Slots: The Bane Of Poor Players?

[Kamikiri]

Okay so that title may be a bit overdramatic but let me explain what I mean by those words.

 

I have now been playing Warframe actively for over half a year, and have had an account since open beta had only been on for 1-2 weeks, and right now I'm personally feeling like I'm stuck in place no matter how much I play.

My foundry is staring at me with over 50 built weapons every day I log on and I have no way whatsoever to claim them as I am rather poor. (And please don't tell me to just suck it up and start trading, I don't have the time to sit for 6 hours a day to get about 20-30 trades that do not go through in the end)

As a result I have begun playing less and less for each and every passing day, while I wouldn't want to quit playing WF I feel like I may just do so soon just because of how there's literally no progress being made.

 

With that I'd like to ask: Why not make it possible to "craft" slots?

If anything that feels like it'd be the most perfect application of the decaying argon crystals, paired with a really high crafting timer. Heck there could even be specific blueprint parts that need to be awarded to the players to even be able to make the slots.

If it'd be possible to craft slots through an extremely clunky grind I'd say that it would make things feel like they're still moving forward albeit slowly. And I'd have no reason to feel like there's no reason to continue playing.
While it would make people perhaps buy less slots that already play the game rigorously, I can't see adding the option to do so scaring away relatively new players either.

I don't know if it may just be that slots is your biggest source of income DE, but if possible I'd like to know if crafting slots could ever become a thing?

 

I know for certain that I am enamored enough by this game and the concept behind it that I'd buy the cosmetics as soon as I'm able to throw money your way.

I just hope that I won't grow tired of staring at a wall when it comes to personal progress long enough to leave this game behind before I get the chance to do so.

 

(Now if only I knew the incantation to summon the devs... only to be used post U14's launch of course)

Edited July 18, 2014 by Kamikiri

[Shifted]

If you don't have the time to trade then I guess you have money to buy plat.

[-Mr.Meeseeks-]

Because Slot right now are the only thing you most players need that require platinum... DE has to make money somehow.

 

Edit: Also you have over 50 weapons built in the foundry you can claim... But you don't wanna invest some time in getting the platinum through trading to claim said weapons? Yeah seems logical.

Edited July 18, 2014 by spidey2092

[trst]

Crafting slots sounds like something that they'll never do but I believe they have had talks previously about granting slots based on mastery level.

 

However I have no idea what that talk ended in.

[Angius]

In Warframe is either time or money. You don't have money - you need time. You don't have time - you need money.

 

Or sell your old weapons.

[BurntKitten]

You could also just get rid of some unused weapons.  How many different pistols/shotguns/rifles do you need at once? (Yes I realise people are going to disagree with this)

[Silverton]

I feel you man. I literally have to wait until 50% or 75% off coupons just to afford S#&$. Hate that this game has such a huge wall that blocks you from doing anything.

[Jumba255]

It doesn't matter how much I or you would want slots to be craftable or easier to get because DE is going to stick to thier guns on this one (not that i blame them) so while its good to post your ideas just try to remember that DE isn't run by the community (although they do listen) and don't get your hopes up for any changes coming from this

[elijahpw]

You either buy platinum or trade platinum. Do what you must. I trade for every single platinum that I have. I have the time. You seems to have the time and you don't need 6 hours to trade. Also, nobody got 20-30 trade a day (mastery rank yo). Get your fact right. Don't be lazy.

[killacam8806]

The game is free to play an they gotta make money somewhere..it would be amazing if companies just released full games packed with content for free but the world doesnt work that way..sucks that you need slots but it sounds like you have never spent a dime on the game,sometimes you just gotta give.(that is unless you are just to young to work...in that case you may just be SOL) good luck mate.

[DiosGX]

Speaking from experience, there are plenty of people willing to pay a few plat (chump change amounts) for Uncommon mods. Not everything you sell has to be a Rare mod or a prime component.

[optyk]

Okay so that title may be a bit overdramatic but let me explain what I mean by those words.

 

I am rather poor. (And please don't tell me to just suck it up and start trading, I don't have the time to sit for 6 hours a day to get about 20-30 trades that do not go through in the end)

 

The industry really does need to get rid of the "Free To Play" moniker. It's very misleading.

 

Well, you have a internet connection. If you're busy for 6+ hours a day are you earning income? Nothing is free, you should know that man. Budget your income and or reallocate it, take advantage of the daily coupons that DE offers - I try. Saying you're poor and asking people(who build something to earn money) to play for free will make them poor as well, no?

 

If none of that is possible, it sounds like online gaming of this type is not a realistic opportunity for you at this time?

 

Good luck!

[Magnagar]

OP is sorta right tho. If the only thing to do is trade for slots besides paying real money for, really limits the amount of what you can do and progress with mastery rank wise for a "free" player. Im sure DE loves the free Players as much as the paying Players and should give the poor players a better chance at obtaining slots atleast. It's ridiculous because new players can't just start farming with their noob gear. Gaining platinum through trades is a pain sometimes. Somedays are better then other days but if you arent geared up for farming the desired mods/items, then you really out of luck.

The process of progressing in this game is long as it is with builds and such. If there was another way in-game besides trades to obtain platinum, it would help the poor people a lot. I'm sure DE can make it happen without putting a dent in their marketing. Something like an event every week where you can get free 100 platinum. And this could be the type of platinum you can't trade with and if you miss it, then you don't get it. Just like with vandals and wraith weapons, an event has a schedule and if your not participating in it, then you won't get your reward.

Just a thought :/

[Darkmoone1]

You mean to tell me you have played this game way past since tradings first release and haven't used it in any way to obtain plat?

Edited July 18, 2014 by Darkmoone1

[(PSN)DesecratedFlame]

DE won't change it.  You're, sadly, out of luck.  They really should give players 3 slots for free (one for each faction). (I have 4 slots myself.)

If you don't have the time to trade then I guess you have money to buy plat.

When you get out in the real world, you will realize that that is not always the case.  A large amount of people live paycheck to paycheck, with their money all going to bills, food, essentials, and medical costs.  People here claim that the game is not P2W because you can obtain everything in the game without paying, with the exception of cosmetic items, conveniently forgetting the existence of slots.

[Shifted]

When you get out in the real world, you will realize that that is not always the case.  A large amount of people live paycheck to paycheck, with their money all going to bills, food, essentials, and medical costs.  People here claim that the game is not P2W because you can obtain everything in the game without paying, with the exception of cosmetic items, conveniently forgetting the existence of slots.

And some of those people that live paycheck to paycheck may also be a f2p game developer.

[(PSN)DesecratedFlame]

And some of those people that live paycheck to paycheck may also be a f2p game developer.

F2P: P2W

[H3RRD0KT0R]

If platinum was only available by buying it with money then maybe I could see your point, but it's not like that, DE already allowed you to get plats by trading, so you can get your hard work and played hours rewarded, selling stuff you can get in game, to get plats you couldnt afford to buy.

That said it's not like you don't have alternatives, like any other player you can work hard to get your stuff, or pay for convenience. If you dont have the money, but also dont have the time to get it, then it will be the same here as anywhere else, that's how the world is.

 

I would really try trading if I was you, that's not nearly as hard as you're picturing it, if you have your foundry full, it won't be that hard to find some trades and get enough for slots (it's not like they cost a fortune), also you can always get some for rare mods, and as recently released items have ridiculous prices one with enough disposition to farm for them could get more than enough for not worrying about slots for a while.

[Magnagar]

If you need 20-30 trades to get 20p for a warframe slot or weapon slots you are doing it wrong.

Join a guild and join people on their void runs and hunt for mods and weapon/frame parts. If you do not want to join a guild for whatever reason go to recruiting chat and join void groups there.

Observe trade chat and find out which parts and mods are wanted right now and look up drop locations on the wiki.

But you see, you can't do that if all you have is mag, Braton, lato and skana and you CAN'T join a clan till your at least rank 2... Or is it 3?.... You need to upgrade your gear and by upgrading, you'll need more slots for more weapons for more frames so you can rank and progress. You can't even join your Dojo unless someone is hosting it in your clan. Which is frustrating.

It's all a damper when you have 50 items ready to be claimed but don't have enough slots to use them(at least not replacing the valuable items and deleting the crappy ones). Scarifying a warframe for another isn't justifying to its valuable content. All this for a new/poor player to farm with?? It's depressing and it definitely scares people away from warframe.

Why would you want to get rid of Rhino if you got Nekro ready to be claimed but no where to put him?? The limitations this game has, doesn't accommodate it's main goals of this system. In order to get anywhere, you must play at least 2 to 3 months just to catch up. Just so you can farm and trade items that are desired not just by you but others and bargin with people for platinum just so you can get somewhere?? Forget cosmetics, what about a way to keep both your rhino and Nekro frames in the fashion of just simply playing the game without trades?

Edited July 18, 2014 by Magnagar

[Archeyef]

Since I didn't see it anywhere at the time of me writing this, I feel like I should point out: There is a trading post here in the forums. It's in PC Recruitment. Here, a handy link. https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/forum/180-trading-post/

 

You need not sit on the trade chat for 6 hours or whatever. Just leave a thread there with all the stuff you're willing to sell, make sure you tick the "follow thread" option, and wait. That subforum is very active, and a better place to list a long catalog of items than the ingame trade chat. It really does seem like the best option for you, people that use the trade forum generally understand that you may not be right there all the time. It's kindof a given with the forum, that's part of the point of it.

 

Maybe you could try it out, at least?

[(PSN)DesecratedFlame]

Trading would be a more viable solution if there was an Auction House.  You also have to realize there isn't always going to be someone willing to trade.

[NikolaiLev]

If you don't have the time to trade then I guess you have money to buy plat.

 

Not necessarily.  That's what "poor" means.  Not having the funds to buy much at all.

 

Because Slot right now are the only thing you most players need that require platinum... DE has to make money somehow.

 

Edit: Also you have over 50 weapons built in the foundry you can claim... But you don't wanna invest some time in getting the platinum through trading to claim said weapons? Yeah seems logical.

 

The "DE has to make money" argument has always been fallacious.  DE makes plenty of money and its profit margin should be of little concern to the players.  DE has the ability to say no if they truly must.

 

Also, the initial slot allotment is far fewer than 50.  It's quite pitiful when it comes to variety.

 

Slots are bad because they discourage variety.  They encourage players to invest in weapons, both emotionally and with in-game resources.  So if they find they like a weapon, and then the prime weapon comes out, well... they get boned.  They can either sell that weapon and lose the potatoes and forma, or get more slots.

 

But if you can't get more slots?  Well... tough luck.

[Yefrign]

I do believe that there should be SOME way to obtain inventory slots without the NEED to buy plat. its already awkward enough for F2P players just to get a Catalyst or Reactor for their gear let alone slots for inventory. 

 

but at the same time I can understand that DE needs to make money one way or another. I'm glad that getting $5 worth of plat is MORE than enough to buy you plenty of slots and reactors/catalysts...

 

if you have an income I don't really see how $5 will set you back so much... but I cant tell people how to spend their money

[CaveCricket48]

Possible solution: slot BPs that can only obtained from a dev stream alert?

[Kamikiri]

I'm grateful to see that there's a discussion going on in here, and I seem to need to clarify what I meant with the 20-30 trades thing even further.

 

What I meant with that is that I may get in contact with that many people, but it always ends up with the trade partner pulling out before the trade is finished or that they're not interested anymore when I reply to them <10 seconds after they contact me.

So I get my hopes up up to 20-30 times if I get many hooks.

And so far I have sucessfully traded ONCE for plat in all my time playing this game.

 

And yes, I love this game and I would throw money at them if I didn't have to be wary of every single coin I spend because life is not always predictable enough to be able to throw money at what you want.