Improving the New Player Experience

[SilentMobius]

First 2 hours? Wow that a tough one, the problem is that noone needs to know much about the systems in the game in the first 2 hours, really that's Vors prize + Once Awake right? Really that's the period you have the most coverage for, it's _after_ that that the pain kicks in.

So, I think we all agree that players aren't directed very well from the point they exit "Once Awake", so I have some "Cheap" (In terms of Dev time) suggestions.

1. As soon as a player has hit 20 on their starter Warframe (Or before, if their progress is getting slow, or is fast enough that they have already gotten a Warframe part) Have the Lotus direct the player to the Codex page for the Warframes (take them right to the console and have the page for the easiest Warframe open, whichever that may be)

2. Have all Warframe codex entries display the place to go to get the Warframe with suitable flavour text, reveal steps when the previous one is complete and mark the completed steps with a tick (make sure to mark then retroactively if already complete), like a quest. Have the individual lines be clickable to take you to navigation if the location is accessible, otherwise make a noise and have Ordis say something like: "I'm sorry operator than location is currently inaccessible, perhaps some other locations on the way need to have been cleared first?"

E.G.

• Unlock the junction to Venus that is accessible from Earth
• Corpus Radio chatter suggests that Old War era data on a Warframe is secured within the systems of the new Jackal Security Proxy found on Fossa, Venus
• Find a Rhino Neuroptics Blueprint on the corpse of the Jackal and build the part
• Find a Rhino Systems Blueprint on the corpse of the Jackal and build the part
• Find a Rhino Chassis Blueprint on the corpse of the Jackal and build the part
• Buy a Rhino Blueprint from the market and Construct the Rhino Warframe

3. When the player has completed their first Warframe and selected it in the arsenal, play a cutscene to give the player enough information to continue.

E.G. 

"The Warframe steps down from the arsenal and looks at it's hands, noticing the difference because of the new Warframe (a-la The Second Dream) It then looks down, seeing its full reflection in the shiny orbiter floor (A-la TWW at the Yuvan Theater) however the reflection is of the previous (The player's starting) Warframe, camera zooms into the reflection's helmet and then fades to a matching close-up of the Warframe helmet in a sepia/grey memory-like shader, panning out to show that Warframe in the Orokin cryo-chamber from the beginning of Vor's Prize. The chamber opens and the Warframe slumps to the ground, cue the "transference glitch" shader/sound and the scene rewinds back into the pod but the Warframe in there, this time, is the newly made Warframe, the pod opens, dropping the New Warframe as before. cut back to the orbiter (end the "memory shader") and the same (new) Warframe, who lowers it's hands, seemingly no longer troubled by the change."

This scene tells the player that their Tenno is happy in the new Warframe but that something is amiss, because the Tenno (but not the player) seems to think the new Warframe is the one the they have always worn. This sets up a mystery for the player to investigate without leaving them with no information at all (and thus letting them cement incorrect ideas of what is happening and then blaming the developers when the resolution isn't what they expect) Most of these scenes is stock footage or can be done simply with existing assets, animations and music.

This gives players optional direction throughout the entirety of the solar system as they have been shown where to get all the Warframes and what is in their way, also giving a solid reason to complete junctions, it's systemic because each new Warframe will be added to the codex complete with directions to a place it can be earned, and it makes Warframe hunting feel more like content rather than random loot.

No regarding Mods, as other have said the sheer importance of mods is so overwhelming that it needs the Lotus to say something in-game, drop some lore on what Mods are (talk about Cephelon Simodius, but don't mention rivens yet) talk about the Orokin inventions multiplying weapons power many time over, Talk about why they are spread out over the system (Maybe Grineer jam them into their own weapons but are barely getting any use out of them). Lead the player to the codex and show them how to find out where they drop (E.G. "Tenno, your codex can show you the places and types of enemies that may be using functioning Mods")

Once players know about mods, and have a clear path to acquiring Warframes they are in a much better place as far as direction goes.

[Bl4zko]

15 hours ago, [DE]DeckardPain said:

Hello Tenno,

I am [DE]DeckardPain. My background is in UX/UI Design but also in Warframe. I've been a member of the community since August of 2013 and recently have had the pleasure of joining the Digital Extremes family.

My current focus is specifically taking a deeper look into pain points in the New Player Experience, specifically within the first 2 hours of gameplay. There are many ways to approach what we perceive as the biggest issues, but we definitely wanted to also take the time to approach you and gather information from within the community.

With that in mind, we would love to hear more about your experience (if you can remember that far back, for some of you); for example:

• What were some things you wish Warframe taught you in the first 2 hours?
• Were there some things that were too overwhelming or confusing during these first 2 hours?
• Can you recall any points in which you or a friend weren't sure what they were supposed to be doing during the first 2 hours?
• Any other obstacles that stood out to you at the beginning of your Warframe experience, or any particular items you feel a new player would benefit from.

See you in-game!

[DE]DeckardPain

1- Back when I started playing I remember that I wanted to have more Weapon slots and Warframe slots available, first thing I thought was that I had to put real money into the game to be able to get those, until a friend of mine told me how there were other ways to get there like selling prime parts, I think the first 2 or 3 Mastery ranks should give players those types of slots just to give them a little boost.
2- Another thing, if I started playing Warframe today and got into the Earth tileset, I probably would say that the game wouldn't run on my computer and I'd uninstal it for sure, because that tileset is currently the one I have less FPS on but I can run plains of Eidolon just fine as any other tileset currently available, think you guys could really tweak Earth a bit for more performance.
3- There's also one thing I've asked before to be implemented that is mostly a quality of life while trading, it would be nice when trading mods to have some sort of icon on the mods that are currrently equipped (something like what you did to, when equipping mods on sentinels), sometimes we try to sell mods and only after choosing one we get the warning that the mod is currently being used, could we have both? I think it helps a lot.

And that's pretty much what I remember, will update if I come up with more.

[(PSN)BigMcK24]

15 hours ago, [DE]DeckardPain said:

Hello Tenno,

I am [DE]DeckardPain. My background is in UX/UI Design but also in Warframe. I've been a member of the community since August of 2013 and recently have had the pleasure of joining the Digital Extremes family.

My current focus is specifically taking a deeper look into pain points in the New Player Experience, specifically within the first 2 hours of gameplay. There are many ways to approach what we perceive as the biggest issues, but we definitely wanted to also take the time to approach you and gather information from within the community.

With that in mind, we would love to hear more about your experience (if you can remember that far back, for some of you); for example:

• What were some things you wish Warframe taught you in the first 2 hours?
• Were there some things that were too overwhelming or confusing during these first 2 hours?
• Can you recall any points in which you or a friend weren't sure what they were supposed to be doing during the first 2 hours?
• Any other obstacles that stood out to you at the beginning of your Warframe experience, or any particular items you feel a new player would benefit from.

See you in-game!

[DE]DeckardPain

I started right at the beginning of this year, here are my thoughts:

1. Early credit gains are abysmal, they slow progression and a new players ability to try new weapons and find their playstyle.

2. Broken mods are equally abysmal, they need to be eliminated. If i had not watched a beginner guide i would have wasted many of my hard earned credits on these (see 1).

3. Clear direction on how to complete each mission type is missing, perhaps making the initial tutorial include a few more mission types, making it longer, would improve this situation.

4. Mastery rank tests are confusing and extremely cumbersome. The practice tests need to all include tutorials and tips for completion, and they need to be both repeatable and restartable (from pause) without leaving the test. Popping in and out of a relay, which could have any number of new people in it since you first arrived (changed from calm to busy or full), causes unnecessary lag and frustration because of the loading screens to get in to the test. If we are in there to practice we want to actually spend our time practicing rather than staring at loading screens. 

5. Make MR practice tests into tutorials. It would also give them replayability for players like me that went through a number of tests very quickly and eventually want to go back and practice the skills in those tests. For instance the hacking test is one of the best ways to practice difficult hacking for sorties, since ciphers are so easy to use I found that once I started sorties I didn't really have the skills to pay the bills on the harder consoles. I practiced and got better by replaying the test.

6. There needs to be clear direction about where to find and who many of the NPC's are. Darvo, maroo, simaris, teshin, all are found randomly without clear indication of what and who you have stumbled upon.  At a very minimum a dialogue could be added to explain what they do for first time encounters. Simaris is especially critical since he has the aforementioned MR tests. 

7. Better modding tutorials that are much more up front for new players.  For instance, combined elemental statuses are discussed in the codex tutorial but not in the tutorial from the modding screen.  

8. The tutorials themselves bury the lead.  They are all dynamic pretty pictures that have almost nothing to do with what the tutorial is supposed to convey.  The actual content is in text that often is difficult to read due to the dioramas behind them. Modding example again, why is there not a picture of the modding screen and slots with the order of precedence? You could easily make the moving pictures show adding two elements together and the damage numbers changing from the individual elements to the combined, then add a third and swap two to show how the order matters.

9. Make the simulacrum MUCH easier to find and usable for new players.  Allowing them to try new weapons before having to face the hordes of enemies and be a little more comfortable with the mechanics of each can only help a new player enjoy the game.  Putting non enemy targets in (like the MR test orbs) and removing the need for the key to enter the simulacrum would retain the scan for new enemies mechanism while allowing new players to utilize the simulacrum. 

10. Add the simulacrum to dojos as a room. This would allow experience players a much more controlled environment for taking new clan mates into the simulacrum (not to mention helping server load on relays). Which incidentally also fits in with the theme of dojos as a place to practice and teach clan mates skills.

11. Show required MR level in the market on all weapon thumbnails (no matter your current MR), this would actually help experienced players know what new players can and cannot use quickly and easily.  I know one of the most asked questions new players ask vets is what weapons they should get next. There are many answers to that question and allowing visibility on what MR weapons are locked at for new player makes that discussion much easier.

12. Steve once promised utility items like slots, forma, etc as MR test rewards, that would help early players (and vets) immensely.

I am sure there are other suggestions I could muster, but this list is very long already.

Edited December 20, 2017 by (PS4)bigkeith24
Added 1

[TheRandomHunter]

Modding in the early game is rough, due to very low amounts of endo and credits early on. Because of the tiny amount of credits, you're largely stuck with the choice between "Do I level up this mod... Or this mod... Or this mod... Or should I get a new weapon?", and overall it feels very overwhelming. Every single one of my friends I feel would have lost interest and quit, or at least been discouraged, if I didn't take them to a proper credit farming location soon after they started.

Early on, you largely end up needing to choose between health/shields, quality of life mods, warframe ability mods, or damage, assuming you even have a damage mod. Lacking in damage means things are slow to die, and do more damage to you, leading most people to decide they need health and shields, which further compounds the problem and leaves them fairly unprepared for team scenarios where survivability is less an issue and just killing things fast enough is more of a concern.

If I could make a suggestion, Early game missions should reward copies of Redirection, Vitality, Serration, Hornet Strike, etc. at rank 2 or 3, rather than the base mod with no ranks on it. It feels far more rewarding to get a mod with ranks than it does an unranked mod, as you end up feeling like you need to grind just to make the mod worthwhile... Which is very frustrating when you need to choose between 7-10 different mods for a single upgrade, or choose to make a new weapon and get mastery, or choose a new Warframe.

Like, let's think about this a moment. The following mods are basically required to function in Warframe (With some exceptions endgame):
Redirection
Vitality
Serration
Hornet Strike
Pressure Point
Point Blank
4 Elemental mods for Rifles (90%/11 drain when maxed)
4 Elemental mods for Pistols (90%/11 drain when maxed)
4 Elemental mods for Melee (90%/11 drain when maxed)
Streamline
Continuity
Intensify
Steel Fiber

That's a grand total of 22 different mods you'll likely be getting an assortment of in the early game, in addition to mods like fast deflection, point strike, quickdraw, etc. Choosing between all those to figure out what to use, let alone upgrade in the early game, is a nightmare, especially when the game doesn't explain damage types all that well aside from completely random little modding tips that pop up.

[Emeryst]

I hang around chat once in a while and notice 2 common pleas for help

- Finding Eximus enemies on venus, I believe to unlock a junction. I tell them to run endless mission past 10 waves/10 mins/2 rounds.

- Materials to make incubator segment. Tell them resources are planet based and they should use sentinels until they unlock more star chart.

Usually they will explain they only played for a few hrs/days and don't have a clear road map of where to go or to keep repeating mission. And my advice would be to unlock the entire star chart and do quest as they become available. Also modding of frames and weapons does't seem to come to mind for them nor is building things in the foundry.

Some new players also thought that new frames and weapons have to be bought with plat and that the next frame/weapon will be stronger. Although in a sense prime counter parts are usually a slight upgrade. But i guess the main point is clarifying the RPG progression system, terms like mastery rank vs warframe/weapons levels and the damage system (IPS/elemental/crits/status). Hope these help!

 

[Evers]

Better explaination of Parkour 2.0. The tutorial just covers Parkour 1.0 and when new Players finish it they never even heard about stuff like bulletjumping, aimgliding, rolling, backflips, and so on. That should definitly be covered in the tutorial (yes I know there is an advanced parkour tutorial in the codex, but let's be honest no new Player will find that)

[KirukaChan]

I'd say the two biggest issues I faced were that I didn't know mods could be upgraded, and I didn't know what damage types were effective against each enemy type.

[GH0ST]

What were some things you wish Warframe taught you in the first 2 hours?

The importance of mods. I seen too many players saying things like "I like to focus more on guns than mods" or "I'll focus on mods later in the game" which obviously is about the biggest mistake you can make. Many people simply don't realize that 99% of the getting-better-process is done by mods. Some people look at the mods as some kind of secondary thing to boost your old weapons or something. Oh and also how weapon mods directly affect some abilities. If you don't know that, then you build is going to suck.

Were there some things that were too overwhelming or confusing during these first 2 hours?

The entire Damage System and Mod system. It takes a long while to learn the damage types, their bonuses and their procs properly. IPS, 4 Elementals and all their combinations. Each one with their own bonuses and procs. That's overwhelming to anyone really. I think the tutorial should include some kind of shooting range where you shoot different enemies with different damage types to make it absolutely clear how big of a difference they make. You could also show how big of a difference different ranked mods make. Give the player a R0 Serration and then let the player compare R10 Serration right after. Obviously don't let the player keep the R10 mod after the shooting range.

Now that I think about it more, a shooting range in the tutorial would make a massive difference. Oh and for the love of the Almighty God PLEASE remove the damaged mods from the game. The entire damage system and the entire mod system can be extremely overwhelming for a player who hasn't played many games where you "do builds" etc. and then you immediately introduce these damaged mods as if they were a common occurrence. You also let the player rank them up and when someone finally tells them that the damaged mods are useless, the new player is going to feel super good when they realize that they have wasted credits and endo on these useless mods.

The damaged mods don't even make any sense to a new player. A new player isn't immediately interested in the lore They most likely want to kill stuff and see the action. Why would you hinder that experience by slowing down the extremely essential progression right from the start? The damaged mods are special, they are 100% unique and you get them because of the first mission. They are special. Every experienced player realizes this but the problem is that no new player does. When you see an item that has a prefix, any gamer assumes that it's a rarity or tier thing. Not a lore related quest item thing.

The entire damaged mod system is perhaps the stupidest thing that ever existed in Warframe and for some reason it still exists. The system looks like you wanted the new player to get as confused as possible about a system that is already confusing.

When you introduce a new player, you should show them the essentials and nothing else. If you want to show something else then make damn sure it doesn't interfere with the essentials. If you want to mess with the essential/core mechanics of the game to confuse the player, you need to do it to experienced players only so that people actually know what the hell is going on. Experienced players would realize that damaged mods are special and quest related. Experienced players would realize that they make sense because lore yaddayaddayadda, there wouldn't be any issues.

Just remove the damaged mods, please and thank you. They add nothing, they don't have any special meaning to a new player, no one enjoys them, they are purely there to confuse the new player. That's all it does so why should it even exist? It shouldn't.

[KaeseSchnitte]

I'd add a tutorial that allows you to test all the starting weapons and warframes, similar to the tutorials of old Assassins Creed games. You get loaded into a Simulacrum level under the pretext that Lotus tests your cognitive functions and memories before giving you control over the warframe you choose after the tutorial. Make new players slide, jump, bulletjump, glide and shoot while gliding, and have Lotus say that there is nothing wrong with not getting all that stuff perfect right off the bat; you have been in cryosleep for centuries after all.

Also give players the ability to unlock a few more weapon- and warframe slots through playing. Additionally, you should not be shy to send the player a personal note with a little gift from the devs, congratulating him  on starting to play warframe and asking him to consider supporting the game by spending a few dollars, at best with the footnote that buying plat is not required and that there are plat discounts in the login reward, if he wants to wait a little.

Finally, I'd add a quest after Vor's Prize that gives new players a goal to work towards. If you want to compare Warframe to Harry Potter for example, Vor's Prize is the introduction to the universe, similar to Harry Potter, where we get to know the Dursleys and Harry himself. But in Harry Potter we are quickly introduced to the fact that Harry is a wizard and we stay invested in the story because we want to know how it is like to be a wizard and to learn at Hogwarts.
That part is missing in Warframe, we are just thrown out there and told that "the solar system is ours to explore". There is no incentive to stick with Warframe like there is with Harry Potter.

As an afterthought, you should probably heavily streamline all the icons in Warframe. I am a veteran and even I get regularly confused.

[(XBOX)MuderFace1]

A huge task I'm sure, but it would be nice when looking up items in the codex if it tells you where they drop and the percentage chance for the drop so we dont have to use outside sources so much. 

Movement 2.0: Desperately needs to be explained to new players. I've had 3 friends start in the past month and I had to explain to them how to bullet jump. Its painful watching new players slowly run around the map. 

Mods: The how and why to upgrade them. Could also explain why you dont always want to 100% upgrade every mod with  some examples of when you shouldn't.

Crit and Status: I know this could change being straight damage used to be #1 but it still needs to be explained, at least better, why some weapons (with examples) are better to mod for crit, other's status and some a little of both and the impact it has on the late game. 

Forma, Catalyst. Reactors & Exilus Adapter: These being the #1 way to further your weapons and frames in the late game they definitely need to be explained a lot better. I can't recall if they are explained at all.

Sentinels & Pets: These are not explained well at all. Pet breeding especially needs to be explained. With this it would be nice to include a chart of the common, uncommon and rare colors and patterns are so people know if they get a good (i.e rare) Kubrow/Kavat. As someone that has played 100 days I still dont know all the combinations of colors and patterns and which are rare (other than Lotus).

Direction Through the Star Chart: There should be one long quest or chain of quest that leads players 100% through the star chart. The question I hear the most over anything else is "Where do I go now" or "What do I do now" once people are done with the tutorial. 

 

Edits Below:

Mastery Level: Desperately needs explaining. Meaning why you want to level more than one weapons or more than one frame and why its important to level every item, even if you dont like it. Again, I've had friends start playing recently that were selling weapons for credits they didnt like, thinking it didnt have an impact because they didnt understand mastery level. 

Weapons: It needs to be made more clear on weapons in the market if they are crafted in the dojo. The same friends I have been speaking about were spending hundreds of plat on weapons in the marketplace because they thought that was the only way to get them when in reality they were just dojo weapons. It would also be nice if it was notated on weapons if they are used in the crafting of other weapons. I cant tell you how many weapons I've sold for credits to just waste credits, materials and time and have to craft them again to use and craft another weapon.

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by (XB1)MuderFace1

[Zendadaist]

Just want to reiterate the 'Damaged mods must go' line. On paper they seem like a nice idea for newer players, but the reality is that they are a confusing waste of precious credits and endo - resources that are hard to come by for a new player. Every new player I've helped out with mods has been confused or annoyed by the Damaged vs regular mod grind. It's an idea that does not translate well in game to give the desired end result.

[Cyborg-Rox]

I recently made an alt account so I could play through all the quests again, so I got some refreshed info on this now.

 1: The most important thing that Warframe should teach new players as soon as possible is how to look up all the various weapons the game has, how to get what they need to craft it, and get it in their arsenal so they can use it. The biggest game changer for me, the point where I became obsessed with Warframe 4 years ago, was when I built my first weapon (the Grakata, got blueprint from login). I see other people feeling the same way as well, how "the game just clicks" when you understand weapon building. Suddenly you see this ocean of awesome weapons you want to get your hands on! And that's a really important thing to do as well, as it's required to level up new gear to continue through the entire star chart.
How can this be done in-game that soon? Simple. During Vor's Prize or even the tutorial, the Lotus instructs the Tenno to craft an additional weapon due to Vor's increasing threat. The Tenno is instructed on how to navigate to the market's Weapons category, where they'll have a choice of 9-15 weapon blueprints, 3-5 per slot (all else should be locked for now). When the Tenno picks a blueprint, they get a mission with caches containing whatever resources they need for it (like with the Liset's segment). It should also mention somewhere that leveling up new weapons for the first time earns them Mastery. Now that I think about it, a warning should be added when you're about to sell an unmastered weapon, letting you know there's still mastery left to be gained with it.
There are probably better ways to implement this, I'm just thinking this all up on the spot. But it's definitely something I think is needed!

2: I remember when I started, modding was really confusing, even with someone to help me out. Now that I've played through the start again with an alt account, alongside an actual new player, his experience was surprisingly the same. One of the things that's changed is how polarities light up green or red depending on the match, and that made my friend think he could only put mods in the green slots, leaving the unpolarized slots empty. He also thought you couldn't use the same mods on multiple items.
Modding really should get a more thorough explanation from Ordis. Players need to know more than how to put a single mod in a single slot.

3: I can't really speak for this much, since there basically was no tutorial when I started, and I met my new player friend after he completed Vor's Prize.

4: One thing I noticed with my alt account is that the Howl Of The Kubrow quest is unlocked extremely early, way earlier than anyone should have the amount of Credits you need to get a Kubrow to complete. You need like 150,000 credits or something, and DNA stabilizers on top of that. I think that quest should be moved further through the Starchart, maybe around Ceres.
Another thing is Damaged mods, which you only get at the start. They're just so weak compared to their normal versions that using Endo on them is an outright waste, but that's what a lot of players end up doing. What you could do, to keep the balance while still making the mods more useful, is giving those mods more ranks, making them better at a higher cost. At least then they can eventually be worth it.
Clans would also be great for new players to learn about. New players joining clans will give them a personal group of experienced Tenno who will probably help him out with questions and difficult missions, something that would be much more reliable than Region and Recruiting chats.

Aside from that, I have a couple things that should be much better explained way further down the road. First off, getting absolutely essential Corrupted mods from Derelict Vaults. I heard about DE working on some changes to the Derelict system, so that should definitely be one of the bigger focuses with that. Those Warframe Power mods are so absolutely needed, and will finally enable players to customize and modify their abilities way beyond other petty 30% mods.
Secondly, fully unlocking Focus 2.0 has practically no explanation whatsoever. When you complete The Second Dream and unlock the first version of Focus, you can only spend points on your base ability. If you try to unlock a branch, it tells you to find the Quills. Never mind the fact that you can't even do that until you've completed a Plains of Eidolon Bounty, followed by Saya's Vigil, and then the War Within, but most people probably wouldn't even remember what the "Quills" are, or where to find them at that point. How is that one little message supposed to tell every single person playing through Warframe's story and unlocking the full potential of their actual character what they need to know? First off, Saya's Vigil should be required to be completed before The Second Dream, then after The War Within is complete, you should get a mail from the Quills telling you where to meet them, how to enter, and what you get from it. Since this is literally required for every player to do, it's kind of important that it's... actually guided in some way.

[Hououza]

Personally, I started during Update 8, so my new player experience was quite different to what people are getting now.

I do think however there is one area of the game that is consistently poorly explained, and often ignored both from a lore perspective and a mechanical one: Mastery.

Mastery underpins so much of what we have access to in Warframe, yet the acquisition of it, and the ranking of it through Mastery Tests has no lore explanation, and is very poorly explained as a mechanical process.

A few lines of Lotus dialogue would go a long way to showing us why we are assigned this, what the significance of raising this attribute and explaining why we need to fully rank items before replacing them.

So many times I see new players asking questions, and one of the answers that often comes up is: "always rank things to 30 for the Mastery experience", just having something that explains that to you in game would be a wonderful addition, as it would mean that one of the oldest systems in Warframe finally has an explanation for its existence.

[(PSN)VariantX7]

Is it possible to make it easier to see which mods affect which when trying to make elemental combinations so players can clearly get an idea where to place mods without having to just stats screen.

Also probably good to actually introduce new mechanics through a series of small quests so players arent overwhelmed.

[(PSN)A_lethe_ion]

15 hours ago, [DE]DeckardPain said:

Hello Tenno,

I am [DE]DeckardPain. My background is in UX/UI Design but also in Warframe. I've been a member of the community since August of 2013 and recently have had the pleasure of joining the Digital Extremes family.

My current focus is specifically taking a deeper look into pain points in the New Player Experience, specifically within the first 2 hours of gameplay. There are many ways to approach what we perceive as the biggest issues, but we definitely wanted to also take the time to approach you and gather information from within the community.

With that in mind, we would love to hear more about your experience (if you can remember that far back, for some of you); for example:

• What were some things you wish Warframe taught you in the first 2 hours?
• Were there some things that were too overwhelming or confusing during these first 2 hours?
• Can you recall any points in which you or a friend weren't sure what they were supposed to be doing during the first 2 hours?
• Any other obstacles that stood out to you at the beginning of your Warframe experience, or any particular items you feel a new player would benefit from.

See you in-game!

[DE]DeckardPain

1. that broken mods shouldn't be upgraded because credits and endo arent as easy to get at the beginning and that we get better later.

2. that you can buy a lot of blueprints for credits on the market- tose are harder to find and at the beginning I was unsure whether I could even buy stuff with credits because the big plat price is there on the top in red but the credit price is down in blue and you have to press different buttons to buy.   

3. a better information about damage types- maybe during in introduction of the codex that will have a page that has every damage type known, its effect on enemies and on fother frames/the players frame and then a list with enemies that are weak to it. You would get that list by scanning enemies for the codex-
apropos, we also need a better introduction to scanning. So if you get the module the game should direct you to the market, to select the scanner, then how to put it into the gear slot and then it should, when equipped for the first time, give a little pop up: Scanning enemies and objects will save their information in your codex. Scan them to find out their weaknesses so you can do more damage to them.    

(also: please ask your team to put the plant entries that the POE update took back into it. Because ow only the plants growing on the plains are still in the codex, every other plant   is missing which leads to people having to google S#&$ when doing the silver grove- googling that takes  them out of the game, out of immersion, and totally avoidable if we just  could get back those entries)

another page in the codex should be "UI- what is what" which would be filled with symbols that can pop up in your UI and on your mini-map- So if a player encounters a symbol the first time, there will be a short pop up overlay next to it that explains what that means and after the mission they can look it up. 

In general if a player adds a new scan to it or a new entry for a symbol, the game should at the END of mission when you back in your liset, give a "new information in codex" silent pop in. 
Because I know I still often ask myself what the f would be those flowery symbol or that, so having a system that learns "oh, player  1 met an octavia and got a buff from her as well as one from a Rhino. So after that mission ended, the small icons and the effect of those buffs (and the warframe that can give it) will be in their codex  to look up when unsure.

4. A better introduction to mission types. Especially for excavation and interception. Maybe they should be tutorial missions that arent forced but would give the new player some needed resources, maybe a booster, some endo, maybe some good unbroken mod?    
because a short image  doesn't really tell much, especially not intricacies.

that mission would talk you through the steps, saying like 1. locate the excavator and protect it. 
Then it spawns enemies in and spawns more carriers, asks you to scan those with the scanner you got and then when they drop the cell
it should also explain that taking the cell near the excavator will not only give power, but will renew its shields, so it can be useful to still bring an energy cell to a fully powered excavator.   
Oh and explain tat the cryotic will be a material for weapons later.

Explain also that for interception enemies shouldn't be allowed to the consoles- and that the player does not necessary have to kill the enemies, just top them from reaching the consoles.
Explain how to open the void relic whe the player gets one the first time- just a pop in after the mission where it says "To open this reic you must go on void-fissure mission, designated with [symbol] on your map and also listed on the galaxy map timed-mission menu.  
When you go into the mission, void fissure will spawn and corrupt enemies. To open the relic, you need to collect 10 void traces. They get released upon the death from corrupted units, so you may want to wait with killing enemies to make sure you have a high number of corrupted enemies around.  
Íf you play the mission solo, you will ge what is in your relic, but in a group, you will be able to select possible riches from relics your teammates brought- you will get a copy, so multiple people can select to get the same product. If other players want a copy of your drop, you will get additional void traces. To use those, you will need the relic module (from[mission) 

 

If the player then gets taught module:

What you will get out of your relic is based on chance. You can increase your chances by refining the relics, done with the void traces you have gotten running void missions.
You can only refine a relic ONCE! So if you refined a relic only to tier 1, you can NOT refine it further!

 

 

explain also that enemies will always try to reach you, so that for some missions it can be better to progress slower- like for excavation, he enemies will try to run after you which makes it harder to get the power cells.  

Explain that if you play in a group, staying together will increase the XP earned, that the swirlying symbol + number means. (and add that to the codex) 

Explain skills better. Like I didn't know that frost could pop his globe with his 1.
Explain how to tag enemies and objects during the tutorial. Like.. Come into a room with 100 boxes, with a  warning tat the grineer have laid traps into them, so only Lotus can scan them and verify in which is the thing you want. 
"I have interference, I can only focus my signal on you or something you have designated- to do that, press [button] while aiming on object- (you can also mark an enemy and see it on your mini map) If the player just attacks a random box, they have a 1:99 chance to explode..

 

 

 

 

 

[ljmadruga]

Starting off, the only times I actually struggled with anything in warframe is getting the blueprints for weapons off the market. Maybe a short tutorial for new players that ends up with them building a furis?

Also a way for new players to find out about the trials in warframe would be nice.

[Evanescent]

I agree with @(Xbox One)MuderFace1 on his points:

 

Codex, Scanners and Drop tables:

Your link to finding quests, relic and mod drop locations, yet this is never explained to you!

You don't know that you should scan enemies, nor that this reveals vital information.

 

Parkour 2.0:

Vital, and has a tutorial, but you don't know there's a tutorial in your codex! 

 

Mods and modding:

I remember not knowing what mods are or that you could even upgrade them when I started out. Without mods you're nothing in Warframe so this needs addressing.

Broken mods are bad, remove them. They're a trap for new players that drain already scarce resources.

How do you upgrade mods? What is endo? How do you get endo? Ayatan statues? All of these need explaining.

What's up with mod points? How does my weapon's level interact with my mod points?

 

Damage system and elementals:

The web of enemy resistances and armor types and elemental weaknesses is brain meltingly obscure as a new player. It's depth is great but there needs to be tools to better navigate the system. Again, new players don't know that there tutorials for these in the codex. 

 

Status chance, procs, and criticals:

The importance of status procs, status chance, critical chance and critical damage need to be properly explained both on how they affect enemies and how they affect players.

 

Catalysts, Reactors, Forma, Exilus Adaptors:

These are the most important things for my power in Warframe but I don't know what these are and how to get them. How to use them? Why use them? How to inform them without pushing them towards market purchases?

 

Warframe and Mod slots:

How do I get more? How are weapons and warframes stored

 

Foundry:

Build times? Rushing? Resuable and consumable bps? 

 

Sentinels and Pets:

Sentinel slots? Sentinel weapon slots? Pets need genetic stabilizers which need to be purchased? When to use them? Warning on pet death? How to get kavats? Can i Upgrade my incubator segment? How?

 

Getting weapons:

How do I know where to get new weapons and that you can buy blueprints? The market aggressively gives you the impression that it's P2W when it's not. Make blueprint more prominent!

 

Getting warframes:

How can I get new Warframes? How do I know what you need? How do I know where they drop from?

 

What are relics? How do they work? Why get them?

They jump out of pretty much nowhere! You need to explain what they are and why they are important and how they work.www

Junctions:

There is often jargon in the junction requirements that new players will not understand. 

 

The syndicates, affinity system and how it works, also need explaining.

[Tomppak]

In the first 2 hours:

Enemies are endless. Killing them doesn't accomplish your mission (unless, specifically, it's extermination or survival)
Efficient movement: combining rolling/double jump/glide/roll/roll on the ground/doublejump/etc. Chaining movement is... A valuable skill that you need to accomplish the first point - finishing the mission without the need to kill EVERYONE.

The maps are really mazy. The new waypoint system is Good but it could be Better. Especially the ice-caves, the pathfinding doesn't always work.

Also, an important thing to teach new players: Don't be afraid to ask for help. Many of the veterans are more than happy to help a new player find their way and teach them the ropes, whether it's by telling, showing, doing, or taxing.

[xXDeadsinxX]

When I was a new player, I was confused on what to do and where to go. It still is like that today for newer players. There should definitely be more tutorials on explaining the difficult and complex mechanics that newer players experience and don’t understand that well. 

[(XBOX)ICFXRS]

I have started Warframe three times (Xbox One Mag/PS4 Nova/PC Excalibur) 

You asked:

What were some things you wish Warframe taught you in the first 2 hours?

1) Learn to open every cabinet and container to gain as much resources as possible.

2) Learn to stay together (50 meters) with your fire team (that means experienced players stay behind newer players and let them learn!!!!!!!)

3) Learn to clear the Solar Map, solo everything you can and repeat to gain resources and experience.  Use Public matchmaking to your advantage, wait to join mission with others that you have had difficulty with.  Remember the starter Warframes can be used to successfully complete any (regular) Solar Map mission. 

4) Learn Parkour.

• Were there some things that were too overwhelming or confusing during these first 2 hours?

Vor's Prize, way too bugged out!  (Clarified Any bug or thing that is overwhelming or confusing during a initial mission reflects on the impression the player will have for the rest of the game) We have very little feedback from New Players that experience a bug and quit without telling anyone, or what is worse they have too much difficulty and again quit without informing anyone.  There is no way a New Player knows how to report a bug or difficulty, think about it this way a new player does not know about "Forums" so they go to Chat and are disregarded as a New Player or worst yet given bad advise.  There are a lot of great suggestions from the previous posts, but to limit what was too overwhelming or confusing during the first two hours depends greatly on the player and what their expectations are.

• Can you recall any points in which you or a friend weren't sure what they were supposed to be doing during the first 2 hours?

First time around I had no clue, if it had not of been for the help of an experienced player who introduced me to the game I would have quit.  Having a mentor kept me playing the game, by following their lead I had an idea on what to do.  On the second and third time around there was no question on what I was going to accomplish.  

• Any other obstacles that stood out to you at the beginning of your Warframe experience, or any particular items you feel a new player would benefit from.

The biggest complaint I have heard from New players is the inability to start over, as they are unsatisfied with the Warframe they chose.  New Players need to learn to take all advise with a grain of salt, there really is only one way to play Warframe that matters that is Your Way!  You learn the best way you play to gain resources, mods, experience, etc. and improve the way you play.  Adapt your gameplay during Public Matchmaking to be a better team player, and realize how you play, and your skills and experience will affect team performance and success.

We who play understand and accept that Warframe is a game that evolves and it is extremely important that those new to the game are educated to this.

Edited December 20, 2017 by (XB1)ICFXRS
Clairified Comments

[HPetch]

As a fairly new player, I would say this: The first 2 hours is pretty solid, although the first tutorial mission seems to still think you are using the old movement system, so that might need an update. The biggest issue, I think, with the new player experience is not in the first 2 hours, but the 98 hours after that. You are given little to no guidance after the initial quest, with the intricacies of how various systems work left up to the player to find for themselves. This is fine for people like me who research stuff on the wiki and what have you, but for the average player, there is a strong feeling of "what should I be doing next" that the game doesn't really seem to have an answer for. Even a simple "complete this junction to proceed" reminder would likely be helpful. A slightly better explanation of how certain Mods work might be helpful as well, but that might be a bit too meta-gamey.

[(XBOX)Engjin]

I first played for a few hours about a year ago but it didn't stick and recently I've picked Warframe back up and I'm completely hooked, it has become my only game in the last couple of months. Looking back then and most recently I wish I was able to redo the tutorial missions that go through parkour, etc. On my return had I been able to I would have liked to completely reset my account in order to be able to do that again. I'm MR8 currently and just learned a couple of days ago that I could doing a flying kick.

I'm still very much a noob to the game. The hardest things I'm coming up against is with modding and how to set my weapons up for maximum damage to specific enemies and modding my warframe for the best efficiency based on my playstyle and mission type. I spend quite a lot of time online reading the wiki, forums, etc in an attempt to answer my questions (which I expect to do considering the age and depth of the game) but one thing I've noticed is the lack of examples with explanations for players that have not reached the endgame who are only dealing with the more common mods. I have no issue what so ever with experimentation but I'm at the point with some rare mods I feel like I'm gambling a little with the amount of endo and credits it takes for that next upgrade. So I'm looking for resources that talk about how certain warframes excel in certain areas (playstyles) and as your building your library of mods how certain builds develop over time.

Some things that were unknown to me until I looked it up outside the game:

1. Void Traces, Endo and Ayatan Treasures- How to get void traces and why you want it. Same with endo drops, finding statues in missions

2. How sales tax works and why credits are so important to that when trading. There is a big difference between earning credits to unlock a BP or weapon in the market and saving for a mod you'll get doing player trading. Also with player trading what the do and don't are, for instance making inquiries, performing negotiations  through PM instead of immediately requesting a trade (initiating the trade window) and then chatting.

3. Air support abilities of your ship type and that there is more than just one

4. How to earn plat in game

5. Why scanning stuff is beneficial

6. I figured it out in game but how match making/ parties work in game was awkward in the beginning

I think the codex can be a fantastic resource if a little more information was included. I'm a scifi nerd and am always looking for backstory information but one example for factions/ items in game, you have to scan one to unlock the codex entry but as far as I know it doesn't give you any information. I would like to see a little back story information about that particular item and if it is an object that I can manipulate what particular benefits you get or likewise why you should leave some stuff alone such as LN2 Barrels (depending on who's standing next to it at the time of course). Additionally with my remarks above in regards to modding after scanning enemies seeing a little bit about what their particular fighting style is like and the pros and cons of their particular armor/ weapon types. I know Cephalon gives you this info later but as a new player having to scan something 20 times that late in the game doesn't help the new player.

Welcome to DE, I'm really loving the feel, size and depth of the game I hope I contributed in some way.

 

[michealr24]

The biggest issue I've seen, is the intro quest while does help a little after your first quest is done, you're just kind of left in the dark as of what to do next. 

The junction being hidden in the quests tabs at the top right can be confusing for some just because they don't know where to find it, or if they do what they need to do to unlock the next junction. It can be frustrating for a new player to see a quest(junction in this case) and have no clue where to progress after. I kind of fell in the same whole with some of the junctions as just being generally confused and moving on to a different game at first. 


I think the non hand holding and non linear progression as a starter if changed is a double edged sword. You'll gain a ton of new players but kind of alienate those that spent the time to learn the game, which is kind of the bread and butter of warframe in the first place. 


I definitely don't hold all the answers and you guys already do an amazing job. But the quests being locked behind codex, at least for the first 10+ hours of the game to me needs to be changed to just showing the quest, and as a sub part of that quest on the UI show what needs to be done to unlock it and where to do it. "Scan grieneer in sealabs" is so weird for someone on Mars when they don't even know what a sealab is at that point. 

[Darzoni]

I had to think about this, as my newbie experience was via the PS4 before I migrated to the PC and I had a friend help me through the weird parts.

1- A better or more comprehensive modding tutorial.  My friend had to explain this and how to get the currency for it (Endo, specifically)

2- Explanation of how to gain points towards your Mastery Rank.  Again, had to have a friend explain it.

3- Better default keybindings on the PC.  The default setup seems to be made for people with a second thumb on their hand.

4- It would have been nice as a new player if I'd had access to all six weapon options after the first initial mission.  Because as a new player you may not understand what your weapon choice in that first mission locks off.  Sword vs. Staff.  Rifle vs. Bow.  Pistol vs. Kunai.  These weapons function vastly different from each other and a new player probably won't grasp what their initial choice meant.  Having the ability to swap between weapon types early on would allow them to fiddle with the combination that fits their play style best.  And if there's one thing Warframe seems to do well, once you start understanding the game better, is allowing people to play with mechanics that suit them.  Giving them a taste of that after the initial mission would help present that core conceit better.

5- Tying in with #4, it would have been nice if I'd had blueprint access to a greater variety of weapon types at MR 0-1 to see how they worked in game.  Even if they're just lousy Mk 1 versions of low tier weapons, it would have been instructional.  Not saying to give out free slots, just that the ability to experience how the wide variety of weapons work would have been very helpful.

6- Better direction after kicking Vor's teeth in for the first time.  It felt like I'd just been given the keys to the game without any sense of what to do next.  There's some blurbs sure but they were a bit vague to me as a newbie.

7- Fix the bug that tells the player that they didn't save the colonists after you've grabbed the nav data to find Vor.  This confused and upset me and my housemate when it happened.

[YeAhx_]

17 hours ago, Kutsus said:

I'd say the biggest issue is the objective markers being confusing, imo the markers need to specifically be placed on the appropriate door within the current tile, rather than the marker just guiding u in the general direction of the objective, because the current system often leads u around in circles when tiles have verticality or aren't non-linear.

Perhaps there should be a toggle-able pathfinder for new players which they can press whenever they get lost. It would still be either way straightforward (making players jump over everything in their way) or complicated direction system.