Sub-Mission Type Concepts

[Valentine_Grim]

           Hey, everyone! I’ve read some angry threads recently, where people would go bitter over the fact that “Warframe” tries to dance on the fence too hard. Some say it’s too fast and we need more stealth and whatnot, some say it’s unnecessarily slowed down with all those trapdoors and electric mines, and we need more parkour and such. I agree with both sides to some extent, and it made me thinking. The gist of what I came up with would be that there are too many tasks in the universe Tenno have to shoulder. They have to be sneaky and they have to be tanky, they have to wreak havoc and they have to break into security systems, and so on and so forth. Kudos where it’s due, but even a Swiss knife has utility limit. Threads with new mission type proposals pop up now and then, which signals that players want more distinctively varied gameplay options, yet the majority of them (not saying “all” for lack of omniscience) suggest that all those new tasks and challenges would be for Tenno to tackle. And that is what I see as a controversy – we (forgive me this generalization) enjoy Tenno as they are, yet we constantly want them to be something else, something different and unique. What I have here for you is not so much a suggestion thread (we all know it’s a lottery) as a self-indulging drooling fantasy of what I’d wanted to have if things would magically happen at the snap of my fingers. I’m pretty sure DE will find a way of slowly but steadily surprising us with this and that over time and who knows, this day next year “Warframe” may be something absolutely surpassing any expectations (measure the difference between U7 and U12), but for now – daydreaming that is.

 

         With that said, to the point. New mission types is a tricky ground. There is a fixed amount of nodes on every planet, and in order to introduce something new, something old should be retired. Remember those Raid missions? Newer players won’t even know what I’m talking about. Mobile Defense on Earth? No such thing anymore. So what I have in mind is a set of Prep-missions that would take place on any nod you choose (not unlike Nightmare mode), altering it’s type in it’s own way and giving you one supporting property next time you enter the nod. The biggest thing about it would be that you wouldn’t play as Tenno, hence taking away the temptation (and as a matter of fact the very ability) of turning your mission into gorefest. That way, there is no need in fouling Tenno-way with attempts of cramming those shooty-slashy-casty death machines into the roles that simply too small for them. For the time being anyway… Once again – I believe there will be time, when “Warframe” will be everything at once and with grace. We’re just not there yet. For now, here’s my daydreamy list of narrowly focused missions, that stress one or another mechanic, rewarding and punishing the player within it’s full right.

 

1) Among sheep

          Lotus or Darvo or any other guiding figure, “came across” a sample kit of “purified” Grineer genome, intended to be used as a starting point for new and improved breed of clones. They would be smarter, tougher than current generation and thoroughly obedient. As in “no self-awareness” obedient. Too bad we have them now, right? So, with some know-how, we fix ourselves some of the friendly grunts and send them behind enemy lines to do some internal damage. As you may have guessed, that would be us in the skin of the Grineer Trooper, Lancer, Ballista etc. This type of mission emphasizes “smart” shooting, as you are tied to the weapon you are “trained” for and no special powers to supplement that. Raising a clone is no quick process and equipping it with a weapon and armor and a lunchbox is a costly procedure, so you’d better forget about rushing into the fray, as you enjoyed doing before. Find cover, prioritize targets, mind your ammo. As a reward, you may thin out enemy numbers for your next Rescue, or sabotage enemy weapons, making them jam now and then during the Survival or make Grineer signal go slower on Interception, or something else. The whole point of this mode is to cast some limitations on you as a pain-causer. Cause rules make the game interesting.

 

2) Escape

         Remember those “Tenno sympathizers” in jumpsuits we herd back and forth? Well, some of them are more resourceful than we know. Some of them can break out of their cells on their own and sabotage alarm consoles, make cameras go blind or simply steal lots of credits and exfiltrate in a pod. Neat. As you may have guessed, this is the ultimate stealth type, with your protégé having no weapons or survivability whatsoever. Lurking in the shadows, taking scenic routes through the vents and hacking cameras, so they would highlight enemies on your radar is what it’s all about. Nothing stimulates stealthy approach as having no other option, isn’t it?

 

3) Profit

          Corpus are greedy. Some are even more so than the others. You promise them worthy compensation and they will nick a load of required resource for you, right under their supervisors’ noses. Doesn’t matter if that requires some hacking, deceit and even proxy-controlling a MOA to make it punch some holes in your co-workers. This game mode is about extended hacking (more hexagons, several color-coded pathways, dead-ends and such – true puzzle), hiding any suspicious activity and… well… proxy-controlling MOA to punch some holes in your co-workers. As a reward, you have a stash of resources hidden somewhere on the level next time you enter this nod as Tenno.

 

           That is about it for now. Not like any of that would ever happen, but I had a good, inspired time just thinking about it. May as well leave it here. Thanks for reading and have a good day!

Edited March 30, 2014 by Valentine_Grim

[zergla]

I approve of this.

[FinnishHim]

That's actually really awesome. I wasn't on board until I got to the mission ideas themselves then I totally got it. That is so cool XD

And! AND! These would be a great way to introduce lore, characters, and a "living" world that doesn't just revolve around the Tenno. 

 

For example, on Mars, an Escape mission could tell the story of a Tenno spy (the ones we always hear about in Survival transmissions??? haha) and how he avoided the clutches of Corpus slave auctions or what not (do they have slaves? Seems like something those pesky Corpus would support).

 

Heck, maybe they could even introduce a character that was in multiple types of these missions on different planets and nodes! For example:

• The Escapee would be ONE character that has a storyline of missions across the system, with later planets requiring completion of the earlier Escape missions to initiate. These could also be solo or duo missions only?
  
• The "Among Sheep" missions could tell the story of ONE battalion, or the SOLE battalion (the only one that was cloned before the genome was lost somehow or destroyed, I dunno) of the mindless clones. Again, with later missions requiring earlier ones to be completed. Maybe the final mission would be the final destruction or release of the remaining members of the battalion. This would be an awesome four-player mission type.
  
• The "Profit" missions would, like the others, tell a sequenced, successive storyline of one Corpus whose greed knows no bounds. Maybe additional players could play as mercenaries that he paid to fight with him? Or as his personal bodyguard-bots XD
  

 

Just ideas! I really like this concept. Keep it up!

 

-FinnishHim

Edited March 30, 2014 by FinnishHim