Opinion: Warframe fell off after Second Dream and War Within, but how can we fix this?

[Mediloric]

I feel the opposite. I feel like the Warframes doing the best it's done in a long while. I've felt this way since Angels of Zariman! Sure, it's not been a perfect ride, and there are valid critical points made about changes and some of the directions taken, but for me I've enjoyed a lot of it and that's enough. 

[quxier]

2 hours ago, Voltage said:

3 hours ago, Corvid said:

It's becoming apparent at this point that some players will give up and dismiss any story element in the game as "Eternalism" if it requires them to think for longer than a second to understand it.

In other words, the term is a scapegoat for their own lack of curiosity.

Or some people just get bored with a story that has no stakes. The same happens with saturated movie franchises, some anime, or other video games narratives. Warframe quests are still "nice" in the sense of content, but I've personally stopped caring after the way The New War wrapped up. Teshin for example, was rendered insignificant. The questline for many years built up a semblance of risk and loss, but The New War completely tossed that out the window, so there's a really easy reason to just not care or be invested in your own story as a player.

Risk and lose? Sure, some random guys in quests. This game is linear. "Main people" don't die. Teshin being one of those people make sense that he survives (in some form). New war wasn't different in this regard.

1 hour ago, PollexMessier said:

All these weeky time gates are what have really killed the game for me. I loved the game back when I could play it at my own pace. Do whatever I wanted, when I wanted to do it, instead of being coerced into doing specific tasks at specific times when the game wants me to.

The only way we go back is if this weekly content mentality is entirely erased from the game.

This. It's bad when you have time gates like "do N mission per week". However if you need to wait weeks or months for something then it's even worse. I've finished Duviri quest and I had nothing to do (except exploring & stuff) during week.

46 minutes ago, trst said:

1 hour ago, PollexMessier said:

All these weeky time gates are what have really killed the game for me. I loved the game back when I could play it at my own pace. Do whatever I wanted, when I wanted to do it, instead of being coerced into doing specific tasks at specific times when the game wants me to.

The only way we go back is if this weekly content mentality is entirely erased from the game.

You can still do exactly that and ignore the weekly content as you're not missing out on anything by skipping them entirely.

Nigwave mods, resources (Nitain), Incarnon adapters, shards etc. There is plenty to miss.

49 minutes ago, trst said:

. And if you're for some reason concerned about Shard FOMO it's almost inevitable that there'll only be more sources of it in the future. Just do them whenever you feel like it.

It's already there with Whispers' Netracells: 5 times per week with chance to get random shard plus some arcanes & melee adapter.

6 hours ago, IllogicalLogic420 said:

Hell, I'd even say after Fortuna too. What went wrong? What can we do to go back? Still a great game I love warframe but it's just..... release mid-tier content with mid-tier story with short gameplay time, after waiting for so long, introduce a new farming system, LOCK ARBITRATION BEHIND NEW CONTENT AGAIN AND AGAIN FFS....................rinse and repeat.

I love you DE but stop locking arby behind new content ffs.

 

Anyway, what do?

Yeah, some stories or gameplay are not great. Like Zariman quest is rushed, they talk too much etc. Gameplay is nice. On other hand we have nice quest like Whispers but not so great gameplay or gear (normal hammer... or horrible Tennokai). They cannot hit middle ground. At least they post different content so you have at least chance to have fun, not like RJ updates (thanks DE for that at least).

[PollexMessier]

1 hour ago, trst said:

You can still do exactly that and ignore the weekly content as you're not missing out on anything by skipping them entirely. And if you're for some reason concerned about Shard FOMO it's almost inevitable that there'll only be more sources of it in the future. Just do them whenever you feel like it.

Also you can only expect more weekly/daily content going forward (or maybe DE will mix it up with monthly content next). As it's the best choice DE could be making for dealing with the player retention issues WF has always had. The alternatives would result in far bigger problems than some FOMO.

That's what I've been doing already but just their mere existence and needing to actively fight myself to not do them and just do what I enjoy is so mentally straining it's easier for me to not open the game at all and decide to do something else.

Also I really doubt DE actually needs this garbage for player retention. It's losing my interest in the game, and I've heard multiple people voice the same complaints as me. It discourages new players from sticking with the game because NO ONE actually likes weekly time gate garbage and it's just one more mental hurdle you need to get over to decide to actually pick up the game. And It's casing fatigue in the players that are actually keeping up with it. I'm positive it's losing them more active players that it's helping them keep.

And the game has multiple thousands of hours of content without it. I mastered every single weapon in the game one single time. Since then I've actively been falling behind the game as it continues to release updates. Not even counting the weekly stuff. I haven't touched a single frame that's been released since Styanax came out and the game gave them to me for free. I don't even have a job and I don't have enough time to finish the last grind the game put out before they release another one. Even without weeklies, New players will literally never run out of stuff to do from now until the game's servers shut down. The people that actually have the time to do every little thing are a very minute percentage of the playerbase.

The game's player retention is about the same as it's ever been. If not slightly lower. It certainly hasn't been going up. It doesn't look like weeklies have been doing anything to fix any sort of player retention problem. So what "bigger problem" would we have if the weeklies weren't a thing?

[trst]

10 minutes ago, quxier said:

Nigwave mods, resources (Nitain), Incarnon adapters, shards etc. There is plenty to miss.

No, not really. Nightwave is so painfully lenient now you'd have to literally not play the game at all to not make progress in it. Plus the catchup system means you could ignore NW for most of the season then spend a few sessions grinding it out to completion when/if one did feel like playing it.

And yeah there's plenty to miss but you're not missing anything by lacking those. Nothing requires making use of Archon Shards or Incarnons. They're luxury items that let you make some different builds, squeeze out an extra mod slot on something, and give you some more weapon diversity. And none of that is required anywhere in the game. Also if someone did want to engage in those systems they're at no loss by having ignored them until that point other than needing to engage in the grind they chose not to do previously.

16 minutes ago, quxier said:

It's already there with Whispers' Netracells: 5 times per week with chance to get random shard plus some arcanes & melee adapter.

Yes I'm aware of that, what I'm saying is that it's very likely that we'll see DE reuse them more as a reward for future content. And just like all previous "high value" rewards they'll become easier to get down the line. So skipping out on some/all of them now won't matter when we'll eventually see yet more ways to farm them.

 

4 minutes ago, PollexMessier said:

That's what I've been doing already but just their mere existence and needing to actively fight myself to not do them and just do what I enjoy is so mentally straining it's easier for me to not open the game at all and decide to do something else.

Also I really doubt DE actually needs this garbage for player retention. It's losing my interest in the game, and I've heard multiple people voice the same complaints as me. It discourages new players from sticking with the game because NO ONE actually likes weekly time gate garbage and it's just one more mental hurdle you need to get over to decide to actually pick up the game. And It's casing fatigue in the players that are actually keeping up with it. I'm positive it's losing them more active players that it's helping them keep.

And the game has multiple thousands of hours of content without it. I mastered every single weapon in the game one single time. Since then I've actively been falling behind the game as it continues to release updates. Not even counting the weekly stuff. I haven't touched a single frame that's been released since Styanax came out and the game gave them to me for free. I don't even have a job and I don't have enough time to finish the last grind the game put out before they release another one. Even without weeklies, New players will literally never run out of stuff to do from now until the game's servers shut down. The people that actually have the time to do every little thing are a very minute percentage of the playerbase.

The game's player retention is about the same as it's ever been. If not slightly lower. It certainly hasn't been going up. It doesn't look like weeklies have been doing anything to fix any sort of player retention problem. So what "bigger problem" would we have if the weeklies weren't a thing?

If players are struggling with time gates and limited content then sorry but WF has never been the game for them. It's something that has always simply been part of the game and players who don't like that need to either accept and learn how to manage it (literally just don't do the content) or move on.

Also it really doesn't take much time to "finish" an update. The only things that actually take a long time would be finishing all the Arcanes that get thrown at us which is an absurd task considering how most of them range from niche to practically worthless. And as is players constantly run out of things to do given the up and down nature of player activity.

And as for retention itself weekly content is there to encourage regular player activity instead of the one-and-done nature of all other updates keeping attentions for a week or so. Since retention and regular engagement are some of the most important factors for a live service game to maintain it's no surprise for DE to be trying to solve that. As for what'd be worse than weeklies be glad DE didn't take methods other games utilize with things like actual grinds (WF's are nothing compared to similar games), maintenance systems (resource sinks, forced regular engagement to progress, mandatory grinds, etc), or actual FOMO (things like gear/upgrades that'll never return after their first run).

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

Wow, thats crazy. Its been downhill ever since the end of the first week, all the way back in October 2012. That was the best period in Warframe, and its been a sharp, decline, ever since. What can the game do, to fix itself, to make me, personally feel, like it did way back then? Maybe they can acquire the top scientists, to actually make the game, somehow conform to my very specific, personal vision of what its suppose to be, as I personally remember it, and then everything will be fixed. 

Joking aside, growing distant from a game, and feeling like it wasn't as good, as it once was, is totally valid, and normal experience. Its just important to recognise when thats a subjective, internal, personal situation experience or something more objective, general and externally relevant. Not that the two can't happen at the same time, either, its just they can both have very different solutions. It also takes into account, that often, what you personally found and thought was a golden age and the best of times, for others, may have been low points and the worse, but that shouldn't invalidate how you felt either, just like, you may not recognise the highlights and high points of something either. 

Depending on how long you have been with video games... well, for some older gamers, games used to be one and done affairs. With endings, and end points, as opposed to lasting up to ten years and no signs of stopping. That can create new issues and problems. Including new ways of burning out and growing tired. Persons expectations can also influence how we feel. I imagine a lot of older Warframe players who are a bit unhappy or jaded, were excited about the potential of the game, and that vision of the potential and future, in itself was something that would feel enjoyable... However if that perceived potential wasn't met or subverted, then those expectations could feel ruined, and untapped, and thus frustration will occur. On the other hand, many older players who have been around for a long time, consider Warframe to be at its best most recently... Often a lot of this is down to such expectations, perceptions, gaming play styles and preferences. 

Its also not something set in stone either. As in we do have some control and agency over how we feel and think. Its why breaks can be good, because with some time and space, we can reevaluate what we like or don't like about something, and then make an informed, considered decision, about whether to return and enjoy it for what it is, or leave, and try to find other experiences, games, etc that will give us what we actually want. 

All the best either way.

[(PSN)homer1918coop]

Sorry but DE your fix never worked had to complete all new modes to re-unlock arbitration.  Not hard to do just really annoying. That includes all new nodes from whispers .

[GovernmentSecrets.gov]

On 2024-01-09 at 1:45 PM, trst said:

But Eternalism didn't scramble anything? Everything outside of New War/Duviri have been completely straightforward and are entirely unaffected by anything relating to Eternalism (even Whispers may have nothing to do with it). While New War is the only thing really utilizing it which even then is also straightforward if you understand how they're using Eternalism. And Duviri is in more of a prequel state while the Eternalism bits primarily come up with the quest, the Undercroft, and the secondary lore.

What I'm trying to say is that it's thrusting in elements that don't really belong. Duviri is effectively an entirely separate game. We go from being space ninjas fighting to maintain balance in the Origin System to herding goats in a literal dream land. I miss quests like the Second Dream and War Within, because they expand the world we're actually playing in instead of pushing that entire universe aside to take a random tour through Skyrim. How this all relates to eternalism is that is all linked to the Drifter who has come into being through eternalism which has consequently lead to this massive change of course in the narrative.

Like I don't hate the content, but the story just leaves me feeling disappointed. Plus all this talk of "oh, in another reality the opposite happened that occurred here" is beginning to remove the stakes from the story. Like Operator dies? boom! ETERNALISM! right as rain now. Zariman crew dies? boom! Eternalism! They're apparently ghosts despite looking like everyone else.

No hate or disrespect or anything, but the direction that the story has been going lately I'm just really not liking. I still love the game, but I just wish for a return to form with quests like the War Within, or stuff like the first half of the New War, Veil Breaker.

Edited January 12 by Sierra

[kyori]

17 hours ago, Sierra said:

I don't think the issue is with new content, but the story direction has taken a hit since then. The Second Dream and War Within had a very clear direction and purpose, but now we're going through all of this eternalism stuff that's effectively scrambled all coherency with the narrative.

Yes. All the 'side quests' type of content after the new war seems to show 2 things.
1) They are trying to tell more 'side' stories other than the main story route for players' better understand
2) (which I think this is the actual reason) They are making more 'side' stories content because only then the game can drag on more years to survive for as long as possible.

If you feel like the main story route has become stagnant, then most probably it's true.

[SDGDen]

warframe was falling off for a while after then, but has recently been starting to pick back up. in all honesty, i think it was a good move for steve to focus on something new and let rebecca take the wheel.

even in the devshorts now, he seems *so much* more excited about soulframe than he was about warframe just two years ago.

 

the one thing that imho "fell off" about warframe is the difficulty. the amount of powercreep this game has gone through is insane, it's practically unprecedented since i dont think any game has lived this long with this much player input driven decisionmaking. nevertheless the game is fun, just... it could be a lot better if the balance was fixed because it'd give opportunities for new content.

i also greatly miss the more multi-player aspects of the game. for an MMO-like warframe is currently VERY solo focussed. you can turn the game to solo at the start and *never* interact with other players. part of the reason for this is (again) powercreep, what used to require a full squad can now be done by a single person fulfilling all roles. 

[--F--NerevarCM]

5 hours ago, Sierra said:

Zariman crew dies? boom! Eternalism! They're apparently ghosts despite looking like everyone else.

This is Conceptual Embodiment. Not Eternalism.

[Aruquae]

3 minutes ago, --F--NerevarCM said:

This is Conceptual Embodiment. Not Eternalism.

What about the Drifter? 

[--F--NerevarCM]

Just now, Aruquae said:

What about the Drifter? 

The Drifter is the only thing in the game that uses Eternalism.

Even Duviri is Conceptual Embodiment.

[Aruquae]

5 minutes ago, --F--NerevarCM said:

The Drifter is the only thing in the game that uses Eternalism.

Even Duviri is Conceptual Embodiment.

I know Duviri, that was a fun ride lore wise.

Maybe we’ll get some other Eternalism lore drop when DE feels like bringing back a long lost character (ignore my Veso copium). 

[Zebiko]

The sacrifice was the last very good story mission for me. From there on out, the story has fallen a bit. The Zariman story is decent though, and a pretty good update overall. The last good content updated was the simple conjunction survival missions. It gave me the old tried and true warframe experience with a touch of new bits added. It's not a content island either, a rarity in warframe these days.

Edited January 10 by Zebiko
a word

[Triezieme]

the problem with the New War is arguably not Eternalism. Eternalism is really easy to understand; it's just Warframe's take on the Multiverse. See Bioshock infinite, Into the Spiderverse, or other such stories. And all Warframe does with it is give us two versions of the Operator, from different timelines, being able to meet or influence each other through the void. It's way more straightforward than people make it sound.

The problem with the New War is it effectively had to run through too much story too quickly, and didn't give us enough time to really piece it together. Ever since the Sacrifice we were repeatedly told to see Natah as an enemy. Then, with only one or two very easily missed and ambiguous hints as a warning, the quest proper jumps straight to Ballas killing the lotus, who is no longer acting like Natah, while we try to save her. We don't find out how Erra got into the picture, or how Ballas got control over him (or why he bothered pretending to be enslaved and gave us the Paracesis, except that he presumably wanted us to kill them for him, which never comes up if so.)

Similarly, the threat being built up is the huge sentient armada and the mother leading them, and then the mother turns out to be dead, the armada... kind of just goes away because Ballas resorts to Narmer brainwashing instead, and the actual final battle is completely different to what we seemed to be being led up to, except that the Sentient mother's corpse is used as a doomsday weapon.

One thing that appears to have been unintended on the part of DE is because Duviri came out after the New War the Drifter came completely out of nowhere instead of being a cool saving throw, but beyond that we kind of came in at the end of their story which started in Duviri, which we still don't have the middle of.

All in all, it's less that it's complicated and more that it swerves a lot at the expense of build up. The Second Dream and the War Within obviously had a much shorter run up, but they both had a single clear story threat all the way through; save the Operator from the Stalker, save the Operator from the Queens. I feel like a lot of the story quests since the New War have had similar problems with not having clear stakes or it not being clear what's going on, although Whispers in the Wall is an improvement on this front, so I'm certainly not giving up hope.

 

Edited January 10 by Triezieme

[GrayArchon]

9 hours ago, Sierra said:

Plus all this talk of "oh, in another reality the opposite happened that occurred here" is beginning to remove the stakes from the story. Like Operator dies? boom! ETERNALISM! right as rain now. Zariman crew dies? boom! Eternalism! They're apparently ghosts despite looking like everyone else.

There are only two versions of the Operator, unlike everyone else. There's the other Operator, and the Drifter. The other versions of the Main Character were shown to be erased from reality. And after The New War, the two are united again in coexistence. So there are no second chances for the Operator from Eternalism. And, as others have pointed out, the Holdfasts are conceptual embodiments.

[ChozenBardoUmbra]

There was a period between Railjack and probably Veilbreaker where I felt them game was a bit weak, but nowadays, with all the content released, Warframe is stronger than ever.

[stormy505]

Uh, gameplay wise, warframe has been on the up an up. I really enjoyed the embracing of more difficult content with Sp type content. Liches, Circuit, Aribies, Angels, Even this update has a hidden extra boss pasted SP difficulty. It's nice to get content that puts up more of a fight, sorta.

I also like the attention to QOL changes in recent years.

I've kinda tuned out from the story of the game... so on that front I understand. But gameplay wise pretty pog.

[haolee510]

The huge focus on QoL updates and anti-frustration features since the Rebecca era, plus Whispers in the Walls + Cross-Save and Account Merging rollout actually all makes me feel like the game is in its best state ever. I think some people are just having rose-tinted glasses on, or they kind of game they want Warframe to be is simply what it isn't anymore.

The same thing happened with Destiny 2. In its recent years(well, up until Lightfall in 2023 at least, but even then), the game mostly improved on so many fronts and eliminating as much FOMO-inducing stuff and providing less grindier ways to play, on top of bringing their best narrative and level-design content into their new campaigns, yet many people still couldn't see past their rose-tinted glasses and long for the days when things were objectively worse.

[Dunkelheit]

Am 9.1.2024 um 20:06 schrieb IllogicalLogic420:

Hell, I'd even say after Fortuna too. What went wrong? What can we do to go back? Still a great game I love warframe but it's just..... release mid-tier content with mid-tier story with short gameplay time, after waiting for so long, introduce a new farming system, LOCK ARBITRATION BEHIND NEW CONTENT AGAIN AND AGAIN FFS....................rinse and repeat.

I love you DE but stop locking arby behind new content ffs.

 

Anyway, what do?

Nothing, because in my world, you are wrong. I never ever had so much fun playing Warframe as in the Whisper content drop. It was fantastic.

[Voltage]

On 2024-01-11 at 12:49 AM, haolee510 said:

The huge focus on QoL updates and anti-frustration features since the Rebecca era, plus Whispers in the Walls + Cross-Save and Account Merging rollout actually all makes me feel like the game is in its best state ever. I think some people are just having rose-tinted glasses on, or they kind of game they want Warframe to be is simply what it isn't anymore.

The same thing happened with Destiny 2. In its recent years(well, up until Lightfall in 2023 at least, but even then), the game mostly improved on so many fronts and eliminating as much FOMO-inducing stuff and providing less grindier ways to play, on top of bringing their best narrative and level-design content into their new campaigns, yet many people still couldn't see past their rose-tinted glasses and long for the days when things were objectively worse.

Most of these QoL updates are geared for earlier players. I am not going to discount things like the pet rework, fixing the naming on final damage multipliers, or removing Syndicate Sigils for rep, even though those were just long overdue. We see lowering the bar to entry for quests, a boost in lower Mastery Rank syndicate standing caps, Mk-1 Weapons going away from Vor's Prize along with Flawed Mods, pushing players through previous content updates as usual, and quite a focus on acceleration instead of enrichment. Sure, we get syndicate sigils removed, but look at how Archon Shards are handled in the Helminth/inventory. They function like Arcanes did when we had to use Distillers. Melee Crescendo and Melee Duplicate existing in a time-gated reward table that houses items you get for a trivial cost outside of this mission. That feels worse than the one Arcane per Trial per day reward structure. You see so many QoL updates that affect more early game players, but several blunders in the areas where late-game players are engaging that have already been addressed at minimum 1 year prior in some other update. 

I also don't want to sound like what newer players have received is "bad". There is certainly still several things that need help when it comes to the new player experience. However, many of these changes aren't enhancing the new player experience, it's just shortening it. The only mechanic we've gotten that really enhances a new player experience is shield gating and universal medallion pickups. No improvements made to Fortuna's backwards Solaris Debt Bonds/Profit-Taker Systems drops for reputation. No proper universal vacuum. No standardization of Aura Mods for their bonus and polarity. No increased capacity from Exalted Stance Mods. We still have a restriction on "Acolyte Mods" which haven't even dropped from Acolytes in the last 4 years. We still have stat-stick abilities. You still require keys for several missions. There's been no improvement to make the Codex a place that properly teaches players about mechanics, enemies, or rewards. Nightwave shortened the lengths you need to go to reach rank 30, but there's been no word on their plan to tackle seasonal exclusives in a way that doesn't require the player to wait years. I could go on and on with the long overdue list of changes that actually enhances the experience for players, not just shortens their play time to reach the next hurdle. If you listed every "QoL improvement" for Warframe in a list, things like "remove Mk-1 weapons from Vor's Prize" is laughably far down the list.

Isn't there a good quote from one of the large Youtubers (maybe it was JoshStrifeHayes?) that mentions the red flag this behavior creates when development shifts to a heavy focus on accelerating newer players "to catch up" as it serves as a form of admittance to being more desperate for newer players to stick around? Using Destiny 2 as an example here really isn't the best call. Though I guess Warframe has been following a similar strategy in some ways.

You mention "eliminating FOMO", but that is now the entirety of Warframe's end-game. All there is to do between updates is FOMO content. There is nothing to strive for outside of that. Warframe's end-game should be an improved Riven Mods grind, something like Trials; an experience where there is infinite grind with infinite improvement during the process, but one you just do at your pace.

I'm also really tired of hearing "This is because Rebecca is in charge" as if Steve and the "older" devs weren't adding these kinds of things already. Things like Endo replacing Fusion Cores, Arcanes getting dedicated slots, Plains of Eidolon Arcanes changing from a craft to just reputation, Bounty bonuses, and more were all a result of the same kinds of updates. We've been getting quality of life throughout Warframe's history. What's important is to analyze the context of these changes. Changes like Fusion Cores to Endo are a massive quality of life that tremendously enriched the experience for all players, just as Dirac to Endo did years later. Removing Void Dash for Void Sling as we're heading into the year of Warframe Mobile as well as more heavy usage of "exclusives" in monetization is not "quality of life". Honestly, with how many nice changes we have gotten, it still ends up balancing itself out with the other end of the spectrum with Heirlooms, Regal Aya, Void Sling, Archon Shards, Incarnon Adapters, Steel Essence purchase caps, etc.

It doesn't bother me that we get so many changes that may not affect me personally as I play, it bothers me that as we get these changes, other areas of the game are actually regressing, like with Archon Shard management or Void Sling replacing Void Dash. Those types of issues just sting, especially knowing that even though leadership has shifted, they aren't "new" to Warframe's scene.

Edited January 13 by Voltage

[haolee510]

2 hours ago, Voltage said:

Most of these QoL updates are geared for earlier players. I am not going to discount things like the pet rework, fixing the naming on final damage multipliers, or removing Syndicate Sigils for rep, even though those were just long overdue. We see lowering the bar to entry for quests, a boost in lower Mastery Rank syndicate standing caps, Mk-1 Weapons going away from Vor's Prize along with Flawed Mods, pushing players through previous content updates as usual, and quite a focus on acceleration instead of enrichment. Sure, we get syndicate sigils removed, but look at how Archon Shards are handled in the Helminth/inventory. They function like Arcanes did when we had to use Distillers. Melee Crescendo and Melee Duplicate existing in a time-gated reward table that houses items you get for a trivial cost outside of this mission. That feels worse than the one Arcane per Trial per day reward structure. You see so many QoL updates that affect more early game players, but several blunders in the areas where late-game players are engaging that have already been addressed at minimum 1 year prior in some other update. 

I also don't want to sound like what newer players have received is "bad". There is certainly still several things that need help when it comes to the new player experience. However, many of these changes aren't enhancing the new player experience, it's just shortening it. The only mechanic we've gotten that really enhances a new player experience is shield gating and universal medallion pickups. No improvements made to Fortuna's backwards Solaris Debt Bonds/Profit-Taker Systems drops for reputation. No proper universal vacuum. No standardization of Aura Mods for their bonus and polarity. No increased capacity from Exalted Stance Mods. We still have a restriction on "Acolyte Mods" which haven't even dropped from Acolytes in the last 4 years. We still have stat-stick abilities. You still require keys for several missions. There's been no improvement to make the Codex a place that properly teaches players about mechanics, enemies, or rewards. Nightwave shortened the lengths you need to go to reach rank 30, but there's been no word on their plan to tackle seasonal exclusives in a way that doesn't require the player to wait years. I could go on and on with the long overdue list of changes that actually enhances the experience for players, not just shortens their play time to reach the next hurdle. If you listed every "QoL improvement" for Warframe in a list, things like "remove Mk-1 weapons from Vor's Prize" is laughably far down the list.

Isn't there a good quote from one of the large Youtubers (maybe it was JoshStrifeHayes?) that mentions the red flag this behavior creates when development shifts to a heavy focus on accelerating newer players "to catch up" as it serves as a form of admittance to being more desperate for newer players to stick around? Using Destiny 2 as an example here really isn't the best call. Though I guess Warframe has been following a similar strategy in some ways.

You mention "eliminating FOMO", but that is now the entirety of Warframe's end-game. All there is to do between updates is FOMO content. There is nothing to strive for outside of that. Warframe's end-game should be an improved Riven Mods grind, something like Trials; an experience where there is infinite grind with infinite improvement during the process, but one you just do at your pace.

I'm also really tired of hearing "This is because Rebecca is in charge" as if Steve and the "older" devs weren't adding these kinds of things already. Things like Endo replacing Fusion Cores, Arcanes getting dedicated slots, Plains of Eidolon Arcanes changing from a craft to just reputation, Bounty bonuses, and more were all a result of the same kinds of updates. We've been getting quality of life throughout Warframe's history. What's important is to analyze the context of these changes. Changes like Fusion Cores to Endo are a massive quality of life that tremendously enriched the experience for all players, just as Dirac to Endo did years later. Removing Void Dash for Void Sling as we're heading into the year of Warframe Mobile as well as more heavy usage of "exclusives" in monetization is not "quality of life". Honestly, with how many nice changes we have gotten, it still ends up balancing itself out with the other end of the spectrum with Heirlooms, Regal Aya, Void Sling, Archon Shards, Incarnon Adapters, Steel Essence purchase caps, etc.

It doesn't bother me that we get so many changes that may not affect me personally as I play, it bothers me that as we get these changes, other areas of the game are actually regressing, like with Archon Shard management or Void Sling replacing Void Dash. Those types of issues just sting, especially knowing that even though leadership has shifted, they aren't "new" to Warframe's scene.

Mostly valid points, but also consider that they only have so much manpower, budget, and time to work on so many things at the same time. Some stuff would take priority, some would take a backseat, and this is on top of creating new stuff too.

Such is the nature of live service games. By the time "QoL for system X" is set and ready to be implemented, "New content A" is also set to launch without similar QoL features as the former, because development of the two overlapped with no time to implement the former into the latter. It happens. Give it time, is all I could say.

[Muroetem]

I don't follow the lore much, but everything's good so far compared to other games and that's the reason I keep coming back to Warframe.

[Aurianna]

On 2024-01-09 at 2:51 PM, [DE]Momaw said:

You shouldn't be locked out of Arbitrations by us adding new map nodes anymore. We changed that a year and a half ago with Update 32?
 

 

Are people saying that this doesn't work?  (If you know you've unlocked Arbitrations before, and they're re-locked saying the map isn't completed, please speak up so we can investigate your account)

 

 

I had Arbitrations unlocked before the New War, and after that they were locked, and still are.   Related, I used to use a resource extractor on Deimos, and just now it says there's more nodes to unlock, even though I don't see them.   Frustrating. 

[Ace-Bounty-Hunter]

On 2024-01-09 at 9:49 PM, Corvid said:

It's becoming apparent at this point that some players will give up and dismiss any story element in the game as "Eternalism" if it requires them to think for longer than a second to understand it.

Those kinds of players, in a nutshell. 👇