[Mission Concept] Labyrinth - Let's add something with surprise and challenge

[Kai]

Does the stars and distant planets amaze you? How they dance as you watch within your chair, feeling almighty and blessed, a spoiled child like you has no place within the stars. Longing for the gentle caress of your mother's arms will turn into a memory, slowly disappearing from your mind. But hey! I know a place where the likes of you would fit, come join me and stay forever.

Ordis: "Operator, there's an incoming anomaly! Prepare yourse-" Transmission Cut

 

LABYRINTH MISSION

The Labyrinth Mission are inevitable and challenging missions that will distort the player's Star Chart, preventing them from seeing entering any other missions until they have finished the Labyrinth Misison. The first hint that the player is dragged to a Labyrinth Mission is the inverted Orbiter Ships during the loading screen as well as the unusual background (usually clouds or space) featuring a sickly gray colored fog alongside Ordis' Message.

Unique to this type of mission is that there is no Abort Mission Button in the player's menu (although you can Alt+F4, but why would you do that?) and the Mini-Map is now limited 

 

HOW IS A LABYRINTH CREATED?

Labyrinth Missions are unique to each player and may only occur to those who have finished the Second Dream. If a Player uses their Focus Ability after a couple of times (about 30-50 maybe?) They will start to see some form of distortion in the edges of the star chart (akin to a black hole) where it starts to blur our some of the planets while zoomed out. It'll gradually expand each time the player uses their Focus Ability to the point where the map where it will reveal a black hole containing an anomalous area. This is the Labyrinth.

 

OBJECTIVE

Labyrinth Missions are straightforward, find the Extraction Point.

 

WHAT'S THE TWIST?

Labyrinth Missions is nearly devoid of life, your usual Grineer, Corpus, Infested or Corrupted won't spawn. Each room will now require all players to be in it in order to progress further (unlocking the doors) and there are specific rooms which will spawn a Warframe Specter that the player or group must face. 

 

WARFRAME SPECTER

Warframe Specters spawned in Labyrinth have random setup, complete with Primary, Secondary and Melee, but the worst of all, they are also able to perform Focus Ability, releasing a ghastly specter of an Operator to cause harm and chaos to the players. They will utilize their abilities to the fullest in an attempt to destroy the player or group.

Fret not though, you'll have ample time to prepare before the specter spawns as each has their own unique cue upon entering their room. These are purely visual or audial and is designed to alert the players of the type of specter.

• Ash - A gray fog starts creeping on the floor.
• Atlas - The room will start to shake.
• Banshee - The sound will become muffled, similar to the effects of Invisibility and Silence.
• Chroma - An audible roar will be heard.
• Ember - Pillars of fire will erupt from the floor.
• Equinox - A ray of light will shine above with the entire room going dark.
• Excalibur - A brilliant sword will pierce the ground from above.
• Frost - Snowflakes will rush around the room, similar to the effects of being inside Snow Globe.
• Hydroid - The floor will start to flood, similar to Hydroid's Undertow except filling the entire room.
• Inaros - Sandstorm will occur in the entire room.
• Ivara - Ziplines will suddenly shoot out all around the room. This can be used by both players and Ivara Specter.
• Limbo - Players will enter the state of Banish briefly.
• Loki - The players will see specters of themselves in the room before it disappears.
• Mag - Players will be dragged towards a certain point of the room briefly.
• Mesa - Mesa's Energy Lasso (Shooting Gallery) will be present in the room.
• Mirage - Mirage's Prism will be present on the above the room.
• Nekros - Shadows of the Dead of a random faction will be present in the room before it disappears. Nekros Specter will always summon the same faction shown in the cue when using Shadows of the Dead.
• Nezha - An orbiting ring is present in the room, similar to Nezha's Warding Halo.
• Nyx - Players will see their allies under the visual affects of Mind Control. If there's only one player, the figure of Nyx's Mind Control will be present.
• Oberon - The floor is covered with Hallowed Ground before briefly disappearing.
• Rhino - Fragments on the floor will briefly float in mid-air (Rhino Stomp's effects).
• Saryn - Toxic clouds will fill the room before disappearing.
• Titania - Razor Butterflies are present in the room.
• Trinity - A downed specter is present in the room.
• Valkyr - A loud audible warcry will be heard.
• Vauban - The room is covered by a single large Bastille.
• Volt - The Speed Coil (used as a pick-up in one version of Volt's Speed) is present in the room.
• Wukong - A clump of cloud is present above the room.
• Zephyr - A whirling tornado is present in the room.

 

REWARDS

I honestly have not thought of the rewards yet, but I'll leave it to you guys, perhaps it can be another Warframe? (the cause of the Labyrinth maybe?) A piece of lore tied to a specific Warframe? Items? Caches? Relics? I'm open for suggestions.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2016 by Harowing

[Vernoc]

2 minutes ago, Harowing said:

 and the Mini-Map / Map is not present.

we already had this as nightmare challange at the beginning..it was a pain and noone liked it..most people aborted because a normal mission which was normally done after 2 min takes 20-30min.

Imo u can´t insert something like that rng. Probably 99% would alt+f4...maybe this as allert mission will work

[AdunSaveMe]

Can we not randomly drag people into missions they can't abort when they choose to do something else? That's not fun.

People who want them are going to enter and abort missions until they get one, and people who don't want them are just going to be inconvenienced and have to force close the game.

Edited September 29, 2016 by AdunSaveMe

[Kai]

OR! you can just finish the mission and possibly earn a good reward for it. Is there even a type of mission that is not fun? If you're doing Endless Missions, Labyrinth won't show up so you're safe. Its like saying that don't put Stalker or any other Assassins during the mission since its not fun.

[MartianGHunter]

35 minutes ago, Harowing said:

Does the stars and distant planets amaze you? How they dance as you watch within your chair, feeling almighty and blessed, a spoiled child like you has no place within the stars. Longing for the gentle caress of your mother's arms will turn into a memory, slowly disappearing from your mind. But hey! I know a place where the likes of you would fit, come join me and stay forever.

Ordis: "Operator, there's an incoming anomaly! Prepare yourself!"

 

LABYRINTH MISSION

The Labyrinth Mission are random and challenging missions that may occur when starting a normal mission (Doesn't occur with Raids, Endless, Syndicate, Fissures, Derelict, etc missions). The first hint that the player is dragged to a Labyrinth Mission is the inverted Orbiter Ships during the login screen as well as the unusual background (usually clouds or space) featuring a sickly gray colored fog alongside Ordis' Message.

Unique to this type of mission is that there is no Abort Mission Button in the player's menu (although you can Alt+F4, but why would you do that?) and the Mini-Map / Map is not present.

 

OBJECTIVE

Labyrinth Missions are straightforward, find the Extraction Point.

 

WHAT'S THE TWIST?

Labyrinth Missions is nearly devoid of life, your usual Grineer, Corpus, Infested or Corrupted won't spawn. Each room will now require all players to be in it in order to progress further (unlocking the doors) and there are specific rooms which will spawn a Warframe Specter that the player or group must face. 

 

WARFRAME SPECTER

Warframe Specters spawned in Labyrinth have random setup, complete with Primary, Secondary and Melee, but the worst of all, they are also able to perform Focus Ability, releasing a ghastly specter of an Operator to cause harm and chaos to the players. They will utilize their abilities to the fullest in an attempt to destroy the player or group.

Fret not though, you'll have ample time to prepare before the specter spawns as each has their own unique cue upon entering their room. These are purely visual or audial and is designed to alert the players of the type of specter.

• Ash - A gray fog starts creeping on the floor.
• Atlas - The room will start to shake.
• Banshee - The sound will become muffled, similar to the effects of Invisibility and Silence.
• Chroma - An audible roar will be heard.
• Ember - Pillars of fire will erupt from the floor.
• Equinox - A ray of light will shine above with the entire room going dark.
• Excalibur - A brilliant sword will pierce the ground from above.
• Frost - Snowflakes will rush around the room, similar to the effects of being inside Snow Globe.
• Hydroid - The floor will start to flood, similar to Hydroid's Undertow except filling the entire room.
• Inaros - Sandstorm will occur in the entire room.
• Ivara - Ziplines will suddenly shoot out all around the room. This can be used by both players and Ivara Specter.
• Limbo - Players will enter the state of Banish briefly.
• Loki - The players will see specters of themselves in the room before it disappears.
• Mag - Players will be dragged towards a certain point of the room briefly.
• Mesa - Mesa's Energy Lasso (Shooting Gallery) will be present in the room.
• Mirage - Mirage's Prism will be present on the above the room.
• Nekros - Shadows of the Dead of a random faction will be present in the room before it disappears. Nekros Specter will always summon the same faction shown in the cue when using Shadows of the Dead.
• Nezha - An orbiting ring is present in the room, similar to Nezha's Warding Halo.
• Nyx - Players will see their allies under the visual affects of Mind Control. If there's only one player, the figure of Nyx's Mind Control will be present.
• Oberon - The floor is covered with Hallowed Ground before briefly disappearing.
• Rhino - Fragments on the floor will briefly float in mid-air (Rhino Stomp's effects).
• Saryn - Toxic clouds will fill the room before disappearing.
• Titania - Razor Butterflies are present in the room.
• Trinity - A downed specter is present in the room.
• Valkyr - A loud audible warcry will be heard.
• Vauban - The room is covered by a single large Bastille.
• Volt - The Speed Coil (used as a pick-up in one version of Volt's Speed) is present in the room.
• Wukong - A clump of cloud is present above the room.
• Zephyr - A whirling tornado is present in the room.

 

REWARDS

I honestly have not thought of the rewards yet, but I'll leave it to you guys, perhaps it can be another Warframe? (the cause of the Labyrinth maybe?) A piece of lore tied to a specific Warframe? Items? Caches? Relics? I'm open for suggestions.

 

 

Nice concept but it should be alert based not forced giving players a choice on whether or not they want to do it.

[Caelward]

16 minutes ago, Harowing said:

OR! you can just finish the mission and possibly earn a good reward for it. Is there even a type of mission that is not fun? If you're doing Endless Missions, Labyrinth won't show up so you're safe. Its like saying that don't put Stalker or any other Assassins during the mission since its not fun.

Ruthlessly optimistic aren't you. Have you joined any multiplayer games lately? Encountered some of them... 'players'?

If a player is rng forced into the labryinth mode against their will, they WILL Alt+F4 and you will NOT hear the end of the complaints.

As soon as you said 'random', 'challenging' and 'no mini-map' you ensured that this will happen.

As for the other aspects of the Labyrinth you've suggested, I see some potential. New and interesting game modes are welcome. Just be aware that if you want to take all the control away from the players, they will NOT co-operate with you.

[Ambiroa]

Love this concept. Some minor tweaks:

1. alert instead of forced;
2. short distance minimap, instead of no minimap, so basically, you can only see 1 or 2 rooms away from your current room, the need to memorize your path and passed room along the way, like you would in a real labyrinth;
3. entering specter room, will close the door once everyone is in, so you need to defeat to gain back freedom;
4. entering a specter room disables abilities, and melee-only, making it a real fight instead of "hey let's stand each in a corner and shoot the specter";
5. instead of the change in background and inversed ship, which is more work for dev, just have Ordis go black, as a sign that you're on your own.

[main_antagonist]

The minimap not always being accurate in this game kinda already gives a bit of a labyrinth vibe haha perhaps if we had some prism stone/bread crumbs type item to mark where we have already trekked would help people take to this concept in a more positive outlook?

http://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Prism+Stone

 

Edited September 30, 2016 by main_antagonist

[Kai]

Thank you guys for the feedback! I did updated it to make it a less random and more of "Eventually", such as using your Focus Ability fills this invisible gauge (although a visual marker in your star chart will notify you of the anomaly) that will inevitably force you to play the Labyrinth. Gonna try this direction for now.

[Freeshooter92]

You don't get it man. DE is never, ever gonna accept something that FORCES you to play it. Hell, even the 'escape' mission you get after dieing to Zanuka can be put off. You know what would happen if I got a labyrinth? It would just put me off playing for about a week until I eventually decide to just do it. The way it's presented, Labyrinth is not a fun challenge, it would be a chore you have to do so that the game would allow you to play it again. And all because of that one, simple, 'you have to do it' fact. We all have mission types we hate, and never want to play. I for one, detest capture missions and avoid them like the plague. I have a right to not have to play capture missions, and everyone else has a right to simply not play the missions they don't like.

[Kai]

1 hour ago, Freeshooter92 said:

You don't get it man. DE is never, ever gonna accept something that FORCES you to play it. Hell, even the 'escape' mission you get after dieing to Zanuka can be put off. You know what would happen if I got a labyrinth? It would just put me off playing for about a week until I eventually decide to just do it. The way it's presented, Labyrinth is not a fun challenge, it would be a chore you have to do so that the game would allow you to play it again. And all because of that one, simple, 'you have to do it' fact. We all have mission types we hate, and never want to play. I for one, detest capture missions and avoid them like the plague. I have a right to not have to play capture missions, and everyone else has a right to simply not play the missions they don't like.

That may be your opinion but you don't speak for DE on what they may or may not add. I'm personally fine with any type of missions to the point where I don't know what to play and eventually just sit inside my ship for a good couple of minutes or even an hour. I can do any missions just fine, no problems with it, but I'm aiming for something that basically breaks that "Every time you login to Warframe" vibe, because I'll be honest. It can get tiring every now and then doing the same thing. Also, the fact that it is forced upon you makes it a challenge, not saying it is a fun one, but it is a definitely a challenge for those who want to test something new. Labyrinth Missions would have ample time to warn you before it even appears so you can even grab your friends to do it and finish it faster.

I won't say your reaction is wrong but it is one of the possibility, what if the Labyrinth rewarded something unique that can only be obtained through this type of mission? I'm sure you'll change your mind and just basically try to farm it.

[Freeshooter92]

11 minutes ago, Harowing said:

That may be your opinion but you don't speak for DE on what they may or may not add. I'm personally fine with any type of missions to the point where I don't know what to play and eventually just sit inside my ship for a good couple of minutes or even an hour. I can do any missions just fine, no problems with it, but I'm aiming for something that basically breaks that "Every time you login to Warframe" vibe, because I'll be honest. It can get tiring every now and then doing the same thing. Also, the fact that it is forced upon you makes it a challenge, not saying it is a fun one, but it is a definitely a challenge for those who want to test something new. Labyrinth Missions would have ample time to warn you before it even appears so you can even grab your friends to do it and finish it faster.

I won't say your reaction is wrong but it is one of the possibility, what if the Labyrinth rewarded something unique that can only be obtained through this type of mission? I'm sure you'll change your mind and just basically try to farm it.

That. That right there. This is a video game, FUN is the whole point. In fact, that's the first question you should ask when trying to come up with ideas: Is it fun? Will other people find it fun? As it stands, the idea is basically a tax: Play the game too much and we give you a hard, irritating mission that locks you out of the rest of the game until you complete it. Warframe is a game about being a kung-fu space wizard with guns, it isn't about bumbling around a ghost town of a level with no minimap for an hour and fighting a boss just for the privilege of getting to play again.

Actually, having a unique reward would make it even more infuriating. Focus is on a timer, so if I actually WANTED to play this, I would have to likely boot up an exterminate, kill everyone, and wait five minutes to spam focus, again and again and again. People get pissed off when they add stuff to Simaris for Hek's sake, could you imagine how enraged people would be to have to do this for a warframe?

And, even ignoring all that, consider this possibility. I'm minding my own business, having fun and playing my game when I notice an alert come up. It could be a mod, some credits, endo, or maybe even a potato. I finish the mission up, only to be told when I get back 'WAIT BRO YOU GOT A LABYRINTH', and I can't finish or abort it and therefore lose out on the alert. Not because I didn't choose to forgo the rewards in a mission I was running, but because I was using focus and 'playing the game too much'.

[Kai]

4 minutes ago, Freeshooter92 said:

That. That right there. This is a video game, FUN is the whole point. In fact, that's the first question you should ask when trying to come up with ideas: Is it fun? Will other people find it fun? As it stands, the idea is basically a tax: Play the game too much and we give you a hard, irritating mission that locks you out of the rest of the game until you complete it. Warframe is a game about being a kung-fu space wizard with guns, it isn't about bumbling around a ghost town of a level with no minimap for an hour and fighting a boss just for the privilege of getting to play again.

Actually, having a unique reward would make it even more infuriating. Focus is on a timer, so if I actually WANTED to play this, I would have to likely boot up an exterminate, kill everyone, and wait five minutes to spam focus, again and again and again. People get pissed off when they add stuff to Simaris for Hek's sake, could you imagine how enraged people would be to have to do this for a warframe?

And, even ignoring all that, consider this possibility. I'm minding my own business, having fun and playing my game when I notice an alert come up. It could be a mod, some credits, endo, or maybe even a potato. I finish the mission up, only to be told when I get back 'WAIT BRO YOU GOT A LABYRINTH', and I can't finish or abort it and therefore lose out on the alert. Not because I didn't choose to forgo the rewards in a mission I was running, but because I was using focus and 'playing the game too much'.

So you would rather have things served to you in a silver platter then? You're not forced to farm Labyrinth for the unique rewards if ever, it just comes naturally. But hey! I'll take in the suggestion and makes it so that it doesn't force you to play this mission but basically just appears in your star chart after certain time (or focus).

Also, I don't get why people get pissed off when they do add stuff that requires Standing (Conclave, Syndicate, Synthesis), people should already know they're playing Warframe. You can't get it one go, it was designed to take a couple of days (due to the cap of standing you can obtain) before you can get it. It's been there since always. Everything related to Warframe takes time, everything you make in your foundry takes time. That's how I grew up with Warframe back then and I'm used to it.

[Freeshooter92]

The definition of challenge, as a verb:  invite (someone) to engage in a contest.

Forcing someone to do something is not a challenge. Forcing someone to do something is a punishment. A challenge is something like 'Hey, think you're tough? Try this.' Simaris and syndicates and all that, that's fine. Why? Because you don't have to. You have no actual, forced obligation to do it. And even though it's gated by time, it's not that difficult to farm the things if that's what you wanna do.

The problem here is not what YOU want out of the game. If you want something added, the consideration is what EVERYONE wants out of the game, and I think it's fair to say that most people would greatly dislike getting forced to do something against their will. Again, the only thing even close to forced aside from Vor's Prize (Which is a tutorial) is the Zanuka escape mission, and even that could be held off for as long as you like so long as you're willing to forgo using that warframe until you feel ready.

 Edit: Even then, it isn't really that hard. All you have to do is wander aimlessly through an empty tileset and occasionally fight an ambush. Any moron could do that eventually. In fact, it would probably be far preferable to solo it since having friends just makes it take longer. It isn't fun, it isn't a challenge, it's a slog. At least when you have to grind for other things you have some stuff to shoot at.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Freeshooter92
added some words

[Kai]

3 minutes ago, Freeshooter92 said:

The definition of challenge, as a verb:  invite (someone) to engage in a contest.

Forcing someone to do something is not a challenge. Forcing someone to do something is a punishment. A challenge is something like 'Hey, think you're tough? Try this.' Simaris and syndicates and all that, that's fine. Why? Because you don't have to. You have no actual, forced obligation to do it. And even though it's gated by time, it's not that difficult to farm the things if that's what you wanna do.

The problem here is not what YOU want out of the game. If you want something added, the consideration is what EVERYONE wants out of the game, and I think it's fair to say that most people would greatly dislike getting forced to do something against their will. Again, the only thing even close to forced aside from Vor's Prize (Which is a tutorial) is the Zanuka escape mission, and even that could be held off for as long as you like so long as you're willing to forgo using that warframe until you feel ready. 

With your definition, having a random Shadow Stalker spawn is actually not a challenge but a punishment for being marked?

 

Thing is, I don't know the general opinion of the player-base. YOU don't know the general opinion of the player-base. So what's a good possible basis should I use for my concept? I'm an old player, I want something that is challenging and surprising, I came up with this concept. Perhaps other old players may or may not like it, I do not know that. Perhaps new players may or may not like it. I do not know that as well. You don't know that as well.

If you think that each and every concept here considers the entirety of the community during its creation? No, the sole idea of the concept itself was intended by creator for themselves, that's just how it is. 

I'm gonna stop de-railing this now, the issue/suggestion above has been added to making Labyrinth NOT forced upon players.

[Freeshooter92]

5 minutes ago, Harowing said:

With your definition, having a random Shadow Stalker spawn is actually not a challenge but a punishment for being marked?

 

Thing is, I don't know the general opinion of the player-base. YOU don't know the general opinion of the player-base. So what's a good possible basis should I use for my concept? I'm an old player, I want something that is challenging and surprising, I came up with this concept. Perhaps other old players may or may not like it, I do not know that. Perhaps new players may or may not like it. I do not know that as well. You don't know that as well.

If you think that each and every concept here considers the entirety of the community during its creation? No, the sole idea of the concept itself was intended by creator for themselves, that's just how it is. 

I'm gonna stop de-railing this now, the issue/suggestion above has been added to making Labyrinth NOT forced upon players.

You don't HAVE to fight stalker. You can run. You have options. And if he kills you, it isn't like you aren't allowed to do anything else until you beat him. Randomness isn't the problem, being surprised isn't the problem, the mandatory nature of it is. Human beings do not like it if they feel like they have no choice in a given matter. Player freedom and agency is important in all games, not just warframe. 

[Kai]

10 hours ago, Freeshooter92 said:

You don't HAVE to fight stalker. You can run. You have options. And if he kills you, it isn't like you aren't allowed to do anything else until you beat him. Randomness isn't the problem, being surprised isn't the problem, the mandatory nature of it is. Human beings do not like it if they feel like they have no choice in a given matter. Player freedom and agency is important in all games, not just warframe. 

You do know you will be forced to fight him? Its either you or him? He will literally pull or teleport you back to him?

[Freeshooter92]

But he screws off back to wherever he hangs out after the fight, win or lose, and you can even just abort if you really don't want to. He doesn't just loiter around your corpse.

[Kai]

3 hours ago, Freeshooter92 said:

But he screws off back to wherever he hangs out after the fight, win or lose, and you can even just abort if you really don't want to. He doesn't just loiter around your corpse.

You're basically going against yourself in the previous statement. I'mma just gonna stop now as this is going nowhere. GLHF.