New Player Experience Rant

[Deidaku]

For a day or 2 every time I try to do a survival mission people always activate the capsules too  early and leave at 5 min......

 

It's happened every single time

 

 

Apparently since some exams seem to be over we've got a wave of new players coming.  

 

 

I've introduced a friend of mine to the game. I had to tutor him for absolutely everything.  It was fun , but I wasn't supposed to do that. I understand there should be hand holding all the time but come on people are lost  when they start playing this game.

 

There should be tutorials for  every game mode + tips from the lotus . (don't activate life support too early tenno , you'll need it. " Stay close to the crypod tenno ", don"t stray too far away from your teammates tenno" 

 

I had to explain where to get mods , how to craft weapons etc.

 

+made me notice ( i'm sure a lot ahve already ) Venus and earth are very difficult on the newbs.

 

TO beat those planets without dying a gazillion times you need weapons and mods , weapons which require materials beyond earth to craft *cough plastids* cough* and mods that drop even further. My friend still hasn't seen a serration mod. and since he can't trade it yet I can't give it to him.

 

 

new players should at least be given the elementary  starter mods    

Vitality

Serration

Hornet strike 

Pressure point

Redirection

 

3 element mods for each weapon class. ( fire , ice and shock) 

 

 

 

They deserve a better tutorial on top of that and a better introduction to the lore.( as little as it may be)

Edited June 7, 2014 by Deidaku

[Archistopheles]

Mk1, Lato, and Skana should also come pre-supercharged, or Vor should drop taters that can only be used for said weapons.

[BrotherIcarus]

I disagree on the elemental mods but other than that I agree. 

[Deidaku]

Mk1, Lato, and Skana should also come pre-supercharged, or Vor should drop taters that can only be used for said weapons.

Yes!

 

 

Better Scrap MK1....it's pretty usless

[Prod_Crewman]

brudda serration drops from stalker, it isnt basic,its almost better then heavy calibur

hornet strike maybe yeah cuz lato is VERY weak 

Edited June 7, 2014 by i1oBADR1i

[Pandoran_Stallion]

brudda serration drops from stalker, it isnt basic,its almost better then heavy calibur

hornet strike maybe yeah cuz lato is VERY weak 

In Warframe, if it's necessary, it's basic.

[Vunie]

elementals and damage mods for noobs? what else 1000plat? thats way too much all they need is a braton with a potato not elementals or serration besides when you are new to a game you are suppose to die because you have no idea of how to play whats the point of making them invincible from the start? 

[the.other.italian]

I remember the mobile defense missions being particularly horrendous back when I was new to the game. If I didn't happen to get lucky with a team who understood the concept of protecting an objective, there just wasn't a way to clean house fast enough to finish.

 

The idea of starter mods sounds good, but with those I don't think the elemental would be as important. Also, with those mods, the crap starter weapons would be more manageable until you got farther in.

 

I think, however, the most important thing Warframe's lacking in terms of new player experience is adequate tuturiols/help/hints whatever for all the systems in the game. I even run into people on later levels who don't understand how enemy spawning works. There's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, and "go check the wiki" doesn't really cut it if you want to ease in and attract new people.

[the.other.italian]

elementals and damage mods for noobs? what else 1000plat? thats way too much all they need is a braton with a potato not elementals or serration besides when you are new to a game you are suppose to die because you have no idea of how to play whats the point of making them invincible from the start? 

 

dying all the time because you have no idea how to play and the game and the game doesn't adequately tell you how to play does not equal a fun experience. when people get frustrated, they don't come back to the game.

[CrazyHelplessShadow]

When i play other games, it is telling me everything I can do, but when i started playing warframe i was free to discover the mechanics myself, i could use an hour to figure out how to do the "flip" and even more hours to master it and when i found that out on my own the game felt so much more authentic and extraordinary.

So as my might figure out I dont want the Lotus to guide me through the game and give me mods i haven't acquired myself.

 

dying all the time because you have no idea how to play and the game and the game doesn't adequately tell you how to play does not equal a fun experience. when people get frustrated, they don't come back to the game.

 

I understand, but the game is not meant to be a peaceful picnic

Edited June 7, 2014 by CrazyHelplessShadow

[(PSN)SpiderRoll]

Mk1, Lato, and Skana should also come pre-supercharged, or Vor should drop taters that can only be used for said weapons.

 

I don't think the starters should just be potatoed from the start, but they can be included with the player ship quest.  Presumably, Vor nearly kills you and you escape on an old Orokin ship, right?  Why not have the Lotus give you potatoes and teach you how to install them, as a way to help you be better prepared for your next battle with him?  This way you still get the same boost, but you also learn how to do this to your future gear.

 

Weaving the story with the new player experience would help players feel more connected to the lore and give them a better sense of progression.  You woke from the cryo pod and the Lotus taught you basic maneuvers.  Once she sees that you've got your bearings and remember how to fight as a Tenno, she can gift you with a selection of essential mods (vitality, redirection, serration, hornet strike, pressure point) and teach you how to install them.  She can then provide you one fusion core and teach you how to fuse mods.  Simpler or easier versions of the basic mission types can be presented to the player, explaining how the mechanics work, so players will hopefully avoid hitting life support capsules too early.  These are just a few examples off the top of my head.

Edited June 7, 2014 by (PS4)SpiderRoll

[Nijuroku]

When I started playing, me and my friends were just a small group playing Warframe every now and then. Two of us started getting too hardcore for the others to handle so they quit because we skyrocketed our MR. 

 

Anyway, before all that happened, it took me A MONTH to find out how to mod weapons properly and I was on my original weapons set the whole time until I got the Dread from my first Stalker kill. 

 

Warframe definitely has a significantly steep learning curve. There were no "Tutorials" back then except for when Lotus tells you to go pew-pew some Grineer and run around in a white, open room. 

[CrazyHelplessShadow]

When I started playing, me and my friends were just a small group playing Warframe every now and then. Two of us started getting too hardcore for the others to handle so they quit because we skyrocketed our MR. 

 

Anyway, before all that happened, it took me A MONTH to find out how to mod weapons properly and I was on my original weapons set the whole time until I got the Dread from my first Stalker kill. 

 

Warframe definitely has a significantly steep learning curve. There were no "Tutorials" back then except for when Lotus tells you to go pew-pew some Grineer and run around in a white, open room. 

Now that's how a game should be if you ask me :)

[Metalarcher]

Hopefully with the player ships and quests in U14, which I've heard is aimed at new-player experience anyway, players will get some sense of direction, urging them onward to get new items, mods, resources, etc. so that by the time the early game is basically over and the tutorials/lessons have tapered off, the player will still be motivated to keep going.

 

And my version of giving the player starter mods would just be make the most common enemies drop the most basic mods, and phase out dropping Warframe and Sentinel-specific mods since you get them upon creation of the sentinel anyway.  That way you get flooded with Redirections and Vitalities, which you can actually use, as opposed to Venoms, which you obviously can't if you just started on an Excalibur, Mag, or Loki.  And to be fair even if you did start on Saryn you would only need like seven of them...

[Nijuroku]

Now that's how a game should be if you ask me :)

Games that don't have tutorials and are very confusing and difficult yet some players get to understand the mechanics.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Nijuroku

[TheSadisticDragon]

I don't think there should be handholding and giving the new players all the basic mods from the start. But I do believe those basic mods (like serration, redirection, etc.) should be an 100% drop somewhere, for example a boss like the chronos is now.

 

Also having serration as a easy drop doesn't mean handholding, you still have to collect dozens of fusion cores to upgrade it.

[(PSN)ElZilcho]

new players should at least be given the elementary  starter mods    

Vitality

Serration

Hornet strike 

Pressure point

Redirection

 

3 element mods for each weapon class. ( fire , ice and shock) 

 

They deserve a better tutorial on top of that and a better introduction to the lore.( as little as it may be)

 

The damage mods, yes. They are a basic part of the game and new players are unlikely to be able to upgrade them much, if at all, until they would have dropped anyway.

 

I don't think the starters should just be potatoed from the start, but they can be included with the player ship quest.  Presumably, Vor nearly kills you and you escape on an old Orokin ship, right?  Why not have the Lotus give you potatoes and teach you how to install them, as a way to help you be better prepared for your next battle with him?  This way you still get the same boost, but you also learn how to do this to your future gear.

 

Weaving the story with the new player experience would help players feel more connected to the lore and give them a better sense of progression.  You woke from the cryo pod and the Lotus taught you basic maneuvers.  Once she sees that you've got your bearings and remember how to fight as a Tenno, she can gift you with a selection of essential mods (vitality, redirection, serration, hornet strike, pressure point) and teach you how to install them.  She can then provide you one fusion core and teach you how to fuse mods.  Simpler or easier versions of the basic mission types can be presented to the player, explaining how the mechanics work, so players will hopefully avoid hitting life support capsules too early.  These are just a few examples off the top of my head.

 

And this is an excellent idea. Maybe not three catalysts for free, but maybe just one for the Braton to get the point across. Don't want people to think that every weapon is going to come with them. It would be better to show them they'll be modding with and without them.

[Deidaku]

brudda serration drops from stalker, it isnt basic,its almost better then heavy calibur

hornet strike maybe yeah cuz lato is VERY weak 

ANd tell me did you kill the stalker the first time yu met him?

 

I don't think so

[Deidaku]

elementals and damage mods for noobs? what else 1000plat? thats way too much all they need is a braton with a potato not elementals or serration besides when you are new to a game you are suppose to die because you have no idea of how to play whats the point of making them invincible from the start? 

You need elementals to deal reasonable damage.

 

THe mods that drop to kill corpus efficiently drop on later planets which is absurd

[Mak_Gohae]

For a day or 2 every time I try to do a survival mission people always activate the capsules too  early and leave at 5 min......

 

It's happened every single time

 

 

Apparently since some exams seem to be over we've got a wave of new players coming.  

 

 

I've introduced a friend of mine to the game. I had to tutor him for absolutely everything.  It was fun , but I wasn't supposed to do that. I understand there should be hand holding all the time but come on people are lost  when they start playing this game.

 

There should be tutorials for  every game mode + tips from the lotus . (don't activate life support too early tenno , you'll need it. " Stay close to the crypod tenno ", don"t stray too far away from your teammates tenno" 

 

I had to explain where to get mods , how to craft weapons etc.

 

+made me notice ( i'm sure a lot ahve already ) Venus and earth are very difficult on the newbs.

 

TO beat those planets without dying a gazillion times you need weapons and mods , weapons which require materials beyond earth to craft *cough plastids* cough* and mods that drop even further. My friend still hasn't seen a serration mod. and since he can't trade it yet I can't give it to him.

 

 

new players should at least be given the elementary  starter mods    

Vitality

Serration

Hornet strike 

Pressure point

Redirection

 

3 element mods for each weapon class. ( fire , ice and shock) 

 

 

 

They deserve a better tutorial on top of that and a better introduction to the lore.( as little as it may be)

 

People leaving early may just be opening the map.

And you dont need that much info to figure out when to pop the cans. If you are there you should inform them, there is nothing wrong with typing and giving folks tips.

After beating Vor you get enough cash to buy the MK or the Burston that you will need if you are going to solo the game for Venus and Earth.

Vitality drops in Merc and you get Redirection for free, the rest are not needed that early. Specially since that early you do not have the cash or mods to fuse and rank up that many mods.

I guess they can put a glowing tutorial button is more areas but i think most section do include a tutorial button now. The craft section has one so there was no need to teach your friend this.

[Prod_Crewman]

ANd tell me did you kill the stalker the first time yu met him?

 

I don't think so

i didnt i freaked out and tried to escape :P

[Deidaku]

People leaving early may just be opening the map.

And you dont need that much info to figure out when to pop the cans. If you are there you should inform them, there is nothing wrong with typing and giving folks tips.

After beating Vor you get enough cash to buy the MK or the Burston that you will need if you are going to solo the game for Venus and Earth.

Vitality drops in Merc and you get Redirection for free, the rest are not needed that early. Specially since that early you do not have the cash or mods to fuse and rank up that many mods.

I guess they can put a glowing tutorial button is more areas but i think most section do include a tutorial button now. The craft section has one so there was no need to teach your friend this.

Agreed

Especially the foundry

[fatpig84]

Letting mercury drop the basic mods will be great.

 

Serration.

Point Blank.

Hornet Strike.

Pressure Point.

 

And maaaaybe vitality (redirection drops in tutorial).

That should give newbies a hand.

[Silent_Eagl3]

I agree that the new player experience needs to be looked at. I am of the opinion that new players should be told the basic fundamentals of the game. you have a primary, secondary and melee weapons.

 

Example: you equip them with F and you can equip your melee weapon by holding F ( Information about equipping melee weapons present in the tutorial).  

 

Other fundamentals that should be explained are Mods, Polaritys and missions. People have mentioned that new players should start with a basic gift pack of mods. and I agree and think this is a good idea. Another idea could be to inform how Platinum is used for I always feel dead inside when I see a new player running around with a Syndanna I want them to use it on slots. 

 

One recently acquired gripe I have with the new player experience is the quality of the Braton Lato and Skana. The Lato is awful in the damage department and poor status and crit chance land, but thank god it has a decent clip size.  the Braton doesn't fair much better. nor does the Skana with a V aura polarity (if they can actually acquire the appropriate stance mod).

 

Feedback from new players suggest that Venus and Earth are challenges for new players. I may suggest both a slight damage buff. and something I think some low rank weapons could do with-polarities. I think  a simple explanation about damage 2.0 would be beneficial as well. one that simply hints what each type of damage does. and allowing the players to connect the dots and feel the satisfaction of crafting a powerful weapon. 

 

Thats my two cents folks. hope it added something to the table.

[T24Dokiel]

When I started, there was no real tutorial, like now, and I learnt the game the hard way, especially since I pretty much solo'd the first few missions. My frame at this moment was a Mag, and I first learned why I was dying : I wasn't using the game's mechanics. You have cover, you have powers. Not everything relies on gun play and just rushing.

 

But I don't think that's the point. I've been used to "older" games where you were almost dropped in the game with only few advice and learning it by trial and error, and I'm kinda disappointed by the way that games nowadays tend to hold the player hand until he understand everything. But from what I see, it IS needed, because WF is a complex game. First I'd rather see starting plat given after an explanation of what it is and how to acquire it, rather than gifting it without reason. Second, I'd like to see the game direct you to the tutorial part of the Codex after the first tutorial. Or maybe something like an interactive thingy with the Lotus ? "Go check this tab, this is the Armory,..."
With the summer, a lot of people will probably start to play this game, and a lot of them will be "casual" or people that are not interested in trial and error and dying all the time.

 

Concerning starting weapons, giving potatoes and mods, I disagree on a few points : first, don't be like "those weapons are trash". Yeah, they are in some way, because they're starting weapons, they're old, and they're not a boltor prime. However, I'd rather see MK1 disappear, and maybe standard Braton replace it, but Lato is "fine" to me, as it makes you learn why you need to HS rather than pew pew pew in the general direction like you'll learn when you get a powerhouse weapon.

 

Potatoes should stay "rare" (Yeah, I have more than enough to cover every weapon, and twice the frames) to begin with. That said, it could be a reward for beating Vor or something, to give you something "worth" your time, and make you feel like you have more options. However, I don't know if it was your case, but the first time I beat Vor (I didn't grind that much), I had 2 rifle mods, one for crit chance, the other for max ammo cap, and both we're almost max'd and my mod points were fine. And Lato + Skana were about the same, maybe a few more pistol mods.

 

On that point, we should drop/give more adequate mods to start with, or simply kick them out of the game if you can't pass on them and you don't have them before a long time (I mean, every build use Serration, Hornet Strike, and so on). Giving them for free could be a solution, but I'd rather see a sense of progression coming : Lotus telling you to beat this mission (since we need to hold hands of new players), giving you a cooki- a mod, always the same, whatever happens.

That's how I feel about the start of the game, not really anything worth your time, but thanks for reading.