Poseidon Operatous (aka Project Rat Pit)

[The_Harrowing]

What is Project Rat Pit?

Project Rat Pit is a string of concepts for potential npcs/events/locations to be added to future open world areas.  I originally created all of these concepts to function under a singular Open World area on Uranus, however most of these can be interwoven with any number of other NPCs/Concepts.  The big point of this project is to post all of the concepts I have come up with for open world areas for the game to help provide inspiration to the DE team.  Obviously none of these are set in stone, they're simply the foundations for something much greater:

Poseidon Operatous

Poseidon Operatous is a pier located on Uranus’ western hemisphere. Known as a safe-haven for those of disreputable status, the massive floating dock structure is a beacon of hope for pirates, mercenaries, and smugglers across the Origin System. Its owner: a portly, salty Grineer named Slivers, dates back to the tail end of the Orokin Empire. He maintains the docks to the best of his ability through an open door policy, and demilitarization permits. Everyone is welcome on Poseidon, though that soon may change. The Tenno have begun to arrive, and with them, their ideals, morals, and various codes of self justice. Power is shifting beneath the waves, and very soon that open door policy, might not remain very open…

Goals For Poseidon Operatous:

1) The reintroduction/rebalancing of submersible arc-wings into the game

2) Establishing a part of the Origin system where the Tenno are seen as lawful neutral, not lawful good.

Fast Travel Spots/NPC Concepts:

Rat Pits – (Earn standing through combat minigames) Kela De Thaym has returned! This time sporting brand new body augments, a brand new audience, and a change of heart (which might also be a new augment). She has constructed the Rat Pits on Poseidon as a place for people to vent frustration the best possible way, by beating the living pulp out of one another. Players can earn standing for Poseidon Operatous by clearing gladiatorial challenges presented by Kela. These range from fighting with restricted weapons, to fighting a boss gauntlet, to even winning duels against other players. Now’s the time to show the entire galaxy the power behind the Tenno that bested THE Kela De Thaym!

The Builder – (Earn standing, and acquire new Ayatan Treasures) Markus Vau known to the residence of Uranus as “The Builder” is an Orokin decedent with a love of all things Ayatan. Having developed something of an obsession with the little gilded trinkets and treasures, The Builder spends his day tinkering with treasures given to him by Tenno, and Corpus alike. In game, he trades standard Ayatan treasures for Poseidon standing, and will sell unique treasures he’s created himself to the player to spruce up their orbiters in exchange for resources collected in the free-roaming area. Unlike the standard Treasures which take a mix of amber and blue stars to operate, Markus’ treasures run exclusively on Amber stars, something he is quite proud of, as he believes he has "optimized" his treasures through this process. (Players will still need to go to the Bazaar on earth to exchange treasures for endo)

 

Deep Se’er – (Earn standing by trading stuff from other open world areas) An Osteron from Cetus proudly living his best life on Uranus for reasons only he knows. A (less than) humble fisherman passing away the time on Poseidon’s piers, the Se’er has become nostalgic in his old age, and seeks to collect trinkets that remind him of his youth. To this end he employs players to collect objects of interest from other Free-Roam areas in exchange for standing. (Animal tags from Cetus, debt bonds from Fortuna, tokens from Demos, etc.) In exchange for these ‘nick-nacks’ he offers Poseidon standing, and tales of his adventures on Earth, Venus, and Jupiter respectively. It’s unclear how a man from Cetus managed to get around so much, perhaps when you’ve become respected on the Operatous docks he’ll share the secret…

Trident True – (Learn Corpus and Grineer lore from NPCs) Cpt. Johnathan Sliver’s signature bar, sporting the trademarked slogan: “Catch a bite with a crewman, before you return to space and kill each other.” A neutral space where all are welcome. No guns, no blades, and most importantly, no Warframes. Check your frame in at the front door and grab yourself a meal with a stranger. The higher your standing with Poseidon the longer the list of interesting and quirky people you can talk with. The Trident True is the place to be for players interested in learning more about the inner workings of the Grineer and Corpus from their points of view.

Pirate’s Life – (A social area dedicated to Fashion-Frame, and my personal favorite concept on the list) a “sleezy” back alley bar built by Tenno for Tenno. For Operators looking to make a bit of extra coin, or for fashion frame enthusiasts eager to show off the fruits of their labor, Pirate’s Life presents a unique opportunity. Once a day any Warframe a player isn’t using can be “loaned” to the bar to help with various tasks. Male Warframes can be employed as bouncers or bartenders, while female Warframes can be employed as waitresses and dancers. Once the dailies have reset, the Warframe will be returned to its rightful owner, who will be compensated with a sum of credits and standing based on how many hours the frame was in service. The Warframes on display vary by server, and are rotated out every hour, Warframes keep the appearance the had when they were loaned out, similar to specters. Pirate’s life is a purely social environment, for players to show off their fashion, or bask in a silly concept completely unique to Warframe.

Tenno Themed Factions: The Uranus Crime Syndicates

A fresh take on the Syndicate system – These optional syndicates are seeking control of Poseidon Operatous, and the wealth of mining and fishing that comes with it. Will you align yourself with Uranus’ up and coming crime family for fame and fortune, or join a gang of Tenno vigilantes to deliver justice the best way you know how.

Undertow – A Uranus Mafia family comprised of people from every walk of life in the Origin System. Their hideout is deep beneath the waters of Poseidon Operatous, there the group plots and schemes, and hires any Tenno looking for a quick way to make a credit or two. Their bounties will be chaotic mix of missions both loud and silent, completing them will give standing with the Undertow Family, while removing standing from the Tenno Vigilante groups.

Waxing Wolf – One of the two vigilante groups that have taken up residence on Uranus. The Tenno of the Waxing Wolf believe themselves to be the ultimate authority on crime and punishment. They seek to route the up and coming Undertow family, and drive out every disreputable person from Poseidon Operatous. Bounties from the Waxing Wolf will be exclusively loud missions: extermination, mobile defense, excavation, anything involving the murder of lots and lots of criminals. Gaining standing with them will remove standing with the rival group, and the Undertow Family. Their ultimate goal is to take over the port, and rule through authority and fear.

Waning Crane – The second of the two Tenno Vigilante gangs. Those of the Waning Crane also seek to control Uranus and root out criminals, however, they seek to do so in a way that is subtle, sophisticated, and ultimately, with a low body count. Missions from the Waning Crane will be silent in nature: sabotage, spy, assassinations, covert operations that solve problems at a slower rate, but do not run the risk of leaving massive power vacuums. Gaining standing with them will remove standing from the Waxing Wolf, and the Undertow Family. Their ultimate goal is the control of information on Uranus. Only when they know everything will they strike without remorse.

 

Free-Roam Area: The Outer Docks

On the outskirts of the docks anything goes. It is here you will find the normal NPCs you will find at any other free-roaming base, along with new rewards for yourself, your ark-wing, and even your Helminth, assuming he has fully mutated. Weapons are free and hot in the Outer Docks, best look after yourself.

Submersible Mining – (ore and gems) Here you can trade Poseidon Standing to kit your Arc-wing out with a powerful mining laser. Able to remove whole chunks out of Ice and Dirt, mining on Uranus is about quantity over quality. Thankfully there’s no shortage of useful materials beneath the waves. You can also spend standing for the blueprints necessary to refine what you mine.

Submersible Hunting – (Fish parts, tags, guns, lures, etc.) Fishing, and Hunting tied into one. Delve into the depths with a giant harpoon gun in hand. Lure, skewer, and trade them in for parts. On Uranus, the creatures are bigger than what you might be used to. “Large” is the smallest size they come in.

Kraken Hunting (Night Event) - Not every indescribably horror of the deep is loyal to Hydroid. Some of them serve no other cause but their own, and their “cause” typically involves a lot of wanton destruction of Poseidon property. Fortunately, the oils and inks secreted by these monstrosities can be used to power the facility. A single Kraken can power Poseidon Operatous for an entire week. That’s where a few brave hunters come into play. After sundown, you can talk to Sliver, or the Hunting NPC to get a bounty to take on a Kraken for yourself. No heroes though! You either come with a team of 4, or you don’t come at all!

Syndicate Clashes – The crime syndicates are Uranus’ worst kept secret, and obviously, they don’t like one another. While roaming the docks, you may encounter individuals from two of the syndicates skirmishing with one another. You can lend a hand to one side for syndicate standing, or bring both sides down, and get standing for Poseidon.

MISC Concepts for Rewards and Such:

Climbing up the ranks of one of the 3 Crime Syndicates will unlock discounts with specific NPCs, reducing how much standing and/or platinum is needed to purchase various items from them. Completing bounties for the Undertow Family will reward resources, standing, and credits, while completing bounties for one of the Tenno groups will reward standing, and the satisfaction of knowing you’ve made the galaxy a better place...definitely...probably…

Increasing your standing with Poseidon Operatous will unlock new and exciting upgrades for your arc-wing, arc-wing weapon parts, skins, and well as some new upgrade segments for Helminth provided he has mutated enough to make use of them.

Helminth Heavy-Metal Segment – Allows Helminth to transfer his unique abilities to arc-wings, he can also now subsume arc-wings to transfer their abilities to other arc-wings.

Helminth Bio-Metal Segment – Allows Helminth to overwrite arc-wing abilities with the abilities of subsumed Warframes.

Lastly, by chopping up your fish from Submersible Hunting, you’ll unlock DNA sequences that will allow you to breed your very own Undersea Horror. These can be displayed in any aquarium you have on your Orbiter.

And there we go, that is every open world concept I've come up with!  Feel free to discuss them down below, maybe you have some ideas or improvements to these I haven't come up with. I'd be happy to hear what you guys come up with!