Expand the Corpus!

[SarpaSalpa]

Warning: whiny art geek.

This is a very real, very long-established problem.

I love how much lore and variety the Grineer get. A cast of unique and memorable villains; a huge, sprawling variety of enemy units, both variants and unique models; lots of maps and operations to disrupt, strong connection to the lore, etc, etc, etc...

The Corpus? SQUAT.

It's been what, over four years now? And throughout that time, the Corpus have remain NIGH UNCHANGED, copied-and-pasted over and over again. One of the most obvious demonstrations of this paradigm was the Archwing update: The Grineer get dregs, Dargyns, Ogmas, Zeplins... the Corpus get inflated ospreys and crewmen with opticors on their back. The number of times something new and interesting has been introduced for the Corpus can be counted on one hand: Alad V & Zanuka, the Hyenas, Combas/Scrambus (which were basically a thinly-veiled attempt to diversify the Corpus with... exactly four new faces and a male/female split), Nef Anyo (who has yet to be more than a talking head), Bursas (which faithfully held to the beautiful fan-design, and is just about the most interesting expansion to Corpus aesthetics yet), and.... that's about it honestly. I don't count the Razorback or Raptors because they literally pasted Bursa faces on them where the tri-optic ball faces used to be, and that's just pathetic. Also the fact that the Raptors would probably have been put to better use replacing the shameful archwing enemy pool. I don't even particularly mind a modular approach like what you've been trying lately, but are you even trying?

Come on. I get it, the Grineer are the creators' pets. They're cool, there's always something new and interesting to explore with them, we love how fleshed out they've become.

But I, for one, am getting well and truly sick of the Corpus being the same cookie-cutter nobodies they were back in the alpha. What's the point of a three-way war premise if the third side is the embodiment of FILLER??

 

tl;dr: Dear DE, please please please stop neglecting your other brain-child. We want new maps, new characters, new silhouettes that hold to the same aesthetics of but are not literally copies of existing Corpus stuff. Of the original placeholder bosses, we still have every single Corpus boss except the hyenas waiting to see some new life. I still don't count the Raptors. You've done so much incredible work with the Grineer, the Infested, the Orokin, the Tenno, even the Sentients... why do you refuse to acknowledge a full third of the story's set-up?

 

This has been the ranting and bellyaching of a random fan of four years trying to blow off stress from unrelated IRL nonsense. Please don't take this as an attack; despite my tone, I love what you've done and really do think that only good things can come from considering this.

[cosmickiller412]

totally agree whit you

[funtimehippie]

DE mentioned they were gonna shift from the grineer to the corpus it was in one of the devstreams (forgot the exact number but within the last 5-10 is when it was mentioned) . 

[Siekier]

Yeah, Corpus could really use some love. Compared to the Grineer, they're a very underdeveloped faction.

 

Corpus? So far only Alad V is a meaningful character, others such as Frohd Bek or this new version of Neffy Anyo haven't had much impact on the story so far.

[Vilemyre]

Of course. With the queens done I think its high time we got the corpus board dealt with. Maybe cough up ceres for a new corpus boss or save it for a infested covered grineer planet like eris's fate (sorry but Vor being alive with lech krill on another planet makes so many holes in the story. He can only get away with void magic in the void as he's just a undead corpse at that point).

Jackal needs reintroducing badly. That or rhino needs moving to a different spot as rewarding such a beefy frame early on isn't good especially when the boss fight is stupidly easy.

I know we are supposed to have Nef Anyo soon?

Spoiler

And I can only assume Frohd Bek is dead from the archwing quest

Right now the corpus seem like a lesser evil with only Alad V being a problem but even the board wanted him gone. Beyond that we know nothing of the board's intentions or anyone within it and their actions for or against the Tenno..

[Deatherage_]

hmmmm people want more corpus diversity

inb4 DE's answer for Corpus diversity is a nullifer with a supra and a corpus tech with a snipertron

[Akavakaku]

I completely agree that the Corpus could use some new stuff.
The numbers, for comparison:

Spoiler

The Grineer have 8 visually unique standard units: Male marine, female marine, roller, hyekka master, hyekka, drahk master, drahk, and manic.

The Corpus have 5 visually unique standard units: Crewman, MOA, osprey, modular, and bursa.

The Grineer have 14 standard units with unique forms of gameplay: Regular melee, scorpion, shield lancer, ballista, lancer, scorch/hyekka master, roller, latcher, bombard/napalm, drahk master, beast, heavy gunner, blunt, and manic.

The Corpus have 13 standard units with unique forms of gameplay: Crewman, sniper, tech, prodman, nullifier, MOA, shockwave MOA, fusion MOA, bursa, status osprey, attack osprey, shield osprey, and modular.

The Grineer have 14 unique rare/map-specific units: Sensor bar, arc trap, blunt, guardsman, artificer, bailiff, hellion, guardian, jester, shooty roller, carabus, regulator, and flappy drone.

The Corpus have 3 unique rare/map-specific units: Camera, turret, and nemes.

The Grineer have 4 unique Archwing units: Ogma, dreg, dargyn, and draga.

The Corpus have 1 unique Archwing unit: The locust drone.

The Grineer have 6 outfit sets: Normal, frontier, arid, drekar, Nightwatch, and kuva.

The Corpus have only 1 outfit set.

The Grineer have 7 visually unique bosses: Vor, Vay Hek, Sargas Ruk, Kela de Thaym, Lech Kril, the Queens, and Tyl Regor.

The Corpus have 3 visually unique bosses: Alad V, Zanuka, and Jackal.

The Grineer have 9 speaking characters: Vor, Vay Hek, Sargas Ruk, Kela de Thaym, Lech Kril, the 2 Queens, Tyl Regor, Sprag, and Ven'kra Tel.

The Corpus have 3 speaking characters: Alad V, Nef Anyo, and Frohd Bek.

The Infested, Orokin, and Sentients probably score much lower in most categories, but I can accept that since they're meant to be more cryptic factions.

Edited December 3, 2016 by Akavakaku

[crimson-warborn]

i think that the corpus doesn't need a diverse cast because they are Big Corporation in space, and no real corporation values visual diversity, the variations that they have can be justified in the functions that they have (color codes in the crewman to identify their roles, visual changes in MOAS and osprey because of their different weapons), but they can be ''diversified'' by means of new enemy types (an engineer that carry, arm and control portable turrets, pseudo zanukas, hyennas and/or lynxes (correct plural? O.o) being controlled by an ''walking control station'') or a change in their spawn system so their uniques can be seen more (bursas only appear in alert, combas and scrambus can be counted with one hand even in high level areas before the alert, same with the oxium osprey)

[Berserkerkitten]

I can't wait to see how they'll stop the Corpus from being so dreadfully boring! They're a bunch of guys with square helmets and some of their robotic pals are literally pairs of metal legs. And they love money. I wouldn't really miss anything if they suddenly disappeared.

[SarpaSalpa]

Just because their blandness can be rationalized doesn't mean it's preferable. Besides that, the Corpus aren't a corporation, they're a solar-system wide collection of guilds, wealthy families, and cults that share common beliefs, methods, and stupidly huge trade and manufacturing enterprises. We can see that there is variation in their ships, their symbols, their robotics (we can plainly see that the Bursa and the Bursa-fied robotics are of a different style than traditional proxies, and Alad V's Zanuka project seems to be a private enterprise).

[Akavakaku]

9 minutes ago, SarpaSalpa said:

Just because their blandness can be rationalized doesn't mean it's preferable. Besides that, the Corpus aren't a corporation, they're a solar-system wide collection of guilds, wealthy families, and cults that share common beliefs, methods, and stupidly huge trade and manufacturing enterprises. We can see that there is variation in their ships, their symbols, their robotics (we can plainly see that the Bursa and the Bursa-fied robotics are of a different style than traditional proxies, and Alad V's Zanuka project seems to be a private enterprise).

I like this line of thinking! Maybe as a parallel to the Grineer's region-specific troop outfitting, Corpus units could be designated by their ownership. Jupiter units could be marked as belonging to Alad's guild, with circular panels like those of Alad's suit. Europa could be the Sergeant's cryopod hunters, with bold markings and stripes. Neptune could be the Corpus Temple Guard, with a unique color palette and special insignias on the more elite units. Venus might be a prototyping/combat training center, with Corpus units using relatively unmarked and colorless gear.

[crimson-warborn]

6 minutes ago, SarpaSalpa said:

Just because their blandness can be rationalized doesn't mean it's preferable. Besides that, the Corpus aren't a corporation, they're a solar-system wide collection of guilds, wealthy families, and cults that share common beliefs, methods, and stupidly huge trade and manufacturing enterprises. We can see that there is variation in their ships, their symbols, their robotics (we can plainly see that the Bursa and the Bursa-fied robotics are of a different style than traditional proxies, and Alad V's Zanuka project seems to be a private enterprise).

just because literally aren't a corporation doesn't mean they aren't a Big corporation type of enemies, they could be 1000 guilds or 1 million but the facts are that they ''standarize'' their methods in the game, all the way from mercury to pluto they share the same basic sets (yes, i'm aware of the reduced types of cells available but if their true and tested build tactics are solid, why change them), the grineer have more variety because they are less prone to standarize because they have more ''special'' types of units lorewise (the nightwatch, the kuva for the fortress, the drekar for underwater missions)

this doesn't mean that they don't need to change, but the Dev team will have to justify the change in the corpus ''norms'' to start playing with visual changes (maybe with a board division?, sort of two groups that work together but aren't alike anymore), zanuka was a private enterprise and it became a sort of success in combat so that could be something to expand, or maybe they start to ''allow'' more private groups to test changes, prompting the aparition of new corpus types and map types (they don't have underwater maps yet)

[(PSN)robotwars7]

I definitely agree, there really isn't much lore or variation surrounding the Corpus. we still don't know how they keep the Crewmen numbers so high, what the key to controlling their proxies are, or just what the Board of Directors actually do. we could start by giving them some new variants:

Arctic Corpus - the Crewmen on the harsh surface of Europa wear special gear to stay warm and protected.

AnyoCorp Security Force - the Corpus' answer to the Nightwatch, made up of their most elite Soldiers and deadliest Proxies

Ice Pirates - mentioned in the Aufeis Quanta Skin description, these rogues decided the best way to profit was to abandon the Corpus and steal from them instead.

next, some new enemy types:

Miners: similar to Crewmen, but armoured and using Spectras or Quantas as a weapon. they are not intended for Combat, but they know a Tenno kill means a Promotion and Profit, so they won't hesitate to try and eviscerate you!

Crew Chiefs: the Corpus' Commander equivalent, capable of summoning MOAs and issuing orders to Crewmen. if you get to close, they will open fire with Akimbo Cestras!

Merchants: the Corpus have Traders ready to go at all times, and these well-dressed individuals always have something on them. be careful as if they were carrying weapons to trade, they may not hesitate to use them! (this unit would either fight or run away, and has a guaranteed drop of at least a bronze mod, like the Artificer. if they run, they will sound the alarm and call for help, if they fight, they may pull out a heavy weapon and use it against you, making them harder to predict)

and finally, the best of the best:

JOHN PRODMAN!

ideally, everyone's favourite Prod Crewman would be canonized for certain, and only appear in a special room: Prodman's Dojo. there would be only a slim chance of this room appearing on a Tileset, but it would have a Rare/Reinforced Corpus Storage Container locked  behind a door. the only way to open the door would be to defeat John Prodman in melee combat (he would be immune to all Primary and Secondary attacks, parrying bullets with his Prova). he would be capable of all the same moves as a Tenno including rolling and sliding, and can also throw nullifier grenades, and flashbangs. if he beats you, he disappears. if you beat him, the door unlocks and you can open the Container. (he could also have a chance to drop a new Machete Stance mod, or a Blueprint for Dual Provas!)

changes like this would go a long way IMO, it's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do.

 

 

[SarpaSalpa]

2 hours ago, crimson-warborn said:

just because literally aren't a corporation doesn't mean they aren't a Big corporation type of enemies, they could be 1000 guilds or 1 million but the facts are that they ''standarize'' their methods in the game, all the way from mercury to pluto they share the same basic sets (yes, i'm aware of the reduced types of cells available but if their true and tested build tactics are solid, why change them), the grineer have more variety because they are less prone to standarize because they have more ''special'' types of units lorewise (the nightwatch, the kuva for the fortress, the drekar for underwater missions)

this doesn't mean that they don't need to change, but the Dev team will have to justify the change in the corpus ''norms'' to start playing with visual changes (maybe with a board division?, sort of two groups that work together but aren't alike anymore), zanuka was a private enterprise and it became a sort of success in combat so that could be something to expand, or maybe they start to ''allow'' more private groups to test changes, prompting the aparition of new corpus types and map types (they don't have underwater maps yet)

I wasn't denying that they are obviously themed after "evil megacorporation" motifs, nor that they clearly standardize their units. My point is simply that, as they are now, we can see that Corpus design does vary within the organization itself, we just never get much beyond copies of old stuff in terms of content.

Also, lore-wise, the lack of variety in Corpus units doesn't prove anything. The reason the Grineer have more "special" unit types, lore-wise and otherwise, is because they're so much more fleshed out than the Corpus, which is exactly my point. There's nothing to justify lore-wise, any more than the addition of archwing units, manics, bailiffs, or anything else needed justification. It wasn't there before simply because the game is still growing. I'm not playing the beta-card here, just pointing out that the entire point of Warframe's eternal beta is that DE is going to continue expanding the content and filling gaps as long as they can.

[crimson-warborn]

i agree to that, i was just indicating the percibable natural inclination of the corpus and why the Devs  will need to step up their lore to bring more corpus variation, just for the fun of having a why for them to appear