Anthem Players on Reddit Organizing Blackout to Protest Loot Drop Nerfs

BioWare’s Anthem is under fire, but that shouldn’t be a surprise at this point. Between its lacklustre end-game and numerous bugs – the kind that caused PS4 consoles to crash and made the default Common Defender the best weapon in the game – more bad news doesn’t come as much of a surprise at this point. Its latest patch, which removed Common and Uncommon Loot after hitting level 30, seems to indicate as much.

However, players aren’t happy, and for entirely different reasons. After the patch went live, they once again experienced a short window of amazing loot drops (this occurred when the day one patch launched as well). Lo and behold, BioWare reverted the loot drop changes again and sent players back to square one. Given that this is a looter shooter, not being able to earn loot is a bit of a stickler.

As a result, players on Reddit are organizing a blackout to protest the loot drop rates. This means that those participating will not play Anthem at all from March 11th to 15th. Reddit user Afinda made the original thread and it’s since received 9,000 upvotes.

BioWare hasn’t provided a statement on the blackout or whether it intends to restore the increased drop rates, but Chad Robertston, head of live service, did say that the team wasn’t “yet fully happy with the game’s loot behaviour”. “In the next few months, we’re expecting to make significant changes, but we’re starting with some incremental ones so we can better navigate that evolution. Our goal is to ensure the best possible player experience,” he said. Stay tuned for more information over the next few days.

We appreciate all the feedback from the community on the game. We love the passion and share it. We’re not yet fully happy with the game’s loot behavior either.

— Chad Robertson (@crobertson_atx) March 9, 2019

One of the downsides of moving so fast to improve is that we’re making changes to complex loot systems in several areas and it’s then harder to know how it’s performing.

— Chad Robertson (@crobertson_atx) March 9, 2019

In the next few months, we’re expecting to make significant changes, but we’re starting with some incremental ones so we can better navigate that evolution. Our goal is to ensure the best possible player experience.

— Chad Robertson (@crobertson_atx) March 9, 2019