The Operator: With Age Comes Experience

[BloodRavenCap]

Yeah, not feeling it. It looks like a rehash of Warframe mobility and Tenno should be something completely different. Of course, in the Duviri Paradox they are stripped from their powers, byt copying the way Warframes move is not the way, I think.

[Steel_Rook]

On 2019-10-25 at 3:00 PM, Teridax68 said:

I have to agree with this, which is why I feel like the OP's proposals are still a bit timid in this respect, though commendable nonetheless. Operators are still terrible in combat, even with maxed-out Focus and arcanes, and outside of Void Dash bursts aren't really good at moving around either, so there's that much to catch up on. Even if they were as good at fighting as our warframes, though, that in itself wouldn't justify their existence, as they lack a unique contribution outside of some plot-related gimmicks. DE still needs to figure out what they want Operators to contribute when they fight, and has the difficult task of making sure they do something useful and desirable, yet also complementary to our warframes. Personally, I like the fact that Operators provide utility and assistance to our frames in various ways, so if they were competent at the things we usually do, while also being able to consistently play off of our frames mid-fight, they'd likely feel a lot better.

The way I see it, DE have two options here: Either give Operators a unique gameplay role of some kind, or else treat them as a "secondary Warframe" the way we have a secondary weapon to complement our primary. To go into a bit more detail...

A unique role for Operators would be something that Warframes simply can't do by themselves logically. Lore restrictions and gameplay contrivance alone isn't sufficient in this case, as both would come across like artificial limitations. This is why I proposed simply being able to BE in two places and control two characters at once. Logically, if you have both Warframe and Operator, then that gives you the ability to tackle more complex puzzles, avoid large AoE and indeed fight battles on two fronts. I don't know if that's even possible in Warframe at this stage given how much of the game is designed purely for Warframes (and how Operator content is just an artificial gate simply requiring Void damage), simply because it would involve major and probably tacked-on retrofits. Then again, one could argue the same for Archwings, and those took Free Roam maps and Empyrean to actually have a role of their own. Who knows - maybe Duviri will do the same for Operators... Even if I rather doubt it.

Operators as a "secondary Warframe" should be easier since it wouldn't require new game modes, but it would require a MAJOR redesign of Operators themselves in order to offer really any kind of build diversity in Operators themselves. Under such a system, Operators could be the Stealth counterpart to a Loud Warframe, the mobile counterpart to a slow Warframe, offer long range to a Warframe equipped with CQB weapons and so on. A greater variety of what Operators can (and crucially, CANNOT) do would allow us to better fit them in as another "item" in our build not too dissimilar from how one picks their weapons, or indeed their pet. Operators as a "secondary Warframe" would also require a cleaner Transference mechanic, ideally one which doesn't leave a Warframe behind sitting stock-still, getting energy-drained and having its Sentinel killed, or else falling into pits if you swap in mid air. If that's the route we want to go, then Operators need to be treated like a "transformation" not too dissimilar from triggering Excalibur's Exalted Blade or calling Titania's Razorwing, or indeed even using Gauss' Mach Rush. Players need to be able to swap to an Operator for something as simple as performing a few Void Dashes in the middle of a bullet jump or as complex as doing a Spy Vault purely with the Operator.

Actually, I'll go one better - regardless of what role Operators end up having, Transference needs to change either way. It needs to give us the option of not leaving our Warframe behind because that's easily the silliest, most cumbersome aspect of it.

 

On 2019-10-25 at 3:57 PM, (PS4)Vexx757 said:

How about for funs sake. People keep forgetting that this is a game and a game is meant to be fun if ppl don`t like the operators fine don`t use them. Me personally I like using the operator so I hope with the duviri paradox will improve the operators.

While I agree with you on principle, "is it fun" is a fairly hollow argument just on its own. Plenty of things can be "fun." I find opening all of the lockers on a map to be "fun" and tend to do that as par for the course. When it comes to broader game design, however, cohesion between disparate parts matters. A properly balanced game where each individual tool has its uses and its role is generally more "fun" than one comprised of disparate toys which might be amusing on their own but harm your ascent through the progression system. Indeed, I'd argue that game design which asks players to choose between what's "fun" and what's "efficient" is about the worst case scenario because it's a no-win situation. Pick what's fun for you and you have a miserable time trying to earn anything. Pick what's efficient and you make progress but resent the time you spend doing it. Nobody leaves happy.

Operators are a VERY important part of Warframe's lore - I dare say the cornerstone of it, easily of equal importance to the Orokin (which they are) and the Sentients (which they... maybe kind of also are?). As such, I find it inexcusable that their in-game implementation is THIS bad, THIS undercooked and this... Ultimately pointless. It genuinely feels like DE threw them in because they sounded cool (which they do) without any real plan for what they were actually going to DO, yet without biting the bullet and making Operators purely cosmetic, either. Again - the parallels between Operators and Archwings are undeniable. This is why I argue that the success story of Archwings finding their niche through future content finally offering a use for them almost by accident could serve as the blueprint for what I hope to be the success story of Operators, as well.

Operators are amusing as a toy and I certainly don't want to take that from people. On the contrary - I want to make them a PRACTICAL part of the game, more than a mere toy.