Warframe's "vibe", Or What It Used To Have (Nostalgic Opinion Inside)

[papatou15]

I have felt Warframe slowly losing its "darkness". I don't know what it is, but something changed. Somehow, it just doesn't feel gritty and dark enough.

 

I totally agree with you, and I think that this "Darkness" have went out with U14, when we got our ship and all the UI redesign

[h8seekr]

I came in just after U7 but didn't really start playing daily until U8. At the time I thought it had the potential to be the most bad a$$ hack/slash run/gun game ever created.  The pace was fast (addictively fast), it was gritty, it was dark, and it was dirty. The art style really nailed the "space-ninja" theme for me. And it was fun. Bought in founder at Hunter Level and soon after Grand Master.

 

For me the game has lost it's way.  It's still fun but not fun like it used to be. The dark edge is gone.  Now we have space pirates, cowboys, stage magicians, birds (Flappy Zephyr... really?), goats, etc. and a more light-hearted atmosphere (bunny ears and mustaches). It's hard to call a game with bunny ears bad a$$.

 

It really fell apart with Damage 2.0. Don't get me wrong, damage needed to be fixed in a bad way. But armor scaling, then as now was/is the true culprit. Instead we got combined elements and reduced armor scaling. Base elemental frames like Volt, Ember, Saryn, and Frost were key frames in D1 but have major issues in D2 due to enemy resistances to single elements. It's almost always better to bring a combined element and the base elemental frames can't do that. About three weeks after D2 the clan I was in basically fell apart and started playing DOTA. That's when I stopped being a white-knight for the game and DE.

 

If you look at my profile it says my most used weapon is the Ignis. And it's true. I used it almost exclusively back then with a cold build (freezing fire as it was called). That for me was super fun. Spraying a contingent of Grineer with "freezing hell" always put a grin on my face. And that's gone now. There is currently no build on the Ignis that makes much sense. You get fire, radiation, gas, or blast (blast, really?) damage. In short, I miss freezing fire.

 

When you combine the above with the release/nerf cycle, buggy as hell events, cartoony frames (Limbo in a tux, Mesa in leather jacket/pants but are still good frames if you can tolerate the toonishness), half-baked arcanes, Archwing (a nice diversion I guess??), the Ember Prime "fix" (not referring to the recent buff), and the ultimate betrayal... the removal of a mod-slot (for those of us that min/maxed a few builds on a single ability for extreme situations) I really do wonder why I helped to found it. I feel a bit burned.

 

There are directions in which WF has gone the right way but they are few. The Liset interface is good and worlds better than the original map. I do like the Syndicates even though there are issues with the rewards. The infested additions are just scary and awesome. But being able to mount only a primary, secondary, or melee weapon instead of requiring all three is probably the tops on my list. I know some players claim secondaries shouldn't be as powerful as primaries. Those players are wrong (this isn't COD).

 

The thing is... I look at my WF swag and don't feel the pride I once did. I feel sadness for the game we lost and what could've been. Perhaps it will yet find it's way.

[unknow99]

 

Vivergate is like yesterday you say? I just picked a random video of Viver, but never forget. :D

 

Yup, nevr 4git... I gotta admit that it was some really easy farming. If it was easy like this,I wouldn't feel as burned out as now (just finished the event & did void runs, and I won't touch Warframe for a few days,otherwise I'd be sick!)

 

 

I came in just after U7 but didn't really start playing daily until U8. At the time I thought it had the potential to be the most bad a$$ hack/slash run/gun game ever created.  The pace was fast (addictively fast), it was gritty, it was dark, and it was dirty. The art style really nailed the "space-ninja" theme for me. And it was fun. Bought in founder at Hunter Level and soon after Grand Master.

 

For me the game has lost it's way.  It's still fun but not fun like it used to be. The dark edge is gone.  Now we have space pirates, cowboys, stage magicians, birds (Flappy Zephyr... really?), goats, etc. and a more light-hearted atmosphere (bunny ears and mustaches). It's hard to call a game with bunny ears bad a$$.

 

It really fell apart with Damage 2.0. Don't get me wrong, damage needed to be fixed in a bad way. But armor scaling, then as now was/is the true culprit. Instead we got combined elements and reduced armor scaling. Base elemental frames like Volt, Ember, Saryn, and Frost were key frames in D1 but have major issues in D2 due to enemy resistances to single elements. It's almost always better to bring a combined element and the base elemental frames can't do that. About three weeks after D2 the clan I was in basically fell apart and started playing DOTA. That's when I stopped being a white-knight for the game and DE.

 

If you look at my profile it says my most used weapon is the Ignis. And it's true. I used it almost exclusively back then with a cold build (freezing fire as it was called). That for me was super fun. Spraying a contingent of Grineer with "freezing hell" always put a grin on my face. And that's gone now. There is currently no build on the Ignis that makes much sense. You get fire, radiation, gas, or blast (blast, really?) damage. In short, I miss freezing fire.

 

When you combine the above with the release/nerf cycle, buggy as hell events, cartoony frames (Limbo in a tux, Mesa in leather jacket/pants but are still good frames if you can tolerate the toonishness), half-baked arcanes, Archwing (a nice diversion I guess??), the Ember Prime "fix" (not referring to the recent buff), and the ultimate betrayal... the removal of a mod-slot (for those of us that min/maxed a few builds on a single ability for extreme situations) I really do wonder why I helped to found it. I feel a bit burned.

 

There are directions in which WF has gone the right way but they are few. The Liset interface is good and worlds better than the original map. I do like the Syndicates even though there are issues with the rewards. The infested additions are just scary and awesome. But being able to mount only a primary, secondary, or melee weapon instead of requiring all three is probably the tops on my list. I know some players claim secondaries shouldn't be as powerful as primaries. Those players are wrong (this isn't COD).

 

The thing is... I look at my WF swag and don't feel the pride I once did. I feel sadness for the game we lost and what could've been. Perhaps it will yet find it's way.

I am less pessimistic, but I share 60% of your feeling... I currently use more contrast to get that mood again,but it's not really the same.

I keep faith though : charge attacks are coming soon , so they may go back to their roots... :)

 

Hopefully your money will be well spent again!...

[VampirePirate]

 I feel sadness for the game we lost and what could've been. Perhaps it will yet find it's way.

Sorry but... I don't think it will find its way back.  Ever.

 

In general: I'm not saying the game is bad.  In fact it is bad-A, even still with all the goofiness and cartoonish humor.  Taking into consideration that I am a stronger player now than I was back in the dark-ol-days, the game overall tends to feel like one big joke.  I don't mean that as an insult.  I actually mean that as an observation.  In other words, it is apparent to me that the Devs are having a darn good (humorous) time building this game.  I am happy for them in this case because I respect and appreciate creativity.  Their joy for creating this game caused them to open up more to the player community, even to the point of applying ideas (and content) from players into the game.  In result, this game is far more popular than it ever was.  All of that said is positive and signifies business success, and I can't bash that at all.  I won't bash it.

 

However, I do feel this is not the same game anymore, considering the many things everyone mentioned in this thread already.  There is something missing from the original times, but I can't put my finger on it.  I do not feel as immersed as the older days.  I do not feel space ninja anymore, though it is obvious the devs abandoned that space-ninja concept to head in a different direction.  I think what we all are experiencing is lost not loss.  None of us actually knows or can figure out where this game is heading.  I guess what we feel is, what is the point of this game besides running and gunning and killing and using magic?  Yes, the game is still plenty of fun.  This is true.  But... is that all it is?  Shallowness verses depth perhaps.

 

I think with all things, when they become extremely popular, they lose quite a bit of their original spark.

[Gelkor]

[Echowing]

I feel that a lot of the memories of "dark" and "empty" feelings weren't because that was the design of the game.  Rather, the game felt that way because the game was literally empty.  When I started, there were very few enemy types, a single tileset, and less than 10 weapons to choose from.  The game felt empty and dark because it literally was dark, and there wasn't much content.  Personally, I think that the game didn't really have much of a vibe outside of "badass space ninjas" back then, and since then that vibe has only grown.

[Darkmoone1]

After giving it thought, I don't really miss what Warframe used to be. It was bare-bones to me. Melee, while it flowed between the guns nicely, felt stiff when attempting to use it by itself. The only boss that actually felt menacing was the Jackal and that had lost its appeal after hundreds of runs to obtain a new warframe. Other bosses like the J-3 Golem, old Sargus Ruk, and old Vay Hek were pathetic in how "boss-like" they were and were blown over like sand embracing wind when encountered(So glad they're redesigning these.)

 

Atmosphere, as nice as it was, was hampered down by the lack of environments of it's time. I can't stress how great it was when they introduced Phobos after the event they put out there. It was bright and beautiful with it's environment that brought a breathe of fresh air from all the DARKNESS Warframe originally had. It had different versions of enemies existed with indigenous creatures as well. To me, this felt like the future of Warframe. 

 

That is, a game that had a vast and expansive list of environments and locations to visit instead of being cramped into the same dark spaceship tile set all the time. When it wanted to it can be dark and dreary (Ceres for example), but it wasn't bounded by that one type of atmosphere because that shouldn't be what exploring a solar system should be. It can be bright, it can be twisted, and can be cold and hot and full of clouds and contain great variety. It's not held back by the dark and grittiness the game thought it needed and I'm glad DE realizes that. That's why I still play the game, because it has, in fact, gone past its nostalgic limitations to it can be something more than that.

 

 

I feel that a lot of the memories of "dark" and "empty" feelings weren't because that was the design of the game.  Rather, the game felt that way because the game was literally empty.  When I started, there were very few enemy types, a single tileset, and less than 10 weapons to choose from.  The game felt empty and dark because it literally was dark, and there wasn't much content.  Personally, I think that the game didn't really have much of a vibe outside of "badass space ninjas" back then, and since then that vibe has only grown.

 

Also, this.

Edited April 30, 2015 by Darkmoone1

[CY13ERPUNK]

+9999 OP

[FishNeedles]

Nostalgic opinion is the worst kind of opinion.

[Snydrex]

The "vibe" in Warframe is by far one of the most opinionated things to debate about in this game, period.

 

There have been many threads about this.

 

The OP addressed it in a much more peaceful way then most of the others did, I'd say.

 

 

 

But, I digress.

 

I'll just copy-paste something I said on a relevant thread.

Maybe Mynki's view of Warframe wasn't exactly his when he began designing, and he's refined his artistic style to the point where he can now whittle Warframe's designs into ones that he wanted the game to be like when he began.

 

The problem with this hypothesis is, people like you got used to and liked the previous "vibe" created from before the change.

 

It's a very understandable issue.

 

I personally feel that Warframe's artistic direction is headed the right way if the artist is doing what he wants to do.

[LtSprinkulz]

I actually kind of agree with this. I had a sort of Darkspore feel when I originally started playing. It was dark, gritty, but also had a lot of bright colors. You were directed by a questionably motivated lady-bot thing, there really wasn't a clear enemy, you just kind of dungeon crawled for loot and upgrades.

Now it has way too many neon colors, it's never hurt my eyes, but it distracts me pretty often. The directional shift from warframe collection to weapon, mod, and prime collection has gradually creeped it's way in. Nothing was locked behind paying money besides founders, now there's exclusive items from prime accessories.

The void added grind that the game honestly didn't need, as well as adding direct upgrade weapons that, again, really wasn't necessary.

The game's also taken on a predictable humor. Where the boss dialogue seemed really placeholder initially, it carried over to the reworked bosses and makes the game feel...silly. Captain Vor and General Ruk feel like the only serious characters outside of Lotus.

Where it used to be hijacking ships to steal, kill, and disable, it's turned into "join a team and make a 4 man meat grinder"

Dunno, but it does feel different to me now

[vaugahn]

For all of you people typing out big sad nostalgic essays: the game didn't change, you did.

[Hypernaut1]

I don't know, I felt WF had a rather generic "gritty teen shooter" vibe at first.

As a person with many games, I put WF on the back burner for a long time after first downloading it on steam release.

I honestly felt "cool looking ninjas, but generic grim dark gameplay." I put it down and didn't pick it up again until u15. The liset is actually what made me give it one more shot before uninstalling. It gave the game some personality that I felt it was lacking at first.

So yeah, I don't miss the "old vibe" much. Maybe as an experienced gamer, run of the mill grim dark didn't impress me as much and is usually used as a cover for bad gameplay/story. It's so easy to be angsty and bad @$$. It takes effort to build a unique universe

Edited April 30, 2015 by Hypernaut1

[MrPigman]

i think that the old feel of warframe (for me at least) was lost long ago. back at about u7 i liked doing things stealthy, and did my best not to take damage at all and i never really went rambo on things. my favorite frame was loki when i first started. 

 

so what changed? well, quite simply it was a combination of everything really. almost every aspect of warframe has been changed at some point.

i would love if we got the old vibe back but i just dont see that happening. 

i think a big contribution to the change of pace is actually the UI and the way that the story is presenting itself.

no longer do i feel like the tenno are a mostly secretive organization, now it seems like we're a notorious cult of warriors whos only solution to things is violence.

 

if we're gonna bring back the old vibes, enemies have to feel like a threat and not just a number to count up. so as a part of "the year of quality" DE is going to have to improve AI and enemy scaling a great deal. that is if they want the old vibe back.

[Casval_Rouge]

Honestly Warframe back when it was first unveiled was very unique.  I don't think that has changed, but having been playing this for 2 years now, I don't think i can even make an acceptable opinion on it anymore.  Whatever Warframe was doing, it was unique, now they feel normal, average.  And that's because I'm used to it.  None of the new Warframes gave the impact the old ones did. 

 

But the point is, to me the Warframe of old is lost and I'm no longer grabbed by whatever DE throw at me anymore.  All I care about are new mechanics, balancing (yea like that'll ever happen) and reworks.  I don't care about new boss designs (referring to their appearance not mechanics design) because they don't awe me anymore, that goes with weapons, Warframes, powers, tile sets, anything.  I'm not amazed anymore.  And I think all of this is because I've played this game for too long.  But I also partially blame DE because it is VERY frustrating to have to wait months and still don't see changes be made.  Whenever me and my friends talk about Warframe, all we talk about is grind sucks, balance Rofl, and "how is Warm Coat still a thing".  It became a running gag.  We talked about doing the Raid, but before we even knew the rewards would be, we've all made the guess that it will be absolutely not worth it.  We were right, again. 

Edited April 30, 2015 by Casval_Rouge

[-HAKUNA-YOUR-TATAS-]

 

Never forget... (ಥ﹏ಥ)

 

ZOMG...  The days of 100% status proc and ice fragging....  =(

 

I miss those times so much.

[Maruko_The_Chinchilla]

 

 Is this dark enough?

[Gammaion]

I completely agree. I miss the old music from the star chart. It is strange, the game is still the same game, yet feels completely different.

[Zarozian]

I disagree. I played Warframe quite a while ago when it was pretty barebones.

 

Now it feels almost the same, but better. There's more to it.

I only hold to such nostalgic feelings when the 'good old days' were actually better than today, like with Starcraft or something.

The Universe felt bigger when we still had that UI where we're a floating giant in space right?

[AdunSaveMe]

The Universe felt bigger when we still had that UI where we're a floating giant in space right?

Not really.

[TennoPain]

It went downhill somewhere around archwing ...playerbase is weird now ,,, but DE did fix a lot of stuff 

 

Game is not fun anymore because of so much grind and bad ideas thats my opinion.

[Sorez]

I do miss the old tone of the game, and whatever happened to all the fog in missions? You can clearly see fog pooling up on the floor in the gorgon video on the first page aswell.

 

And ofcourse the game feels more swarmy then it used to be, with a LOT more enemies.

 

The game feels more silly now, IMO, not as dark and claustrophobic as it used to be, which i personally prefer. Its still a great game, but it's just what I prefer more is all.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Sorez

[Petersheikah]

The sounds are fine for me. What I really missed is the dark/creepy look of the game. It had a whole different atmosphere.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Petersheikah

[unknow99]

 Is this dark enough?

Are you crazy or what?

 

Woooow, think about putting sunglasses next time...

 

Geez, people sometimes..._{They never miss an opportunity to blind you!...}