How did Warframe become one of the most played games?

[Guest]

I am not surprised by it but i want to know what were the main things that made the game reach so high, i don't think its the gameplay or story because these things you discover them after you get into the game  and they are mostly used to keep you playing, other factors made the game popular, some of those are probably these:

1: The very unique art style with  space ninjas that have no ordinary faces, their skin looks like armor and all this crazy action 

2: Steam - because Steam is the largest gaming network in the world and every game has the chance to shine in there, it played a big role in making Warframe famous

3: It's likely the first game which started the pure ''Modern MMORPG'' genre where the player can do 99% of the game on his own and grouping is optional unlike the classic mmos where most of the times you had to be in groups and  find other players in order to progress. Today all mmos started focusing on this part and they avoid forcing the player to play with others

4: The graphics and the gameplay from the Youtube trailers which gives big impressions

5: Some female warframes are really hot in their own way and they attract a huge amount of male players ( can't say if  the same thing works for female players)

6: The references to Excalibur from other games/movies and media in general

If there is any other factor or if you think some of these didnt count you can say

 

Edited March 14, 2016 by Guest

[Freelancer27]

I always thought Warframe had a decent setting before, with those impressive glowing glitters from space ninja suits that carry non-ninja weapons blasting through hordes of screaming cyborgs, zombies and robotic chickens.

Now, I'm more involved in this game than I ever expected. Content that lasts for months, hundreds of thousands of choices to kill a Grineer, get to have feels for the "tin-suits" and get to know that community and the developers have a strong connection compared to most of the games I have ever seen.

INB4, still better than Destiny in every way.

4 hours ago, Manolishill said:

5: Some female warframes are really hot in their own way and they attract a huge amount of male players ( can't say if  the same thing works for female players)

If you are interested in women wearing tight skinsuits, I'm not judging.

[Omnimorph]

To make the dreaded comparison, Destiny had tons of hype and vids online, but none of them ever looked interesting enough thematically or art-design wise to interest me - just a remix of the usual game/movie s-f elements.  By contrast, I'd never really heard of Warframe, until something someone said on a random forum somewhere intrigued me enough to take a look at a vid.  As soon as I saw the imaginative art design, and realized this was free to play, I instantly wanted to give it a try and download it.

The art design fulfilling my expectation of being interesting and imaginative, and the lore setting, sparsely explained though it was, intriguing me, the next thing was, "holy hell, this game plays fast and smooth on my system!".  That was combined with, "wow, the gameplay is really fast and fluid - and wtf, I really have a primary, secondary AND melee AND FOUR EFFING SUPERPOWERS????"

So what brought me was the art design, what kept me on the inital run of the hamster wheel was the intrinsic fun of the furious action gameplay itself, and then as usual with multiplayer games, what's keeping me in is all these elements I loved, plus finding a nice guild to be in and people to chat with whenver I play.

Essentally, it's what TotalBiscuit said: the game is all about killing with style.  There's plenty of headroom to develop your own unique "murder dance", your own preferred playstyles, etc, and all while looking as cool as you can make yourself look.  The game "loop" is just intrinsically satisfying.  I've been playng the game for a year and a bit now.  I've had a few breaks now and then, but I always come back to it, because there's actually nothing else quite like it on the market, and it just keeps improving incrementally. 

This is now officially the most addicted to and in love with a game I've been since my first MMO love, City of Heroes (2 and a bit years that).  Normally I get bored with even AAA games after a month or two and even if WF had kept me for that I would have considered it a good game.  The fact that I'm still in love with it means it's a truly great game, for me.

And now that they are able to produce quests like the Second Dream, there's a promise of BioWare/Bethesda levels of storytelling over and above the solid foundation of addictive gameplay.  Amazing!

[yiLuxiON]

Excellent graphics for a F2P game.

Unique mix of coop, 3rd person shooter, MMO/RPG elements. The closest will be Destiny but even that came much later than Warframe and somehow the execution is not as good.

NOT the generic WOW type MMORPG.

Does not feel cheap unlike many other F2P games.

This game created its own style and did a pretty good job at it.

[Clonmac]

I started playing Warframe early on when it was still fairly new on Steam. There were only a few warframes at the time, the movement was not fluid at all (it was certainly not parkor), there wasn't any story-line or even a hint of one, the interface was clunky, and the overall production of the game was fairly low. But, it was still considered in beta at the time and it was always free. So I played it and it was fun for what a was...a free co-op romp to pass the time.

I played off and on and kept coming back to it and over time it has changed drastically and I think that is the main reason why so many people play it today. It is so easy for a developer to release something like how warframe was when it was first released and let it be and eventually it dies off. But, what DE has done to the game over the last several years has essentially turned it into a completely different game from where it once was. That means the people that will play it will stick around and so any new players that come along will be in addition to its veteran base of players. I now play the game more than ever and the improvements that DE has made to the game will keep me around for quite some time.

[(PSN)makrisbrik]

Because its just So cool!! 

Game play is very addicting, you've got tons of options from frames to use, weapons, ships, companions, lots of customizations etc. The Lore keeps you guessing and content updated and game keeps on evolving. Its so fun, you tell folks about it. 

So - Solid game brought to us by AMAZING Devs, plus player loyalty and word of mouth makes warframe the most played game in my opinion.

[Toppien]

because...

 

this is all you need to see to be interested, the high level artistical design

[Noseeno]

When I first joined Warframe I was floored by the graphics and motion provided given it was a free to play game. It was stuff I would expect to pay even if just a little for. The updating and content given between the developers and the community was engaging and kept me excited almost every week.

So far there's only been times where I log onto Warframe for less time but never have I stopped playing it.

[Hypernaut1]

I know most of you don't want to hear or believe this, but the game is successful because of its extremely fair and well designed grind.

It hooks players and keeps them progressing while always leaving something out of reach  to keep things interesting.

[SkiGloves]

Armoured Core meets S4 League was more than enough to sell both me and my brother on the attempt as possibly one of the greatest games of all time. Most of the stuff you mentioned OP, I found out about later on and would've probably turned me off on trying to play the game.

AC+S4+Stealth+The app store (or whatever it is they're copying the progress bars you can pay £10 to rush from) isn't exactly a match made in heaven, but it's good enough.

Edited March 14, 2016 by SkiGloves

[Coaa]

Devs that actually listen to the players and try to make changes based on their input.

I've played alot of mmo's and f2p games in my days and i have never seen one with a support staff this attentive to the players needs. Even if you have issues with something they are always super helpful on the support end as well.

[matto]

1/ Good hype with the first trailer.

2/ A really well thought community management and communication (at least the first 2 years). Stating that the game would be developed hand-to-hand with its community.

3/ F2P with all content free (not including cosmetics). "Ninja play free" was a really good slogan.

4/ Good SF Universe and an independent publishing policy making the developers free from all kind of exterior decision makers that would limit the team's creativity (which is what killed DS). That's what make the game so consistent.

5/ Regular updates and improvements on all aspects of the game.

6/ Awesome graphics and a game running on low spec computers.

7/ Steam + console platforms.

[Airyllish]

I tried this game at a friend's insistence. Stayed because

1. Space ninjas.
2. The shooting feels extremely nice in this game.
3. The melee combat is also incredibly fun even if it gets increasingly useless as the game scales.
4. The potential for lore here is immense and I'm a lorehound with the best of them. The story does intrigue me despite there currently being little of it.
5. I very much enjoy the art direction of this game. Particularly the Void and Orokin Moon tilesets and a number of the Warframe designs.
6. Seriously, space ninjas. 

Also while I won't deny I find some of the female 'frames have pleasing silhouettes, I don't play the game because of space ninja tiddy. I doubt many, if any, truly do. Come on you juveniles, a little bit of maturity goes a long way.

[Letter13]

Number 0: It's free to play.

[shengar]

I thought the space ninjas themselves are cool, those flashy abilities and such.
It shouldn't keep me for long, until I see the design for Space Ninja Prime.

[Henji]

10 hours ago, Manolishill said:

I am not surprised by it but i want to know what were the main things that made the game reach so high, i don't think its the gameplay or story because these things you discover them after you get into the game  and they are mostly used to keep you playing, other factors made the game popular, some of those are probably these:

1: The very unique art style with  space ninjas that have no ordinary faces, their skin looks like armor and all this crazy action 

2: Steam - because Steam is the largest gaming network in the world and every game has the chance to shine in there, it played a big role in making Warframe famous

3: It's likely the first game which started the pure ''Modern MMORPG'' genre where the player can do 99% of the game on his own and grouping is optional unlike the classic mmos where most of the times you had to be in groups and  find other players in order to progress. Today all mmos started focusing on this part and they avoid forcing the player to play with others

4: The graphics and the gameplay from the Youtube trailers which gives big impressions

5: Some female warframes are really hot in their own way and they attract a huge amount of male players ( can't say if  the same thing works for female players)

6: The references to Excalibur from other games/movies and media in general

If there is any other factor or if you think some of these didnt count you can say

 

1. Yes.

2. Of course

3. It's a multiplayer co-op shooter not a MMO (aspects of it but not A MMO) alot of people got that confused..

4. No downgrades here ! (Yeah thats right Ubisoft ! You hear me ?! NO DOWN GRADES !)

5.        

6. Excalibur has only ONE reference, and its Dark Sector its spiritual sucessor.

7. Well, it's Warframe what else you could possibly want !



EDIT: 8. Already said here but..free to play.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Henji

[(PSN)Cephalon_Snow]

9 hours ago, Ghoulhole said:

I don't know about you guys, but I think Ember's a hottie. 

Nice

[(PSN)Young_Archiebold]

the main thing I love about warframe is.... DE! They are awesome! I'm coming from playing elder scrolls online which has absolutely horrid devs pulling the strings and only care about making money, ignoring a huge list of complaints... And even tho this is F2p I never felt like I had to spend money, it was never shoved in my face and everytime I did spend money in warframe I didn't mind one bit, even when I bought my 1st prime access. I'll be a tenno for a long time to come! Also no matter how good you get there is always a level where your skills are pushed to the limits.

[(PSN)wonderwoman814]

The devs. People put there heart and soul into the game and you can feel it .  You can feel that they put fun before profit ..kind of why I spent 300 bucks on this game XD

Edited March 14, 2016 by (PS4)wonderwoman814