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

[MissMarifire]

I am happy to say that my computer parts have came in, and that I now have a working computer! I should be able to finish up Nevdrus's artwork to finally post here soon, and I will begin work on Lares.

[MissMarifire]

On Lares:

Lares is a scholarly group that doubles as a band. Their main topic of study is the study of the Orokin and their culture, after centuries past the empire's untimely untimely demise. With the intent of sharing their knowledge, Celsus, the founder of Lares, chose some of his leading scholars to assist him in such a feat.

One thing to keep in mind is that Lares themselves is actually far more larger than the group of four that make up the band. Originating in the settlements of Mars, they are among some of the largest research groups to dedicate themselves to the study of the Orokin, with thousands upon thousands of people working diligently to unravel the mysteries of the lost empire. With the skirmishes to take over the planet, as well as the various Grineer and Corpus invasions, Lares as a group escaped the planet without the intent of participating in the war. 

With the recent Tenno Awakening, Lares took interest in the Lotus's goals to bring balance to the system, and through extensive negotiations, was able to ally themselves with the Tenno. Through the Tenno, they are given resources and security. Through Lares, the Tenno are given access to knowledge of the Orokin and their cultute, as well as the potential to recieve rare Orokin artifacts from them as payment for favors.

[xXDeadsinxX]

This is an amazing concept for a relay.

[MissMarifire]

1 hour ago, xXDeadsinxX said:

This is an amazing concept for a relay.

Thank you! It's nowhere near finished, but I hope that one day it will be.

[MissMarifire]

No updates quite yet, but rather a funny thing I'd like to note what with the release of the Glast Gambit. Because my internet is bad, a friend of mine sent me this:

Spoiler

One of the brokers now recently added to the Index, Rana Del, has the same surname as Varmia. Surname aside, she does happen to have a darker skintone and a different complexion than Varmia. However, I can definitely see the two being sisters, which would make for an interesting little bit of trivia; what if Rana was jealous of Varmia's aptitude in tech (which had made her far more favorable to her parents than Rana), and to channel her anger by doing what she does now. It's improv, but hey, when I get told that a canon character has the same surname as a character of my own, I gotta.

I'll have an update soon, I've just been busy with other stuff at the moment. I'll be estatic to say that the art for Nevdrus and Zeribus are almost completed, though, so as soon as they're done I'll have them posted onto this thread.

[MissMarifire]

I've gone ahead and made a Reddit post for the concept. There's some new stuff related to the band quests coming soon, but for now, there'll be a lot of art being added to the concept sometime tomorrow, as soon as I've gotten Thadya's and Zeribus's secondary designs finished and Tullic's touched up.

[MissMarifire]

Turns out that I was chosen to go next with the Warframe collab, which meant that I needed to push the Virtuous Star art that I needed to finish back some to get the art for the collab done, as well as the prizes for a contest I held for my fashionframe blog, Fashion-Frame. I had hoped that I'd be able to put some art up before the turn of the new year, since I've got a lovely little drawing that's staying as a sketch until I finish the art I need to finish that involves the concept that I'd like to hopefully have finished before a certain little date. That date? January 13th. Look at the original post.

This aside, as soon as all this art that I need to do is finished, I've got some blurbs about the bands that are in the works that I'll have posted. 

The Reddit post didn't receive much attention, but attention was garnered regardless, and I'm alright with that. One redditor suggested that I implement unique mods that are obtainable only through the quests provided on the concept. I've been sitting on the idea, and I'm a bit partial. I could see these mods being faction-specific, meaning that weapons that belong to a specific faction will be affected by these mods regardless of what type of weapon they may be. Rifle, Bow, Shotgun, Secondary, Melee, etc... if it belongs to that faction, it can be used on it. If this is the case, Nevdrus would give a Corpus-oriented weapon mod, Harktor would give a Grineer-oriented weapon mod, Lares with Tenno, and Zeribus would probably get stuck with Infested, which could actually make for a great basis for the followup to Another Favour for Darvo.

However, one thing to remember with this concept: It's meant to be optional. Players are not meant to be forced to do any of the content the Virtuous Star provides, and they should have the choice to ignore it entirely if they'd like. This is why I'm so persistent to avoid making weapons, Warframes, or even mods for this concept: I'm afraid of turning the Virtuous Star's content into something players loathe going through. Making it mandatory to progress in the game (In an MR sense, not a story sense) will, more likely than not, make it a drag for players to do, especially what with the current state of DE's latest implementations, The Glast Gambit and Nidus being very big culprits of player dissatisfaction. Above all else, TGG is a grindfest, and a pretty awful one at that. If this were in the game, I wouldn't want players to see it as a necessity that they'd have to drag themselves through, and for it to become another TGG. Don't get me wrong, of course I'd want the players to be engaged and challenged for some great rewards, but at the same time, I'd like to make it worth it to them. Making them monotonously grind for things isn't the way I'd like to go about it; I want it to be an enjoyable experience for most players to have fun going through. 

Edited January 1, 2017 by MissMarifire

[MissMarifire]

I've started doing a bit more writing for the concept. More specifically, I've got Lares somewhat planned out.

 

[MissMarifire]

One year.

I can't believe that it's been an entire year. It simply boggles my mind a bit at the thought.

I can remember, back when I wrote the concept's first draft, back during its 'cringy' stages, and how I had one mindset with it: the idea that if I kept working on the concept, if I kept developing and pushing it, it would get the attention that I felt it had deserved.

In a way, I feel in retrospection, it was both a good and bad mindset to have.

One thing to keep in mind about me is this: I am a dreamer. I constantly aspire for what I do to get better. Look at how many times I've rewritten the concept. I've rewritten it five times, and I'm about to begin on the sixth. It's not a bad thing to have rewritten them, in fact I see them more as milestones. It's shown me that not only the concept itself can improve, but that I myself can improve. Now that I've worked on it for an entire year, I can look back and learn from the mistakes I've made, and how things can be changed. 

One of my biggest griefs about this concept, however, is art. For one year of work, I feel as if I didn't make as much concept art for it than what I should've, and that my lethargic habits are somewhat to blame for that. Having worked on the art for the concept completely solo, I've always been half and half about finding help to actually finish the concept's art. On the one hand, I've always considered myself to be the kind of person who works better alone; I've always have been. On the other hand, I feel the time has come that I should swallow my pride and make the effort to find others that would be able to lend a hand with the concept art. However, I had always believed that most artists, rightfully so, will not work for me without some form of compensation, and being a senior in high school (I was a junior when I wrote the concept), that kind of compensation is simply something that I do not have, which eliminates most if not all artists for me. This is another reason why I haven't been actively trying to seek out artists to help with the concept and that I've been trying to do that job myself: it doesn't feel right to me to have other artists draw art for me for free.

But on the other hand... it's tough. It really is. Having to design a total of thirteen unique NPCs, cosmetics, and the layout of the Jital Adaris is quite the hefty list looking back at it, and with my current schedule as it is, it is very tough for me to find myself in the mood to draw the concept art while still having enough free time to finish it at a reasonable time. A team would be extremely beneficial for this: it would lighten my own load a bit and allow the art to be finished at a more rapid rate, which means that the art can finally be posted on the main thread as opposed to just the art thread.

In general, I hope to eventually finish the art, but whether or not if I will try and find a team to finish all the designs is still up in the air.

Another grief I had with the concept is the amount of external help I've recieved for the concept. As much as I am greatly thankful for @Rhekemi's advice with both the art and the writing, I feel like I'm struggling to find other means of getting meaningful criticisms and advice for the concept, as opposed to just shallow "I like it"'s. I am happy that others enjoy it, yes, but my biggest concern for the concept, above all else, will always be improvement. There will always be something that will need fixed or worked on more, and I value the criticisms others give to it far more than I do compliments. How are the current additions to the concept? How would you feel about this, this, and this added to it? What if I incorporated more relationships between the concept characters and canon characters, and if so how does this or this sound? Do you think this or this should be removed? Which do you guys prefer, this or this? It's questions I'm always wanting answered every time I update the concept, and it does discourage me when these updates are met with silence. 

Overall, this past year has taught me a lot through this concept, and I feel that, at the current moment, it's only the beginning. I have no intentions of stopping my progress with this concept, and I hope that this year will be far more productive than last year.

I'll be writing a continuation post in addendum to this as soon as I'm back home.

Edited January 13, 2017 by MissMarifire

[MissMarifire]

In addendum:

On a more sentimental note, this means an awful lot to me. Over the course of the year, I've struggled with a lot of things, both about the concept and more real life issues. To know that this concept has lasted this long, I can't help but feel relieved. This is one of my favorite projects I've ever done, and because of this, I've poured my heart and soul into it. The characters, the ideas that this concept brings, are very near and dear to me, and I'm very proud to know that they've progressed quite a bit from what they once were. The thought of others enjoying something that is just so beloved to me is something I had only dreamed of a year ago, and the Virtuous Star isn't even close done yet. With this, I thank everyone who has made contributions to the concept, no matter how small.

Most of the ideas that I have written for this concept, at its core, are from whims. I'd sit around during lunch, whenever I'm done with my work, or even just being bored at home, and I'd think to myself, ‘Hey, what if this was a thing?’ or ‘Hey, what if I could do this instead of that’, and I'd start jotting down notes, ideas that I could use for the concept. While many of these are on various Google documents, some are on Post-It notes scattered on my desk. The Virtuous Star is something I think about a lot, about the characters and what can be done. Occasionally, I'll even use it as a setting for a roleplaying session on my Warframe RP Discord Server, allowing others to have an idea of how the bar really feels like, and I'll get ideas from those, too. Little details, like the food and drinks that are served, little bits of lore on the servers or even on Zeribus’s day-to-day schedule. The server itself has been a very big help with the development of the other characters, too: how the different members of the band are personally, what they do outside of visiting the Star. Even if it's not as big as whole quests or activities for the Tenno to do, it's little bits and pieces that add onto it. They all come from these little ideas I get in my head from just about anything I do, and I feel like this is what gives the Virtuous Star the personal touch I've given.

One of my biggest aspirations for the concept is that I want to write more interpersonal things; more on Zeribus, Darvo, and Nevdrus, on Harktor’s origins, and on what Lares is. This is mostly because it is the biggest part of the concept, that there is more than just the small handful of allies we as Tenno have, but it is also something very, very big, something that DE has only allowed us to dip our toes into. They're citizens, the very people who the Tenno fight for. The Mycona colony was merely a little peek at what these citizens are, and even before TGG, I wanted more interaction between us and those who put their faith on us. They've been mentioned so many times, but I'd like to see them become more than just something that's been said but not seen. There is a lot that I have written or have yet to write about these characters, but each and every single one is unique in their own ways, and yet they're just regular people, just like you and I. There is something I've contemplated about the concept, where there would be extra quests that can be done after the band quests that expand on the band leaders. In other words, who Arbis, Celsus, and Faus are, and what pushed them to form their bands. This was more or less conceived when I began working on Lares; I had an idea about the Tenno working with Celsus directly, as opposed to through Lares for some personal matters, and I had began to brainstorm ideas about what Arbis or Faus would ask of the Tenno.

All in all, it's been an interesting year. I've learned a lot of things about writing, about character development, and the Virtuous Star is here to show for it. It's by no means perfect, and it's got a long road to go, but I'll keep working on it and trying my hardest. One year ago, I didn't even expect it to get this far, but here we are, on January 13th, 2017, and the concept is still here. Why?

There were a couple posts I can recall from earlier in the thread, about how some particular users were frustrated in their own concepts. They appeared to had loved their concept just as much as I had loved this one, but they got very little publicity for it, and that they were upset that my own concept had so much more attention than theirs. I didn't mention it before, but in retrospection, I relate to them in a way, because that's how the Virtuous Star once was. Of course it didn't take off immediately as soon as I had posted it; it had a few comments on it, but it took time, development, to get where it is today. There were two things I had learned to deal with over the course of the Virtuous Star’s development: Patience and Diligence. You have to have faith that, in due time, it'll pay out, and until that day comes, you'll have to work the best you can to help your concept get there. It's not going to happen in a night; hell, in my case, it took months for it to get where it is now, and even after Prime Time, I'm still working on it.

Recall back when this concept was featured on Prime Time #131. It was featured more than eight months after the concept's release, and even then, I had expected it to be far longer than that. Granted, I was embarrassed to see it being featured in the state it was in, but looking back, I'd be even more embarrassed had they featured it when I first posted it. This is where patience comes in; eventually, your concept may get featured. It's about how much faith you have in your concept, and how much time and effort you're willing to put into it. Something that has been worked on for months consistently will certainly be favored more than something made a few days before Prime Time. There have been exceptions, sure, but those concepts are flashy, and from what I've seen, don't actually last that long after it has been featured because their creators abandon the concept. Why? That was the concept writer’s only goal: to get featured by DE. This mentality is not the way to go if you want a strong concept that'll last. If you drop a concept after it's been showcased by Rebecca and Megan, don't be surprised if it's not going to last very long past that. Take a look at the following concepts: Zephyr and Typhus. Both of these concepts date back to 2013, and they're considered among some of the most beloved Warframe concepts to date, so much so that the one was actually added to the game, while the other (speculatively) had inspired DE to create the Warframe Nidus. These concepts are very beloved by their own creators, and with their own patience and diligence, allowed themselves to impact a game that they love so dearly. I hope that, someday, the Virtuous Star may have such an influence on the game just as they did. I would also like to mention Flora, and especially Ushtar, two other Warframe concepts that, while they have yet to influence DE, are still major Warframe concepts that have been around for quite the sum of time are held highly by their own creators enough to keep working on them and improving their concepts as much as they can.

What I'm saying, in essence, is to believe in yourself and what you create, and your creations will go far. As cheesy as it sounds, this is the mentality I've stuck with for the Virtuous Star. I love this concept, and as I've said before, I've poured my very heart and soul into it, and I hope that, in the future, it becomes greater than what it is now.

Edited January 13, 2017 by MissMarifire

[-Akeva-Banshee-]

For mirage mini game can we have mirage doing rock paper scizzors vs a clone of your own mirage? Not sure how that would work but it's a thought. 

[MissMarifire]

On 1/13/2017 at 8:35 PM, -Akeva-Banshee- said:

For mirage mini game can we have mirage doing rock paper scizzors vs a clone of your own mirage? Not sure how that would work but it's a thought. 

Maybe? I haven't put all too much thought into the minigames yet aside from "hey what about this minigame for this warframe", but it could certainly be something. Though, rock/paper/scissors may be a bit dull for some people.

[Rhekemi]

Happy Anniversary to the Virtious Star and its band of characters!

On Dreaming:

Spoiler

I think this is something a majority of members (particularly in the concept section) have in common. Some of us tend more toward artistic dreams, and others literature, some game design, but I appreciate that the WF community and DE foster the creativity in their members.

Artwork:

Spoiler

 

More art is always a good thing. In a way, I was up S#&$ creek without a paddle when it came to art. I'm not great at it so I had to ask for help. I wasn't at all comfortable about not paying others, but I've always tried to do a few things regarding artwork requests:

-Ask with no strings attached, and with the knowledge they can always say no. (If they say no, respect their answer.)

-If they say yes, be involved, particular even, but never pushy, demanding. Staying involved, checking back when they have an update and actually going over the work matters. We're partners even though I'm not creating the artwork. As for the schedule, yeah, I really see no reason to keep asking "is it finished yet?" when they could be working on commission and are doing work for free. Even if I were paying, I wouldn't be demanding or pushy. If I don't hear from someone for months at a time, yeah, then maybe I'll ask how they are and the status of the project.

-Compensate them with hearty thanks, patience, and gifts if you can in-game. I still plan on dropping more gifts on those who have helped me, but am currently out of plat and not active in-game.

 

Constructive Criticism:

Spoiler

 

A lack of this kind of feedback can really be frustrating for me, even though compliments are nice. We always want to know what's wrong with a concept, how to improve it. I didn't notice that you'd linked your reddit thread not long ago, but it's good to see it went well. (The subreddit is where I tend to go when the forum's feedback is at a lull.)

Accessibility is something else that matters and brings in different feedback: how accessible do you think your front page is? Honest question. I think it is accessible, but that might be because I started following months ago. Sometimes newcomers want to read less, and see more. Sometimes they just want plenty to read but in bite sizes.

I don't immediately know how to make the front page more accessible because you're already employing spoilers, and there is a linked artwork thread.

More Interpersonal Things: This ties into accessibility, but I think more bonds between the characters is a good thing. How you present these bonds could be interesting. Artwork showing different characters in a scene. Really short stories. Comics. Just fun pieces that show the interpersonal relationships, but in ways that will keep it fun for you/less like work, as well as for readers. (evergreenmind's a good example of this, as you know.)

 

Patience and Diligence:

Spoiler

 

Very true. Now I feel like I need to revisit some of my works here and "finalize" them. I did take a break from my concepts, but I'd like them all to be more or less finished. 

That said, if you have to choose between the VS and real life endeavors, take your time and focus on real life. Doodle things for fun or make bite sized additions to the topics to keep them alive in the meantime.

I am behind on various threads here I want to respond to, but also looking over topics for new additions. (If you add something that needs specific feedback, you can always PM to remind me. I'm less active now, but try to keep up.)

 

Congratulations on the success of the VS so far!

[MissMarifire]

On 1/17/2017 at 4:46 AM, Rhekemi said:

Happy Anniversary to the Virtious Star and its band of characters!

On Dreaming:

  Hide contents

I think this is something a majority of members (particularly in the concept section) have in common. Some of us tend more toward artistic dreams, and others literature, some game design, but I appreciate that the WF community and DE foster the creativity in their members.

Artwork:

  Hide contents

 

More art is always a good thing. In a way, I was up S#&$ creek without a paddle when it came to art. I'm not great at it so I had to ask for help. I wasn't at all comfortable about not paying others, but I've always tried to do a few things regarding artwork requests:

-Ask with no strings attached, and with the knowledge they can always say no. (If they say no, respect their answer.)

-If they say yes, be involved, particular even, but never pushy, demanding. Staying involved, checking back when they have an update and actually going over the work matters. We're partners even though I'm not creating the artwork. As for the schedule, yeah, I really see no reason to keep asking "is it finished yet?" when they could be working on commission and are doing work for free. Even if I were paying, I wouldn't be demanding or pushy. If I don't hear from someone for months at a time, yeah, then maybe I'll ask how they are and the status of the project.

-Compensate them with hearty thanks, patience, and gifts if you can in-game. I still plan on dropping more gifts on those who have helped me, but am currently out of plat and not active in-game.

 

Constructive Criticism:

  Hide contents

 

A lack of this kind of feedback can really be frustrating for me, even though compliments are nice. We always want to know what's wrong with a concept, how to improve it. I didn't notice that you'd linked your reddit thread not long ago, but it's good to see it went well. (The subreddit is where I tend to go when the forum's feedback is at a lull.)

Accessibility is something else that matters and brings in different feedback: how accessible do you think your front page is? Honest question. I think it is accessible, but that might be because I started following months ago. Sometimes newcomers want to read less, and see more. Sometimes they just want plenty to read but in bite sizes.

I don't immediately know how to make the front page more accessible because you're already employing spoilers, and there is a linked artwork thread.

More Interpersonal Things: This ties into accessibility, but I think more bonds between the characters is a good thing. How you present these bonds could be interesting. Artwork showing different characters in a scene. Really short stories. Comics. Just fun pieces that show the interpersonal relationships, but in ways that will keep it fun for you/less like work, as well as for readers. (evergreenmind's a good example of this, as you know.)

 

Patience and Diligence:

  Hide contents

 

Very true. Now I feel like I need to revisit some of my works here and "finalize" them. I did take a break from my concepts, but I'd like them all to be more or less finished. 

That said, if you have to choose between the VS and real life endeavors, take your time and focus on real life. Doodle things for fun or make bite sized additions to the topics to keep them alive in the meantime.

I am behind on various threads here I want to respond to, but also looking over topics for new additions. (If you add something that needs specific feedback, you can always PM to remind me. I'm less active now, but try to keep up.)

 

Congratulations on the success of the VS so far!

Your feedback and advice is always appreciated, Rhekemi. I'll see what I can do about the art, and accessibility should be my main focus for v5.0. These two actually go hand-in-hand, I feel; you mentioned how newcomers want to read less and see more, therefore more visual aids would be supplemental to getting my main idea across. Thank you.

Another problem that I had forgotten to mention is balancing player incentives versus player engagement. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my intention with this concept is for everything to be optional, and that the players are not required to do anything this concept provides. However, I've taken more thought to it, and there was a particular comment on the Reddit thread that seems to note this. I'm on mobile, so I can't pull up the Reddit post itself and quote it, but generally speaking: Cosmetics are all well and good, but for additions this big, that will require the entire team's involvement, there needs to be something that will make players want more of it. It has to be something that will make players say, "Hey, I want this, and I'll do this to get it", and something that, while it can be obtained through normal means, can also be bought with Platinum for the players who don't wish to bother with the content itself. I believe the comment suggested for unique mods, but I feel like this could be appropriate in all corners of the concept.

EDIT: Yep, it was mods.

Quote

[–]Binch101 3 points 20 days ago 

Really cool and well put together! I like idea of small objectives culminating in a larger quest at the end. Perhaps they could also introduce new mods that only obtainable through the quest? While cosmetics are cool n all, adding a bit of functionality to the rewards would draw more attention

Which, admittedly, isn't exactly what I had in mind. While I can't change the minds of other players, I felt as if, in the case I added weaponry or even Warframes, that it would be a burden to the players, and that they would see this content introduced into the concept as a boring roadblock, which is something I don't want. With the amount of effort I've put into it, I want others to enjoy the content, just like I had enjoyed writing it. However, the concept is getting a little beefy now, and with each and every addition I make, it's more potential time and effort to be made for DE to, hypothetically, make it.

If it's all optional content that cannot be bought, it'll be a complete loss of money for DE, and what with them being a company, I don't believe that they would be willing to spend money on something that puts the entire team to work and get nothing out of it. There needs to be something that will make players want to spend their money on the game that is introduced through this concept. What that will be, I'm not quite sure yet. But, this is something that I need to keep in mind with this concept.

Edited January 18, 2017 by MissMarifire

[Rhekemi]

You're very welcome.

I agree with you, btw. What I like most about the concept is it is a perfect fit for the casual aspects of WF. Sticking to the concept's core of providing meaningful interactions, some life aspects, to the game is best.

I also agree that you need incentives (for players and DE), if it's to realistically fit in the game.

No ideas yet, but there's no need to reinvent the wheel. By that I mean take a page from DE and extrapolate: Clem/Darvo quest, Maroo treasure hunting quests. Both of these provide repayable content without the higher level, higher stress grind. I also think credits could add value (like how DE made those pedestals cost 1 million credits and people splurged).

I mean it could cost 500k or so to hear a song from the band, for instance. People would pay.

1 million credits to request a song. (Which isn't at all feasible, I think. We don't even know how well the Bard 'frame will work.)

2 million to acquire a 6 month licence to their tracks to play on your own ship, maybe. (And you'd need a new segment, maybe.)

5 million to join their stream as a member for 6 months and be able to play their music in missions (will show up like a gear item, like glyph, and you can deploy it).

Just ideas (and all concerning songs for some reason), and the prices are probably too high.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Rhekemi

[MissMarifire]

9 hours ago, Rhekemi said:

You're very welcome.

I agree with you, btw. What I like most about the concept is it is a perfect fit for the casual aspects of WF. Sticking to the concept's core of providing meaningful interactions, some life aspects, to the game is best.

I also agree that you need incentives (for players and DE), if it's to realistically fit in the game.

No ideas yet, but there's no need to reinvent the wheel. By that I mean take a page from DE and extrapolate: Clem/Darvo quest, Maroo treasure hunting quests. Both of these provide repayable content without the higher level, higher stress grind. I also think credits could add value (like how DE made those pedestals cost 1 million credits and people splurged).

I mean it could cost 500k or so to hear a song from the band, for instance. People would pay.

1 million credits to request a song. (Which isn't at all feasible, I think. We don't even know how well the Bard 'frame will work.)

2 million to acquire a 6 month licence to their tracks to play on your own ship, maybe. (And you'd need a new segment, maybe.)

5 million to join their stream as a member for 6 months and be able to play their music in missions (will show up like a gear item, like glyph, and you can deploy it).

Just ideas (and all concerning songs for some reason), and the prices are probably too high.

That'd make sense, yeah. As for credit costs, I don't think it'd be too much by Pedestal Prime standards. 5 million credits for a whole six months isn't bad.

I've been working on v5.0 of the concept, and there's a similar thing I've got written up; a 'relay terminal' that gives players the ability to do things that are typically done in the Tenno Relays. This is mostly because I've noticed that about half the people I've shown the concept to expressed a need for us to be able to access Baro Ki'Teer or the Darvo Deals through their Orbiter, because they didn't want to go through all that effort to go into a Relay. It could even upgrade your Syndicate Segment to take Syndicate Medallions, getting rid of any reason to visit the Relays, sans quests. I did have a portion written up tp make it a 'music segment', but I'm thinking that it should either upgrade our current radio, or it should be a separate, placeable object.

This being said, I feel like those who had expressed such complaints are just plain lazy and so entitled to a point they can't spend two minutes of their precious time to load into a Relay to do things, but that merely gives us more of a reason to ramp up the price for it. I've even considered making it cost only Platinum, because it's only there for convenience. It's the same reason we can rush our weapons, Warframes, and pets with plat, and why we can simply buy the weapons and Warframes ourselves; we don't want to take the time to wait.

So I bundled my salt into a credit sink.

This being said, it's rather ironic to have something that'd kill Relay usage as the first thing listed in a concept that's meant to OVERHAUL the Relays to make them visit them more, so I may just scrap or modify the idea at a later time. There's some other new things I've got written up, too, such as the ability to choose to load into a specific Relay upon login, and to pick a default server to join.

Edited January 19, 2017 by MissMarifire

[._.-._.]

cool concept

 

i just expect some sort of stuffs like arcade stuff so we can play some minigames, some bars / restaurants in relays, or so on so that we can have a break in relays (there's an unused rooms in: 

one door in north wing of 1st floor (between conclave room and mission control room), one door in north wing of 2nd floor (between darvo's shop and 's sanctuary) 3 doors in east & west wing of 2nd floor, aaaannnnddd, the concourse in 2nd floor?)

[MissMarifire]

5 hours ago, Primbone said:

cool concept

 

i just expect some sort of stuffs like arcade stuff so we can play some minigames, some bars / restaurants in relays, or so on so that we can have a break in relays (there's an unused rooms in: 

one door in north wing of 1st floor (between conclave room and mission control room), one door in north wing of 2nd floor (between darvo's shop and 's sanctuary) 3 doors in east & west wing of 2nd floor, aaaannnnddd, the concourse in 2nd floor?)

Yeah, I'm aware of all the unused rooms, in fact at one point the Virtuous Star was meant to take up one of those rooms before I decided to make it visit the Relays Baro Ki'Teer style. I'm still not completely set on it, however, and things may change, mostly because I'm not sure where to put it and allow it to be seamless with the Relay itself. 

V5.0's going to introduce a lot of new things to the Relay itself, rather than just adding the Virtuous Star. On V4.0, I've expressed my desire to add minigames somehow in the concept, and V1.5 actually had an arcade implemented, but no ideas for games. Some ideas I've had include art shops (for extra pieces to use on those displays), pet shops (to buy grown Kubrow, Kavat, and Helminth puppies/kittens/abominations), boutiques (for discounted cosmetics), card shops (to buy discounted mods/mod packs), florist and furniture shops (plants and other furniture), etc.. These shops won't be as significant as the Virtuous Star is, but each one may have their own little quest for you to do based around who owns the shop. Maybe the pet store is owned by a Grineer Deserter who steals the Drahks he was once meant to command and domesticated them into happy little puppies, or the florist is a New Loka affiliate who needs a rare flower from Earth before the Grineer there singlehandedly send it to extinction...

As for more bars/restauraunts, well... I'm sure Zeribus is bound to have some friendly competition, just as Darvo has Baro (in a way). I'll see to writing some more areas for the Relay that are to that nature. ;)

[._.-._.]

but if this wants to be implemented, DE will get more work / rework about relays

[MissMarifire]

14 minutes ago, Primbone said:

but if this wants to be implemented, DE will get more work / rework about relays

Well, time will tell when DE may want to implement it. Personally, I don't believe they'd implement something like this for at least a couple years. Who knows, they might not implement it at all, and that's okay, too. DE will do what DE wants to do.

The Relays do need a lot of work. As popular as it may be, there isn't really much to do there, and it needs a facelift. The work I've done with the concept won't solve all of the problems of the Tenno Relays, but it's an effort made to, at the very least, resolve some of those problems. With v5.0, the Virtuous Star will be less of a veil to hide those problems and more of a solution to resolve them.

[MissMarifire]

After a few days of hard work, I've put enough writing into Version 5.0 for it to be released! I've mostly focused my attention on keeping everything short and sweet, and while I feel I've done that effectively, there is also a TON more content that has been added. As copypasta'd from the Tumblr post:

Options, Options, Options!: You now have the option to, upon login, load into one of the Tenno Relays, and set a server preference for which server you would like to load in.

Relay? What’s a Relay?: The concept now adds the Relay Segment, a FIVE MILLION CREDIT SINK that not only allows you to access all of the Relay services from one simple spot on your Orbiter, but it also upgrades your Syndicate Segment to take Syndicate Medallions!

Short and Sweet: Everything that has existed in the concept has been rewritten in a more shorter, easier-on-the-eyes way. No more walls of text mostly!

Shop ‘til You Drop!: The largest addition to 5.0 is the Relay Shops! Each Tenno Relay now has TWO shops each, each with their own unique merchandise you can buy from them, depending on where the Relay is and what kind of merchant is selling their wares. They each have their own (small) quests, which are coming soon!

TUNNEL SNAKES RULE!: A new easter egg has been added to the concept.

...and much more.

There's still a lot more I have yet to write. Aside from Another Favour for Darvo, none of the other quests have been fully finished yet. Work-in-progress writing will always be found in the Google Document, but just a word of warning, it is very spoilery and much of this content is due to change.

Edited January 22, 2017 by MissMarifire

[MissMarifire]

Another thing:

I am looking for artists who would be willing to lend a hand with the art. With the second semester of my Senior year rolling in, I'll have less and less time to work on the artwork, and as much as I'd prefer to work on it myself, I simply just won't have enough time to finish the concept art. I'll have a compiled list of what needs done soon, but all the art that's been previously done will be reused, which means that all of the bands + Zeribus Ved are all covered. I'll also continue to work on art myself, but the speed I'll be doing them will be brought to a crawl.

[Ragingwasabi]

Wow these ideas are solid and they sound absolutely awesome! Maybe one day de? :D

Edited January 23, 2017 by Ragingwasabi

[-Akeva-Banshee-]

I don't mean to be one of those fans that hangs on your every word but, yeah this Idea is that good. 

Now that I have said that. I must say I always invisioned the bands playing in the background while you race. Also adding an announcer and background lore for that announcer is the first idea I've had in awhile. Maybe adding some more player made tunes that between the rounds players can vote on what will be played next. 

(I might have overlooked or repeated some ideas you have already posted. If so I apologize) 

Edited January 24, 2017 by -Akeva-Banshee-
(Reason for edit)Been lending Clem some of my brains.

[MissMarifire]

17 hours ago, Ragingwasabi said:

Wow these ideas are solid and they sound absolutely awesome! Maybe one day de? :D

Maybe, maybe. I'd adore having even the smallest portions of this being added,  but the idea of the entire concept would give me a heart attack aha

8 hours ago, -Akeva-Banshee- said:

I don't mean to be one of those fans that hangs on your every word but, yeah this Idea is that good. 

Now that I have said that. I must say I always invisioned the bands playing in the background while you race. Also adding an announcer and background lore for that announcer is the first idea I've had in awhile. Maybe adding some more player made tunes that between the rounds players can vote on what will be played next. 

(I might have overlooked or repeated some ideas you have already posted. If so I apologize) 

Thank you man aha

There is already an announcer for the Archwing Races: Cephalon Orlan. I've got some stuff hidden away on Google Docs about him that I'll be adding to the concept very soon, too, so I've got that down already.

I wouldn't be against the bands playing in the background; I imagine whichever band(s) that are visiting the Virtuous Star at the time may affect whether or not they have a live appearance, too. However, I think I'd be more lenient on each map having their own set of music and ambiances to play while there is a race running as opposed to the bands themselves playing. Though, if anything, it'd work for Relay, but less so for the other courses.

Player-made tunes would certainly be interesting, but I wonder how DE would be able to execute something like that.

--

There was a couple Operator-centric ideas I've got culminated on a couple of Discord servers, what with DE's plans to allow us into the Tenno Relays. One of them is a clothing store in each of the Tenno Relays (including the rebuilt relays) for Operators to go into to try on and buy clothes for Credits/Platinum, and the other is... small cafes. They'd be for flavor more or less, and several players can sit with eachother at a time to go out and eat for an amount of credits. There's other, more game-mechanically impactful ideas I've had for them, but at the moment, they're just there for lore junkies to go and look at everything, since it does cover civilian foods.

At the very least, I don't plan upon making a mechanic where the Operator needs to eat every so often or else they'd die.