Warframe needs a team for dealing with older content

[Man-Of-Soup]

I'm going to keep this as short as possible for the TLDR, then hash out my thoughts in the following paragraphs. I'm not going to give my personal opinion on what changes need to be made here, just laying out what is already in the game and how I see players interacting with it. 

TLDR: Warframe needs a small team to look at older content/systems. The current balance of development is unfavorably split, focusing on the new and leaving the old behind unless it builds upon a new feature or update. I have broken down the problems that I witnessed new and returning players have with aspects of the game below.

New Players Get Lost:
When I saw this thread originally, I was happy that DE was finally targeting this aspect more than in the past. For reference, I have been playing since the sacrifice update in 2018 (Now legendary 4) and had a few friends who have played earlier than that. I was taught all the early game mechanics and gamemodes by them, which I learned later that I was very lucky to have. From this, it's safe to say that new players coming into the game without friends who already played the game had a much harder time learning the ropes. After the first few missions, you can get lost very quickly on what to do without any pointers. This has gotten better, don't get me wrong, but it still needs lots of work for players to learn/relearn aspects of the game.

Target Audience and the Grind:
Starting this off with an acknowledgement that this game is a grind-type game and one you WILL spend lots of time on if you get invested. On steam, the game is rated for 17+ but does not inherently appeal to a majority of people who want to play the game casually (The players who don't have time for the 75%-100% completion on content like tier 5 arcanes, niche kuva/tenet weapons, open worlds, tauforged archon shards, etc.). Looking from the assumption that an adult with a full-time job has 2 hours of game time a day, half the systems are designed to take 25+ hours to get to that 75% without scratching anything above it. The only justification to even get to this point would be that a player REALLY wants what they grind for. Everything else is being left behind because the player doesn't want to waste time. For me, the WORST feeling is having to schedule what I need to do in the game in the short periods of time that I have. I cannot imagine what it's like to sit down having no experience in the game and have to spend most of my time looking up what to do or tutorials for things I don't understand (I'm not going to go into the 10+ reputation systems that feel awful if you have low mastery rank because I would ramble on even more than I am now).

Underused Systems:
Another major criticism I see new/returning players is all the systems they have to learn/relearn to just play the game. Here is a list off the top of my head of systems that are barely mentioned at all:
-Basic starchart nodes (Beyond just completing them and doing void fissures, what's the point of them existing?)
-Codex tutorials (Seriously, when has anyone ever looked at this?)
-Railjack (again new materials/things to grind without any incentive to fully explore)
-Khals Garrison (completely forgettable after you get the things there)
-Single-node farms for warframes (Jade, Citrine, Dagath all have one node for pointless, single-use resources that are never reused anywhere else)
-Resource Drills (you know, the tab that got completely overshadowed by Nightwave)
-Zariman Mission types (not very repeatable or displayed anywhere else)
-Open worlds bonus missions (Deimos vaults/Eidolon hunts are not shown to the player despite being some of the best implemented/most fun things in the game)
-Defection (shouldn't need an explanation)

Some of these are repeated regular mission types with "twists" that get boring after the 4th completion. Others are complete outliers tacked onto the end of other planets or quests as another thing to grind. Not to mention that players strapped for time have no way or incentive for getting that content. What happened to adding resources to planet drop tables? (It was 2020 when Hexenon, the last resource ever added to any planets entire drop table, was added without forcing players to grind a specific node/area). Outside of very small drop tables, systems often are overlooked and forgotten about by everyone. (I'm also not mentioning lore related things as I believe that community is even smaller than the top 10% of players who have thousands of hours)

Ramble and a Thank You:
Warframe is my favorite game, which is why I am being so critical of it. I have so much respect and love for all the devs at DE for making a game that I could continue enjoying 6 years later without getting bored of. This game made the pandemic fly by and fostered friendships that I still keep up with today. I just wish that some of the stuff that I am nostalgic about was revamped so new players can experience the highs of this game that I did. My one big ask is that DE makes a smaller team that is specifically dedicated to restoring the older systems in the game. Every building needs its foundation repaired at some point and DE is slowly making this happen with forums like these and updates (Loved the reworks to magnetic and blast). I have tons of ideas on how to adjust things, but this isn't the place for a laundry list of things I would adjust. Keep making memories and thank you for the years of enjoyment!

Edited 3 hours ago by Man-Of-Soup
grammar

[Costanzafaust]

It would be nice if things like the codex tutorials and early systems were improved for learning or re-learning the important points.

I'd also say that some of the older boss fights need better feedback.  I realize that Warframe Bosses have always been a rough spot because without invincibility phases or damage gates they just *poof* (and I'm not asking for a tougher Corpus sergeant or Jupiter Alad V because those are hilarious)  but bosses like Lech Kril and Sargus Ruk still leave me scratching my head sometimes even though I know the mechanic.

It would also be cool if something like the Spy or Sabotage missions before getting to a planet's boss gave you some in-universe lore with tips on how the Assassination target's fight worked and why they have a particular blueprint reward.  Something that would make it seem a bit more connected and not just, you go here to farm this warframe.