I Can't Play So I'll Finally Write The Thank You I've Put Off...

[SputnikII]

I'm a 30 year old disabled veteran. I game a lot and I game hard because it is literally all that I do and I take it very seriously. About a year ago I finally got a PC again after a decade and the first thing I downloaded was Warframe, at that time brand new out of closed beta.

My initial experience was frustrating to say the least. I loved the game, the look, the feel, the sense that I could really customize every element of my equipment to the precise specs that I wanted. However, with nobody to guide me and being too lazy and stupid to check forums or the wiki, I missed out on the things that make this game really awesome.

Firstly, when I saw other frames I thought that they represented hundreds of hours of farming or hundreds of dollars spent. It seemed impossible to run a mission enough times to get the components necessary because I would sit in the lobby of a node for an hour at a time with no assistance and finally give up to go play something I could get right into.

I also didn't know about Catalysts and Reactors so I wasn't fully maximizing my experience.

These three things: misunderstanding, bad matchmaking, and lack of in game instruction, led to me being a very casual player. I would only log in once every two or three weeks when I was extremely bored and try to get lucky enough to open up a few nodes.

About two months ago I was burning out on my newest obsession (Final Fantasy 14) so I suggested to a guild mate that we go check in with Warframe. He made an account while I started doing a little research, something that FF14 made a habit for me. In the period of 30 mins I had so many revelations about why I felt stalled out in Warframe.

Him and I geeked out really hard for a few days. I farmed up a Rhino and was amazed at how easy and fun the process was and the anticipation watching it slowly build in the Foundry was an excilleration I've rarely felt with video games. I then made the mistake of potatoing all of my weapons (one must learn through error).

At first the Void seemed really intimidating. I remember Kazzira, my buddy, and I trying to 2 man a T1E with totally underwhelming frames and getting hard core schooled but having a lot of fun in the process.

Over the course of the next two months I have logged in every day for almost the whole day, and when I couldn't my mind was still obsessing about my current project or projects. I talked to my girlfriend obsessively until she understood everything about forma's, the mods, and the different styles to play the game (I have the best GF ever). I've gone on to build 9 frames and have fully formad all of them to maximize my desired style of play for all of them and I can't even count the weapons that have passed through my inventory before I finally settled on my ideal kit.

All of this is just to say that I can't tell you how much I appreciate your work on this amazing game. The action is so clean and fun and fast that you keep me hooked for hundreds of hours and loathsome to take any breaks. The customization that you allow us. That being said I have a few suggestions that I would like to offer in both the short and the long term scope.

In the short term I think that this game is lacking a few features which would really aid your more hardcore players.

Its no surprise that this game is known as WarFarm to many in the community because we're often out farming mats that we need to build various things. One suggestion that I have for you is to give us some kind of tab which will show us the net results of what we have farmed on any give node. For example, I often find myself on Kiliken collecting polymer bundles and trying to keep a running count of how many I have in my head so that I know when I can finally quit and go build whatever it is I need to build. It strikes me almost every time that I wish I could just press tab and open a window which would show me how many of each resource I have collected so that I know when I can tap out.

Secondly in the short term category I would like to suggest a restructuring of your party system, or rather that you introduce a party system. It is very bothersome to have to continuously assemble and reassemble the same people every time one thing ends before you can start another and often this leads to people abandoning the party without a word. I think putting in some kind of static party or group system which people could join before going to a node or the void and which would remain persistent until the group is left or abandoned by a leader. This would really help us clan leaders in organizing group outings and raids which is currently a bit of a hassle.

In the long term I would like to warn you about how close you are to a problem that I watched destroy NeverWinter, a fantastic FtP that came to its demise because eventually, no matter how fun the gameplay is, people get tired of killing the same 3 types of mobs in endless hoards and I don't want to see this happen to this game. We need real bosses which provide a challenge for overpowered frames, something that forces a group to say "we need a healer, a tank, a buffer and a debuffer and some huge dps" Something that makes people think about the group dynamic which is sadly too infrequently addressed in the average party for end game as it stands. Also I think implementing new mobs which challenge players and push us to seek cover, move as a team and communicate to succed is essential. Currently we just mindlessly blitz everything and victory is almost assured. Give us a challenge.

Lastly, please please please implement a story into all of this. There is so much amazing lore already out there and so much potential for that lore to be twisted into an amazingly compelling story. You're missing a whole demographic (MMO gamers in specific) who I think you would easily capture if only you offered content with a little more weight to it than you currently do.

I want to reiterate that I love this game and respect all the work that you do and I feel awful making any suggestions to you at all because you are all clearly pros but this is a beta and I figured it couldn't hurt to let you know how a year in the life of one of your bigger fans has been.

Please keep it up. I will follow you to the end of space no matter how the future goes. But for both of us I hope it goes really awesomely.

[-InV-Skitz0]

I have mad respect for you sir, you said this very elegantly. I to am with you DE to the very end. It;s been one hell of a year and i look forward to the years to come.

[SputnikII]

P.S. I think that opening up the trade of items like Neural Sensors, Neurodes, Polymer Bundles etc etc would help turn the trading channel into a really dynamic market place. Such a change could potentially give hardcore farmers further incentive to keep playing and gathering as well as give more casual gamers another reason to purchase Platinum. I think your plat prices are very fair and from my experience those that don't have the free time to farm as much as I do have no problems shelling out plat for valuable resources but I commonly hear them gripe about having to collect the mats as well, or asking me if I can trade those too, which I gladly would if that were an option. I know that if this were implemented this would extend my obsessive play time much longer as I am a very profit driven capitalist. A cursory look at the markets in other MMOs will show that there is a whole breed of gamer, of which I am proudly a part, that will game endlessly at the chance to make an in-game dollar. Don't get me wrong. If I had a Tenno baby I could send it to college with the plat I've made selling Boltor Prime bps and Rhino chassis', but I wish there were more to sell so I could become even more engrossed in the business side of things. I know that the other members of my 10 man Ghost Clan agree as we often discuss being a specifically commercial guild, I.E. solely obsessed with the trading of goods for currency. This is just one more side not in what I'm imagining will continue to grow.

[Monolake]

10/10 would read again