Why I am boycotting the Plains (for now)

[Internet_Toughguy]

*Update to original post*

Because this post is still on the first page, I thought I should update my thoughts on the Plains. I have been playing many Plains bounties lately, both solo and in a random group. Also I hit the Plaguewing event missions hard, and it was a fun time. Here are my new thoughts on the expansion:

-My original post is still true to some degree. I find the cache quest is easy in a group (outside of a recent bug that will be likely hotfixed), and it can still be a pain solo. However, there is a learning curve to it as you figure out common placements, and you can indeed find them easily after a bit of practice. So I do see it as a valid quest, but there are cache placement bugs that need fixing. Other additions to original post:

-Archwing launchers should be unlimited charges, or else make the fishing parts drop from enemies or quests i.e. not require fishing.

-Quills rep should be attainable in a similar fashion to the original faction system. Wear a sigil and gain it passively as you kill Plains enemies.

-Give us an exit screen after the last bounty is completed, similar to normal missions. It drives people mad when the host leaves, causing the rest of the group to lose things.

-Day/Night and bounty reset timer on the Plains when you look at it in the starmap.

-Double the daily Ostron bounty cap, so us weekend warriors can power farm Ostron rep.

The Plains is very cool, but it needs much fine tuning still with the quality of life stuff.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

First off, I like a lot of the things DE added. The outdoor zone looks great and is a nice change. The problem is that I have consistently had a bad experience in the Plains expansion, and inevitably exit frustrated and vowing to never return. I like the bounty system, but they either fail or include a "find the needle in the haystack while being shot by 50 enemies while a timer runs down" cache quest. I just exit the game when I get that mission. I find this mission unreasonable and unfun as a solo player. 

So then I contemplate hunting down the new resources, except they require fishing or mining. I do not want to fish or mine. I want to blow $hit up. So I exit the Plains.

I am MR 19 almost now, I love Warframe and have spent money on the game, but I feel like this expansion has left me behind. I will continue playing the older content and having fun, but I fear DE will make the Plains stuff mandatory going forward by adding cool rewards. I do not want to be forced into fishing or mining or running bad bounties like the one mentioned above. 

So my suggestions:

-Remove the "find the 3 caches" quest or remove the timer on it. 

-Add fishing/mining resources to other areas of the game, Give us alternative ways to earn them. Perhaps as drops from Plains enemies or something.

Those simple changes would get me back into the plains. And please, going forward keep the solo player in mind. I like to group, but do not make it mandatory.

-

 

Edited December 11, 2017 by Internet_Toughguy
updated information

[Oreades]

About the only way I could see to make fishing and mining optional would be if they added a trade NPC that either exchanged common plains drops for Fish/Minerals. Or they replaced all the specific fishing/mining requirements for new resources that where only available through trade. 

Personally I pretty much exclusively soloed the bounties and the only cache bounty that gave me any trouble was probably the first one. The first cache quest I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off. After that I decided it would be significantly more beneficial to adopt a methodical approach. Since then I have only had issue with like one or two cache bounties in something like 50+ cache bounty runs.

The cache bounties really seem to be like the Lua spy, it's literally the easiest bounty once you know how to approach them. 

For example get Animal Instinct or any other loot detection mod. You will get a feel for the range, position yourself on the minimap so that the edge of your detection just touches the inside edge of the mission zone. Run around the circle and check every white loot box that pops up. Most of the time two of the caches will be around the outside edge if not all three. Once you have cleared the edge start moving into the circle checking all the loot boxes that show up on the minimap. 

They also make an audible hum which can be extremely helpful in areas with a lot of "loot clutter" tho it also helps to break every non cache loot box you come across to clear things up. By process of elimination once you have looted everything that isn't a cache, the last loot indicator on your minimap is probably the cache you are missing. 

It is also important to note that the caches are not random so once you run any specific cache quest a few times you get a feel for where they can/will spawn which significantly cuts down your search time. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Oreades

[Kurokoz]

I only solo the Plains (the loneliness is real) aaand I gotta agree with the guy above me. The cache's are probably the easiest one.. except maybe the hostage rescue. As for not wanting to fish or mine.. just gonna have to stay off the Plains I guess. Go blow stuff up, enjoy the game as if the Plains were not there. Also, adding cool rewards doesn't make something mandatory..

[Xaelroa]

51 minutes ago, Internet_Toughguy said:

First off, I like a lot of the things DE added. The outdoor zone looks great and is a nice change. The problem is that I have consistently had a bad experience in the Plains expansion, and inevitably exit frustrated and vowing to never return. I like the bounty system, but they either fail or include a "find the needle in the haystack while being shot by 50 enemies while a timer runs down" cache quest. I just exit the game when I get that mission. I find this mission unreasonable and unfun as a solo player. 

So then I contemplate hunting down the new resources, except they require fishing or mining. I do not want to fish or mine. I want to blow $hit up. So I exit the Plains.

I am MR 19 almost now, I love Warframe and have spent money on the game, but I feel like this expansion has left me behind. I will continue playing the older content and having fun, but I fear DE will make the Plains stuff mandatory going forward by adding cool rewards. I do not want to be forced into fishing or mining or running bad bounties like the one mentioned above. 

So my suggestions:

-Remove the "find the 3 caches" quest or remove the timer on it. 

-Add fishing/mining resources to other areas of the game, Give us alternative ways to earn them. Perhaps as drops from Plains enemies or something.

Those simple changes would get me back into the plains. And please, going forward keep the solo player in mind. I like to group, but do not make it mandatory.

-

 

The fishing and mining resources can be traded for already, problem already solved. They aren't even all that expensive. If you don't wish to trade for them either, then there's nothing locked behind them that improves "core gameplay" so greatly that you must have them, so as others said, don't fish or mine.

Also, as stated in another post, the find 3 caches quest isn't as random as it seems, majority of the time I've gotten those cache finding missions they've all three been around the outer edge of the "stay here" ring. Under all circumstances due to my own bad memory, I invariable circle from the outside in listening for the hum, and typically finish that particular objective within about 40 seconds at most. And those enemies you're being shot at by... do as you said you love to do, and blow them up. Not too difficult to move and shoot things at the same time or move and use abilities at the same time.

[Retchid]

that a first someone actually died in POE

Am I playing a different game - god knows how you get on in survival

 

 

[Mr.Holyroller]

Lol while you're boycotting, I've already:

maxed quill and osteron rep

obtained the 4 different amp prisms

maxed out an arcane for the amp

crafted most of the zaws

and I'm currently working on arcane for my zaw and operator.

I've never seen so many people complain saying "I shouldn't have to _____" or "_______ is too difficult" until plains of eidolon. As a veteran, it's really sad to see.

I've continually rolled with the punches (or head pats) dished out by DE and warframe is continuing to get better than it's ever been.

[-Temp0-]

1 hour ago, Oreades said:

About the only way I could see to make fishing and mining optional would be if they added a trade NPC that either exchanged common plains drops for Fish/Minerals. Or they replaced all the specific fishing/mining requirements for new resources that where only available through trade. 

This.

When they said that you can trade those stuff no one mentioned "you can trade it with other players". Ff it's not  the same thing. Since almost everyone will find the same things boring and all the other problems related to it. If you can't trade with an npc it's not worth it basically.

Quote

 

Lol while you're boycotting, I've already:

maxed quill and osteron rep

obtained the 4 different amp prisms

maxed out an arcane for the amp

crafted most of the zaws

 

Congrats lol.

Especially since standing was increased to a somewhat normal point only recently and resources' cost for almost everything lowered + bounties will have more rewards soon, so whoever was patient enough to wait a month or longer won't have to suffer bs drops, awful standing gains and atrocious game breaking bugs and will get everything you did much easier (which menas with a normal speed that was a norm earlier).

Edited November 7, 2017 by -Temp0-

[Mavor]

Ive been primarily soloing the plains since release - really havent had a hard time with anything but the level 5 bounties (mainly due to my loadout not being optimized for it). If you just plain old cant stand the fishing/mining, then yeah, you're kinda screwed - but overall Im enjoying the experience - PoE is the first time Ive felt like theres a bigger world out there in WF - not just railroading thru the same tilesets over and over.

[Mr.Holyroller]

3 minutes ago, -Temp0- said:

This.

When they said that you can trade those stuff no one mentioned "you can trade it with other players". Ff it's not  the same thing. Since almost everyone will find the same things boring and all the other problems related to it. If you can't trade with an npc it's not worth it basically.

Congrats lol.

Especially since standing was increased to a somewhat normal point only recently and resources' cost for almost everything lowered + bounties will have more rewards soon, so whoever was patient enough to wait a month or longer won't have to suffer bs drops, awful standing gains and atrocious game breaking bugs and will get everything you did much easier (which menas with a normal speed that was a norm earlier).

I enjoyed the whole process of things being wacky ( except my bounties randomly failing)  and I'm glad things are getting polished and becoming easier for the newer players so that they don't burn out and quit the game.

[Internet_Toughguy]

Sounds like it's my issue, and that is ok. I just tried to solo the Sortie 3 with Ambulas, and only got 3/4, so I joined a group and failed even worse. But it was fun! The next group I joined, we crushed it, and it felt like a victory. To me, that is the essence of Warframe. I don't get the same enjoyment from finding a cache in the weeds, or a carp in the pond. To each their own, I am off to level my Wukong! 

[Borg1611]

I'm not really boycotting it, but I hardly ever go there. There's nothing there to do that is useful or interesting to me. I'm not done with quill rep, but why would I want to be? I don't want to fish or mine anymore than I already have. Haven't touched Zaws. They seem like a system that only went halfway to where it should have gone. There's nothing seemingly interesting about them that really sets them apart from my vast arsenal of existing melee weapons. I don't even use the melee weapons I already have very often outside of my Zenistar in hydron. Someday I might complete the stuff that gives MR just for the MR if I need a little more to push me to another level (and for some reason care about reaching that level). 

/shrug

9 hours ago, Internet_Toughguy said:

-Add fishing/mining resources to other areas of the game, Give us alternative ways to earn them. Perhaps as drops from Plains enemies or something.

 

When I first heard they were adding crafting, mining and fishing to the game, I thought we were headed in a slightly more MMORPG style direction and might get a legit in-game trade center of some kind at the same time to make trading easier. The idea being that we'd have a complex and large enough economy so that they would no longer fear easier trade access. It would have made sense to have these gathering and crafting professions and be able to trade resources and crafted items in a non-obnoxious way... Unfortunately, like a lot of things released in Warframe, the Plains was just this new grind with a different coat of paint. A half-finished thing that had a lot of potential, but didn't go quite far enough. 

[Mewvg2]

After getting the second tier AMP, I haven't really seen a reason to go back to the Plains.

Rep grinding has become a chore, so I'll come back to it in a few months maybe... or when that event drops.

[SnuggleBuckets]

I'm not boycotting the Plains, but honestly, I don't feel like it's worth my time.
I'm waiting for the update adding rewards for each individual stage in a bounty, like they seemed to confirm during the devstream as a definite change they'll be adding.
Even then I'll be a bit saddened to see Archwing completely unfun on the Plains, but I'd still play the Plains regularly, now I'm just not that terribly interested and motivated, maybe the Operation will also pull me back in before they update the bounty reward mechanic.

[kgabor]

That "find 3 caches" objective is basically a free 1 min stage if you know where you need to look for the caches.

You can equip a loot radar mod for the first few times, but they are usually placed at the edges of the objective zone or at very obvious places, like buildings in Grineer bases or behind stones, always at the same places.

[Fluff-E-Kitty]

Im not boycoting the bonties per say.

I just dont find it fun when the game crashes or palyers bug off to fish with the prisoner following them and never get to the end point.

I love grind, but PoE isnt fun to me. iv been palying warframe for nearly 4 years and this is the first time Iv been completly put off by a grind wall they put in.

Zaws, quills, none of them feel rewarding. Gara would be ok, if the bonties worked like normal missions and could grind them without the isshues invovled in it.

this update feels far more like other games that I left becasue of there business modle, and how it made thigns feel disposable, not valuable.

 

Mind you, the update is cool. it could be a very interesting way to do missions and other enviorments, but the way it has been done dosnt seem to scale well to other open world map types, and considering its its own econemy, it does not balance well with the rest of the game.

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by Fluff-E-Kitty

[Blacque]

Tip for cache

Roam the outermost ring of the yellow circle and listen for the hum.  In most cases I've found nearly 9/10 you'll find two. Then circle toward the center.

Grofit.

[tekmansam]

I have to agree with the OP.  I find the bounties to be unbalanced and frustrating (even the low level ones.)  I find forcing players to grind fishing and mining to be an insult to what Warframe is.  If I wanted to run around fishing and mining, I would go play WoW.  I actually somewhat enjoy the fishing--to be honest--but being forced to do it to accomplish literally ANYTHING in PoE is a bad design choice.  As for the bounties, I got tired of failing the level 12-15 bounties, because of what I consider to be serious balance issues, and just called it a day.  For instance:  defending armored caches.  Those things are far too squishy.  If you get distracted for more than a moment chasing down one mob, three others will burn it down in no time.  I don't want to feel like I have to go all the way back to my ship to frost up, just to get past one part of the easiest bounty.  Again, poor design choices.  The operator 2.0 changes were a step in the right direction, but still flawed.  With no real plotline in PoE, or operator only missions (like Archwing,) they just feel tacked on, rushed, and poorly implemented.  Even after all the grinding for a level 3 amp, there is little point to ever use it.  PoE is nothing but an arbitrary, unrewarding, frustratingly unbalanced, poorly designed, timesink that goes against what Warframe has always--and in my opinion--should always remain.  Space ninjas don't fish.

[(PSN)CrimsonAxure]

"Find all the caches, you have literally 3 minutes

On 11/8/2017 at 6:14 AM, Internet_Toughguy said:

-Remove the "find the 3 caches" quest or remove the timer on it. 

"Find all the caches in the area. You have literally 5 minutes before the enemy gets it."

.....what?

Lotus, you do realize that I am out here in the middle of nowhere, and there are no Grineer for miles. I am out here all alone. There are no enemies to be seen. Calm down Lotus

Edited December 9, 2017 by (PS4)PS_90210

[(XBOX)SilkyGuide270]

On 11/10/2017 at 8:16 PM, Blacque said:

Tip for cache

Roam the outermost ring of the yellow circle and listen for the hum.  In most cases I've found nearly 9/10 you'll find two. Then circle toward the center.

Grofit.

this guy speaks the truth

[UncaIroh]

The "find 3 caches" mission isn't that random, but I understand how overwhelming it can be the first few times. You can actually memorize where they spawn if you do them often enough. As others have said, the best tip I got was to run the outer edge of the area first, followed by any tunnels. The cache also shows up on loot radar.

Also: good news is that mining and fishing are very optional and the best weapons aren't locked behind fishing or mining.

[Marmokia]

Er, guys? just wanted to point this out since nobody else has- you can use a scanner for the cache missions. it literally highlights them- just take an archwing, use a scanner from above, and find the highlighted caches. DE added that specifically to make them easier, and it really does help. If you guys already knew about this, my bad, but ^^'

[(PSN)AllOrNothinDays]

I've had a different experience from you. Finding caches for me isn't a problem but how bounties is set up is. Compared to everything else in the game where I can jump into a mission solo or in a group, you have to fly to the hub, fast forward to the quest giver, choose your quest, then run to the gate I'm already tired of. Wait--if you're in a group get the glitch quest failed when it hasn't failed and enter the game--usually late. Sprint/roll to each objective get bored during the defense portions where you wait out the timer (boring for me so I just use banshee to help me through it). Hope no one just leeches to ruin my mood--check to see who is the host when it is over to see if they head straight to the objective or continue to mess around. Exit or sprint/roll to the exit unless I feel pressured to waste mats on archwing because everyone took archwing there already and I don't like keep people waiting. Repeat---and not have a marker on the bounties anymore since the event so I remember which one I completed as I go down the list. It's boring and it's slow as all hell. Being able to jump into bounties from your ship would be a huge help but it all feels like it is the result of some formula they figured out to both make you waste your time and have a need to farm materials to get the thing that speeds it up a little bit as far as movement across the plains goes. 

[Proslackernifty]

Finding the grineer caches is actually easy.  You just run along the perimeter, and most of the time you'll find all 3.  Every once in a while Grineer will sneak one closer to the middle.  I finish those with minutes to spare, and there are never more than 5 people shooting at me.  Pretty easy to avoid 5 grineer when you have rush on your frame.  It's the easiest bounty stage, bar none.  Don't get rid of it. Ever.

[(XBOX)CannyJack]

I'm more or less in the same place as the OP, although not quite for the same reasons. I'm MR18 (on my Xbox account), and I just have no interest in doing any of the activities that are available in the plains. I don't want to fish or mine -- I know it's the only way to get those resources, but I just can't stomach it. I don't want another set of standing to build, I don't gather focus, and I don't use the operator, so there's not much in the Plains that is worth the time spent hunting it (the set mods are interesting, but not enough to do the activities that drop them). 

Still, I suspect that they'll gradually push more and more hybrid operator/Warframe missions and events (where using both is required in order to succeed), and that will leave me behind. A dinosaur who failed to evolve with the game, I guess.