Lotus wants to move in with you

[Probably_Asleep]

For the first time in the history of Warframe, it's possible to get to MR30 with a starter frame only. (Including the Prime variant as well as Excalibur Umbra which is added automatically) Only 3 Warframes contributing MR points: Mag, Mag Prime, and Umbra. (You could also do it with Volt or Excalibur, but I'll let someone else have those titles) The rest can come from weapons, missions, companions, etc. I've been waiting for this since I began playing over 500 days ago! I've got a lot of weapons I need to max and toss, but it's still very exciting. Now the question is what happens first: me reaching 1000 Lotus Lines? Or me reaching MR30 as an All-Mag player. Well, today I'll move the needle closer on both, starting with Lotus Lines 871-880:

• "I have my doubts that Baro Ki'Teer is actually venturing into and out of the void. Considering the effect the void has on an adult mind, it seems highly unlikely. That said, I still can't uncover how he's getting the goods that he sells."
• "That's nice of you to open the other prison cells even after you secured the Rescue Target, but don't feel the need to put yourself through extra risk! My intelligence is quite reliable. I'm confident I'd know if there were multiple allies at that facility."
• "Have you noticed on Sabotage missions that the Heat Cell can be inserted in the same socket on Grineer vesells, but needs a different socket on Corpus? That's because Corpus have increase safety protocols. It doesn't mean they care about safety, it's just that accidents are expensive."
• "The Infestation would become dormant if we just left them alone long enough. It really annoys me that our enemies just keep sending more troops in to feed their numbers. Just how territory-hungry can they be!?"
• "The immune system within Kavats are borderline miraculous. The infestation has had all the time in the world to assimilate them on Orokin Derelicts without success. Some scientists even believe that Vulpaphyla formed as an imitation of Kavats, as though the infestation itself is impressed by them."
• "There wasn't a Narmer movement that I was aware of back in Tau, but I've been out of contact with my people since the Old War. I imagine it formed within the power gap left after Hunhow's defeat. Erra must have done his best to hold things together all by himself, but clearly there was hidden factionalism."
• "The Exploiter Orb makes me sick. There should be nothing like a MOTHER'S love for her CHILDREN. Not the other way around. A mother's job--and her joy--is to become unnecessary; to produce children that can stand as adults."
• "That" ... "I'm sorry it's just" ... "Okay, as long as I'm looking away I can keep it together. Your weapon is just so funny looking. What's that one called? The 'Shedu,' is it? What exactly does 'she do' with it? Pfft! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Something about that weapon just lowers my resistance to humor."
• "Do you want to hear a Mimic joke? Okay: 'What's the easiest biologic to imitate? An inanimate one.' We have a dark sense of humor..."
• "My quota for Extermination Missions is set to collapse a facility or encampment. Every facility can maintain a certain level of casualties and still be operational, but there hits a point where the labor shortage is impossible ignore. That's why I occasionally adjust the quota as I see more of the infrastructure."

[Probably_Asleep]

I'm so close to 900! I'm only 12 installments away from 1000. Definitely going to accomplish this before MR30. With that, let's move on with Lotus Lines 881-890:

• "I'm an innie. I could have chosen to be an outie, but Margulis was an innie and I just got used to it. I tried out the other side for a while but I was just too aware of it."
• "The Orbiter and Railjacks had the same design team. That's why they can connect in space. I hear there was talk of making them modular the same way that the Landing Craft is with the Orbiter, but that idea was scrapped because of the FTL nature of the Railjack."
• "You've got to hand it to Orokin engineering. Those elevators work even despite the infestation corroding it for generations. Of course, it's not like the Orokin built it themselves."
• "Personally I love when you run Invasions. I mean, we'd have probably got around to doing the same thing anyway, but this way we get free support and our enemies have to pay us for it! That's why I always let you know when I've got more Invasion contracts lines up for you."
• "I know I've mentioned that Sentient can consume raw materials; that's how an individual Sentient can eventually become a spacefaring vessel. But the larger you get, the more of your intellect has to go toward managing your structure. I don't want to stop being me."
• "I let people know when you're on your way. It's not like Eudico is always sitting on that chair."
• "Nobody seems to like my fashion sense nowadays, but I still love this style! There's something so alluring about the dichotomy of a skin-tight layer adjacent to free-flowing elements. I'm just going to wait this one out until fashion rolls back around."
• "Putting Lua into the void was not easy. If it were, I'd have done it for all the planets and planetoids in the Sol system after the Old War."
• "How do you think I'd look if I had Kavat ears? Not committing or anything! Just thinking about it..."
• "Uh oh..." ... "Oh! Okay false alarm. We almost had to evacuate the Dojo. It's fine! Don't ask."

[Probably_Asleep]

Okay, it's time to bring this to 900. I've finally made it to Mastery Rank 24, and I'm really running low on easy(ish) things to get MR points from. I've got a few more companions, most of the Kuva/Tenet weapons, and maybe a couple Dojo weapons, but that's it. After that it's all Prime parts and low-percentage blueprint/component drops. I just got the Acceltra and the Ambassador yesterday, but I've literally spent the last 6 hours trying to get the Alternox blueprint and struck out every time. Even if I'm determined and get 1 dropped weapon blueprint (+components) per day, that still means I'm going to be looking at around 120 days before I get enough weapons to make it co MR 27. And after that I really don't know where else to get the points. I'll just keep trudging along, but it's looking like MR 30 is going to easily take me into 2024 or even 2025. (Assuming mankind hasn't wiped itself out by then) And with that upbeat note, Lotus Lines 891-900:

• "Why does everyone leave giant chunks of raw materials lying around their ships!? These kids just don't know how to clean up their own messes! It drives me insane!"
• "Quinn was saying that he doesn't want you to be too reliant on your Warframe but... I think you kind of ought to be, honestly. The Exergis was designed to be fired by Corpus standing nearly 2 meters tall! What do you think is going to happen if an Operator fires it? And don't even get me started on Arch-Guns!"
• "I'm curious how the Angels know when the Reliquary Drive is being targeted, but not yet damaged. It seems like future possibilities can stimulate their senses."
• "The Angels of Zariman are susceptible to attacks that disable Robotic enemies. Really makes you start to question everything, doesn't it?"
• "Do you think I can never get a boyfriend because I don't take this visor off? I thought guys didn't really care about eyes."
• "You didn't use a single Life Support module that I sent you. I'd be hurt, but I'm too awestruck by how cool you were."
• "Warframe charge you Affinity to revive because they're embarrassed about their failures. See, Affinity is a metric for Tenno experience, so by taking Affinity away it's like the Warframe is telling you: 'I will revive, but only if we both agree to forget what just happened.'"
• "I charge credits when you consign a companion to me because I need to get it ready for adoption. Shots, collars, stuff like that. I'd pay for it myself, but this way it's like you're sending it off with love."
• "An Orokin wouldn't normally ask himself if he was the original; they were too arrogant to even think that way. The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to believe that Albrecht actually did stay on the other side of the wall. Everything we've seen from that one has been more more characteristic of an Orokin."
• "A Tenno with greater than 100% accuracy is probably not all that accurate. Remember, numbers may not lie, but people can still lie with numbers."

[Probably_Asleep]

I saw an AI-generated narrator imitating the voice of David Attenborough and it was very convincing. I wonder how much data you need to convincingly simulate a voice through AI. I'm a programmer by trade, and I've even created websites (Django/Postgres on AWS). I've been thinking what my next project should be after I finish 1000 Lotus Lines, and after hearing the AI voice I couldn't help but wonder: "Wouldn't it be cool to just make the Lotus Lines a reality?" I'll look into the scope. The most I'd be willing to dedicate to this would be like $12 a year for maintaining a domain. I'm not sure if it's possible to run an interactive AI bot on free-tier web hosting services. I guess for legal reasons I'd also need to hire a voice-alike on Fiverr to generate Lotus-esque sound clips to feed into the AI; it would be ethically (and likely one day legally) wrong to use DE's actual sound data. I can already see the scope getting too large...
...But it would be cool...
Anyway, I still need to get done with the 1000 Lotus Lines. So let's get back to it with 901-910:

• "If you ever get the Peculiar Growth Mod and a Riven Mod that reduces a weapon's attack to zero, then please let me know. There are some things I've been dying to try."
• "When you crack open a Relic, you get a temporary boost to your abilities. What's interesting is that these have very similar properties to the 'Decrees' you talk about. I guess since the basis of your power is rooted in the void, but I wonder if there's more to it than that."
• "I'm not good with high heels. You'd think I'd have lived long enough by now to learn how to walk in them, but something about the idea of rolling my ankle is so scary."
• "When I was young I believed in 'fated love;' the idea that your perfect soul mate is out there like a precious crystal for you to find. But you know what I learned after living multiple lifetimes? A crystal grows only when it's cultivated in the right conditions, and it will shatter if it's mistreated."
• "You may have read the description on several Prime Weapons and saw 'ceremonial' here and there. But contrary to common sense, that does NOT mean these weapons are less durable or sharp. Orokin 'ceremonies' were far more brutal than the day to day combat of our modern times."
• "Vandal weapons were made in my honor by a Corpus defector. Wraith weapons on the other hand were made by a Grineer defector, but not in my honor. It's a touchy subject for me."
• "Tenno shields better than Corpus shields in every way, and they hate it. If you ever see some Corpus at a bar, you can pretty much always rile them up into a fight by making a joke like: 'Oh! Sorry I bumped into you! I know it was a minor impact, but are your shields okay?'"
• "Corpus do no issue any toxin weapons to their troops as a rule. The reason? Well, they do issue radiation weapons, which have the potential danger of confusion and friendly fire. Last thing they want to do is have a confused ally aiming toxin back at themselves."
• "Unlike Grineer, Corpus make soldiers the 'old fashioned way.' I ran the numbers to see what it would take to produce a thousand male Corpus soldiers every day and... you're not old enough to hear the rest."
• "What I can't figure out is why the Elder Queen and the Worm Queen performed continuity into those hideous bodies. You've seen some of our allies during Rescue Missions, right? There are healthy, able-bodied people around. So why? It's just strange..."

[Probably_Asleep]

Occasionally I wonder what a good length for Lotus lines should be I've decided for it to be one or two lines on my screen, but that's completely subjective. My resolution, the browser's zoom level, font size, and so on were all factors I didn't consider before making the two-lines rule. That said, I've been paying attention to other dialogue that is currently in Warframe. I'm pretty sure my two-lines rule is fine. And with that! Lotus Lines 911-920:

• "Okay I'll level with you, the real reason I want you to extract when The Grustrag Three show up has nothing to do with their threat level. They're just so mean to you! I don't want you to get your feelings hurt! Bullets may wound the body, but bullying wounds the heart."
• "One thing that has been difficult living at the Dojo is ordering food. Sometimes I get cravings. Then again, maybe that's how Ballas found me the last time..."
• "That's not how I remember that Warframe looking." ... "Huh? What do you mean you changed your 'skin!?' What does that mean!? Is that safe?"
• "I could have sworn there was a Warframe back in the Old War with the ability to go through walls, but we haven't seen anything like that again. If only I could remember more about her then maybe we could find her again..."
• "You like my pajamas? I'm not a fan of the silky, lacy fabrics; I like soft and warm. Eudico told me though: 'Well THERE is you problem, Lotus!' I pretended to laugh understandingly, but honestly I don't know why she said that."
• "Honey, I'm home! Oh, I forgot, I'm not married."
• "You're maxed out on energy utilization at the Dojo. I'm sure it's fine, of course! But if we had some extra energy, then maybe I could install something like a soft serve machine."
• "Cressa Tal does NOT understand Tenno. Imagine if instead she was like: 'Maybe this will change your mind.' And rather than a death squad, a cute baby Kubrow walked up and delivered a cupcake."
• "Where do you put all that loot you pick up during the missions? I mean I would understand if you were using Wisp or Hildryn, but..."
• "I would if I could, but I'm not able to make any deals that would let you support the Infested during Invasions. My negotiations go like this: I offer a deal, some Infested farts in the mic, they all start screaming like it's the funniest thing they've ever heard, and then they start eating each other."

[Probably_Asleep]

I want to try it. Not the voice replication at this point, but I want to try writing a text-based AI to see what happens if I combine all of the Lotus' real lines with the 1000 lines I plan on finishing. I'm reading through minGPT's code as an educational starting point and once I get familiar with how it runs then I'll see what's been improved in the fork (nanoGPT). From there I'll either write one from scratch or tweak that existing code to work with my dataset. The determining factor will be how the training works. I assume AI training is set up as a generalist, but I'd like to have some control over the preferences beyond just feeding it more data; I don't have much data to work with so I might want to build some shortcuts that let me explicitly prioritize Lotus-like mannerisms. I wish I had some project at work that needs machine learning so I could use this as a skill-building project and get paid for it...

But with that, it's time for more Lotus Lines! Let's go with 921-930:

• "You know, if Narmer focused more on their music and less on dictatorial brainwashing, then I bet they'd get a lot more followers! Their military operations are jank, but their soulful dirges are serious bangers."
• "Hey, roomie! Wanna watch something tonight? There's a new horror that just became streamable. It's called:...
  • "I Know What You Did Last Summulyst"
  • "Raknoidphobia"
  • "The Faction"
  • "The Void Relic"
  • "Under the Exalted Shadow"
• "Do you think guys actually care about how jewelry and clothes? I just had this terrifying thought that maybe we've been putting all this effort into it and all we had to do all along was just laugh at their jokes or something. I'd be so ticked-off if it turns out they're not actually all that shallow."
• "I'm running an experiment that uses decaying Sawgaw eggs. I just wanted you to know in case you were wondering what that smell is. Also my chair hasn't been oiled in a while so it's been creaking when I sit down."
• "Teshin sure likes to pretend he's great at guiding you, but I don't see him giving you useful information during your missions. 'My name is Teshin! Honor! Blood!' How about telling the Tenno what their next objective is? Then at the end he's all proud! 'Good deaths, all.' You weren't any help, Teshin!"
• "The Orokin. They were so focused on never dying that it drove them to discover the Void. The Void pointed their attention to the distant Tau. The distance bore us, and the Tenno who rose against us. Finally, the battle-scarred Tenno killed the Orokin. So what began as a desire for eternity ultimately caused their death."

[Probably_Asleep]

So I have this dumb habit whenever I'm trying to reverse engineer someone else's code. I hate third-party libraries. I get their purpose, and I know that there's really no difference between a 3PL and a builtin, but I don't feel like I've really built anything if I'm just slapping together other people's work. (And I know there's some hypocrisy there because the whatever language I program in is itself other people's work; it's like that quote from Carl Sagan: "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.") But long story short, minGPT (while delightfully minimized) is using the Torch library, and I want my implementation to use only standard Python libraries. Only then will I feel like I actually understand GPT tech from the inside out. So now I'm looking at Torch and watching a bunch of math YouTube videos.

And with that status update out of the way, it's time for Lotus Lines 931-940:

• "Just what 'data' does Cephalon Simaris want from the Sanctuary? What's the underlying goal of investigating combat effectiveness, specifically against Tenno and Warframes? The more I think about it, the less I trust him."
• "Whenever the Corpus complain about you raiding their lockers during Invasions, I tell them that you're making sure there are no Grineer hiding in the lockers. And they actually believe me! The Grineer don't, surprisingly. To them I just say: 'I thought you believe in the strong taking from the weak.' And they shut up."
• "Why don't have have a K-Drive Park in the Dojo? I know the Ventkids would love to have one. I'd also let you challenge me to a race once in a while..."
• "So you know that Garden room with all the sand? Take if from someone who learned the hard way: Don't bring your Kavat to that room."
• "The Mimics have a joke about romance: 'A Mimic tells her boyfriend that she is tired of waiting and she promises to be anything he desires as long as he marries her. He chose for her to be his ex-girlfriend.'"
• "Nice Arsenal, Tenno!"
• "I don't play the mother card often, but could you do me a favor and listen to me just this once? Don't talk to Varzia any more than you have to."
• "Sentients have a thing for shoulder pads. So when I decided to go against my own kind, I chose an outfit that was form-fitting around the shoulders."
• "You changed the colors in my room!? I love it! If I could hang this entire room on my food preservation cooler, I would."
• "Malice is probably the most frightening of all the Acolytes. The Tenno weaponry is simply too powerful now to pointed back at themselves."

[Probably_Asleep]

It's been too long! I've been super busy at work and in Warframe. At work there was this team who had an entire year to complete a project that was given a rather hefty budget, and they have nothing to show for it. So they've put together a special team to do a year's worth of work in the next two and a half months. I've been asked to be a part of that team. 😨 But Warframe has been busy too! I've been doing every mission that might give me a weapon blueprint or component. Zariman Bounties, Sentient Anomalies, ESO, Invasions, Void Fissures, and Deimos Bounties. I've obtained enough to get me almost to MR27 (I just got to 25 two days ago), and I have identified enough unobtained equipment to make it well into MR29. I'll still come up short by 9 weapons (or 4.5 companions) to actually be able to make it to MR30. Even though the Wiki says there should be enough, I can't figure out where the last 27k points are supposed to come from. But I believe by the time I get through all the Prime Resurgence events they'll have been enough updates to add that amount of MR Points. It's exciting though! I'm quite certain I'll be the first human in history to get to MR30 without playing any other frame aside from Mag and Mag Prime (Excalibur Umbra doesn't count, but I made sure to register 0 kills while I did that mission). I'm certain because it's only become a mathematical possibility this summer, and the Prime Weapons are an absolute necessity toward this goal.

That update aside, I have missed generating Lotus Lines! Let's get back into it with another set, here we go with Lines 941-950:

• "Is that..." *GASP* "IS THAT A FEVERSPINE!? And it's got a genuine Gristlebuck reactor! Ooh! And check out these Nodulite nose pieces! Oh, and the Steeba jets! Have I died? Am I an ethereal in the heart of Tau? Can I touch it? Can I?" ... "AH! I'll never wash these hands!"
• "The Ventkids love watching you ride. It's your wipeouts. Getting tossed that high into the air and then landing ragdolled on rocky terrain would kill a normal person. Kids like seeing people fall but don't like seeing people die, so you're perfect entertainment for them."
• "It's kind of odd, isn't it? Lua was in the Void nearly as long as the Zariman was, but look how unaffected it is by comparison. The only difference I can find--apart from total mass--is that one had Tenno children while the other did not. You really do have a stabilizing effect somehow."
• "It's nice having the Zariman around. If something ends up happening to the Heart of Deimos again then I'm pretty sure we could use the Zariman now as a back up."
• "The Holdfasts seem to not know of any connection between Void Angels and the Man in the Wall, yet from what you tell me it seems Teshin believes them to be his servants. I wonder where the disconnect is. For that matter, how would Teshin actually come across that information?"
• "Life isn't always fair. Take weapon specs as an example. Some weapons are far more difficult to obtain than others, and yet their performance does not live up to some easier-to-get weapons. Let that be a lesson to you! Hard work doesn't pay off by itself; it must be paired with informed planning."
• "Ordis is obedient to a fault. You'd think he could make your life easier by managing your Forge for you even while you're away, but he won't. He'd probably say: 'The jobs in the Forge can only be initiated and confirmed by the Operator! I would NEVER take away the job of my Operator!'"
• "You're probably curious why the Bounty rewards are random, right? I mean, who works like that? 'Do this for me, and I might give you any of the following things...' Well, it's actually random for them too. They've got a minimum reward, but they'll do their best to get you something better for your efforts. (With varying success)"
• "DON'T TOUCH THAT!" ... "Sorry. That's not something a child should get their hands on. I need to properly dispose of it, but I haven't found a good opportunity."
• "Our enemies don't actually install Mods into their weapons. They would if they could; they just don't know how. Instead, they 'modify' the weapon through conventional means with higher quality components and special ammunition. It adds power, but makes them 'un-modable' and useless to us."

[Probably_Asleep]

I really let this slip. Life and work have been very busy during October. Not only that, but I've been trying get higher Mastery Ranks lately which has required a lot of my spare time. But to that end, I've reached a milestone! I'm at MR 27! (Without leveling a single frame outside of Mag/Prime... and the Umbra which I only used for the required quest mission)

With that though, how about we get some more Lotus Lines!? Where are we? ... Looks like 951-960:

• "Belief is a choice, truth is not. If you take choice away from belief, then you have tyranny. But if you add choice to truth, then you have nothing."
• "I don't know who did it, but one of the Dry Dock guys hid a Grineer Commander's Switch Teleport in my bathroom. If that had gone off just half a minute later..."
• "You ever wonder what happens to all that leftover material after an elemental weapons fight? The gas clouds coat the irradiated walls, toxic and corrosive sludge gets caked to the floors, and infectious material festers in the condensation left from cold weapons. I don't think there's any worse job than a janitor in this era."
• "Your finishers when wielding Nunchaku weapons actually looks like it could help pop my back. I don't suppose you... no never mind."
• "Defeating all the Wardens during a Rescue mission grants higher rewards because of how abusive they are to the prisoners. People like to hear that we took them out."
• "If I could figure out how your Nemesis keeps stealing your resources and credits at the end of a mission, then I'd stop them. It really drives me insane when I feel like I'm getting outsmarted by an obvious moron."
• "You see Mods in the field as large canisters, or in your Arsenal as cards. But they're neither in reality. It's hard to describe them because their shape is so circumstantial. Just take 'Magazine Warp' as an example. Try to imagine how it can work for both the Harpak and the Hema?"
• "It's nice to see the syndicates working together over this whole Abyssal thing. I had hoped that the mutual threat of Grineer and Corpus would have pushed them to burry their respective hatchets, but anger is most durable when it becomes a tradition."
• "I don't really see the point of robotic Specters. Robotic military units are specifically designed to be mass producible and field deployable in the first place."
• "Why does Legs keep whispering: 'That is what she said!" to Biz? We'll be having an important strategy meeting and Eudico will be talking about how difficult an infiltration is going to be, and those two are over there giggling of all things!"

[Somniator_Abderamus]

[Probably_Asleep]

Why'd I get a facepalm!? I guess I should feel honored that I was your account's 11th comment on the 11th month and at the top of the 11th hour (JST).

And I think it's time for some more Lotus Lines! Today we're on 961-970:

• "Tenno, you wouldn't... copy someone else's loadout, would you? I heard some Tenno don't even put any thought into their builds. What a sad way to kill. What a sad way to live!"
• "One of the more fascinating behaviors of the infestation is its tendency toward standardization. I mean, doesn't that seem counterintuitive? The infested are asymmetrical and grotesque, yet they perfectly replicate their soldiers."
• "I don't mean to nag, but you just have one node left on the Star Chart! How does that not drive you crazy?"
• "I would have asked to live in your Orbiter, but I don't think there's enough space. That and... your 'garden' next to the Helminth kind of grosses me out."
• "I thought this one was my original helmet, but you picked that up before the whole New War mess, right? It's still floating on your pedestal. Where'd I get this one then? I don't even remember. Maybe I should check it for malware or something..."
• "On Tau we had a saying: 'Love isn't something you should live to get; it's something you should get for living.'"
• "Have you ever laughed so hard it hurt? I wasn't aware this was possible until I started to live in the human form. So far it's the only 'pain' I've ever known to be a pleasant experience. Oh, what was I laughing about? It's a secret!"
• "Certain enemies are able to imitate Warframe abilities, but we haven't found out how. It seems to come at a high price, but it still concerns me. Imagine having to face off against 10 Malice-like enemies. We need to continue to thwart enemy attempts at evolving their technology."
• "The Battacor would actually be a very good anti-Tenno weapon. Disrupt and Confusion are devastating effects for a Tenno. I wonder if that's why the Corpus are testing it in the Enrichment Labs..."
• "Ugh! More Thermia Fractures!? Whatever they're doing to that planet is obviously not sustainable. Even the ancient people of Earth understood that you shouldn't mess with your planet's temperature."

[Probably_Asleep]

I've really let this slip. There were a lot of factors involving work, health, friends, and other time limiters. Those reasons wouldn't have actually been strong enough to stop me though, if I had a strong enough desire to complete the list. By tuning into my emotions, I can tell that I just don't want to finish this list. I suspect the reason is that I just don't want it to be over; I don't want to move on to the next effort to keep the idea alive, but I don't want to extend this to 2000 or more Lotus Lines. As soon as I get done with the last 30 items and do a final cleanup, then this fun project will be over. I had a lot of enjoyment digging through the lore of this game and seeing every corner and character through the lens of "How does the lore explain this?" But I guess I shouldn't keep it alive beyond its time... Let's do this! Lotus Lines 971-980:

• "Hey Tenno, I've been confused about something. If the Zariman didn't emerge from the void until recently, then how did they rescue you after the jump incident?"
• "There was a time when I thought: 'I should avoid dating men with limited lifespans.' But I have since grown out of that naiveté; it's about pride at this point. Do you realize how pathetic I feel when I attend a friend's 20-year anniversary party? That shouldn't seem long to me!"
• "Some weapons disperse enemies, but don't let their nonlethal stats fool you! I'm sure you've encountered situations where you wish you had a quick way of getting enemies pushed out of a certain area, right?"
• "Wait, Loid's original human self is still alive? That shouldn't be possible... it's been a given for centuries that creating a Cephalon is a biologically fatal process. The only difference between a 'Cephalon' and a 'Necraloid' is the output device. This is really strange, Tenno; keep your guard up."
• "Your account reveals some strange aspects to this '1999' realm. For example, those colorful air-bladders would not be able to retain their volume or surface tension for more than a few days. My guess is that whatever you experienced was a Duviri-like manifestation rather than legitimate time travel."
• "Sevagoth and Dagath would go good together. At least... in terms of geometry..."
• "You have enough Riven Slivers to go trade them with Palladino. Are you worried that you'll get another Kitgun or Zaw Riven? You might as well just go and try it."
• "I see you're trading with your fellow Tenno. It's great to see you helping each other out. _{I mean, I'd prefer you didn't do it right next to that harpy, but that's a different matter}."
• "Tenno! I haven't seen you in quite a while! Are you okay? I was worried you might have been hurt, but I was even more worried you might have just forgot about me."
• "Glass seems to have strange interactions with the underlying laws of our universe. Gara, Nihil, and Albrecht all have used glass-like materials to break the rules as we know them. While I'm sure it's a different material in each case, it can't be purely a coincidence. Maybe it's the amorphous nature of glass..."

[Probably_Asleep]

This will be the second to last set of Lotus Lines. Just saying that reminds me of why I put this off; I'm getting all sad and nostalgic. Fortunately though, I've learned the essential adult skill of: Ignoring Your Emotions! With that, let's do Lotus Lines 981-990:

• "You'll always find something valuable no matter where you look. Take for example Abandoned Derelicts you see during Empyrean Missions. There are weapon blueprints there that  you won't find anywhere else! I guess 'valuable' is up to you to judge, but I like rarities."
• "So you've been hanging out with talking animals, who taught you a fancy marital art named 'Tennokai,' and you use it to go fight robots and mutants in the sand?" *snort-laughs* "Ahem! Sorry. Tenno, sometimes I forget how adorable you are! I'm glad you haven't lost the chance to make childhood memories."
• "Unfortunately I wasn't allowed into the facilities where they made Tauforged Archon Shards. Artisans were very private about their craft back in Tau. If memory serves, though, I heard a rumor that the process involved using equipment imbued with Tau-damage during the process. It would be hard to recreate that here."
• "That Loid person figured out how to make new Archon Shard colors? Fascinating! My one concern though is if Narmer discovers this and steals the technology. Just what sort of Archons would they build that could use the combined powers of two shards at once?"
• "What are those, hands on your Landing Craft!? They make me... um... I'm going to have to just get used to this. See, I have a thing about large hands..."
• "The Orokin's greatest flaw was impatience. With Continuity, time was on their side. They didn't have to create Sentients, commission the Zariman, build Warframes, or mess with the Void. But they didn't want to wait. More territory, more power, more glory, and zero concern for the consequence or rushing."
• "Mods are all science, brought about by Archimedeans and Cephalons. Incarnon Adapters are all sorcery, courtesy of Void Manifestations. Arcanes though, they're a little in between; the Orokin had a talent for mixing the mechanics of our universe with the magic of our minds."
• "When picking a Syndicate, most Tenno consider two things. 'What are they offering?' is the first consideration, but the second and probably most impactful is: 'Which one looks the coolest.'"
• "Careful when running in the Dojo! You might break something or--worse yet--hurt yourself!" ... "Wow... that might be the most motherly thing I've ever said..."
• "Oh look! You've got some Remote Observers in your Gear Wheel. Do you want to take a picture with me? I'd love to hang it on my wall!"

[Probably_Asleep]

It's almost been two months since I last wrote an installment on this thread. (And unfortunately I'm not planning on doing so today either) I'm at the point right before reaching my goal of 1000 Lotus Lines, and I've been putting it off because I realized a few things. For starters, a lot more lore has been introduced that wouldn't be covered with the existing set of Lotus Lines. I keep wanting to rope more in, but more keeps on coming. It seems like a moving target (and almost making me wonder if I should just ditch the 1000 goal and make it a regular periodical). Secondly though is that I wanted to line this up with my own progress in Warframe. In an earlier update I mentioned that I made it to MR 27. That was big news at the time! I'm not taking the standard path in WF. I'm not using any frame aside from Mag variants (trying to prove that you're not limited by your starter frame; or that was the original goal, but since then I've thought of it more as proving Mag's worth than of the starter frame's worth). Discounting the MR points you get from Warframes is a huge handicap, and when I started it was just possible to get to MR 28. Since then though (specifically the summer of 2023, it's actually become possible to get to MR 30 with my goal). Well since my last update I actually managed to make it to MR 29! I'm just one more level away from achieving a True Master rank despite an unheard of handicap. That's been absorbing a lot of my free time. This last level though is going to be more of a grind than ever before. I have over 10 lvl-40 weapons to acquire, several prime options I need to wait for a Resurgence on, and weapons that can only be acquired as rare drops from obscure game modes. But I can't give up now when I'm literally on the precipice of making history. So that's been taking a lot of time.

But I do plan on completing this soon. I haven't stopped thinking about what the last 10 Lotus Lines should be. I figure I'll wait for one more major update and then just bite the bullet and get it done.

[Probably_Asleep]

Okay it's time to make it to 1000 lines! I'm 58k MR Points away from MR30, and when looking at the weapons I can get to (excluding Vaulted), I can get another 55k points. Considering though that two of those weapons are the Vandal weapons from ESO, and three of those weapons will have to wait until Baro Ki'Teer's TennoCon Relay, I think by the time I get those weapons in my inventory there will be more weapons released they push me over the threshold and let me actually get to MR30. So despite the fact that it was mathematically possible summer of last year, this is the first time where it's actually felt practically possible for my account.

I've also been paying attention to the flow of Warframe lore reveals, and some of my speculative Lotus Lines have been debunked over time. One example I can think of off hand was a line about Archons. I had made a line talking about the supposed plot hole: Warframes were made to combat Sentients, so how would Sentients have Warframe bodies in Tau? At the time it wasn't clear that Archons were originally just their beast form and later got combined into Warframe bodies. That was revealed through the dialog in Archon Hunts. So I think I need to bring all the Lotus Lines into a master list and then retire/replace the obsoleted ones. While I can credit some inaccuracies to Lotus just not being omniscient, there are some cases where that just wouldn't fly (the Archons theory being one of them; Lotus knew them personally in Tau after all)

With that said, I think it's finally time to complete this list and start thinking about the next chapter in this effort to make Lotus an interactable NPC. Here they are! Lotus Lines 991-1000:

• "I can't believe whoever locked that Waverider Graphica! Expecting children to kill people? Who would do that!?" ... "Why are you looking at me that way?"
• "More and more you're getting involved in adventures with other support teams. It feels kind of lonely not getting to spot for you during your adventures. But the success of a mother is shown by the independence of her child; I'm proud of you for making friends."
• "Female Sentients consume resources to become spacefaring vessels, but the kinds of resource they consume determine the quality and capabilities of the vessel. My mother had access to the finest Orokin materials, but the newer generation of Murex are just pathetic 'Debris Downers.'"
• "I wish I had a cool rhyme like 'The Kicker for Ticker!' But what rhymes with 'Lotus?' 'Bloat us?' Hmm... 'Bloat us for Lotus?' No, that's terrible... You win this round, Ticker."
• "It's well known that the Void has no rules, but doesn't that sound like a rule? This paradox forms a 'heartbeat' of sorts. Expectations get subverted until subversion is expected, and this cycle has a melody that entrances the Angels."
• *Sigh* ... "Hunhow tried setting me up with some 'Sentient prospects' the other day. I said: 'The Sentients are classified as an ENEMY FACTION! Why would I date one?' And he was like: 'Because you are nearing your prime and you still are single.' So roared and then hung up... then cried. Family sucks."
• "Have you ever wondered what your Warframe looked like before it became a Warframe? In the Orokin Era, people weren't as adapted to harsh environments like they are today. A society in which survival is a given tends to become more vain with every generation."
• "You've made it to True Master! My Tenno, my child, you've really grown up. It seems like just yesterday I was telling you that your new mission is 'one of your own making.' Now look at you! I'm so proud of you."
• "Do you think I was a good mother? I never knew what a 'good mother' looks like. I only knew that a child should feel loved, safe, and free to grow. I hope you felt that."
• "I've maxed out my Supporter Level thanks to you! Now I can actually say we're literally a 'perfect team!' Check your inbox for special gift I put together to express my appreciation."

[Probably_Asleep]

On 2023-08-11 at 3:53 PM, Probably_Asleep said:

For the first time in the history of Warframe, it's possible to get to MR30 with a starter frame only. (Including the Prime variant as well as Excalibur Umbra which is added automatically) Only 3 Warframes contributing MR points: Mag, Mag Prime, and Umbra. (You could also do it with Volt or Excalibur, but I'll let someone else have those titles) The rest can come from weapons, missions, companions, etc. I've been waiting for this since I began playing over 500 days ago! I've got a lot of weapons I need to max and toss, but it's still very exciting.

I've been trying to get an exact date for this, and I think my original guess is actually dead wrong. There were some things that I didn't take into account:

• Venari/Venari Prime
  Even though they're in the "Companion" category in Mastery, they obviously come with Khora/Prime. That's 12,000 MR points, or four weapon's worth
• Lato Prime and Skana Prime
  These are just not accessible no matter how many Prime Resurgences occur, that's (obviously) another two weapon's worth

But after crunching a lot of numbers and looking at a lot of update notes, I've determined that Update 34 (Abyss of Dagath) is the update where it all became possible. And I'm going to prove it right here and now...

https://web.archive.org/web/20231010134827/https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Mastery_Rank

(That link should be good for a couple of years at least) The Mastery Point Distribution back then came to a total of 2,811,038 available points. But for the purposes of my little Game+ idea I redistribute the points in to these categories. This is the point distribution right before Update 34:

Item	Count	Points Per	Total
Warframes	91	6000	546000
Warframe Companions	2	6000	12000
Exclusives	2	3000	6000
Allowed Warframes	3	6000	18000
Primaries	152	3000	456000
Nemesis Primaries	16	4000	64000
Secondaries	117	3000	351000
Nemesis Secondaries	10	4000	40000
Melee	200	3000	600000
Nemesis Melee	6	4000	24000
Kitguns	6	3000	18000
Normal Mission Nodes	241	60.24481328	14519
Normal Junctions	13	1000	13000
The Steel Path Nodes	241	60.24481328	14519
The Steel Path Junctions	13	1000	13000
Railjack Intrinsics	5	15000	75000
Drifter Intrinsics	4	15000	60000
Sentinels	16	6000	96000
Robotic Weapons	20	3000	60000
Hound Weapons	3	3000	9000
Kubrows	6	6000	36000
Kavats	3	6000	18000
Predasites	3	6000	18000
Vulpaphylas	3	6000	18000
MOAs	4	6000	24000
Hounds	3	6000	18000
Plexus	1	6000	6000
Archwings	5	6000	30000
Archguns	16	3000	48000
Nemesis Archguns	2	4000	8000
Archmelees	8	3000	24000
Amps	9	3000	27000
K-Drives	5	6000	30000
Necramechs	2	8000	16000
ALL POINTS TOTAL			2811038
MAG-ONLY POINTS TOTAL			2247038
POINTS LESS THAN MR30			-2962

To get to MR30 you need 2,250,000, which means the available points after update 33 came up just one weapon short of reaching that threshold. Then as soon as update 34 was released, we got the Dorrclave, Zylok Prime, and Massetter Prime. So the exact date when it was possible to reach True Master while only playing as one of the starter frames would have been Wednesday October 18th, 2023. What I find particularly cool about this update is that it released 3 weapons, which means it's the same date regardless of whether or not you want to include the Prime Variant of your starter frame in your Game+ journey. (Which I did because I really wanted be a true Mag Master)

While I would have loved to reach that goal six months ago, I just didn't have access to everything. Since then though I've been diligently acquiring weapons and am very close. I'm just 25,762 points away. I have 7 Nemesis Weapons left to get and rank up. (I've put them off to last because they're such a pain to acquire and get to max rank) Which means I have nothing between me and making history save for a little more grinding! Once I get those last weapons, I'm pretty sure I'll be the first ever "True Mag Master" and "True Starter-Frame Master." It's so close I can taste it! (Though in retrospect I wish I hadn't chosen to procrastinate on the Nemesis Weapons because they seriously are a pain)

There's still room for "First Ever True Excalibur Master" and "First Ever True Volt Master," but I'm not sure if anyone out there is going to actually want to go through everything I've gone through. As time goes on though these titles will be less and less difficult to reach, so now is the time to claim your spot in history! I'm not sure though if it's possible to do all the missions with Excalibur and Volt. Mag is very versatile after all... Then again I did all this solo, but the MR Points don't change if you do it in a squad. So I suppose it's possible to have someone carry you to the title for the other two starter frames...

[Probably_Asleep]

Welp, I did it:

I've done both of my goals now, 1000 Lotus Lines, and becoming a True Mag Master.

Not really sure what to work on next... I'm sitting here at the peak with my flag thrust into the apex, and I don't see any higher mountains breaching the horizon. There are still a few odds and ends I'd like to take care of, like:

• 13 unobtained Weapons:
  • Braton Vandal / Lato Vandal from ESO (I'm just one component away for each of those)
  • Some Prime Weapons (Baro Ki'Teer will be selling the Aklex and I think Akvaster relics this summer, and there's a few I can pick up in resurgences)
  • Imperator Vandal (I thought this was a Baro item and have been waiting for it to appear, but it's actually from Fomorians; woops)
  • The new Adversary Weapons and a few Tenet Weapons from Ergo Glast
• 9 incomplete Challenges
  • A lot of them are Orb Valis related (not sure why, I like that place more than the Plains of Eidolon)
  • 500 Meter Slide in the Plains (I remember trying this in a few places and nothing worked, so I'll need to research why)
  • Ride Velocipods and burn Infested pods
  • Revive 1000 allies (playing solo all this time I've only done that 300-ish times)
  • Obtain 10 different Warframes (obviously I haven't done this one, but I can build 10 and sell them)
• A lot of Scans
  • I should just make Helios my main companion for a while
  • Also not sure if I have all the Curios and other lore objects
• Clan Rank
  • I took over the Dojo after my friends stopped playing, and I've been slowing trying to get all the research done
  • My clan is Rank 10, and I think it might be possible to get to Rank 11, but I'm not sure. I just know I have more things I can research

I think that's about it. If I can check these boxes then I'll have a pristine account. After that, it'll just be a matter of daily logins, weekly challenges, and the occasional update to get more stuff. In other words, I think I'm at "End Game." I'll have to pick an appropriate time to watch the credits and let the waves of nostalgia wash over me.

 

As a final note, I really do want this to see this thread be implemented in the game. That's why I've kept this alive all this time. But I have actually seen some of the elements get implemented:

• Mocking/Scathing Whisper resembles the clone-battles
• Dagath/Gargoyle resemble the new clan room opening up more mission types
• Arcane Dissolution resembles the materials exchange

Sure, they're not 1:1 matches, but they're similar and they came after my original post. So maybe DE does actually read these posts once in a while. And if that's true, and if you're reading this DE, then won't you please consider the rest? Hasn't the Lotus been through enough? Doesn't she deserve a place to belong and feel safe? Let us give her that place.