about it as an option, but much higher priority things to tackle. I imagine it is pretty epic to fly around like that. I think that Iron Man VR game is like that? I need to check it out now!
King Colion @colion Will there be an in game LFG system? And will their be more strongholds and maybe one day 8man raids?
Christian Dailey @christiandailey LFG - we are looking for ways to reduce friction points for matchmaking and playing with friends. Re: Strongholds - yes. Re: 8 person raids.... we will see.
RubyJavelin @gameandreload Curious, are additional kill mechanics going to be explored further? I know some enemies use them already, but those could be a good way to make combat even better.
Example: Dominion Wolven/Brutes have control collars that can be broken, allowing them to rebel.
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Indeed - with any new faction we will look at new and interesting ways to dispatch them
Rift Fighter @neather_works Will, there be weapons in the game that have themes similar to the factions we face?
Christian Dailey @christiandailey I hope so.
AnthemRox @rox_anthem How’s that blog going?
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Nailed the opening.
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Blog is done and off for approvals. No timing, but I hope in the next few weeks. Thanks again for the awesome response and feedback to everything you are seeing (good and bad). It really means a lot to the team. Have a great weekend all. oh...and this.
Richik Kundu @ryknex As much as I want the changes in UI, I really don't like the new windows 10 tiles menu screen, no hate, I'm really looking forward to the 2.0 changes but I really want Bioware to do something different than destiny in this segment.
Christian Dailey @christiandailey Appreciate the feedback. To clarify - this is not the final UI treatment. We do quick mock ups for trying out layouts and testing functionality in the game. This will evolve over time, but wanted to share the progress. Remember that sausage...
