Members Dropping Like Flies

[MegaSnail]

The REviews for DE are pretty depressing... DE, what's happening D: Do you need a hug?

[SabreUr]

The REviews for DE are pretty depressing... DE, what's happening D: Do you need a hug?

It's standard on this kind of sites - ex-employes are smearing former employers. Plus check dates of these reviews and the fact that de is no.1 in it ranking.

edit:

check this site's faq

Aren’t most of the ratings negative from employees who want to vent?

Like any rating or review site, RME is affected by what is called in statistics, self-selection bias. This bias arises in any situation in which individuals select themselves into a group that form the sample (in our case the sample of people rating employers).

It is human nature to voice our displeasure rather than express our satisfaction; hence the greater number of negative ratings.

Therefore, the results give a better idea of what makes unhappy employees unhappy than what makes happy employees happy.

Edited March 20, 2014 by SabreUr

[Luminati07]

It's standard on this kind of sites - ex-employes are smearing former employers. Plus check dates of these reviews and the fact that de is no.1 in it ranking.

You can't just lump it into that category like that.

 

The same goes for the other side of the coin. I'm willing to bet that it's also padded by employees trying to counter the negative reviews.

DE has 3.5 stars, which really isn't that amazing.

 

Now, you can also see that every positive Rating for DE has dozens of downvotes and only a handful of upvotes.

You can also notice that every negative rating for DE has dozens of upvotes and only a handful of downvotes.

 

Moral of the story?

We'll never know whether the ratings are trustworthy or not, so take the website with a kilogram of salt.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Nugget_

[Keltik0ne]

It's not helped that Titanfall just came out, a game that has better parkour, better shooting, a (minimal) story and big mechs.

 

I hope the DE staff give it a go, it's a great game and has features that warframe could use. Although, it's a pvp only game, which may turn a few Warframe players off.

[Wolfstorm18]

Its not the core game that is the problem, for that is fine after damage 2.0 was implemented, and need only some minor corrections here and there.

 

The problem is really the lack of content, and by content I dont mean new weapons, new frames, etc, because that we have too much already, but the lack of environments, the lack of maps, tilesets, story, thats the content that is lacking. Most missions are always in that same boring grineer galleon.

 

Earth forest was a fine addition, but its only for low level enemies. If you got to Sedna, Ceres or Eris you will still get that same old and overused ship over and over and over again. Also they dont make new map parts to make the galleon more diverse, its always those same corridors. The same for the void, which is in need of more rooms but, quite the contrary, some old rooms (like the old parkour treasure rooms) have disappeared.

 

Then we have the lack of enemy diversity. Every week a new weapon is released, but you dont see the enemies using it. New corpus and grinner weapons are constantly being released, but only tenno are using them. I never saw a corpus crewman with the Cestra, or a grineer seeker with the Grinlok. The Jat Kittag also have a grineer design to it, but still I dont see a single grineer using it. And what about the infested? Completely forgotten! Its always those same chargers with the blue hull! Why not monsters with tentacles, or monsters in the walls shooting acid? 

 

Add to this the frustration with the RNG (I, for myself, dont see a Forma blueprint for a week, after doing dozens of Void runs) and we have the classical burnout: you stop playing and only come back in the next update, hoping something new is released that is not just a new weapon or a new warframe. DE need to focus less in tenno reinforcements and more in enemy reinforcements, more in environments, new factions and better storyline. 

[kaboomonme]

 

After reading some of these employer reviews, I have a feeling we have a classic case of creative developers clashing with stodgy old higher-ups. Scott sounds like a stubborn guy from what we've seen and heard, and I can only assume that one review is talking about him as their boss. Can't say for sure though.

In the defense of Scott, a lot of things he does works, and a lot of the things don't, and I don't think it's entirely his fault. Trying to balance the game while constantly facing the demands of players throwing metaphorical sharp and heavy objects at you isn't exactly easy.

Take Nova for example. I hate how unbalanced she is, but half the community loves her because that is EXACTLY what they want, a frame that wipes rooms and is really strong. But they don't see, and probably don't care about the repercussions that it would bring to the balance of the game.

Scott already warned us of it beforehand, "This is your choice, the blood is on your hands"

Sometimes I feel they should stop giving in to demands and do what they feel is right, at their own pace. Sure, having community input is nice, but when they know it's wrong, they should stop it dead in its tracks.

[ss4chris]

Thats why I laughed when Steve in a live steam said we want this dmg system to be  used for years to come and I said to myself ya the game last that long.

[Noble_Cactus]

In the defense of Scott, a lot of things he does works, and a lot of the things don't, and I don't think it's entirely his fault. Trying to balance the game while constantly facing the demands of players throwing metaphorical sharp and heavy objects at you isn't exactly easy.

Take Nova for example. I hate how unbalanced she is, but half the community loves her because that is EXACTLY what they want, a frame that wipes rooms and is really strong. But they don't see, and probably don't care about the repercussions that it would bring to the balance of the game.

Scott already warned us of it beforehand, "This is your choice, the blood is on your hands"

Sometimes I feel they should stop giving in to demands and do what they feel is right, at their own pace. Sure, having community input is nice, but when they know it's wrong, they should stop it dead in its tracks.

 

Now, see, this is the issue I'm actually trying to figure out. I can't find who exactly is above Scott in the Digital Extremes bureaucracy. Much less their history. For all we know, Scott may be the scapegoat/flak jacket/whatever you want to call it. It's the role a lot of design heads play. Higher ups demand certain changes from the dev team, dev team gets blamed by fans for whatever the higher ups want.

 

I'm reminded of an interview with Yoshinori Ono (design director for the Street Fighter 4 series), who is generally a goofy guy and a clown. People hated his guts for whatever PR or game design decision Capcom made for the game. Naturally, being a goofball, Ono gets loaded with all the blame. And while I'm sure he had a hand in making some of the design decisions with SF4, that interview also revealed that he had been run ragged by his superiors at Capcom, traveling all over the world to hype up his game along with having to deal with angry demanding fans.

 

So Scott gets some sympathy from me. Maybe he's just stressed out by people telling him what to do on these forums, I dunno. But there really does seem to be some kind of schism in the DE bureaucracy, and it's leaving a big void in content for this game. Half of it seems well-intentioned. The art team clearly puts all their heart into it. The other half is a cashgrab bordering on a sham considering how damn expensive the premium packs are. In its current state, the game is just not sustainable.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Noble_Cactus

[Phantasmo]

In the defense of Scott, a lot of things he does works, and a lot of the things don't, and I don't think it's entirely his fault. Trying to balance the game while constantly facing the demands of players throwing metaphorical sharp and heavy objects at you isn't exactly easy.

 

 

Which is his fault too.

You first create a limited set of gear: warframes, weapons, etc. You fine balance them. Then you add another one, just one weapon or warframe, see how it interacts, you balance again.

Rinse and repeat, and a year later the game has a solid balance.

 

But, if you keep throwing guns, warframes, traps, mods etc and you don't care to balance the first one, well..

 

Nova should never had gotten into the game in her current state. Blaming the players is stupid.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Phantasmo

[Bazools]

Well the way the company is run reflects on the way and state of the game.

 

I won't be sugar coating it... Has anyone paid any attention to the forums lately!? It feels like we are being ruled with the iron fist of a communist party, its sad and it sickens me at times.

 

All i can see are newer players acting up all white knight towards DE and those that make a stand and say: "Hey DE u sholdn't do that because..." immediatly see their posts or threads deleted.

 

This what u guys call better communication? Really!? Members are indeed dropping like flies, countless veterans that used to be the biggest supporters and really tried to contribute with helpfull feedback no longer use the forums, u know why?

Probably because they got tired of all the bullS#&$ that Devs have been pulling in front of the community.

 

Damn DE not all of us are kids, i'm a 30 year player with a job and responsabilities, i have a few years (10 years) of business and work experience and lately i just see really bad PR and not real transparency with this community! 

 

I will continue playing this game cause i love it to death but i'll be reducing the hours till i start to see real development so don't go throwin the usual : "Can i get your stuff?" question. Eheheheh

 

 

PS. I really don't care if i get a warning or this gets deleted. I'm in a good mood. :D

Edited March 20, 2014 by Bazools

[xylocaine09]

I think there are probably as many reasons for people walking away from Warframe as there are people that have walked away/stopped playing & for myself & the people I talked to about it the big things are:

 

*. Bugs/Glitches

*. Lack of Content

*. Lack of StoryLine

*. Lack of control over squads & who plays in them with you

*. Lack of ability to manually choose things like WHOM will be hosting a game

*. Having EVENTS that are as boring as hell

*. Lack of General Game information for new & old players from the official site

*. RNG RNG RNG {what more needs to be said?}

 

The list could go on as i said above, the game is in trouble & at the rate things are going I personally don't hold much hope that it's going to get any better soon.

 

[Arlayn]

Generic weaponry

Clunky movement

Lack of direction

Lack of story

Lack of fulfilling content

Terrible new user experience

Endgame is nothing more than Defense/Survival

Constant updates that increase RNG

Constant updates that increase Dilution

Marketplace that makes no sense

No sense of player retention

Nothing to drive the player

 

Need I continue?

Phage is generic?

Glaive is generic?

Clunky movement? Have you played most next gen games?

Lack of Direction? I was told to kill... so I did... otherwise life has a lack of direction...

lack of story? its around... its like that horrible horrible horrible... beyond imaginable horrible, and worst game ever made... Myst...

Lack of fulfilling content? Did you give Predator Concrete jungle a low rating or what? I bet you hated Warhammer 40k Storm of Vengeance. This game is more fulfilling than Gundam Dynasty warriors 1-3, and Crossfire combined...

 

Ok everyone can agree the new user experience is awful and enemies should be made easier.

Endgame is enjoyable for now, but they said they were adding more. (Yes ideas not related to an awful token system)

nothing wrong with more RNG... although I would like smaller more limited zones of RNG limited to smaller zones, or at least spread BPs across the solar system for basic gear.

Dilution could be solved by taking everything and stuffing it in every nook, and cranny of the game to be obtainable through very odd means outside of completing missions, but at the moment its deal-withable... Not the most blaring issue.

 

Market place makes more sense then it used to by NOT mixing everything together ON THE SAME LIST.

 

What player retention? that's a thing?

 

Oh I am driven... to keep seeing how crazy I can get with this game. Even if it means finding the most wild glitches physically possible... (some day I will find a glitch that will stun the bug fixing team with its unfathomableness....)

 

please do continue because DE is already addressing issues all over the place. Some just take longer than others, and if DE kept changing everything around to see what we liked they would have a large majority of their resources in the WRONG AREAS. There isn't much we can do, but they have been trying, and it gets better every time they update each these issues. Sure they are there, but they get smaller with each fix towards them.

 

DE gets a better understanding of us when we explode like the broken light deal, and we learn how to better direct our problems at them.

[Ganpot]

To address the OP:

 

1. The new player experience is so utterly abysmal (and has been for such a long time) that I'm amazed the PS4 managed to gather a player base at all.  Maybe the people who stick around think the game is supposed to be ungodly difficult and opaque, or maybe they are convinced that their characters will become far more powerful once they hit certain milestones in the near future.  Then again, there's just not much else to play on the PS4, and I'm sure that helped immensely. 

 

2. Player skill is almost irrelevant to gameplay.  Stats determine failure or success, not player actions.  This makes gameplay itself unappealing.  People will play a challenging, skill-based game for hundreds or even thousands of hours without getting bored.  Dark Souls, Mass Effect 3, Ninja Gaiden, and Devil May Cry all proved this.  But with Warframe, the gameplay itself is just a chore which players must endure in order to get more stuff (why do you think rushing exists?).  That's just so hilariously backwards... 

 

3. All progression is locked behind grinding, RNG, and time-sinks.  This means that players never really earn anything.  If you find a rare mod, it's because you got lucky.  If you crafted an extremely good weapon, it's because you received enough resources through grinding, and then waited for it to finish building.  RNG has gotten so bad that it is now actively determining the success or failure of the most popular mission type (survival). 

 

4. Content is monotonous and boring.  This is partly due to issue #2, but is also a product of the mission and map design.  Maps are random, but in a way which is completely meaningless.  Most veteran players have all the tiles memorized, and the tiles themselves are the only thing which matter.  Mission types are even worse, because they play out exactly the same way each time.  There's nothing which requires problem-solving or adaptation. 

 

 

A lot of people have their hopes set on the emergence of endgame, or even Melee 2.0.  But that isn't going to fix anything, even in the short term.  Warframe's problems run much deeper than that.  No company has ever managed to make endgame which players won't eventually burn through (usually in far less time than it takes to make said content).  The key isn't to have new content constantly, it's to make the content itself fun enough that players want to repeat it thousands of times. 

[Arlayn]

 

 

2. Player skill is almost irrelevant to gameplay.  Stats determine failure or success, not player actions.  This makes gameplay itself unappealing.  People will play a challenging, skill-based game for hundreds or even thousands of hours without getting bored.  Dark Souls, Mass Effect 3, Ninja Gaiden, and Devil May Cry all proved this.  But with Warframe, the gameplay itself is just a chore which players must endure in order to get more stuff (why do you think rushing exists?).  That's just so hilariously backwards... 

 

 

I wouldn't have claimed the title of Shinigami Nekros if this was true... I AM DEATH!!! No Nekros is as skilled as me...

[Nkomo-Sama]

I wouldn't have claimed the title of Shinigami Nekros if this was true... I AM DEATH!!! No Nekros is.... as skilled as me...

This is awesome for many reasons...

[(PSN)Beep27]

Not sure if its an issue on computer but PS4 the game crashes are enough to make you want to quit sometimes that and the people who just run through the missions as fast as they can so newer players just get bored and don't learn to explore for all the extra stuff hidden in areas to further the experience

[Luminati07]

-Snip-

 

I had a full response typed out for you.

However, after being on these forums for a while now, I know that you are nothing but a white knight.

No. You are the commander of the white knights. The whitest of white knights.

 

I'll give you this, because reading that post killed off half my brain cells and I'd rather keep the rest.

 

That post was so devoid of any logical thinking, I am literally left speechless.

 

Edited March 20, 2014 by Nugget_

[kaboomonme]

 

Well I keep trying to think that he was trolling, utilizing sarcasm wrongly etc. 

Seems apparent after a few posts that it's not the case though.

[Drakontis]

To be honest, there's a lot I can forgive. There's a lot I can understand. But this recent spewing of clan tech everywhere has got me to the point where I'm just too aggravated to play. I WAS going to play today. I WAS going to mess around with stuff while waiting for my sentinel to build... until I learned it was Clan tech, had to pay 300 oxium (of which I had around 150), and would then have to wait FOUR DAMN DAYS to use it. Nope, sorry, screw you, I'm not playing today. I'm too irritated, too ticked off. 

If the next released weapon is clan tech, I'm going to be taking a hiatus for a month or two. I'm just...  I'm just DONE. I'm so sick of trying to get the new primes and getting TWO MAG PRIME CHASSIS EVERY T2 SURVIVAL RUN. I'm DONE waiting for FOUR DAYS to try something that's been released because I don't like paying my way through content. I'm DONE being aggravated at a game that I've put 390 dollars into for myself. It was my own free will, yes. I wanted to see the game grow, yes. But I didn't freaking want this. 

[billthebetta]

I joined a small clan that a friend of mine had started last summer with his friends. They played 'frame a ton back then, and when I joined my friend was starting to stop playing. I recently got back from a 2 month break from the game due to boredom, and the only reason I'm here now is/was the event. This game isn't anything super-special, but I like playing it. Most aren't like me, and can't do the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over.

[ThePresident777]

IMHO all those resources on melee 2.0 are totally misused

 

The team at Digital Extremes need to take cues from Bioware, the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer was run by a skeleton crew and had probably less content than warframe, yet people couldn't stop playing it.

 

People stopped playing ME3 MP after a year or so.  ME3 MP is a terrible example.  I stopped playing it after a year and wound up hating it because the mechanics were so horrible but they never improved them.  It's a slow clunky game.  In contrast, I played team fortress classic for years and that was another simple game too.  But, I never ended up hating it.

 

 

I think that for DE to go beyond failed games like ME3, they have to design missions with a particular customer in mind, not just make "go there do that" missions.  But, instead, look at the feedback, and make missions to address play styles and player's gut feelings.  Not all missions need to satisfy everybody.  That's been tried and it hasn't worked.

 

 

Players shouldn't be telling DE, "DE rewrite the game the way I want."  They should be asking for missions that entertain them, not an entire game custom ordered to their specification for everybody else to swallow.

 

Bitmapfrong, to clarify, I'm not accusing you of telling DE to make the entire game the way you want.  I just raised the issue because it happens a lot on forums and I think it's disasterous.

Edited March 20, 2014 by ThePresident777

[rhoenix]

After reading through the thread, here are my thoughts on this, for what it's worth.

There are two main issues as I see them - I speak about this as a person who has lost interest in the game, even after playing it kind of obsessively after most of my clanmates stopped playing.

1. There's not much to do or experience right now beyond the obvious.

As of this moment, Warframe consists of opening up map locations, getting new items (Warframes, Sentinels, and weapons), and minor events. All the gameplay experience comes down to repeatedly running a given location for stuff, in the hopes of getting more stuff.

Many MMO's give additional ways of keeping you interested by giving you plenty of things to unlock or work on - with Warframe, once you get to the point where you're just making the stuff you have better (by tracking down certain rare mods and stocking up on Forma), there's nothing else you can do.

This is why I made the suggestion I did of adding an Auctionhouse and Follower Missions to the game, as adding those things would at the very least give players more to do than just being limited to shooting stuff. Having additional options for people who get to the point of endgame would be greatly appreciated - MMO's do this with reputation systems, follower missions, minigames, and plenty of other things that keep people involved and playing in the game, even if it's not the main game itself. Variety, especially in a game like this, is the spice of life.

2. Confused narrative about the game.

What's seen of the Warframe universe is interesting, and has much potential for storytelling - there's room for some super-spy shenanigans, super-soldier exploits, massive conspiracies to unearth, terrible secrets to uncover, and awful truths for everyone to swallow. There's the potential for some truly unique and compelling storylines to be shown in such a universe, especially from the perspective of the outsider - warriors who led an uprising a thousand years ago, caught now in a completely unfamiliar time, where once again, the only people on their side don't necessarily have their well-being in mind.

However, we don't see any of this in the game currently. Hostages are faceless and nameless, defense & interception missions just give tiered rewards, and Survival is just a way to get stuff by shooting many enemies. Even the Orokin Void towers, which have so much potential for gameplay depth, storytelling, history, even hints that not everything the Tenno "know" is true, are just shiny places for loot.

In short, the game feels shallow, and lacking in depth. Don't get me wrong - the gameplay itself is still fun, but because the game is only about the gameplay experience itself, and not with lore, storylines, or anything else, once the gameplay gets stale, so does the rest of the game by extension.

I've been playing Planetside 2, Skyrim, and Star Trek Online again recently, and each of those tends to highlight the flaws still present in Warframe in their own ways.

In contrast with Planetside 2, Warframe feels a bit clunky in interface, and most items to progress toward are simply bought in Warframe once you have enough currency, and not really earned and upgraded over time. Using fusion cores to upgrade your abilities kind of makes sense from a systemic standpoint, but from a gameplay immersion standpoint, it's one example of how there doesn't truly feel like there's interconnectedness between the various elements in Warframe. In light of this, the experience in Warframe feels like it chases after the "I'm awesome" goal, rather than the "I'm having an awesome experience" goal.

In contrast with Skyrim... well. You can say what you want about Skyrim, but you certainly can't say that the game lacks depth and intrigue. Warframe has the better actual movement controls and such for your Tenno, but the universe the Tenno inhabits feel lifeless by comparison. Which to me feels especially wrong, considering that there's just as much storytelling potential in the Warframe universe as there is in the Elder Scrolls games.

In contrast with Star Trek Online, once you hit max level in STO, there's a long list of things you can do - there are about 6 or 7 different factions you can work in increasing reputation with (in exchange for new passive abilities, and being able to buy rare stuff from that faction's store), several fleet holdings you can work on developing in exchange for more rare stuff, and many single-mission events you can run for reputation marks, or more rare stuff.

Now, with the things hinted at for Warframe's future, I at least see the potential for several of these issues being resolved. The Reputation system Steve talked about sounds like it has potential, especially in the way described. The Focus system sounds like it could have some interesting stuff for endgame-level players to work on, and adding more lore and events is a good way to proceed.

However, right now all of that is still potential.

I don't want anyone to read this and somehow think that I regret getting my GM status. I don't, because Warframe was a game project whose vision I believed in, and still do - I still see a vast amount of untapped potential within the confines that the developers have setup. I think the dev team has high hopes for this game, and I was glad to do my part to support someone else doing their best to make a dream take tangible form.

With that said though, I want to be able to do more stuff in Warframe, and I want decently written storylines that take elements from all the gameplay modes we see now.

So - here's a rant from a semi-retired veteran player. Take it for what it's worth to you.

[warthain]

there are a few problems witht he game... and although the game is fun, its ability to keep people entertained for a long time is very limited..

there is only so much fun you can have from doing the same thing over and over... and shooting the same old npc's all day long... not to mention the boss fights are buggy has hell, and not really very epic...

[ThePresident777]

To be honest, there's a lot I can forgive. There's a lot I can understand. But this recent spewing of clan tech everywhere has got me to the point where I'm just too aggravated to play. I WAS going to play today. I WAS going to mess around with stuff while waiting for my sentinel to build... until I learned it was Clan tech, had to pay 300 oxium (of which I had around 150), and would then have to wait FOUR DAMN DAYS to use it. Nope, sorry, screw you, I'm not playing today. I'm too irritated, too ticked off. 

If the next released weapon is clan tech, I'm going to be taking a hiatus for a month or two. I'm just...  I'm just DONE. I'm so sick of trying to get the new primes and getting TWO MAG PRIME CHASSIS EVERY T2 SURVIVAL RUN. I'm DONE waiting for FOUR DAYS to try something that's been released because I don't like paying my way through content. I'm DONE being aggravated at a game that I've put 390 dollars into for myself. It was my own free will, yes. I wanted to see the game grow, yes. But I didn't freaking want this. 

 

 

It's funny, but, I said something to that effect:  https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/185580-dear-de-warframe-aspects-that-i-will-not-spend-time-on-anymore/  And the fan boys went insane.  I surprised that they haven't derailed this thread yet.

[Ganpot]

People stopped playing ME3 MP after a year or so.  ME3 MP is a terrible example.  I stopped playing it after a year and wound up hating it because the mechanics were so horrible but they never improved them.  It's a slow clunky game.  In contrast, I played team fortress classic for years and that was another simple game too.  But, I never ended up hating it.

 

Players shouldn't be telling DE, "DE rewrite the game the way I want."  They should be asking for missions that entertain them, not an entire game custom ordered to their specification for everybody else to swallow.

 

In my opinion, you are half correct.  ME3 isn't a good example of a sustained long-term playerbase, but only because EA and the developers never intended for it to be.  The multiplayer was always supposed to just be a short-term way to get more money through micro-transactions.  However, it still remains an example of excellent content made with a comparatively low budget and level of effort.  Almost everything in it was just well-designed.  Look at the maps, for instance.  There are only around a dozen, each similarly sized with a single tile from Warframe.  Yet ME3's maps are more interactive and less monotonous than single tiles in Warframe.  Had EA decided to add more content and bug fixes on a regular basis (as Warframe does), then ME3 would have remained popular for a long time.  In short, DE has been designing more, whereas Bioware designed better. 

 

I also do think it's important to tell DE what you, as a consumer, want.  Granted, whenever possible, we should be considerate of others and advocate for options.  However, that is not always possible.  If there is an issue with only two polar opposite possible outcomes, then it is only natural for people to start fighting over the solution.