Tenno Companions (Formerly known as "Customizable Operator Follower") *Ongoing concept*

[Helstiir]

Almost four years later and I've decided to do a revision of this concept and try to build upon it. Time and time again I've already established how much I want, more than anything, is to have a customizable character that fights with us, growing and evolving in a similar way to the pawns from dragons dogma.

And as I said earlier, I will die on that hill, knowing that it will never be so. That said, I want to expand upon the concept as the years go by, and maybe inspire either DE or even my fellow players (Most likely the latter). But before I start, here is the archive of the text from four years ago:

Quote

 

I have had this idea for a whole while now, where you meet another operator in one of the quests and you'd be able to customize them like your own operator, and they help you for the rest of the quest, and once the quest is over they become a permanent follower, able to use a warframe that you give them. I have faith that someone other than myself wants this too, and I am sure it won't be the case, however, I'd love it if DE could add this in one day, and I honestly believe this is something people would love to have as much as I would, and it could open the door's for many things, some of which I may never foresee, none the less it is just an idea I had, and if it were possible, I would like to hear what DE would have to say at this idea. and to whoever has read this until the end, I hope you have a nice day and feel free to post your opinion and thoughts on this idea of mine. thank you for your time

Edit: I typed however instead of whoever. Just like to point out what was the edit

 

Alright, with all that out of the way, I shall go ahead and make a more comprehensive concept of operator followers. Like I posited before, they'd be introduced via a quest. Unlike before though, and like warriorhero229 posited, they'd function similarly to the pawns from dragons dogma, namely that they'd grow and evolve during and after the quest. And similar to our operator/(spoilerB), we'd create and customize them, only we'd be able to name them like we would a companion, and give them personality traits via questions. You'd then be able to equip any cosmetics you owned, just as you would with the operator/(spoilerB). But unlike the operator, the tenno companion will be locked into one variant focus school, which is chosen by the closest match to their personality via the personality trait questions. These focus schools act similar to the ones we have access to, but their abilities are more support-based in design. As time goes on, they'd passively earn focus while on missions, which can be used to unlock focus nodes within these focus schools, ranging from an ability that buffs the damage of nearby allies, to distracting enemies for the player.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Helstiir
A revision/continuation of the concept

[Runeglyph]

Personally i think it is a little too much or more like Degrading having it be another Tenno.

Maybe ones like an Acolyte Companion such as a Dax like Tenshin or a Faction Specific ones from Syndicates.

[Loza03]

The only major problem with this I can see, is that I think DE wants to keep other Tenno as players. Sure, having another operator as a friend would be fun, absolutely. And potentially very useful. But DE seems to want 'Tenno' to have more significance, and keep that by saying 'only players can be Tenno'. I've got no evidence, but, well, compare it to Destiny where there's Guardians every which way you look. Half the NPC's either are or were Guardians. That's probably an exaggeration, but you get the picture.

I do like the idea of followers overall though. I'd love it if you could hire squads to assist you on missions, past just spectres. It'd be fun to be able to go to a 'comms console' on your ship and call up, for example, syndicate operatives and mercenary groups. You could customise them - maybe even give them modded gear? - and choose whether or not to bring them on a mission. It could work similar to Palicos from Monster Hunter perhaps. It'd show development - we're gaining the ability to not only put our faith in others, but earn the respect required to hire teams of allies to work for us. As opposed to right now, where we're mostly the ones getting hired.

[Helstiir]

4 minutes ago, Runeglyph said:

Personally i think it is a little too much or more like Degrading having it be another Tenno.

Maybe ones like an Acolyte Companion such as a Dax like Tenshin or a Faction Specific ones from Syndicates.

Degrading huh? why is that? I am honestly curious as to why that would be so

[Loza03]

5 minutes ago, Helstiir said:

Degrading huh? why is that? I am honestly curious as to why that would be so

Well, like I said, Tenno are supposed to represent players. So, it's degrading the concept of Tenno just having one following you around doing everything you say.

[Helstiir]

17 minutes ago, Loza03 said:

Well, like I said, Tenno are supposed to represent players. So, it's degrading the concept of Tenno just having one following you around doing everything you say.

that post was actually right before I read yours. just like to point that out ^_^'

but on the topic of what you said earlier, I'd like to bring up a defense for my idea, that being the other six reservoir pods. you have to wonder, why is it none of them are open? I mean each of them should house a tenno, right? why is it they are on the ground unopened at the beginning of the war within? and last I checked they are in about the same condition during the apostasy prologue. now will stop right there, and hear what you have to say, cause I'd like to have this as a conversation!

edit 1: I must admit it is not exactly a defense, but I thought I'd bring it up

edit 2: also that Idea of yours is an improvement to mine

edit 3/note: I just now realize what this that I've said is more like, a moot point

 

Edited July 19, 2018 by Helstiir
added a space, and alot of minor edits, and a few notes

[Runeglyph]

On 2018-07-19 at 9:22 AM, Helstiir said:

Degrading huh? why is that? I am honestly curious as to why that would be so

Tenno are Suppose to be Players Only.

Each Tenno is to Regard All Other Tenno as Brothers and Sisters in Equal not a Student like Companion.

Us Tenno are "Masters of Blade & Gun".

[lukinu_u]

Would agree if they get a decent AI

[Helstiir]

On 2018-07-22 at 5:44 AM, Runeglyph said:

Tenno are Suppose to be Players Only.

Each Tenno is to Regard All Other Tenno as Brothers and Sisters in Equal not a Student like Companion.

Us Tenno are "Masters of Blade & Gun".

What makes you think they should only be the players? Rell isn't a player, so I don't think the tenno are solely the players. now the rest of that I honestly can't argue because that is true. I still believe we should have a human follower (preferably a tenno, so they are not below us but equal to us) that would be a character of their own, and not just some operative sent from one of the factions because they would just seem like a specter if they were. I want a follower that seems special, where they would be introduced in the story, helping us as a teammate and not as just some pawn, and having conversations with our operator. the follower wouldn't be equipped in the companion slot, but they would go with you on the mission unless requested otherwise, like an actual teammate, and an actual member of the crew. they could also roam the ship freely, and if you don't want them roaming the ship you could ask them to follow you and/or stay put

 

The point is, I want the follower to be something special, and not just a glorified specter. I should also mention that this is also a further explanation to those that have already posted something and those that have yet to say anything. as stated earlier towards loza03, I want to have this as a discussion to pass the idea around to refine it, even if it doesn't get seen by DE its still something I'd like to do

edit: sorry for this being so long 😅

Edited August 1, 2018 by Helstiir
just added a minor edit message

[Runeglyph]

Rell Is or Was a Major Character that Means Something Profound to Everyone in this Verse, Not a Nobody that only means anything to you.

To Each his own so... i Still think its a bad idea.

[(PSN)VoidVox_]

I couldn't help but compare this to the pawns from Dragon's Dogma. They were fully customizable, always by your side, and had a somewhat special connection to the player. It worked really well, especially using it for asynchronous multiplayer (if you could even consider it that?). But, it wouldn't work in warframe.

The difference being, in dragon's dogma, the player is the sole hero of the story. The whole pawn system tells about alternate dimensions where other heroes are going through the same thing as you but you never actually encounter them and they dont exist with you. In warframe, we have multiplayer. And not just added on multiplayer, this is multiplayer that is deeply tied to the whole setting of the game. This is you being only one of many heroes in the story. Now, warframe handles this very well, and the only time that your immersion is broken is when playing story quests, since they are told as if you are the only one encountering them, and we know that isn't the case. Now imagine that in addition to the tenno of other players, you have a subpar-AI-controlled robo-tenno following you around. This breaks the immersion even more. The game cant be bothered to incorporate the legions of other tenno players, but all of a sudden it is going to make time for this robo-tenno? 

Everyone, no matter what game it is, wants to be the hero/main character. Warframe has us sharing the spotlight with other players already. People aren't going to be willing to split the spotlight even more, especially to a bot.

[Helstiir]

So with the new war we've been introduced to characters like terolee and Berryn, both of which are minor tenno that only show up during the flashbacks. This results in two things for this old concept. First, its made it a bit harder to argue that only the players are tenno. And second, this opens up the path for more tenno characters that take on, at the very least, minor roles in the upcoming story quests.
In fact, I believe that they're bound to make a reappearance as more major characters, especially when we've heard time and time again about the lives of other tenno and yet (With the exception of the aforementioned flashbacks and rell) we never see another tenno character with a name in the story! It would be absolutely ridiculous to just introduce a bunch of these characters and just be like "Nope, they ain't going to come back, lol!" or something like that.

So knowing all that, it makes my idea of original idea just a little more plausible, and no matter what, I will die on that hill, knowing that it will never be so! But even still, I want to expand upon the concept as the years go by, and maybe inspire something for DE or even my fellow players. So I shall make ongoing revisions to the concept and flesh it out
 

Edited September 5, 2022 by Helstiir