After-Fortuna-Future of Warframe: Polishing and Quality of Life?

[Luverca]

Preamble:

In this post I would like to talk about my personal hopes for the nearish future of warframe and what I believe should be the main focus for improvement after the release and further polishing of Fortuna&Co.

Take all of this with a massive grain of salt (but please dont overdo it, too much isnt healthy) since I am just an individual player with very subjective opinions, but maybe some of these suggestions resonate with other members of the warframe community.

I welcome any (and hope for) feedback and discussion about this topic from anyone, really.

And I also apologize about the horrendous formatting

 

>What my suggestions focus on is polishing and expanding already existing core content of the game.

 

1) Expand random mission tilesets

 

Even after the addition of two large open areas the majority of the game will

still take place in the randomly-glued-together tilesets of your average mission node.

Expanding on the variety of these tilesets (aka adding new ones) would (at least in my opinion) provide a massive boost to the normal gameplay experience by spicing things up with something that experienced players aren’t already so used to from their countless hours of playing that they could create maps of every tile in the game from the top of their heads.

And it wouldn’t even have to be that many tiles - even a single new tile, such as the one added in the “Chains of Harrow” update can stick out as something new, something unfamiliar for quite some time.

 

2) Prioritize melee stances and less represented melee categories

               (I am aware of melee 3.0 coming some time in the future but I'll leave this here anyways)

(I am counting all weapon variations (prime/vandal/wraith/mk-1) as a single weapon and only considering PvE stances since that is the main focus of the game)

  There are currently 23 melee types represented in-game

    14 of these possess 2 or fewer stances.

    5 have 2 or fewer weapons in them

On its own this isn’t actually that bad but once you consider that dual swords alone have14 (!) different weapons, followed closely by single swords with 12 I personally do have to wonder what the point is of releasing more (dual) swords compared to say, fists, warfans, nunchakus or claw weapons.

 

Why do I think that adding and/or reworking stances is more important than adding new weapon types in already well-represented categories?

Simple: New weapons can barely make a relevant impact in such categories (like dual swords) - all they can do is provide slightly different starting stats you can work with. While those are nice for enabling the basic modding directions like Status/Crit, elemental combos etc. they don’t actually change the way these weapons play all that much.

 

Compare this to stances: A single stance can make a massive difference in how a weapon performs, feels and is used - even if the actual weapon you use remains the same!

(This is thanks to different moves, hitboxes, damage bonuses, status procs, aoe triggers and just the different feeling that the animations give)

-The addition of one stance alone, Cyclone Kraken, turned machetes from a “meh” category to one I utterly adore and consider to be *far* more useful than before

 

I believe that there is tremendous creative potential in the creation of new, amazing stances and animations and I always welcome any new stance with nothing but love for the variety it brings.

The stances I myself would prioritize are of course for those weapon types that don’t have many stances to begin with and those 5 old stances that are currently in the game that only consist of 1 unique combo.

I also think that giving the current warfan stance a quick polish and removing the ‘fan waving’ animation in its basic attacks, or at least making it faster since it currently disrupts the flow of an otherwise elegant and deeply enjoyable weapon, would be an excellent idea.

And why not save the reputation of whips from the ‘exclusively beyblade’ status they have now by adding a new stance that makes it far more enjoyable (and still viable) to use them with combos instead of slide attacks?

 

(and please let dual daggers use covert lethality ;-;)

 

3)    Add “small” mod slots

    ho boy - this is a bit of an oddball

One of the unfortunate problems with the existing modding system is that there are often “must-have” mods like the +Damage and +Multishot mods (most notably with secondaries) to allow for effective damage output or some kind of health/shield mod to help with the survivability of warframes.

And while this still leads to a lot of variety and different builds, often focusing on different strengths of individual weapon stats and warframe abilities it also results in certain mods just being left on the side - they are simply not good enough to warrant sacrificing one of those 20+1 precious mod slots for.

This, in my opinion, is a terrible loss because many of these mods would allow for small but still relevant and often personal differences between builds.

I have heard some suggesting the innate integration of those core mods into the actual weapons/warframes in order to free up slots for other, more personal mods but I believe this to be the wrong approach since automatically implementing something like health mods would completely remove the concept of “glass cannon” builds - something that certainly has its use and unique feel when applied properly.

 

Instead I’d suggest an expansion of unique mod slots - just like the already existing exilus slot (and arcane slots that essentially function like mods now) that only accepts specific mods in it and is therefore not considered for the ‘main’ build of the warframe.

The exilus slot allows for the use of these more unique mods I am referring to perfectly and I believe that adding more slots akin to it can only help expand and individualize the existing system.

This could maybe come with a small extension of the energy pool or as an extra motivation to forma owned equipment - who knows?

 

(4) Syndicate mission themes

 

(This is something I can imagine to be kinda controversial and should therefore be taken more as a topic of discussion than an actual, serious suggestion.)

   

I always thought it odd to see the New Loka operating so far away from earth all the time, as well as the Red Veil not doing purging as much as sending you to protect computers and cryopods.

I, personally, would like the introduction of syndicate themes to the syndicate missions: New Loka are very Earth-Centric in their interests and I believe this should reflect in their mission locations more than it does.

The entire theme of the Red Veil is about purging the corrupt without mercy so it only feels appropriate for them to be more focused on extermination missions.

Steel Meridian is sworn to protect the colonies and rescuing grineer defectors - shouldn’t this too be a part of the missions they offer?

 

I can definitely see the major argument against this kind of theme-implementation in the fact that syndicates would no longer be equal-with different rewards but actually offer far more missions that fit their theme, and therefore change how players work with them to a certain degree, and this idea really just sprang from a casual thought on the side.

 

5) Quality of life:

   

-Adding the option to enter the simulacrum from the orbiter arsenal

Self explanatory, really - there is no reason why players should be forced to go through two loading screens to enter the testing area

 

 

    -Adding the option to change the simulacrum  area itself

The simulacrum area, while looking nice - does not necessarily represent the many corridors and small halls that you will end up fighting your way through on most actual missions.

Adding the option to change the simulacrum area would allow for far more detailed and appropriate testing of weapons and warframes - and it wouldnt even require the creation of new tiles! I would say that adding the option to use the captura tiles as areas for the simulacrum would be more than sufficient for more accurate combat simulations and observation of weapon behaviour.

 

 

-Making it so that looking at blueprint previews also shows how many copies of the item you already have *crafted* instead of only showing how many copies of the blueprint you have, as well as showing how many blueprints for an already crafted item you own.

What I wish for is in essence already implemented in the store: You see how many copies of the item you own from the basic overview and when clicking on the option to buy the blueprint you see how many of the blueprints you own.

Unfortunately this isn’t the case for (e.g. chat linked) prime parts and blueprints outside of the market hud, which can make checking if you own a specific part when trading take inconveniently long since you have to actually check in the inventory.

 

To elaborate: Linking something like the Trinity Prime Neuroptics does not show you how many Trinity Prime Neuroptic Blueprints you own and linking the blueprint itself is impossible.

    (visible example via kronen BP here: https://imgur.com/a/z6i5oB8 )

 

 

 

    -Experimental archwing controls on the plains/any other open archwing area

Please oh god please - I am someone that utterly adores archwing controls with the experimental scheme but the controls on the plains make archwings feel so very very different and far more sluggish than I feel they should be (and are in space).

Most relevant in this is the apparent inability to just stop after a boost compared to the ‘absolute control’ approach the experimental scheme offers in space.

 

    -More cosmetic slots (A/B/C/D+) for weapons and warframes?

 

This would just be a blessing for anyone that has multiple fashion setups for their warframes and doesn’t want to have 5 copies of the same warframe that they then have to individually click through in order to find the one that looks like what they are looking for.

These slots wouldn’t have to be unlimited, and I can definitely imagine this being a good spot to introduce platinum-purchased cosmetic slots (which,if anything, should be account-wide instead of warframe/weapon bound, please!)

Having more than three slots would be easier to manage with the ability to rename them a la mod configuration

 

...talking about that

 

    -More mod configuration slots

 

Same reason as above: Having more than 3 mod configurations is already possible but it would require you to own (and in this case even potato/forma!) multiple copies of the same warframe.

Expanding this would be a tremendous quality of life improvement for everyone, even those not (yet) interested in fashion.

 

Primary/Secondary holster positions

 

The implementation of melee-like holster position and position adjustment for primary weapons and secondaries would be utterly amazing.

Why? Fashionframe, thats why - its very common for weapons to just barely clip into syandanas or just stick out to an unnecessary degree when holstered - which often messes with fashion to the point of me making the weapons invisible when holstered (which is already a nice option to have!)

But I still often miss the feeling of being able to actually see what I have equipped and believe that it would be a great addition from a cosmetic standpoint.

 

Spoiler

-Operator Cosmetics

        yep, this is something I want

In all seriousness the only two areas that I believe desperately need attention are hair styles and… earrings - as you might be able to tell this isn’t exactly high on my priority list but most of the available hairstyles and seeing earrings hovering in front of the ears themselves is still jarring to look at and fashionframe includes operators, too!

 

 

I myself am well aware of all the effort that would have to go into the process of creating and implementing any of these changes and I would like to once again emphasize that these are *not* demands but the hopes of a simple potato.

For all I know DE already has most of these things in their sights and are just waiting for the opportunity to pull the trigger, or maybe they havent really considered some of them - there is no harm in giving feedback and I am very thankful for the fact that giving feedback and suggestions to DE actually feels worthwhile.

 

I ask for feedback from anyone that reads this and hope that my sentiments are something shared by the community as a whole so as to offer a potentially helpful post to the development team.

 

I would also just like to thank DE for having created this amazing masterpiece of a game that has not just offered me free enjoyment over the course of the last two years, but has also served as a platform through which I was able to meet dozens of amazing and loveable people, without whom my quality of life would be far lower today.

So thank you, DE, not just for being a good and trustworthy company, but for being human.

Edited July 18, 2018 by Luverca

[RayxAyanami]

Jiggle Physics.

Nuff said.

[thegreatAce21]

10chars

Edited July 18, 2018 by thegreatAce21

[NecromancerX69]

1) Yes

2) Yes, specially reapers, they didn't needed their stance removed, they could have improve them. If you don't believe me just look at sazamael from soul calibro.

Spoiler

 

3) Deeply agree on this, DE did planned to get rid of Damage mods, but sadly out of fear they didn't wanted to start World War 3 on the forums ( my forma ;u; ).

 

4) I don't see this as a priority. The better suggestion would be Syndicate assassin squads getting BUFFED / Replaced for something better.

Seriously when was the last time you run away in fear cause Steel Meridian decided to attack you with murder balls or Red veil unleashed their hounds of infested... Never...

One quick example as a good Buff for Redveil Assassin squad: Replacing the chargers for swarm mutalist moas. Not only they can chase down tenno with efficiency. Being able to summon your own mutalist moa (If you are allied with RedVeil) comes with benefits like lower aim for the enemies and give armor to you and your allies. lastly it can easily follow you around.

 

5.1) [Simulacrum] YES, we really need this.

 

5.2) [Area change] Not really needed, but I can see this being a possibility.

 

5.3) [Blueprints] Yes, we need this

 

5.4) [Arcwing poe] While I do agree, I can also suggest not giving all grineer rocket launchers to take us out of the skies with one shot. This drives me mad, specially if I am just passing a camp to look for the eidolon or something... At least make it 5 rockets needed to take us down.

 

5.6) [More cosmetic slots] ALL OF MY YES, I am even willing to pay money for more slots, I do have many copies of warframes just to have fashion for every moment. We really need more fashion slots, specially with all the syandanas we have and armors.

 

5.7) [More Mod conf] Also Yes, specially for my Equinox.

 

5.8) [Primary / Secondary holster]  ALL OF MY YES. I want to look like this when I take out my ak-secondary anything.

Spoiler

 

I really liked your post. But there is one quality of life chance you might have forgotten to add.

6) A better universal vacuum, I want to take out my Kubrow for a walk but I also don't want to go pick up everything if I could just suck it all in with my sentinel.

[Firetempest]

If only this was in a subforum DE might see. Like feedback.

[Luverca]

@Firetempest I wasn't sure whether I should put it into General Feedback or here but since I didn't intend this to be a "x feature: good/bad" but rather suggestions for the future I decided for discussion, does DE really not check here?

[Court_Joker]

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) If implemented correctly, yes
4) Yes
5) Yes

Don't know why you thought some of these would be controversial. I could get behind all of these.

[Atekron]

after fortuna future of warframe - about month of bug fixes and balance adjustments, then they, hopefully, finish UI and make it usable, and after that railjack, whatever it is

 

[tyranno66]

22 minutes ago, Luverca said:

@Firetempest I wasn't sure whether I should put it into General Feedback or here but since I didn't intend this to be a "x feature: good/bad" but rather suggestions for the future I decided for discussion, does DE really not check here?

DE doesn't read this subforum, no. You could either post it on the feedback subforum, or in the suggestions subforum.

[Luverca]

@tyranno66ohhhh, I didnt know there was a suggestions subforum (and I must be blind because I can't seem to find it right now <.< I shall move post and delete the old one then, thank you very much for the information

[NoLazyShadow]

Только что, Luverca сказал:

2) Prioritize melee stances and less represented melee categories

 

(I am counting all weapon variations (prime/vandal/wraith/mk-1) as a single weapon and only considering PvE stances since that is the main focus of the game)

  There are currently 23 melee types represented in-game

    14 of these possess 2 or fewer stances.

    5 have 2 or fewer weapons in them

On its own this isn’t actually that bad but once you consider that dual swords alone have14 (!) different weapons, followed closely by single swords with 12 I personally do have to wonder what the point is of releasing more (dual) swords compared to say, fists, warfans, nunchakus or claw weapons.

 

Why do I think that adding and/or reworking stances is more important than adding new weapon types in already well-represented categories?

Simple: New weapons can barely make a relevant impact in such categories (like dual swords) - all they can do is provide slightly different starting stats you can work with. While those are nice for enabling the basic modding directions like Status/Crit, elemental combos etc. they don’t actually change the way these weapons play all that much.

 

Compare this to stances: A single stance can make a massive difference in how a weapon performs, feels and is used - even if the actual weapon you use remains the same!

(This is thanks to different moves, hitboxes, damage bonuses, status procs, aoe triggers and just the different feeling that the animations give)

-The addition of one stance alone, Cyclone Kraken, turned machetes from a “meh” category to one I utterly adore and consider to be *far* more useful than before

Melee 3.0 allready cover the it all

[Syasob]

2 hours ago, Luverca said:

I appear to be too inept to locate the option to delete posts

Use 'Report post' button in the post's top right corner, ask moderator to move the post/topic to suitable subforum or delete it.

They can merge two topics together too, to avoid losing replies.

[Kaotyke]

2 hours ago, RayxAyanami said:

Jiggle Physics.

Nuff said.

We have it already.

hit those.

 

[RayxAyanami]

32 minutes ago, Kaotyke said:

We have it already.

hit those.

 

Not the Jiggle physics we want

( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

[peterc3]

6 hours ago, Luverca said:

3)    Add “small” mod slots

No more mod slots. That isn't polishing or QoL.

6 hours ago, Luverca said:

2) Prioritize melee stances and less represented melee categories

 

Animation work is probably the most labor intensive element. They can't prioritize it.

6 hours ago, Luverca said:

5) Quality of life:

 

- Replace the need to go to the Relay, then, if you want the Simulacrum on the Orbiter. If you just want it and offer nothing, they will change nothing.
- The Simulacrum is not supposed to replace playing the game. It's a test chamber.
- More cosmetic slots means more space needed to keep all the various cosmetic variables. Get ready to pay a lot for them.
- Holster positioning for non-melee weapons is likely not to be anything resembling a priority. Again, lots of data to save.