Warframe Slots?

[Mak_Gohae]

You do realise games are about fun, and not "working with it", right? And having to pay for fun in a game advertised as "free" pretty much kills any semblance of developer integrity in some peoples eyes making them reluctant to support said developer?

They never advertised everything single aspect of the game would be free.

It seems you are new to F2P and dont know that this is pretty much the norm.

So, welcome to the world of F2P which arent totally free.

[Tobestik]

Why don't we just start out with 3 slots? That seems reasonable...

[Mak_Gohae]

Why don't we just start out with 3 slots? That seems reasonable...

You can spend 20 out of the 50 plat you get at the start to get that third slot.

[UkyoSonoda]

Let me add Aklato, Akbolto, Hek, Boar, Snipetron, Fragor, Dark Dagger, Dual Heat Swords, Boltor, Latron, Kraken, Gorgon, Afuris and Bo to the weapons list and Ember, Mag, Frost, Ash and Rhino to the Warframe list.

Can I get them all through playing the game: Yes

Do I have to pay money to have all these items as a selection: Yes, Should I have to: No

A portion of the game is cut off without payment.

Once again, $5 is $5 too much for a game that's supposed to be completely free

I also see, as someone pointed out previously, a growing trend in founders siding with the payment option at hand

Can you get every item in the game without paying? Yes

Can you have all of said items available as a selection without paying? Yes unless you expect to actually have all of said items at the exact same time.

Is a portion of the game cut off because of this? No, Now if it were impossible meaning the game itself did not allow you to sell a weapon or warframe once purchased or obtained this might be true but it would be a stretch. However since you have the option of selling or emptying a slot at any given time you choose to the limit on slots is not cutting any portion of the game off from you.

Buying additional slots is buying convienence. It's not buying content access.

[Grimwing]

It's true that 2 warframe slots are barely enough if you want to experiment with things, I'd say 3 would be a more healthy decision for both the devs and the players. Weapon slots are not that important imo, as you can have the best weapons in almost each category on those 8 slots.

What bugs me more is the need for Orokin Reactors/Catalysts. I mean leveling your toon is a pretty basic thing in every game. Getting these items is really hard without platinum. I have some platinum I bought mainly for the color palette and warframe slots, but I just won't spend 20 plats on a core thing like a reactor to unlock and TEST my current warframe whether I want to keep it or not. At least it would be a good idea to retreive the reactor if you decide to sell the warframe it's attached to (tried this warframe, didn't like it, next one), else it'll go wasted. I can't even test my Excalibur's 4th skill. This is really lame. (I think I should have went Loki, but hey, I'm forced to play a single toon that is limited in its current form.)

I understand that the devs need money for their families and daily lives, but there are smarter ways to reel in cash. I see some really core items limited to platinum or insane luck, this is a thing I pretty much dislike in the game.

So in my opinion it's a really bad decision from devs to limit players from trying things out, especially in beta.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Grimwing

[cypherhalo]

+1, slots should go, or at least be available for credits.

[Cawkslapjones]

They never advertised everything single aspect of the game would be free.

It seems you are new to F2P and dont know that this is pretty much the norm.

So, welcome to the world of F2P which arent totally free.

Unfortunately that's no longer the case. F2P games truly are free these days. There's no shortage of examples out there. The "restrictions until you pay" model went out the window around the time that LoL became a powerhouse.

[Mak_Gohae]

Unfortunately that's no longer the case. F2P games truly are free these days. There's no shortage of examples out there. The "restrictions until you pay" model went out the window around the time that LoL became a powerhouse.

Most of these games are PvP which has a different system of play that doesnt really fit which other types of games.

[UkyoSonoda]

Most of these games are PvP which has a different system of play that doesnt really fit which other types of games.

And there's also no shortage of examples that are still going strong with huge popularity of F2P games that still restrict convienence and in some rare cases even Pay to Win mechanics with their shop. Funny thing is most of this list is not PvP and much of it existed before LoL even hit beta.

[HadronVictorioso]

As much as I see the hate for the OP, I say I'm gonna have to support him here. At least 1 extra slot available for credit purchase (for each area, warframes and weapons) would make things much easier. I'm not saying that ALL of them should be able to be bought with credits, but at least 1 more would give people more freedom.

[MAL1WAN]

Necroed because I want something be done about this.

Warframe slots can only be bought for Platinum since... they are Warframe SLOTS! But the weapon slots should be purchasable with Credits. I don't care how much Credits but let it be purchasable by Credits, since nothing really happens with just 8 weapon slots.

(or at least can we have some alternative paying methods instead of credid cards? I'm too young to manage credit cards)

[Eevihl]

I also don't agree with the slot thing. I mean it's pretty cheap but for my friends that can't really put money into the game they are kind of capped and can't do anything else really which sucks because I want them to keep playing with me and level frames and stuff which is fun. I would like to see a change maybe a large amount of credits to buy slots. But as for the money issue I beleive they can make a lot more on skins, weapons, frames, and color packs.

[DeadlyShadow]

I think that there's gonna be an option to exchange your credits for platinum, so let's see what happens after Update 7

Edited March 5, 2013 by DeadlyShadow

[Cawkslapjones]

I think that there's gonna be an option to exchange your credits for platinum, so let's see what happens after Update 7

Exchange in game money for RL? That seems unlikely.

[plznohurtme]

While I do think that slots is something important the most common thing I've seen posted regarding this is that there needs to be another way to acquire them. With the way that Warframe works I still think that tying them in to player rank is the best way to do it. As the OP mentions the more you play the less freedom you have with what you do, and thus the logical conclusion is that you should tie in some base unlocks to rank (which is essentially time played let's face it). I'm definitely against a blanket policy of just allowing all slots to be purchased through other means... it wouldn't be hard for me to take one of my friends who has never played the game before through xini 5 or 6 times and have them sell all the mods and have a ton of money to buy stuff.

During the Livestream on 2/27 they mentioned rank becoming more important to the overall structure of the game and I think this ties into it perfectly. Allowing 1 Warframe slot and 2 weapon slots every 2 (maybe 3) ranks seems extremely reasonable to me. The other issue that I have lies with the actual ranking system itself since you only get rank by leveling things up without some way of getting extra slots this becomes far more difficult for someone that is doing f2p and they might feel like their wheels are just spinning because they're forced to sell things.

[Helter]

DE has to make money somewhere, and slots are honestly a pretty inoffensive way to do that. It's not like you can't get through the game without spending any money, because you can. I know, because I did, prior to getting a Founder's pack. Does it mean shuffling some stuff around and maybe getting rid of a weapon or two you're not actively using and haven't dumped a catalyst into? Sure, but them's the breaks.

It's not like slots cost much. Four weapon slots will run you a grand total of ~$1 US, and a Warframe slot is something like 85 cents. For $5 you can double your initial slot allocation and still have a little left over for a potato. That's less than a pack of smokes these days.

Edit: I actually do like the idea of a limited number of credit-purchasable slots. One extra Warframe slot and 2-4 weapon slots, maybe.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Helter

[Cawkslapjones]

DE has to make money somewhere, and slots are honestly a pretty inoffensive way to do that. It's not like you can't get through the game without spending any money, because you can. I know, because I did, prior to getting a Founder's pack. Does it mean shuffling some stuff around and maybe getting rid of a weapon or two you're not actively using and haven't dumped a catalyst into? Sure, but them's the breaks.

It's not like slots cost much. Four weapon slots will run you a grand total of ~$1 US, and a Warframe slot is something like 85 cents. For $5 you can double your initial slot allocation and still have a little left over for a potato. That's less than a pack of smokes these days.

Edit: I actually do like the idea of a limited number of credit-purchasable slots. One extra Warframe slot and 2-4 weapon slots, maybe.

Might need to check up on your math there. 75 plat is $5. Each frame slot is 20 plat. You can get 3 frame slots for that, almost 4. If it were 85 cents, you could get at least 5, and almost a 6th. I'm not saying it's a big deal, but your numbers are way off.

[MAL1WAN]

He is talking about the weaponslots, which I think is 2 for 12 plats.

[theangelbelow88]

The other issue that I have lies with the actual ranking system itself since you only get rank by leveling things up without some way of getting extra slots this becomes far more difficult for someone that is doing f2p and they might feel like their wheels are just spinning because they're forced to sell things.

From almost all F2P games I have noticed one thing is always in short supple and that is inventory, if its not bag space, its bank space, and if its not that its charecter slots, and to be honest, I have learn to be ok with this, hey they're giving you a whole game for free, don't like something about it?, find it boring? then why are you playing it? and honestly I find the charecter slots very reasonable, if you use the 50 platinum they give you for charecter slots, that's 4 charecter slots total, or 16 weapon slots total if you put all your platinum to that, or you can do 3 charecter slots and 12 weapon slots, and honestly how many F2P games even give you currancy like that to start off with? not many from what I know of. I have put about 20$ into the game and I'm very happy with how far that got me, I have 6 charecter slots, 20 weapon slots, all my warframes are super charged and 14 out of my 17 weapons are also super charged, and I'm pretty sure with all this in play, I'll be pretty happy for the next few months or so, think about this, most new games that come out that you pay 60$ only last for about a week(storyline wise) and then your done, or maybe if they have a multiplayer they'll gave a few more weeks of fun but you still dropped 60 bones for that. also I got to give DE major probs for allowing you to get the things that cost the most amount of money for free, and thats all the weapons and warframes themselves, and they even give players the chance to get items that super charge their charecter/weapon for free, I know for a fact that a lot of other F2P game would not be that generous, honestly the only thing, that you cant get for free in this game are slots(I don't count skins or extra colors), and those a pretty cheap and reasonable if you ask me.

My only real problem with this game is the rank system, as plznohurtme pointed out, this is the only thing were I see that DE might have tried to get money out of players, no, its not an unavoidable obsticle, but it sure makes it harder for people who don't want to or cant put money into the game to rank up, but then again they did say they planned on changing this, and hey, this is still close beta, so there are a lot of changes still to come.

And honestly please don't be so rash to say "this game is Pay2Win or Pay4Fun", honestly even if I had not put a penny into the game it would have amused me for about a month, and maybe even longer then that(every time they reslease new content).

Edited March 6, 2013 by theangelbelow88

[Aido-Hwedo]

Man I hate typing walls of text but...

You guys seems to be forgetting that the game is “Free To Play.” This means that you don't have to go to a retail store or online shop to spend one cent on the game. This doesn't mean that you can expect the game to be like a AAA title with all the bells and whistles in the game up and out there for you and that the developers made this game from the goodness of their hearts and put it out for you to play while they expect nothing in return. No they need money to support their family/lifestyle and to continue to add content to the game.

In ALL f2p games something is not free it will either require time or money with money being a faster easier way of obtaining something then by grinding. Without impacting gameplay or being in some way a turn-off to the player base there are certain things they can and cannot touch. Number one thing they can affect is what you are able to hoard or hold. This comes in the form of inventory slots that in most f2p games require some cash to allow a player to increase what they can hold without affecting what they can do in the game.

Another thing some f2p games cannot be compared to others in a fair matter. You can't compare LoL with Warframe because their target audience is far too different. LoL is a competitive game with focus only on PVP so they can't lock people from playing champs by giving them a set number of slots that they have to spend real cash on to increase because that would be seen as people with money have an unfair advantage in a PVP forcused game by having more champs to choose from then a non- paying costumer. Warframe is PVE focused meaning it deals with people mainly fighting monsters,robots, supreme evil beings. So the game focuses more on weapons, classes, and cosmetics more then LoL ever will. Warframe give 2 warframe slots and 4 weapon slots off the back allowing a player to play all the maps and even have some choice in what frame and weapons they want to bring. Because there is no real cash weapons with damage,fire rate, ect boosts on them then what you can get in the market/foundry there is no real advantage between a paying and non paying player. Now this also means that the devs have to keep adding maps,warframes, weapons, and color palates to keep the player based interested. Now if someone wants to horde more frames ,weapons, and colors then they would be able to really use they would need more space aka more slots. So a limit on the slots means they gota put some cash out to keep their horde of weapons and frames but it in no way affects what maps they can and cannot play. Comparing LoL to Warframe is like comparing a Vidicust, Dragon Nest, and Dungeon Fighter ( these games have pvp in them but the main focus is people killing Ais for epic loot and glory) to games like Smite,Dota2, and Mechwarrior online ( these games main focus is between people battleing each other instead of Ais in a competive matter for bragging rights and to prove how better they are then others) These types of games are way too different for someone to compare one from one category to one from another and expect the exact same rules/marketing to apply to both.

Another thing almost all f2p games with PVE focus in them have this type of way of acting. Example Path of Exile has a limit on the bank slots free players have if they want more to hold their weapons, armors, and gems guess what they gota spend real cash on a bank slot increase. Other f2p games that have the same kinda of limit are Aion, Swtor, Tera, and Dragon nest. Yes these games also have pvp BUT their main focus is pve and they also don't offer real cash weapons/armors for pvp that would give people an advantage over other people.

I'll fix the spelling errors and run on sentences later just wanted to put this out before I forget it.

Edited March 6, 2013 by DeathFromBelow

[Cawkslapjones]

He is talking about the weaponslots, which I think is 2 for 12 plats.

He specifically says "a Warframe slot is something like 85 cents" which is false.

[Helter]

He specifically says "a Warframe slot is something like 85 cents" which is false.

I should have noted that my math is based off of the $50 Founder's pack (which is the best $/plat exchange rate outside of the $250 grand master tier), where $1 works out to 24.4 plat. Based on that, one Warframe slot at 20 plat = $0.82. Of course, different packages will work out differently, but even the $10 package (170 plat) is enough for 2 extra Warframe slots, 8 weapon slots, and 4 reactors/catalyst.

The $5/75plat package is a worst-case scenario in terms of bang for the buck, and even that will still get you an extra Warframe slot and 8 weapon slots (or 2 frame/4 weapon), which I'd bet would still be plenty for a large portion of casual players.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Helter

[Namacyst]

The last thing i remember is that the dev's may think about linking slots to rank so that when you level up in rank you get some slots. But dont hope too much.

[Cawkslapjones]

I should have noted that my math is based off of the $50 Founder's pack (which is the best $/plat exchange rate outside of the $250 grand master tier), where $1 works out to 24.4 plat. Based on that, one Warframe slot at 20 plat = $0.82. Of course, different packages will work out differently, but even the $10 package (170 plat) is enough for 2 extra Warframe slots, 8 weapon slots, and 4 reactors/catalyst.

The $5/75plat package is a worst-case scenario in terms of bang for the buck, and even that will still get you an extra Warframe slot and 8 weapon slots (or 2 frame/4 weapon), which I'd bet would still be plenty for a large portion of casual players.

Are people who bought a $50 founders pack even concerned about slots? Or just the ones who haven't spent yet?

[Linarian.]

One thing we have to remember is that this IS a business, and if they don't have any methods to produce income that are at any incentive, we ALL lose as they don't have a working model, and no company as they have no money to pay the people that are working on this project.

I noticed League of Legends was referenced here for comparison. Obviously they are quite a bit different but to be fair, in the most recent Q&A i did see one of the Dev's reference it as well. If you look at their model, you DO HAVE TO PAY for additional runepages. you have TWO to start with.. TWO!! If you are going to play ranked and be flexible to any degree, you HAVE to have more than just those two slots. Why do I point this out?

League - Access to game, limits what you can "Store" in runes for your "Champions"

Path of the Exile (also previously referenced) - You pay for "Storage" which is for your characters.

Also - these ARE relevant games as they are FTP but they do NOT directly compete as a shooter (although i'd classify it a little more as a Bad @$$ Ninja Slasher/shooter)

Also - League of Legends IS a different game with a different model. They crank out "Champions" on a monthly basis. I hope that Warframe NEVER does such a thing! Choices are neat, but this IS NOT LoL (nor really in the same genre)

OTHER games have similiar limits to Warframe (mechwarrior was referenced, as others are in-line with that too). The list could go on and the fight i am sure will continue.

All in all - I feel they have a pretty good package for a FTP. It is very common for a game of this type (where you have characters to use that have a level progression) to have a limited "slot" basis.

I also saw a reference to someone wishing they could have more access as a Beta tester and this is how i see that - either they give beta testers access to everything and then you lose it all when they "go live" OR you have a live model in test and they do their best to allow you to keep what you have (in a way rewarding y ou for Beta testing) AND testing their FTP model at the same time. Given the two options, i'd agree with their choice and go with what they have (the second).