The Other Side of the Coin : Anthem

After my post yesterday about the frustrations of progression in Anthem after a weekend in the Elder game I logged in last night and something amazing happened. I played for three hours, had a ton of fun, and didn’t once think about the loot. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Sorry to go all bipolar on you but it just happened. I just logged in and started playing, and had a blast doing it. Shocking, I know, that games aren’t just a source for us to get upset about or angry at and that sometimes – just sometimes – they actually come through and entertain. (You are noting the sarcasm, right?)

That’s not to say that we just excuse the improvements that our games can (and should, oftentimes) have but that doesn’t mean we have to either hate any game completely or love it unashamedly. There can be a spectrum where you really like what is going on but wish a few things were just a bit better. You are allowed to think and feel that way.

Now, this kind of positive attitude and quiet enjoyment was of course rewarded by the gaming gods as I had my first challenging experience in Anthem – and one that would normally not be considered in a good way. My Ranger is well geared, around 488 and I jumped into the Tyrant Mine stronghold at Grand Master 1 difficulty. At this point, after 100s of runs of the place, it’s pretty cruise control and the community knows the intricacies of it quite well.

Except this time it didn’t go so well. There were three Rangers and an Interceptor and they were all under geared (compared to me). We died often. I am a patient guy and figured to stick with it as the others would no doubt drop shortly and a more level and class appropriate sub would come in and we would zoom through it. Except that didn’t happen. We stuck together, played hard, faced hardship – but ultimately won. It was probably my most favorite run of the place because of the challenge itself, and the lack of quitty-ness (new word, you are welcome) that we see in games at the first sign of difficulty.

I almost didn’t tell this part of the story – because it was the lowest part of the enjoyment – but playing for fun and sticking with a struggling group through “easy” content rewarded me with six – that’s right, six Masterwork items. I only had 12 the entire weekend of gaming before.

See, the gaming gods were happy with me. Karma does happen! Sure, some were utter crap but many are equipped.

After that it occurred to me that I haven’t even tried the Storm or Javelin and I was missing out on a big chunk of the game itself by not playing them. I had some regular contracts to get through so I loaded up the Interceptor for one and the Storm for the other, put on the best gear I had and went and had a new experience. It was fun.

So there you have it. I had a fun night gaming when I stripped away analyzing and thinking about the game, and whatever shortcomings it has, and just, well, played. Funny that.