The action MMO Anthem was supposed to be EA’s next big thing in 2019, but it became a flop. One and a half years later, BioWare presents the first details for the rework Anthem 2.0 and proudly showcases initial ideas for the loot. The loot and item system was a major point of criticism at the launch of the game and remains one to this day.
This is the situation:
- BioWare has failed with Anthem – the game was apparently finished too late, had to be released hurriedly and suffered from severe problems at launch. There was mainly no content supply and essential game systems like the loot were weak and remain weak to this day.
- BioWare has decided not to continue working with small updates on the game but to release a large rework – a team of about “30 people” is supposed to work on Anthem 2.0. They are located in Austin, Texas. This is the studio that previously worked on the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.
- Now the 33 team members can be seen for the first time, and a first blog post has appeared: The topic is loot, one of the major weaknesses of Anthem.
BioWare admits: A lot went wrong with the loot
This is what Anthem says about the old loot: The studio director, Christian Dailey, admits in the first blog post about Anthem 2.0 (via bioware) that clear mistakes were made in the old and current system. A lot went wrong.
The loot system in the old Anthem did not work, which is why they have now been working intensively on bringing a new one.
What is so bad about the loot in Anthem? The problem with the “old loot” illustrates a scene from April 2019. The developers stood in a live stream in front of a chest and were reluctant to open it because they already suspected how disappointing it would be.
The result was indeed terrible: For from the chest sprang no exciting, new weapons, but only crafting materials.
Silence filled the stream. Everyone seemed to realize: This loot system will not motivate our players. There was too little loot, and it was not a pleasant moment in Anthem to open a chest and be “rewarded”.
More loot, better loot, clearer loot
The most important new goals for loot are now:
- to give players more and better loot.
- the loot should be farmable through quests, vendors or unique loot lists.
- items should be customizable.
- Players should instantly recognize how strong an item is and be able to classify it. A “strong item” should be immediately recognizable and equipable.
- Items should all make sense and not be designed in a way that they are immediately discarded if they do not meet a certain value.
- BioWare wants to implement a loot system in Anthem that can be expanded at any time.
These are the most important new ideas: BioWare also presents ideas on how they want to achieve all of this.
- The starkest contrast to the sad Twitch scene is a kind of “loot goblin” like the one known from Diablo 3. Dailey calls it the “running treasure chest”; when this rare mob dies, it explodes and drops loot.
- Items should have a clear value budget, depending on their rarity and strength.
- Players should be able to modify and even level up items.
Moreover, Anthem suggests that it will improve how weapons and items feel in the game. The gunplay of Anthem 2.0 should be more responsive – enemies should react almost immediately when hit. Furthermore, BioWare wants to ensure that melee builds and skills become exciting.
Anthem is currently back on air after a long, long silence. Some new images have also been released. Surprisingly, BioWare is not only working on improving the gameplay systems but also on new content for Anthem:
Anthem is indeed working on new content, showing 3 images and a space pirate.
