More Simulation

[(PSN)MoRockaPDX]

tl;dr: I imagine Warframe and it’s nemesis system merged with the complex and emergent gameplay of, Crusader King’s. 
 

I have always enjoyed the aesthetics and themes in Warframe. When we get story/lore it is usually surprising and enjoyable. 
Warframe’s systems have served it well to generate years of gameplay. All this is true, and also is not enough. WF cannot be all things to all people, but there are things that can be done that can enrich the game further. 
I personally imagine systems of simulation, like Crusader Kings, populating the WF universe with thousands of NPC, across hundreds of factions. With a diverse sets of characteristics to organically generate intrinsic value, by letting the players become the interactive participant of the storytelling. Just like how, player stories emerge from the culmination of events across their dynasty, that is t explicitly written by the game. 

I advocated for Warframe to directly rip off the Shadows of Mordor’s nemesis system years ago. I was pleased when I heard that DE team members thought the same way. I was a little disappointed that it was scaled back because it was too much like SOM Nemesis system. However, as much I enjoy SOM and SOW system, the piece I wanted, that real feeling you have a nemesis, or an ally, was undercut by the systems ultimate shallowness in that regard. It filled this gap with top notch campaign scenarios, and special NPC’s, but couldn’t sustain. Crusader Kings, however, is the. Implore opposite. It is nothing but a canvas with negative space begging for your imagination to feel with the stories that come from the unique properties and interactions of your characters with NPC’s and their nations. 
The first hundred hours of SOM/W the diversity of Orc generation is so novel, you don’t think too much about little it really means that they are this tribe, or that tribe. And the diversity plays out more in the action mechanics, that deserve much applause. That novelty, inevitably wares off. While, CK can retextualize you the NPC, and potentially evolve them in the sure complexity of simulation. Moving from wrote, rinse and repeat mechanics, and farming for progression, into a more interactive emergent story driven experience. 
 

WF, already has many excellent action systems. And it is too intensive to bring Dream Within level quest in regularly. Opening up the WF universe, for players to explore can fill these gaps. Let big events be paradigm shifts to break up any stagnation created by simulation gamer min maxers. 
 

Imagine (ideally, in conjunction with the expansion of Emperium/Railjack) The Sol collective, or whatever they are called is expanded. With that, neutral colonies, and many representative sub faction of the Corpus and Grineer. NPC’s, can be mission givers, allies, or antagonists. Through player actions these factions can grow, change, be destroyed or ascend, influencing the Origin System with their unique mix of beliefs and philosophies. 
what if, after the New War and the Planes of Duveri, the old paradigm is gone. No longer are the Tenno the mercenaries of balance guided by the Lotus, but are free agents. What if you could be rewarded your own stake in a colony or ship. Just one of many possibilities. 
Not being the one making the content, it’s always easy to say something should be easy, but I do think this would be a less intensive project, comparatively. And one that can expand to increase is complexity and therefore emergent opportunities. 
I think it would be interesting to see if I could take a scrappy colony and help it ascend to dominance over its sector. And see that colonies aspects color the sector with its unique qualities. 
what do you think? Ready to move from a universe of suggested depth to one that lives and breathes that. Reacts to you and you have to react in kind. I know I am just scratching the surface of the potential value, and context this could bring to the standard play of WF. I’ll try to post additional ideas to illustrate, what I’m getting at. 

[844448]

1 hour ago, (PS4)MoRockaPDX said:

I advocated for Warframe to directly rip off the Shadows of Mordor’s nemesis system years ago. I was pleased when I heard that DE team members thought the same way. I was a little disappointed that it was scaled back because it was too much like SOM Nemesis system. However, as much I enjoy SOM and SOW system, the piece I wanted, that real feeling you have a nemesis, or an ally, was undercut by the systems ultimate shallowness in that regard.

I give you this

 

[(PSN)MoRockaPDX]

On 2020-09-16 at 9:49 PM, 844448 said:

I give you this

 

Finally, had the chance to read. I would be fine with most of the suggestions. I remember the Liches where a little more aggressive originally, but got toned down. I suspect, this was mostly done because almost all new content has to partially target to new, and casual players. Often this group will spend some money, or so goes the assumptions. 
However since there has been some time, it might be good to do another revision. 
 
I suspect DE could devote a ton of time into the Liches and it would only help marginally. As much as I enjoyed Shadows of Mordor/War, the system inevitably wound up feeling shallow. The Orc has excellent game mechanic variety, looks and personalities, but ultimately they where not characters. The only time they did feel like characters was when they where quest NPC’s. This was moderately improved in Shadows of War, but again, it eventually just felt hard to be invested in the conflict with the Orcs. 
Warframes, at the time of release, was among other things, notable for its 3D procedural maps (tile sets). I read articles where developers believed this would be a great new way of getting infinite playability from comparatively fewer resources. And to a degree this worked, until the tile sets novelty wares off, and the brain memorizes every tile, regardless of there arrangement. And like the procedurally generated Orc, the novelty wares off.  
To Monoliths credit, they created a lot of variety and character in the Orcs, especially in combat, especially in Shadows of War. And they quite effectively preserve and enhance the novelty with its excellent quests, that breathe life into the characters. But quests are completed, and eventually the cracks begin to show. Monolith, also has years to do closed development with big Warner Brother money. 
Digital Extremes, has self published and developed with its own money and financed on the go with the free to play, game as service model. It has to keep coming out with new tile sets, revamp tile sets, and other content, constantly, to keep thing feeling fresh. Open Worlds and Cinematic Quests, help, but they are far and few between. 

That is why I speculate, that simulation can be used to bring more life to the Warframe universe. Simulate many factions and many NPC’s, with a great many motivations, to drive emergent stories. Tired of your millionth exterminate mission based on the same flimsy motivation? Restore balance, save colonist, whatever it’s supposed to be? What if the mission was given by any number of NPC’s, or chosen, and directly impacts a sector, and its population, and politics dynamically?

These NPC’s could evolve and change, along with there society and politics, territory, and influence. Rising and falling, over time, leaving their legacy behind. This could be the source of the Market place, the voices over the radio, the source of the games content. All while requiring a fraction of the effort to develop, and will provide context and subtext to all the actions in the game. 
I imagine this being implemented after the end of the New War and whatever events that take place in the Planes of  Devuri. Setting a stage for a resurgence in power for the many different factions of the colonists and a fragmenting of the Grineer and Corpus. Less power concentration and greater flux across the system. 
to get a sense of the kinds of emergent stories that occur in the feudal simulator, that is the Crusader Kings series. 

Personally, the feudal system horrifies me, and the thought of a neofuedal society in any future horrifies me doubly so! But, it makes for damn good drama. 
 

I’ll do some thinking about the different context in gameplay between CK and WF. Specifically l, how you play a dynasty in CK so you can span centuries of gameplay. While in WF you are the Tenno, a Chile like being of indeterminate age, that presumably will age up in the Planes of Devuri. But, we don’t know much about how the space magic wielding Tenno age.