An Open Letter From A Pseudo Veteran

[Anunymau5]

Get it? OP? Cuz I'm the OP? and the title? and... ah forget it.

 

Anyways, a few months ago I wrote a pair of posts about some of the Glaring issues within the game. I wrote them in a sleep deprived stupor which lead to several broken metaphors. But no one seemed to disagree with what I wrote. So I figured I would see what has been fixed, what has been broken, and what has yet to be looked at. For reference, here are the earlier posts:

 

Part 1: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/112712-how-to-fix-the-glaring-issue/

Part 2: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/120682-more-glaring-issues/

 

Now DE I hate to be a negative person. Well that's not entirely true but I'm going to try and go on as few tangents as possible. Anyways, DE Warframe has become stagnant. I understand your logic for small updates containing a gun or two, maybe if we're lucky we'll get a new helmet for one of the enemies, but I feel all the time spent on these small content updates could instead be allocated towards the campaign, or endgame. Something players have been crying for since the Open Beta. There's currently over 100 weapons in the game. That's enough to keep most players busy for months. 100 weapons, each to be leveled to 30 not including the 14 Warframes, and 4 sentinels.

 

DE we don't need more weapons for a while. Stop making weapons and put your animators, programmers, and artists towards designing, writing, and building a campaign for the players. Put them towards making something for us to do other than wait patiently for the next potato alert and event. Give us a reason to keep playing because right now, a flashy new rifle or melee weapon is not going to cut it. If that's not it, at least put some effort into fixing your most broken aspect of the game, which tragically happens to be the core of the game.

 

Yes I am talking about RNG. Now RNG isn't always bad, many games happen to use RNG quite well. For instance: the Borderlands games, Darksiders II, The Diablo Games, and to some extent, The Elder Scrolls/Fallout Series. Except the reason why it works so well in these other games is because the RNG is not the game. The RNG is just one iota of a much larger experience. So if it does break, we can ignore it because it's not a glaring problem. Except when the RNG in a game is broken (Such as Warframe) it can lead to frustration, anger (whether it be at the Devs or the Game), and an inclination to stop playing. 

 

DE, players have suggested countless ways to fix the emphasis on RNG, whether it be a token system (for void drops) or alternate ways to get the equipment aside from RNG, or just removing some of it (such as weapon parts). DE I'm sure my Tenno know how to make a Detron barrel, whether it's from scanning the Corpus, or that fact that only RNG based weapons actually require parts shows that the RNG is useless in that feature. 

 

The Solution is simple but requires an effort on your part. DE I want you guys to spend the next while continuing to develop for the game (but campaign and environments, no more weapons for a while!) except you aren't allowed to use RNG once. Instead you will have to find creative ways to implement the new content. No scanning for random plants, no hunting down bosses for a chance at that new warframe, instead you will have to come up with something different. Here's a hint: It gets easier the more you work at it.

 

Next up, we have the Lore. Except like in my earlier post (The first one not the second) there's still a lack of it. You won a few points with the Stalker Codex entry and the Excalibur Codex Entry, except those points were quickly washed away when the lore for your new boss was (and still is) "Heavily Armoured." I'm talking about Sargas Ruk, a enemy who clearly had a sea of lore about him judging from his appearance and voice alone. It was made clear that he had a hard time communicating to the Tenno but still respected them as warriors. You guys had so much potential to write about him except you ended up with heavily armoured. The same entry for the Grineer Lancer. Literally the first enemy you fight in the game. 

 

You said in your latest livestream that you were writing Vor's Prize which was announced back when Update 9 came out. (Possibly earlier I'm not sure). Thank you for announcing this but then you said the campaign was nonlinear. Does that mean time skips? (Like Beyond Two Souls: David Cage's Ellen Page Simulator) Or does that mean a radial mission type of system? (Like Shadow Of The Colossus) If it's like the first system then please don't. I don't know if I speak for everyone but I hate going back after finishing a game and playing connect the metaphysical dots with all the missions. However the second system I could see working well. Although it could weaken the campaign heavily with situations like you killing Lech Krill making him a Martyr for the Grineer but that doesn't actually have any effect on the game. 

 

Either way though, we need more Lore in the game and we need a stable backstory. When I first started playing, our job was to kill the Grineer because they were evil cyborg space nazis. Oh and there were these guys called the Corpus who just wanted a stable economy so we had to kill them too. Also there were mutants who ran around and made the ground grow fungus. DE that was all that we had. We were guys who killed stuff and the stuff was killed because we were the ones supposed to kill it. It was redundancy at its best. But then you changed it. We were no longer supposed to kill them. We were supposed to keep the balance (Much like the Cordyceps fungus so enjoy that mental comparison!) We had also killed our previous masters because they had become too powerful. This was a pretty cool change that I hoped was going somewhere except it never led to anything or than the invasion missions which were just glorified extermination missions. 

 

Now I feel like I should continue but the message has been spoken. DE we don't want anymore weapons and vague hints at upcoming content. We want you to come out, tell us what your doing, and make sure that its campaign and endgame content. Warframe is current as the title suggest, just a frame. It's a frame in which you commit acts of war. Except the acts of war are on vague enemies that have no purpose other than to be cannon fodder. DE you've given us a framework, it's time you started construction.

 

So from another Veteran who hopes they can come back to this game with a smile on their face and not a drawn out groan of exasperation due to the announcement of yet another Braton variant, all I can say is: Give us a reason to be space ninjas.

 

-Anunymau5-

Edited January 14, 2014 by Anunymau5

[DrCashew]

I agree with a lot you have written. Mostly with the weapons not being enough for new content (Early on most livestreams always talked about weapons as being their content release and how it takes so long to grind because this is their ONLY way of releasing content by their own admission. I don't know if it is still that way.). Not sure about what the focus should be, however I don't think a campaign would be the best way to do it, but hey, at least it's not just new weapons so I'd rather that.

 

Also, what's a pseudo veteran?

[MenschOfUber]

Beautiful 10/10 would read again.

[Anunymau5]

I agree with a lot you have written. Mostly with the weapons not being enough for new content (Early on most livestreams always talked about weapons as being their content release and how it takes so long to grind because this is their ONLY way of releasing content by their own admission. I don't know if it is still that way.). Not sure about what the focus should be, however I don't think a campaign would be the best way to do it, but hey, at least it's not just new weapons so I'd rather that.

 

Also, what's a pseudo veteran?

Well I only have 400 hours in the game and I started back when the game went Open Beta so I'm not sure if that would be considered Veteran or not.

[Magister_Zel]

That's what i was thinking OMG!

As a veteran player i must say i am getting a bit worn out by this games grinding, we have so many weapons that i can't just stick to my favorite one cause it keeps getting trumped. We need lore, we need campaigns,we need this game to expand beyond the solar system and into other galaxies and encounter new dangers and factions. Warframe 2 :O

Edited January 14, 2014 by 911nsidejob

[Anunymau5]

That's what i was thinking OMG!

 

As a veteran player i must say i am getting a bit worn out by this games grinding, we have so many weapons that i can't just stick to my favorite one cause it keeps getting trumped. We need lore, we need campaigns,we need this game to expand beyond the solar system and into other galaxies and encounter new dangers and factions. Warframe 2 :O

Yes! Thank you for agreeing!

[SIDESTRE4M]

Couldn't agree more... I'm very interested in the universum they have (or hopefully will have) created.

 

I like the artwork, the style, lots of it.

 

I don't like the potential to get wasted for short term stuff.

[Anunymau5]

Couldn't agree more... I'm very interested in the universum they have (or hopefully will have) created.

 

I like the artwork, the style, lots of it.

 

I don't like the potential to get wasted for short term stuff.

Yes exactly thank you!

[Komatoast]

I agree with everything you said. As a vet myself I see an overwhelming amount of new content, whether it be weapons, frames, events, whatever. Sure there's a lot of things to level and such, but there's no real purpose for doing all that. DE really needs to take a break from all that and start giving purpose to warframe besides grinding. I would not mind one bit if we didn't see a new weapon or frame for a couple months if it meant getting some real fixes/changes and an actual meaty section to chomp on.

[Anunymau5]

I agree with everything you said. As a vet myself I see an overwhelming amount of new content, whether it be weapons, frames, events, whatever. Sure there's a lot of things to level and such, but there's no real purpose for doing all that. DE really needs to take a break from all that and start giving purpose to warframe besides grinding. I would not mind one bit if we didn't see a new weapon or frame for a couple months if it meant getting some real fixes/changes and an actual meaty section to chomp on.

Yeah! I mean we dont need more weapons for the time being. We just need more lore and endgame. Weapons can keep you playing but after a specific point, it just becomes redundant.

[Killerkarpfen]

DE we don't need more weapons for a while. Stop making weapons and put your animators, programmers, and artists towards designing, writing, and building a campaign for the players. Put them towards making something for us to do other than wait patiently for the next potato alert and event. 

Animators are animators because their primary talent lies in animating things. They have gone to animation schools/colleges, they have worked on nothing but animation on this and many, many other projects and most of them for a very, very long time.

 

What do you think now would happen if you tell random animator No. 14 to grab a word document and start writing a campaign? What do you think happens when you give one of the best NHL hockey players a Queue and tell him to play Snooker? What if I told you to come in, sit on my PC and build a new defense level in 2 days? Same examples go for our programmers and artists.

 

The world of game development in most if not all bigger companies is (still) very specialized. People are very, supremely good at one thing they are doing. That is what they are hired and paid for. It will never, ever happen that our producers come in and tell us to stop doing what we're doing and do something completely unrelated to our field of expertise all of a sudden. The results would be nothing short of devastating (and maybe funny).

 

We are aware of the issues in the game. We are working on it but we will not take any hasty or imprudent decisions.

 

P.S. I apologize to all our animators that are apsiring to be story writers! :)

[Anunymau5]

Animators are animators because their primary talent lies in animating things. They have gone to animation schools/colleges, they have worked on nothing but animation on this and many, many other projects and most of them for a very, very long time.

 

What do you think now would happen if you tell random animator No. 14 to grab a word document and start writing a campaign? What do you think happens when you give one of the best NHL hockey players a Queue and tell him to play Snooker? What if I told you to come in, sit on my PC and build a new defense level in 2 days? Same examples go for our programmers and artists.

 

The world of game development in most if not all bigger companies is (still) very specialized. People are very, supremely good at one thing they are doing. That is what they are hired and paid for. It will never, ever happen that our producers come in and tell us to stop doing what we're doing and do something completely unrelated to our field of expertise all of a sudden. The results would be nothing short of devastating (and maybe funny).

 

We are aware of the issues in the game. We are working on it but we will not take any hasty or imprudent decisions.

 

P.S. I apologize to all our animators that are apsiring to be story writers! :)

Yes but as you said, animators are good at animating so why not put them towards cutscenes? A campaign will still require animation and I was in no way suggesting that the animators start making engine modifications. I meant that instead of weapons they could work more on the story aspects that require animation.

[Azure_Kytia]

And that will result in a lot of wasted time and effort because half of the created animations have no purpose in the cutscene/campaign/whathaveyou. Sure they could keep them for a rainy day, but what if that rainy day never comes?

Edited January 15, 2014 by Azure_Kyte

[Makya]

Yes but as you said, animators are good at animating so why not put them towards cutscenes? A campaign will still require animation and I was in no way suggesting that the animators start making engine modifications. I meant that instead of weapons they could work more on the story aspects that require animation.

For them to make cutscenes, they will need to be told what cutscenes to make, how they are to look and the tempo for them. They don't make up the context for the scenes nor even the content, the artists change the words into pictures and the animators change those pictures into moving objects. If there are no words, what is there to draw and without drawings, what is there to animate?

 

Weapons are simply drawings which the artists finds interesting and that the animator brings to life. The weapon does not need much context beyond 'Grineer origins', the weapon also does not even need stats for balance! That is not the artists nor the animators job, it exists, that was their job. If it does 2 damage every 10 seconds or 15000 every second, it isn't their job.

[Hybridon]

Animators are animators because their primary talent lies in animating things. They have gone to animation schools/colleges, they have worked on nothing but animation on this and many, many other projects and most of them for a very, very long time.

 

What do you think now would happen if you tell random animator No. 14 to grab a word document and start writing a campaign? What do you think happens when you give one of the best NHL hockey players a Queue and tell him to play Snooker? What if I told you to come in, sit on my PC and build a new defense level in 2 days? Same examples go for our programmers and artists.

 

The world of game development in most if not all bigger companies is (still) very specialized. People are very, supremely good at one thing they are doing. That is what they are hired and paid for. It will never, ever happen that our producers come in and tell us to stop doing what we're doing and do something completely unrelated to our field of expertise all of a sudden. The results would be nothing short of devastating (and maybe funny).

 

We are aware of the issues in the game. We are working on it but we will not take any hasty or imprudent decisions.

 

P.S. I apologize to all our animators that are apsiring to be story writers! :)

 

Not only in the gaming companies, most different companys, from advertising to law firms have people specialized at one field of expertise, and payed to do that role.

 

I feel sorry for you guys whenever I see people post that everybody should stop making weapons.

[Anunymau5]

Not only in the gaming companies, most different companys, from advertising to law firms have people specialized at one field of expertise, and payed to do that role.

 

I feel sorry for you guys whenever I see people post that everybody should stop making weapons.

I didn't mean stop making weapons period. I meant focus on the campaign and endgame for the time being as there's more than enough weapons.

[Makya]

I meant focus on the campaign and endgame for the time being as there's more than enough weapons.

Focus on them.. how? I am sure they work on all the campaign and endgame stuff they are given and tasked with. What else are you asking of them?

[taiiat]

I didn't mean stop making weapons period. I meant focus on the campaign and endgame for the time being as there's more than enough weapons.

but, as what's most likely and certainly true - creating the Mesh, stats, and short animations for a Weapon, is a lot faster than say, making a cutscene where entire people need to walk around and do various things.

 

so i'm not surprised we have lots of Weapons, they're pretty easy to churn out, even if they add entirely new features. they're just a much smaller thing to Develop, and so can be done on the side of everything else, and get done faster.

[lautalocos]

and what will a campaign do?

we dont even have the game mechanics in place.

damage is still being looked at, and melee is about to be reworked.

they first need to build a stable base, then make the game over that.

 

even then, what does the campaign do? you finish it in a few hours and thats it, or they make a non ending campaign, which with time will just become another mission.

 

i really don´t know why people think that slapping a campaign will fix everything in the game.

[ValhaHazred]

Snip rawrange

Thank-you! I've been saying that to people who make that mistake for ages. Now I can save this quote and post as needed. Well said!

i really don´t know why people think that slapping a campaign will fix everything in the game.

I think it's people who expect a game that advertises itself as an open beta to be done. Lets be honest here, Warframe is still in a pretty raw state and large chunks of it need major work.

They did say they where finally finishing Vor's Prize though, so we'll see how that goes :)

Edited January 15, 2014 by ValhaHazred

[Balter]

-snip-

 

This need to be said a lot more often because people dont seem to get it. I would even go so far on to give an explanation on why throwing more money at the problem is also a bad idea. Since when you explain that you dont have a universal pool of people you can just throw anywhere, the next argument is "hire more people for this using money" since they see money as the next universal resource.

 

Point being, DE would eventually garner a reputation for having unstable job positions if they fire all the animators to have more money to hire writers or programers to generate specific content on a faster timetable.  Then reverse it when they need massive animation work done quickly for a big project.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Balter

[Virtus_Dei_Est]

Animators are animators because their primary talent lies in animating things. They have gone to animation schools/colleges, they have worked on nothing but animation on this and many, many other projects and most of them for a very, very long time.

 

What do you think now would happen if you tell random animator No. 14 to grab a word document and start writing a campaign? What do you think happens when you give one of the best NHL hockey players a Queue and tell him to play Snooker? What if I told you to come in, sit on my PC and build a new defense level in 2 days? Same examples go for our programmers and artists.

 

The world of game development in most if not all bigger companies is (still) very specialized. People are very, supremely good at one thing they are doing. That is what they are hired and paid for. It will never, ever happen that our producers come in and tell us to stop doing what we're doing and do something completely unrelated to our field of expertise all of a sudden. The results would be nothing short of devastating (and maybe funny).

 

We are aware of the issues in the game. We are working on it but we will not take any hasty or imprudent decisions.

 

P.S. I apologize to all our animators that are apsiring to be story writers! :)

 

what i can read from this is:

 

"we can only do, in our area of expertise, what we are told to do"

 

TL;TR: yell to steve and scott, not the animators XD

[[DE]Amadeus]

-snip-

 

This needs to be understood by more people. My last job I was asked to stop working on application development and instead do content writing for the website for a couple weeks. Needless to say, it didn't go well. Game Dev's aren't a generic game making machine, people specialize in specific areas.

[kubbi]

The animators of Warframe are specialized in animating alone? Does that mean that they can do nothing but animating and all the concepts, storyboards etc have to be delivered for them? Or its not allowed maybe? Huh. I'm an animator and i've been taught that animating is not just the "animating" part. But also the steps to come to animating are part of it like mentioned concepting, storyboarding, planning etc. Its different in every country?

Edited January 15, 2014 by kubbi

[thatdamnlobster]

Yes but as you said, animators are good at animating so why not put them towards cutscenes? A campaign will still require animation and I was in no way suggesting that the animators start making engine modifications. I meant that instead of weapons they could work more on the story aspects that require animation.

I think you follow your mentality under the assumption that they are currently not doing anything about that stuff anyway. What exactly do you expect them to do more. Just because you don't see the work right now does not mean it isn't being worked on right now.