Prime Warframes (Construction Rework Idea)

[(XBOX)ErectedGryphon]

I do like the idea of prime warframes; however, the construction seems too simple and equates to a pay/trade to win (while bypassing the market) play style. I love that you can trade prime parts, because some can be difficult to farm, so i don't recommend any changes there.

 

What I would love to see, because i think it would increase the level of enjoyment a player gets from owning a Prime Warframe, are these changes to constructing one.

 

1) Rename the part blueprints (helmet, chassis. systems) to upgrade blueprints. Chassis upgrade, Helmet upgrade, System upgrade, and require an argon crystal in the construction of each piece. This will increase the value of this under utilized resource.

 

2) Final Warframe assembly: Replace the orikin cell with the requirement of a level 30 Warframe. For example, Loki Prime requires a level 30 Loki. This would ensure that the player masters a Warframe, and is deserving of the use of a prime upgrade.  This would also add a sense of accomplisment to owning a Prime Warframe.

 

I hope you take my idea into consideration, and thank you for reading my post.

[Imaru]

Except that it's really easy to max a warframe and have no idea how to use it (case in point: I have maxed every frame but you would never want me as trinity or frost if you can avoid it) so "mastering" a warframe has nothing to do with its rank.

[YasaiTsume]

I can see how this will effectively gate new players from purchasing the parts and making them immediately but......
 

Some people want to keep both copies of Prime and Unprimed.

Also to dive into Lore, Prime Warframe Blueprints are the Original Blueprints of the Original frame, so they are hardly upgrade blueprints.

I srsly don't wanna relevel another frame just to build Prime version if I want to keep the unprimed one :C 

[(PSN)xKAIOWAx]

This s going against game history, warframes prime are older than normal version, is not simple upgrade

[TheLexiConArtist]

I earn my Prime Warframes the legitimate way.

 

I don't want to have to farm my Prime Warframes and another instance of the base frame every time. The sheer increase in construction time alone! No, I'm not waiting a week or more for my frame after I already went to all the trouble of getting it hot off the proverbial presses.

 

(besides, screw getting Ash Prime with your proposed system. I still haven't even had a chance to own the basic Ash for mastery's sake yet, since Manics spawn once a year and never drop the part I need)

[ChameleonDude]

equates to a pay/trade to win

 

No, no it really doesn't. That would only be the case if the prime frames weren't obtainable through regular gameplay. I agree that other systems for handling primes would be nice (like making them skins, but that ship has long sailed), but the reasoning here isn't right.

[Aeon94]

non-tradable and /or quest-only prime parts will be a better system for sure ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Edited February 10, 2016 by Aeon94

[7grims]

I agree.

Since the regular frames (and weapons) are becoming more and more irrelevant, and since the only diference is regulars are inferior.

Something must justify the reason for people to keep, collect, and/or invest on the regulars.

 

Mastery fodder content should have been corrected 2 years ago, at least.

[tnccs215]

Mh... I... I don't like that. It not only increases the workload, it also goes against the lore. Sorry.

[(XBOX)ErectedGryphon]

Hmm... a lot of arguments claiming this would break lore/story elements and point out the fact that Primes are original blueprints.  I don't think that my idea would break lore, because even though primes are the original, they are still better (upgrades) for the frames we build now.

 

Additionally, the lore/story elements are already broken, although "The Second Dream" is enjoyable content, it has already broke the lore/story.  The end result was a sickly kid who never leaves his room playing Warframe, rather than a highly trained operative that wears the suit (as Ordis constantly eludes to).  Basically, you and I have become a person on a PC or Console playing a person on a PC or Console playing Warframe.

Edited February 10, 2016 by (XB1)ErectedGryphon

[Tsukinoki]

Problem with this:
People who want to keep both the base frame and the prime (I do this for different forma builds) would be just screwed over in the case of Quest frames (you can only ever get one copy and that's it) as well as frames like Vauban or Ash (Seriously, I haven't seen a Manic in the past month, nor have any Vauban alerts been happening while I was on).

Secondly this just adds another 3 and a half days to the build process of prime frames, and for what?  Just so that you can feel slightly better about yourself while inconveniencing others?

What about the people who leveled a frame to 30 and sold it?  Do they have to rebuild the frame and re-level it to 30 just to be able to build the prime version?

In short this does nothing to benefit the game or its players in any way and is just another lazy time wall.

[tnccs215]

-snip-

Yeah... No. Unfortunetly for your idea, time moves forward. That means that something that came after cant be a required component of something that came before. That is, its not primes that are upgrades, its the normal versions that are downgrades.

Second: Just because something is an improved version of another thing, that doesn't mean it requires the other thing. For obvious reasons.

And third: You've just said the Lore breaks the lore. That is simply... Ugh.

Plus, ordis only aludes to so on one line "that warframe.... Suits you. Ah. Ah.". And the funny thing about allusions is that they don't mean that what they alude is true. They just say they MIGHT be. And Ordis also aludes for our true nature, on much clearer terms ("I'll keep the orbiter hidden in the void"). So no.

And sorry if the lore doesn't suit a power fantasy. Not all truths are pleasant.

[Teridax68]

I like this idea, as I feel Prime frames are mainly meant to be visual upgrades to base frames with a few tasty stat and polarity buffs. A system like this would ensure Prime frames would be a clear indication of mastery over the primed warframe, and would avoid having a redundant base frame tagging along every time you get a Prime (the same could also apply to weapons). I disagree that Primes are pay2win, since they're unlocked mainly through mission drops, but I agree that owning a Prime effectively voids the need for a base frame. Perhaps, for those interested in keeping additional loadouts, Priming a frame would have the added bonus of doubling the amount of available loadout slots, and automatically retain the base frame's loadouts.

 

Regarding the lore implications, considering how all things Prime are Orokin tech, wouldn't it make sense to unlock the ability to Prime your frame/weapon after infusing it with a certain amount of Forma? Since that would incur its own grind, ascending to Prime could probably involve something different and less resource-heavy (perhaps you could have a questline/trial set designed to test the limits of your specific frame or weapon, a la Mastery Tests). For those looking to keep their base frame's appearance, perhaps it could automatically be made available as a skin to the Primed frame, which would also retain all of the original's Forma'd polarities (perhaps that could even be the entire extent of the power buffs).

[tnccs215]

I like this idea, as I feel Prime frames are mainly meant to be visual upgrades to base frames with a few tasty stat and polarity buffs. A system like this would ensure Prime frames would be a clear indication of mastery over the primed warframe, and would avoid having a redundant base frame tagging along every time you get a Prime (the same could also apply to weapons). I disagree that Primes are pay2win, since they're unlocked mainly through mission drops, but I agree that owning a Prime effectively voids the need for a base frame. Perhaps, for those interested in keeping additional loadouts, Priming a frame would have the added bonus of doubling the amount of available loadout slots, and automatically retain the base frame's loadouts.

Regarding the lore implications, considering how all things Prime are Orokin tech, wouldn't it make sense to unlock the ability to Prime your frame/weapon after infusing it with a certain amount of Forma? Since that would incur its own grind, ascending to Prime could probably involve something different and less resource-heavy (perhaps you could have a questline/trial set designed to test the limits of your specific frame or weapon, a la Mastery Tests). For those looking to keep their base frame's appearance, perhaps it could automatically be made available as a skin to the Primed frame, which would also retain all of the original's Forma'd polarities (perhaps that could even be the entire extent of the power buffs).

Are you people sadistic?

Seriously. Grinding for prime parts is already a pain, and you want to inforce, not only the grind for the base frame, but also the grind for forma, and their components?! A prime now takes 108 hours total to build, and you want to increase it to 206 PLUS FORMA?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

[Teridax68]

Are you people sadistic?

Seriously. Grinding for prime parts is already a pain, and you want to inforce, not only the grind for the base frame, but also the grind for forma, and their components?! A prime now takes 108 hours total to build, and you want to increase it to 206 PLUS FORMA?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

 

I mentioned in the above post that Priming in such a way should probably not require you to find prime components anymore, which would reduce the grind significantly. As for grinding itself, that is a problem with the game's resources and costs, not with the above suggestion, and there are many different ways the grind could be tweaked to end up at current or lower levels (with more reliable drops, for example, or Forma granting a permanent Affinity multiplier on Primed items). It is pointless to assume that those in favor of ErectedGryphon's suggestion are also in favor of additional grinding, though ultimately if such a solution were to be implemented it would grant DE a lot more control over how much grinding they want in the game compared to now, and it could go either way. In any case, it is wasteful to have Prime frames end up being equally or more accessible than their weaker base counterparts, particularly in the case of Ash, and the fact that Ash Prime is currently more accessible than the base frame itself highlights a serious issue with the latter's availability.

 

Ultimately, I'm with you, grinding isn't fun and I want the game to have as little as possible of it, perhaps even none at all (a Tenno can dream...). The grinding aspect of Warframe is what put me off for the longest time, and even now the huge amount of grinding I'd have to do to get the exact frames, weapons and mods I want is making me question whether or not I really want to dive completely into the game, particularly since I don't have all that much free time right now. What I see in the OP, though, is an elegant way of tying up loose ends, concentrating Primes and non-Primes around stronger singular identities, and reinforcing their feel as a well-earned achievement. How much resources would need to be tweaked thereafter to adjust to the new progression system is variable, but I'd say all of us on board with this idea want less grinding, not more of it.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Teridax68

[bubbabenali]

Oh, the monthly "use standard frame to build the prime one" is here.

And it is still a terible idea, likely worse than the weapons that need other weapons to be build.
It's just not fun to level the same frame two timesin a row.

Edited February 10, 2016 by bubbabenali