[MP-Ryan]

So a friend of mine who was crazy enough to pre-order Anthem flipped me a code for the VIP demo, which I'll be trying this weekend.  Anyone else going to be trying it out?

HLP_MP-Ryan on Origin.

[General Battuta]

It looks increasingly less ****ty as launch approaches, but there's no way I'm touching a Destiny-style lifestyle game until players have had a few months to bang on the endgame.

[0rph3u5]

I got a code from my PR contact earlier this month, I was going to pass on it 'cause Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2 but if we get a group going I might as well join you

[The E]

I'm definitely in on the Anthem train, but I probably won't be part of the VIP Demo thing (unless someone wants to shoot me a code?)

[0rph3u5]

(unless someone wants to shoot me a code?)

Check your PMs

(That puts my Refer A Friend tally to 1 of 3)

[The E]

Thank you, sir! I'll use this power wisely.

[Det. Bullock]

I find the game throughly uninteresting just by looking at screenshots and it being a multiplayer thing doesn't endear it to me.

[MP-Ryan]

It looks increasingly less ****ty as launch approaches, but there's no way I'm touching a Destiny-style lifestyle game until players have had a few months to bang on the endgame.

It will have to be stunning for me to even think about buying at launch... BUT, I see nothing wrong with tinkering in the demo(s).

Hey E, I'm busy Friday night but I'll be playing here and there on Saturday/Sunday.  Hop in a Discord voice channel or make sure you're visible on Origin if you're on and I'll either hop on with you orsend you an invite if I'm in a small group.  Some of my ME:A buddies are trying this out.

[The E]

Gonna be away for most of Saturday, but we'll probably be able to make something happen on Sunday.

[MP-Ryan]

I've split out the anti-EA hate parade.  This thread is to discuss playing Anthem - and specifically the demo.  If you want to go hate on EA, well, you now have a thread to do that.

[The E]

This game sure is an MMO on launch day.

[0rph3u5]

Well, waiting until you get out of the server quene

The loading screen before you get out of the Fort is so .... 1998.

EDIT: Okay, maybe it was just the server hanging up on me mid loading.

[MP-Ryan]

There is the definite possibility I may be able to play tonight after all... though E (and orpheus?) I don't know if you feel like getting up at 5-6 AM

[The E]

I feel like I will be dead asleep at that time.

Also, at time of me posting this, the game is hilariously unstable. Server connections don't stay around for long, causing instability everywhere, and right at this moment, Origin itself seemingly went down.

From the little I played, I can see some good stuff and some bad stuff. Good stuff: Combat feels good. A lot like Andromeda.
Bad stuff: The UX design is baaaaaaaaaaaad. One of the first screens you see is a short options menu that lets you set some basic options, and the part where you'd think a "continue" button would be is instead filled with an "Exit Anthem" button. The process of inviting others into your game is convoluted as ****; you go to the mission launch screen, switch to the "roster" tab (Insert rant here about how the UI in the options menu makes it really unclear whether or not options are changeable, a similar thing happens here), you select the "invite" button, select the "Friends" tab (hoping it will populate, it sometimes doesn't), then you mark the friend you want to invite, press "T" for some reason to open a popup menu with some "actions", one of which is invite, you mark that option and press enter, and then wonder if anything happened, because the game sure as hell doesn't give you feedback. Then you hope that said friend can actually join you.

[0rph3u5]

There is the definite possibility I may be able to play tonight after all... though E (and orpheus?) I don't know if you feel like getting up at 5-6 AM

I can't tell ... just check if I am on in Origin.


Agreed on both counts with The E as far UI and gameplay goes. The UI seems to be very controller optimized; gameplay however is very fluid and Iron Man'ing everywhere is a lot of fun.

However I seem to have a bit more luck with the stability of my sessions.

[The E]

Agreed on both counts with The E as far UI and gameplay goes. The UI seems to be very controller optimized; gameplay however is very fluid and Iron Man'ing everywhere is a lot of fun.

The thing is, I keep comparing the UI/UX with what Destiny does. That game operates under the same constraints, its UI is designed to be easy to handle with a controller, but it still feels smooth and solid on PC (minor niggles like having to hold buttons for an arbitrary amount of time before an action happens aside).
This does not feel smooth and not as well designed, on many levels.

[Rhymes]

It looks increasingly less ****ty as launch approaches, but there's no way I'm touching a Destiny-style lifestyle game until players have had a few months to bang on the endgame.

Having gotten both Destiny 1 (which I enjoyed for its fundamentals even as the endgame had problems at launch) and Destiny 2 (which I didn't, mostly for having learned the wrong lessons from D1), I am very much in support of this position. The setting looks neat, the combat looks somewhat interesting, but if the game doesn't have the legs to sustain it, it's not worth it.

[MP-Ryan]

So, just got into it for about 45 minutes.  First thoughts:
-The UI is ass.  The E understated it if anything.  It is ridiculously complicated to do simple things in the menus.  Far too many button presses... and its button presses.  No mouse clicking some for you.
-It's pretty.  I mean, REALLY pretty.  Graphically it's a marvel...
-...and in terms of network performance its a flaming dumpster bin full of dog****.  The slightest lag rubberbands you to a spot.  Flying too.  Oh, and it disrupts flight control.  So that's [not] fun.
-Mouse sensitivity defaults are all over the place.  I had to crank it all to max and I'll dial it back, but with the network performance issues its hard to tell what's laggy and what's ****ty input response.  Flying, so far, is clunky.  I'm going to have to play with the settings, but the defaults are far from intuitive.  I'm not sure if they set these with a gaming mouse set to its maximum possible sensitivity in the drivers or what, but I feel like I need to bump my mouse to its highest input speed just to get this responsive in flight.  On the ground, the basic slider to max made it acceptable.
-In terms of gameplay... I did one mission, but spent so much time monkeying with controls that I didn't follow what was going on very well.  E is right that it seems to have a very MMO feel, where I was hoping more for a Borderlands-type coop experience.

I'll try some more tomorrow and Sunday.  So far, in its current state, definitely not recommended.  Just the fact that BioWare/EA did not anticipate the right level of network/sever support required for a demo has me highly concerned.

[0rph3u5]

I am done with the demo missions and checked into Freeplay (roaming the overworld) this morning ... Still have not unlocked another Javelin other than the Ranger (but I've seen the Interceptor and the Storm in the wilds)

Network issues got better this morning; but the whole thing did make headlines for just how little infrastructure they had for the demand.

The missions actually get better once the opposition evolves - the Dominion are just stock human-enemies with the odd enemy javelin in there (same goes for the Outlaws you meet roaming); the Scar are actually a bit more challanging with Snipers those rifle kick you out flight, Grenadiers that force you to keep moving, and Brutes Enforcers with big shields you almost have to be in team to take down (hitting the shield does 0 damage but when you get around you can shoot some weakpoints for extra damage); the Elementals are a bit in-between with smaller ones being like stock beasts, but the Titans actually need some awareness so you don't pump them full of bullets to no effect (Titans get vurnable spots when they charge their attacks).

Freeplay is actually more fun than the missions, although I wish there was a bounty board or something to structure it - right now you just go out, shoot some stuff you come across, loot ressources and gear, and do your challanges for XP. "World Events" are actually cool but I found they can't be solo'ed; a boss fight with roaming Luminary with another Ranger I happened to run into was particullarly fun (though we went down around 50% mark)
What detracts from the experience is that I frequently ran into "Leaving Mission Area"-borders when just flying around... again, maybe just a restriction of the demo content or me hanging around in the wrong areas.

I will get on today and tomorrow and see if how the dungeons play and try my hand at the Stronghold-group mission.

EDIT: Just saw a Collossus during Freeplay ... for 5 seconds, then he pulverized an outlaw camp with his mortar and jetted off

Also just got mangled by an Ursix during a world event, aka "the reason you will be glad for your ability to fly" - due to event's victory condition I has to put my feet on the ground and got cornered.

[0rph3u5]

Went out on the Stronghold-Mission ... and it CTD'ed after the mission was over. (My progress was logged, so now I am proud owner of an Interceptor Javelin, but I my loot was lost my loot wasn't unpacked)

Until the crash however the mission was really fun - except for the short segments where we had to go underwater, and it got disorienting (underwater turning was a bit of drag to it). Might be even more fun, if the team had coordinated gear.

"Next time, I expect big-ass bugs to be in the mission briefing."