An appeal to DE to expand on Archwing missions.

[(PSN)PyramidHACK]

 

So after 50 days straight of playing the game, I'm kinda hooked on it. There's so much to like(and dislike) about the game, and it always draws you in, with its dopamine-producing daily activities. 

To me, the one feature in the game that really made me go "omg, this is #*!%ing awesome", was the Archwing. Sure, my experience with Odonata was quicky soured by its horrible skillset, but once I was able to move on to more varied AWs, and AW gun/melee and fully mod them, I was able to appreciate how much fun it can be to kill S#&$ in SPACE.

I am aware that a lot of people don't like AW missions and these are the reasons *I* think that is:

• Movement can be clunky, however it does require concentration and patience:

So far, the only way to overcome the frustratingly slow speed of other AWs that aren't Itzal, is with [Hyperion Thrusters]. This point is closely-linked to the next:

• Navigating through the map, while the objective mark switches place as the player progresses through the level can be annoying, because you're either flying blind with no map or you're using the map while you're trying to maneuver around the obstacles. Either way, you're going to crash, often, and it will break the flow of gameplay like Bane to Batman's back.

I love AWs and I can fully understand why this can be be an issue for some. However, again, AWs by their design are meant to be a more 'hardcore'-ish experience, and I'm saying this because I play on console with sensitivity high for AW missions and that's the only way that I can move on my pace. Imagine gamers who prefer lower sensitivity because it can get too hectic. If you've played an twitch shooter for the past 15+ years and a friend who casually plays videogames, tries this or that, picks up your controller and plays with your settings, you'll know what I mean, so how can the experience be adjusted to better suit both players? I will touch on that later. 

• Aim-assist really does not help during mid-long range gun fights:

AWs are just frames with a jetpack and guns/melee is 50-70% of the experience, so from that, I think we can all agree that if you don't particularly enjoy the gunplay, you're not gonna have a fun experience, regardless of the frame and the melee might not be enough to save it. 

 

So what can be done to improve and expand on the Archwing feature? Let me know what you guys think. I don't feel that one aspect of the game should be tossed or trashed simply because one portion of the playerbase just 'doesn't like it'. I can tell that the addition of the AW shows how rich the Warframe toybox can be when a developer goes 'I got this wild idea for a game and it's gonna be fun and just out there' and materializes the idea.

 

So here are my suggestions on what *can* be done:

1. Embrace the 'gamey factor': Look, we're space robot ninjas. The game is crazy dumb(in a really good way) and yet it unironically takes itself way too seriously(R a P t A p T a P) during every mission aside from the 'Clem' one. That's fine. The story is being expanded on and it's gettin' pretty neat, you know? I like where it's going. Can't wait to see more. The Archwings, however, should have ALWAYS been where the game just throws all pretense of seriousness out the window and you're allowed to punch S#&$ or blow it all with a WARHEAD or with a big-ass [Grattler] in SPACE with reckless abandon(think Gundam, Macross, Zone of The Enders, every fantasy you had of flying around on a mech when playing Xenogears/Xenosaga)so why is this segment restricted by the same level design as the rest of the game? Here's what I mean...
2. Tweak the HUD to better suit the zany nature of the AW: By embracing the 'gamey factor' of the AW, you can also change the HUD to help the player navigate through the map, keep track of enemies and objectives, maybe even include something that helps in looting, because during open-space space engagements, anyone can miss a Rare mod that's barely visible and dimly shines in a corner somewhere. 
3. Handcraft the level design: This can work and can be done for both space and underwater levels. Instead of making submersible missions a cluttered CHORE to get through, make it mone maneuverable, make it interesting, don't just make it a quick segment in one planet and that's it. There's so much potential to be exploited from it, and if you consider that Anthem, the next multiplayer, open-world, Destiny-looking 'RPG' is gonna have some nice-looking water vistas, you could execute Destiny 2 forever and give Bioware a run for its money with their next game. Why?
4. Underwater DLC of the DEEP(Cthulhu, more fishes, ancient Orokin underwater bases/temples): Go crazy! 

Alright, look--I'm not a coder,programmer or game designer. I can't tell you how to work with your tools, because I'm not familiar with them, myself. I'm just brainstorming ideas to improve the game, yeah? This is not meant as an appeal for more content, but to improve on what's already there and to make for a more full experience. As the game is right now, there is a lot of 'thought drought' in many areas of the game. I believe Conclave is another subject that, I honestly haven't even touched and yet I am aware that it's not exactly the popular activity. A great portion is farming this or that or just doing Tri-caps. 

PS: I also want to add that I don't have the numbers or statistics for the game, that's DE's business, I'm merely deducing based on what I've noticed from my playtime. 

Edited September 5, 2018 by (PS4)PyramidHACK

[Omega-Shadowblade]

We are likely to get expansion and improvements when we get the rail jack expansion. Best to bundle the space fighting changes together you know?

[SpicyDinosaur]

53 minutes ago, Omega-Shadowblade said:

We are likely to get expansion and improvements when we get the rail jack expansion. Best to bundle the space fighting changes together you know?

Have they said that re: archwing and the other things mentioned in the OP?

[(PSN)Vylnce]

I don't think the clunky movement is the reason so many people hate archwing.  I think it's the RESET.

You start the game and within a short window you have weapons and frames that let you decimate enemies.  You learn to mod, etc and you are rolling with the basics pretty quickly.  Then you get your archwing stuff and you are suddenly starting over.  All of your mods from before that are now mid-tier are useless (except for your auras!).  It's a start over after you have been rolling hard in the game and I think it hits most people wrong.  

[Himenoinu]

The AW section of the game definitely needs more pampering. A rather limited selection of everything, from gear to missions is not necessarily a big magnet for players.

I really loved the intro mission for AW. And I've never seen it again, I loved the rush mission style and was almost sad to not see it again somewhere else. A.S.O.

So yeah, I kinda +1 on everything you suggest and really hope that Railjack will bring some glitter to the AW section of the game.

Would also love to see more tilesets that are more appropriate for the various missions we have (and whatever's to come onward). Something that makes a lil bit more sense also for the planet we're on.

As an extra, maybe the water levels that we have could contain a more attractive AW portion when it comes up. As it is, I wouldn't bother to navigate it not even for the small chance of it containing a max tier medallion - 'cause there's virtually too much space for too little gain - enemies are rookies, sharks are annoying and loot is almost nonexistent.

[Pinegulf]

Yeah. ArchWing is cool. Especially I liked rush. (Capture not so much as it requires proper mods). 

 

I remember RailJack having Arcwing bit so there is that. It would be cool to have combination of Star-wars like trench run, sabotage and rush out before the blast. 

[MysticDragonMage]

i think the best way archwing would become popular is only if an archwing syndicate were introduced. syndicates are becoming a very big part of the game because they give players a sense of progression and reason to keep playing if said faction influenced the base game.

i think everything is there for archwing, they just need to present it better. right now, the only way to get archwings is via dojo and the only way to get archwing weapons is via other syndicates. dojo research and actually building the archwing parts takes at least a week and you need to betray/join syndicates in order to get all arch-weapon parts. dojo members dont even bother researching the archwings because they take so long and cost so much. players have to collect everything from one syndicate so that they can move on to the other; why would they do this for just arch-weapon parts?

if most of the archwing content were concentrated into one feature, than that would be a better presentation of the mode. we would then get more mission dificulty variety with archwing syndicate alerts and players will play archwing for archwing content. just simply include items that players can use outside of archwing as offerings, such as relic packs and air support placements, and players will keep playing archwing for these extra awards.

 

[Yrkul]

Archwing syndicate missions sounds pretty cool, especially if mission types were randomized. It would make it easier to unlock nodes with the more problematic mission types. It would also make sense, as syndicates offer parts for archwing weaponry.

Since a lot of people don't like archwing, however, that mission type shouldn't be placed in the normal mission lists and thus potentially take the place of one of the current missions. Rather, the mission should either have its own mission slot, or be an option ro a replace one of the other missions.