Yeah I think that was actually my biggest fear (though fear’s a strong word) about going in with strangers. I didn’t want to be stuck having to play with a bunch of jerks or whatever. So to know that you can do well and have fun without actually having to listen to people acting crazy or whatever on mic is definitely a bonus for me. I’ll have to check and see if the open beta is still going on. If it is, I might jump in tonight and give it a try. Thanks, man!
A video detailing the initial endgame and post-launch stuff released today:
The breadth of challenges and content flow sounds an overall cut above Destiny 1 and 2’s launch, at least. Though, I am concerned by the small number of strongholds, lack of a true raid, and potential lack of unique gear in the loot system. The Cataclysm events sounds neat though, like what Flashpoints in Destiny 2 should be.
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I’m not too worried about unique gear - I feel like I’ve seen enough that “works” in meaningfully changing playstyle as opposed to more “unique” perks. I think Destiny’s exotics kind of convinced me that item-specific perks aren’t the best way to go about endgame gearing in a shooter - most of the perks for exotics wind up feeling gimmicky and/or useless as opposed being awesome and making you feel like you’re super challenged about which exotic you want to pick. I’m fine if multiple components are of the “bonus dmg to slot 2, X% cooldown in slot 1” type. It isn’t flashy at all, but it will legitimately change how you play or min/max particular builds. There are also at least a few javelin-specific mods that are more unique and interesting - I’m particularly excited to try out that Interceptor component that reloads your gun when you triple dash 
The Raid thing (or lack thereof) is interesting. They’re super interesting mechanically (which is awesome!), but that interesting-ness comes at the cost of making them not super fun or even possible with a group of randoms. Which sucks, because raids are the only way to earn real endgame gear in Destiny outside of the Nightfall strikes. Destiny isn’t super gear-heavy when it comes down to it, but what it essentially means is that there are only two things you can do (and each of those only once a week) to get anything meaningful in the endgame. They add new raids, but since those usually come in at whatever the new max light level is, it basically invalidates running any of the old ones and the new raid become “the” raid that you do. It’s not ideal, because it means that huge chunks of Destiny content is just obsolete.
Anthem’s endgame will (as I understand it) consist of three strongholds, freeplay, and legendary contracts. The freeplay and legendary contracts have some overlap on where they’ll take place and in objectives I imagine, but overall I think it’ll be nice to have 4 unique places where you can farm for endgame loot compared to Destiny’s 1 to 2 activities (though to be fair the Nightfall does rotate which strikes you’re doing). Hopefully the freeplay world (and by extension the legendary contracts) can have some interesting and unique biomes to play in though. I think that could help combat the inevitable feelings of sameness that will permeate endgame. I feel like on its face I think I’ll enjoy the Anthem endgame loop more than Destiny’s (I’ve always had a hard time raiding because of that 6 man team requirement), but ultimately we’ll have to wait to find out. I think its focus on giving great loot no matter what you’re doing is a good start though, since it means you can play what you like when you like without having to doom yourself to substandard gear.
Any recommendation on what bundle / edition I need to buy or what has good value?
I personally think you’re fine getting the standard edition. I got the Legion of Dawn preorder, but I don’t think the rewards (LoD vanity skins for all 4 javelins plus a bonus LoD assault rifle) are super great. I liked the game so wanted to support it, but I don’t think you’re really missing anything by skipping out on that.
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I disagree about exotics feeling gimmicky or useless. In shooter-RPGs I think they add nice wrinkles to the gameplay and playstyle options you have, more than just stat optimization. There’s nothing wrong with Diablo-esque loot, but I do think the existence of exotics with exclusive perks make the loot chase and overall game more interesting.
Raids aren’t for everyone, but they do help the longevity of these kinds of games a lot precisely because they require a lot of commitment and coordination, for highly coveted rewards that stand out in the game. Dedicated players will spend months mastering the challenges and teaching others how to do them as well. It’s true that the way Destiny handles its Raids after their launch isn’t great, so I’d like Anthem to do more than just copy it. Though Raids don’t necessarily need to be the only way to obtain endgame gear either, which actually is something Destiny 2 has been balancing decently well since Warmind and Forsaken.
Anthem’s endgame at launch doesn’t sound like the worst ever based on what we know now, but I think it may start to struggle pretty quickly. A lot of it will likely depend on how Bioware handles the new content and updates post-launch.
Yeah, I think we’ve just got a difference of opinion on Destiny exotics. I think the vast, vast majority of them were/are extremely forgettable, and in Destiny 1 the choice between what was the “right” exotic to run was basically nonexistent. I think D2 was a lot better about that, but I still think there usually wasn’t much real deliberation about what loadout to run most of the time, especially in endgame. The “one at a time” limit means you never really get to be too creative in your build - whichever subclass you’re running generally has a best armor exotic, and your weapon choice generally comes down to burst DPS for whatever mechanic you’re up against.
Like I said, Raids are interesting for me. I think they’re super fun, and they are hands-down the best part about Destiny’s endgame loop. I actually do hope Anthem adds something like them at some point, but my later experience with Destiny makes me glad that they aren’t relying on them for endgame. I raided very consistently with a group of friends in D1, but when I moved out to Singapore it broke me out of our cycle and the time difference just wasn’t something we could reliably work around in D2. And once I couldn’t raid anymore, Destiny just didn’t have an endgame. Nightfalls are ok, but it’s a 20-30 minute mission that you can do once a week, and the rewards are gated from giving any of the raid stuff so there’s no “chase” there. I actually really, really enjoyed Destiny 2 as a game - I think Bungie improved on nearly every aspect that frustrated me in the first title. But without a consistent group to raid with, it just had nothing to offer me after I completed the story and all the strikes and such. I’ll freely admit that I don’t know what happened after Warmind (though I’ve heard fantastic things about Forsaken) - while Destiny plays great, I just didn’t feel like having to go through the trouble of hooking up with randoms in New Zealand and Australia to do raids.
Time will tell if Anthem’s style of endgame will work super well for most players. For where I’m at now though, it’s definitely a better fit for my life and schedule than the once-a-week Raid structure Destiny uses.
Has there been any word on other Javelin types to be introduced?
How about the base? Is this where all missions start? Any places to go when not suited up?
(I am not at all up to date on past discussions or BW’s future plans)
They’ve mentioned a few times that they eventually do want to add additional javelins to the game, and highlighted those specifically as the only kind of post-launch DLC that would likely cost money. So something they will do, but will have some as-yet unknown cost to them.
Fort Tarsus is kind of like your Normandy or Citadel from Mass Effect, and I’m pretty sure all your critical path and “main” sidequests will come from talking to people and events that happen there. You can explore it while not suited up, but as far as I know it’ll be the only place you can explore while out of your javelin. The launch bay they added for launch seems like it’ll serve as a better quickplay place to go though - can access the contract board and select missions and stuff as well as the forge and the vault from there. But you’re suited up in your javelin there.
I get the feeling they’ll eventually introduce new cities for you to walk around in and do more cinematic sidequests and missions and stuff though. The fact that they had that “Return to Fort Tarsus” selector in the demo post-mission screen makes me think there’s gotta be somewhere else to go later on.
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As far as Destiny 2 goes, it depends. Exotics matter quite a lot in PvP because of the different advantages they give you and your opponents. In PvE it’s true that everything revolves around DPS and survivabilty, but even then exotics will significantly change how you achieve those. And while you can only equip two at a time, that still offers a lot of different combinations to mess around with.
That might not be appropriate for Anthem, which doesn’t even have PvP, but I do I hope at least there are uniquely-obtained weapons and gear in the game that stand out from standard loot. I just think having that stuff is cool and gives me reasons to keep playing.
They definitely seem like they’re going for a Diablo-style endgame right now, and it can definitely work. The big unknown right now is if Anthem will have the right amount of content to back it up at launch, or if its rate of growth will be able to make up if that doesn’t end up being the case.
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That play first trial when subscribing to Origin or EA-A is tempting, but that 10-hour limit is not.
It’s been a while since I’ve been this hyped for a game. The launch trailer is so awesome. Love the March update too. I have never played Destiny, The division, Titanfall, etc. so I have nothing to compare it with… and nothing to be disappointed about.
Yeah, I think EA is over-complicating things with all the different launch windows - it’s super weird for a game to have like three different “launch” dates 
The pass thing in particular is awkward. 10 hours sounds (maybe?) like a lot, but overall I’m content to just wait until I can play the full game. No sense paying extra to have to ration a title over a full week imo.
But yeah, I’m hyped for the game as well 
This 
I am switching jobs and have about 4 weeks off end of the month: I know what I’ll be playing for four weeks 
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Yeah, Dantics is my favorite of the Anthem content creators (though there are some other good ones as well). His vids are a good mix of info, excitement, and critiques
Really happy with Game Mode selection screen being more user friendly. It was not very logical how the hierarchy was structured, especially by selecting places first and then having to look for the right mode. New menu is both easier to understand and to access… Or so it seems from the above vid.
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Is it the 22nd yet? I am going out of my mind here
Lol. I broke down and just paid $5 for the EA access. I’m weak 
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Lol, 
once you’ve got a cool looking Javelin please post a pic!
Been watching a few streams but too many spoilers… The game is as gorgeous as I thought it would be… five (… I assume timezone difference plays a factor…) more long days await 
Yeah. I was trying to watch streams and stuff but just too much spoiler stuff all around. Eventually made me mad and I was like “can’t be spoiled if I’m playing the game 
”
Not my best example of willpower I’ll admit
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