New Player Crafting Experiment

[[DE]Sam]

Howdy, Tenno!

You may remember an experiment from 2021 with our New Player Experience in which we explored A/B testing surrounding the value of Crafting and Resources. We’re renewing this experiment but with the inclusion of iOS in addition to the rest of the Platforms! 

When it comes to reviewing our New Player Experience, we’re continuing to work on creating a clear direction for guiding players towards key story progressions. 

As such, we’re renewing our look at exploring what happens when players are introduced to weapon crafting earlier on and how this impacts the new player experience. Our goal is to give players a suggestion on what to pursue next in Warframe after finishing their first Quest.

After completing the Vor’s Prize Quest, some new players will receive an Inbox message from Darvo that contains the Burston Blueprint along with one of three different Resources packages. For more experienced players, these small Resource bundles may not have an impact, but for new Tenno, it may help them learn about the deeper crafting system in Warframe!

Overall, there will be four possible outcomes for new players after completing Vor’s Prize for the first time:

• Player completes Vor’s Prize, and there is no new Inbox message.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and all the required Resources to build it.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint, and all required Resources to build it, except for Ferrite.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and no Resource package.

We’ll closely monitor whether one of these four versions leads to a better play experience and understanding of the crafting system. This test will run for four weeks before the version that appears to provide the most positive New Player Experience becomes the standard for all new players.

Understandably, you may wonder why this post is necessary if we’re looking for genuine results from this experiment. Our goal here is to be transparent and not hide the fact that we’re trying some new things to better the New Player Experience!

[(PSN)Sentiel]

I would suggest adjusting the message for each type of package and for the ones with missing materials also include a short explanation where the player can find the materials and that they can switch from Nightwave to resource scanner on the Star Chart.

Thanks to Nightwave being defaulted on the Star Chart, some new players I met have no idea what resources are available on each planet and where to look for a specific resources when they need one.

[0_The_F00l]

Interesting , DE performing experiments on tenno untainted by loot caves.

Hope you get some valuable info to better the game , and NOT for other nefarious diabolic dastardly deeds.

Edited May 2 by 0_The_F00l

[Zakkhar]

58 minutes ago, [DE]Sam said:

After completing the Vor’s Prize Quest, some new players will receive an Inbox message from Darvo that contains the Burston Blueprint along with one of three different Resources packages. For more experienced players, these small Resource bundles may not have an impact, but for new Tenno, it may help them learn about the deeper crafting system in Warframe!

Overall, there will be four possible outcomes for new players after completing Vor’s Prize for the first time:

• Player completes Vor’s Prize, and there is no new Inbox message.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and all the required Resources to build it.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint, and all required Resources to build it, except for Ferrite.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and no Resource package.

Arent you afraid that players will share their experience and any player who got the treatment different than second, may feel aggrieved? Tests are great on a willing group, but on children? It is like coming into elementary school class and giving every child a prize: some get xbox, other get xbox controller. 

Manufacturing Requirements 📝 Edit blueprint requirements
25,000	1	400	150	600

[Terroriced]

From watching a lot of VODs on Youtube I can say that new players generally don't buy or craft new weapons early on, even when they have the required resources.

The reason for that is simple. They are not aware of that option being available to them.

There is a desire to get new weapons, but it doesn't lead to successful action, since new players at this point are in a state of confusion about the systems and direction of the game and what they should be doing.

 

Basically once new players stumble upon a few rough edges, they start to assume that other systems are also hard to understand and then show way less effort in trying to figure new things out beyond what they already understand, which would be to go into missions. This is not a major problem, but could see improvements.

 

Even if a bit unrelated, if I could ask for just one thing to be changed, it would be the way abandoning a mission is being communicated. I see far too many new players abandoning open world missions instead of returning to town, e.g. Cetus, because they read the description and falsely assume they only lose some unclear "bonus" and not basically everything.

There needs to be a screen informing players that they lose absolutely everything if they abort a mission. Show this to new players at least once, if they try to abort a mission. Don't start the sentence with "You will keep progress...". At that point they will stop reading and click yes. I'm not joking. That's how psychology works. You need to write WARNING in big letters and make the dialogue not skippable and stay on screen for 5 seconds, else they will instantly skip it. Tell them about the proper way to extract. Tell them "you must..." go back to town through the door that you came from.

Here is a few examples of new players doing that. Please watch these.

https://youtu.be/yVU8YivmdhE?t=11531

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lccwJXXmPIw&t=4129s

https://youtu.be/WIrlIbyZo2o?t=4844

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAKHLoQ83U4&t=24778s

 

[BiancaRoughfin]

2 hours ago, [DE]Sam said:

• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint, and all required Resources to build it, except for Ferrite.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and no Resource package.

I think the ideal would be "Blueprint and no Resource Package" , New players will probably have accumulated a fair amount of resources from the introduction mission and Vor`s Prize quest that should get them building the Burston as soon as they get the BP.

However i would also like to propose a change to the Orbiter`s Market console and Darvo`s shop in Relays:

1 - Remove the innate access to the Market from the Orbiter
2 - Have Darvo invite the new player over to the Strata to visit him
3 - Have Darvo in Relays only sell items that are accessible with Credits and Blueprints
4 - Have Darvo give the player the Orbiter`s Market segment after they finish crafting the Burston

The idea is to show new payers that there are other means of acquiring gear that isnt solely through Platinum from the Market (which is a turnoff for many).

Edited May 2 by BiancaRoughfin

[Zakkhar]

27 minutes ago, BiancaRoughfin said:

1 - Remove the innate access to the Market from the Orbiter

You can still access it from Arsenal Equip menu.

27 minutes ago, BiancaRoughfin said:

2 - Have Darvo invite the new player over to the Strata to visit him

Ah yes, the famous Darvo deals that have limited stock, which nobody buys and yet they get out of stock. Great manipulation for someone new. Promotion! Limited time offer!

Edited May 2 by Zakkhar

[Voltage]

Testing on players who do not know they are being tested on may come to find other players get an "advantaged" start (even if small for us old players) with a frustrated perspective of their experience being arbitrarily worse than another player. I understand there is lots of money to be made from fresh players who aren't educated on what smart purchases are, but most of the turnoff in the early game comes from how the microtransactions are perceived and the lack of tutorials on fundamental systems.

Warframe needs to spoil new players with knowledge, not free crafts. The problem with the early game is a complete lack of explanation for where to start and how items work, especially stuff sold in the market that can be easily farmed. If you'd like a very recent new player experience from someone who has since completed The Second Dream and loves Warframe, I suggest watching Legendary Drops:

Edited May 2 by Voltage

[Ivi104]

Directing new players to craft weapons is sorely needed.
Just today, I was in a squad with a low MR Rhino who had Broken War (meaning he reached at least Neptune and finished Second Dream) and a rank 30 mk1 Braton. I looked at his profile after the match and he did not have any other crafted weapons except those provided by game progression.

Edited May 2 by Ivi104

[RafMatador22]

3 hours ago, Ivi104 said:

Directing new players to craft weapons is sorely needed.
Just today, I was in a squad with a low MR Rhino who had Broken War (meaning he reached at least Neptune and finished Second Dream) and a rank 30 mk1 Braton. I looked at his profile after the match and he did not have any other crafted weapons except those provided by game progression.

It's a big flaw in this game: the clarity of information, when I started I spent 3 months or more with my excalibur, until a mentor appeared lol , who gave me information that the game should have given me.

[(XBOX)RaeOvSunshyn]

8 hours ago, [DE]Sam said:

Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint, and all required Resources to build it, except for Ferrite.

10p says this will be the clear winner. 😁

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

Sounds great and interesting. I hope it provides valuable data to refine the new player experience. 

My totally insincere and intrusive thought though, is that there should be another possible outcome, that should exist just for my own abstract and selfish desire and bemusement and thats... 

• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Prime Incarnon, fully built and Adapter already integrated, and evolved to max, with a Catalyst installed, and every mod space filled, with Prime Mods. Even Prime Mods that no one else has access to, like Primed Serration, Primed Vital Sense, Primed Split Chamber, Primed Point Strike, Primed Viral, Primed Heat etc 

Just let them loose on the world, to see what havoc that may wreck, and confusion from other players when they talk about their really powerful gun thats destroying all the content and own confusing over why no one else is using the same mods as them. Come on, it'll be funny! 

 

[Zakkhar]

On 2024-05-02 at 7:26 PM, Voltage said:

Warframe needs to spoil new players with knowledge, not free crafts.

I agree completely, however it is pretty hard to do, because modern gamers skip/ignore everything that has too much reading or dialogue. It would have to somehow give the information in a practical way.

 

On 2024-05-02 at 10:13 PM, Ivi104 said:

Directing new players to craft weapons is sorely needed.
Just today, I was in a squad with a low MR Rhino who had Broken War (meaning he reached at least Neptune and finished Second Dream) and a rank 30 mk1 Braton. I looked at his profile after the match and he did not have any other crafted weapons except those provided by game progression.

Not just craft. A lot of weapons are available straight from the market for credits already prebuiilt.

The problem is people think Warframe has somehow the same progressions system as other games: You get better items/level up linearily.

I used Mk-1 Kunai till about MR8, because I did not know it is a mastery fodder and I should sell it to free the slot. And I am a hoarder (pretty common trait among players) so I do not wanna get rid of anything unless I got a direct upgrade. I did not know that there are plenty secondary weapons available. The concept of mastery fodder and ability to recraft/rebuy sold items is kinda of important. DE would probably be shy of using the mf term, because it kind breaks the space ninja power fantasy. Especially considering the low level enemies are pretty 1shottable with anything.

[Hejirah-Umbra]

On 2024-05-02 at 6:06 PM, [DE]Sam said:

Howdy, Tenno!

• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and all the required Resources to build it.

Why give new players a 12 year old weapon though...

[(PSN)Sentiel]

29 minutes ago, Hejirah-Umbra said:

Why give new players a 12 year old weapon though...

A long time ago on a console generation far far away, there was a game called Shin Megami Tensei. To simplify the game, it was something like a Pokémon with Satanist themes.

Anyway, very early on you can recruit a low level monster called Pixie. If you don't dismiss her or use her in monster combination and keep her nearly till the end of the game she will then transform into a new high level monster (Titania I think) with crazy OP abilities.

Getting Burston like this is pretty similar because if the new player likes it and keeps it they will eventually have the option to turn it into a crazy OP weapon.

Anyway, what would you suggest to give them instead?

[spider_enigma]

3 minutes ago, (PSN)Sentiel said:

A long time ago on a console generation far far away, there was a game called Shin Megami Tensei. To simplify the game, it was something like a Pokémon with Satanist themes.

Anyway, very early on you can recruit a low level monster called Pixie. If you don't dismiss her or use her in monster combination and keep her nearly till the end of the game she will then transform into a new high level monster (Titania I think) with crazy OP abilities.

Getting Burston like this is pretty similar because if the new player likes it and keeps it they will eventually have the option to turn it into a crazy OP weapon.

Anyway, what would you suggest to give them instead?

hell yeah burston incarnon is goated

40 minutes ago, Hejirah-Umbra said:

Why give new players a 12 year old weapon though...

because you give a mastery 0 a mastery 0 weapon

old also doesnt mean bad ether

meta doesnt mean good ether it means too good in most cases

[Hejirah-Umbra]

1 hour ago, (PSN)Sentiel said:

Getting Burston like this is pretty similar because if the new player likes it and keeps it they will eventually have the option to turn it into a crazy OP weapon.

Anyway, what would you suggest to give them instead?

You would be using Burston Prime for your incarnon, not the normal variant.
Also, you are looking at it from your perspective (of a player who played the game for 5 years).

I'm trying to look at it how would I view the weapon if I just started.

Look at something like Outriders. You get dope ass looking guns from the get go. Burston just looks outdated.

 

Quote

because you give a mastery 0 a mastery 0 weapon

Makes sense. Still looks like something out of 2012 (which it is).

 

Maybe make a new MR 0 weapon that looks up to times?

[RafMatador22]

4 hours ago, Hejirah-Umbra said:

Why give new players a 12 year old weapon though...

Well, to be fair, Burston incarnon is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, so her age doesn't really make that much of a difference.

[Monolake]

On 2024-05-02 at 7:06 PM, [DE]Sam said:

[.......]

Overall, there will be four possible outcomes for new players after completing Vor’s Prize for the first time:

• Player completes Vor’s Prize, and there is no new Inbox message.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and all the required Resources to build it.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint, and all required Resources to build it, except for Ferrite.
• Player completes Vor’s Prize and gets an Inbox message with the Burston Blueprint and no Resource package.

We’ll closely monitor whether one of these four versions leads to a better play experience and understanding of the crafting system. This test will run for four weeks before the version that appears to provide the most positive New Player Experience becomes the standard for all new players.

One of the major issues is that it is not clear WHERE to farm, so make sure to give players clear directions.

Also most people never know you need to switch planet view to extractor mode and hover over the extractor to see the resources the planet has! by default the Nightwave view shows no such info - that's an obvious UI problem to be fixed. It shouldn't require this many actions to un-hide this information

You've added locations for materials in the foundry  - which helps -  but many people still don't notice that or forget, and its inconvenient to go back to the foundry to check for locations.
Meanwhile linking a resource in the chat still doesn't show any location info. Codex has nothing either - its completely useless (but somehow the market does tell you locations). So you need to update those descriptions too.

[Hejirah-Umbra]

16 hours ago, RafMatador22 said:

Well, to be fair, Burston incarnon is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, so her age doesn't really make that much of a difference.

its visually outdated

realistically, who uses an incarnon adapter on a normal Burston?
 

[RafMatador22]

23 hours ago, Hejirah-Umbra said:

its visually outdated

realistically, who uses an incarnon adapter on a normal Burston?
 

I don't find this weapon visually dated.

https://imgur.com/a/7yEZVH3

 

I used normal braton incarnon and it wasn't that bad. The difference is only noticeable at very high levels of play, a level at which only a small portion of players actually play.

 

 

[Luigispikachu]

I get you're testing things but this just feels *real* cruel

[Hejirah-Umbra]

edit: nevermind

Edited May 13 by Hejirah-Umbra

[(PSN)Sentiel]

12 minutes ago, Hejirah-Umbra said:

Sorry, but as a visual artist, I find that pretty pretty bad

this is how modern weapons look nowadays, the level of detail is incomparable
 

https://i.imgur.com/EHJ48zu.png

I don't think it's fair to compare a FPS to TPS (I assume that is from Destiny). FPS will have more focus on weapon visuals because that's what you see most of the time.

[RafMatador22]

17 minutes ago, (PSN)Sentiel said:

I don't think it's fair to compare a FPS to TPS (I assume that is from Destiny). FPS will have more focus on weapon visuals because that's what you see most of the time.

Exactly, destiny is a beautiful game, but artistically, I even think Warframe is far superior to it in some aspects. I play both games, and for me Warframe loses almost nothing to Destiny.