[Endgame Content Concept] Smuggler's Refuge || Version 7.0 || The Road to Completion, Part 1 - Help Wanted~!

[MissMarifire]

18 minutes ago, (PS4)warhero229 said:

Well, I just meant that we never see recreational activities in warframe, and we don't have the "seedy criminal underground" like you'd see in star wars or something. 

I just feel like the contracts thing sounds very similar to plains bounties.

I guess the reason I saw it as operator centric was precisely because it was a bar. I don't imagine that anyone else would be fully armored up and ready for battle in a bar, so why would warframes be walking around this area? The operators are young, sure, but still make more sense than a techno-organic war avatar hanging around in such a place. 

Although we don't see that sort of thing in-game doesn't mean it doesn't exist; we didn't know about any particularly major colonies until the Cetus and the Ostron were shown off at TennoCon earlier this year. Taking the opportunity to establish that would allow a greater expansion for lore; how such a thing works within the WARFRAME universe, what they do and how it impacts certain groups or factions, etc.. It's another layer of depth and storytelling that helps further shape WARFRAME beyond just what we see from the Tenno, Grineer, and Corpus at face value.

How should contracts be changed, to make them distinguishable from bounties? I'm actually quite curious as to how they can be reworked to be more unique.

What I meant about the operators is more of a concern related to how people would see it out of context, as it would imply underage drinking. I always thought that it'd make more sense for them to be using their Warframes at the Noxus, as they'd be seen as mercenaries looking for work from Zeribus rather than actual customers.

[(PSN)VoidVox_]

2 hours ago, MissMarifire said:

Although we don't see that sort of thing in-game doesn't mean it doesn't exist; we didn't know about any particularly major colonies until the Cetus and the Ostron were shown off at TennoCon earlier this year. Taking the opportunity to establish that would allow a greater expansion for lore; how such a thing works within the WARFRAME universe, what they do and how it impacts certain groups or factions, etc.. It's another layer of depth and storytelling that helps further shape WARFRAME beyond just what we see from the Tenno, Grineer, and Corpus at face value.

How should contracts be changed, to make them distinguishable from bounties? I'm actually quite curious as to how they can be reworked to be more unique.

What I meant about the operators is more of a concern related to how people would see it out of context, as it would imply underage drinking. I always thought that it'd make more sense for them to be using their Warframes at the Noxus, as they'd be seen as mercenaries looking for work from Zeribus rather than actual customers.

Yeah, I guess it's true that it can be added, it's just that it never struck me as the kind of universe to have such an aspect. Everything is so organized and militaristic, there isn't much room for rogue parties. That's my view anyway.

Personally, I feel like between sorties and bounties, we have enough of these randomized quick-run missions. I'd rather see something new. One-on-one solo combat between a player and a boss, or an endless, colosseum style arena with a variety of enemies to face and environmental hazards to avoid, some sort of archwing smuggler run where you grab and deliver items while evading enemy capture, etc. I just feel like there is potential for some crazy unique mission types if we are working for criminals.

I mean, could always take the sci-fi route and change it from alcohol to, idk, some sort of made up drink/smoke/vapor/injection/something. I mean if someone is going to go through the trouble of hassling warframe over teens in a space bar, then they'd probably make the same argument if it were teens controlling robots in a space bar (super simplified, but probably what it would be viewed as).

[MissMarifire]

Taking into consideration of suggestions on the thread and on Discord servers, I've attempted to take a relatively new approach to Contracts:

Contracts will have several different game modes: 

• Elimination Contracts: Locate and eliminate a field boss.
• Stock Sabotage Contracts: Enter a cargo ship of one of Zeribus's competitors, retrieve the access code for its storage vault, and destroy any and all merchandise. 
• Supply Extraction Contracts: Ambush a tradeship 
• Competitive Contracts: Represent the Noxus while racing against other smugglers in an illicit betting racecourse.

Elimination is similar in vein to Assassination, albeit more steps will need to be taken to encounter the boss instead of a swift go-in, kill them, and leave. Players must go in, complete up to three tasks to lure out or find the target, and eliminate them.

Here is the current list of drafted bosses, including ones already encountered in-game and complete with specific lines for each field boss. They were created with the idea of field bosses in mind- bosses that aren't as complex as full-blown bosses across the system, but they have their own gimmicks that make them unique and challenging.

Grineer Targets:

Spoiler

 

Quote

“The B.I.K’s a real bi-pain in my rear, Tenno. Do me a favor and pop that overembellished balloon, would you?”

B.I.K: What appears to be a regular Grineer regulator, the Bik is a prototype regulator under Vay Hek. Large in size and heavily armored, it buffs nearby enemies to an even greater extremity than its smaller-sized counterparts, killing anyone foolish enough to run towards it. The number of allies it has around it increases the armor that the B.I.K. has.

Quote

“Oh, this little brat? She’s a complete fangirl for Kela. Show her how it feels to lose, Tenno.“

Cee’ta Kroot: A Grineer Arid eviscerator equipped with a modified Miter. She admires Kela de Thayme, having her own compact Zeplen to entrap her foes in her own personal “arena”.

Quote

“Drulok… I remember getting my &#! bitten too many times by those mutts of his. I need you to put them down.”

Drulok: A high-ranking Kuva Drahk master, in charge with breeding the Twin Queen’s Royal Drahks. They are accompanied with Kohma and Gohma, their prized couple of genetically modified Drahks. Massive in size and strength, these bloodhounds can easily double their enemies.

Quote

“Gorg’s a funny one. He built himself a little tank, thinking he’s invincible with it. Surely, it can’t be invincible to a Tenno, can it?”

Gorg: A Grineer Space Marine colonel who quickly climbed through their ranks through antics that go beyond their superior’s orders, they terrorize colonies in the name of the Twin Queens with the Jotun, a single-person crawler tank they personally created using a mining vehicle, duct tape, and a lot of Tonkors. The Jotun is a symbol of Grineer ingenuity and a testament to their engineering. 

Quote

“Oh, stars…  Reevult. He seems to find sabotaging my allys’ supplies funny.”
“Well, I think he has a crappy sense of humor. Seeing him die a painful death, now that would certainly make for a very, very funny joke.”

Reevult: A Grineer Nox who doubles as a marvel in chemical weaponization, he is the creator of the Flurok, a corrosive Grineer primary weapon standardized for Nox units. He carries an even more volatile version of the Flurok, made to not only to corrode armor, but to freeze enemies in their place.

Quote

“Ah, Vay Hek’s little mutts, toying around with my mercenaries. Tell ‘em play time’s over, Tenno.”

Sprag & Ven’kra Tel: Self explanatory.

Quote

“Spork’s an odd sort, that’s for sure. He a Drekar, yet he loves electrical weapons. And he sure loves frying my mercs, too.”
“Could you do ol’ Ved a favor and teach him what happens when water meets electricity?”

Spork: A Grineer Drekar Spark unit with an affinity for all things electrical. To fend for themself, Spork raises an electrical field around them that zaps anyone who passed through it with electrical damage and procs.

 

Corpus Targets: 

Spoiler

 

Quote

“Oh, this little runt. I remember my boy Darvo telling me about how Tiron would beat him up as a kid. Mind giving this little bully a wake-up call?”

Tiron Hexor: The prodigal son of Dehl Hexor, the Board of Directors’ Head of Militarized Sciences. He slips away from his typical duties in an attempt to “play hero”, namely interfering with smuggler operations. As his father fears for his son’s livelihood, he is often defended by a quartet of lower-ranking Avosi soldiers.

Quote

“Vendahl Deht has been giving my niece some trouble. He’s got something that she wants, and the greedy bastard isn’t willing to give it up no matter how much money the poor girl gives him: The Giant Mobile Offensive Armature.”
“Also known as a really, really big MOA. l This’ll surely be a fun fight for you, Tenno.”

Vendahl Deht and G-MOA: A massive prototype manned MOA model, it was decommissioned by the Board of Directors after proving too costly. It is now the playtoy of Vendahl Deht, the Board of Directors’ Head of Mechanical Warfare. In order to operate at 100% efficiency, a crewman must be present inside of the MOA’s cockpit at all times.

Quote

“Lin Myet’s seduced and killed too many of my mercenaries. Unluckily for her, however, my libido is next to none, and you’re an unfeeling killer.”

Lin Myet: A Corpus assassin, built for stealth. Like the Grineer Manics, she has the ability to cloak herself to avoid being seen. She is equipped with her own personal Lanka for long-range fights and Lecta for close-range.

Quote

“Jiyaan and his goons are nothing but trouble. Send those heaps of scrap they call “Hyenas” to the scrapyard.”

Jiyaan Praan, Darr Mono and Reno Triox: An engineering prodigy, he is the creator of the Readily Interfacable Driving and Riding Augment, or RIDR augment, for the Hyena Pack after Alad V’s departure. He has his own personal Hyena model, Hyena Rn, complete with radiation capabilities. He is accompanied by his friends Darr Mono and Reno Triox, who are equipped with magnetic-based Hyena Co and corrosive-based Hyena HSO respectively. They are encountered solo on lower levels, and all together on higher levels.

 

Other Targets:

Spoiler

 

Quote

“Been hearing from my connections over on Earth that this Ostron clod’s been makin’ their job harder. Apparently they’ve been killing civilians, too. You ready to go vigilante, Tenno?”

Kwana: An Ostron convict notorious for their chain of murders across Cetus. With their swift movements and diverse arsenal of Zaws, they are an unpredictable enemy on the field. Can only be encountered on the Plains of Eidolon.

Quote

“You ready to chop up some Infested? Good, because there’s a pile of infested that’s terrorizing my stockpiles. Mind cleaning it up for me, Tenno?”

Hermor: Once a Corpus elite, his fascination with continuing what Alad V had began without precaution has twisted him, turning him into an Infested abomination. Merged with other Infested thralls, he is a disgusting, volatile beast.

 

Stock Sabotage works similarly to regular Sabotage missions. Players must enter a cargo ship or location, retrieve an access code through hacking data vaults located on-location, enter the storage vault and destroy any and all merchandise located inside.

The methods that players may sabotage this merchandise is dependent on the types of merchandise being held in the storage vault

Spoiler

Alcohol: Legal and illegal beverages, held in vats.

• Locate ship coolant elsewhere on-location and pour the coolant into the vats of alcohol, turning it into a noxious liquid. The chemical reaction will cause the air to be thick with toxic chemicals, chipping away at player health at an increasing rate.
• Destroy the vats themselves, causing the alcohol to flood the storage vault and eventually the location. This will cause players to enter archwing mode similarly to that of the Sabotage missions using the Grineer Sealab tileset or the latter stages of the Tyl Regor assassination.

Armor and Weapons: Munitions that are tagged with security codes.

• Zeribus will supply a highly corrosive chemical on-location that players may take and pour on the armor and weapons, causing them to degrade quickly. Handling this chemical will corrode the armor of all the Warframes used in the squad.
  • If the canister of chemical is destroyed before applied, it will still corrode armor
• Players may destroy the crates of armor and weaponry themselves. This will trigger the security codes, forcing a location-wide lockdown and for Bursas to spawn at a frequent rate.

Food: Space rations.

• Zeribus may supply the squad with a canister of water. Ruining the food using water will anger the crew onboard, increasing the spawnrate of enemies by 2.
  • (Rare) Instead of water, Zeribus may send the following instead:
    • Mayonnaise
    • Salt in Sugar Packets and Sugar in Salt Packets
    • A glob of Infested tissue.
• Alternatively, if Saryn, Nidus, or Oberon is used within the squad, simply using one of their abilities will infect the food with toxic spores, Infested tissue, or the food will become irradiated respectively.

Supply Extraction is an alternative to Stock Sabotage and is similar in nature to Defection missions. Instead of sabotaging the merchandise, players will assist in stealing the merchandise. Once players have retrieved the access codes, Zeribus will deploy extraction squads that players must escort to the storage vault. Players will then have to defend these extraction squads while they are withdrawing the merchandise and bringing them to extraction. Once the merchandise has been depleted to 0%, players may extract. If five or more members of the extraction squads are killed, the mission will fail.

Edited November 6, 2017 by MissMarifire

[Unus]

16 hours ago, MissMarifire said:

Taking into consideration of suggestions on the thread and on Discord servers, I've attempted to take a relatively new approach to Contracts:

Contracts will have several different game modes: 

• Elimination Contracts: Locate and eliminate a field boss.
• Stock Sabotage Contracts: Enter a cargo ship of one of Zeribus's competitors, retrieve the access code for its storage vault, and destroy any and all merchandise. 
• Supply Extraction Contracts: Ambush a tradeship 
• Competitive Contracts: Represent the Noxus while racing against other smugglers in an illicit betting racecourse.

Elimination is similar in vein to Assassination, albeit more steps will need to be taken to encounter the boss instead of a swift go-in, kill them, and leave. Players must go in, complete up to three tasks to lure out or find the target, and eliminate them.

Here is the current list of drafted bosses, including ones already encountered in-game and complete with specific lines for each field boss. They were created with the idea of field bosses in mind- bosses that aren't as complex as full-blown bosses across the system, but they have their own gimmicks that make them unique and challenging.

Grineer Targets:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

B.I.K: What appears to be a regular Grineer regulator, the Bik is a prototype regulator under Vay Hek. Large in size and heavily armored, it buffs nearby enemies to an even greater extremity than its smaller-sized counterparts, killing anyone foolish enough to run towards it. The number of allies it has around it increases the armor that the B.I.K. has.

Cee’ta Kroot: A Grineer Arid eviscerator equipped with a modified Miter. She admires Kela de Thayme, having her own compact Zeplen to entrap her foes in her own personal “arena”.

Drulok: A high-ranking Kuva Drahk master, in charge with breeding the Twin Queen’s Royal Drahks. They are accompanied with Kohma and Gohma, their prized couple of genetically modified Drahks. Massive in size and strength, these bloodhounds can easily double their enemies.

Gorg: A Grineer Space Marine colonel who quickly climbed through their ranks through antics that go beyond their superior’s orders, they terrorize colonies in the name of the Twin Queens with the Jotun, a single-person crawler tank they personally created using a mining vehicle, duct tape, and a lot of Tonkors. The Jotun is a symbol of Grineer ingenuity and a testament to their engineering. 

Reevult: A Grineer Nox who doubles as a marvel in chemical weaponization, he is the creator of the Flurok, a corrosive Grineer primary weapon standardized for Nox units. He carries an even more volatile version of the Flurok, made to not only to corrode armor, but to freeze enemies in their place.

Sprag & Ven’kra Tel: Self explanatory.

Spork: A Grineer Drekar Spark unit with an affinity for all things electrical. To fend for themself, Spork raises an electrical field around them that zaps anyone who passed through it with electrical damage and procs.

 

Corpus Targets: 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Tiron Hexor: The prodigal son of Dehl Hexor, the Board of Directors’ Head of Militarized Sciences. He slips away from his typical duties in an attempt to “play hero”, namely interfering with smuggler operations. As his father fears for his son’s livelihood, he is often defended by a quartet of lower-ranking Avosi soldiers.

Vendahl Deht and G-MOA: A massive prototype manned MOA model, it was decommissioned by the Board of Directors after proving too costly. It is now the playtoy of Vendahl Deht, the Board of Directors’ Head of Mechanical Warfare. In order to operate at 100% efficiency, a crewman must be present inside of the MOA’s cockpit at all times.

Lin Myet: A Corpus assassin, built for stealth. Like the Grineer Manics, she has the ability to cloak herself to avoid being seen. She is equipped with her own personal Lanka for long-range fights and Lecta for close-range.

Jiyaan Praan, Darr Mono and Reno Triox: An engineering prodigy, he is the creator of the Readily Interfacable Driving and Riding Augment, or RIDR augment, for the Hyena Pack after Alad V’s departure. He has his own personal Hyena model, Hyena Rn, complete with radiation capabilities. He is accompanied by his friends Darr Mono and Reno Triox, who are equipped with magnetic-based Hyena Co and corrosive-based Hyena HSO respectively. They are encountered solo on lower levels, and all together on higher levels.

 

Other Targets:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Kwana: An Ostron convict notorious for their chain of murders across Cetus. With their swift movements and diverse arsenal of Zaws, they are an unpredictable enemy on the field. Can only be encountered on the Plains of Eidolon.

Hermor: Once a Corpus elite, his fascination with continuing what Alad V had began without precaution has twisted him, turning him into an Infested abomination. Merged with other Infested thralls, he is a disgusting, volatile beast.

 

Stock Sabotage works similarly to regular Sabotage missions. Players must enter a cargo ship or location, retrieve an access code through hacking data vaults located on-location, enter the storage vault and destroy any and all merchandise located inside.

The methods that players may sabotage this merchandise is dependent on the types of merchandise being held in the storage vault

  Reveal hidden contents

Alcohol: Legal and illegal beverages, held in vats.

• Locate ship coolant elsewhere on-location and pour the coolant into the vats of alcohol, turning it into a noxious liquid. The chemical reaction will cause the air to be thick with toxic chemicals, chipping away at player health at an increasing rate.
• Destroy the vats themselves, causing the alcohol to flood the storage vault and eventually the location. This will cause players to enter archwing mode similarly to that of the Sabotage missions using the Grineer Sealab tileset or the latter stages of the Tyl Regor assassination.

Armor and Weapons: Munitions that are tagged with security codes.

• Zeribus will supply a highly corrosive chemical on-location that players may take and pour on the armor and weapons, causing them to degrade quickly. Handling this chemical will corrode the armor of all the Warframes used in the squad.
  • If the canister of chemical is destroyed before applied, it will still corrode armor
• Players may destroy the crates of armor and weaponry themselves. This will trigger the security codes, forcing a location-wide lockdown and for Bursas to spawn at a frequent rate.

Food: Space rations.

• Zeribus may supply the squad with a canister of water. Ruining the food using water will anger the crew onboard, increasing the spawnrate of enemies by 2.
  • (Rare) Instead of water, Zeribus may send the following instead:
    • Mayonnaise
    • Salt in Sugar Packets and Sugar in Salt Packets
    • A glob of Infested tissue.
• Alternatively, if Saryn, Nidus, or Oberon is used within the squad, simply using one of their abilities will infect the food with toxic spores, Infested tissue, or the food will become irradiated respectively.

Supply Extraction is an alternative to Stock Sabotage and is similar in nature to Defection missions. Instead of sabotaging the merchandise, players will assist in stealing the merchandise. Once players have retrieved the access codes, Zeribus will deploy extraction squads that players must escort to the storage vault. Players will then have to defend these extraction squads while they are withdrawing the merchandise and bringing them to extraction. Once the merchandise has been depleted to 0%, players may extract. If five or more members of the extraction squads are killed, the mission will fail.

Ah, so elimination runs in the same vein as the hits we got on the Plains eh? No big problems there.

AH, I think I see where they fit on the scale! It goes Grunts->Eximi->Capture Targets-> Your Mooks-> Bosses-> Raid Horrors.

 

Interesting, even more variety then the standard sabotage approach. Like what I'm seeing so far.

 

Ah, a more nefarious version of Defection, I see. No doubt filled with grumbling minions lamenting their bosses aftershave or their low pay-grades throughout.

 

For some reason, I can't help but imagine his boys dressed in anything but garish jumpsuits. In addition, I can't help but feel like every time he shows up in a transmission, there's at least a 3 minute delay of him adjusting his tie before speaking.

 

Overall? Good direction of variety so far with the old bloke. Seems like we're both hitting big expansion bits in recent times, me with the "Death-Fishing" and you with. . . hmmm. . . aha, "Zeribuses Big Black Book of To-Dos".

 

 

[MissMarifire]

On 11/6/2017 at 11:03 AM, Unus said:

Ah, so elimination runs in the same vein as the hits we got on the Plains eh? No big problems there.

AH, I think I see where they fit on the scale! It goes Grunts->Eximi->Capture Targets-> Your Mooks-> Bosses-> Raid Horrors.

Interesting, even more variety then the standard sabotage approach. Like what I'm seeing so far.

Ah, a more nefarious version of Defection, I see. No doubt filled with grumbling minions lamenting their bosses aftershave or their low pay-grades throughout.

For some reason, I can't help but imagine his boys dressed in anything but garish jumpsuits. In addition, I can't help but feel like every time he shows up in a transmission, there's at least a 3 minute delay of him adjusting his tie before speaking.

Overall? Good direction of variety so far with the old bloke. Seems like we're both hitting big expansion bits in recent times, me with the "Death-Fishing" and you with. . . hmmm. . . aha, "Zeribuses Big Black Book of To-Dos".

Likewise from before, however, I do worry a bit that these Contracts would be too much like the Bounties, or other mission types (ex. Rathuum or Index).

While talking with a friend of mine, he reminded me of the conceptual large-scale Tenno ships, and he brought up the idea of incorporating those ships (albeit iirc DE had the intent upon using these for the Kingpin system? My memory's a bit foggy), or even just our landing crafts (Liset, Mantis, Xiphos, Scimitar, etc..) as part of Supply Extraction Contracts, sort of turning these missions into a Payday-like heist where we ourselves have to break into the vaults and take what we can to extraction under a time limit. There could be a required amount of items that need to be extracted before this time limit runs out, failing the mission if the squad of players doesn't reach the required amount in time and giving a bonus to the squad should they extract additional items from the vault.

As a little side thing, I've been toying around with little bonuses players can receive for doing the optional quests that the Noxus has, namely:

• Completing The Noxus gives players a permanent additional +10% vacuum range. (In other words, an extra 1.15m w/ a sentinel I think... it's not much)
• Completing The Avos Venture nets players a bonus 5% off on Darvo Deals (up to 95%).
• Completing Perfect Imperfections will allow players to have a 5% chance to regain health upon lethal attacks.
• Completing whatever the Ostron Band's quest will be will give players a 5% chance to collect extra resources while on the Plains. This includes fishing and mining, and resources gained from this chance stacks with boosters, Smeeta's Charm, etc..

In other words, they're bonuses that players won't miss out too much on if they choose not to do the quests, but are nice to have. In turn, however, these quests will be more difficult to trigger and complete, and will require much more from players before receiving the quest.

[Navarc]

3 hours ago, MissMarifire said:

Likewise from before, however, I do worry a bit that these Contracts would be too much like the Bounties, or other mission types (ex. Rathuum or Index).

While talking with a friend of mine, he reminded me of the conceptual large-scale Tenno ships, and he brought up the idea of incorporating those ships (albeit iirc DE had the intent upon using these for the Kingpin system? My memory's a bit foggy), or even just our landing crafts (Liset, Mantis, Xiphos, Scimitar, etc..) as part of Supply Extraction Contracts, sort of turning these missions into a Payday-like heist where we ourselves have to break into the vaults and take what we can to extraction under a time limit. There could be a required amount of items that need to be extracted before this time limit runs out, failing the mission if the squad of players doesn't reach the required amount in time and giving a bonus to the squad should they extract additional items from the vault.

As a little side thing, I've been toying around with little bonuses players can receive for doing the optional quests that the Noxus has, namely:

• Completing The Noxus gives players a permanent additional +10% vacuum range. (In other words, an extra 1.15m w/ a sentinel I think... it's not much)
• Completing The Avos Venture nets players a bonus 5% off on Darvo Deals (up to 95%).
• Completing Perfect Imperfections will allow players to have a 5% chance to regain health upon lethal attacks.
• Completing whatever the Ostron Band's quest will be will give players a 5% chance to collect extra resources while on the Plains. This includes fishing and mining, and resources gained from this chance stacks with boosters, Smeeta's Charm, etc..

In other words, they're bonuses that players won't miss out too much on if they choose not to do the quests, but are nice to have. In turn, however, these quests will be more difficult to trigger and complete, and will require much more from players before receiving the quest.

4

Would that vacuum range be able to be toggled?

[MissMarifire]

8 hours ago, Navarchus said:

Would that vacuum range be able to be toggled?

I don't know. Whatever DE would choose, probably. 

Considering how most people use vacuum, I don't see any reason why it should. It'd be a permanent range boost, there's no reason why it'd need to be turned off.

Edited November 8, 2017 by MissMarifire

[Navarc]

1 hour ago, MissMarifire said:

I don't know. Whatever DE would choose, probably. 

Considering how most people use vacuum, I don't see any reason why it should. It'd be a permanent range boost, there's no reason why it'd need to be turned off.

I'd probably have to just not do this content, if it would be added if that's the case.

[Ahrtimmer]

I'm afraid you'll have to forgive me if I missed something, I haven't gone through all the comments yet.

I love the concept here, and the design behind it is great. I just have one thing I'm stuck on.

Are contracts once per day or repeatable content?

I'm all for daily content and all, it's the best thing to get people logging it. I just tend to think that Warframe is more in need of repeatable long term projects in it's endgame. As of right now we have Login, Sortie, Raid, Syndicate, Ducats, Eidolon, Logout. And each step is optional if you feel you don't need the reward for doing so.

It might just be me, but I think that what endgame really needs is long term project content. The sort of thing that you could spend all day on and while you would see progress, you wouldn't see the end.

Do you have any thoughts on how the Noxus could provide that for me?

[MissMarifire]

1 minute ago, Ahrtimmer said:

I'm afraid you'll have to forgive me if I missed something, I haven't gone through all the comments yet.

I love the concept here, and the design behind it is great. I just have one thing I'm stuck on.

Are contracts once per day or repeatable content?

I'm all for daily content and all, it's the best thing to get people logging it. I just tend to think that Warframe is more in need of repeatable long term projects in it's endgame. As of right now we have Login, Sortie, Raid, Syndicate, Ducats, Eidolon, Logout. And each step is optional if you feel you don't need the reward for doing so.

It might just be me, but I think that what endgame really needs is long term project content. The sort of thing that you could spend all day on and while you would see progress, you wouldn't see the end.

Do you have any thoughts on how the Noxus could provide that for me?

I'm glad you like the concept! It's a bit of a passion project of mine and it's a bit near and dear to my heart. Admittedly, I've been having a tough time with trying to further develop it recently, but posts like this really do help my brain going in terms of brainstorming and further developing the concept. So, thank you for helping me out a bit!

I definitely agree with you on having more repeatable, ongoing endgame content. We need something that can keep us end-game players going instead of the usual hop on, finish our things and hop out sort of thing that we have now. The Noxus could potentially be one of the many endgame content choices that could fill that role, despite the Noxus not being open world. Rather, my intention was focusing more on the closed-in tilesets we are very familiar of currently and taking a fresh new twist to them, what with our less-than-honorable friends by our side. In a way, I saw the Contracts are meant to be an expansion of the "Help Clem" mission that we get from Darvo, to a much more varied degree.

While I initially intended upon it being once per day when I introduced Contracts to the concept (When they were first drafted, I had based these Contracts off of Sorties, both by the way they work and the actual level of difficulty they would have), it is a necessity to implement a system that's focused more on keeping players going with the content at hand. Some of the current approaches I have include:

• I've been toying around with the idea of having Contracts be repeatable and expanding the number of contracts to five (perhaps more?) at a time instead of three, working in a similar vein to that of Bounties. I've been playing around with another idea involving having the mission modifiers be randomized before players attempt the Contract, putting emphasis on readying players for anything that the mission throws at them.
• In addition, I've had plans for there to be collectible/scannable items alike that of Kuria, Cephalon Fragments, or 1000 Year Old Fish that'd hint on lore about Zeribus, the Noxus, each of the band leaders, some of the places that the Noxus visits, etc., although I'd like to try to figure out something more creative with collecting these bits of lore in the future besides simply scanning them.

However, that does get me wondering: Does the Noxus reimburse its lack of content in comparison to that of more open-world based sections of the game through what we have currently and planned? If not, what could be introduced to the Noxus that could allow end-game players to be more interested and invested into it?

The reason I wonder about this is because I've always worried that Contracts wouldn't be enough to keep players coming, even if they were varied in such a way. I fear that this sort of thing would become too repetitive (along with what I fear alongside this: without enough reward for completing these missions), and I'm not too sure how to tackle overcoming this. Introducing the various "smuggling" or ~general illicit activity~-based missions with Contracts like I've done recently as a drafted part of the concept could help, but I don't know how much.

[MissMarifire]

7.0's now in the works. Here's the current document; note that much of the current content written is subject to change.

What I'm saying is, Nef Anyo's elite space racing team will not be called the bois™ once the document's complete.

[(PSN)Tomplexthis]

Bar for Emo Goth Teen Psychic Raging Kids?

 

Thought the drinking age was 21?

Edited November 30, 2017 by (PS4)Tomplexthis

[MissMarifire]

2 hours ago, (PS4)Tomplexthis said:

Bar for Emo Goth Teen Psychic Raging Kids?

 

Thought the drinking age was 21?

Although it does take place in a bar, the Tenno are there for missions, not alcohol. The Tenno can stretch their Warframe's legs out, but beyond that, no space beer for our local edgelords.

Zeribus may be a criminal, but even he has standards.

[Unus]

11 minutes ago, MissMarifire said:

Although it does take place in a bar, the Tenno are there for missions, not alcohol. The Tenno can stretch their Warframe's legs out, but beyond that, no space beer for our local edgelords.

Zeribus may be a criminal, but even he has standards.

"Now what do I look like? Some kinda petty street thug? Blokes gotta stay in business and, grogging up Tenno? Hehe, blokes bound to find hisself outta a job, a fortune, and a few limbs if he tries that one. Try the She-Leah Chapel though. Sfruity, puts a pep in your step, an it comes with a lil autoadjust umbrella. Careful now, ya break it, ya buy a crate of em!"(hearty laugh before a sudden drop-dead serious whisper) "Seriously, I can't get rid of these pieces of crap fast enough."

 

 

[Z0M8Y]

now THIS is one heckuva solid idea!

[MissMarifire]

A notable addition to v7 has been added: Resource Rendezvous.

In addition to Contracts, players also have the ability to trade resources and credits with Zeribus for cosmetics, similar in vein to Flight Rising’s Swipp’s Swap Stand. Every day, he will offer up to three offers at a time, these offers changing every 12 hours. To prevent abuse, players may only complete each offer once during its cycle.

He will offer any and all cosmetics, including color palettes, additional accessories for Deluxe collections, and retired cosmetics (ex. Rakta Syandana and Harkonar Wraith), and excluding Prime Access accessories and standing-exclusive cosmetics (Syndicate syandanas, cosmetics provided by the Ostron, the Quills, or the Noxus as a faction). Armor is divided into parts: for example, he may have an offer for the Harkonar Chest Piece or the Eos Left Spur. In addition, Zeribus may also have a chance to carry boosters. 

He will also have the following available for Resource Rendezvous:

• Boosters + Amenities: 
  • 12-hour Affinity Booster
  • 12-hour Credit Booster
  • 12-hour Resource Booster
  • 12-hour Resource Drop Chance Booster
  • Foundry Rush Ticket: Rushes a single item in the Foundry for free. Untradable.
  • Warframe Slot
  • Weapon Slot
• Syandanas:
  • Capella Syandana
  • Citadella Syandana
  • Cycuta Syandana
  • Misa Syandana
  • Sukira Syandana
• Armor Sets (In Pieces):
  • Acanthus Armor Set
  • Targis Armor Set
  • Spritsail Armor Set
• Sigils:
  • Cycuta Sigil
  • Verlorum Sigil
• Pet Armors:
  • Kavasa Collar
  • Kavasa Armor
• Sentinel Armors (In Pieces):
  • Summus Armor Set
  • Unda Armor Set
• Color Palettes:
  • Resource Color Palette
• Auxillary:
  • Moustaches?
     

[MissMarifire]

A general overview of some of the new or revised content being worked on for V7.0; more information can be found on the concept document. Please note that the concept document is still unfinished and much is subject to change.

Contracts Revised: A look over at how Contracts work and changes made in light of the Plains of Eidolon's bounties.

Spoiler

Don't fix what isn't broken; Zeribus's Contracts will now adopt a system similar to Bounties.

These Contracts involve a variety of different multi-stage missions, such as elaborate sabotages, assassinations, escorts and heists. 

Contracts will provide a variety of different rewards, such as veiled Rivens, Arcanes and vaulted relics. 

Grofit Grotto Minigames: A break from the typical run of missions, with a slew of various minigames.

Spoiler

The Grofit Grotto has various minigames for players to play, such as:

• Flash Fishing: Test your skills with fishing under a time limit!
• Mass Mining: Mine for ores, and protect them from other players!
• The Hunt: Hunt down the prey of the system and compete to become the best hunter!
• Archwing Racing: Race against other players using your Archwing!

Walker Companion: Adopt your own modified MOA or Bursa to help fight!

Spoiler

Through the help of Zeribus's niece, Varmia, you too can have a part of the Corpus arsenal in your own!

The Walker companion can:

• Run on Power Capacity, eliminating the need to use DNA stabilizers. Just pop 'em onto a charging dock and you're good!
• Collect resources for players.
• Attack enemies from both up close and afar!

There are two different Walker companions for players to use: 

MOA: Standard Corpus proxies. They can be modified to have different kinds of weaponry, stomp on the ground a lot, carry deployable Ospreys, or even simply crudely duct tape weapons onto their foreheads. It's like duct taping knives onto roombas, except instead of hovering around, they just waddle furiously.

The default MOA isn't as hardy as the Bursa, but is significantly faster.

Bursa: Heavily built Corpus machines, made for defense. Like their very angry counterparts, they can be modified for zone control, denial, heavy artillery, or to just generally be really mean to the enemy units. While they are far more structurally sound and can hit significantly harder than your typical MOA, Bursa Companions drain energy faster, move much more slowly and have a chance to be turned against the player when downed, should an enemy approach a player's Bursa companion quickly enough. Player Bursas that have turned against their owners can be killed, however they will not drop anything.

I hope to eventually introduce at least one more major content addition to the concept, just been rather busy lately and my creativity's ran dry.

[MissMarifire]

Some ideas that may potentially be added to V7.0, in light of the latest Devstream:

Music from the Noxus can be accessed within the Somachord. Some songs can be accessed by default upon completing Another Favor For Darvo; others can be bought from each musician respectively or found through scanning music fragments while completing Contracts. Like with the rest of the music that can be accessed through the Somachord, each song will require four music fragments. 

In addition, players will be given the option to change their hologram on the Somachord from Octavia to one of the musicians, given that they complete their personal quests (The Avos Venture, Perfect Imperfections, etc.).

Players will be able to purchase Noxus-centric Vignettes (The massive empty area in the middle of the Personal Quarters) from Varmia Del in her Rank 5 inventory.

A fan weapon has been considered for the concept; potential contexts for this fan weapon include the specialized weapon of the extremely agile Avosi Aquila units that are currently in the ideas document (and as such, its blueprint will have a rare chance of dropping from them), or the hidden weapons of self defense for the Orokin-era dancers and entertainers.

[MissMarifire]

Made some fancy headers! They're located in the preliminary document.

Also: The Noxus (as a concept name) has been changed to Smuggler's Refuge. 

[MissMarifire]

With the newest update, I've made some very rough drafts for the Corpus Warfan, the Tessox. It is based on the Japanese Tessen, warfans that were made to trick others into believing that it was a harmless folding fan.

It is a crit-based Warfan.

"Crafted to be assumed as a mere holographic fan used in luxury by wealthy Corpus, this deadly Avosi warfan deceives even the most sly of attackers."

It is the weapon of choice for the Avosi Aquila, the Avosi's most mobile basic units. The blueprint for this weapon may either be:

• A major reward for Contracts.
• Drops from the Avosi Aquila.

Should story or mechanics require it, it is also Faus's weapon of choice, complete with an alternative unique Tessox Prospera skin as a reflection of her previous rank within the Avos. It can be purchased from Faus within her Rank 4 merchandise, after having completed The Avos Venture.

"This heavy, gilded Warfan is bestowed upon an auspicious Archsister ascending from the Avosi Aquila. It is imbued with a particularly fortunate aura."

The Tessox Prospera skin adds an additional Critical Chance, while decreasing Attack Speed.

In addition, this weapon comes with Maestro Matrix, a Warfan stance. Inspired by Tempo Royale, this wide-reaching stance allows players to cover a 360 degree area with their attacks. AKA Slicing Feathers is very claustrophobic for me and there's a whole lotta wiggle room it could be using.

Lorewise, its movements are reminiscent of that to the historical Orokin dances, now performed by the Avosi Aquila (and to that extent, the Archsisters) in the audience of the high and mighty of the Corpus, most especially the Corpus Board of Directors. These performances are extremely exclusive, for performances by the Archsisters themselves even moreso; to be invited as a potential patron (all while charging fees, of course; this is the Corpus we're talking about) is among one of the many symbols of wealth and power within the Corpus.

Edited December 25, 2017 by MissMarifire

[MissMarifire]

Beginning work on some fancy graphics for Smuggler's Refuge. The art in the current graphic is a work-in-progress.

Note that these graphics will be made specifically for displaying the concept; the concept document will still be almost entirely text.

Edited December 30, 2017 by MissMarifire

[MissMarifire]

My tablet cord decided to smolder and almost caught on fire. Oof.

So for now, all art and whatnot's been temporarily put on hold for until I'm able to get a new cord. It'll hopefully not be too long. Sadly this might mean I won't be able to get the two year anniversary piece out in time...

Anyway, I've been drafting up a major addition to Smuggler's Refuge: Ventures, an even more difficult form of Contracts. They can be accessed once players attain a standing of Rank 3 or higher within the Noxus.

Inspired by GTA V/Online's Heists (I've been playing it recently with some friends, it's fun!), Ventures are a raid/trial-like gamemode where players must plan out and perform various tasks for large-scale missions, such as stealing Grineer bioweapons or robbing Nef Anyo's credit vaults. Akin to the Index, players must each "invest" a certain number of credits to begin the Venture. At the end of the Venture, players may vote upon what to do with their ill-gotten gains: give it to the Lotus/the Tenno/another faction, give it to Zeribus, or to keep it for yourself.

[Unus]

11 hours ago, MissMarifire said:

My tablet cord decided to smolder and almost caught on fire. Oof.

So for now, all art and whatnot's been temporarily put on hold for until I'm able to get a new cord. It'll hopefully not be too long. Sadly this might mean I won't be able to get the two year anniversary piece out in time...

Anyway, I've been drafting up a major addition to Smuggler's Refuge: Ventures, an even more difficult form of Contracts. They can be accessed once players attain a standing of Rank 3 or higher within the Noxus.

Inspired by GTA V/Online's Heists (I've been playing it recently with some friends, it's fun!), Ventures are a raid/trial-like gamemode where players must plan out and perform various tasks for large-scale missions, such as stealing Grineer bioweapons or robbing Nef Anyo's credit vaults. Akin to the Index, players must each "invest" a certain number of credits to begin the Venture. At the end of the Venture, players may vote upon what to do with their ill-gotten gains: give it to the Lotus/the Tenno/another faction, give it to Zeribus, or to keep it for yourself.

Yowzahs mam! What was the cause? Overuse? Power surge? Old age?

 

Oooooo, I kinda get it. Kinda like being able to to manipulate the Random Number Generator to your own advantage. Invest enough and you hit a certain "threshold" that allows common resources to show up more often, then uncommon, then rare, etc.

 

Ell, could even have a sort of "Co-Op-Petative" mode where a certain stat is selected as a quality marker, the Tenno place their bets into an account, then whoever scores highest in that category (or is the first to get to being the highest, in case there is a draw) gets to keep the pile. That, or, it's done in mission "rounds" of sorts where folks can pass or pay-in.

[MissMarifire]

13 hours ago, Unus said:

Yowzahs mam! What was the cause? Overuse? Power surge? Old age?

Oooooo, I kinda get it. Kinda like being able to to manipulate the Random Number Generator to your own advantage. Invest enough and you hit a certain "threshold" that allows common resources to show up more often, then uncommon, then rare, etc.

Ell, could even have a sort of "Co-Op-Petative" mode where a certain stat is selected as a quality marker, the Tenno place their bets into an account, then whoever scores highest in that category (or is the first to get to being the highest, in case there is a draw) gets to keep the pile. That, or, it's done in mission "rounds" of sorts where folks can pass or pay-in.

Cord was getting old, I guess. Still, recent events considered, things haven't been going too well on my end.

I should probably elaborate a little more about its inspiration, GTA V/Online:

In GTA Online, the group leader has to invest a certain amount of money to begin a heist. Lore-wise, this money is used to fund all the equipment that the players need to complete the heist. Players participating then have to go and complete various steps to prepare for the heist, and then they must perform the heist. Each player has a specific role that they must perform while completing the heist. The idea also takes from GTA V's singleplayer as players can choose the route that they wish to complete their heist with, affecting the setup, how the heist plays out, and final payout for the heist.

Unlike GTA V/Online, however, the concept Ventures require all participating players to invest a number of credits in order to begin. Within a relatively large map (not to the scale of PoE, but large enough whereas it's feasible. Some Ventures will occur on open-world maps however), players have to complete a number of tasks to prepare. These precursory objectives can be completed in any order, however the Venture cannot continue until all precursory objectives have been completed.

Players return to the Noxus to prepare. They are given four roles that they may choose between and the opportunity to prepare in the Noxus's Storage Hold; linked to Ordis to allow Orbiter inventory integration, they can change their loadouts to however they see fit to fit with the role that they chose. There can only be one player assigned to each role, and players may swap roles while during preparations. 

Then, the Venture begins. Players then must complete each step to the Venture, with each player doing things in light of the role they've taken upon. Should a player be unable to complete their role, another player may step in to help them, forfeiting a portion of the unable player's pay to the player who has completed the task for them.

Once completed, players may choose to do one of the following:

• (Sun) Give their share of the take to the Lotus.
• (Neutral) Give their share of the take to Zeribus.
• (Moon) Keep it for themselves.

Giving it to the Lotus or Zeribus will give boosted credit rewards, Zeribus also giving an additional amount of Noxus Standing in return for completing the Venture. Keeping it for yourself will not give a boosted credit reward (and will only give .5x Noxus Standing), but you'll keep your portion of whatever was taken in the Venture.

Overall, it encourages player cooperation. While some of these Ventures can be done solo or in pairs, they will pose one of the most difficult challenges players will face within Smuggler's Refuge.

Edited January 2, 2018 by MissMarifire

[Unus]

6 minutes ago, MissMarifire said:

Cord was getting old, I guess. Still, recent events considered, things haven't been going too well on my end.

I should probably elaborate a little more about its inspiration, GTA V/Online:

In GTA Online, the group leader has to invest a certain amount of money to begin a heist. Lore-wise, this money is used to fund all the equipment that the players need to complete the heist. Players participating then have to go and complete various steps to prepare for the heist, and then they must perform the heist. Each player has a specific role that they must perform while completing the heist. The idea also takes from GTA V's singleplayer as players can choose the route that they wish to complete their heist with, affecting the setup, how the heist plays out, and final payout for the heist.

Unlike GTA V/Online, however, the concept Ventures require all participating players to invest a number of credits in order to begin. Within a relatively large map (not to the scale of PoE, but large enough whereas it's feasible. Some Ventures will occur on open-world maps however), players have to complete a number of tasks to prepare. These precursory objectives can be completed in any order, however the Venture cannot continue until all precursory objectives have been completed.

Players return to the Noxus to prepare. They are given four roles that they may choose between and the opportunity to prepare in the Noxus's Storage Hold; linked to Ordis to allow Orbiter inventory integration, they can change their loadouts to however they see fit to fit with the role that they chose. There can only be one player assigned to each role, and players may swap roles while during preparations. 

Then, the Venture begins. Players then must complete each step to the Venture, with each player doing things in light of the role they've taken upon. Should a player be unable to complete their role, another player may step in to help them, forfeiting a portion of the unable player's pay to the player who has completed the task for them.

Once completed, players may choose to do one of the following:

• (Sun) Give their share of the take to the Lotus.
• (Neutral) Give their share of the take to Zeribus.
• (Moon) Keep it for themselves.

Giving it to the Lotus or Zeribus will give boosted credit rewards, Zeribus also giving an additional amount of Noxus Standing in return for completing the Venture. Keeping it for yourself will not give a boosted credit reward (and will only give .5x Noxus Standing), but you'll keep your portion of whatever was taken in the Venture.

Overall, it encourages player cooperation. While some of these Ventures can be done solo or in pairs, they will pose one of the most difficult challenges players will face within Smuggler's Refuge.

Ah, what have you run into Madam? Care to share via private message? Or is it just the financial shenanigans you mentioned a fair ways back?

 

Ah, I think I see the clarity in it now. Specialized roles, a step-through process, kinda reminds me of the "string-togethor" quests we do on the Plains, albeit with a layer of complexity on top in the form of the financial bits and the role system. Precedents exist in the system exist for it to be sure, just need to string them togethor into a cohesive whole.