Player Ships, Planet Hubs... Picture This.

[Shifted]

 

You're sitting in your ship, orbiting around Earth. There's a space station (planet hub) in the distance. You approach a console, punch in the coordinates and hit go. Your ship accelerates towards the station and you get hailed by the station's control tower. A voice echoes "Docking request granted. Welcome, Tenno."

 

A cinematic of the ship docking into the station plays. 

 

You walk out of your ship and head towards the main hall. As you walk by, the docking crew you pass looks nervous, afraid but curious about you, quickly moving out of your path.

 

You enter the main hall. The room is full of civillians, walking around, talking to each other, looking at various holographic screens and whatnot. There's also a few other tenno in here, either browsing the market, reading latest news on a holographic projector or browsing the trading post.

 

--------------------------------------------

 

Yeah, basically Mass Effect's Citadel (or Omega, if you wish)

 

So, why did I just write all this? Because it hit me how empty Warframe universe is. Other than the Tenno and the enemies we fight, there's nothing really going on. We had a bit of non-hostile npc interaction with Darvo and the Red Veil, but it's not enough.

I want to be able to walk into a non-combat zone full of NPC's and immerse myself in the universe a bit more, and I feel like with the ships and player hubs It's a realistic goal.

The game can obviously handle a decently sized crowd (the amount of enemies you have to fight in survival or defense is a solid proof) and with the tile system I feel it's possible to connect the player ship directly with a space station to remove a loading screen.

 

Your opinions? Any additional ideas?

Edited June 18, 2014 by Shifted

[jjpdn]

Tha graphics.

[Agent_Maine]

I approve of this idea.

[cloudyDev]

I feel the same. Who are the Grineer oppressing? I need to see cities and such of "normal people" that I can decide to protect or not.

 

Really would advance the lore.

 

Do it DE.

Edited June 18, 2014 by DeceptionBlade

[SockBadger]

Opinion/Additional idea, don't have said hub maintained by genetically engineered giant insects who are slowly crafting our destruction for their machine overlords.

 

Mass Effect series reference.

[Nachoguy5]

I'd like it even more to see in the future maybe a "Civilian Outpost" or "Civilian Cityscape" tileset, where like the last vestiges of "normal" humanity are under attack by the Grineer and the Red Veil help the civilians evacuate and fight back against the Grineer. Tenno get sent to help and it'd all act like one big Invasion mission but with different objectives and such like normal missions.

[SockBadger]

I'm all for improving the background aspects of the game on top of hubs and personal ships. Giving more of a 'bigger picture' to the missions you run. Though those bigger picture aspects may not be linked to your gameplay in anyway, the fact that they are there, visible behind windows, or in distant vista's or just out of reach, it can really give a sense of immersion and purpose to your play-through.

 

An excellent example was the Corpus loader that popped up in the community design an enemy competition. But imagine taking that further, so when you go through a level on a ship it isn't just the usual combative unit's who want you dead. But civilian or passive units who were just going about their business until you showed up.

 

Another example idea could be that we have already upgraded the rescue mission concept to award more points and really have a sense of 'prison'. But what about rescue missions taking place on actual prison ships, or prison outposts. Where there are more objectives to complete than just the rescuing of your own VIP character. Sure that's the easy approach, just rescue the one you were sent here for. But when you get there and you see people in chains with guards pushing them to hurry them along or something and you as a player think; "I want to help these people, I am a Tenno." wouldn't it be something if you could help start a prison riot, hack consoles to turn the moa's and automatic guns against the captors, open the armoury for the prisoners and suddenly add an exterminate secondary mission to eliminate resistance and help the other prisoners on their way?

[SpartanCommander]

That would actually be really neat for getting to have the feel of what this universe is like or what's happening.

 

You could even have it where you have hubs that are in control of different factions.

 

Like a Tenno Controled Hub, A Red Veil controled one, Even one that's controled by the Greneer and Corpus.

Each one being different and the ones contorled by hostile groups give you the feeling that your indanger in certain areas because this hub is in a hidden area.

 

Like you could even get some plot stuff by listening into Greneer news feeds native to this world or listen in to what impact a mission or event you participated in effected the Greneer, Red Veil, or the Corpus.

 

Or even a refugee area where people are just trying to flee from the Different factions fighting each other.

[jjpdn]

LOL, that's ironic because Warframe also has a codex.

Where's Commaner Shepherd?

 

Well, at least we have the Geth here and the Husks.

[Lorengorm]

This would be really great. The way to make it handle larger crowds would likely be the same solution they have applied to dojos: remove as many gameplay elements at possible. So no weapons or sentinels. That would probably really increase the threshold of players it could handle. I like the idea!

Please consider it DE! :)

[Shifted]

Wooohoo, this just got more or less confirmed on the devstream.

 

THANKS, DE!

:D