Inhabiting the Player Character

[Teloch]

3 hours ago, ninjacat2015 said:

If the game becomes about anime kid characters with Dragonball Z powers it will lose a lot of players.

This happened already...

[Xgomme]

If I'm someone in my ship, it's Ordis.

 

I can't relate to a teen, nor a flesh suited ninja. The only "human" here is Ordis.

 

"What if... Xgomme did those things"

Edited October 14, 2016 by Xgomme

[Kinetos]

23 minutes ago, Teloch said:

This happened already...

If you believe this, it was because of SotR and wait for TWW.

TSD gained players, not lost. 

[Sloan441]

1 hour ago, Teloch said:

This happened already...

Only in some players' fevered, but stunted, imaginations.

[Corvid]

On ‎13‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 3:59 PM, SilentMobius said:

If Warframes are "inherrently evil" a-la the infestation then fine, but I think that would be a bad call for those people who do like to relate to each Warframe's "theme". If they aren't... well thats super bad for the game

... but there is a lot of space between "alive" and "sentient" (Not sapient mind you) that would be fine to explore.

I think it can be determined that Warframes are sentient. Sentient just means they act in response to stimulus, even if there is no thought involved. You could cut the head off of a chicken, and it would still qualify as sentient, provided that it still had its brain stem.

[folklore504]

I don't identify as the operator directly, but I hear you on them being the protagonist. 

I always feel more like a guardian for the Tenno personally(think like Mr. Bubbles from bioshock). Admittedly I'm quite content with that.  

[Damuranashi]

All this gender and sex stuff, I thought I made a dude and that was it. 

I could identify with the operator if he said more important things and not the random stuff he always says. Right now it feels like I am playing as my soon-to-become-a-manchild cousin.

[Gelkor]

1 minute ago, Damuranashi said:

I could identify with the operator if he said more important things and not the random stuff he always says. Right now it feels like I am playing as my soon-to-become-a-manchild cousin.

These kinda things are what makes me wonder if the War Within will have some kind of choice turning point for things we want to do with our Tenno. Like possibly Lasting Transference to only inhabit our Warframes, giving up our human body. Or staying a child with (maybe) more focus power, or growing up and losing some of our focus power. 

Like, I totally want to grow up my Teeno and grow a Riker Beard.

[Damuranashi]

24 minutes ago, Gelkor said:

These kinda things are what makes me wonder if the War Within will have some kind of choice turning point for things we want to do with our Tenno. Like possibly Lasting Transference to only inhabit our Warframes, giving up our human body. Or staying a child with (maybe) more focus power, or growing up and losing some of our focus power. 

Like, I totally want to grow up my Teeno and grow a Riker Beard.

The plot of Warframe is really dark, and even when the operator himself does not bothers me, it makes the plot look edgy because "Kids with guns". I think it would be a good idea make them adults at some point, it could attract better players, enphasis in could.

[HalfDarkShadow]

On 10/13/2016 at 8:06 AM, Tveoh said:

Honestly I think it just all comes down to the individual.  Can't say i Identify with my Operator all that much, but then again the lore and quests haven't really drawn me into the game as deeply as a RPG would.  

Yet even then, the reason i say it comes down to the individual, is how not everyone likes, or can get into RPG's that have a voice protagonist, or otherwise a protagonist that has a character already predefined by the game makers.    

If the story and lore for warframe, and the operators can get more fleshed out, and involved, i could see myself getting drawn into identifying with my operator, just as it stands can't all that much.

I'm in the same boat as you here lol.
I guess personally, I much prefer RPG stories to have a (if applicable / affordable) voiced protagonist that has already a fleshed out personally that we then come to learn throughout the game's entirety. Never could get into those "Blank-slate" [more than not] silent 'characters' that's specifically designed to symbolize and identify for the person playing. Nothing wrong with it mind you, just not something I can relate too since I'm literally filling in the blanks like a fan-fiction (again, not a bad thing).

Although I do recognize and have played games that have done this I think pretty well (take God Eater for one).

Anyways, what I do really find interesting with DE's design choices with the Operators, at least in some respects, is how they blended both styles into one entity. In other words kind of pulled a little bit of both sides, both semi-fully [though still in progress] customized Protagonists as well with predetermined voices with their own personalities and other little nuances. Which I think is kind of cool and believe it works well with Warframe.

 

On 10/13/2016 at 8:45 AM, LABAL said:

I am the Cold Steel.

On an somewhat unrelated note, I just finished last night this RPG called Trails of Cold Steel. Clocked in at 140 hours (yes, it's that long lol), but holy moly did shiz-hit-the-fan real fast by the end haha. I'm definitely going to take a break before jumping into the sequel to see what happens, because man, for a 100 hour story there's so much to sink in and comprehend xD

Edited October 14, 2016 by HalfDarkShadow

[xXx_mtv_xXx]

Each time I see my operator I think about the infamous star child from Mass Effect 3 lol

[Shoelip]

5 minutes ago, xXx_mtv_xXx said:

Each time I see my operator I think about the infamous star child from Mass Effect 3 lol

That's hardly comparable.  The Star Child just randomly appeared at the end of the game with no foreshadowing and instantly invalidated everything you'd worked towards throughout the entire series.  The Operator only ruined it if you have an irrational aversion to a really inaccurate idea of what anime is, and teenagers.

[Pavelord]

7 hours ago, ninjacat2015 said:

Angsty teenagers with superpowers are not. 

I still don´t get where this angsty thing, comes from. The conversation the tenno has with the Lotus at the end of TSD, basically mentions that the tenno decided to fight to protect others, to honor Margulis and survive even if they had to become dogs for the Orokin, then they become soldiers and devoted themselves to their martial training. Seems to me on the contrary they became rather mature.

And the ingame lines, albeit simple, never heard one that mentions inner turmoil or anxiety within, so comments like this and the constant comparisons to anime (especially Evangelion, and Shinji really have some inner turmoil) just come as disregarding these characters just because.

[BornWithTeeth]

11 minutes ago, Pavelord said:

I still don´t get where this angsty thing, comes from. The conversation the tenno has with the Lotus at the end of TSD, basically mentions that the tenno decided to fight to protect others, to honor Margulis and survive even if they had to become dogs for the Orokin, then they become soldiers and devoted themselves to their martial training. Seems to me on the contrary they became rather mature.

And the ingame lines, albeit simple, never heard one that mentions inner turmoil or anxiety within, so comments like this and the constant comparisons to anime (especially Evangelion, and Shinji really have some inner turmoil) just come as disregarding these characters just because.

Because people saw a young looking face and knee-jerked so hard that I suspect that there are quite a few players out there who still need crutches to walk right. You had people yelling about angsty teens right after they saw/heard a shaven headed child soldier say that they put aside all fear and became an engine of war.

 

 

You're dealing with people who quite literally are not seeing/hearing what is actually in the game. Their headcanon overlay keeps telling them that Operators are five year olds playing with blocks, and twelve year olds crying all the time.

[ninjacat2015]

I hope the anime kids are retconned by another second dream. Where it turns out they are a meat puppet we control just liie the warframe. Tenno in reality being post human uploads like Ordis.  There is precedence for this. See how the Lotus is a sentient that now uses a human body as an avatar. And Beast of Bones demonstrate that humans can be uploaded to become AIs. The kids are something the Tenno needs as a human avatar, to perform diplomacy and stuff. As they are lot less intimidating thab Warframes. And misleading enemies of Tenno about true origin of Warframes operators. Sentient and stalker may just kill the operator who is another expendable shell instead of attack the Cephalon like construct that is the true Tenno.

Also in my headcanon Tenno would be uploads of various ancient Orokin warriors. Like Phoenix lords in Warhammer 40000 in time of great need the Orokin recovered the minds of their great warriors and put them in new bodies to fight again. This woipd explain the unique Tenno culture and their emphasis on honor.

 

[Kaotyke]

The Operators are to me what every other Video Game Protagonist before them were: Video Game Protagonists.

1 hour ago, Pavelord said:

I still don´t get where this angsty thing, comes from.

 

1 hour ago, BornWithTeeth said:

You're dealing with people who quite literally are not seeing/hearing what is actually in the game. Their headcanon overlay keeps telling them that Operators are five year olds playing with blocks, and twelve year olds crying all the time.

And I tell you that they are quiet right, they are angst teens, because DE made this game, in this game you are the Tenno, everyone refers you as a "Tenno", the Devs refer to their players as "Tenno", the players refer to each other as "Tenno", so if the "Tenno" is feeling angst because of the revelation then the "Tenno" are actually angsty, and since they are portaited as teenage child soldiers then they are angsty teenagers!!

[Mak_Gohae]

The game was originally sold as you, whatever you were, wearing the armor. Now you are not and you are sitting on a ship playing pretendo.

Dont care for that.

The game doesnt really sell that feature well. The kids are just cosmetic holes. We dont see the kids switching from their chairs to other frames or anything dealing with them besides random words during the missions that all that do is bother you.

[Unus]

   Personally, I know I'm not my Operator. I am one of the mental cogs in the Operator's brain that kicks into gear when making choices, their Frontal Lobe essentially. Beyond this, I prefer mapping my character by what they say and how they act (still wish I had gotten the beamy school trait so my Operator could match his capabilities (grumble,grumble, grumble) As for how they look? I prefer males over females simply because I am male and therefore have a "testosterone  stained" viewpoint upon the world.

   I dislike playing as females because I lack perspective of the "estrogen-stained" world and do not know how that variable would influence my choices and, by extension, allow me to adequately portray my assumed role. Finally, when it comes to games with vocal characters, I always take the liberty of sculpting them in the image of their actors, the REAL characters. It's what I did with Mark Shepard the Normandy Commander, it's what I did with Nate Delaney the Vault Survivor, and it's what I did with Jon Curry the Inquisitor. I will make minor adjustments based on relevance to the story, such as makeing them a specific race or build (lockpicking, speech, etc in order to gain access to even the tiniest secrets in the game) but, beyond this, nothing changes. All voiceless individuals however, assume my form AND my viewpoints, an empty skin that I will puppet across a world, synchronized with my mental compass, if not in the way I say things.

Phew! Not sure if that's unique or not, but, that's my two bucks on the matter, philosophy and all so. . . enjoy?

Addendum= Also, thanks for bringing this up! You made me look for the voice of the Operator, now I know! Michael Schwengel, at long last, you will get at least a micro-scale injection of the fame of being in the game!

Edited October 15, 2016 by Unus
Tweaky Cheeky Breeky Tiki

[ArcaneSnowdrop]

Merlin, my operator, is not me. I don't like self-inserting into games, or anything, really. I like to /roleplay/ in my games. But I can identify /with/ him--he's a weirdo with poor social skills but a big brain and a big heart.

He also loves his cats. And his dogs. And his sentinels. They're cute.

[Hypernaut1]

Before the reveal, they made it seem like we, the gamer, were the tenno. A mysterious force or energy that controlled multiple Warframes. It almost felt meta in a way. We were controlling WFs from the void from the real world. We, as a gamer, were woken up in this game universe to save it.

After the reveal, the story doesn't feel that way anymore. The tenno address just an NPC we control.

I don't dislike the new narrative, but I do somewhat miss there old feeling of actually being tenno, and not just viewing a story.

[(PSN)Mofojokers]

The customization options and accessories and gear for them are in need of massive work first.....

[(PSN)BMWWOW]

I like the overall idea of the Operator, but I found their Looks-Customization to be extremely limited.  Yes I get that they are supposed to be children, but even so I felt like my range was from lily white surfer kid to lily white goth kid, and literally all of them effeminate as heck bordering on a commercial for androgynes and transgenders (no offense, but the range was not representative of the spectrum of actual people).  Darker skin tones became almost immediately stereotypical as well.  The opportunity to try to recreate what I had in mind was not possible and too limited considering the range you find in other games like Skyrim, Mass Effect, ESO, etc, where there is vastly more range of facial feature customization, etc.

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT r.e. THE FOLLOWING.....

Now as for the story, I SINCERELY like the whole Second Dream revelation that all the frames are mere android shells you inhabit.  THAT was brilliant.  That the Operator can manifest via the Lenses is also very cool, and I like how the Frame slumps when the operator manifests.  Lots of room for story in these few plot elements alone.

What especially intrigues me is that if DE ever creates a more expanded Campaign (Warframe 3.0? a la Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Deus Ex, etc) then you would effectively be playing your Operator (more or less what you are doing now) and as such there would be good reason to be able to switch out the Frame as needed within the Campaign.  So the basis of the Operator story-wise is IMO an excellent plot device.  

[Tachibana_Hibiki]

I don't really insert myself into games or identify as the protagonists, so it never really was important for me to see frames as "me" being in the game, and thus giving up the "reins" of the frames to the Operator wasn't a problem at all. Still, I feel sorry for people who wanted to see themselves as warframes/ninjas-wearing-warframes though, TSD must have been a reasonably big disappointment for them.

Personally though, TSD gave me an opportunity to have a girl with flat chest on board, which is most deffinitely a plus in my book. And since the editor gave me just enough (though barely) options to make Operator's looks fit my eeeeh... aesthetic preferences, I now have a pleasure to occasionally look at thousands of years old creature that on the outside resembles a young human female.

The only thing that really bothers me is them GOD DAMN random PILES OF NONSENSE that Operator pukes out during missions (thankfully can be turned off).

I have some humble hopes, that those will be reworked to actually reflect the gameplay events, like reporting critical damage to Warframe when it is "bleeding out", or commenting on the alarms being set off etc (u know, something that actually MAKES SENSE contextually?). Could eventually get repetitative too, but there is always "toggle off" for that.

[(PSN)Lowk721]

Nope, its a customized avatar playing a role. Same with every other game with a character creator. There aren't many games around with the level of choice that would immerse me that deeply.

They can however make me feel for my creation. Child soldier experiment, who lost everything, and pilots a machine that transfers pain to him for the sake of (insert choice here); succeeded in that.

I'm not to keen on the current level of dialouge but I give points for no one having to force them to get in the robot. They've got a job to do so they do it.

[BornWithTeeth]

14 minutes ago, (PS4)Lowk721 said:

Nope, its a customized avatar playing a role. Same with every other game with a character creator. There aren't many games around with the level of choice that would immerse me that deeply.

They can however make me feel for my creation. Child soldier experiment, who lost everything, and pilots a machine that transfers pain to him for the sake of (insert choice here); succeeded in that.

I'm not to keen on the current level of dialouge but I give points for no one having to force them to get in the robot. They've got a job to do so they do it.

Which is part of what has me mystified when people complain about the Operators being angsty. Operators go right into battle, no complaints, no fear, despite knowing that they'll feel every injury the 'frame suffers. They never whine about how much it all sucks, they don't cry because their families are dead, they don't talk about how terrible it is to wake up at the far end of time after the solar system has fallen into madness. They take care of business.

 

 

I just want to be able to exert more direct choice about their dialogue pool.