Outside the open world of Bastion,Anthemplayers have a few lobbies and areas to explore, namely Fort Tarsis, the Forge, and the Launch Bay. These areas include shops, characters, and more to fill the world ofAnthem,but sadly, they are self-contained in the sense that changes can be made there but not on the go. However, there are reports of players glitching into an unused lobby in one of the Striders - essentially the open world launching points - that allows for these changes to be made in the field.
Notably, the discovery of the Strider lobby brings two major criticisms into play. This strider lobby can be used to suit up and change loadouts while exploring the world of Bastion, which in itself is useful enough, but the load times for this lobby are incredibly quick as well. Consideringload times have been a major issueforAnthemsince the first demo weekend, this smaller, quicker lobby seems to correct a lot of issues.
Those who managed to glitch into this lobby were able to reap its benefits for some time, though this unused lobby has also led to crashes and visual glitches such as entering a Javelin via the arm. It seems likely that this was a portion of content never fully cut from the game, and perhaps oneAnthemis wanting to re-introduce ina content update.
This would seemingly be a smart move on BioWare’s part, as many dislike theFort Tarsisarea due to its slow maneuverability (even after the addition of sprinting). Correcting that with better sprinting speed and adding this lobby would likely bring some long-lasting quality of life changes toAnthem, especially given the thus-far warm reception of this Strider lobby.
It doesn’t seem like a great idea to try and reproduce this glitch, but most reports indicate that it is happening while playing with a friend. Theories include this glitch coming as a result of a cutscene-between-players issue or having something to do with playing on private. It remains to be seen how BioWare responds to the discovery of this quick-loading lobby, but with the transparency theAnthemdeveloper is trying to establish, it could be possible we hear something soon.
Anthemis out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
