Implementing lore

[Iccotak]

As much as I enjoy and eat popcorn through the events of the main storyline, Warframe needs more world-building lore to immerse the player in. Because as of right now we get very little. And I understand that for the concerns of spoilers. But how about just the current events of the solar system and current forces in charge? 

And seeing as how Warframe is a Science fiction Fantasy Space Opera I think they have multiple methods of implementing lore and tools for world-building in order to invest the player without having to rely on major quests such as the latest entry "The Sacrifice". Especially with the introduction of Open world zones. 
First I would like to recommend not making it so players have to grind for multiple pieces of something to listen to or read. That could work with one or two items but that cannot be the only lore for players to obtain.

There are a dozen other ways lore could be put into the game for players to find and immerse themselves in.
First there's the obvious. Dialogue.
The really nice part of PoE was that we finally got to interact and talk with the people who our efforts were protecting.
Having those bits of dialogue helped highlight not only the unique culture of the area but also the state of Earth and the economy as well as hinting to the past concerning the Orokin.
I think a good way to expand on this would be to give nearly every NPC in that hub and future hubs dialogue, whether it is just something someone says as you pass by them or through conversation.
These conversations don't have to be as in-depth as we have seen in Bioware games, just give insight as to who they are.
Along with that more quests provided by the NPCs would be a great addition. Giving them unique personalities and requests would help to invest the players in the world. These aren't cinematic or world changing. They're little stories, more personal. 
Why not make the individual quests reward more standing than the usual repetitive mission, as an incentive? 

Next we have collectibles. Since this is a Science fiction Fantasy Space Opera (SFFSO), we have alot of options for collectibles. Rewarding exploration
You could leave the occasional free bobblehead lying around that cannot be found in the store. Specifically modeled after a characters, enemies, and bosses in the zone. Just fun little easter eggs.

Next we have items that actually offer the player information. Scattered around the place.
We could add more Cephalon fragments, and other scannable items, lying around the open world zones in the strangest of places; caves, lockers, towers, crevices, etc.

One thing I really like about Diablo 3 (another looter focused game) was that the developers understood that players may be really busy looting to be looking for specific locations of lore materials. 
So they placed random chance of finding various pieces of lore throughout containers and enemy loot drops. 
These pieces of lore would be writing from both the deceased and those currently living AND they were narrated. Allowing the players continue fighting while learning more about the world they are in.
These varied from personal journals to helpful info about certain peoples, history, and creatures.
Just small little touches that provided more life to the world we played in. 

But what about you? What kind of touches and methods of implementing lore do you think would be nice additions and improvements to player immersion in the world?

Edited June 23, 2018 by Iccotak

[(XBOX)oOJeshuanOo]

Books would be a cool addition. But in the future, how would books look like?

[Iccotak]

On 2018-06-18 at 7:14 AM, (XB1)oOJeshuanOo said:

Books would be a cool addition. But in the future, how would books look like?

Probably something akin to glowing shining pieces of a hard drive. Like a little box that pops out of loot chests.
 

[Aeon94]

2 minutes ago, Iccotak said:

Probably something akin to glowing shining pieces of a hard drive. Like a little box that pops out of loot chests.
 

Anything that gives us lore is fine by me actually :D

Shiny hard drive or not.

Edited June 22, 2018 by Aeon94

[Iccotak]

Something I think games like Diablo and DOOM do very well is understand that gameplay and earning rewards is the main goal for many players so you don't have to pay attention to the story, BUT there is a library of lore there if the player is interested.
Hence why Lore books in Daiblo 3 are narrated and opened on pick-up. So then the player can passively consume world-building information as they hack & slash/ Shoot. 
Bioshock does this with audio journals they find lying around.
Mass Effect has Narrated lore entires. 

[Cortanis]

I for one would like an actual codex room for this stuff. I'd like to actually be able to collect and review the crystal fish from the Plains as well as other things like the Kuria. Things like the kuva vial from WW are things that really should be on display and part of that world buiilding. Books would be a bit of a challenge though since they're more of an outdated format at this point and no one besides maybe the Ostron would be using them. That's why we have the actual codex terminal. 

[AperoBeltaTwo]

Enemies actually doing something, as opposed to just waiting to be killed. Especially on open world maps. But that's really hard to pull off with limited resources and no proper stealth in the game, so maybe not in Warframe.

Edited June 22, 2018 by AperoBeltaTwo

[MasaJin]

I always wanted this for each planet to explain the bosses of the area because for the longest i didnt know who steel meridian was after defeating Kela De Thaym or why there was a arena on that planet.

[Iccotak]

5 hours ago, Cortanis said:

I for one would like an actual codex room for this stuff. I'd like to actually be able to collect and review the crystal fish from the Plains as well as other things like the Kuria. Things like the kuva vial from WW are things that really should be on display and part of that world buiilding. Books would be a bit of a challenge though since they're more of an outdated format at this point and no one besides maybe the Ostron would be using them. That's why we have the actual codex terminal. 

That is why instead of books, we would probably have holograms/video/audio entries that we could listen to as we fight.
And they could be from various people like Maro and/or Baro.
Why not some entires from Ballas? 

[Birdframe_Prime]

Something I've always suggested is more immersive mission start/end dialogue.

We already have a lot of voiced parts in Warframe, from Maroo to the Syndicates to the side characters and bosses. Rather than having Lotus, or the flickering 'simulation' Lotus, giving all the mission dialogue and intel, why not have the other characters chip in?

For example, after you get out of the Vor's Prize quest, every Exterminate you go on against the different factions could be a 'commission' from the Red Veil, from Teshin, from the Arbiters and so on, they pop up instead of Lotus to tell you what the mission is and to congratulate you on a job well done.

Suda and the Perrin Sequence would be more interested in Interception missions, Loka and Steel Meridian with Defense and Mobile Defense types... and so on and so forth.

You might have random NPCs contacting you at the start of a Rescue missions saying things like 'I managed to scrape together the fee, please, find my friend' or similar, so that you feel there's some weight to rescuing the captive. Just like when you're on Cetus, and it's full of life and people, the airwaves should be full of chatter (that you can turn off if you don't like it) from all of the involved parties.

Which would mean that seeing those regular NPCs in the Relays when you walk in, knowing they're part of your game, not just eye-catching... getting to join up to a Syndicate or take part in the Conclave is more connected with which NPCs you get on with the most before you even get to the Relays to meet them.

Getting to go on Quests for the Veil or the Sequence would mean more because you've met these guys before on 'professional' business, and the missions are more 'personal'.

Similarly the first time you go through each batch of missions on each planet, the boss of the planet would send transmissions to you after you reach the first mission, third mission, penultimate mission, and so on. Have them taunt you to keep 'wasting your time' in the Dark Sectors like the cowardly mercenary you are instead of coming after them, and so on, making it more and more satisfying to kill them when you get there. Of course, after that, it would only happen rarely, just reminding you that they hate you and you should probably try killing them again.

A more 'living' world, with all the people that inhabit it talking to you.

On the other hand;

5 hours ago, Cortanis said:

I for one would like an actual codex room for this stuff.

13 minutes ago, Iccotak said:

That is why instead of books, we would probably have holograms/video/audio entries that we could listen to as we fight.

I'd originally thought you'd have this in the 'personal cabin' on your Orbiter.

Currently we can set it to be a scene from the different planets or a fish tank, but I, just for myself, would like there to be a 'library' setting, which becomes a stand you could arrange 'trophies' on, like a crystal fish that you could interact with to view all the entries there, or a Kuria statue for all of those entries.

Books that represent your Codex entries, and so on...

Would that be a bad setting for those of us that enjoy the aesthetic of bookshelves?

[Iccotak]

@Thaylien
Having a lore library codex in the ship sounds fine to me.
Having a place that your lore is stored absolutely makes sense. 

What I mean is that since we are finding lore out in the world based on random loot drops and enemy encounters (as one avenue of finding it) I think it would be automatically opened and you could listen to it as you continued your mission.

4 hours ago, Thaylien said:

Rather than having Lotus, or the flickering 'simulation' Lotus, giving all the mission dialogue and intel, why not have the other characters chip in?

I absolutely agree with this. It makes no sense for Lotus to be the only one giving out order especially for missions concerning the syndicates.
I think each syndicates should respectively guide throughout missions they assign.
Same goes for NPC specific quests. 

I think Space Mom could give some space for the players

[Iccotak]

Why not have areas on the open world maps that have puzzles the Operators can solve.
This gives players another reason to go back.
"Hey remember that area you couldn't access before? Now that you have the Operator you can open those sections and explore a puzzle filled dungeon."

Think of Orokin/Tenno ruins waiting to be opened. 
Why not design some of them to require a friend to help?

Keep in mind these would not be priority. Just extra activities that reward loot and lore.
Find an Orokin Tomb where players can listen watch a hologram recording of the past.

[Iccotak]

I think Dialogue in general should get more time.
Flesh out characters like Darvo, Maroo, and Baro. 
Give more screen time to the syndicates. Give them more lore that plays a part in the larger world. Like we saw with Harrow and Nidus

More importantly though, don't just make story and lore only for the Frames. There are other things going on in the Verse. 

[Iccotak]

Venus presents some opportunities what do you guys think?
Curious as to how they will reward exploration on the map, maybe have more people we can talk to.
I wonder if they plan to update Eidolon with the Fortuna release