Josh Strife Hayes and Warframe

[Jarriaga]

I have to agree Josh based on my own experience and the video. The in-game codex is simply not robust-enough or hinted-enough as to be relevant. For example, it tells you the abilities Excalibur has, but not the mechanics of each of them. It tells you "X mission drops Y relic", but not the drop chance or rotation.

And having to go through the codex to find out there is a questline structure was a rather weird discovery for me when I was a new player. I think all quests should have a dedicated section in the Star Chart with the main quest DE thinks you should be focused on being automatically selected while highlighting pending progression requirements so you can easily tell there is something "global" you are progressing towards.

[android3162]

On 2021-08-04 at 11:23 PM, OniDax said:

He has another video now, titled "It Gets Better After 100 Hours...". Yeah, DE needs to look at this video, probably more than the last one. This is the video that describes Warframe, and is a good message for Warframe's die hard defenders.

What DE needs to do is greatly streamline their entire game, and the game's story. It takes time that DE doesn't want to take, but the game needs it. It's because DE hasn't done this that they haven't been able to solve the player retention issue. Just changing the intro never solved that issue, because the intro was never the problem. It's the game design and gameplay itself that is the problem. DE has thrown in a lot of stuff to overshadow the failings of the core gameplay and distract players from it. But it's that core gameplay that ultimately turns players off from the game. And by core gameplay, I'm not just talking about core gameplay mechanics (like movement system, gunplay, melee gameplay, etc.) but about mission design, progression system, story progression, drop rates, gameplay loop, and explanation of the game's systems). That's what turns people off from the game. It's all of it. It needs to be streamlined, and I think it's worth it for DE to remove a lot of the old junk that's in the early progression and streamline access to early and even mid-game content. It's not for the sake of catching new players up to veteran players like Destiny 2 does. It's about streamlining the game by removing the less desirable parts, so that it doesn't take long for new players to get to the more desirable parts. And while they're doing that, I think they need to actually improve older areas of the game, like early tilesets (namely Mercury, Venus, and Mars), 3d meshes (warframe and weapon meshes), and gameplay animations (gun holding animations, running/sprinting/walking animations, and some melee animations). Basically, take the time to improve the game (and they can still add new content and even new story alongside such a process).

I disagree. His original video made a far better job of addressing the issues. His second one felt like a defensive rant just because people wanted him to play more Warframe.

Let's be clear, anybody that plays WF and cares about it, knows that the NPE is in ruins. His video wasn't full of new info, it was just a big platform that addressed these issues, and it was great. Naturally, people who know that the first 3 hours of Warframe doesn't reflect the game were interested in seeing an actual review of the game, and not just the years old beginning. What he played absolutely does not represent the whole of Warframe, not just because the player's subjective opinion changes over time, but because it's the worst 10% of all the content we have. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting him to review the other stuff, and that's very far from summing it up as, "it gets good after 100 hours."(especially given the fact that you can easily solo rush through the entire story in 40 if that's your goal)

 

In his second video, he claims several ridiculous issues to be the culprit behind the poor NPE. He talks about poor design decisions, inability to make the early game interesting, the late game not actually being different and people just liking the game because sunk-costs over time, veterans being angry about making it faster or easier for new players, all sorts of generalisations of MMOs, most of which aren't even remotely true for Warframe. Especially that last line, how many people do you think would complain if Ceres was removed, versus how many are actively helping players rush those early planets.

 

And most importantly: Everything he liked the most, about the New Player Experience, was stuff that was very recently added to the game in a specific attempt to improve the new player experience. The NPE has not been abandoned. Calling out the NPE is fine, but implying that DE is the same as the worst MMO NPE designers, is the equivalent of fat shaming someone while they're in the gym. Warframe can certainly do a far better job and speed up the revamp of early content, but they are already trying to work on it as much as feasible without having content droughts. If he recognised that, he wouldn't have made the second video. Like the issue with the 100 hour thing is intrinsic with the first video, he didn't actually need to make the second one. The only point of making the second videos is to group Warframe into MMOs that have horrible design and are a painful waste of time for 80% of the game and only good for the last 20%.

The changes have been effective, the opening cinematic does a great job of putting into perspective how strong you can be and the difference between the frames. The Jackal fight and Deadlock Protocol are things that literally stopped my Newbie friends from leaving. The junctions are so much more rewarding than before, and people no longer have to rely on the Index for meagre super-early game credits. Hovering over damage types now describes the status effects in detail. We need a lot more of and need to demand more for these types of changes, but we also can't pretend like the current ones don't exist, or that DE is actively avoiding them. Further, if anybody is asking for NPE improvements, they should also be willing to accept slower release of new content. We all wish DE could be better in every way, but in the end, DE can only work as fast as they are currently capable of, they can't magically 2x their speed and efficiency.

[DealerOfAbsolutes]

45 minutes ago, Fl_3 said:

Easily the best "up to date" review of Warframe by someone new to Warframe.

Watch the video, listen to the guy, he's loving the game but hating the systems behind it.

I feel his frustration.

I've introduced friends to Warframe only to see them leave when they simply failed to understand something "We're here to play a game, not browse the internet on how to play it" seemed to be the general feeling. 

A shame considering that once you understand the systems Warframe is as simple as Tic-tak-toe.

The issue is that the poorly planned systems simply detract from the fun gameplay.

Complicated but shallow.

[(PSN)GEN-Son_17]

9 hours ago, _R_o_g_u_e_ said:

I don’t play Nezha because of the obnoxious noises that come from their 3 or 4, I can’t actually recall which. It sounds like a magnetic proc going off every few seconds. Over and over and over again. They are an amazing frame, and very powerful. But playing them gives me a migraine. 
 

In short, I don’t play Nezha because it physically hurts me.

Very great point and one I don't consider as much as I should. The art of variety is that someone who can't use something, regardless of reason, has an option to use something else. In Warframe's case, DE has gone to great lengths to provide very useful options for a very wide range of players. General annoyance of not having a personal, ideal favorite scenario is an issue but that is still a very "good" problem to have if a nice chunk of the game is still playable and at a high level of entertainment. 

[Aldain]

1 minute ago, DealerOfAbsolutes said:

The issue is that the poorly planned systems simply detract from the fun gameplay.

Complicated but shallow.

It's less poorly planned systems and no baseline for future proofing imo.

I highly doubt DE ever thought they'd get this far, and clearly the game is starting to wobble pretty badly from the weight stacked on it.

[Fl_3]

I just watched Brozime's response to Mr Hayes review.

Again, it hits the nail right on the head, lets hope that DE actually takes a little notice of what new players need from their game this time.

[Softballbryan]

1 hour ago, android3162 said:

I disagree. His original video made a far better job of addressing the issues. His second one felt like a defensive rant just because people wanted him to play more Warframe.

Let's be clear, anybody that plays WF and cares about it, knows that the NPE is in ruins. His video wasn't full of new info, it was just a big platform that addressed these issues, and it was great. Naturally, people who know that the first 3 hours of Warframe doesn't reflect the game were interested in seeing an actual review of the game, and not just the years old beginning. What he played absolutely does not represent the whole of Warframe, not just because the player's subjective opinion changes over time, but because it's the worst 10% of all the content we have. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting him to review the other stuff, and that's very far from summing it up as, "it gets good after 100 hours."(especially given the fact that you can easily solo rush through the entire story in 40 if that's your goal)

 

In his second video, he claims several ridiculous issues to be the culprit behind the poor NPE. He talks about poor design decisions, inability to make the early game interesting, the late game not actually being and people just liking the game because sunk-costs over time, veterans being angry about making it faster or easier for new players, all sorts of generalisations of MMOs, most of which aren't even remotely true for Warframe. Especially that last line, how many people do you think would complain if Ceres was removed, version how many are actively helping players rush those early planets.

 

And most importantly: Everything he liked the most about the New Player Experience was stuff that was very recently added to the game in a specific attempt to improve the new player experience. The NPE has not been abandoned. Calling out the NPE is fine, but implying that DE is the same as the worst MMO NPE designers, is the equivalent of fat shaming someone while they're in the gym. Warframe can certainly do a far better job and speed up the revamp of early content, but they are already trying to work on it as much as feasible without having content droughts. If he recognised that, he wouldn't have made the second video.

For example, the opening cinematic does a great job of putting into perspective how strong you can be and the difference between the frames. The Jackal fight and Deadlock Protocol are things that literally stopped my Newbie friends from leaving. The junctions are so much more rewarding than before, and people no longer have to rely on the Index for meagre super-early game credits. Hovering over damage types now describes the status effects in detail. We need a lot more of and need to demand more for these types of changes, but we also can't pretend like the current ones don't exist, or that DE is actively avoiding them. Further, if anybody is asking for NPE improvements, they should also be willing to accept slower release of new content. We all wish DE could be better in every way, but in the end, DE can only work as fast as they are currently capable of, they can't magically 2x their speed and efficiency.

I agree with you. His first video should be used by DE to improve the early game. 
 

the second video was all cry baby and windbag rubbish. 

[Jarriaga]

On 2021-08-04 at 3:54 PM, (PSN)Madurai-Prime said:

Online games take time to cultivate and get into the meat of it. 

It's always gonna take time and be a learning experience and you have to like the game to keep going.

100 hours is nothing in an online game. 

 

You are precisely the type of player he was addressing in the most recent video. He shows statistics for average player gaming hours totaling 8.3 hours per week, or barely 1 hour 20 minutes per day. Asking someone to invest 100 hours in that proportion is asking them to devote nearly a third of their entire year just to get to the good parts. That is an unreasonable ask if the intention is to attract and keep new players.

He poised the following question for those with your mindset: Why? 

Why must you power-through and push yourself and devote nearly a 3rd of a calendar year just to get to the "good" parts of the game or for the story to make sense? Why must the learning experience take longer than the entire amount of time it takes to watch Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones in their entirety from first to last episode? That is a daunting expectation when people could devote the same amount of time they to other games or activities they are enjoying from hour 5. 

The fact he pointed out he very often encounters players telling him "It will make sense after 100 hours" or "The true game is 100 hours in and your experience before it is a prologue" or similar comments while refusing to power through the same 100 hour mark in other games just serves to show even those players are somewhat aware of the "100 hour mark" being a daunting time expectation on itself regardless of the activity. 

Hek, I myself was a victim to this mentality. This was me in 2019 defending it took me 2 months do Chains of Harrow when I started the game:

On 2021-08-04 at 6:55 PM, Kahrain said:

I agree with this, but would like to point out that the message sounds wrong, and could be stated better. It's not 'play 100 hours and it gets good' it's 'play more than 10% and see how it improves'.

The equivalent for other media would be, 'Read past the first chapter/book' for a book or book series. Or maybe 'watch more than the first 15 minutes' for a movie or TV show. Every good piece of media still has an 'initial phase' that may need to be overcome. It sucks to be sure for something where that hurdle is a serious length of time, like many ongoing games have now, but it's still there for everything.

Sure you can use scale/percentage-based arguments as to exemplify why not pushing through XYZ landmark in cases like books or TV series is equivalent within the context of total content. But said comparison is still ignoring the total amount of time investment required in each activity. It's actually a double-ended sword because the more content there is, the more time you have to devote to reach the same 10% landmark. There's a point in which 1,000 hours is 10%, and there is no way on this earth you can convince me that is a reasonable time expectation for getting to the good parts of for the content to click or make sense.

[SneakyErvin]

12 minutes ago, Jarriaga said:

He poised the following question for those with your mindset: Why? 

It comes with "genre" he decided to play, which he should know to begin with since he already seems to have experience with part of that "genre" due to being an MMO player. There are few online games and MMOs of this type that are really engaging prior to the 100h mark. Which is the charm of them, since you know you'll have a game to sink your teeth into, which is why people tend to pick up these games.

If they arent looking for that, then online/MMOs of this type arent the type of game for them. It is really as simple as that. Same reason why I rarely sit down and play single player one-and-done games, becuase they dont let me sink my teeth into them for many hours. Like Witcher 3, you get to the really good and interesting parts out of a progression and power perspective at around 150 to 200 hours, but that is also when you are more or less finished with the game and all expansions.

[Jarriaga]

25 minutes ago, SneakyErvin said:

It comes with "genre" he decided to play, which he should know to begin with since he already seems to have experience with part of that "genre" due to being an MMO player. There are few online games and MMOs of this type that are really engaging prior to the 100h mark. Which is the charm of them, since you know you'll have a game to sink your teeth into, which is why people tend to pick up these games.

By that logic you can absolutely excuse any design or progression problem that exists prior to the 100 mark. That is a scapegoat, and he pointed out this response you've given in the latest video as well. Just because it's an expectation for fans of the genre doesn't make it any less daunting for the average player. This is something that can not be reconciled because most people are not seeing this as "This is an MMO, thus the expectation is to dedicate at least 100 hours" but simply "This is a game" and will compare it to other games and activities and what they can accomplish in the same amount of time.

25 minutes ago, SneakyErvin said:

If they arent looking for that, then online/MMOs of this type arent the type of game for them. It is really as simple as that. Same reason why I rarely sit down and play single player one-and-done games, becuase they dont let me sink my teeth into them for many hours. Like Witcher 3, you get to the really good and interesting parts out of a progression and power perspective at around 150 to 200 hours, but that is also when you are more or less finished with the game and all expansions.

That's an elitist mindset. The game can not survive on dedicated or hardcore or veteran players and fans of the genre alone. For most people, it's a game period. It's either fun or it isn't. It's either engaging or it isn't. They don't think "I'll excuse this 100 hour prologue because it's an MMO" because they are not veterans or dedicated players or fans of the genre who know the intricacies of the genre. For them, it's a just a game and don't even ask or question if it's an MMO, or a shooter, or a fighter, or a racing game, or a puzzle game. None of that matters to a casual player that can only devote 1 hour per day to a game.

25 minutes ago, SneakyErvin said:

Same reason why I rarely sit down and play single player one-and-done games, becuase they dont let me sink my teeth into them for many hours. Like Witcher 3, you get to the really good and interesting parts out of a progression and power perspective at around 150 to 200 hours, but that is also when you are more or less finished with the game and all expansions.

Yet he showed the average completion time for the game plus expansions sits around the 100 hour mark on average while completionists push around the 170 hour mark, which means most people are likely done with TW3 as a whole around 50 hours in. You are making his point. Your comment about the "power perspective" is how he starts the video by highlighting people that tell him "He can't criticize an MMO before 100 hours".

You are a power/dedicated/veteran/genre fan player. You don't represent the average player, and neither do I considering I myself used to think devoting 2 months of my life to unlock Chains of Harrow when I started the game was fine. I now see just how flawed my thinking was now that I have less time to play and more activities and responsibilities that compete for my time. The same amount of time, mind you, because the rest of the day doesn't pause or freeze until I complete my gaming quota.

[CephalonCarnage]

On 2021-08-05 at 3:15 PM, Corvid said:

I'm inclined to believe them when they give a reason justifying its low priority.

Personally i think they miss theoir own point here - they spent a lot on the obviously awesome into/tutorial. And then they think "well, players don't stay after that, so our money was not well invested". Forgetting that its not the intro that matters, its the "and now this is what you do next" setup that is the truly important part.

If you watch the video, you can see the point where he finsihes the tutorial section with all its hand-holding as to what to do next, and then drops them straiught into "you're on your own now", but without (enough) description that's happened, or without any indication of what kind of things to explore next. Ordis really does need to be added to the end of the tutorial to say "yo - go complete mission nodes, then do the junctions and do it all over again on harder planets, and btw you can do quests as they appear, and also syndicates, and open worlds, and etc". Or he could even just point the player at the Codex, there is a "training" section in it. That is a bit rubbish and underwhelming but at least its there and it could be expanded with all manner of "this is what you do" tutorials or descriptions to get a player past the blank piece of paper that is WF once you're in the game proper.

[(PSN)DoctorWho_90250]

3 hours ago, Jarriaga said:

You are precisely the type of player he was addressing in the most recent video. He shows statistics for average player gaming hours totaling 8.3 hours per week, or barely 1 hour 20 minutes per day. Asking someone to invest 100 hours in that proportion is asking them to devote nearly a third of their entire year just to get to the good parts. That is an unreasonable ask if the intention is to attract and keep new players.

He poised the following question for those with your mindset: Why? 

Why must you power-through and push yourself and devote nearly a 3rd of a calendar year just to get to the "good" parts of the game or for the story to make sense? Why must the learning experience take longer than the entire amount of time it takes to watch Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones in their entirety from first to last episode? That is a daunting expectation when people could devote the same amount of time they to other games or activities they are enjoying from hour 5. 

The fact he pointed out he very often encounters players telling him "It will make sense after 100 hours" or "The true game is 100 hours in and your experience before it is a prologue" or similar comments while refusing to power through the same 100 hour mark in other games just serves to show even those players are somewhat aware of the "100 hour mark" being a daunting time expectation on itself regardless of the activity. 

Hek, I myself was a victim to this mentality. This was me in 2019 defending it took me 2 months do Chains of Harrow when I started the game:

Sure you can use scale/percentage-based arguments as to exemplify why not pushing through XYZ landmark in cases like books or TV series is equivalent within the context of total content. But said comparison is still ignoring the total amount of time investment required in each activity. It's actually a double-ended sword because the more content there is, the more time you have to devote to reach the same 10% landmark. There's a point in which 1,000 hours is 10%, and there is no way on this earth you can convince me that is a reasonable time expectation for getting to the good parts of for the content to click or make sense.

You are right.

Basically, why waste my time grinding for a weapon that means nothing in the long run and will require I spend hours trying to acquire it when I can play, say, Torchlight 2 and have more fun doing so and in less time...or read a book...or play Oxenfree again in preparation for the its sequel...or relax and play Hitman 2...or level up my classes in FF14...or watch pro wrestling...or watch movies...or watch tv shows (e.g., Frasier)...or learn something...basically there's better things I can be doing than playing a game that doesn't care enough to give me an enjoyable experience.

[(PSN)DoctorWho_90250]

2 hours ago, gbjbaanb said:

Personally i think they miss theoir own point here - they spent a lot on the obviously awesome into/tutorial. And then they think "well, players don't stay after that, so our money was not well invested". Forgetting that its not the intro that matters, its the "and now this is what you do next" setup that is the truly important part.

If you watch the video, you can see the point where he finsihes the tutorial section with all its hand-holding as to what to do next, and then drops them straiught into "you're on your own now", but without (enough) description that's happened, or without any indication of what kind of things to explore next. Ordis really does need to be added to the end of the tutorial to say "yo - go complete mission nodes, then do the junctions and do it all over again on harder planets, and btw you can do quests as they appear, and also syndicates, and open worlds, and etc". Or he could even just point the player at the Codex, there is a "training" section in it. That is a bit rubbish and underwhelming but at least its there and it could be expanded with all manner of "this is what you do" tutorials or descriptions to get a player past the blank piece of paper that is WF once you're in the game proper.

DE put a great cutscene at the beginning of the game, revamped the opening mission to look and feel better....and then didn't bother with the rest of the beginning portion of the game so it feels mechanical and void of what made the now current opening great.

[mrEkli]

I found his takes quite interesting and the fact that he hasn't gotten to TSD yet is also another thing. I find Warframe to be split... It's kinda like  Intro -> Natah is Warframe 1. TSD -> Chimera is Warframe 2, TNW will be Warframe 3.

So what I find to me is that he's stuck in the grind of WF1 not making his way beyond it yet. Stretching it too thin and complaining about that in his second video. The stuff that's more is just waiting on Uranus.

[LillyRaccune]

Just now, (NSW)mrEkli said:

I found his takes quite interesting and the fact that he hasn't gotten to TSD yet is also another thing. I find Warframe to be split... It's kinda like  Intro -> TSD is Warframe 1. TSD -> Chimera is Warframe 2, TNW will be Warframe 3.

That's a pretty good way to look at it. I feel that way because the story-telling of Warframe seems to change at those key points in the game.

[Jarriaga]

10 minutes ago, (NSW)mrEkli said:

I found his takes quite interesting and the fact that he hasn't gotten to TSD yet is also another thing. I find Warframe to be split... It's kinda like  Intro -> Natah is Warframe 1. TSD -> Chimera is Warframe 2, TNW will be Warframe 3.

So what I find to me is that he's stuck in the grind of WF1 not making his way beyond it yet. Stretching it too thin and complaining about that in his second video. The stuff that's more is just waiting on Uranus.

And absolutely nothing guides you towards Uranus unless you feel curious about the codex or google ¨Does Warframe have a story?".

The game should automatically activate main quests and highlight them front and center in the Star Chart and give you a red font for individual unlocking requirements that are yet to be met. That way you at least get the sense you're progressing towards a specific goal while you ignore content you should flat-out ignore until later like Cetus, Fortuna, and Necralisk.

But no. The game just leaves you alone after Vor's Prize and expect you to figure it out on your own.

People then reach Cetus, start thinking that's where they should be, hit a progression roadblock due to the grind requirements, and quit. That's exactly what happened to players @darkjusteand @winserex after I introduced them to the game some years ago despite them enjoying MMO's in general.

[mrEkli]

3 minutes ago, Jarriaga said:

And absolutely nothing guides you towards Uranus unless you feel curious about the codex or google ¨Does Warframe have a story?".

I am trying to remember but there's no push to go after the Junctions?

[Jarriaga]

16 minutes ago, (NSW)mrEkli said:

I am trying to remember but there's no push to go after the Junctions?

No. Only if you happen to scroll by them. In addition, they don't give the impression of being important or adding to the plot as they don't indicate the required quests are main quests. The impression they give is that your goal is to unlock planets rather than progress through the story.

That's certainly the impression I got when I started the game 4 years ago.

[(NSW)Greybones]

🤔 Does it really take 100 hours before the game gets good? I haven’t seen his second video but now I’m intrigued

[mrEkli]

8 minutes ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

🤔 Does it really take 100 hours before the game gets good? I haven’t seen his second video but now I’m intrigued

No. The core gameplay is fun from the start in this game. The learning curve might make things a bit of a drag right after the intro but once you learn more stuff it gets more fun. That's.... about 2 hours in? You just lose the guiding hand, it seems. I'm trying to remember. This really seems like an Executive Dysfunction issue. Some players can make their own goals, some players need indicators.

[(NSW)Greybones]

1 minute ago, (NSW)mrEkli said:

No. The core gameplay is fun from the start in this game. The learning curve might make things a bit of a drag right after the intro but once you learn more stuff it gets more fun. That's.... about 2 hours in? You just lose the guiding hand, it seems. I'm trying to remember. This really seems like an Executive Dysfunction issue. Some players can make their own goals, some players need indicators.

Ah right right. I watched his first video and loved his descriptions of how he felt like a cool space ninja, and was mulling over whether to reference them in edit in my other post. ‘Cause it sounded like he was having fun, which is what kept me going personally, and then the game only got better, which is why I was wondering about the 100 hour thing (admittedly I both haven’t seen the second video and sort of skim-read the earlier posts)

[--END--Rikutatis]

1 hour ago, Jarriaga said:

In addition, they don't give the impression of being important or adding to the plot as they don't indicate the required quests are main quests. The impression they give is that your goal is to unlock planets rather than progress through the story.

I mean, that's exactly the impression I had as well when I first started. That the goal was to unlock planets and keep progressing through the Star Chart. And as you unlock planets and progress through the Star Chart you invariably go through the "main" quests leading up to TSD, because those are all prereqs to the junctions. I honestly don't know what else there could be, other than in game messages specifically telling you that your goal is to go through the junctions. But I honestly don't know how much more obvious that can be, since planet nodes will lead either to dead ends or to junctions. I don't know, it all just seems pretty straightforward to me, I don't get this "I had no clue what to do next" 🤷‍♂️

I agreed with all his other points though. 

[(NSW)Greybones]

24 minutes ago, --END--Rikutatis said:

I mean, that's exactly the impression I had as well when I first started. That the goal was to unlock planets and keep progressing through the Star Chart. And as you unlock planets and progress through the Star Chart you invariably go through the "main" quests leading up to TSD, because those are all prereqs to the junctions. I honestly don't know what else there could be, other than in game messages specifically telling you that your goal is to go through the junctions. But I honestly don't know how much more obvious that can be, since planet nodes will lead either to dead ends or to junctions. I don't know, it all just seems pretty straightforward to me, I don't get this "I had no clue what to do next" 🤷‍♂️

I agreed with all his other points though. 

I remember being overwhelmed by the things I had access to or could do, and I remember that I was looking for the story. "What can I do to progress the story?". It took me a bit to settle into the idea of "Well, no matter what I do, that's game-progress, and I expect the story will come in due time", so eventually I discovered things going along

edit: In hindsight, I'm pretty happy with how things went

[Jarriaga]

42 minutes ago, --END--Rikutatis said:

I mean, that's exactly the impression I had as well when I first started. That the goal was to unlock planets and keep progressing through the Star Chart. And as you unlock planets and progress through the Star Chart you invariably go through the "main" quests leading up to TSD, because those are all prereqs to the junctions. I honestly don't know what else there could be, other than in game messages specifically telling you that your goal is to go through the junctions. But I honestly don't know how much more obvious that can be, since planet nodes will lead either to dead ends or to junctions. I don't know, it all just seems pretty straightforward to me, I don't get this "I had no clue what to do next" 🤷‍♂️

I agreed with all his other points though. 

I don't think that's a good first impression. It certainly wasn't for me because I don't like to play games for the empty sake of playing more of the game and I was about to quit before I noticed there were quests in the codex.

What can DE do? As I posted earlier: Quests should have a dedicated section in the Star Chart with the main quest DE thinks you should be focused on being automatically selected while highlighting pending progression requirements so you can easily tell there is something "global" you are progressing towards other than just unlocking planets.

It lets you know there is a story beyond Vor's Prize and that there is an overall goal beyond "unlock planets".

[TheArmchairThinker]

22 hours ago, ----Legacy---- said:

The world boss turns out to be nothing but a glorified grunt.

And that's the reason I'm still playing warframe and barely play other game now. I gained my power to turn the world boss to be nothing but a glorified grunt and I like warframe for not going with the same mold other games do. I'm not gaining my power only to see it being not having much difference when I fight the boss even on early level places.

22 hours ago, ----Legacy---- said:

Kudos to you for it. On the other hand, having every single enemy unit being so easy to bypass that might as well not even be there for gameplay purposes is one of the reasons why DE's only way to make players put some degree of "effort" in the game is by locking rewards under awfully low drop rates and multi layered time gates, sometimes while still removing our power and/or making enemies get obnoxious damage reductions (that can still be bypassed anyways) to make them stand a chance against us.

As if like other games don't put rewards under awfully low drop rates and multi layered time gates, not to mention the dragged fight just to one item? No thanks, warframe is still being nice enough not to make you grind for new power level cap every few months when new season/expansion comes out so the rewards are not limited by time to be obsolete and the grind starts again.

23 hours ago, ----Legacy---- said:

That's subjective, i for one enjoy the mechanical aspect of gameplay, but it gets entirely removed after reaching certain point in the power progression.

Mechanical aspect such as? As far as I know, the mechanical aspect is still there and you clear that mechanical aspect near instantly by depleting the health bar such as

- Vay Hek : wait for him to open his face cover and blast his face

- Jackal : shoot the leg, wait for the laser attack to stop, use parazon, repeat

- Sargas Ruk : shoot the exhaust when it's open

- Lech Kril : backpack shooting, bait him to use ice attack, repeat until he enters fire phase, kill

- Raptor : kill drone, get the power cell and drop it into the well

- Ambulas : take down the robot, hack and defend it from technicians trying to fix it

- Kela De Thaym : Hit the buttons to start the battle, deplete her health bar, avoid orbital bombing, shoot buttons to stop the bombing and start the next phase

- Alad V : down him, then kill zanuka

Are those mechanics removed when you reach certain point in power progression? No, the phase is done faster and the mechanics are still there, not stretched with trying to deplete the health bar to continue to next phase