One More Kick At The Can
BioWare boss Casey Hudson popped up with a blog post today, announcing that this Anthem thing ain’t over just yet. It seems there’s still some gas in the tank, or there will be once the proposed overhaul takes place over the course of this year. Could this game finally be as cool as that first trailer made it look? Hudson outlined Anthem’s current situation as follows:
Over the coming months we will be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards – while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting. And to do that properly we’ll be doing something we’d like to have done more of the first time around – giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.
The post describes this process as something more substantial than an update or a revision. It sounds like this is a major undertaking, one that might require more than a couple of months to get just right. The team is temporarily moving from full seasons to smaller events, in order to spend more time on the upgrade. Although there are bound to be plenty of skeptics, this might work! Diablo 3 had a tremendous gestation period before it transformed into something truly fun. On the other hand, there might not be any players left by the time this massive operation is concluded. Is it still a great game if no one’s around to play it?