How would you describe Warframe to an interested party and potential new player?

[(NSW)Greybones]

I’ve noticed a few new topics and posts surrounding the New Player Experience cropping up lately.

A lot of valid points made from both sides, but they got me wondering; recently (within the last few months or so) I was in a conversation with another gamer who loves science fiction shooters and I had the chance to sell Warframe when they noted that they’d seen me playing it on their friends list, and I flubbed it by muttering something about grind and then moving on.

I regret how I gave a bad impression because in hindsight, I realise I, in a distracted moment (we were playing Deeprock Galactic together), drew upon my overall feeling of how long it'll take to get everything and combined it with what feels like some of the community’s view of Warframe and then used the result. I have a pretty good idea of what I would say now, but

1.) it can be refined, and

2.)…. Well, that’s actually mainly it. How would I describe Warframe to someone to get them on-board? Taking into account I’d be available for guidance when necessary. If I'm going to unintentionally draw upon the community, I'd like to work something in to the pitch outside of "It's a grind"

[ZeroX4]

26 minutes ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

I’ve noticed a few new topics and posts surrounding the New Player Experience cropping up lately.

A lot of valid points made from both sides, but they got me wondering; recently (within the last few months or so) I was in a conversation with another gamer who loves science fiction shooters and I had the chance to sell Warframe when they noted that they’d seen me playing it on their friends list, and I flubbed it by muttering something about grind and then moving on.

I regret how I gave a bad impression because in hindsight, I realise I, in a distracted moment (we were playing Deeprock Galactic together), drew upon what often feels like is some of the community’s view of Warframe and combined it with some of my own and then used the result. I have a pretty good idea of what I would say now, but

1.) it can be refined, and

2.)…. Well, that’s actually mainly it. How would I describe Warframe to someone to get them on-board? Taking into account I’d be available for guidance when necessary. If I'm going to unintentionally draw upon the community, I'd like to work something in to the pitch outside of "It's a grind"

1 premium currency can be traded for in game items
2 FEEL of freedom of movement (unless ledge grab)
3 hard to fail a mission
4 crap to do for years while still being entertaining
5 veterans are so bored they will help you for free 
6 cool weapon but with crappy colors? repaint it yourself
7 same as above with anything else u actually use
8 you prefer melee or you are more of a gunslinger? whatever you will manage as both or as each
9 NOT PAY TO WIN
10 CLEM CLEM

Then i would send this and say it refers to warframe players

[(PSN)ErydisTheLucario]

I couldn't lie to someone. I gotta be honest and say this is a game you play if you have an itch for a never ending grind and if you have nothing but time on your hands, as the game does take tons of time to progress. 

[(NSW)Greybones]

6 minutes ago, (PSN)ErydisTheLucario said:

I couldn't lie to someone. I gotta be honest and say this is a game you play if you have an itch for a never ending grind and if you have nothing but time on your hands, as the game does take tons of time to progress. 

That's a given. I'm more curious about what I could convey as things you can do in Warframe while the grind is happening in the background, since they're not about to play a game strictly for the grind (I'm mildly angry at myself still when I think about it since I should have known better than to condense a whole game down into the grind)

[Uhkretor]

... I would simply show it...

 

... As in, properly show it, and not jumping into whatever Public squad is running whatever just to show a bunch of special effects and gimmicks that have no real purpose other than hiding whatever is happening behind whatever scene in whatever place...

[(NSW)Greybones]

Just now, Uhkretor said:

... I would simply show it...

 

... As in, properly show it, and not jumping into whatever Public squad is running whatever just to show a bunch of special effects and gimmicks that have no real purpose other than hiding whatever is happening behind whatever scene in whatever place...

I have started recording some gameplay footage that shows a different side of Warframe than what one might find on Youtube; that's a good idea to consider showing them those 🤔

[(XBOX)C11H22O11]

Don't think I would need more than this to convince acquaintances

[Uhkretor]

3 minutes ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

I have started recording some gameplay footage that shows a different side of Warframe than what one might find on Youtube; that's a good idea to consider showing them those 🤔

... I did a private stream for clan members very recently... You wouldn't believe how many were unaware that you can collect resources from missions instead of buying from the Market...

And most of them were unaware that most of the "non-viable" weapons for Steel Path were actually viable for it...

[(NSW)Greybones]

Just now, Uhkretor said:

... I did a private stream for clan members very recently... You wouldn't believe how many were unaware that you can collect resources from missions instead of buying from the Market...

I didn't know you could buy resources from the market, and could only find them in missions, from vendors like Sister, or from extractors.

That's fascinating; I wonder how it slipped by them, since most assuredly some would have jumped into their inventory and mission end screens as they played

[Uhkretor]

4 minutes ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

I wonder how it slipped by them

... Like this...

12 minutes ago, Uhkretor said:

jumping into whatever Public squad is running whatever just to show a bunch of special effects and gimmicks that have no real purpose other than hiding whatever is happening behind whatever scene in whatever place

and having 30-second duration missions don't really help either...

 

I believe they are running missions Solo now, collecting stuff and exploring maps... I guess that private stream had a positive influence on them.

Sometimes, just showing the other side is enough.

[(NSW)Greybones]

1 minute ago, Uhkretor said:

... Like this...

and having 30-second duration missions don't really help either...

 

I believe they are running missions Solo now, collecting stuff and exploring maps... I guess that private stream had a positive influence on them.

Oooh. The rushing through/being rushed through, yeah, I can see how that'd happen.

🤔 Cool cool, thanks for the input. Good job on the influence 👍

[_R_o_g_u_e_]

1 hour ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

I’ve noticed a few new topics and posts surrounding the New Player Experience cropping up lately.

A lot of valid points made from both sides, but they got me wondering; recently (within the last few months or so) I was in a conversation with another gamer who loves science fiction shooters and I had the chance to sell Warframe when they noted that they’d seen me playing it on their friends list, and I flubbed it by muttering something about grind and then moving on.

I regret how I gave a bad impression because in hindsight, I realise I, in a distracted moment (we were playing Deeprock Galactic together), drew upon my overall feeling of how long it'll take to get everything and combined it with what feels like some of the community’s view of Warframe and then used the result. I have a pretty good idea of what I would say now, but

1.) it can be refined, and

2.)…. Well, that’s actually mainly it. How would I describe Warframe to someone to get them on-board? Taking into account I’d be available for guidance when necessary. If I'm going to unintentionally draw upon the community, I'd like to work something in to the pitch outside of "It's a grind"

“Warframe, despite it’s flaws is utterly unique. If you found Destiny boring, Borderlands uninspired, if you like fast gameplay, ridiculous weapons and maxed out mobility, warframe is worth a try.

Hell, even if you don’t like those things I would still recommend trying it, as it’s an exceptional display of those attributes and is free!”

That would be if I had to sell it broadly. When I’ve pitched it to my friends it’s been dramatically different for each one.

[(PSN)theelix]

You become a floaty ninja robot with guns that include, but are not limited to: Bazookas, Bows that also shoot bazookas, pistols that, of course, shoot bazookas, and melee weapons that may or may not be bazookas.

Stealth was never an option, as the enemy needs to see your fashion before they die.

In this universe, the Geneva Convention was dubbed the Geneva Suggestion, as your ninja robot may or may not release toxic gas, slash through reality with an energy sword, or use sick beats to invert the time-space continuum, crushing your enemies, their bones, and their sense of music into dust.

But in order to do any of that at all, if you don't read the wiki I will ban you myself.

[_R_o_g_u_e_]

22 minutes ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

I didn't know you could buy resources from the market, and could only find them in missions, from vendors like Sister, or from extractors.

That's fascinating; I wonder how it slipped by them, since most assuredly some would have jumped into their inventory and mission end screens as they played

You can’t adequately prepare for how stupid some people are 🤷 

I know that’s a rude thing to say, but it’s true. The warning signs/ labels that exist in real life aren’t sufficient, so really when it comes to people nothing surprises me.

Is people being stupid a flaw with the game though? Not even slightly.

[Tiltskillet]

Wait, there's a literal Warframe game?   I thought it was just a metatextual forum pastime.

[PublikDomain]

It's free, if they don't like it then it doesn't cost them anything.

[(NSW)Greybones]

35 minutes ago, (PSN)theelix said:

You become a floaty ninja robot with guns that include, but are not limited to: Bazookas, Bows that also shoot bazookas, pistols that, of course, shoot bazookas, and melee weapons that may or may not be bazookas.

Stealth was never an option, as the enemy needs to see your fashion before they die.

In this universe, the Geneva Convention was dubbed the Geneva Suggestion, as your ninja robot may or may not release toxic gas, slash through reality with an energy sword, or use sick beats to invert the time-space continuum, crushing your enemies, their bones, and their sense of music into dust.

But in order to do any of that at all, if you don't read the wiki I will ban you myself.

Well this is certainly one way of selling it 😋

[DrivaMain]

Do you like Grinding Games? If yes, Warframe is the right game for you. If not, then look elsewhere.

[TheArmchairThinker]

1 hour ago, (PSN)ErydisTheLucario said:

never ending grind

This alone makes me think that those who think warframe is never ending grind never played other games with worse grind because there are multiple things that warframe barely or doesn't have

- Power rating/level : Keep grinding to reach the max level, with one level usually requiring 1,000,000 EXP to level once you hit the high level spectrum (level 100 is max with 1m EXP to level up from level 90 to level 91), Also, the enemies give small amount of EXP (500 or lower) so have fun grinding that level before the "endgame level"

- Item rarity : Common/Basic to Legendary or Exotic. Basically you will get drowned with rares (blues) and eternal grind for legendary/exotic with insanely low drop rate

- Quality : Good/Common to Exquisite/Legendary/Whatever the highest quality called, with Good/Common quality being the easiest to drop/make while the highest quality has sub 1% chance to get

- Enhancement : Chance to burn enemy on hit, health restored per hit/second or any enhancement you can think of. Usually in form of gemstone or rune and you need to upgrade it to the highest level to get the best result and depending on the game, removing the enhancement means deleting it permanently, making you grind for a new one

- Randomized stat : You have this +100 attack sword with full upgrade and enhancement? Too bad, you just got this sword with +98 attack, +10 speed, +5 intelligence and +3 vitality so have fun upgrading this one to get better result than your +100 attack sword. Warframe still being nice enough to add valence fusion to make the prior grind still worth keeping

- Star : Another layer of RNG, so you can get Legendary 5 weapon/armor, but 1 star with the highest being 5 star, back to grinding again

So, if we want to put it, you have a lot of combination for that

- Rarity (5/6)

- Quality (5)

- Stat (can be very wild so I'll just put 10)

* 10 ATT

* 10 SPD

* 10 INT

* 10 VIT

- Enhancement (10 for simplicity)

- Star (5)

That means, your drop can be ranging from 1,250 to 1,500 possible combination, 12,500 to 15,000  with enhancement, up to 12,500,000 to 15,000,000 possible combination with 4 different stat rolls. Not to mention the chance being weightened to lower spectrum of the quality so you can spend your life trying to sift that one between thousands to millions. Not to mention if the devs decided to increase the level/power cap, your previous investment is obsolete if they don't give infusion option

[TheArmchairThinker]

How I describe Warframe? You're a space ninja, parkouring through places while bringing all kind of weapon from throwing knife to giant bazookas, lots of powers to choose from rock wall to summoning meteor, grind can be hard but never impossible so take it slow

[EmberStar]

At this point... I wouldn't.  I've invited a dozen people to this game.  I had offered to explain anything I could if they had questions, and help with missions if they wanted it.  Every single one quit in less than a month.  Several after only a couple of hours in-game.

So it would seem that A) I am a terrible teacher, and B) even people who play games as complicated as Factorio aren't willing to deal with the multiple layers of unexplained complexity in Warframe.  And yes, all of the ones I invited were specifically looking for a "shooter" type game.  I'm apparently clueless, but I'm not so *completely* clueless that I'd invite a pure Turn-based-strategy player to try a shooter staring ninja space-wizards.

[Aldain]

"So are you interested in a game where the more you play it the less it looks like what you started playing? Also how are you on needing to use a wiki to figure out core functions of the game?"

[EmberStar]

1 hour ago, PublikDomain said:

It's free, if they don't like it then it doesn't cost them anything.

In my experience it costs time, possibly data cap, and a great deal of my personal credibility when I'm the one recommending the game to people who bounce off it so hard that they don't want even want to discuss it afterwards.

[EmberStar]

2 hours ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

That's fascinating; I wonder how it slipped by them, since most assuredly some would have jumped into their inventory and mission end screens as they played

In my experience:  Easy.  They didn't have a pet, and if they did, it didn't have Vacuum.  To a new player it's not obvious what all the junk lying on the floor is for and since without a Vacuum pet you only pick up anything if you step on it it's possible for people to never realize that missions are meant to be the primary source of resources.  They don't *know* what's a resource and what's an ammo pickup for a gun they don't have and they don't go out of their way to pick up random items that aren't doing something to draw attention.  Mods, they pick up because they emit a glowy spike of light, basically waving a sign saying "I'm something valuable, even if I'm crap!"  Tuna cans full of resources don't do that, so until they trip over the discovery or someone points it out (or they get a Vacuum pet that zoops up everything) it's possible to not make the connection.

The cycle I've seen goes as follows:

Join a mission, with or without a higher MR player to help.

Shoot stuff, ammo drops.

They run over ammo, can't pick it up (wrong weapon, haven't reloaded so no space yet.)

Shoot more stuff, more ammo drops.  Still can't pick most of it up.  If they run over resources it quietly disappears into inventory except for a few *really* desirable types like Argon Crystals.

Shoot stuff, a mod drops with an obvious glowing spike sticking out.  Pick it up, get a popup showing it was "A valuable thing!"

Run past resources, because the game has already accidentally trained them that "random things on floor" are probably useless, and anything worth having will be highlighted.

*Edit*  The one player I invited to try Warframe who ever asked where to get resources had assumed anything in the end-of-mission screen was part of the reward for completing the missions.  They'd actually been playing on their own for a couple of hours at that point, and finally asked me if the game was so "Free-2-Pay" that they were expected to spend real cash on crafting materials.  They hadn't made the connection that unmarked blue and green tuna cans were valuable *at all.*

[Butterfly85]

2 hours ago, (XBOX)C11H22O11 said:

Don't think I would need more than this to convince acquaintances

Buttframe, the true endgame 🤭🤭🤭