Why Wf Needs To Look At Player Retention

[Ailissa]

Banshees, pls: http://youtu.be/Leq0JsmQHPE

 

 

How many Banshee's.... damn.

[LeMoog]

How many Banshee's.... damn.

lool

[WereFowl]

difference between this and Garysmod is that Garysmods isn't trying to nickel & dime their players at every turn for even the most basic things.

[RoboDoge]

It rather depends upon DE, if they see what I see then they must know the new content alone isnt enough, I like Nyx but I can live without the prime version the weapons are okay but scindo was broken on melee 2.0 and hikou prime is just another credit towards mastery which I got bored levelling at M12.

 

Lots of games have allowed players to develope their own content without anything untoward happening so what could discourage DE from allowing their community to help definate what they want WF to be directly.

 

When you look at sourcefilm maker and Garrys mod, the game advertising potential alone was worth opening the game up to a wider audience and utility

Would be possible if DE wasnt paranoid when it comes down to sharing source code with community.

[Loveshack]

Warframe needs to focus on game play;  fun, re-playable missions!

For example, survival is really fun.  It is the only mode which capitalizes on all of warframe's strengths:  mass-murder, looking rad, speedy movement, and escalating difficulty within a single mission - it is also a mode which is generally better with more players (more mobs spawn).

DE just needs to work on more awesome game modes that have a lot of replay-ability - a draw to play above and beyond grinding-for or leveling up the latest weapon/frame.

 

[glyusone]

People suffer here the same as they do in all mission based games .... repetition syndrome.

 

I keep saying it and now I sound like a stuck record but there is nowhere near enough mission variety. Every single planet is just a higher level repeat of the last and if you are really lucky you see a new tile set.

 

Every time you log in you will run the same missions over and over and over. Some people don't mind that but others will move on. It doesn't take much to get burnt out when constantly repeating yourself.

 

Even going for those T4 survivals ... you are still doing the same mission you've done since Mercury. As I, and some others, have said ... once you've finished Mercury, you've seen everything this game has to offer on the mission side of things.

 

No only that but you have some planets, the higher level ones, that are barely used. There are people that are struggling to find groups to finish them and just giving up. The sad part is the higher level planets offer nothing different than the lower ones except higher level mobs.

 

This game, regardless of what it does, is never going to retain an incredibly massive player base. People will always get bored or find a new game and move on. It happens with every game, even those with millions of players like MMO's or things like Battlefield. Take Titanfall, it was the next big thing, now it's got a really small playerbase compared to what it started with. Destiny will go the same way.

 

Long story short, there is no sure fire way to keep people around. There is always something shiny in the distance to take them away. Dragon Age Inquisition is just around the corner offering co-op multiplayer that people will flock to, it worked for ME3. Withcer 3 is out in February that a few of us are waiting for. Eternal Crusade is out next yer, a Warhammer 40k mass MMO shooter (and one i'm personally waiting for).

 

The only thing a game can do is keep it's core players happy and hope it's enough to bring new people in. If things change too much then there is a chance of upsetting those core players and having them move along which would hurt the game (i'm not one of those for the record, i'm as fickle as everyone else, sooner or later i'll be gone ... not that anyone cares *sniff*).

 

There is no guaranteed survival in this industry. We've all seen developers and games we love come and go. Warframe will not last forever. The only thing you can hope for is a good long run and to enjoy what you are doing.

tell me about it...i think people keep playing one game for several reason, the psychological satisfaction is one thing (leveling, item hording, ROG [return on grind], etc), system design is one thing (UI, game level design, world modeling, etc), and then story/character (background story, in game story, playable/interactive characters, etc). 

 

Unfortunately, while Warframe has some innovations in system design and character, it lacks much in story and system design especially the repetitive worlds we plays missions in. But I hope that this condition improves as more mega updates coming out, such as Archwing, which present much different game play and world modeling.

 

As for Destiny....well, i got bored with WF after 240 hours (i did spent alot money to get Prime Access....). Destiny.....40 hours?  

[(PSN)Folkeye]

I think adding more reasons to keep coming back (outside of loot) is needed. They're slowly getting there with events, different ways to play, new tilesets.... if they keep it up, expand upon it AND get a solid loose story in there I think the interest would hold on longer.

 

Right now WF is my drug of choice, been playing a few months. Keeps me entertained without hurting my brain and I have a very regular friend to play with online so we just have a blast being social (via private party chat) and taking on levels together. Having good company makes a world of difference.

Edited October 3, 2014 by (PS4)Folkeye

[Ops1-Jatzu]

The industry, first of all, being a massive hit-or-miss type thing and the flocking of gamers from one thing to the next doesnt help of course.

But my view on the discussion is that wf is a beta, and no i dont mean title-wise.

Im saying it hasnt reached that pinnacle, where it wi have much more to offer.

We need 'end-game' wow-ish style raids, tjat are immensely difficult right off the bat, requiring teamwork.

We need more content, to spread players about, and add more.

We need clans 2.0 to better our communities. Alliance 2.o, conflict 2.0

Pvp leaderboards/refinement to offer more to the competitive.

Once all the mechanics, and content come together you have a game that promotea a healthier player base. I see the wf community growing everyday. many wait around for new content, who will flock back eventually.

I see a lot in store, but of course only time will tell.

P.s. autocorrect doesn't work on my phone browser, apologies for any typos

[Ryme]

Warframe's biggest flaw is that the experience is not self-sustaining. The existing content feels much too static and lacks any appeal of replayability. And even though the devs have stated that it is meant to be a "loot grind" game, the game itself lacks what defines a "loot grind" game,  variable loot. The game is a kludge of mechanics and gameplay types that feels more like a "sample platter" of what games built around a core mechanic of stealth, melee combat, or loot grind could offer.

 

That said, the support the game has receives from the devs is far and beyond what any other game on the market gets from theirs. The game has grown and retained as many players as it has, solely due to the tireless efforts of the devs, who constantly inject new life into into the game, primarily in the form of new items and special events. How long that will last and what will happen to the game after they "finish" it and move onto the next project, is what concerns me the most.

 

Maybe then, we'll get to dance? :P

[Corvid]

Just want you to know, the word is "Camaraderie".

[RoboDoge]

Warframe's biggest flaw is that the experience is not self-sustaining. The existing content feels much too static and lacks any appeal of replayability. And even though the devs have stated that it is meant to be a "loot grind" game, the game itself lacks what defines a "loot grind" game,  variable loot. The game is a kludge of mechanics and gameplay types that feels more like a "sample platter" of what games built around a core mechanic of stealth, melee combat, or loot grind could offer.

 

That said, the support the game has receives from the devs is far and beyond what any other game on the market gets from theirs. The game has grown and retained as many players as it has, solely due to the tireless efforts of the devs, who constantly inject new life into into the game, primarily in the form of new items and special events. How long that will last and what will happen to the game after they "finish" it and move onto the next project, is what concerns me the most.

 

Maybe then, we'll get to dance? :P

Its a test game for DE so they can see where Evolution engine can be pushed.

[LeMoog]

Lets start with the beta idea, I for one have seen this in f2p games before and it is basically used as a useful excuse when the coding is less than perfect.

 

I am not slating WF I am just pointing out that beta in the context of f2p games is not the same beta normally associated with normal application developement cycles where you have finished the concept and are ironing out any bugs remaining, wf on the other hand is still changing the concept is dynamic. So beta in this context really means still in developement and forgive the bugs as we are too busy trying to please the community with new content to finish the content already added.

 

I posted this thread originally because I want to see WF continue to grow and gain the rich depth that marks a truely classic game one that gamers want to continue be a part of for years. At present I would say that too many people play for a time and then leave and this means that DE are relying upon a steady flow of new players to keep their revenue stream but there is a problem with this idea. The problem is that new players are not an infinite resource, I would say it is better to keep as many players as possible and keep them playing regularly so they encourage more people to play the game. The focus should not just be new people but existing players should be encouraged to make playing a social event with much more interaction between players than exists at present. Only this way can the game grow and have the time to finish all the cool things that have been added already but not reached their potential.

 

There are many things that could be done to encourage more people to play regularly, some have been posted here and in other threads but I would say that since the game came out there is less involvement of "core players" than there was originally and this to me means the start of the end.

 

I dont want this to be a whinge thread, I want it to be an ideas thread where we, the regular players, say what we are willing to do to keep WF alive, we can't ask DE to do everything for us whilst we sit back and add nothing ourselves unless we don't really care

Edited October 3, 2014 by LeMoog

[JoeXyo]

Yeah just look at WOW and how it manage to loose it many millions of players. Allowing us to choose our play style is one thing another is to enhance the frame abilities. Trinity could as an example heal while it does damage making the whole experience different. And the hunt for grind should be less of an priority.

 

Fiirst thing is difficulty, forcing people to go into the hunt of the best of the best, taking that out and add looks instead is an idea(gear,BP).

I'am not saying it should be super easy but to add a base line of limitation should be easy enough, Not to hard, not to easy. It has to be some sort of a fundamental level where things is clean and smooth.

 

That itself opens up room for  an example adding a new solar system with planets That does acquire tank and healer which is no negative with it just adds depth's within the game. Does not have to be new solar system, could be existing planets aswell.

 

Seeing the fact that all Frames work differently is super cool, but they should allow them to play what they want with it.

Making weapons and frame abilities scale for dmg will automatically take your focus of having the best weapons. 

 

The easiest thing for them is to  not allow OP-abilities to function and rather focus on game play/style.

Making room for new exciting things to do.

 

Allowing different mods adds different styles which is what that will eventually keep the players..

And to have that flowing kinda speaks for itself.

Edited October 4, 2014 by R3pin3

[ranks21]

no one wants to play teamwork in warframe, stop forcing it down our throats. the option is always there and most of us don't want to be bothered babysitting anyone. we all want to enjoy the game how we feel like and that's take any frame and play as long as possible, find secret places, climb endlessly to high places, find new ways to parkour you know the things that drew us in to warframe when it was actually fun to play.

 

 now all this nerfing, forcing this and that, too many cooks spoil the kinda nonsense is truly killing a good time waster.

[RoboDoge]

no one wants to play teamwork in warframe, stop forcing it down our throats. the option is always there and most of us don't want to be bothered babysitting anyone. we all want to enjoy the game how we feel like and that's take any frame and play as long as possible, find secret places, climb endlessly to high places, find new ways to parkour you know the things that drew us in to warframe when it was actually fun to play.

 

 now all this nerfing, forcing this and that, too many cooks spoil the kinda nonsense is truly killing a good time waster.

You would be surprised how many people value good teamwork and wants to work together.

[LeMoog]

I am not saying kill the solo grind, I am saying that there is more pleasure in playing a game with a group of friends and discovering things is always nicer if you have someone to share in the discovery.

 

So if players engaged their friends and the game is more pleasurable and lasts long where is the down side to that?

Edited October 4, 2014 by LeMoog

[WereFowl]

DE don't seem to be interested at all in player retention, they just want to sucker more new players into the game, who then purchase platinum due to the pathetic number of slots given at the start (when the game's still enjoyable) before trying to fleece them at every turn before they become sick of the grind fest and quit.

 

Then rinse and repeat.

[LeMoog]

DE don't seem to be interested at all in player retention, they just want to sucker more new players into the game, who then purchase platinum due to the pathetic number of slots given at the start (when the game's still enjoyable) before trying to fleece them at every turn before they become sick of the grind fest and quit.

 

Then rinse and repeat.

My point was that it cannot go on forever, new players are a finite resource and then the game would die.

Once the incident of new players goes down then it is too late to change anything as your product awareness is used up and you have to convince the old players that something has changed.

 

This convincing will cost money as you need to advertise and unless you provide a reason for players to maintain the validity of their contact details then you are going to have to pay to advertise on a less than level playing field with all the other f2p games.

 

As the saying goes "a stitch in time save nine" and not addressing this means that DE see WF as a disposable item

[Catalyst1945]

I feel like if there was a long storyline mission thingo(?) it would get more people to come back/play again. I'm one of those people that are getting bored of the game now that my group of 3 friends no longer plays.

[LeMoog]

I feel like if there was a long storyline mission thingo(?) it would get more people to come back/play again. I'm one of those people that are getting bored of the game now that my group of 3 friends no longer plays.

 

You are not alone, only isolated

 

This was my point about adding features to bring players together, groups of players with a shared connection will play the same game for years and will invest in the focal point of their friendship.

[Frostmire]

The game needs to force more teamwork, this can be done by adding more new and unique enemies that are not always easy to take out and by improving the general AI. (also balancing ridiculous "powercreep")

Agree , powercreep has devalued every DE's attempt to introduce something challenging

[LeMoog]

Agree , powercreep has devalued every DE's attempt to introduce something challenging

 

If you want challenge and you want team work then the interface for groups needs to be changed, this really is not what I was talking about in this thread.

 

This thread is more about coming up with something to make more players want to keep playing on a daily basis rather than moving to other games that provide a more social interface.

 

I have proposed that it should be possible to merge dojos/clans so the creators can come together in social gorups without having to destroy all they have built, maybe the "tenno village" idea for dojos would make it easier to implement.

 

There have been other valued posts in this thread but what needs to happen is for DE to deside if they think things need to change

Edited October 17, 2014 by LeMoog

[Semshol]

I like that I'm not forced to play with friends if I don't have any.

 

However now that I'm experienced I can choose to assist other players in the game, if they should need my help.

 

Warframe does not need to force team-work in order to retain players. Many get kicks out of just being a bad-&#! space ninja.

 

Friends are something you make through battles, not something you should have to seek and find just because X amount of enemies require it.

 

Some of us aren't lucky enough to have friends who are gamers, or people whom we can trust to play with some measure of skill. Living the PUG life isn't for everyone, believe me.

[Semshol]

If you want challenge and you want team work then the interface for groups needs to be changed, this really is not what I was talking about in this thread.

 

This thread is more about coming up with something to make more players want to keep playing on a daily basis rather than moving to other games that provide a more social interface.

 

I have proposed that it should be possible to merge dojos/clans so the creators can come together in social gorups without having to destroy all they have built, maybe the "tenno village" idea for dojos would make it easier to implement.

 

There have been other valued posts in this thread but what needs to happen is for DE to deside if they think things need to change

 

The players hubs are already coming, but those who have empty/ghost dojos are always welcome to walk away from them.

 

If they choose to hold onto it and then get sad, that's really a personal choice isn't it?

 

I left my old dead clan for one that has some life in it and I'm now a leadership level Tenno within that clan. I just moved on, despite all I contributed, you have to make that choice sometimes.

 

New players will stay or go based on their own volition, a lot don't leave because of a lack of social interaction, they leave because WF may not be their game of choice.

[Frostmire]

This thread is more about coming up with something to make more players want to keep playing on a daily basis rather than moving to other games that provide a more social interface.

 

The easiest thing to keep people from playing the same thing over and over again is a balanced PvP. I'm fully awared that WF is not a PvE game, just saying the truth :)