Farming: More Player Agency, Less Rng.

[goodgimp]

TL;DR: Too much reliance on RNG. Add a Clan trading system, specific locations for certain mods/items (similar to warframe Blueprints), or a Transmutation system to give the player some control in their progression.

*****

I've been thinking over some things in the game, especially after playing Update 8 for a little while, and while I don't have a problem with farming, I do think there needs to be more player control in what rewards they receive.

To use an example, I have about 180 hours into Warframe. I'm sure that's nowhere near to what some other people have, but I think we can agree that 180 hours is a good amount of time to spend on the game. During this time I've been trying to obtain a few things, namely certain mods that would be really useful to my builds. To this day, after 180+ hours, I've yet to find Focus or Stretch mods, despite checking out the Wiki and running piles of Defense missions, etc. My friend who I play coop with (has over 200 hours) found three Stretch mods and two Focus mods yesterday alone, yet he can't find Flow to save his life. Me? Stacks of them.

I see this problem only becoming worse with the release of Update 8. I think it's an awesome update, it's huge and has piles of new content. My problem is a lot of that content is gated behind that fickle RNG. So now while I'm still missing Focus and Stretch, there's now a bunch of other new mods (that I also want) in the drop table and in the reward system for Defense missions. On top of that, there's other needed items such as Void Keys etc that now are needed, further diluting the chance to get the mod I'm after. Meanwhile, I'm looking at my 214th Mind Control mod and gritting my teeth. :)

I think RNG is good when it's part of the equation, but not the entire equation. I'm a little frustrated that I've spent 180 hours trying to find a couple mods with no luck (while my friend is getting them in the same session, but unable to trade the excess to me!) and I could easily spend another 180 more, running the same missions, doing the same thing, with no control over just crossing my fingers and hoping I get the roll I want. I could (and did) buy a few Mod packs but guess what - RNG! And it hated me there too. :) I don't have a problem working towards a goal, in fact I really like it, but I want some control over this goal beyond the random number generator.

SOLUTIONS/IDEAS:

I think the player needs to have some way of directly or indirectly influencing what Mods they get.

-Perhaps some key Rare mods need to be more like Warframe blueprints, in that particular planets/missions/bosses specifically drop them. That way, since I know I need X, I have some agency over obtaining it. I head there and complete the task, similar to how Warframe blueprints work.

-Transmutation vendor/system: Each Mod would have a Transmutation cost, the rarer mods being more expensive. You could Transmute your looted mods towards it and eventually earn it. It would be similar to the Fusion system except you would be able to select your mod of choice to Transmute into, even if you didn't have it. Transmute enough mods and eventually you get the one you're looking for. It'll still take a lot of work, but now every mod you're finding is contributing to your goal.

-Allow some sort of trading between Clan members, so that my friends and I can trade extra mods that we find.

Still loving this game, but I think giving a little more control to the player instead of relying on a random roll would go a long ways to improving it for me.

Edited May 26, 2013 by goodgimp

[Xylia]

I haven't found any Flow, Stretch, or Focus mods.

 

Played Warframe yesterday for about 8-9 hours.

 

Zero Keys.

No Forma.

 

This ridiculous RNG on everything is likely going to be the #1 thing that kills the game for me. I'm trying to hang on praying they'll fix some of this with updates, but yeah.

 

When I run 5 Void Missions and get nothing but duplicate weapon blueprints, that's a bit 'meh'. 3 Latron Prime, and 2 Reaper Prime BPs. Wooo.

 

Inside the levels, the mods that were dropping were all normal mods I could get anywhere (seriously? Shouldn't the Void have a drastically increased chance of dropping rare mods considering you need a freaking key to even get into the place?).

 

Absolutely no Resources dropped despite the game claiming resources can in fact drop in there and we were actually exploring the rooms, looking for lockers, boxes, etc.