Warframe's first impression is pay-to-win

[FlusteredFerret]

I think the game as a whole could be better introduced to new players. My own impression is that it gave you the bare minimum of info to get started and survive that first mission when you awake from cryo sleep. After that, you're pretty much on your own.

One of my first acts was to find this forum...but in many ways that just made things more confusing as you see people talking about stuff you haven't even heard of and which is waaayyy down the game path from where you are. Hell - I had to come here just to find out about parkour...that should be a basic in-game tutorial right there.

There are so many other things that are left unexplained, meaning you really have to look around, either in the Wiki (which is often out of date, or lacking detail) or ask questions here.

But yes the market in particular and the bold, immediate, flashy way its presented, does make it seem like lots of gear has to be paid for with platinum, or by grinding credits.

 

[SilverRook]

Totally understand the first impression of p2w, but the more you sit and play and interact with the community you find out very quickly that it isn't. 

There is nothing to "win" in warframe, "paying" to get an advantage over other players is a coop game is crazy thinking. 

but i understand why, its not warframes fault but the rest of the Free to play games out there - they have conditioned people to think that paying for items = pay to win.

When you play more and interact you find out that everything in the game can be attained for free just by playing and trading. with the exception of tennogen.

Paying for plat ergo in game items is just paying to skip the grind. paying to be lazy - and yes i'm one of the lazy ones. but i have also done my share of grinding, there is a point I reached with warframe a LONG time ago where i enjoyed the game so much that i felt guilty, this should surely be costing something. So i "donate" to the cause whenever i can.

A lot of new players just see the premium currency symbol and think oh crap another pay wall.

 

Which is why i spend a lot of time in region at endgame helping others find their feet in the game and try to unravel some of the stigma that has been bred into them about F2P=P2W.

Showing people that you are helpful and winning hearts and minds is where we will win the fight over this, by SHOWING people that just come with me let me show you a few things before you throw this game out. and EVERYONE i have assisted in whichever way has appreciated it and continued to play with fervour.

as long as i play warframe i will continue to break down these stigma barriers for new players.

 

Edited July 17, 2018 by SilverRook

[Nihillian]

Blueprints for weapons and warframes should be displayed first and Plat last... Thing is, that would be in an ideal world. To make money in an FPP MMO you need to advertise premium currency/items, the way they do it is the standard: look at all the shinies! buy em with plat! Or.... make em yourself, but BUY THEM! The time gating is also a standard, al be it oldschool, methode of attracting the purchase. 

But honestly, the game has good rep. THey can, IMO, afford to do it differntly. What they should definately do, though, is show weapons/warframe BP's according to your MR. To show what a player can get at their new level, to let them get excited about all the new stuff they can get now that they have ranked up. It also gives them direction on what to do, giving you a sense of progression. Progression that isn't just made by you but also told by the game itself.

[OniDax]

4 hours ago, Rawbeard said:

 

yeah, no. that's just Free to Play. literally.

Do you understand what "impression" means? No one is saying that the game is P2W. All they're saying is that someone who sees a bunch of premium price tags on nearly everything might think that the game requires you to pay real money for all that stuff, especially given the reputation of other F2P games. We're talking about someone's first impression, here. I don't think it's a big deal because once they start playing the game, they'll see that it's not. But that doesn't mean that impression can't be there. It's easy to have that impression if it's your first time playing the game.

Please take the time to read and understand what people are saying first. Yes, this is clearly a feature of F2P games, but given how this sort of thing is associated with P2W in other F2P games, it is understandable that someone might think this game is P2W when seeing that.

[MacKerris]

OK, I consider myself a new player. I played a bit during beta but that was long ago.

 

I came back last week and have been having a blast soloing a around earth. Even though I am a long time gamer, finding good current info isn't the easiest. As to the PTW thing... By some definitions it is. To a newbie it really looks like it. To me it's just an adventure waiting to happen..

[(PSN)zedlanik]

It's more pay to skip grind 

[Sarge_Tarmus]

Consider this "first p2w impression" as a test. You can give up and stop playing Warframe. You can also proceed to find out, what this game really is. Judging from your first words, you passed.

[Daffan]

The market indeed is very clunky with plat first and credits 2nd in UI elements. 

[JerryMcBoll]

7 hours ago, Sarge_Tarmus said:

Consider this "first p2w impression" as a test. You can give up and stop playing Warframe. You can also proceed to find out, what this game really is. Judging from your first words, you passed.

I do not agree. I don't believe Warframe is some kind of exclusive club that requires people to pass a test to enter and I wholly oppose to this kind of elitist attitude in general. A game must be as friendly and open to newcomers as it is deep and compex for veteran. 

[Eidolon_Slayer]

How about they lock the marketplace (plat items) until a player reaches a certain MR? Imo, MR is directly related to a players ability to craft new Warframes, weps, companions etc.

[JerryMcBoll]

2 minutes ago, Eidolon_Slayer said:

How about they lock the marketplace (plat items) until a player reaches a certain MR? Imo, MR is directly related to a players ability to craft new Warframes, weps, companions etc.

I don't think this warrants such a huge change. I believe the first impression of Warframe can be improved vastly if you simply remove the plat purchases from the arsenal menu, so it only show what weapon you actually have available. The market can use a little touch up so that the first thing you see aren't Prime Access and plat purchases. 

[Eidolon_Slayer]

25 minutes ago, JerryMcBoll said:

I don't think this warrants such a huge change. I believe the first impression of Warframe can be improved vastly if you simply remove the plat purchases from the arsenal menu, so it only show what weapon you actually have available. The market can use a little touch up so that the first thing you see aren't Prime Access and plat purchases. 

Sure, why not both?

[wtflag]

The opening post is spot on.

This is my 49th day playing. I am a person who researches everything and came in knowing that Warframe is described as one of the fairest f2p game in the Market.

Even then I was rather taken back by the prices of the weapons in the store when I checked it on day 3. And then all the nickle and dime on warframe frame slots and weapon slots and what not. I might have had dropped the game were I not already well informed and decided to continue on and see how it turned out. 

This misleading impressions will have certainly costed DE more than a few new players specially in the current market where public opinion on monetization is tainted by AAA publishers like EA and Activision Blizzard. Not to mention the cesspool that is mobile gaming.

I really hope they can work on this.

For starters, we all know that the using the starter 50p for anything other than slots is playing the game wrong. Instead of placing a giant trap in front of new players, can we just take it away and give more slots instead.

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by wtflag

[(PSN)DicedSevens]

This game explained none of itself to me. As a matter of fact the first time I played the game and got into my orbiter it glitched and wouldn't load any animation or action button icons. I had no idea if this was the game or not xD so I restarted. 

 

Idk how I did it but honestly trying to figure this game out without turorials is so frustrating. One answer leads to 10 more questions. As an advanced player I now see how easy it all was. However none of it was explained to me and I too lost platinum on stupid purchases based on lack of understanding and experience.

 

I solo'd this game all the while begging my friends to join I'm still trying..

[Kog12]

google.com is the number one tool for Warframe as a new player. Game has a dangerously low amount of information within it. I can see why new players feel overwhelmed and lost.