The Equipment Slot Problem

[vensey]

So, I understand this probably won't fix anything, but the amount of times I've tried to get my friends into warframe, only for them to run into the warframe/weapon slot problem, and dismiss the whole thing as pay-to-win, infuriates me. 

It's this wall, this hump for people to get over. And, where most "challenges" in the game foster a sense of competition and fun, I've only ever seen equipment slots make people feel... annoyed in the best case, and claustrophobic & paranoid in the worst. It's less a challenge and more an omnipresent fear. A parasite on your platinum level, reminding you to either get to farming so you can trade (something incredibly beyond the newbie skillset), or pay up.

Whenever people start uncovering warframe's systems, I always give them the same talk, about the three things that, in my 680 hours in warframe, I can only see as negative aspects.

1) Equipment Slots

2) Daily Standing Cap

3) Crafting Wait Timers

But among those 3, the equipment slots is the one that I think most hinders my view of the game, and the people I talk to. 

So many people praise warframe for being a AAA game you can get for free. But those equipment slots make it feel like a free to play game, in the worst possible way. They're a cheap tactic to eek platinum out of a player's account, and they're a holdover from when warframe was more desperate, but I like to think it has more dignity now.

The reason I bring this up is because of the wreckage slots in Empyrean. I've always thought that this was a system which would only be maintained, or rolled back. Not expanded upon. Not given a spotlight.

It is a flat out bad element of warframe. And I don't say that about a lot of things.

And giving them out as nightwave rewards dosen't fix the issue. Those only come once every 3 months or so anyway.

Hopefully someone at DE at least sees this....

I've been having a lot of fun with Empyrean. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.

[Althaline]

I think equipment slots are actually very fair, and much better than the alternatives. DE needs some sort of pressure, somewhere, in order to prove to their investors that they're monetising their game, and equipment slots are cheap and not strictly necessary.

[Chewarette]

Have you ever heard of Nightwave ?

[2old4gamez]

12 minutes ago, Chewarette said:

Have you ever heard of Nightwave ?

 

48 minutes ago, vensey said:

 

And giving them out as nightwave rewards dosen't fix the issue. Those only come once every 3 months or so anyway.

 

 

[Elenortirie]

I mean back when I was starting the game it was common advice to use freebie starter plat for slots, and common thing for newbros to actually - I don't know - manage the slots.

Sell the stuff you no longer need, this sort of things.

[DrakeWurrum]

I think it's worth saying, with how many weapons and frames are in the game now... the base level could at least stand to be upped a little bit, to give the new players a little more breathing room before forcing them to deal with plat.

At least Nightwave now gives slots at certain ranks each season, but maybe the slots should be available for Cred.

Edited January 16, 2020 by DrakeWurrum

[Benour]

Yes slots at beginning are pain in the bottom. Its there to force you to buy plat. Im not surprised ppl are leaving because of that.

[Steel_Rook]

2 hours ago, Iamabearlulz said:

I think equipment slots are actually very fair, and much better than the alternatives. DE needs some sort of pressure, somewhere, in order to prove to their investors that they're monetising their game, and equipment slots are cheap and not strictly necessary.

Orokin Catalysts, Orokin Reactors, Forma, Lenses, Cosmetics, Khora, Nidus, Harrow, Grendel, Sibear, not to mention timers, timers everywhere that you can skip for Plat. It's not like Warframe doesn't have a bazillion different vectors of monetisation. I get that "slots" are a staple of F2P, but maybe give new players a decent amount so they don't run out the moment they get even a bit of extra gear?

 

1 hour ago, Chewarette said:

Have you ever heard of Nightwave ?

Yeah, that's what I thought too, initially. Then I actually saw Nightwave and realised all it offers is a couple of slots every few months. Right now, it serves less as a way to earn slots and more as a way for DE to claim you can earn slots for free. It's not a feature, it's a disclaimer.