Intensive Testing Report. The State Of A Game For A New Player.

[Froh]

(posted that a few weeks ago, before the patch that makes the referral mods availables, support told me to post there instead)

 

I interact a lot, in game, with new players. And the referral system that is needed to get some mods (even if I already referred all my friends before) kinda forced me to make new accounts, so I rediscovered the game at the same time. Finding new people, and problems that they face without the necessary knowledge.

 

+ But first, let me tell you that your referral systems works, and gives boosters, credits, and rewards as intended. The only thing is that you should precise that missions needs to be differents on the referral page. (Because there's indeed a statistic of completed missions in game, but it doesn't reflect the "unique" part).

 

Also, I spent a @(*()$ lot of time doing that, so I really appreciate some consideration.

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Tutorial and learning the game. What a player doesn't know.

 

+ The cinematic is great.

 

- The first part is kinda boring and too slow. People playing the game usually knows how life bars works. If a new player doesn't, you can really speed up the process. You could use some "Learning by playing" more than that.

 

- The tutorial doesn't teach you movement. I'll cover that in the First maps issues.

 

- Doesn't tell you where you find stuff. Mods etc.

 

- Doesn't tell you when or where to equip your first mod.

 

First maps issues. First world problems.

 

+ The different enemies that you encounter very fast is great. The difficulty also tends to be okay "usually".

 

+ You're finding various mods at a good pace.

 

- You don't know how to equip them :p (and sometimes you can't because you don't have a lot of points)

 

- Running out of lives ? I don't have the statistics, so you'll know that better than me (and if you don't mind, I would really like to know how much people pay for that). But if nobody pay for the resurrect, just scrap the whole system. It's a terrible one for a new player (with only one frame). And brings a lot of critiscism against the game.

 

- Repetitive environment. This is a huge issue since the game can be considered as "not interesting" during the first maps. You should add some variations, even if it means using some phobos environment. There was a lot of work in the latest tiles and the old ones stays... well... old and sometimes feels clunky.

 

- I saw a lot of new players being blocked by a wall run. They don't know how to do it and sometimes are kinda buggy and hard to do. (saw this in a grineer map infested, I had a hard time doing it, so a really new player just can't. I saw the exact same later, and it was easy peasy.)

 

- Another lot of new players doesn't really know how to find frames and weapons. This is not a big issue, but it needs to be adressed because of the following. The market, at the moment, is terribly intimidating. A lot of new players asked me how much do they need to pay in order to get others weapons. Like if paying was the only way. And indeed when you go into the arsenal, you see, as a new player this :

 http://steamcommunity.com/id/frohlemageblanc/screenshot/612778524686391708

 

As you can see, there's only one weapon that you can buy with credits, and it have the exact same picture, and skin, and feeling, and even name than the base one. The others ones ? Platinum. This also tends to give a bad publicy to the game. You actually don't know where to find blueprint, and even that they exists.

 

This is an issue as they don't really understand how upgrading a weapon works.

 

"well its pretty confusing how to upgrade weapons/get new ones"
" is there a lot more mods for the primary? currently i have 25 free slots for mods o.o"

 

- Maps a little bit long. The firsts maps are okay, and it becomes huge really fast.

 

- The radar issue. Well it's been a long time since the radar stayed the same way, but when you are in a 3D environment, it is kinda hard to use. I saw new players being blocked by the usual problematics tile that are the grineers ones with a lot of stairs. (There are 2 really problematics parts, I'll try to give you screens if you don't see which ones)

 

- The first survival map is really hard for a new player. Seeing Grineers Commanders/Flamethrowers/Rocket Launchers before the end of the first 5 mn is kinda difficult.

 

- Rescue mode is not great to understand when you're in the room and you don't know what you must do. You should highlight the doors or something. (Problem seen with new players). Lockdown mode tells you where to hack for example. Use the same thing.

 

- End of the map. I think the countdown could be more seeable. A lot of people are running I don't know where since they want to explore the map, and some players don't understand that at the finish, there's a countdown if they stay.

 

- Bugs (For example this one : http://steamcommunity.com/id/frohlemageblanc/screenshot/612778524686329453 ). Being blocked by invisibles doors during the first maps is not a great experience :p

 

- Planets. You actually see all planets as a new player. And even if you're told that you have to begin with mercury. It could be great to see which planets are unlocked. (use grey, it works)

 

 

[LatoObligato]

....You do know they want to ban people who abuse the referral system like what you did, right?

[Maou]

lets just say that the game is not so new people friendly, I remembered during the first days I played warframe, I failed alot of terminal hacks cuz I didnt know how to do it. the wall run was an issue too, 

 

as for modding, I agree on the idea on de teaching new peeps how to deal with it, theres just no instructions.

 

The only reason how I survived this far was because of my rl frienss thought me it, otherwise Id still be stuck on some room staring up an open air shaft pondering how on mercury do I get up there

[bosstnt]

the tutorial needs some work but what would also help is to have a short guide on the website like any other mmo to assist the new player.

 

it will also give people a better insight into the game. there is also no reference like any other mmo where u can preview the warframes and their powers, this could be a welcome addition to help the new player decide what frame to choose. No use putting it up on youtube if u dont know to look for it there.

 

I have frequented mercury now and again due to the fact that i like to help other people. I lost count on how many times i had to explain to someone

how to wall run to get to an objective while waiting till they get it right and it does get a bit hard if their is a language barrier.

 

The most common question in Region chat by a new player is: How do i use my skills. Which means they had no idea u had to slot in mods to use a frames skill.

 

Having the websight updated with a "noobie guide" will go along way to take out a lot of confusion for new players.

 

 

I stand corrected on half of my post apparently there is a short guide on here with the heading "game". cant remember it there when i started. by the way it needs to be amended to comply with the latest updates

Edited October 3, 2013 by bosstnt

[Froh]

....You do know they want to ban people who abuse the referral system like what you did, right?

 

Yep. But as I said, I did this thing before the patch and stopped as soon as I learned that it was an abuse. But I guess it will be a more private discussion between me and DE support if they want to ban me for that. Can we focus on the main part please ?

The ban part isn't the point.

Edited October 3, 2013 by Froh

[xxx7]

Some very good points. DE should profit greatly (or at least give a way better first-impression) if they address these things.

[Aure7]

YES FOR OLD TILESETS EXPANSIONS such as corpus ships and grinner asteroids.

[Namastop]

Excuse me, I'm really new to Warframe, but I already know how to apply mods, wallrun, use skills, etc, because I experimented and did some trial and error. But right now, I can't play the game at all because the launcher wants to update, but the servers doesn't want to co-operate. Can I please get some help, perhaps some steps as to how I can skip the launcher and play the game maybe? Or at the very least, please redirect me to the approperiate forum post.

 

Thank you.

[Froh]

Well you can't really. If it doesn't update, try to use steam (if you don't) and check files.