Motivating Players: Closed Beta To Now

[Whatarewordsworth]

     There's a lot of talk in the general discussion forums about the changes coming to skills in WF, and this makes me think about something only tangentially related; namely, what motivates the player to keep playing.

 

     The major point of this post is to seek feedback from early beta veterans like myself in order to see if my feelings about this game are purely my own or if they are shared. That said, I also want to hear from newer players about their initial and subsequent feelings on why they play. What were their motivations for playing? Did they change? If so, how? For better? For worse? Let us know!

 

     Just for a frame of reference, I started playing Warframe back when we had the skill tree progression system (that was forever ago). I remember picking up on the lore of the game in a way that made me feel like I and the choices I made were important. For example, the skill tree system had consequences for the player that the current system doesn't have, and this made customization a deeply personal and rather heavy choice - it made you feel invested in your frame as though it were an avatar of yourself. And in the game, as in life, going back on choices wasn't easy - to change the skill tree you had to pay credits and they were rare back then.

 

     The system had its flaws, but I mention this because it relates to another feeling I had about why I played, and that is that I felt like my actions meant something for the future of the game world. The game was MUCH less reward oriented, and more focused on the why of it. I feel this new focus on reward oriented gameplay has caused the game to lose its original reason for motivating players. Or at least, for motivating me. This is evidenced by the fact that the DE has had to release "events" like Cryotic Front and others to make the game feel like it originally did - to make it feel like your actions in the game world actually mean something. But even these are reward oriented! 

     My problem with a reward oriented system is this: I could spend my hours playing to get the next best mods/gear, and then what? just rank up my mods or my mastery? What for? 

 

     What little lore was present at the time of my early WF career suggested that the answer to this question was:

 

"to liberate the system from the corruption of the Grineer and the greed of the Corpus"

 

     But once I unlocked all the planets, that was about when the answer changed to:

 

"to get better loot"

 

     and this seems to be the only reason to play the game now. But, dare I say, that is not reason enough to play a game. 

 

In the beginning there was enough lore to carry me over, but now for me it's devolved into a loot-grab. I even have the Lotus' voice set to mute in game, and that says a lot. What are your thoughts?

EDIT: I may be alone in this, but for those of you who will say that the upcoming Syndicates are addressing this issue, I can only say that time will tell. I personally think a returned attention to the original story would be better, but it is a beta.

 

[TheErebus.]

Am I not allowed to keep playing because I have FUN when I play?

[Somedude1000]

I may not have been here from those days, but I do agree that the game is very loot focused atm, and progression = MR for now at least...

 

This will change though, I'm sure of it!

Edited October 19, 2014 by Somedude1000

[Ryokuzaki]

I like farming, I wake up every day at 5 am to farm the corn. Then I come here to keep on farming the whole day.

[Shion963]

IMHO they had to do a lot of preparations in order to reach the "fight the Grineer vs Corpus vs Infested war", by expanding planets, introducing characters, actually allowing players to reach MR30. I do believe that they have a general design/goal they're shooting for, and that is just in a WIP state now. Piecemeal introductions rather than a wide blanket intro.

But that could also be wishful thinking on my part. Right now I just play to play, because there are weapons that needs ranking, enemies that needs shooting.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Shion963

[Evanescent]

I play to have fun, ever since I got hooked on april last year.

[LadyScootaloo]

There's two reasons that matter where I can be concerned.

 

Fun. To be naturally enticed by the core of the gameplay. Too many do/did not find this sufficient and such have left the game.

 

Hope. Ugly and full of risk. Still it's keeping me here, if no one else.

[Whatarewordsworth]

Am I not allowed to keep playing because I have FUN when I play?

This depends on your understanding of "fun". I can't dictate what you do or why you do it, but for me "fun" is a word reserved for games that take my imagination on an adventure. It would be nice to see a vignette about the life of that Grineer I just sliced in half. I wonder what his life was like, his struggles... his triumphs. I want to know WHY he had to die.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Whatarewordsworth

[6RID8U6]

I came to WF because I was trying out different sci-fi based MMO's. Didn't know much about it at all, read a couple online reviews, gave it a shot without expecting too much. And then the opening cutscene started. And my jaw hit the floor. I've played my fair share of shooters, RPGs and MMOs from pretty much every genre, and while many of them have been memorable, the threads of similarity that ran through them tended to blur together more often than not. The same old archetypes, the same old art design. Not so with Warframe. The look and aesthetic of this game is completely unique in a way that was both a breath of fresh air and a blast to the senses. To be honest, I was more enamored with the look of the game than I was with the gameplay, but then I reached the balance point between appreciating the game mechanics and the eye candy on the same level, and I realized that I was part of something truly extraordinary. Don't get me wrong, WF isn't the end all be all of the gaming experience, but it's impossible to fault its pluck and determination to stand out as something that we haven't quite seen before in this particular format. And what an amazing experience it is, and continues to be.

 

TLDR: I keep coming back to WF to gaze in awe at the brilliant art design and to continue honing my skills as a mighty killing machine, usually simultaneously. And I'm far from done with it.

[TheErebus.]

This depends on your understanding of "fun". I can't dictate what you do or why you do it, but for me "fun" is a word reserved for games that take my imagination on an adventure. It would be nice to see a vignette about the life of that Grineer I just sliced in half. I wonder what his life was like, his struggles... his triumphs. I want to know WHY he had to die.

You are correct in that fun is subjective. To me, fun is what warframe is. The feeling of killing the enemies through unique melee stances and flashy abilities is what is fun. 

 

Now don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to see more story behind a certain enemy to see why he must die. This stuff I've been imagining since the day I first played Warframe (I even do this in other games like Destiny). But this stuff reinforces my idea of fun.

I don't play for the goals that many other players want to. Farming is nothing to me, if I gotta farm I'll do couple missions and then take a break then go back in. 

 

Getting the loot is also a minimal goal for me, as currently I have the perfect set of gear. If I find something I need, I'll just have something else to do. 

 

But for the majority of the time, the reason why I've stayed since closed beta is because the game provides pure entertainment for me. It is fun to play, it gives you a rewarding feeling (personally) and the amount of heart and soul that is put into this game is just mind blowing.

[Kalenath]

Am I not allowed to keep playing because I have FUN when I play?

 

Fun is for noobs and morons.

 

Fun is for people who do not get that video games should be WORK.

 

Fun is for people who shouldn't get the chance to mess up OTHER people's chances to screw with players.

 

[/endsarcasm]

 

I stay with Warframe because I like seeing it grow. It is a bumpy ride to be sure, but it is awesome to watch it evolve.

 

Not all of us have to min-max every last piece of our gear to get to wave 200 on defense or 3 hours on survival. Some of us are content to go to wave 15 and 30 minutes. Some of us actually LIKE helping new players instead of showing how 'leet' and 'uber' we are by snubbing them. It's not like the uber elite players were noobs once or anything. Nope, born leet and uber they were.

 

But what keeps me coming back? It is simple. I get to kill people who are clear bad guys in ways that are fun in Warframe. I can be a far future, cybernetic space ninja. I can be powerful.

 

In real life,the power resides with bureaucrats, politicians and people who declare 'I AM THE LAW' no matter what the law actually says. Or in many other places it resides with people who have guns. And then they fight for power with everyone ELSE who has guns.

 

But for just a moment, I can set that all aside. I can kick Grineer &#! and take Corpus names. I can exterminate Infested in job lots.

 

And I find that fun.

[Shifted]

I'm at the point of the game where there's no "better loot" to get.

 

All that's left for me to do is level up weak weapons to level mastery, collect some remaining prime gear I don't really need, or farm it for plat.

 

Syndicates and Sigils will finally give me something else to do. Something I want.

 

It's a good filler until Focus and other stuff comes, but lore itself does not make me want to play more, it only allows me to immerse and like the world better.

What I really would like to see DE to prioritize on after U15 hits is making the core game more fun to play, add more polish (movement, parkour, all the incosistencies and awkward things in the game) not tack on more and more completely new games-in-game (Archwing, Wyrmius).

[Tellakey]

Most online games rely on the concept of getting better; Better loot, better levels, better skills and so on. However do not forget the aspect of self orientation and definition - Roleplaying. This aspect is more self dependant and really does not add much practically, instead it relates to the player's sense of content and satisfaction. I personally LOVE to build my own character, albeit that the current tools of personalization are little. I still like the feeling of having my own collection of frames, weapons, mods, kubrows and cosmetics. I have yet to hold a sizeable collection of event badges.

 

What keeps me going: This game is unique, both in concept and supervision. The Devs are amazing! Some idea this game is. If this game stops where it is or a bit further into the future I will definitely quit. What distinguishes this game from others is its outstanding aspiration to progress; not only in dry content (new equipment blablabla), but even in original features. Archwing!? OMG yes please! And I've got this feeling it won't be the last fresh feature to come. As well as original content, I also am looking for novelties concerning lore. Warframe's current story holds so much potential about which unfortunately the devs seem not so keen on expanding or spare an eye to its development.

 

In the long run, my key sentence is: Anticipation. I can't wait to see what this monster is heading for and I am all for it!

[Cryless]

I agree with you OP. Warframe is not the same anymore only loot, loot and more loot!

A few of my friends have stopped playing for the simple reason "I got tired of doing missions only to get loot that I don't need".