[Operators: The improvements the tenno needs]

I feel like operators improved movement should involve their void powers. Like the sprint being them floating, and instead of double jump we could hold jump to fly at the cost of energy. As for melee, I want beam swords coming out of our palms.

[The Archwing Needs More Relevence (And A Few Changes)]

And aren't you bothered that Archwing combat is generally much slower than ground combat? And the 2D map that is supposed to guide you through the 3D space?

 

I knew I was forgetting something.

[The Archwing Needs More Relevence (And A Few Changes)]

As I'm sure we're all aware, the archwing sees very little use most of the time. Which is a shame, because I genuinely love the concept of it. Gameplay diversity is a big seller to me, and to many others. So in this post I'll be going over a few ideas for what I believe the archwing should be in the future, and address a few issues I have with it as it is now.

 

First and foremost, there simply aren't enough archwing missions per planet. Having only one per planet, with the level gaps we have now, makes it very difficult to level your first archwing and get into what people would feel is relevent content. Additionally, enemy variety is very limited throughout, with only perhaps 5 enemy types to encounter. It simply feels underdeveloped.

 

Next, are the Grineer Underwater maps. Simply put, the archwing does not play a significant role in these maps, despite being locked without one. Aside from the occasional and non-repeatable quest mission, the underwater portions can be entirely avoided. I would like to see tiles that are completely flooded, or have to enter and extract via an underwater segment. Perhaps have fragile glass like in Corpus tile sets that flood the room when shot. And of course I would love to find native and hostile life in the waters outside the Grineer walls.

 

On this subject, I would like to see a similar tile set for the Corpus. Perhaps on Jupiter, as flying through the gas clouds could offer a visibility hazard not present in other archwing missions. Given that it is an early planet, unlike Uranus, these arching-variant Gas City maps could be higher level missions added to the existing set, like has already been done with the Orokin Moon on Earth.

 

And as archwings become more relevant, perhaps some void missions for them as well? Move the odonata prime to the new void archwing missions and add a few prime weapons for them.

 

Now on to a few things I feel need changing, and I'll start with the big one; Archwing melee is too simple. As fun as it is to see your warframe fling itself across space to smack things at first, it quickly loses its charm. Arch-melee would benefit greatly from stance mods and charge attacks, as well as a visible animation for blocking so we can tell it does something.

 

Also, combat generally feels much slower somehow. I understand the underwater version being slower (It could use a bit of a boost to speed, as well), but when we are zipping through space with a giant sword and cannon the combat should be able to keep up. A few fast-moving enemies could be a step in the right direction, as would a general speed boost to enemies across the board.

 

Finally, the minimap does a poor job of navigating through a 3d space. Perhaps distance could be listed on indicators detailing how far up or down something is to us?

 

Onto smaller issues, that would generally improve the feel and satisfaction of archwing mission. The first is a very small detail, enemies are way too big in mission. To have a Grineer with a jetpack be the size of my ship is rather odd. I imagine this was originally done so they could be easier to see in space, but now we have target indicators on everything on the map. The big ship enemies can stay as they are, but infantry units should be shrunk down to their normal scale.

 

Secondly, the weapons feel weak. They have these big, impressive models and then do less damage than our normal guns. It just feels wrong. The solution here is quite simple, just add a zero to everything. enemy has 1,000 hp? Now its 10,000. Gun does 100 damage? Now its 1,000. Big numbers are satisfying, and seeing big guns make big number is just right.

[[Spoiler] So About The Lotus]

I can't believe some people are still clinging to the boring old trope that maybe the the good guy is going to turn out bad, or have some dark, sinister underbelly - and still thinking that makes them edgy, like they're in on some big secret. 

 

That trope's been running for the past 20 years now, and is probably the most outworn cliche in all of videogaming.

 

How about, for a fresh, new take: the good guy is just the good guy? Wouldn't that be surprising?

At no point have I said the Lotus is evil. But what I am saying is that there is a chance for an interesting story here if the Warframes are their own conscious entity.

 

Picture a scenario like this; an enemy is using some space magic to attack the Tenno directly through the Warframe, psychic feedback or something of the like. The Lotus, over-protective and caring for nothing over the Tenno's well being, tell them to sever the link to protect themselves. Has a line that reads like telling your kid you'll get them a new goldfish. The Tenno refuses, Lotus starts losing her cool, severs the connection herself. Your warframe falls to the ground, we get a flash of the Tenno bolting awake on the ship.

 

Then it goes back to your warframe, enemies closing around it as it sits there motionless. Until it starts staggers to its feet to finish the mission, with impaired movement and glitched out UI.

 

This kind of story isn't the newest thing in the world, but I struggle to think of an example in which the player perspective is on the protector being discarded.

[[Spoiler] Nature Of The Warframes]

well said, this is what I think as well. 

 

I also believe the stalker himself is a Warframe. A warframe that was forced to kill a civilization by the tenno that was his operator and now wants revenge on all the tenno.

On the matter of the Stalker, his entry has no indication that he took part in the killing. But personally I hold to the theory that he attempted a make-shift transference to gain their power, but got his mind permanently fused to the Warframe.

 

Not much to support it, really, but the Stalker is still pretty up in the air.

[[Spoiler] Nature Of The Warframes]

In the wake of U18 I've seen a lot of theories floating around, but a surprising lack of representation for my own take on things.

 

To begin, I take it that the Warframes do have their own semi-conscious personalities. Without a Tenno actually powering them most of them would black out and fall to the floor, although some mange to move on their own. I take the relationship between Tenno and Warframe to be more like the Tenno riding in the back of the Warframe's head, experiencing the world and the Warframe's personality through it, while directing the Warframe with their will.

 

The most pressing case for Warframe autonomy is breaking War. While the Tenno is being strangled by the Stalker, the Warframe slowly forces itself to move and snap War in half. The important detail here is that Hunhow is too shocked by what is happening to stop us. He thinks of the Warframe as a mindless puppet with no will of its own, that only with a Tenno's control can it do anything. And, being a Sentient, I'm sure he would be able to notice the void energies of transference and understand if it were our Tenno remotely powering the Warframe. But that would have made him urgent, not stopped him in his tracks in confusion.

 

Next we have the Rhino Prime entry and the original Chroma. People like to present Rhino's entry as proof that Warframes are unstable monsters without Tenno control. What they gloss over is that the entry also states the Orokin cut and eviscerated Warframes, giving them pain and measuring the response. Basically the Valkyr treatment, and we know how she turned out. If any circumstance would give rise to a Warframe's own will, I am hard-pressed to think of one more certain than "kill the bastards cutting me up and sewing me back together."

 

Chroma, on the other hand, has been wandering the system for who knows how long. We had assumed that he was being controlled by a Sentient due to all the creepy things he would say during the quest. "Empty is the Womb in the Sky" has a very different meaning to me now. Instead of cryptic Sentient creepiness, now it sounds like Chroma is lamenting the loss of its Tenno. It receives no orders, it has no link beyond itself. And so it wanders, perhaps in hopes of re-establishing that link.

 

At the end of the day there is till a lot to speculate on, and we just don't know how aware the Warframes are.

[[Spoiler] So About The Lotus]

Which were what? No explanation has been given why the tenno are still sleeping.

 

 

But why didnt she wake the Tenno up?

That's the question.

The Tenno couldn't hang out awake in the Moon?

She "wanted kids" but it wasnt until the kids were in danger that the kids actually appeared.

She was happy with having an army of drones running around. Why? Why not the kids hanging out with her on the Moon?

I see two possible answers, that are not exclusive to eachother.

1) She is over-protective to the point of obsession, like a parent who wraps their kid in bubble wrap.

2) She fears a potential disconnect between Tenno and Warframe. If Warframe really do have even the slightest semi-consciousness, the awareness of the Tenno controlling them that they are not actually the Warframe may interfere with Transference. That could have negative effects on the Tenno and may also cause the Warframe to go rogue. I feel like this may be what happened to Chroma.

[[Spoiler] So About The Lotus]

Can we please to rest all the talk about "Lotus is evil?"

 

DE has stated (can't remember which stream) that Lotus is someone we can trust pretty much unconditionally. She has no ulterior motive.

I've never thought Lotus as evil, just that she was using us for her own agenda. An agenda that so far has been to our benefit, but I take issue with being kept in the dark.

 

What makes you think the Tenno wasn't the one that broke the War? I'm pretty sure you can see the tenno moving his/her glowing hand when the frame is breaking the War, and even if not, the frame may possess some rudimentary will, but no sentience/sapience. The lore hints always indicated that we, the Tenno, were some kind of entity controlling various warframe suits. Granted, there's some kind of of a dummy body inside each suit, mimicking the original user/creator of the frame, but the copies we get are dummies for all intents and purposes.

Bottom line is, I'm sorry you identify with the frame and U18 broke it for you, but it's not Lotus' fault. Lotus went as far as destroying the Orokin civilization to save the Tenno children, which were intended to be used as tools and discarded after they saved the Orokin from the Sentient.

The Tenno does not move their hand in that scene, and Hunhow is baffled when we start moving. It is clearly not something that is supposed to be happening, something that I can only attribute to an act of sheer willpower on the Warframe's part to protect its operator. We've always fancied ourselves some kind of protectors, if the various bosses that deride us for it are to be believed.

 

And U18 didn't really break anything much for me. I like my Tenno. Frankly I'd rather have them as a mission voice than the Lotus, although that's primarily me being really tired of her voice after all these years.

[[Spoiler] So About The Lotus]

I've never really trusted Lotus. She was our boss and she assured us she was on our side, but I never really felt like I could believe her about what very little she told us about anything we did. But it never really mattered and I didn't dislike her, even if she did repeat herself a lot. But U18 changed a lot of things.

 

Now I find myself very much disliking the Lotus.

 

I'm of the interpretation that the Warframes are their own semi-conscious entity, blacking out when a Tenno isn't powering them with space magic, but more than an empty shell. And I still identify as the Warframe. The Tenno keep us moving and experience the world through us, but we're still us. Now we just know there's someone else watching through our eyes.

 

This interpretation is responsible for why I am growing to hate Lotus. When I hear her say "Good job, Tenno" or the like, I don't hear it as the empty praise it used to be. She's not talking to me, she's talking through me to the Tenno. I used to think she didn't care, but now I see it as she doesn't acknowledge me enough to even consider whether or not to care. She, just like Hunhow, sees me as nothing more than a tool, a puppet on a string.

 

Well Hunhow's little toy is snapped in two, now. And it wasn't our Tenno that did that.