The launch of Anthem did not go particularly well, and even Bioware admitted it. The developers have apologized for it, but the entire situation, particularly a statement from studio head Casey Hudson, annoys Mein-MMO author Andreas Bertits.
Hardly any game is released without bugs and runs smoothly from the start. As a paying customer, you simply expect these issues to be fixed. Therefore, an apology from the developers is reasonable.
However, as Bioware head Casey Hudson stated in his letter to the community, that Anthem is a learning process and that in the coming months they will show what the online shooter can really do, crosses a line for me.
An old-fashioned or a proper attitude?
That’s why a full-price game must convince at launch: Maybe I’m old-fashioned. But I expect a certain status from a game that is released at full price. I’m not paying the money to receive a game months later that was actually planned.
I don’t want to be a guinea pig or beta tester if I’ve purchased an officially released title at full price. However, this seems to be increasingly becoming a common practice, especially with online games.
It’s perfectly fine if an online game evolves over time. The emphasis here is on EVOLVES. I expect a well-playable product at launch. Something that can stand alone as a title and that is worth the purchase price in its release form.
That this game will then be expanded with new content over time, for which you then optionally have to pay extra, is fine. However, the base game at launch must have a corresponding status for me.
Therefore, it annoys me when a developer like Bioware explains that they are still in a learning process and that soon Anthem will show what it can actually do. I would have expected that already at launch. After all, I spent money on it.
Are we accepting unfinished games at full price?
Is it normal for online gamers to play unfinished released games? It seems that this practice is increasingly meeting with understanding among online gamers. One readily pays the full price for a game that may only reach the status the developers actually want in a year? Isn’t this called Early Access instead of release?
I wouldn’t buy a car and only get the chassis for the full price, having to wait a year for the seats, doors, and exhaust to be delivered.
I also wouldn’t buy security software for the PC and then be told by the developer that the antivirus will be delivered to me a year later.
I want to make it clear again that this is not about bugs. Virtually every game has bugs, and that these are fixed is a given.
However, it should also be a given to release a title in good condition at launch that is worth its price. With statements like those Bioware made regarding Anthem, I simply feel mocked as a paying customer.
A game can be plagued by bugs, it can be bad, but it must not be released in a state where even the developers say that it can only show what it is capable of in the future. That goes too far for me.
I simply expect a title at launch and at full price that already shows what it can do and that will be expanded from this status to become even better in the future. But as I said, maybe I am just old-fashioned…
