Coming Back, This Game is a Mess

[notBPNPC]

So after an extended break from Warframe, I had some friends on PS4 that got into the game and decided to rejoin and help them. I was a PC player, but had transferred my account back in the day just in case I ever wanted to play on PS4. What I encountered was utterly infuriating to the point where if my friends werent playing the game, I would have immediately uninstalled it.

So right off the bat, I noticed I did not have my favorite frame on PS4 - Mesa. So that was my immediate goal. My first thought was to spend some plat and get her quick, but after going to the store and seeing 320 plat cost an absurd $20, that was immediately off the table. So grinding it is then. Keep in mind this is a MR 12 account that at one time had everything in the star chart unlocked. So how do I get Mesa. I remembered I needed the Alad V coordinates from invasion alerts so I went to the active one and did what I needed to to get my reward. 3 days later, the 'alert' completed and I recieved 1 nav coordinate. 3 days of waiting for 1 nav coordinate (yes I know its because this content is dead as mesa is a 3 year old frame).

Alright so I got my nav coordinate so how do I use it. There are no clues or anything on this so, stumped, I went to the wiki. There I saw I would need 3 nav coordinates to make 1 blueprint that would let me access Mutalist. So thats a minimum of 9 coordinates needed assuming perfect RNG. Since its taking 3 days for one event to complete, that is 27 days just to get the material I needed to make the M. Alad V coordinates. But as it turns out its a good thing, once I realized how much other crap I still had to do.

To get the M. Alad V fight blueprint, you have to complete a junction on Pluto. Seems easy enough. Until you look at 2 of the requirements for accessing this junction. Complete 3 neo relics. Thats not so bad. Its a bit of farming but straightforward. Heres the kicker, you have to complete a defense mission on Lua. Well, now Lua is unlocked by the Second Dream quest. I still hadnt done the prior Stolen Dream quest. But I was baffled that in order to get a 3 year old warframe, I was required to complete a quest that came out years after her release. I have to complete content that is totally unrelated to the frame that I want. Its totally random and makes no sense.

So, after a week of playing Warframe, I feel like I am no closer to my initial goal, as I am grinding through a quest I dont care about, and sitting around waiting for nav coordinate events to complete. The funniest part of all of this is that everyone told me "make sure you have your favorite frame equipped for the Second Dream, as you can never repeat the cutscenes". This is great considering my favorite frame is locked behind the Second Dream quest.

This is an absurd amount of effort just to obtain 1 warframe, and one that is 3 years old! Its not special or rare, its just a basic frame. Additionally the process makes no sense. Completing totally random and arbitrary objectives, and playing through unrelated questlines. And even worse, I dont think Mesa is an exception. Everywhere I look I see content jumbled and scattered around. Nothing makes sense. Unless you have the wiki open, you literally cant play this game. It looks as if each patch just added new content that was haphazardly stitched on to the old content with no attempt at making it coherent or unified. Most grind intensive PVE games are organized in a manner that gives players direction so they always know what sort of rewards come from each type of activity. In Warframe, one frame you get from farming a boss, another you get from a questline, another you get from alerts, others you get from void missions, others you get from a dojo - it makes no sense. And worse. I hear Plains of Eidolon compounded this problem even more, as none of its content is tied into the rest of the game. I may not stick around long enough to experience it.

[TheBrsrkr]

You're no longer a returning player. You're a new player with some stuff. They redid the starchart with new players  in mind, so you're just gonna have to dig through. 

[Tricky5hift]

"Its not special or rare, its just a basic frame."

Mesa is T R I G G E R E D.

*PEACEMAKER INTENSIFIES*

Edited October 15, 2017 by Tricky5hift

[Dhrekr]

9 minutes ago, notBPNPC said:

The funniest part of all of this is that everyone told me "make sure you have your favorite frame equipped for the Second Dream, as you can never repeat the cutscenes". This is great considering my favorite frame is locked behind the Second Dream quest.

By the way, if everyone told you that, everyone is delusional (well either that or the game on the PS is terrible). You can repeat SD as many times as you want, even after obtaining Mesa.

You might want to check that the people you consult actually know the game. It's very easy to think that this game is unfair if you're given wrong information.

(Not that this game is without faults. Grindyness, for instance. But this ain't one of them.)

[Jackviator]

7 minutes ago, Tricky5hift said:

Mesa is T R I G G E R E D.

Mesa is ALWAYS triggered. That's, like, her entire gimmick. :P

[(XBOX)Chuss The Red]

The mutalist nav coords can be earned through derelict defense and survival rotation B as well as the caches from hive missions on Eris.

[notBPNPC]

1 hour ago, TheBrsrkr said:

You're no longer a returning player. You're a new player with some stuff. They redid the starchart with new players  in mind, so you're just gonna have to dig through. 

Of course I had played since the updated star chart, but your comment supports my entire point. If a player of my experience returns to the game and feels totally lost, then there is a problem. Not lost because of the amount of content added, but lost because none of the content that was added was relevant to any of the old content. Theres no sense of direction or progression. None of the old content I had played was expanded, they just added a bunch of new gameplay in an attempt to make the game feel fresh to players who were long getting sick of it. Its the equivalent of taking an old car and adding a bunch of random body kit parts to it to try to make it look cool, but when you back up and look at the car as a whole, its just hideous.

[(PSN)XxDarkyanxX]

1 hour ago, notBPNPC said:

-Snip-

If you wanted to run Second dream AFTER Alad V was infected he wouldn't be able to help Lotus in that very quest.
It's not completely unrelated, it's placed here for a reason.

The only thing you should feel lost about is Event Placement as those contain a bit of story as well but those bit of informations are not available anywhere other than the Wiki or older players themselves.

You were simply informed that the new starchart was made with the intention of helping new players around, ense you are not a returning player, you are a new player with skills, you must revisit everything you know to replace the content you were once aware of as we all did.

I don't know for you, but the game as been expanding on many basis :
-The warframes and what they are
-The infestation and its danger/benefits
-The grineer and what they believe to be their queens
-The Corpus and their greed at the cost of destruction
-What you are
-The lost that have been found ( Older warframes that have become legends )

I don't know when it is that you left Warframe, but you certainly haven't been exploring the world if you feel like the game is just adding random stuff for the sake of being random.

[ldegroodt115]

2 hours ago, notBPNPC said:

320 plat cost an absurd $20

I agree that platnium is pretty expensive -- that's why I wait for coupons or rely on trading. 

2 hours ago, notBPNPC said:

3 days later, the 'alert' completed

Out of all the alerts, weapon parts and mutalist coords usually last less than 24 hours, I'm very surprised that yours took 3. Rest assured that not every invasion for coords lasts that long. It still isn't as easy as farming boss drops, however. Try looking for Mutalist Alad keyshares in the recruiting channel -- that way you can get a part and not have to use a key of your own. 

2 hours ago, notBPNPC said:

I was required to complete a quest that came out years after her release. I have to complete content that is totally unrelated to the frame that I want. Its totally random and makes no sense.

This is just me bumbling, but, I think junctions and their requirements act as stoppers to ensure people can't blow through the starchart without doing "important-lore" quests first. I think the Second Dream requirement was one of these gates and was placed here because DE wanted players to have it done before going to the next planet, whether that be for gameplay or lore reasons. Anyways, TSD is pretty cool, you should do it -- you have to sooner or later unless you want to block yourself off from more content.

And the people saying that you can only do it once are incorrect. You can replay the quest as many times as you want from the codex, cinematics and all.

I haven't been playing for very long  but I can agree that Warframe, from a lore perspective, is very clunky. Newer players have totally no idea about past events unless they look them up themselves, leading the wiki to be a crutch for that and much more. That's just part of WF I'm afraid for the foreseeable future. Personally, instead of focusing on continuity/flowing of the story or such, I enjoy it as a shoot and loot game.

[notBPNPC]

52 minutes ago, (PS4)XxDarkyanxX said:

If you wanted to run Second dream AFTER Alad V was infected he wouldn't be able to help Lotus in that very quest.
It's not completely unrelated, it's placed here for a reason.

The only thing you should feel lost about is Event Placement as those contain a bit of story as well but those bit of informations are not available anywhere other than the Wiki or older players themselves.

You were simply informed that the new starchart was made with the intention of helping new players around, ense you are not a returning player, you are a new player with skills, you must revisit everything you know to replace the content you were once aware of as we all did.

I don't know for you, but the game as been expanding on many basis :
-The warframes and what they are
-The infestation and its danger/benefits
-The grineer and what they believe to be their queens
-The Corpus and their greed at the cost of destruction
-What you are
-The lost that have been found ( Older warframes that have become legends )

I don't know when it is that you left Warframe, but you certainly haven't been exploring the world if you feel like the game is just adding random stuff for the sake of being random.

So. Everything you listed that was 'expanded upon' involves lore. Which no one cares about. When I say I expect existing elements of the game to be expanded upon, and developed, I mean gameplay. You know, the things you actually DO in game. When you play the game, you are doing the same things you were doing 3 years ago, just for different reasons. Theres no added depth, just more bells and whistles. Every now and then one of the games glaring flaws will be reworked, but its once every couple years, as DE is too busy trying to add gimmicks to make people spend more money on.

[NovusNova]

Thread has failed to remain constructive and respectful.

Closing.