[Spoilers] The War Within: How poor controller integration killed my experience

[(NSW)BlaineKodos]

I don't want to make this post, I really don't. But DE both needs and wants honest, detailed feedback on these sorts of things. As such, I want to recount my experience playing this long-awaited quest and how my method of play led to me having no fond memories of it. For full clarity, I play Warframe on my TV using Steam Big Picture and an Xbox 360 controller. This has been my only method of playing Warframe for three years, because I only became a PC gamer around that time. This experience probably would have been totally different without this in mind, but since this is coming to consoles eventually it's something DE needs to hear.

My issue with this quest only took place after mission 3. The initial two missions and the infiltration of the Fortress went off without a hitch. I was enjoying the new tileset, scanning new enemies and taking note of how winding and cavernous everything was. Then came the big moment where you are stripped of your Warframe and cast back onto the Orbiter confused and depowered. This part was also alright, a little confusing at first but unlike the Stalker encounter of Second Dream, I wasn't being held back by a lack of knowledge of my ability. I got through the tense moment and made my way through to the Mountain Path.

And here's where it all comes tumbling down. Walking through the snow and doing the basic stuff you need to, I encounter the ravenous Golden Maw and encounter my first death. That one was on me, and I figure out how to progress. Upon making it to the first platform, I'm greeted with the message [Hold '''' to jog.] Confused what it was trying to tell me, I got up and had to look at my screen closer, thinking maybe it was one of the bumpers rendering improperly and they had rebound my controls. After seeing it was in fact telling me '''' I just try to sprint like normal and find it still works, and jump still jumps. Ok, just a UI hiccup.

Moving through the bone pits of the Golden Maw, the novelty of this experience has chipped away. I failed it several times due to my own incompetence, not really a fault of the mission. But I was getting annoyed at it all the same. Next I obtain the Void Burst and am excited to be through the bone pit. I come to the Void Dash gap. I am greeted by [Hold '''' and tap (A) to Void Dash.] which, assuming that meant my method of sprinting still, I try to see if there's some sort of sprint dash. No such luck. At this point I figure it must be a fancy way to say Bullet Jump, and here we come to the gigantic cement pillar in the middle of the road: My crouch button does nothing. I have it bound to (B) so Bullet Jumping is a very quick roll from (B) to (A) for easy execution, but I can't crouch at all. I try every other button on my controller and nothing works. At this point I come to the forums to see if others have this issue (some did) and something is mentioned about crouch toggle. I dive into the options for a while, finally discovering there's a separate keybinding for crouch toggle on keyboards that doesn't exist on controllers. This is bound to V for me. So now, my task has become pressing the V key on my keyboard, then returning my hands to my controller to aim and Void Dash. Now I'm quite annoyed, and the game goes on.

We come to the second Golden Maw section, where now I need to Void Dash multiple times and in some cases scurry to the safety point before failing again. This takes... longer than anyone would have expected. My good first impression of this content is now soured by negative reactions to this not-fully-realized function which has hindered my progress by a great deal. I eventually limp through it and make it to the other side, thankful it's over. Oh, how wrong I was.

Now... now we have Void Mode. I am once more greeted with [Hold '''' to enter Void Mode.] and I am starting to become angry. "Was this part even tested on a controller", I begin to wonder through gritting teeth, "you took 6 extra months for this?" Getting over myself, I find it is still V for this. Press to crouch, hold for invisibility. Sometimes you just press and get invisibility. It's very inconsistent for me, and now I am trying to stealth through Golden Maw section three with visible anger. I get up, walk to my regular PC and posted about this blocking my progression. I stop for a while and eat something as I hadn't yet, then return to the game. About an hour goes by and I finally manage to pass this section. I'm feeling quite hot by this point, and just want to get back to my Warframe and something less clunky to control. The mission then takes a nosedive the likes of which I never expected. Now we have Transference unlocked.

Hoo boy. Ok. As expected, when face to face with my nemesis of this entire ordeal, I am prompted to [Hold '''' after stunning the target to activate Transference.] Now, at this point? The answer to the equation is no longer '''' = V. I'm forced to guess what the game expects me to press, having no indication of any kind other than a blank command prompt. I end up hitting most of the keyboard (you only have a scant few seconds to try everything before the Golden Maw regains composure) before discovering I need to hit 1. I think it was 1, by this point I was just frantically hitting every number hoping it was trying to tell me a power. It works, and eventually I'm able to just complete this section and return to the Orbiter. Ordis makes me show off all my new tricks for him like a trained seal, which adds to my frustration and mercifully I'm free to go and regain the part of the game I've been desperately wanting back. "It's over," I think, "time to end this." I was wrong, so so very wrong.

Now we're back in the Queen's chambers, we're ready to fight some Kuva guardians and I can't do anything to them. After fumbling around Teshin spells out how I have to defeat them (sweet merciful heavens, thank you for that.) and now I have to put my clunky, awkward, slow tactic into play in a combat scenario. Any time your Operator is hit you return to your Warframe. To get back to my Operator, I need to hold LB (my power menu) and press RB (my power E), get some distance, press RB (Void Burst), press the V key, press (A) to Void Dash and then LB+RB again to return to my Warframe. "Progress!" I shout, down two revives already and just desperate to finish this. Upon returning to my Warframe, trying to swing my melee weapon (also RB) I find myself returning to the Operator. As it turns out, changing back causes my power menu to count as being active. So now I have to do all of that again, then press LB once I'm back in my Warframe, I can finally attack these enemies and make progress. Then the enemies double and I have to do it again. Then one more time. Finally, after more of this and one remaining revive, the nightmare is over and I can continue on to playing something less infuriating.

It's at this point I'm completely properly angry, clenching my teeth and exclaiming during the final encounter, and I look at my rewards. An interesting staff (to be fair), a blueprint for a weapon that needs parts (oh boy) and then the Riven mod. Ohhhhhh the Riven mod. As one last stab to the side, my mod I obtain tells me to unlock it I need to scan a Simaris Synthesis target without using traps or powers and with a Hobbled Dragon Key equipped. I'm still angry and after debating internally, I set off to unlock it and see what I have at least. I put it on a Rifle because lord knows if I have to but I don't want to do it twice, and set out to get a target. As it turns out, by "using powers" it means at all. If you use any power before capturing the target, the challenge is void. Now I'm very angry I have to redo this endeavor, since synthesis targets love to spawn near the end of the mission. After one last trip through this agony I accomplish my goal, extract and have my grand reward: a mod for the Miter.

So in summation, while I wanted to like this quest's narrative, I was unable to due to the poor implementation and controller integration of the new mechanics. I never want to see my operator again. I don't want to deal with Riven mods. I've yet to see a single drop of this Kuva resource and right now I'm not anxious to get on finding it. The experience wore me down to a point where all I see is the flaws, and burning over those flaws in a light that puts out all surrounding detail is the phrase "Six Months". Please, for the love of all that is good and decent, fix this issue as fast as you can so someone else doesn't have my experience. I don't want that much crushing disappointment for anyone else.

tl;dr Wait for a few hotfixes if you play with a controller, because you might just grow to hate the entire quest otherwise.

Edited November 13, 2016 by BlaineKodos

[Aeriyas]

Yeah, the key bindings for controller really ruined this quest for me... It was really good but I had to contort my body to use my keyboard and there isnt room at my computer spot for a keyboard so it had to sit in my lap and it really just made the quest annoying to switch between things and yeah. And then I checked to see if we could replay quest, so when they fix the button toggle I could actually do it again... and no replay. Darn

[Wandrecanada]

Just wanted to add that I was also infuriated that, once again, DE does NOT test their game with a controller ever despite boasting controller support.

It's like the designers don't consider the controller use case for the game and wait until console porting to even start thinking about gameplay implications.

[polamnus]

I was going to post something similar, but the OP's well written, detailed experience matched mine so well I'll just tack on a "me too." This really soured my whole experience. I don't know how this got past basic QA. Obviously, it will have to be fixed for controllers before it goes to consoles so this just smacks of being released unfinished and/or untested. It's a real shame too, I was having a great time of it until the operator powers came into play, then it just became an exercise in tedium. I was glad when it was over and really disappointed in the whole experience as a result.

[j4psander]

im with you guys

i have around 800 hours in this game and spent approx £300 in total and have loved every minute up until the war within operator functions.

sadly this is exactly the kind of thing that will turn me away from the game. KB/mouse is an absolute no go for me and completing the quest was literally painful to use the keyboard due to medical reasons

controller support MUST be fixed as even though i eventually passed the quest, i cannot complete kuva siphons without pain and most likely any future operator modes

 

i cannot express the full extent of my disappointment in this update whilst keeping my tone civil and forum friendly

[llls1cKb0ylll]

totally agree, had the same problems with my xbox gamepad and the same frustrations and conclusion: wait for updates before playing new quests

[uberrific]

I switched to keyboard mouse just to finish the quest but now since crouching is still broken on the gamepad and you need it for kuva siphons Im done with the game for now. 

[ChadeGanbaru]

I don't understand why they didn't just map the operator powers to the power wheel when in operator mode. It really feels like this wasn't tested on a controller even once.

[Aftershock0]

Same problem at the bone pit. I got frustrated and just switched to keyboard. Now I'm using the defaults but with toggle crouch mapped to "select" which wasn't used for anything.

[Aftershock0]

2 hours ago, ChadeGanbaru said:

I don't understand why they didn't just map the operator powers to the power wheel when in operator mode. It really feels like this wasn't tested on a controller even once.

Could be one of the reasons its not out on consoles yet.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Aftershock0

[Cinnamon.Vector]

I'm glad it wasn't just me who had an absolutely miserable experience with TWW after the fortress. I've not actually been able to complete the battle in the throne room. I'm just terrible at using a keyboard and mouse in this game and so I'm still stuck in the throne room. I had to drop to desktop and force quit the game because I couldn't even find a way to quit the game! 

I'm assuming when I log in I'll be back in the throne room or will have to do the entire thing again, I don't know. I just know that I really didn't enjoy the gameplay at all and have no desire to play it anymore. 

This makes me really sad because I've had nearly 700hrs of fun with friends with this game and spent a lot of time on TennoGen creation as well.

Hopefully they'll fix the controller but I think I need to take a break from Warframe for now.

[polamnus]

@Cinnamon.Vector the worst part is, at least unless it's subsequently been hotfixed, but as of Saturday you could not quit, you have to Alt+F4 to force quit, but as soon as you log back in, you are immediately treated to the impossible to skip cutscene and deposited right back in the throne room. No chance to change your frame, or your melee weapon, and most importantly, the ENTIRE GAME is now locked for you until you force your way through this. That was nearly unforgivable, IMO. Once you started it your entire ability to play the game was taken away from you.

[Synpai]

I mapped the ability to the back/select button (Swapped the minimap expanding for secondary fire. Since I didnt need secondary fire for the quest it will be Transference until further notice). I swear that there's a Toggle Crouch and Hold Crouch for controller as well <.<. I only had to use my keyboard when it said hit "5" for Transference the first time. Couldnt figure out what button it was by default (It was my Left Bumper which I use to roll. This was the biggest fail IMO), after that I remapped it.   

 

I would free up a whole lot of buttons if I could stand power wheel, but it's too glitchy for me. I.e: Trying to cast a power and aim glide opens up the chat. Sometimes it just gets stuck open and I use abilities by accident.

 

[ACorpse]

Just to add, having nonstandard keybindings (using only toggle crouch rather than hold, and not using specific keys for powers, just using the scroll wheel to select and a button to activate) made this whole mission a gigantic irritation for me too. I have no spare keys on my speedpad to bind for this junk and now I find that I need to change my whole playstyle (with key configs I've used for twentyfive dang years) because of poor implementation and DE's assumption that "default is what everyone uses".

That's not even dealing with all the bugs in this mission. So many bugs and glitches. So many Alt-F4's.

[(NSW)BlaineKodos]

OP here, checking back in after the 19.0.3. I would say something like "I'm glad to see it's not just me" but that's the opposite. It sucks more people have had similar issues. In regards to the hotfix, the issues I outlined with controller support for the new mechanic has not been fixed. Is this an issue still plaguing other posters of this thread?

I want to get as much visibility for this as possible. I want us all to enjoy this new system, as in concept it is very interesting. We just need to get it working in practice for us "mudbloods" of the PC Master Race. We choose to play in a way that is comfortable, and at the risk of sounding like an elitist snob we deserve the same functionality that these systems work as intended.

[Raegbund]

Still running into this, but even more!

So I used my controller all the way to the end of the fight (struggling). On the last 2 guardians, I was somehow unable to go back to my warframe. So...I tried the keyboard command for it. Still no dice, just does the returning animation and doesn't go back into my frame. I even tried to die as the operator and it just instantly sets me to full health. 

But it gets better! I take out the 2 guardians as the operator cause I'm immortal. Then the fight with teshin happens. He throws out his stun disc and it stuns me. Me hits me, I "die". But I can't move. I'm stuck. I try to press esc to go online and look it up. I can't do that either. My game became completely unresponsive. So I closed it down and I'll be going back to it later.

Probably try just using mouse and keyboard for the quest and then avoid using the abilities ever again until they fix it. 

[MidnightMan]

On ‎11‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 2:52 AM, Cinnamon.Vector said:

I'm glad it wasn't just me who had an absolutely miserable experience with TWW after the fortress.

This makes me really sad because I've had nearly 700hrs of fun with friends with this game and spent a lot of time on TennoGen creation as well.

Hopefully they'll fix the controller but I think I need to take a break from Warframe for now.

I hear you Vect, and if its any condolences, its the program design (example:  you need to be in close in to stun them but further out to get the dash to work, while the stun wears off as you back up, the first swipe at your frame reloads you back in the frame making you powerless).  Add the glitchy key response time that's makes it unplayable.  I have a gaming keyboard and mouse which I've used to level all content in the game (over 3,000 hours MR22 -lol) so please believe me fixing the console controller wont help much. What's disappointing, is how do you get out of the being LOCKED into a broken quest ?  Obviously, if we longtime tenno have to go back to an unranked and unarmed Excal freed from our crypad to start over, I'm moving on. 

Edited November 20, 2016 by Schizoid-Man

[BroUrMomhasaWan6]

I'm having the same issue with the controller.  It worked fine up until the fight with the guardians and then the controls just get messed up.  I can activate void mode and shoot the beam, but that's it.  None of the other powers work on the controller.  Tried mapping, but still.  I quit on this mission, so whenever I sign in it goes straight where I left off on the fight.  THIS GAME IS UNPLAYABLE NOW. 

[MidnightMan]

7 hours ago, BroUrMomhasaWan6 said:

I'm having the same issue with the controller.  It worked fine up until the fight with the guardians and then the controls just get messed up.  I can activate void mode and shoot the beam, but that's it.  None of the other powers work on the controller.  Tried mapping, but still.  I quit on this mission, so whenever I sign in it goes straight where I left off on the fight.  THIS GAME IS UNPLAYABLE NOW. 

You're not alone, many of us new and long-term players accounts are forever locked in the TWW quest. Have 5,090 hours in two years to rank up to MR22, so I put in a trouble ticket Friday night, and DE informed me that those account are done, you need to start over with a new account :( 

[DE]Edwin Yesterday at 14:56

Hi Schizoid-Man

At Warframe Support we cannot remove a quest from user's account once unlocked and started.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[(PSN)Rakk-mann]

Ps4 player here, this is even worse on the ps4 if you use custom controller. played the game for 3 years and have know how about the game, but after trying for 3 hours to figure out how to use my talent tree ability after the TWWI update with out having to use the S#&amp;&#036; default layout de provides, im starting to lose hope.