Lack of gratification from completing content

[Redthirst]

Warframe is a game that is based around rewards. Some people may say that they enjoy the gameplay, but as we can see by various signs(like people hating the new Void system) a large amount of people play for rewards.

Here lies the problem with pretty much all of the content that Warframe has - lack of gratification in cases where you don't get your desired result. To put it simply - if you don't get what you want, you feel like you just wasted a bunch of time. Let me give some examples of that:

• Sorties. You want some specific items(lets say Riven Mod since it's our current hot topic) from the Sorties. You either get one and feel gratified, or you get something else and feel like you just wasted time. This issue is even worse with Sorties since you can only do them once a day.
• Void farming. You either get an item you want, or you get something else and feel like you wasted time, Relic and Traces(assuming you used some).
• Kuva framing. You either get Kuva Siphon to spawn and get your Kuva, or it doesn't spawn and you realize that you just wasted your time since there's nothing that completing the mission can give you.

Let me also give you an example of a game that tries to give you a sense of accomplishment even when you didn't achieve your desired result - Diablo 3.

Diablo 3 has a lot of random elements, with getting randomized gear in random ways making a large part of the game. However, the important part is how you acquire this random gear. There are three main ways that you can get end-game gear in Diablo 3:

1. As a random drop from enemies.
2. Buying a random item of a specific slot from a trader using special currency(still random, but lets you narrow it to a specific slot).
3. Crafting random item of a specific type(same as the above, only lets you narrow it further to a specific type of item).

The best way to farm items is to play Rifts(dungeons full of enemies with a boss in the end). While playing a Rift, there is a chance that you will just get an item that you want as a random drop, so every enemy you kill has a chance to drop what you want(or something that you didn't realize that you want). But if they don't drop what you want, then it still doesn't feel like a waste of time, because in the end you get currency that you can use in that trader. And if that doesn't work, then you can also attempt to craft it using materials that you also got from playing Rift.

Furthermore, even if you only need to farm something specific(like materials) there is still a chance that you can get something useful from just killing enemies, or from getting that currency at the end.

It can even lead to those great moments when you farm for one thing, but suddenly something you didn't even know you wanted drops.

This is something that Warframe sorely lacks(at least in my opinion). If I farm Kuva and Siphon doesn't spawn, I just feel like I wasted time. I don't get anything from the mission I just did. I can't possibly get anything from that mission.

 

Here are my suggestions as to how we can rectify this problem:

• For Kuva farming, award small amounts of Kuva after completing missions on planets that can spawn Kuva Siphons, so if one doesn't spawn, at least you get something.
• For Sorties, add a token system(with Legendary Cores being exempt from the token system) so doing Sorties still brings you closer to what you want.
• Additionally, for Riven mods specifically, I'm thinking that making two types of Riven mods can be great:
  1. Riven mods as they are right now, acquired from Sorties.
  2. Riven mods that can randomly drop from enemies. These Riven mods are different in that they cannot be rerolled. This shouldn't be the main way to acquire Riven mods, but it would be a great and unexpected reward and would help accomplish what this system tries to(getting a Riven mod for some underused weapon as a random reward is a good reason to try that weapon out).
• Void system should give an ability to get additional amount of Traces instead of a Prime part, which can help in a situation where you get a selection of items that you don't need, but wouldn't mind some Traces for the next Relic.

That way, even if you don't get what you want directly, you will still get something that brings you closer to your goal.

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2016 by Redthirst

[Valarfax]

I definitely agree, their rewards could use a bit of work. But the RNG keeps people playing, if not happy.

[Redthirst]

2 minutes ago, Valarfax said:

But the RNG keeps people playing, if not happy.

One doesn't exclude the other. In my example I used Diablo 3, but it's a game that is very RNG dependent(imagine if every weapon and Warframe had random stats like Riven mods have now, and it would be close to what Diablo 3 is), and yet it still gives you some reward for your effort, which makes playing the game feel more worthwhile.

[Trichouette]

Weeeeee neeeeeed a token system

But they'll never do that.

[Hero2102None]

Interesting points OP, i feel unsatisfied aswell ?