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Anthem Pilot Skill Tree under wraps and underwhelming?

Kneecap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
304
I read a developer post that said bioware was "saving" the pilot skill tree reveal for live. Some reddit posters feel that the pilot tree they saw (while under NDA) was underwhelming and of marginal effect. One reddit poster even suggested that the tree was "boring."

A lot of development of and information about this game seems to me to be compressed into the last two months, so I wonder about the impactfulness and quality of that skill tree. Or even if it will be in release.
 
Dojima

Dojima

Alt-account
Banned
Jan 25, 2019
2,003
They can always make it better later. It's obvious that the javelins got the most of their concentration which is understandable. Also we need to see this skill tree first
 
Cenauru

Cenauru

Dragon Girl Supremacy
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,977
We should wait to see it for ourselves then.

Also it was Alpha, most things are unfinished and full of placeholders in Alphas.
 
Charpunk

Charpunk

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,630
I'm pretty sure the said the pilot tree in the alpha that totally didn't happen was not final.
 

Jest

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,565
Kneecap said:
I read a developer post that said bioware was "saving" the pilot skill tree reveal for live. Some reddit posters feel that the pilot tree they saw (while under NDA) was underwhelming and of marginal effect. One reddit poster even suggested that the tree was "boring."

A lot of development of and information about this game seems to me to be compressed into the last two months, so I wonder about the impactfulness and quality of that skill tree. Or even if it will be in release.
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Grain of salt anything said by people on the internet until you've seen it yourself. You have no idea if what they consider "boring" is what you would or if they've even took a look at how those trees would work in combination with everything else. Most people don't take in-depth looks at that type of thing and just wait for someone else to find the really good specs to copy them.
 
squidyj

squidyj

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,670
I hope the fact that they held it back in the demo means they're working on something more interesting and impactful than what people in the alpha saw.
 
Lant_War

Lant_War

Classic Anus Game
The Fallen
Jul 14, 2018
23,583
Are we talking about the Skill tree from the Alpha? Because it did indeed seem boring. It's probably not final though.
 
Rathorial

Rathorial

Member
Oct 28, 2017
578
Well so far the demo showcased more ability variation than Destiny allows, just by looting providing different ability options for the 3 you can take into battle. I didn't even know there was a skill tree on top of that, so I kinda don't care if it's just marginal stat increases with all the other customization.
 
OP
OP

Kneecap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
304
I am looking forward to a pilot skill tree and have preordered the game. However, bioware and their corporate masters have been entirely too focused on profit margins and compressed development schedules for my taste and I was concerned that the pilot skills i was interested in would be a victim of this trend.
 
SRTtoZ

SRTtoZ

Member
Dec 8, 2017
4,624
This game screams "troubled development". I won't be home this weekend (Superbowl weekend party) but for everyone else I hope they fixed the demo to let you actually play the game without stupid workarounds.
 
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Dude Abides

Dude Abides

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,382
I will make the bold prediction that it will be half-baked and rudimentary at launch and then they'll improve it so it's decent after a year or so.
 
pikachief

pikachief

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,526
Oh the alpha skill tree?? Lol yea I was like this is it?? I assumed it was only a partial skill tree but we'll see.
 
Dphex

Dphex

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,811
Cologne, Germany
SRTtoZ said:
This game screams "troubled development". I won't be home this weekend (Superbowl weekend party) but for everyone I hope t hey fixed the demo to let you actually play the game without stupid workarounds.
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this

somehow there must have been something up, there are so many strange things around this game, be it technical or gameplay related that somehow it comes off as a problematic development cycle for this game.

guess we will see soon how it turns out...
 
Azull

Azull

Member
Oct 30, 2017
35
I'm surprised we publicly haven't seen anything at all of the skill tree at this point. I honestly completely forgot it was thing until I saw this thread...
 
ZeoVGM

ZeoVGM

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
76,219
Providence, RI
Komo said:
Honestly fucking hate we went to such a Garbage one and I'm happy D3 is more RPG focused.

We should have gotten the D1 skill tree again.
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Mmhm.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Destiny needs to be an overly complicated game as far as RPG elements go. I thought D1 was a nice balance of RPG and shooter. It just needed to be refined.

Dumbing down the trees to literal branches that players could barely even customize was a horrid decision.

Imagine all of the different abilities and supers that are currently available to each subclass in D2 but with D1's tree? So good.
 
OP
OP

Kneecap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
304
Klyka said:
Can't wait for "2% more damage while hovering" or "5% less heat from thrusters" zzzzZZZZZZ
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Yeah, my fear too. Honestly, I read that developer quote about saving the skill tree reveal till release as PR Speak for "we hope we can have a real skill tree for release, but we may just junk the whole feature if we run outta time. "
 
wenis

wenis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,114
was the person that said it was boring also a huge fan of the POE 2 skill tree?

QfNZv6B.jpg
 
headspawn

headspawn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,619
What does it matter? You'll have all the concrete info you need 10 days before the release date to see what changes have been made.
 
TheBeardedOne

TheBeardedOne

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,189
Derry
Shy said:
I'm only getting it to play with my friends. Buuuuut, i'm all in for the dress up (customisation) aspect.
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That doesn't interest me.

I don't play games with friends anymore, and hardly game because of depression and burnout. I played the Destinys and most other big games over the last 25 plus years, but think I've grown out of this type of game. The whole social thing and always online thing is of little interest and just a nuisance, really.
 
Shy

Shy

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
18,520
TheBeardedOne said:
That doesn't interest me.

I don't play games with friends anymore, and hardly game because of depression and burnout. I played the Destinys and most other big games over the last 25 plus years, but think I've grown out of this type of game. The whole social thing and always online thing is of little interest and just a nuisance, really.
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I completely understand.

And as for the depression and burnout. I feel the same. I play games for just a few hours nowadays and then never go back. I hate it, but can't seem to get the oomph to play (or do much of) anything anymore. I hate this feeling.
 
TheBeardedOne

TheBeardedOne

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,189
Derry
Shy said:
I completely understand.

And as for the depression and burnout. I feel the same. I play games for just a few hours nowadays and then never go back. I hate it, but can't seem to get the oomph to play (or do much of) anything anymore. I hate this feeling.
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Sorry to hear :(. It sucks. I've been dealing with it for years now, but have started gaming less and less. Maybe once a week now.

I'd stop altogether, but then things would add up and I'd worsen my backlog by not playing games that interest me, by borrowing them from the library. It'd be just as overwhelming.
 
Zips

Zips

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,913
Comparing anything from the alpha isn't even worth the time of day right now.

The devs said that build was months old even at the time that it was live. A lot can and probably did change in that span of time.

Just wait for the final release to see what's up with it.
 
Brannon

Brannon

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,580
wenis said:
was the person that said it was boring also a huge fan of the POE 2 skill tree?

QfNZv6B.jpg
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Damn, I was thinking this the moment I saw this thread pop up. Just copy this tree and make it Anthem-specific. Yeah I know it would never be that easy, but damn.

PoE's tree is beautiful and makes so many playstyles viable.
 

HockeyBird

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,591
Brannon said:
Damn, I was thinking this the moment I saw this thread pop up. Just copy this tree and make it Anthem-specific. Yeah I know it would never be that easy, but damn.

PoE's tree is beautiful and makes so many playstyles viable.
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I haven't played PoE but are the many branches and nodes on the skill tree that meaningful? Is each node something substantial or are just mostly just a bunch of minor stat boosts while the significant ones are few and far between? I'm honestly curious.
 
MistaTwo

MistaTwo

SNK Gaming Division Studio 1
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
2,456
I really wish I could be hyped for this game, but the VIP demo did not inspire confidence.
I would hope something as obvious as a pilot skill tree would be well done considering the flight is like the #1 draw for the game.

I understand connection issues during a beta, but some issues seem to be systemic and just bad design.

I had to work my way up to level 12 twice because my loading screen froze and the game only seems to actually count your loot drops and experience at the mission complete screen.

I also lost a bunch of embers the same way. Loading screen froze before the mission complete tally screen, logged back in to see that none of the embers I had collected were in my inventory. Weirdly enough I went into freeplay, immediately exited and it gave me some of the stuff I collected? (I wasn't keeping a close count obviously but it definitely wasn't 2 hrs worth of drops.)

Personally gonna take a wait and see approach on this one just like I did with Destiny 1. Probably get it around week 2 as long as word of mouth is still good.
 
ThiefofDreams

ThiefofDreams

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,481
Hold on, making a new thread: Your Pilot has 6 fingers, no proof, just trust me

we can discuss how much tthismost certain truth will suck in there too.
 

Dodgerfan74

Member
Dec 27, 2017
2,696
ZeoVGM said:
Can't be worse than Destiny 2's at launch.
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Can't be worse than Destiny 2's now. Preset clusters aren't skill trees even if Thousand Cuts is fun to use.

I hope Anthem has actual customization, builds, and flexibility. Otherwise, it really limits the loot game aspect and kills a lot of the replayability.
 
DWarriorSN

DWarriorSN

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,135
PA
HockeyBird said:
I haven't played PoE but are the many branches and nodes on the skill tree that meaningful? Is each node something substantial or are just mostly just a bunch of minor stat boosts while the significant ones are few and far between? I'm honestly curious.
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A mix of both though most of it is "minor" stat boosts, if we define minor as in like %physical damage increase and all that jazz.

There are a good amount of "meaningful" nodes tho stuff like +1 to your maximum minion count and other things, theres also the ascendancy system which is a smaller incredibly powerfull tree for each character (and it's 3 ascendancies per character except for 1 of the characters)
that further specializes what you do and everything there is build defining.

I would say PoE's tree is more about optimazing the path you take so you can grab everything you want in as little points.

It's way less complex than it seems once you figure it out.

Oh and that is an outdated skill tree, the new one looks waaay better and is much more unique.
 
Brannon

Brannon

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,580
HockeyBird said:
I haven't played PoE but are the many branches and nodes on the skill tree that meaningful? Is each node something substantial or are just mostly just a bunch of minor stat boosts while the significant ones are few and far between? I'm honestly curious.
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I want to say both, but picking which way you take on the skill tree can determine how effective you are in a fighting style when the passives add up. The moderate boosts are well worth it, but the major boosts are actual game changers. Like, one of them could be "Gain the ability to summon an extra totem that casts skills / never be able to cast skills yourself". Which could be the equivalent of "Your drone can throw more grenades / you yourself can never throw grenades on command". They can get more severe as well, but they're really powerful.
 
ZeoVGM

ZeoVGM

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
76,219
Providence, RI
Strider0457 said:
Can't be worse than Destiny 2's now. Preset clusters aren't skill trees even if Thousand Cuts is fun to use.

I hope Anthem has actual customization, builds, and flexibility. Otherwise, it really limits the loot game aspect and kills a lot of the replayability.
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I generally agree but I do think they improved the subclasses by giving them another tree. It doesn't feel as closed off.

It was still a terrible decision, of course.
 
BloodHound

BloodHound

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,008
Kneecap said:
I am looking forward to a pilot skill tree and have preordered the game. However, bioware and their corporate masters have been entirely too focused on profit margins and compressed development schedules for my taste and I was concerned that the pilot skills i was interested in would be a victim of this trend.
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Worrying about something you haven't seen.
Talking about compressed dev cycles for a game in development for 6 years.

Couldn't this been in one of the other 5 anthem threads?
 
OP
OP

Kneecap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
304
BloodHound said:
Worrying about something you haven't seen.
Talking about compressed dev cycles for a game in development for 6 years.

Couldn't this been in one of the other 5 anthem threads?
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As for a 6 year development cycle, that means little if the major features or decisions are left till the last months, or if leadership is unable to sustain a clear vision. Frankly, my worry is that development and reveal of the pilot skill tree feature is indicative of the character of the whole games development. This is what made the topic thread worthy for me. YMMV.
 
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